The Men With the Golden Cuffs, (Masters & Mercenaries #2), Lexi Blake

Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: DLZ Entertainment

Genre: Het Romance

Tags: Ménage, BDSM-Light, Contemporary, Romance

Length: 426 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza K

Two gorgeous men. Partners. Jake would be the deadly predator and Adam the tender warrior. They would function as a team, as halves of a whole. They just needed the right heroine to bring them both to life.

I have a soft spot for BDSM light with humour. And two guys one girl. What can I say? I like those odds 🙂

I didn’t read the first book in this series but there’s no need. Enough information on characters, and there’s a few of them, is supplied here. It is pretty standard fare for the author, but there’s always enough difference to make the characters different from previous books

Serena Brooks writes under the pseudonym of Amber Rose. She writes romance books. But is seems that one of her fans has become somewhat obsessed to the point of stalking her through Facebook. However, attempts at blocking him or brushing him off only inflames him. He’s more determined than your garden variety internet troll. As the book progresses so does the stalker’s ambition. Meanwhile Serena has a good fan base but, in something I suspect is fairly true to life, she cops a bit of flack about being a writer of ‘mummy porn.’ Romance writer’s aren’t real writers. She writes ménage books and she actually likes the idea of being in a sexy, caring ménage herself, dreams about it and hopes to fulfil her books plot lines in real life. Her ex thinks she’s a sick freak, the police aren’t much better, and her stalker compounds the whole idea.

Serena is sent to McKay-Taggert Security by her agent, Lara, to get some assistance dealing with her stalker. They normally work with high powered/profile clients but the owner of the business, Ian Taggart, owes his life to Lara’s brother. Unfortunately, Jake and Adam don’t get that personal ‘memo’ and send her packing, well, Jake does. He doesn’t (want to) believe her story. Perhaps she’s out to frame her ex, who wants more money from her success. Perhaps she’s a publicity whore, that’s what the police seem to believe as the main theories. Adam, on the other hand, likes the look of sweet Serena, she appeals to his desires. He wants a relationship with a woman who will take Jake and him. He decides he’s going to look into her stalker, whether it be with Jake, or not. He’d like it to be with Jake because that’s what they do – they’re as close as two hetero guys can get, they share their life, and their women.

The two main men in the book are Adam Miles and Jake Dean. Both men are ex Green Berets who now do close quarters protection and bodyguard work for Taggart-McKay. Neither has a great relationship with their respective families. Adam is the beta to Jake’s Dom, and they have a dynamic in a BDSM ménage book that I seem to gravitate towards. Adam is the more outwardly communicative one, he’s also the organiser. Jake comes off as tough and insensitive, but he has a fragile side that he hides well. Of course they are assigned Serena’s case, and of course a relationship develops. For a while the relationship gets rocky as both men hit a point of believing, with not as much evidence as they should have gathered, that Serena might just be behind it for publicity. And they handle it all wrong injecting some angst into their (possible) triad. I liked the angsty moments, I knew going in that a HEA was coming, but I liked seeing the characters work for it.

The mystery is well done. I had some ideas, but, really, it could have been one of at least half a dozen people. The secondary characters were all well layered. I really liked Brigid and Chris, Serena’s best friends. I also like the Eve/Alex dynamic and I’m wondering if they are getting a book. To top everything off, there’s some nice lovin,’ some humour, and a HEA. I like Lexi Blake’s writing. I have read her with Shayla Black, and under her other pen name. I thoroughly enjoyed The Men With the Golden Cuffs and will be looking at others in the series now.

Previous post
Getting Skinny (A Chef Landry Mystery #1), Monique Domovitch

Next post
Between Sinners and Saints, Marie Sexton