Captured and forced to marry Henrik, Megara vows never to forget his monstrous behavior… but her hatred for her husband doesn’t weaken her attraction to him. Henrik chases his legacy with the ferocity and strength worthy of a God. He will not be deterred, and he will not fail. Nothing will stand in his way. Not even a wife.But Henrik’s strength can not keep Megara’s beautiful soul from seeping … soul from seeping into his heart. A choice is coming, between everything he ever wanted and the one thing he didn’t know he needed.
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Finding His Strength by Measha Stone is exactly! Henrik and Megara are wonderful characters and their romance is one for the ages. These two are forced into a marriage that neither wants. Megara wants nothing to do with Henrik and knows he can be a monster when the need arises, but she is just as strong when she has to stand up for herself. I love that about her. Henrik never expected his wife to not bow to him. So when he finds her strong-willed, he finds himself falling for her. Will that put him in more danger? Or will that make him more empowered than ever before?
Great story!
Finding His Strength is the second dark romance connected to the Dirty Heroes Collection. It can be read as a standalone. Megara is forced to marry Henrik, but she will never give him her heart. Will her feelings change when she begins to see the real man under his mafia exterior?
This was an emotional combination of mafia world, dark hero and an alpha you love to hate. Megara is sweet and sassy, but has an undeniable strength. Yes, there are some trigger scenes, but overall I enjoyed the story.
#MSBB
Holy Hades, what a ride!
The opening sentence of this book sets the tone for what’s to come.
Henrik’s character initially comes off as dark, lawless, and arrogant…which he is. But throughout the course of the book he develops into something more without losing those delicious edges.
Megara is fabulous, she has a backbone, she’s been raised to be a lady, but she’s not quite the pushover Henrik expects.
I love the way these two interact from start to finish.
Highly recommended, Finding His Strength is definitely a curl up in a corner for a few hours kinda book!
What to say… Henrik is big, bad, and all around not nice guy. His wife Megara sees something in him though.
Measha Stone does an amazing job of taking these characters on a journey that you feel obligated to follow them on! An intriguing retelling of the story of Hercules. A book you should very much make time for!
WOW! I instantly hated Henrick. He is the epitome of all that is evil, and really doesn’t care how anyone feels about it. He is hard, dangerous, sadistic, and regrets nothing he does to stay on top. Then you have Megara, who only wanted to live her life on her own terms. Let the drama begin!
This story is sexy, dirty, dark, and amazing from beginning to end. There are all these little moments of calm and joy that peek out from between all the shadows that keep the story from being overly dark, but it’s not a light read in any stretch of the imagination. The characters are very likeable, which is surprising in the case of Henrick, and by the end of the story I was totally in love with him. Meg was a lot more than I imagined in the beginning, too. It’s that richness of character detail that is something Ms. Stone does so well. All of her characters are multi-faceted and the more you read the more you discover. Her worlds are full of amazing side characters, too, and I’m hoping to see more books set in this world because of that.
How the mighty have fallen……in love.
Henrik is dark, dangerous, devious, dominant, deadly and delicious. Megara is innocent, strong, smart, loyal and fierce.
Given as payment for a crime, she longs for freedom from Henrik, the ‘family”, their depraved dealings and evil world. But lust and love can be inspired even by monsters when sparks of good florish in darkness.
Theirs is a marraige of convenience that becomes so much more, as do they.
May have triggers but is a damn good read!
The perfect recipe
This book is another great example of this author’s writing. The characters are so well written, and you almost feel like you are in the room with them as you learn the subtle nuances of their personalities. Henrik is this strong alpha male and Magara has her own strength covered in softness, they might come together in a dark and difficult way, but by the end of the story I was really in love with them both. The author did not disappoint with the touch of darkness to the journey, but she also gave us that unexpected lasting relationship and HEA that we know and love. I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read the next book by the author.
Attracted to and captured by the dark. This book held me captive from the very first page. Henrik did his best to make me hate him, but I fell for this character with all his flaws and dark tendencies hoping against hope that Megara would hold the key to his redemption if she could only survive in his world. This intense storyline will have your heart beating with so many emotions and is a journey you don’t want to miss. I was ready to start at the beginning as soon as I finished just to enjoy the experience again. Five+ sizzling, dark, and devious stars.
A standalone book which is very loosely based on Greek Mythology.
The story starts with a bang but apart from that scene there is only one other dark scene, so it is not a very dark book overall. It is a tale of family, loyalty, betrayal, hope, dreams and love.
It was a story I enjoyed apart from the quick change the main characters underwent. It went to fast, specially considering they didn’t spent that much time together.
This is a very intricate story pitting brother against brother, families fighting for power and an arranged marriage begun with unwilling partners. It is also a complicated and intriguing series of incidents involving Henrik and his father running a network of over twenty different families, supposedly working together on illegal deals. Henrik is a strong, dominant, Alpha male, often labeled a monster, who is able to kill with his bare hands. And, after a debilitating incident involving Henrik and a traitor from another family, the two major families involved decide to mend the rift by arranging a marriage between Henrik and Megara. Neither had ever met, and neither is especially thrilled with the idea. Megara had plans for her future and they did not involve an arranged marriage. Henrik, while not overly thrilled with the idea, agrees in order to keep peace. He decides immediately that he will brook no disobedience from his wife, either before or during his marriage.
