Tag Archives: Lexi Blake

Review: Justify Me (Stark Saga #4.5 / Masters & Mercenaries Crossover) by J Kenner

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Title: Justify Me
Author:  J Kenner
Publisher/Year:  Evil Eye Concepts 4/10/18
Length:   130 Pages
Series:  Stark Saga #4.5 / Masters & Mercenaries Cross Over

Overview

McKay-Taggart operative Riley Blade has no intention of returning to Los Angeles after his brief stint as a consultant on mega-star Lyle Tarpin’s latest action flick. Not even for Natasha Black, Tarpin’s sexy personal assistant who’d gotten under his skin. Why would he, when Tasha made it absolutely clear that–attraction or not–she wasn’t interested in a fling, much less a relationship.

But when Riley learns that someone is stalking her, he races to her side. Determined to not only protect her, but to convince her that–no matter what has hurt her in the past–he’s not only going to fight for her, he’s going to win her heart. Forever.

My Thoughts

I really enjoy when authors are collaborative and not competitive and that’s exactly what we have here in this novella.  J Kenner and Lexi Blake have teamed up and introduced a cross over of sorts to their series.  What also happened here is that i realized that i only read the first book in the Taggart series….so i’ve got even more to catch up on!

Anyhow, what we have here is a sweet story of two people who have history (as they typically do) with a strong attraction, but one that they never acted on.  Riley and Natasha are linked because of Riley’s past of working with Nat’s father, and when he tried to act on what was a mutual attraction years and years ago, she turned him down.  Once her father passed away, she pushed him away further and there grew the wall between them.  Thankfully her boss needed Riley’s help in protecting Nat, and so they have come full circle.

The tension and anxiety in this novella comes from two directions.  First the initial reason for bringing them back together in the hunt for a stalker.  Riley is alpha and needs to protect her and Nat is strong willed and doesn’t want that.  But of course, the fear for her life makes it an easier pill to swallow and so we see security / bodyguard prowess come out in the search for who’s tormenting Natasha.

Top that with chemistry that they both decide they can act on with guardrails – and they combust.  literally.  It’s hot and steamy and what we have here i think is a bit more Lexi than we usually see from J Kenner in the intensity of the BDSM scenes between the pair.  The safety that they find in the club makes it easier to let down their walls, take advantage of what they want, and not feel like it’s crossing lines.  It starts a relationship i in safe place and explodes in a good way from there.

Since this is a novella, we don’t get terribly deep into anything but that’s ok.  We get to the bottom of our roller coaster ride with the stalker fairly quickly and we get to the crux of the issues in the relationship quickly as well and see conclusions that are valid and fair in both.  So…on that note, i’m going to get back into the Taggart family saga since i’ve been remiss.  Enjoy!

Review: The Dom who Loved Me (Masters and Mercenaries #1) by Lexi Blake

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Title: The Dom who Loved Me
Author: Lexi Blake
Publisher/Year: DLZ Enterainment 9/7/11
Length:   372 Pages
Series:  Masters and Mercenaries #1

Overview

A routine mission … turns into a dangerous seduction.

Sean Taggart is hunting a deadly terrorist, and his only lead is the lovely Grace Hawthorne. She’s the executive assistant for an employment agency Sean suspects is a front for illegal activities. To get the truth, he is going to have to get very close to Grace, a task he is all too eager to undertake when he discovers her deliciously submissive nature.

Soon, Grace Hawthorne is living a double life. By day, she is the widowed mother of two college-aged sons. By night, she submits to Sean’s every dark desire. She’s living out her wildest fantasies of pleasure-intimate acts of trust she’s only read about. As passion engulfs her, a murderer strikes, and Grace learns that Sean has a deeply hidden agenda. Will Sean choose his mission and break her heart or be the Master of her dreams?

My Thoughts

Im usually a huge fan of Lexi Blake and all that i’ve read by her, and in this instance, i’m on the fence a bit and i’m not entirely certain why.  What we have here is a sweet story of the expected Alpha Male, and the innocent woman who kind of finds herself in a situation where she needs to be rescued.  Of course said dom man is the one to do it right?

This story starts off where Sean Taggart finds himself on an assignment to hopefully find an ecoterrorist who’s been up to no good for  while and off the radar because of some fairly impressive means of plastic surgery and the like.  While he’s learning about the job, he sees a photo of a woman who may be an ‘in’ to this guy, and of course all that maleness comes to the forefront when he’s attracted to her.

The story from there is watching Sean trying to get his job done while also allowing himself to be incredibly attracted to Grace and teach her the ways of his life.  We know that Sean and his brother and their friends are part of the BDSM lifestyle and Sean seems to think that Grace has been part of it too, although he learns that it’s really just from reading a lot.

Anyhow, we have 2 story lines here – one of the attraction between the two and seeing how that plays out since Grace is fairly sure of herself and she’s a bit older than him so she knows what she’s going to bring to the situation.  Then there’s the story of trying to find Patrick who’s the guy that’s gone rouge.  There are hints throughout the story on who he is and i think that it’s just a matter of time until he slips up and they’re able to get him.

The challenge in this story is twofold.  one is that Grace is somehow put in the middle of things and when things go pearshaped, she’s the one that gets the focus of the blame.  It o course has the chance to tear her and Sean up and i think that it’s a nice journey that we see them go through since they do end up split apart.  Then there’s the story of how Grace and Sean really work together.  She knows that it can’t be forever since he’s not from Dallas but she’s willing to do right now until things go wrong.

All in all, it’s a sweet story.  It’s nicely written and there are some intensely steamy scenes – yet i don’t know what about it makes me hedge a bit.  I know that there’s more to the series though which i’m going to stick with for a bit just to see how it goes.  Anyhow, have a great day and enjoy the Super Bowl if that’s your thing!