Tag: Brute Force

Lethal Nights (Brute Force: Book 3) by Lora Leigh

On By JolieIn ARC, NetGalley, St. Martin's Paperbacks, St. Martin's Press3 Comments
Lethal Nights: A Brute Force Novel by [Leigh, Lora]

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Date of publication: September 24th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Brute Force

Collision Point—Book 1

Dagger’s Edge—Book 2 (review here)

Lethal Nights—Book 3

Where you can find Lethal Nights: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Ilya Dragonovich is no stranger to the dark side. As a safe-house owner for security agency Brute Force, Dragon knows that the battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man―and, sometimes, a beautiful woman…

Emma Jane Preston needs help. After her marriage crumbled, she believed she could get back to a normal, happy life. But her ex-husband moved among some shady characters, and now she needs the kind of protection that comes at a cost―one that only someone like Dragon can provide. But can Emma Jane trust this handsome, undercover operator to keep her safe when she is in danger of falling into the arms of the deeply seductive, fiery Dragon. . .and never letting go?

First Line:

Emma Jane Preston wasn’t certain what brought her awake, but between one second and the next she was fully aware, heart pounding, her mouth dry with fear.

Lethal Nights by Lora Leigh

My Review:

I was hesitant to review Lethal Nights. I had reviewed Dagger’s Edge this previous June and didn’t like it. What changed my mind was the blurb. It caught my attention and made me want to read the book. I am glad that I read Lethal Nights because I enjoyed this book.

The plot for Lethal Nights was fast-paced and well written. The author did a great job of keeping the frantic pace up the entire book. There were parts of the book where it lagged, but the author did a fantastic job of getting the book back on track.

I loved Emma Jane. She was a strong woman. The things she went through before Ilya would have broken a lesser woman. And the things she went through after him would have broken even a strong woman. I loved how family-centered Emma Jane was too. Her family and their safety came first. She wasn’t above hiding things from them (including what her slimy ex did). She was perfect for Ilya. She saw who he was beneath the tattoos and loved him. It was something that he needed.

I loved Ilya, but man, his personal life was a mess. No wonder he kept Emma Jane at arm’s length. I love that his past was a mystery. There were parts of his past that made me wonder how it is going to fit into the series. I mean, he is the heir to rule a tribe of Gypsies with powers. On top of that, Ilya is dangerous, and that part of him sent shivers up my spine. Because I knew that he wouldn’t back down when Emma Jane was targeted.

The romance between Emma Jane and Ilya was sweet but at the same time dangerous. I liked that Ilya fell for Emma Jane the minute he saw here. He respected her enough to leave her alone so she could recover from her divorce. But, once she got attacked at her house, all bets were off. And that’s when things started to heat up.

The sexual chemistry and attraction between Emma Jane and Ilya were intense. What I liked is that the author didn’t have them jump right into bed with each other. Instead, they took it slow. There was a point where I got frustrated. I wanted them to have sex, release the tension, and do-over. But, it was a great move on her part. She held them from having sex until the middle of the book. Talk about explosive!!! Then she built that tension back up.

The plotline with who was trying to kill Emma Jane was full of suspense and danger. There were two people who I felt were behind the attacks. Of course, I was surprised at who it was. I was also surprised at how depraved this person was.

I do wish that Ilya’s Gypsy background was revealed sooner. I was fascinated by it. I wanted to know more about how the Dragon King worked, what his title entailed. Some of it was explained, but I felt a lot of left out. I got a suspicion that there was some paranormal element to it.

I do want to drop a warning. This book covers some heavy situations. Even I had issues reading some scenes because of what happened. There are child abuse and domestic abuse in this book. There are several vivid scenes of Ilya being abused by his uncle and stepfather in the book. Those scenes made me cry. There is also a scene of domestic violence that involved Emma Jane and her manchild of an ex-husband.

The end of Lethal Nights was exciting. I can’t get into it because of what happened, but I will say that Emma Jane and Ilya get their happily ever after. Now, I do wonder who will be in the next book.

I would give Lethal Nights an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is explicit language. There is graphic violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Lethal Nights. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Dagger’s Edge (Brute Force: Book 2) by Lora Leigh

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, NetGalley, St. Martin's Paperbacks, St. Martin's Press3 Comments

Dagger's Edge (Brute Force #2)

2 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperback

Date of publication: August 28th, 2018

Genre: Romance, Suspense

Series: Brute Force

Collison Point – Book 1

Dagger’s Edge – Book 2

Where you can find Dagger’s Edge: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

#1 bestselling author Lora Leigh is back–with a vengeance–in her latest novel of passion and intrigue, Dagger’s Edge, featuring the men of Brute Force. 

