We all play victims to our pasts; to the choices we make and the lives we create. They define who we are. And sometimes if we’re lucky enough, the past stays where it belongs: in the past.I’m not one of the lucky ones.I never have been.Because now the past is knocking on my door, offering deals I have no choice but to take… deals that will help bring justice—not just for me, but for my brothers. … me, but for my brothers.
The problem?
The deal is a ticking time bomb.
One I didn’t know existed.
Tick.
Tock.
more
Capt Combative meet Nosy Reader
Ahhhhhh! I have so many questions. Jay McLean clearly is in the bomb dropping mood with Combative but she hides them. She makes you squirm, wriggle, and prepare to beg for answers. The entire time you want to know more you cling; you cling to the hope of a new relationship and leave worries for tomorrow. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the wrong time to start worrying.
I am twitching for answers. Fortunately for me, I’m currently in a binge read of the series. I would have gone nuts to have to wait for ever for Redemptive especially after that tease at the end. My stomach sunk and my breath caught. This series is definitely not so simple.
Reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
***4,25 “Just exist!!!” stars***
“I don’t think it’s our pasts that define us, and it’s not even our life’s final destination. It’s everything we do in between, the actual living, that creates who we are.”
Wow! Wow! Wow!!!
And now, I’m questioning everything… Especially Madison and her reasons behind all of her actions!!!!
Honestly, i don’t know what to think right now.. My mind is playing games with me and I’m so satisfied with myself for not reading this series earlier, cause how could i handle not to know for such a long time??? Ugh???
She whispers, “It’s just a story, Ky. It could be fake.”
I pull back slightly and rest my forehead on hers. My heart’s pounding again, way too hard, way too fast. I can barely speak.
Still, I say, “Is it, though? Fake?”
Blurb:
We all play victims to our pasts; to the choices we make and the lives we create.
They define who we are.
And sometimes if we’re lucky enough, the past stays where it belongs: in the past.
I’m not one of the lucky ones.
I never have been.
Because now the past is knocking on my door, offering deals I have no choice but to take… deals that will help bring justice—not just for me, but for my brothers.
The problem?
The deal is a ticking time bomb.
One I didn’t know existed.
Tick.
Tock.
Well, this blurb is drawing very good the picture, even though it is cryptic as f**k!
Honestly, i don’t know what really i can say about the story…
Ky has many regrets of his past and the choices he once made… His life wasn’t painted in bright colors and now, after a mistake, he is getting into something … big, in order to help a brother…
He just have to stay focused and be prepared, but the girl next door is a big distraction for him…
What will happen after all???
“The man whose life I’m about to ruin. His name -Nate DeLuca-repeats in my head over and over, playing hostage in my mind.”
Well, i loved Ky.. He was a good man that he had lost his way…
He was just needing a push in the right direction and in a way closure to his past, but I’m afraid that his past had catch up on him!!!!
And that beautiful girl across the hall could be a true life saver… Or not???
“I am a victim of my own past. A past I’ve spent too many years trying to escape. And now it’s back… and the fucker’s a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in my face.”
Maddison is strange in many aspects…
She seems like a girl who had lost many things… Almost everything!!!!
She is just trying to enjoy life at the moment… Or not???
The only sure is that she is carrying too a heavy past full of secrets…
But are these secrets deadly for Ky???
“With every single kiss, he stole my breath and made it his, holding it captive. And I knew it then—that whatever we were meant to be, for however long time would allow it, it was going to be breathtakingly, heartbreakingly, beautiful.”
God, I’m losing my damn mind!!! Honestly, i don’t know what to think in here…
What are they Madison’s motives???
Is she true to Ky or is she playing a hurtful game to him???
And what about Nate??? I don’t think that he is a bad guy, but… who knows???
What games are they playing all of them???
And i knew that something sketchy was going on between these two and yep, i have already started the next book!!! I just want to know!!!!!
