Review: Bishop's Endgame - Katie Reus

Read the final book in the Endgame trilogy where blood is thick, but passion is thicker...

He kidnapped a princess to exact revenge.

Set up for a crime he didn’t commit, Ellis Bishop takes the law into his own hands to exact justice and clear his name. Unfortunately, that means he has to kidnap a crime boss’s daughter—a perfect mafia princess, set to become queen of a dirty empire. What he didn’t count on was falling for his mortal enemy’s daughter.

He wasn’t supposed to fall for her.

Arianna hates the man who kidnapped her, but soon she realizes that things aren’t what they seem. Ellis was framed by her stepfather and is trying to clear his name. If she helps him, it means betraying her family. But how can she turn her back on him when he’s innocent… when her stepfather turns out to be a monster she never really knew at all?

Endgame Trilogy:
Bishop's Knight
Bishop's Queen
Bishop's Endgame

Visit Katie Reus' website for more information.

Review:
Ellis spent years working undercover for the DEA but when his partner and best friend is killed by a mob boss Ellis finds himself set up for the murder and has to go into hiding. He's been trying to clear his name for months but knowing at least one dirty DEA agent helped set him up he has very few people he can turn to for help. All of his leads bring him to Ariana, the step-daughter of the mob boss who murdered his friend and with bank accounts in her name full of drug money she's in this mess up to her eyeballs and Ellis is more than happy to use her to make her father pay.

What Ellis doesn't realise is that Arianna is just as much a victim as he is, her stepfather has been setting her up too and she has absolutely no knowledge of any of his dodgy business dealings. Now their only choice is to work together to find out exactly what her stepfather has planned and find a way to prove both of their innocence.

I've enjoyed every minute of the Endgame trilogy, the first two books were great but I think Bishop's Endgame was my favourite of them all. We've known about Ellis since the first book, he's only made a very brief appearance up to this point but his brother and sister have both been trying to figure out how to help him clear his name so I already felt like I knew him. I'm going to admit things didn't start out great between him and Arianna, it's not often I find myself rooting for a kidnapper hero that's for sure. But Ellis had good reason to believe that Arianna was just as dirty as her stepfather so it was hard to blame him for his actions. Especially when he was so quick to apologise and try to make amends when he realised what a huge mistake he'd made.

Ellis was actually a really great guy, he'd been pushed to terrible lengths trying to get his life back but he was devastated by the loss of his best friend and the betrayal of another agent that he should have been able to trust. Yes he makes mistakes in the beginning but even when he believes Arianna is part of the mob he never physically hurts her or crosses any unforgivable lines. Arianna has absolutely no idea that her stepfather is a criminal so she's horrified when she realises the kind of man he is. She could have chosen to just go back to her safe and normal life but her family is responsible for the position Ellis is in and she wants to do what she can to help him get his life back.

I thought the two of them worked really well together and I liked that they didn't immediately jump into bed together. Things to happen over a fairly short timeline but they still got to know each other before falling into a relationship. It was great to see characters from the previous books pop up too and I thought this was a fitting end to the trilogy.

Source: Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Bishop's Queen - Katie Reus

Return to the Endgame trilogy where blood is thick, but passion is thicker…

He doesn’t believe in fairy-tale endings…

They used to call Evan Bishop the golden boy. He had it all and was about to close the business deal of a lifetime, then marry the woman of his dreams. But everything goes to hell when a faceless enemy wants to destroy his family’s empire and see him dead. Except the bomb meant to kill him fails. He wakes up from a coma to find his face scarred and his brother missing and wanted for murder. Now that he’s damaged, he hides away from the world—including the woman he loves. He refuses to be a burden to her, so even though it destroys him, he sets her free.

She’s about to prove him wrong…

Isla MacDonald isn’t walking away from Evan just because he’s decided to shut her out of his life. He blames himself for the bombing that got her father killed and nearly killed him—but he’s wrong. After all attempts to see him fail, with a broken heart she tries to resume her life and take over her father’s firm. Though it’s not her dream, she wants to honor his legacy. But when someone tries to kill her—twice—she needs a bodyguard. To her surprise Evan steps up and insists on protecting her, putting on a show as the caring fiancé. But he won’t let her back into his life or into his heart. To have any chance at a future together, they’ll have to resurrect the past and stay alive long enough to expose the man determined to see them both dead.

Endgame Trilogy:
Bishop's Knight
Bishop's Queen
Bishop's Endgame

Visit Katie Reus' website for more information.

Review:
Isla and Evan were the perfect couple, very much in love and looking forward to planning their wedding, but that was before Evan was badly injured in an explosion and things quickly spiralled out of control. Not wanting Isla to be stuck with a damaged man and also blaming himself for the death of her father, who was killed in the same explosion, Evan chose to push Isla away. He refused to even see or speak to her and broke her heart at a time when she needed him the most. Isla never wanted to give up on Evan but after weeks of no contact she realises that it's probably time for her to try and move on with her own life. Until she finds herself in danger that is. There's no way that Evan can leave Isla unprotected and the more time they spend together the more he realises what a terrible mistake he made in pushing her away but can he convince her to give him another chance?

