A Tragic Love Story
Charlotte Dennis’s mission was clear: distract and misdirect CIA operative Ian Taggart by any means necessary. If she failed, she would never see her sister again. With her training, it should have been simple, but after one night in Ian’s arms, she knew that saving her sister would mean losing the man of her dreams.
Ian was tracking a terrorist when he met the beautiful … American daughter of a Russian mobster. His instincts told him Charlotte was trouble, but his body craved her like a drug and his heart would not be denied. She took his ring and his collar. For once he was truly happy. But as he closed in on his target, her betrayal cost him his mission while her sacrifice saved his life. As she died in his arms, Ian vowed he would never love again.
A Dangerous Reunion
For six years, Charlotte has thought of nothing but returning to her husband, her Master. Working in the shadows, she has devoted herself to earning a chance to reclaim her place in Ian’s life. But forgiveness isn’t a part of Ian’s vocabulary.
Nothing is more important to Ian Taggart than his new mission. But the information he needs is firmly in the hands of the woman who betrayed him. To catch his most dangerous prey, Ian will have to let Charlotte back into his life. As the hunt takes them to some of the world’s most exotic locations, the danger grows and their passion reignites.
Will Ian forgive his wayward submissive…or lose her again?
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4 1/2 stars
Ian Taggart is every example on why second chance romance is my least favorite trope. Second chance is usually all about the journey back to each other, and very little of how good the couple can be together. Emotions and drama run high on Ian and Charlie’s road back to each other. Ian acted like a grade A dick for a good majority of this book, too long in my opinion. I completely understand why, but at 300 pages he was still acting like a douche most of the time. I like a little romance with my angst, and we get very little romance in this entire story. There is tons of heartbreak, keep a few tissues handy because I am not a cryer and I cried, I cried a lot, and hot sex, but not so much of the feels when it came to Ian. Ian was worth it though in the end, because when he finally got smart, oh man was he sexy. He turn around was a little abrupt though. He didn’t so much forgive Charlie for anything, or believe her. He just decided that her potentially lying to him didn’t matter. I really wish we got to see Ian and Charlie together after the dust settled and they were free to be happy. I really think we deserved to see Ian worship her without the hurt of a past betrayal between them. That’s really what kept this from being a 5 star read, while everything gets tied up in the end (see what I did there) there isn’t any glimpse into Ian and Charlie after he let the BS go.
There were a lot of side characters that we get to know a little more when the team pulls together to go head to head with Eli Nelson once and for all. Damon, Simon, and Jesse all peaked my interest and I can’t wait to see more of them.
My least favorite trope aside, this is a very emotional story, and it left me feeling raw and gutted most of the time. That is a testament to how good of a writer Lexi Blake is. Those emotions jumped off of the page and I felt every bit of Ian’s heartbreak and anger, and Charlie’s sorrow and need for redemption and to win her husband back.
It was a little frustrating having to wait for Ian and Charlotte’s story but so worth the wait. By saving their story for book 5, we got to know more about these characters and their interactions with the other team members. I don’t think I would have looked at Charlie the same without her having been introduced in the previous book.
There is plenty of suspense in this story along with the anticipation of whether or not Ian will be able to get past Charlie having faked her death. I also loved the snark and humor in the story. I’m looking forward to reading more books in the series.
Can’t go wrong with any book in this series!
Love this book. Love Ian Taggart and his sarcastic wit. Lexi Blake is an auto buy for me.
Wish I could give it more stars!! Loved, loved, loved reading any of the Masters and Mercenaries books by Lexie Blake, Both the female and male characters in the books are written so well. The mix of BDSM added to the storyline takes it to the next level and Ian Taggart is the bomb! Sexy, alpha and funny as hell
“OMG, So Charlotte is a bad ass… Just loved the why she keeps Ian on his feet and how Ian could keep her in her place… Just so happy that Charlotte was able to get her husband back and Ian has his brother back… How Charlotte showed the other wives in Sanctum… Charlie is the right woman for Ian… Charlie is the right match for Ian
I had been waiting for Ian’s story. He and Charlie had so much baggage. I am not sure why, but for some reason, this book Did not seem as long as the previous two books. I listened to all of them as audiobooks.
