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Review

4 stars

The second book in the Sendaxa Chronicles, this is an exciting and steamy read with great action and a heartfelt friends-to-lovers romance.

Picking up where the last book left off, we are reunited with a brave bunch of survivors who have banded together in a quickly developing dystopian America. Most of the population are addicted to a dangerously destructive drug, and the man behind it is reveling in his new-found power. Arianna and Dominic are ex-soldiers who are caught up in the growing rebellion and are respectively the sister and best friend of Dani and Maverick from the first book.

Ari and Dom have a bit of a twisted dynamic. She has loved him from the moment she saw him, but he believed himself infatuated with her sister. Events at the end of the last book saw a moment of intensity shift everything for Dom, and his eyes are now opened to the woman of his dreams who has been in front of him the whole time. The problem is that Ari believes Dom is still in love with her sister. Complicating matters further, they’ve both been badly hurt by love before, and they’ve both suffered devastating loss. They’re both a bit broken, and Ari has no intention of ever opening herself up to a relationship again. Dom has quite the battle on his hands.

He would break down Arianna’s walls, even if she fought him the entire way.
And when he succeeded, perhaps they would finally experience the profound emotion they were both so terrified to feel.
Perhaps, together, they could learn to love without pain.

Forcing the inevitable confrontation, Dom and Ari are sent on a rescue mission to the base of the bad guy’s operations, so they’re going to be all up in each other’s space – with a bit of fake relationship thrown in just to make it even better. It makes everything more intense and brings excitement and intrigue to the story as the two soldiers team up to do what they do best… with Dom determined to win his girl over.

It’s a great set up, and despite Ari’s resistance, I could feel the connection between them from the very beginning. They’ve been through so much, and my heart hurt by how scared they both were and how, even though she loved him wildly, Ari just could not believe that Dom felt the same. Her continued refusal to acknowledge Dom’s feelings is frustrating, but he is determined to blast through her defenses.

“You’re stubborn…and fierce…and gorgeous…” His lips brushed hers as he spoke the words. “And you’re not easy, Ari. You require effort and dedication, and I was lazy with you for far too long.”
“I don’t want your effort–”
“Liar,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. The skin of her face tingled in every spot his skin pressed against hers. “I think you want me as much as I want you.”

Dom is so awesome! He’s all alpha and super protective, and while he’s careful of Ari’s vulnerabilities, he’s also respectful of her strength and independence. He wants Ari, and he knows he has work to convince her of that, but he throws himself into the task, refusing to let her get away, and oh holy wow, the man is so damn sexy.

“I’m someone who gets you, Arianna. Someone who can handle you. And you’re about to get fucking handled, sweetheart.”

They are all kinds of hot together, and as they give in to their chemistry, there’s so much passion and feeling behind it, and I loved watching them explore it all.

His dark eyes blazed as he stared at her. “Watch me worship you, Arianna. My gorgeous, fearless warrior.”

It’s sexy, intense and emotional, and the romance is really gorgeous. I loved seeing these two come together.

The romance blends really well with the action, and there’s a great balance between the two as the overarching series storyline progresses. It’s exciting with some great twists, and the stage is set for an epic finale in the next book, which will be Tristan’s.

I’m really enjoying this series, and I loved this one.

4 stars.

 

The Sendaxa Chronicles