We already met both Isla and Evan in the previous book, Bishop's Knight, so I was pleased that we were getting their story next. I kind of wanted to shake some sense into Evan for the way he was treating Isla in the previous book. He was doing that macho thing of trying to protect her by pushing her away but it was obvious that he was just making things even worse for both of them so it was incredibly frustrating to watch. I'm glad we got to see part of the story from his point of view because it made it much easier to forgive him for his stupidity, we get to see just how much he is struggling to deal with both his injuries and the survivors guilt he feels at making it out alive when so many others, including Isla's father, died. Evan made some dumb choices and he did hurt Isla because of that but it was easier to forgive him because we saw exactly what he was going through too.

Luckily it doesn't take him long to realise his mistake either and then he goes all out to win Isla back and to prove that she can trust him again. I could equally understand why Isla was wary of getting her heart broken again, not only did she lose her father in terrible circumstances but at the same time the one person she should have been able to rely on the most walked away and abandoned her too. She tried to hard to get through to Evan in the beginning but he was stubborn to the core and didn't even have the guts to explain things face to face. I found myself really rooting for these two to sort things out and get back together though. They were a great couple and the chemistry between them was palpable, even when they weren't really on speaking terms. I'm glad Isla made Evan work a bit to win her back but I was definitely happy to see them back on the same page.

Bishop's Queen was everything I was looking for, there's a strong romance with great characters plus a hint of danger alongside a mystery that kept me guessing who the bad guys were. I'm really looking forward to the final book in the trilogy where we'll finally get to know the third Bishop sibling better and hopefully see him clear his name.

Source: Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Bishop's Knight - Katie Reus

The Bishop siblings’ family is on the verge of collapse as all three find themselves embroiled in danger. Family bonds may keep them alive…but only love can give them something to live for. Read BISHOP’S KNIGHT, the first novel in this ALL NEW heart-pounding Endgame trilogy!

She needs his help…

Thanks to years of government training, Evie Bishop knows how to get into places she doesn’t belong—and she’s very good at it. But years of doing black ops work burned her out so she returns home—to unexpected chaos. One of her brothers is in a coma and the other is in hiding, wanted for murder. Then a fellow operative from her past shows up shot and bleeding with news that an assassin is gunning for everyone involved with a past op. She’s forced to turn to the one man she knows she can trust—the man whose heart she broke.

But it will come with a price…

When Dylan Blackwood proposed a year ago, Evie turned him down flat and walked out of his life. He’s stunned when he finds her on his doorstep covered in someone else’s blood, needing his help. He always knew there was more to her than met the eye—that Evie was never simply the pampered society princess she wanted people to believe she was. But he never expected this. If she needs help, he’ll give it. Even if he can’t forget her betrayal. Even if he isn’t sure he can trust her. But his protection will come with a price—her heart. Before they can have a chance at a future, they’ll have to work together to take down a faceless enemy who has Evie firmly in his crosshairs.

Endgame Trilogy:
Bishop's Knight
Bishop's Queen
Bishop's Endgame

Visit Katie Reus' website for more information.

Review:
Ex CIA Agent Evie Bishop has a lot on her plate, one of her brothers is in a coma after being caught in an explosion while the other has been accused of murder and is currently on the run from the police. The last thing she needs is any extra stress but when an old colleague turns up on her doorstep with a gunshot wound and tells her that members of an op they both worked on are being picked off one by one Evie has no choice but to dive back into a world she'd hoped to leave behind her. There is only one person with the resources she needs that Evie can trust to have her back but considering she broke Dylan's heart by walking out on him things are about to get even more complicated.

Bishop's Knight was a great start to the Endgame Trilogy, Evie is facing danger from all angles and the only person she can turn to is her ex Dylan. It's complicated further by the fact that she's still head over heels in love with Dylan but she's been keeping a huge secret from him, not only the fact that she was an agent for the CIA but also the fact that the reason they met was because she specifically targeted him on an op. She was never supposed to get too close to Dylan, he was only meant to be her introduction to the real target, but they had an instant connection that she found impossible to ignore and it ended up becoming serious. She only walked away because she felt that Dylan didn't know the real her and that he'd never forgive her for the secrets she'd been keeping but now they're thrown back together all her feelings come flooding back.

Dylan always thought there was more to Evie than met the eye but it isn't until she comes back into his life that he realises just how much she was hiding from him. He's more than a little intrigued by the strong and capable woman he sees before him and he's determined to get their relationship back on track. First they have to figure out who is targeting Evie and her team though, someone wants her dead and unless they find out who, and put a stop to them, Evie might not have a future at all.

I already said this was a great start to the series, just enough danger and action but still with a good hint of romance and great characters. Evie and Dylan worked really well together, it helps that he's ex military himself so he's more than capable of working alongside Evie to figure out what is really going on. I also really liked what we've seen of Evie's brothers and I'm looking forward to reading their books when they publish.

Source: Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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