I think the best scene of all was between Charlie and Amanda at the club. This book was fast paced, full of action, suspense, and steamy scenes.
I didn’t care for Charlie’s sister Chelsea. I could absolutely see her going over to the dark side. I did get frustrated with Ian and Charlie’s struggle, but it didn’t play out nearly as long as Alex and Eve’s drama.
The only other thing is I wish we could have spent a little more time with Ian and Charlie after everything had settled down.
I thought the narrator did an excellent job with all of the different accents. His Jesse voice even makes you think Jesse is much more of an alpha than the book describes him. This was a 4.5 stars listen. On to the next book in the series.
Awesome series! Alpha men, some BDSM and sassy women…can’t go wrong.
I love Lexi’s Masters & Mercenaries series. If you love romantic suspense and haven’t read it yet, you need to!
This isn’t the first in the series, but Ian and Charlie’s story is a favourite that I like to go back to re read, as I’ve just done. It’s always fun to go back and remind myself where some of my all time favourite characters started off.
The beginning of a wonderfully adults only series with humor and very adult sexy times.
I have this book as part of ‘The Early Ops’ which contains the first five books of the series. It’s nice moving from one book to the next this way.
Now we learn all about Ian’s wife and the circumstances surrounding her ‘death’. With Charlotte very much alive, Ian is conflicted in more ways than one. His reaction to her was not unexpected at least to my mind.
Even though Ian is somewhat resistant to her overtures, Charlotte isn’t one to give up easily. She’s spent the last five years doing things to be worthy of Ian’s love.
After their initial encounter, Ian has drunk himself into a stupor. Charlotte called Sean to be with him and made her plans to get the team together to discuss taking down Nelson.
When Ian finds out, hungover and all, he goes to take care of business.
Lots of suspense, action, snark, fun and sizzling heat in this book.
I’m going to start the next book and catch up to the latest release.
One of the best reunion romances with the sexiest heroes of all time.
One of my favorite heroes of all time – and the heroine is awesome. I love this entire series.
My aim is to come back and write a longer review in a few days (famous last words).
I really enjoyed Ian and Charlotte’s story. We have been building up to it for so long and this absolutely EPIC story of betrayal, heartache, lies, distrust, forgiveness and love was just beyond words. I had to keep reading it in between arc commitments, but the story and it’s characters were never far from my heart.
Lexi Blake’s writing is dazzling, for me she has the perfect balance of action, intrigue, kink, heat and romance. Her characters have real depth and they carve out a little space in your heart in which to reside. The moment I read the last line of this – and BOOM what a hook it is – I needed to one-click the next book in the series (and the next and definitely the one with Chelsea and Simon!)
I’m such a long way behind on this series but have every intention of catching up on it!
Love this series
I always have to save these books for the weekend because, again, I stayed up all night to read it, and it was so worth it!
The story begins with dead wife Charlotte returning to her husband, Ian. It has been five years and a lot has gone down since then, and he had figured out her betrayal.
I have to say I am with Ian on this, yes he does go a bit too far, but I think he is completely justified in his feelings and actions. Instead of turning to him for help, his wife turned to others and in the process, left him. The entire story is a set of one step forward and two steps back, but each step back is warranted. In other words, when it happens in most books you are like, really, you’re just trailing the story along, but in this book, it reveals something more about the character and then allows each character to realize and accept something about themselves, and their partner.
It is a really rocky road, and both Charlie and Ian way, super-strong, personalities, that don’t give an inch. But when they are together and on the same wave-length, they are truly unbeatable!! There were so many instances I had to stop and update my progress because the passage brought forth an emotion that I wanted to easily find again. Now mostly laugh, such as a Taggart family activity involving Nelson, Simon’s fair lady comments, actually most of Simon and Jesse’s interactions, and then Ten’s worries about monkeys!