I so enjoyed watching the individual growth of both Megara and Henrik, as well as the way they were able to interact with each other. The attraction between these two is exciting, powerful, kinky and HOT! When necessary, Henrik demonstrated to Megara how punishment could be pain, but at other times pain can lead to pleasure.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone who loves a dark read. Thank you Measha Stone!
I was captivated with this book from the first page! Henrik and Megara are mafia royalty, and that means sometimes your life choices are not your own. Henrik is strong, cocky and arrogant, but I loved him just the same. He was a most beast waiting to be tamed. I thought Megara was one tough cookie, taking on what life dealt her with strength and aplomb. They had sizzling heat, and the BDSM elements added to their chemistry, though this wasn’t a dark as I was expecting. It was still an engaging read from start to finish!
From the first cataclysmic event with Henrik this book is full speed ahead, take prisoners and ask questions later. A powerful man in his own right led to believe title equals strength until he meets her another strengthening arrangement. This story is sizzling, fast paced and oh so good! It’s got all kinds of goodies: punishment, impact play, binding that was beyond hot and realistic it was easy to imagine it clear as day! Yes, it is that good. Enjoy, I know I did!
I was totally glued to my kindle from the very beginning with the great character and plot development that Henrik and Megara kept me turning the pages until the turn of the very last page!
What a very emotional story. Megara was an only daughter and wanted to own her own restaurant and she believed her father that she can, but in the world they lived in she would not. She would become a wife and mother. Little did she know how and to whom. Now Henrik was a man of many talents and did what he wanted, but it is amazing how they ended up married. You will need to read this story to see how all this takes place. It will keep you on your toes. Enjoy
Wow, wow, wow… the opening chapters are not for the feint of heart! Henrik is an enforcer after all. Did you expect him to be weak? I love how insightful Henrik is, and other times, I’m sorry for his stubbornness, his anger, his “insecurity.”
Megara was hoping for something different from her life. Would she get it? What of her cousins. What are they up to? It seems like love will not be happening in the Hercules family.
Ms. Stone’s words had me cringing, had me smiling, had me in tears. I absolutely loved this 5+* story!
I received an advanced reader copy, and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Finding His Strength by Measha Stone is the second book in The Dirty Heroes Collection Series. This is the story of Henrik and Megara. I haven’t yet read the previous book, so for me this was a standalone book. Henrik is a dark, hard man who has to be that way to hold his place as the potential heir a Mafia Lord. When he is told that he needs to marry the daughter of a rival mafia family of course he goes through it weather she wants the marriage or not. Megara’s father is that Mafia rival who agrees to the marriage. Of course, Megara doesn’t want it as she has other life plans but has no choice.
Henrik isn’t an easy man to like at first but the author starts to show us why he has become so dark and of course he starts to soften toward Megara. Enjoyed this book!
So deliciously good. I only slept a few hours because I stayed up all night reading this book. Knowing it was a Measha Stone book, I knew I was in for a treat. Loved this book.
This is a book of contradictions – dark and light, hard and soft and i have to say it took me rather a long time to warm up to Henrik though i fell in love with Magara straight away.
Another strongly written story from this brilliant author with some very emotional scenes.
Highly recommended!
A hot and steamy re-telling of greek mythology.
Other than watching Jason and the Argonauts, I don’t have much knowledge of greek mythology. However this was clearly based on some of the myths and legends of old. My lack of knowledge didn’t affect my ability to enjoy the story as clever world building filled in any knowledge gaps.
Rather than gods and goddesses, the individuals in this story are the members of several crime syndicate families. The plot was engaging and the pace moved things along nicely, so that my attention never wavered. Both main characters were written with dimension and depth and, despite being very different, seemed to fit together perfectly. There were some great darker moments in the book too.
Megara was strong and determined, picking her battles wisely and making the best of a situation where she had very little control. I very much liked her, and could believe in how her gentle and sweet nature would impact on Henrik. My first impression of Henrik was that he was a complete and utter **** . There was very little to like about this arrogant, egotistical and self-centred individual at first. Thankfully he did make amends, including knowing when he was in the wrong and needed to apologise. He definitely went through the most growth in the story, totally fulfilling the fantasy we all have of taming the bad boy!
Whilst I very much enjoyed the story, there were two aspects that prevented it from hitting the full 5 stars for me. First was the speed with which Megara went from hating and fearing Henrik to not being able to get enough of him. Given the non-con scene and(view spoiler) I couldn’t quite believe that by the next night she was all up for lots of bedroom shenanigans with him.
The other was how Henrick went from menacing bully to swooning suitor in the blink of an eye. Given that pair aren’t even together 24/7 in those first few days it was too quick for me personally. I’m just not a fan of insa-love so I personally needed just a little more time of them building a connection, developing a bond. A time frame of a few weeks would have made all the difference, allowed me to believe in the D/s relationship that was emerging.
Despite how it might sound, they were two minor issues that I overcame fairly quickly, allowing me to really enjoy what is a well written story. The amazing mix of steam, intrigue, politics, kink and power battles add up to make a really good read.
I am no expert when it comes to Greek myths so other than noting this story is based on the Labours of Hercules I am none the wiser as to the other characters, but then I don’t need to be. This is first and foremost a love story intermingled with family rivalries and power. Hercules is not a good man but he has a good heart and it is that that makes Megara fall in love with him. It is a fun read with Elements of BDSM, some dark sub themes for sure and strong family dynamics but I loved it.