Redemption Refused (Mission Mercenaries 5) by Marie James-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 1, 2023

Hooking up with the college freshman I was supposed to keep an eye on was easier than tracking her.
Kidnapping her after that first night was easier than following her around campus.
I’m massive, scarred, and tattooed. I don’t exactly fit in with her crowd.
After the job was done, cutting her loose was the hard part.
Making it through the day without seeing her became impossible.
Some may call it stalking, but I call it vigilance.
She seems invested in this game of cat and mouse we’re playing, but she’s mistaken.
I’m not a toy she can discard when she’s bored.
Trying to get her out of my system may leave us both in pieces.

••••••

REVIEW:REDEMPTION REFUSED is the fifth instalment in Marie James’ contemporary, adult MISSION MERCENARIES dark, erotic, romance series. This is twenty-three year old, vigilante Elio ‘Donavan’ Lombardi, and nineteen year old, college student Alani Warren’s story line. REDEMPTION REFUSED can be read as a stand alone but for back story I recommend reading books three and four BRIDGES BURNED and DEPRAVITY DELIVERED. Alani is Ayla’s sister (Depravity Delivered): Donovan is the brother to Madelene (Bridges Burned) Some of the events of REEMPTION REFUSED cross over with, and run parallel to some of the events of book four DEPRAVITY DELIVERED.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the storyline premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers including r*pe, torture and abuse.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Donavan and Alani) REDEMPTION REFUSED follows in the wake of the abduction, abuse, trafficking and recovery of Alani’s sister Ayla. Ayla was trafficked to the Mexican Cartel, and forced to do unthinkable acts in an effort to protect her younger sister Alani. Alani has no sense of self-preservation, searching for danger at every turn in and around the campus at Lindell University, believing she is untouchable but Alani has been assigned a guardian in the guise of Donavan, a man who stirs something dangerous and dark in our story line heroine.

Donavan and Alani are questionable characters-they are both angry and volatile, dark and psychopathic in their anti-social behavior. Alani has poor to no behavioral control, often hurting those she should loves the most. On a downward spiral, Alani places herself in perilous situations with erratic behavior in an effort to make herself feel. Donavan witnessed the horrific death of the woman he loved, the loss of their child, and the murder of his sister, and has set about to destroy everyone involved. Babysitting Alani is the last thing he wanted to do but Alani’s unhealthy and treacherous life is quickly falling out of control, where she will be targeted by the Cartel that abducted her sister.

The relationship between Donavan and Alani is tempestuous, turbulent, aggressive and destructive. Alani is a walking siren, loving the attention no matter how bad but things go from bad to worse when she is unable to fight the shadows in the dark. Donavan doesn’t do relationships, doesn’t do love but something about Alani draws Donavan to the kindred spirit so much like himself. The $ex scenes are contentious, provocative and intense.

The secondary and supporting characters include Alani’s sister Ayla and her boyfriend Nash; several members of the Cerberus MC, all of the previous story line couples from Mission Mercenaries, as well as fellow university students, and members of the Cortez Cartel. The requisite evil has many faces. Nash and Ayla struggle with Donavan’s dark personality but it is his darkness that attracts our story line heroine.

REDEMPTION REFUSED is a dark, gritty, haunting and twisted story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, darkness and evil. The premise is tragic, edgy and raw; the characters are broken and questionable; the romance is unconventional, destructive but limited to aggressive $ex and foreplay.

Heed my warning-there are numerous triggers and questionable acts of vengeance that may not be suitable for more sensitive readers.

Reading Order and Previous reviews
Lessons Learned
Mistakes Made
Bridges Burned
Depravity Delivered

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Let’s see…where to begin…

I’m inching up on the BIG 4-0. The gray hairs are doubling what seems like daily, and the wrinkles and laugh lines are more pronounced than ever.

I have an amazing husband (Married just over 15 years.)

We have two boys we’re doing our best to raise as respectful gentleman.

I have a master’s degree in criminal justice which I used to work as a juvenile probation office until deciding to write full-time in June of 2019. So that means there’s usually always some criminal/law element to my novels.

If I’m not writing; I’m reading.

My favorite genres recently are bully/reverse harem and enemies to lovers. Maybe I’m reliving my traumatic teen years through the girls who actually end up with the boys. (Not that I would change my history since it’s gotten me exactly where I need to be!)

I love coffee. I miss carbs. Music is LIFE. I try not to be too serious.

To learn more about Marie James & her books, visit here

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