Ok. I had a lovely review written for this book and I’ve lost it. It’s gone…poof! And then Ms. Callahan unleashed The Fall of the Red Queen a bit early (YAA!!) and I’m sitting here staring at an empty page trying to figure out how to tell you how much I enjoyed this book. 😉 So I’m going to write this off the top of my head.
I LOVED this book. I have thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series and each book has been better than the previous one. This one, though, is a story of redemption- Madlyn Robicheaux’s redemption. She has been a character that I wondered how she could ever be redeemed but once we learn why Madlyn is the way she is, the path to her redemption is much easier to understand.
I was absolutely immersed in this book. The pull between Madlyn and Jared was like a massive magnet and when they gave in to their attraction for each other, it was HOT LIKE FIYAH. I found myself just completely sinking down into this story. I love this world that Ms. Callahan has created and every time I finish one of her books, I’m immediately ready for more.
That was Madlyn Robicheaux.
She was good at destroying things, even seemed to enjoy it. If he convinced her to join Marshall and Marshall, she could continue wreaking havoc, and he could go back to doing what he loved. So as much as he despised the Red Queen, he needed her to take this offer. All he had to do now was convince her they were her only option. And Jared was good at convincing people to do what he wanted.
He stopped at a Vietnamese place without asking if she liked Vietnamese food. She didn’t speak when he parked the car. She stayed silent as they walked into the restaurant and were seated.
She wasn’t sulking. She was waiting. Patiently.
Too patiently.
Like a spider who had finished its web and now waited for its prey to stumble into the trap. It unnerved him more than he wanted to admit.
“So, Maddie,” he began, determined to disturb her more than she was disturbing him. He relished the way she flinched when he used her nickname. She didn’t like it, which made him like it more. It was so not her. She was too hard around the edges to be a ‘Maddie.’ “What was that about holding Robbie hostage?”
The server arrived, and Madlyn quickly gave the girl her order while avoiding his question.
“Same.” Jared handed the girl the laminated menu without looking away from Madlyn. Her eyes met his, but this time he was ready. The intensity of eye contact with her should’ve reduced him to ash. Instead, it made him want to reach across the table and rub some heat into that frozen expression.
“What do you want?” She surprised him by glancing away first.
“After what he did to Jen Taylor, do you really have to ask?”
“Taylor?” Madlyn’s eyebrows lifted. “Don’t you mean Jen Sellers?”
That barb fell short, but he didn’t let it show. “Your grandfather kidnapped her, drugged her, and tried to annul her marriage. He’s not getting away with it.”
She didn’t blink at the accusation, but she also didn’t deny it. “I’m confused. You don’t mind that she’s married to Stefan? Seriously?” Her smile was pure evil. “Oh, that’s right. You escorted her down the aisle, didn’t you? How’d handing her over to Stefan feel?”
“She loves Stefan.”
“So you’re just friends?” She was laughing at him, but her expression didn’t change.
“That’s right,” he bit out. They were just friends. He loved Jen. He’d die for her. But he’d realized a while back he wasn’t in love with her.
Those black eyes sized him up, searching for a weakness. When she didn’t find one, she released a bored sigh. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to help you destroy my grandfather.”
“Are you sure about that? Because things aren’t looking so good for you.”
Her bored expression never wavered. “Be a good messenger boy. Go back and tell your daddy I said no.”
His head snapped back. “Messenger boy?” Boy?
She smiled again. Well, it wasn’t so much a smile as it was a show of even white teeth. And while her mouth was surprisingly kissable, she’d probably bite him.
Although biting didn’t sound awful.
Purchase:
The Fall of the Red Queen is Book 3 in the Southern Style Series. While it can stand alone, it’s highly recommended that you read Sweetened with a Kiss first. Not a serial. Each book in the Southern Style Series features a different couple with standalone HEA. It’s category style contemporary romance told in third person from the point of view of both hero and heroine.
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Self Made Man…Southern Style Series
Book 1: Sweetened with a Kiss – Amazon (available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited)
Jen Taylor has loved Stefan Sellers all her life. When he surprised her with an engagement ring, she thought all her dreams were coming true. But when she discovers Stefan has an agenda that she never even suspected, she breaks off the engagement and goes to pastry school in Paris. Now she’s back in New Orleans, and she has no intention of marrying him for all the wrong reasons. She just has to convince him that marriage is a bad idea. If only she wasn’t having so much trouble convincing herself.
Book 2: Solving for Nic – Amazon (available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited)
Now that Lizzie Sellers is twenty-one, Nic Maretti can’t think of a single reason why he has to stay away from her any longer. When he sees her again at Stefan and Jen’s wedding, he decides he wants her. And what Nic wants, Nic gets. He just gets a whole lot more than he bargained for with Lizzie…
Available now