“She exhales.
I inhale.
She takes.
I give.
She pushes out a breath.
I pull one in.
So here we are-taking each other’s breaths away.”
***I want to thank the author for providing me a copy of this book***
I can’t believe that I waited so long to read this book! I couldn’t put it down. It was so freaking close to perfect and I enjoyed it so much. Let’s start with what I liked about the book.
I love stories that feature veterans, because I really feel like they are some of the most genuine book heroes and heroines. I also loved that the story brings attention to homelessness, because it is such a big issue everywhere.
Honestly, this book has so much packed into it. Kyler had such an awful childhood and when he finally finds so happiness it gets tragically taken away. Madison ends up alone and on the streets at a young age. They both have endured so much pain and now they both have secrets. Kyler is trying to get Justice for his brother and Madison has been sent to keep tabs on Kyler. Who sent her? Who is she really? And what does she want with Kyler?
Meanwhile Kyler is undercover and dealing with Nate DeLuca. Yet something is off about Nate.
The one issue I have with this book is the pacing. Sometimes it seemed to just speed through things and jump around a bit. But otherwise I absolutely loved it. It ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that makes you want to jump straight into book 2. And that’s exactly what I did!
So first thing is to be aware that this is book 1 of a series . It ends on a cliff hanger so be prepared to want to read book 2 and probably three right away.
Ky is an ex soldier who carries a lot of guilt and emotional baggage. He’s alone and doesn’t have a lot of reasons to be happy about life . He’s suffered a lot of loss in his life and his journey through this book is an emotional one .
Madison is a huge mystery . We learn a little bit about her through the story but she’s holding a lot of secrets . Ky falls in love with her anyway. Despite her hesitancy to share her past and really much about herself at all he falls for her and shares himself with her. Which was nice but I can’t help hold back my like for Madison when there is so many questions about her .. and who she’s reporting to and who she is linked to and why she was ‘told’ to act a certain way but we never find out by who …
basically at the end of this book there’s more questions then answers .
There’s obviously still a lot more of the story to go .
I’m going to jump straight into book too because I’m drawn in I’m intrigued and I’m curious !
A great beginning to the series !
I knew, I KNEW!!!! before I even started reading, because .. its Jay McLean, i knew my heart and my emotions would be twisted and torn and i’d want to sell my soul for the next part of this trilogy and I was so freaking glad to be proved Right !!!
One Girl,
A chance meeting,
and 3 men, who’s lives are profoundly changed !!
Kyler Parker (Ky) has survived a life that began as nothing but abuse, now after serving time in the military, he’s home and yet again being led into a world of danger with his brother Jackson. But this time he’s hoping to find the culprits that lead to the death of his brother. To infiltrate the world of Nate DeLuca won’t be an easy task!!
A world of secrets, twists and turns, but unexpectedly he finds some solace in the connection and draw he is finding with his new neighbour, a quiet shy girl, that totally beguiles him, despite her issues.
Madison is a girl with a lot of her own issues and secrets, yet they both just seemed to fit. Ky just blew me away with how he just seemed to know what she needed, and when. Always there to console or make her feel safe at the same time. I loved how she was opening up to him and at times i also was mighty puzzled at some of her actions. Was she really this sweet and innocent? A girl who had been homeless and living on the streets? but this author doesn’t just write characters we can love easily, she makes them real, so yeah they hurt? You hurt!!!!
A prefect couple who have taken all the crap that life can throw at them and finally find a beautiful love, it just doesn’t get better right ? RIGHT !! but this is Jay Mclean and I knew!!! You don’t see it coming, you don’t feel it coming till that bullet hits you right in the heart and knocks your right on your ass !!!! hoping you survive it to the other side !! That ending!!!! OMG i’m not sure i will breath till i start the next book, which will be in about 2 mins !!! Trust me grab these books !!! You will be thanking me for the recommendation !!
