Tuesday 28 August 2018

Review: Lost Hearts (Memento Mori) - Lexi Blake

Six men with no memories of the past

One leader with no hope for the future

A man without a past

Jax woke up in a lab, his memories erased, and his mind reprogrammed to serve a mad woman’s will. After being liberated from his prison, he pledged himself to the only thing he truly knows—his team. Six men who lost everything they were. They must make certain no one else gets their hands on the drugs that stole their lives, all while hiding from every intelligence organization on the planet. The trail has led him to an unforgiving mountainside and a beautiful wilderness expert who may be his only hope of finding the truth.

A woman with a bright future

River Lee knows her way around the Colorado wilderness. She’s finally found a home in a place called Bliss after years lost in darkness. The nature guide prefers to show her clients the beauty found in the land, but she also knows the secrets the mountains hold. When she meets Jax, something about the troubled man calls to her. She agrees to lead him to the site of an abandoned government facility hidden deep in the forest. She never dreamed she was stepping into the middle of a battlefield.

A love that could heal a broken soul

Spending time with River, Jax discovers a peace he’s never known. Their passion unlocks a side of himself he didn’t even know he was missing. When an old enemy makes his first move, Jax and River find themselves fighting for their lives. But when his past is revealed, will River be caught in the crosshairs of a global conspiracy?

Masters and Mercenaries Series:
The Dom Who Loved Me
The Men with the Golden Cuffs
A Dom is Forever
On Her Master's Secret Service
Sanctum (Novella)
Love and Let Die
Unconditional (Novella)
Dungeon Royal
Dungeon Games (Novella)
A View to a Thrill
Cherished (Novella)
You Only Love Twice
Sweet Child O' Mine (Short Story)
Luscious (Novella) (Topped book 1)
Adored (Novella)
Master No
Just One Taste (Novella) (Topped book 2)
From Sanctum With Love
Devoted (Novella)
Dominance Never Dies
Submission is Not Enough
Master Bits & Mercenary Bites: The Secret Recipes of Topped (Short Story Collection & Recipe Book) (Topped book 2.5)
Perfectly Paired (Novella) (Topped book 3)
For His Eyes Only
Arranged (Novella)
Love Another Day
Master Bits and Mercenary Bites: Girls Night (Short Story Collection & Recipe Book) (Topped book 3.5)
At Your Service (Novella) (Topped book 4)
Nobody Does it Better
Close Cover (Part of the Masters and Mercenaries Crossover Collection)
Protected (Novella)
Lost Hearts (Memento Mori) (Originally published as Memento Mori) (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten Series book 1)
Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten Series book 2)
Enchanted (Novella)
Lost in You (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten Series book 3)
Long Lost (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten Series book 4)
No Love lost (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten Series book 5)

Masters and Mercenaries Crossover Collection:
Close Cover - Lexi Blake
Justify Me - J. Kenner
Say You Won't Let Go - Corinne Michaels
His to Protect - Carly Phillips
Rescuing Sadie - Susan Stoker
Her Guardian Angel - Larissa Ione

Visit Lexi Blake's website for more information

Review:
Lost Hearts (Memento Mori) is the first book in a spin off from Lexi Blake's Masters and Mercenaries series featuring a group of men known as "The Lost Boys" who were previously rescued by Taggart and the McKay crew in the original books. I have to admit I'm fairly new to Lexi's work, I fell in love with her writing this year when I discovered her rereleases of the Nights in Bliss and Texas Sirens series previously written under the pen name of Sophie Oak and I'm slowly catching up on her urban fantasy Thieves series but I've not actually read the Masters and Mercenaries books yet (they're on my list but she has a huge backlist so it's going to take me a while to get fully caught up!).

Anyway, that means I've met Taggart and some of his men in the series I've already mentioned but I don't know any of the background history of the Lost Boys so I was worried I might be a little lost starting this book. Luckily Lexi Blake does a great job of catching new readers up and even though I'm now even more excited about reading the previous stories I didn't have any problem diving in here. I think it helps that all of her books are so interconnected, the setting for this story is actually Bliss so we get to catch up with characters from that series and it was good to see some familiar faces.

Jax is one of the Lost Boys I've previously mentioned. Alongside his brothers he has no memories of his life until approximately 3 years ago when they woke up in a lab after having their memories wiped in a sick experiment. The men have no pasts and before their rescue they were regularly tortured as their captor tried to reprogram them into perfect soldiers. Now they're on the run from some very powerful people but at the same time they're trying to track down more information about what was done to them and find out about their lives before they were initially captured. Their research has led them to Bliss where they believe that a secret government lab is hidden in the wilderness that may contain the key to their missing memories. River is an experienced tour guide who knows the area like the back of her hand so Jax and his brothers need her help desperately to find the secret laboratory, but can they find the information they're searching for before their past catches up with them?

Jax and his brothers are great, I loved getting to meet everyone and see how much they've all been affected by what they suffered and I'm looking forward to all of their stories. The brothers are all totally different but have been bonded by their shared experiences and they have some powerful allies in Taggart and his team. I really hope they're all going to get a book because I want to know more about all of them. Jax is a really sweet guy, he's been through so much but somehow still manages to put his trust in River and show her how much she means to him. He's ashamed of things he did in captivity but has done his best to move forward with his life and just really wants to find a place to call home.

River is quite a prickly character at first, she had a pretty bad experience with her ex that left her understandably wary of men and the recent death of her father has left her worn down and struggling to cope. I found her very easy to relate to and although there was a point where I wanted her to trust in Jax and not listen to a complete stranger I did understand where she was coming from and felt it made her character even more realistic. I enjoyed the chemistry between her and Jax, they hit it off immediately before they know they're going to be working together, and things are only made complicated thanks to a mistake on his brother's part and the fact that River has huge trust issues. Jax is very patient with her though and when River makes up her mind she puts her all into helping Jax and his family.

I really enjoyed this story and I'm definitely excited to continue this series, it's also left me even more eager to catch up with the original Masters and Mercenaries books too so Lexi Blake has definitely gained a fan in me this year!

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.


Paperback / Kindle:

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails