You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)

I just love reading Lexi Blake books. This one is a top 3 favorite so far. Jesse is such a sweetheart but dont let that fool you. He is the trained muscle with McKay-Taggart, and a Dom at heart. His story is so deep with so many layers. It may take him some time to figure things out, but as Phoebe reminds him, he is not stupid. He just has a lot of issues to work through, as does she. PTSD is putting it mildly when Jesse has an episode. Only Simon and one time Chelsea could calm his beast, until Phoebe. But will he be able to handle her one deeply buried secret? This couples journey is filled with high risk, espionage, and nearly non-stop action start to finish. I was biting my nails, crying, and laughing from start to finish. Looking forward to seeing Ten brought down next. And hopefully Theo and Erin are gonna find an HEA soon too. Erin intrigues me. I pegged her for a Domme so my chin dropped when Jesse reveals otherwise. Nothing like a Masters and Mercenaries book to get the blood pumping! 5 solid stars for this one and I dont give those out do easily these days.

Phoebe Graham is a specialist in deep cover espionage, infiltrating the enemy, observing their practices, and when necessary eliminating the threat. Her latest assignment is McKay-Taggart Security Services. Until Jesse Murdoch joins the team that her radar starts spinning. Unfortunately so does her head. Hes gorgeous and sweet and her instincts tell her to trust him but shes been burned before, so hell stay where he belongssquarely in her sights. Out of all the characters in all the books I have read Jesse is one that touched my heart, what he has gone through is not something one can just laugh at, well Phoebe went through hell too, but the story draws them close and closer Since his Army unit was captured by jihadists, Jesses life has been a nightmare. Forced to watch as those monsters tortured and killed his friends and the woman he loved, something inside him snapped. Mckay-Taggart take him and makes him feel human for the first time in forever. If someone so innocent and sweet could accept him, maybe he could truly be redeemed.

Phoebe Graham has a mission to carry out. She is working deep under cover to eliminate a threat. Her latest assignment is McKay-Taggart Security Services where she poses as inept, klutz in order to keep an eye her target. Her target is Jesse Murdoch. The mission takes a turn when she develops feelings for Jesse. From the moment his Army unit was captured by jihadists and murdered, Jesse has been living a nightmare. He was the only survivor and cannot remember what happened and why he is the only survivor. He is labeled a traitor and is tortured with memories until Ian Taggart gives him a life line. When Phoebe receives the order to eliminate Jesse, she has to choose between the job she has dedicated her life or to the man who has stolen her heart. By choosing Jesse she would be abandoning everything she believes in. But when the shadowy killer returns to finish the job that started in Iraq they all will put their lives on the line

Maybe the best story of the series – certainly my favorite. I read them all in no particular order, then found myself going back to reread this one, because of them all Jesse\’s story seemed most poignant and the most real, the most true. Jesse\’s not a cardboard stud-muffin, he\’s not the stock-in-trade emotionally-frozen, arrogant tortured hero, and he\’s not a natural Dom. He\’s a genuinely broken and cruelly humbled man who doesn\’t know or trust himself anymore: as a POW, everything he thought he was had been torn away from him. Over the course of several books, Jesse slowly has begun to climb out of PTSD hell with the help of the McKay-Taggart extended family. For him, training to be a Dom is important therapy more than its an identity; it\’s a way to regain some structure and a sense of control and power in his shaky life. Phoebe, meanwhile, only looks like the typical passive, foolish, naive heroine. She\’s actually a highly-trained, tough combatant out for blood and vengeance in deep undercover at McKay-Taggart — and she\’s a broken-hearted woman who has given up on life. Reversing the formula in BDSM romance novels, this time it is the damaged Dom who is betrayed and who is being stalked, and as is the case in real PTSD, events can and do spin Jesse back into a nightmare — a real one. It takes Phoebe seeing him for who he is and setting aside her armor and abandoning her mission to work with McKay-Taggart, to resolve the crisis. Excellent read.

There\’s a reason Lexi Blake is on my instant-buy list. I was absolutely blown away with this latest installment in the Masters and Mercenaries series. I think all of the M&M fans have been eagerly awaiting Jesse\’s story, and Lexi did not let us down. I cried a LOT while reading this book. Yes, I am aware that it isn\’t healthy to form attachments to imaginary people… but the author pulled me in to yet another one of her worlds and once again I am reluctant to leave. The journey to happily ever after isn\’t always an easy one and moving on… well… moving on can seem impossibly wrong. You Only Love Twice will pull at the heartstrings…. in that fast-paced, heart pounding, soul shattering, snarky way that Lexi has so obviously mastered. Buy the book. Seriously. Buy the book. Make a small investment into your own happiness.

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