Ivan Resnova wants nothing more than to escape his hard, brutal past. Starting over is not so easy once you’ve been a powerful crime boss but now, instead of being punished for his alleged crimes, Ivan fears that the one woman he can’t forget is in danger of paying the price.

Crimsyn “Syn” Delaney thought the danger she’d faced was over, and that she could resume her life. She never imagined it would return with a vengeance and throw her back into Ivan’s world. But when an attempt is made on her life, she needs Ivan more than ever to keep her safe–even if she is in danger of falling deeply and dangerously in love. . .

My review:

I have a personal goal of not DNFing any book. I like to give books a chance. Sometimes a book will start rocky and then morph into a great book. I have never been challenged to finish a book until Dagger’s Edge. I had to talk myself out of deleting this book and sending a DNF to the publishers. I had to force myself to finish this book.

Dagger’s Edge is the 2nd book in the Brute Force series. Journey (aka Crimsyn “Syn“) is on the run from her family. Being pressured to married Beauregard and to restore favor to the Queen Mother, she leaves. She runs into Ivan, who she has always had a thing for. Besides being her best friend’s father, Ivan is the one man she wanted to run to. But can she trust this dangerous man? Will he be able to protect her?

When a book leaves me confused after the prologue, I know that it isn’t going to be good. That is what Dagger’s Edge did to me. Left me confused and going “What the heck is happening here” I reread the prologue to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I paged back to see if there was something before the prologue. Nothing. So I was left confused. And I stayed confused the entire book. I have a feeling that if I read book 1, then I would have a better understanding of what was going on. But I didn’t….so yeah.

That confusion trickled down to the characters and their relationships. I could not connect with Journey. At. All. She went between acting like a child and a mature woman for most of the book. She made life choices that had me questioning how she survived so long on her own. Seriously.

I respected Ivan but I didn’t like him. He rubbed me the wrong way. I did think at one point “He must have a lonely life.” So when he went all in with Journey, it didn’t fit in with the image that was projected.

There was sexual tension between Journey and Ivan. What I liked is that the author was able to keep the level of sexual tension for the entire book. There was no dip. It was thick in this book, which was one of the few enjoyable things in the book.

Let’s talk about sex. Journey and Ivan had a lot of sex. They were like freaking bunnies. In a van, in a plane, in a limo, the list could go on. One look and he was ripping her panties off. Which would have been great except, sex was related to pleasure/pain in every sex scene. I couldn’t get past it. Listen, I know a little pain is good during sex. I also know that there are people who get off on pain. But in this book, nothing was mentioned about that. It seemed like having sex was actually hurting her. To have it brought up all the time ruined the sex scenes for me.

The secondary plotline involving Journey’s family made me sick. The abuse she suffered at their hands was horrible. No wonder she took off. I don’t understand why she didn’t tell the Queen Mother?? Going with the plotline involving her family, I couldn’t understand why her cousin didn’t scoop her up like she said she could. Instead, she got bent over Ivan having her and got in his face. Which almost didn’t end too well for her.

The other storyline, which I won’t talk too much about, I saw coming from a mile away. Even with Ivan telling himself certain things, it still happened.

The end of the book was a cluster. Storylines were left wide open. I am hoping that is because the author is going to write a 3rd book. Minor things got resolved but all the major things didn’t. I was left scratching my head and going “OK” after the last chapter.

What I liked about Dagger’s Edge:

A) Ivan. Well, I respected him. Doesn’t equal to like

B) The sexual tension was kept up for the book

C) The ending. Because the book was over.

What I disliked about Dagger’s Edge:

A) Confusion while reading

B) The sex.

C) The secondary plotline

I gave Dagger’s Edge a 2-star rating. This book was a mess to read. I was confused for most of the book. Which is a turn off for me while reading. But, saving it from a 1-star review was that  I respected Ivan. Also, the sexual tension was kept up for the entire book.

I gave Dagger’s Edge an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is explicit language. There is explicit violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would not reread Dagger’s Edge. I also would not recommend this book to family and friends. I also wouldn’t read any more of this series.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Dagger’s Edge.

All opinions stated in this review of Dagger’s Edge are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**