THE MAN FROM SANCTUM (Masters & Mercenaries: Reloaded 3) by Lexi Blake

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 8, 2022

A painful past

Deke Murphy and Maddie Hall should never have worked as a couple in high school. She was the class valedictorian and he the jock who took nothing seriously…except her. Together they formed an amazing team, and young love blossomed into something that strengthened them both. Until tragedy struck and Deke made a sacrifice that split them up forever.

An unexpected reunion

Seventeen years later, Maddie is living her dream working for a brilliant tech guru in the beauty of Southern California. She’s made a life for herself and it’s first class all the way. She rarely thinks of the jock who dumped her all those years ago. But when Maddie realizes her boss might be part of an international conspiracy, she can’t deny Deke might be her best bet to solve the mystery. Her one-time sweetheart works for one of the world’s premiere security and investigative firms. She’ll hire him and prove to herself their relationship could never have worked.

A dangerous future

As Maddie and Deke begin to uncover her boss’s secrets, they can’t deny the chemistry that has reignited. But before they can explore the connection growing between them, they must survive the deadly forces hunting them down.

•••••••

REVIEW:  THE MAN FROM SANCTUM is the third instalment in Lexi Blake’s contemporary, adult MASTERS & MERCENARIES: RELOADED erotic, romantic suspense series-a spin off from the author’s various interconnected Masters and Mercenaries series, as well as a cross over with the author’s LAWLESS series. This is Dom/security specialist/former CIA Special Ops Deke Murphy, and IT/computer programmer specialist Maddie Hall’s story line. THE MAN FROM SANCTUM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line and series is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise there may be triggers for more sensitive readers with some scenes of bondage and discipline, domination and submission including spanking.

Told from third person perspective THE MAN FROM SANCTUM follows the rebuilding romance relationship between Dom/security specialist/former CIA Special Ops Deke Murphy, and IT/computer programmer specialist Maddie Hall. Approximately seventeen years earlier Maddie Hall’s heart was destroyed when her high school sweetheart, Deke Murphy, sent our heroine packing, without looking back. A disastrous Special Ops mission destroyed our story line hero, and in the ensuing years, Deke Murphy found a home with McKay-Taggart Operations, a group that specializes in undercover and dark ops investigations but Deke never expected to come face to face with the woman he pushed out of his life, a woman who is desperately looking for help in the face of a potential disaster. Enter IT/computer programmer Maddie Hall, and the woman with whom Deke is still in love. What ensues is the rebuilding relationship between Deke and Maddie, and the potential fall-out betrayal and vengeance are the name of the game.

Maddie Hall was devastated the day the boy/man that she loved pushed our heroine out of his life, and Deke refused to be the reason she stayed behind. Deke Murphy’s time in Special Forces left our hero a shell of his former self, having endured a lifetime of pain and suffering like no one else. Rekindling his relationship with Maddie has always been a priority but Maddie needs a Dom in an attempt to ferret out a potential betrayal and the possibility of a her life’s work used for nefarious purposes.

The relationship between Deke and Maddie is one of second chances: a rekindling romance and relationship in which Maddie needs to go undercover as a submissive, and Deke is the only man she trusts as her controlling Dom. Maddie is a newbie in the world of BDSM, a little naïve to the nuances of a Dom/sub relationship but Deke is determined to prove he is the man she has always loved. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate; the Dom/sub relationship contains scenes of bondage, discipline and spanking-our heroine isn’t a true submissive, and pushes at the boundary between submission and control.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and familiar secondary and supporting characters including most of whom we have met in previous story lines including Ian and Charlotte Taggart, IT specialist Mae Beatrice Vaughn aka MaeBe, former CIA agent Kyle Hawthorne, CIA operative Drake Radcliffe, Adam Miles, Jake and Boomer. We are introduced to Maddie’s boss and world renowned inventor Nolan Byrne, and his ‘associate’ Jane Adams. Once again, the members of The Club/Sanctum/and McKay Taggart are a family, such that each person is a part of the whole, a family that is often closer than blood but deception places the team in jeopardy leaving heart break and mistrust in its’ wake.

THE MAN FROM SANCTUM is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, forgiveness and acceptance, love and understanding. The premise is intriguing, revealing and captivating; the romance is seductive, erotic and intense; the characters are desperate, energetic, determined and strong.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Submission Impossible
The Dom Identity

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.

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