I am pretty much blown away by Combative. This one is a lot different than Jay McLean’s usual books, and I had no idea what I was getting into when I started since I didn’t even read the blurb.
My heart was pounding and breaking and aching for the pain that Ky and Madison endured. But the love, God, the love that they share… it just amazes me how in every book, Jay gives you the deepest, purest love that gives you goosebumps. You feel EVERY emotion. Pain, joy, heartbreak, and most of all, love.
Combative was full of secrets, twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and I’m addicted… no surprise. I need more, so I’m off to read Redemptive. Loved it!!!
Combative has so many sharp twists and turns. Definitely more than worth the ride.
This was my first Jay McLean book and it made me become addicted to her writing. Combative is a page turner. You will not want to put Kyler’s story down. He is so complex. His history has him riddled with guilt that drives all of his actions and inactions. Then Madison appears into his life. She calms him and teaches him how to enjoy just existing. Throughout the book there is a lot of Foreshadowing with Madison. You k ow that there is something else about her but you ha e no clue. Then there is the cliffhanger. You have to read the second book to understand the cliffhanger.
This story has it all, love, friendship, mystery, no you didn’t, and small moments when you feel your heart beating so hard you take a moment to recoup and make sure you aren’t actually dying.
Ms. McLean is a favorite author for me, not only because of who she is, but how she thinks and shares those thoughts so genuinely it all blends together in a quagmire of beauty that literally blows my mind. Read this book..and if you have yet to read her others…read them ALL. You won’t be disappointed.
I absolutely LOVED this book!
Although he has been dealt a crappy hand in life, Ky is sweet and caring. Most books with a hero with this kind of history paint them to be total jerks and this is somehow justified because of all they have endured. Ky was a breath of fresh air in that capacity. He was open with Madison, even when she was as evasive as they come.
Madison is a complete mystery throughout the book. You never truly get the answers about her story before the cliffhanger ending. This only made me want to read the next book more. Even though Madison is more questions than answers, her personality really shines through the mystery. She cares about Ky and wants to help him mend his relationships with his “foster” family. I can’t wait to read what her story really is and what led her to being Ky’s neighbor.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
That One Time JMAC Nailed A New Genre! (this book)
Combative. Much wanted by the fans and we were not disappointed. Jay McLean took a HUGE step out of her normal writing zone and fucking nailed it. The love, the mystery, the lies, and the web that weaves all of it together….it was consuming, beautiful, and heart-wrenching all at once. The mysteries of Madison and Ky will enrapture you and take you hostage.
***not a fighter book***
There’s one thing reading a Jay McLean book the way she writes and the way she hits the heart with her writing is what makes me love her books, i had been holding off starting this series it was almost like i knew in the back of my head if i got in a really bad book funk this book would be a back up.
Well i couldn’t help myself i felt like now was the right time to read Combative and with an ending like that i didn’t think i would want to get straight into Redemptive but it looks like i will have to dam you Jay McLean.
The thing i loved best about this book was the secrets and the needing to know what really happened to the two main characters they were such broken souls and the way they gravitated towards each other and the need for each other was what had me turning the pages, i just love the way Jay McLean writes her characters.
Maddison is such a mystery and so exciting to read. You want to know what makes her tick and who she really is. She has so many secrets that i couldn’t understand how Ky was so easy with her and i couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get her past from her i got so frustrated in the best possible way.
Ky was a boy who ran away from his problems and he needed to figure out how to love and how to be loved, i really felt for Ky and what he had been through and just learning his past was heartbreaking but exciting when we got his past snippets.
I loved how we were mostly in the present but we got a little back story aswell. I also loved Jackson he was a great character and enjoyed him in the story.
What a fantastic book it had it all for me, i laughed, i got intrigued, i couldn’t stop turning the pages and read it in one sitting. Loved loved this book and i love Jay McLean she is amazing with her words
Massive 5 Stars for this book and now to dive straight into the next book