Title: AXEL (Corps Security #1)
Fate hasn’t always been friends with Isabelle West. In fact, fate has been a downright bitch.
Isabelle has learned the hard way how hard life can be when fate isn’t by your side. It can hand you dreams on silver platters, but it can snatch them right back and hand you nightmares. One thing Isabelle knew for sure fate was consistent with was taking away everything she ever loved.
For the last two years Isabelle has been slowly clearing the clouds of her past. Happiness is finally on the horizon. She has a thriving business, great friends, and her life back. All she has to do is jump over the last hurdle…her ex-husband.
When problems start causing her to fear her new life, and memories that are better left forgotten start rushing to the surface the last thing she needs is a ghost from her past to come knocking on her door.
Axel never thought he would look into the eyes of Isabelle West again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to now. He’s carried his anger for so long he isn’t sure he can just turn it off, but when he is faced with protecting her and an unexpected desire to have her again, life gets a little more complicated.
How will Axel and Isabelle deal when all their cards are put on the table and everything they thought was true blows up in their faces?
Note from the author--This book is intended for a mature reading audience and isn't suitable for younger readers.
I’ve been eyeing Harper Sloan’s
Corps Security series for a long time now but just didn’t have the time to read
and really get into it since it’s quite lengthy. Five books and a novella,
right? However, during the last few days of January I came across the synopsis
for Harper’s upcoming book which is Unexpected Fate and I immediately liked it.
Have you read the synopsis? Damn, that
alone is already breaking my heart. I’ll probably be needing tissues while
reading that book. I did some scrolling over its Goodreads page and saw
that the story will revolve around the kids of the main characters from Corps
Security. That gave me the push and so here I am, doing my assignment and
getting acquainted with these characters.
“Fate hasn’t always been friends with
Isabelle West. In fact, fate has been a downright bitch.” More than ten
years of being pinned down under Fate’s thumb, piled up misunderstanding since
then and “quite free” from her abusive ex-husband, a blast from her past comes
strolling back in her life.
Axel. Her first
and true love.
After years of scouring
all over the place, Axel never thought that he’d FINALLY see her. Fate’s playing
around with them again. Not funny. Their confrontation and years of pent up
anger must take a back seat first because of Izzy being placed in a life
threatening situation brought in by her douchebag of an ex-husband, Brandon. Deal with Brandon and talk.
Now that they’re reunited
with each other, Axel’s desire to protect her, to love her and basically his
every desire for her fires up in his system while Izzy craves for him and his
love too. Lust. Love. Yes, they still
pretty much have it for each other. But before they are going to be able to
move forward, there are a lot of things that they need to address first concerning
their past.
Both of them need
answers. But can they handle it when
everything is all said and done? Is their love for each other strong enough?
Axel by Harper Sloan is good debut novel and series starter. The story may be quite predictable for me but then it still managed to impress me when it came down to its pacing, the uniqueness of the intensity that the story brought and how every emotion that Harper Sloan poured into these characters seems to have come to life and found its way to claw in my heart.
The story is told from alternating POVs of Izzy and Axel from the present and a number of flashback sequences were included to recount their relationship as childhood sweethearts. From the flashbacks, you can
really feel how deeply rooted they are with each other and their relationship.
Their love just pours out from those pages of the book. So what happened?
Miscommunication? Oh yeah, that played a big ass part here. I forgot; throw in
a bit of stupidity too! What happened with them was a big ball of
misunderstanding due to taking other people’s word who is obviously someone
they shouldn’t believe in. Thus, they ended up hating each other for all the
wrong reasons.
A painful past and a painful
path to the present, that’s what you’re getting yourself into with this book. Isabelle
West seems to never run out of tough luck cards in her life. She moves from one
painful experience to another down to ending up with an abusive husband and a
failed marriage. Sloan pulled out all the dramatic stops in this book which got
me into thinking, for real? Can a person really have that kind of luck? Yes, the situations her character was put through were realistic. But with almost everything happening to her one after the other,
I don’t know but for me it feels like going way overboard.
I cry for everything what fate
has done to her and her life. I know that the author wrote a warning in the first few
pages of the book for domestic violence being present in the story but despite
that I still wasn’t prepared. The horror to read what Brandon did to her,
unimaginable but so real. She suffered so much pain and I know it isn’t easy to
deal with. But I know that people can deal with it without being much of an
alcoholic. I didn’t like that she took that road. Well, that’s how she’s coping with the drama in her life then so be it. But take note: You won’t be able to
solve a thing if you’re too drunk to think of ways of how to pull yourself from
the depths of pain and anger. I have to praise Dee and Greg for being so protective,
understanding, patient and being there for Izzy even if she tends to be a bit
difficult.
Axel Reid, Damn! He’s a man on
a mission: to protect and claim her woman once again. He’s over the top
possessive (I rolled my eyes a couple of
times) towards Izzy and swears a lot (filthy
mouth too) but the scenes wherein they were talking about their past and
the whole truth comes out has truly taken a toll on him. Seeing an Alpha male
character crying and having a breaking down moment was enough to make me cry
along with him. Add in the visual that Sloan painted in my imagination with her
words. Every whimper that he made, every
shake of his shoulder and every tear that leaked out of his eyes I imagined and
felt it in my bones. It was heartbreaking.
But that part when Axel telling
Izzy that they’re happening already wasn’t just enough for me. I know they’ve
rehashed and unravelled the truth but I would
gladly take it if there were scenes wherein they were shown working out and
rebuilding their relationship after that shit storm they’ve both suffered from
the past. I know that Axel’s character is such an imposing one but by not
having those scenes it feels like that that
fact was being imposed to the readers. I think, those were highly important
scenes for a second chance romance themed book, especially given Axel and
Izzy’s situation wherein fate has time and time again stepped in and royally
screwed them over. Hey, that’s what I just thought.
Looking at the previous books
that I’ve read, I haven’t come across a book filled with Alpha male characters
and all of them being an ex-Marine at that. It’s definitely an interesting and
huge change from the usual reads that I fervor. Axel, Greg, Beck, Coop and
Maddox truly turned the heat up a notch and at the same time playing important roles in the story. In addition, they aren’t just hot bods because
Sloan managed to breathe in and give these characters such distinct
personalities. You could certainly tell their characters apart from each other
and I had so much fun being in their presence. Despite being
described as hotties with pounds of muscles in them and acts uber possessive
dudes, all of them are a huge softie. Yes, all of them and we’ve seen a glimpses of
it here in Axel. I can't wait to see more of it!
I think one my favourite parts of this story is the great set of characters that surrounds Axel and Izzy and
the friendship that they have with them. I adore every single thing about Dee,
Greg, Coop, Beck and Maddox. Even Sway. I love them even more because they showered Axel and Izzy with so much love and support. Something both of those
characters needed. It was also so obvious that Harper Sloan was teasing us, though.
If you’ve been very observant, she left important marks in this story wherein
we could possibly see where the story line will go or the conflict for specific
characters will lie. I’m super teased. Damn, if I can only read these books all
the daylong I would do just that! I want to know what happens with Maddox and
Emmy, Dee and Beck, Greg and also for Coop. This book left me wanting to know and to be with these characters more when I finished it. So expect to read more reviews coming from this series in the following days because I'll definitely be picking up those books!
Axel by Harper Sloan is a story about getting a second shot at love, a powerful and beautiful kind of first love that overcomes every heartache and suffering, and a chance to be healed. I would like to recommend this book to readers who love drama, angst, oh so hot Alpha-male characters, steamy scenes, and a great friendship story.
RATING
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