Monday, February 11, 2013

Review: How Beauty Saved the Beast by Jax Garren

How Beauty Saved the Beast (Tales of the Underlight #2) by Jax Garren
Synopsis (Goodreads):
Jolie Benoit left her old life behind to become an agent of the Underlight. Training under Sergeant Wesley Haukon, she’s honing her combat skills, all the while coping with the intense sexual attraction she feels for Hauk. She keeps their friendship casual, but when his high school sweetheart transfers into their division, Jolie finds herself grappling with jealousy.

The Underlight gave Hauk a purpose, but he can’t escape his past completely. The physical and emotional scars from the fire that killed seven fellow Army Rangers will mark him forever. Jolie sends his protective instincts into overdrive, but he’s convinced he’ll never be worthy of her love.

Hauk is determined to keep Jolie from harm. But when the Order of Ananke ambushes them with a new weapon that neutralizes Hauk, making him vulnerable, it’s Jolie who must tap into her hidden strengths to rescue him—or risk losing him forever…
My Thoughts: No lie, I was ridiculously enraptured by book 1. The world, the characters, the damage that Hauk has had to live with... all of it caught me up in its orbit and wouldn't let go. Book 2 is light on the sexy times (no worries, guys, there's plenty of tension and a few hotty hotty hot hot kisses.) but it was still a heavy hitter in the overall world and the build-up of Hauk and Jolie's eventual relationship.

As long as I'm talking about their relationship... I really, really dig how they're both circling how badly they want one another. Jolie's "we're just friends" is hilarious because, yeah, they are but there's so much more there, too. And Hauk? I just want to cry for him and the way he tries to be so stoic about his scars and how he looks while you could practically feels him shriveling up inside whenever someone flinched away from him.

I loathed Ashley for throwing a wrench in the Hauk/Jolie dynamic from her first appearance, loved some of the answers we're getting about Hauk and his rages, and want to see how these two crazy kids are going to defeat the bad guys and get their HEA. MORE, PLEASE!

Books in this series
1. How Beauty Met the Beast
2. How Beauty Saved the Beast - Kindle
3. How Beauty Loved the Beast

Author Links
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

How Beauty Saved the Beast  was provided for review by Carina Press through NetGalley.

4 comments:

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    1. I will not stop. Ever. Until you have read it.
      (Terminator references never get old. NEVER!)

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  2. This cover totally captured my attention. The world-building sounds awesome & a hottie named Hauk. Definitely a plus.

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    1. I agree. The cover is very purty and eye-catching. Well, he's a hottie under his scars. I really liked that he isn't perfect. He's damaged and Jolie's okay with that. *thumbs up*

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