Review: Masters & Mercenaries- Lexi Blake

Hello all! I am continuing my review blitz with the first two books of Lexi Blake's Masters & Mercenaries series.

First up... The Dom Who Loved Me.

I. Loved. This. Book. I am serious. Both of the lead characters completely satisfied me in more ways than one. Grace Hawthorne is imperfect in the most perfect way. She is a widow with two college-aged sons, a normal executive assistant job and a less than perfect body. She devours BDSM romance books but doesn't pursue her secret desires...until she meets Sean.

Sean Taggart is a sexual Dominant and believes that Grace's employer is a front for something illegal. He is working with McKay/Taggart Security Services to find out exactly what those illegal activities are. In the course of his investigation and getting close to Grace to figure out that the nature of her involvement..he discovers her secret submissive side and it is ON! Sean masters Grace's submission while covertly investigating her boss. When his activities are revealed...he has to make a choice. Keep Grace or do his job.

Grace is on my top ten list of favorite female characters. The circumstances in her her life make her easy to relate to..may it be body issues, having children, previous relationship issues and unexplored sexual desires. And Sean...well he is just hot. His thoughtful and sexy domination of Grace is just gorgeous to read. And he isn't perfect either, which totally works for me. As a reader, I get kind of sick of the "totally got it together" male hero.

And the secondary characters are some of the most intriguing ever. So much..that you can't wait to read about them. And you will :)

And next up to bat...The Men With The Golden Cuffs.

This is Adam and Jacob's story. They come as a pair *snerk* and their desire is to find the one woman they can love and share. Serena is a writer of erotic fiction and has recently acquired a rather scary stalker. Everyone in her life thinks she is making up the stalker...so she is forced to hire bodyguards for protection. Jacob isn't entirely sure Serena is on the up and up...but Adam becomes enamored with Serena, especially when he finds out what kind of erotic fiction she writes and her submissive tendencies. Because Jacob and Adam love together... Jacob can't help but fall for Serena and cling to Adam's hope that she might be the woman they both can love, despite his reservations about her honesty. Serena is in heaven, being taken care of by two hot, caring and attentive men. Until the suspicions about her stalker break the trio's trust.

This story appealed to me for different reasons than The Dom Who Loved Me. Adam and Jacob were literally two different sides of the same coin. The way they were written made you want to dig into the book. You can't wait to see how they work in tandem, but in entirely different ways to make Serena theirs. And you feel for all three characters when the distrust and angst come into their lives. I seriously wanted to cry for Serena. Your heart also hurts both of the men, especially Adam.

Serena is also not perfect. She doesn't have a model body. She is forgetful and self-conscious about herself and I related to her even more than I did Grace. And again, the secondary characters help make this book an awesome read.

I can't wait for Liam's book, A Dom is Forever. Alex & Eve's story will satisfy my insatiable desire to learn what makes Eve tick and why she tortures poor Alex. And Ian Taggart...head of McKay/Taggart Security Services and Sean's brother...I really hope Ms. Blake is planning on writing his story.

I can honestly say these have been two of my favorite books to read and I am HIGHLY anticipating the remainder of the series. I am keeping these books on my bookshelf...and will probably re-read them several times over.

I insist you check out Lexi Blake's books. I am adding the Masters of Menage series to my TBR pile as I type this.

Standard disclaimer- Please note, these books contain elements of BDSM and menage. You don't like it...don't read it.

I am still taking recommendations for my TBR pile. Leave a comment or follow me on Twitter @jessieobrien25. I promise I will be interesting at least once a week.