This was an amazing and emotional read – each book is, but this was Ian, the backbone for everyone, falling apart and picking up his pieces. The scenes with Ian and Sean were…….deep and moving and I’ve teared up just thinking about them again. Charlie and Ian bring everything back together again for everyone, and set the stage for more mushiness down the road. The characters in this series are complex, deep and human in their actions and reactions. While we may never be in these situations, we can relate to their emotions when they are faced with these moments
I know I will read this book several times more, it is that good, and I can’t wait to read and take this journey again with the Taggart-McKay group!
Lexi Blake has created an exquisite piece of romantic suspense with Live and Let Die! Charlotte and Ian’s story is a romance for the ages. It’s about betrayal, loss, mistrust, forgiveness, redemption, danger and love…most of all love. This is an extremely fast paced story with a little something for everyone. I’ve waited what seems like forever for Ian’s, my favorite M&M character, story to finally be told. It definitely did not disappoint.
Absolutely amazing book! We finally get Ian’s story! His “dead” wife, Charlotte (aka Charlie aka Kristen), shows up at his door and turns his world upside down. While Ian tries to deny his feelings for his wife, everyone he loves becomes a target thanks to Charlotte’s Russian mobster uncle who thinks she killed her father thanks to Eli Nelson. This book has lots of laughs. Ian is hilarious and sarcastic and Charlotte is his perfect match with her sarcasm and spunk. It is also action packed and the sexy heat between these two is off the charts. We find out more secrets about the Taggart family and I can’t get enough of this series no matter how many times I read it!
*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.
The big guy of this series is finally getting his story told and let me tell you, I’m a really happy reader.
You already know about my love of Ian and Charlotte Taggart, so it’s no surprise that I love their book as much as I do. I may or may not have read this book multiple times too, because that’s just what I do with stories I love as much as this one, I obsess over them.
I finally understood why Ian was as dark as he was in the beginning of this series. And as reckless as he was. It all makes sense. I also kinda understood why he did what he did in the first book of the series, Sean’s book, when he made a decision that put his relationship with his brother at risk. But I get it. Everything made sense when I read this book. The fact that Ian survived the emotional pain of losing his wife shows just how strong he is. And I say survived, but definitely not recovered from it, because we know he never truly did recover from it. Charlie was the one for him. And I completely understood the way he treated her in the beginning of this book. He basically got his heart broken twice by the same woman, so him being a bit angry, hurtful and mean makes a lot of sense.
At the same time I couldn’t help but love Charlie. She had to overcome a lot of tough shit from her past, and while she had to do some really bad stuff along the way, she didn’t lose her humanity or her soul in the process. I loved how throughout the book she and her sister Chelsea are shown to be complete opposites. Chelsea, her younger sister, is darker, more lost due to the horrors of her childhood, while Charlie still has some pureness in her.
I really liked how the issue of commitment in a BDSM relationship was approached in this story. Here we have a guy whose wife died and tried everything in his power to survive that pain and did everything he possibly could to cope and to live in the fantasy of being with her one last time, while at the same time we have a woman who knows her husband is alive and well, and she did everything her Dom told her to do, even after she left him. I liked that aspect, as well as Charlotte’s reasoning behind doing some of the things she did to honor her contract with Ian.
There were some funny moments too. As already used to from future books when these two appear, I already knew Ian and Charlie are a really funny couple, so I was very glad to see that this was also present in their book.
The plot was really interesting and it shows how cunning the villain was, and how dehumanizing ultimate power can be for some people. It also kind of explains the first arc of this series really well and it shows that sometimes there’s a fine line between good and evil. We also understand what ties together certain events and certain characters, because this book adds a piece to the puzzle that shows exactly those details. The ending was really fitting and I liked how in the end Ian chose Charlie above everything else, even when everything seemed to be pointing towards her not being a trustworthy person. So I liked that he took a chance with her. As always, we get a glimpse in the future of the series and Damon is next. I am very excited to see what his story will bring.
Absolutely loved this story. Ian Taggert is tough, loving, romantic, sexy and just all that!!!