Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback

Review

4 “we got this” stars

Book 3 in the Marked Men series brings us the story of big brother Archer, Rome, and feisty bombshell, Cora. Both well known in the series, I’ve been looking forward to reading their individual stories, so imagine my delight when I discovered that they hook up in this, their combined book! I absolutely love these two together, and I love their story. It was unexpected and blissfully functional, but with a nice amount of drama that is intense but doesn’t overpower the story, and a whole lot of sweet, swoony and sexy romance. Such a great read, I loved it!

Rome has recently returned from Afghanistan. He was injured in an attack that saw his entire team killed, and though he has physically recovered, emotionally, he is a wreck. On top of all that he has endured at war, he is still reeling from the death of his brother years ago, and is estranged from his parents after the devastating revelation of family secrets, and his hurt over their behaviour. The only one he is close to is his younger brother, Rule. But not even Rule and his friends can drag Rome out of the mire of his depression and PTSD, and his struggle to find his place in his new life.

Cora is a punk-rock ball of sass. She works at The Marked, and has become part of the family of the boys who all work there. She is all confidence and in-your-face-feisty, but deep down she’s been left vulnerable by a relationship gone bad. Cora had her heart broken when she found out her fiancé was cheating on her. It’s been years, but she has totally closed off her heart and refused to become involved with anybody unless he is perfect. She wants the perfect relationship with the perfect man – one with no issues, no baggage, who is ready for a lifelong commitment, and who is going to give her a perfect life, and she isn’t willing to risk her heart on anything less.

Cora and Rome know each other, of course. Their interactions have been mostly antagonistic due to Rome’s broodiness (and to the point where Cora calls him Captain-No-Fun), but they both feel a simmering attraction to each other. Not that either of them have any intention of acting on it. But Cora has a huge heart, she would do anything for one of her boys, and when Rome ends up in trouble one night, she reaches out to help him. One thing leads to another, and that antagonistic relationship explodes into some serious sexual chemistry that rocks both of their worlds and leaves both of them completely shaken.

God, I love these two together! A tiny, opinionated, heavily tattooed and pierced girl and a big, hulking, ex-soldier, they are complete opposites, but there is something about them together that just works. They never intended to start anything between them, but they both feel the connection and they know that they need to explore it.

I could see the idea of Mr. Perfect, this fictional ideal I had built in my head, start to tatter under the force of everything that was Rome Archer.

And to my immense happiness, they get it all out there. They talk to each other about how they are feeling, they admit they both have issues but they agree that what they are feeling is too big to ignore, so they decide to go for, and I love that!

“Being with you is the one thing that feels solid and real… You’re so full of color, so vibrant you never get lost in all the gray in my head. I don’t want to lose that.”

“Don’t be scared Captain-No-Fun, we got this.”

It sets the stage for a beautifully functional relationship where these two opposites define their own version of perfect as they fall hard for each other. It’s not easy, and there are mistakes made along the way, but they want each other and they make it happen, and I loved every moment of it!

“I’m not flawless either … But I kinda think together, we might get close to something spectacular if we want it bad enough.”

Rome and Cora’s personal journeys are a big part of this story, and I love the way that was explored. Despite everyting they are dealing with, these are two incredbily strong characters, and I love how they dealt with their issues in their own way, but they also work together to heal each other, and them moving on from their pasts and finding their own ways forward was tied in beautifully with the love story.

“I don’t want you to be a part of my nightmares, Cora. But I’m selfish enough to ask you to want to be.”

I could chase the shadows with him. As long as he was willing to let me bring the light in.

There is a fair bit of drama and excitement that goes on in this one, and it’s a heartbreaking read at times, but it’s nowhere near as frustratingly angsty as the last book in the series was! There are short moments of angst, but they are short-lived, part of the characters’ development, and realistic to the story, and overall it all plays out beautifully! I loved the direction that their story took, I loved the way they handled it, I just love them together!

“This, Cora…this is as perfect as two people can be.”

I loved Rome and Cora’s story. It made me laugh and swoon and clutch my heart at the pure awesomeness that was these two together. And with exciting follow on for some of the earlier couples, and a great lead in to Nash’s book up next, I’m really excited to continue on with the series.

I loved it – 4 stars.