We are back in Lark Taylor's Damned Connections series and this time it's our favorite aloof vampire assassins time to shine. In Justice we see opposites attract grumpy sunshine put their pasts behind them and try for love again.
Sebastian epitomizes the grumpy persona but the minute he saw Matty in Patience something changed in him and I was so eager for his story. If you think you know Sebastian and Matty after reading Patience, just wait until you get your hands on Justice! Lark Taylor sure knows how to give us an emotional ride.
From the blurb:
Blood. Torture. Murder. They’ve been my only companions for centuries. I haven’t needed or wanted anything else.
Until I see Matty smile. Then something in me, something that’s been dormant for centuries, begins to reawaken.
Matty doesn’t belong in my world. He’s loving, innocent, and full of joy. The darkness of my life would corrupt him in a heartbeat, but when he’s dragged into it against his will, nothing can stop me delivering my personal brand of justice.
Matty keeps fighting for things I can’t give him, for things I’m no longer capable of. I can’t come between him and his family. I can’t give him what he needs.
But I also can’t stay away from him.
Matty
I’m surrounded by couples in love.
Once, I thought that’d be me. That I’d be swept off my feet and experience the kind of epic love you only see in movies.
Now, I know better.
A horrific night taught me to look for other things in a partner. Someone who’s predictable. Safe. Stable.
Sebastian is anything but.
Everyone tells me to stay away from him, but I don’t understand their concerns. How can he be a villain when all he’s shown me is kindness?
He makes me want things I thought I’d given up on. Things I’m too scared to admit I still want.
The trouble is, I can’t figure out what Sebastian wants. He tells me he can’t say no to me, but he won’t open up. He says to stay away from him, but he keeps coming around.
One thing is for sure, Sebastian is who I want in my future.
But how can I keep fighting for us if I’m the only one doing it?
Justice is a MM PNR romance about a grumpy vampire assassin and the sunshine human he can’t stay away from. The second in the Damned Connections series, each book will follow a different couple as they find their HEA. Although better read in order, these books can stand alone.
Molly Otto's review:
We've all come to know and love Matty from Patience as Leo's sunshine little brother, who everyone protects. We all have also met and kind of got to know the standoff ish vampire assassin Sebastian. Yeah, guess what? we didn't know him at all. Lark, as usual, knocks us on our arses with a brutal prologue that changes everything, we understand why Seb is the way he is. Matty and Seb are instantly drawn to one another, but because of past demons, Seb makes many mistakes. It takes the help of others to show him he is actually not a bad guy but someone who can be accepted if he actually opened up to others.
Will say this isn't as rough as Patience (but really will any be?), yet still brings the angst you come to have known and expect from a Lark Taylor book.
ChaosKay's review:
Well Lark didn’t let us down Sebastian and Matty are everything we wanted but it was a hard road for them to get their HEA . As much as everyone said how bad Sebastian was Matty saw something in him none of them saw and he knew he wanted him no matter what anyone else thought . Sebastian was so hard on himself doing what he thought best for Matty not realising how much he was hurting himself as well as Matty but when you heard Sebastian’s story you understood why he felt he couldn’t be enough. I sat all the way through rooting for Sebastian because if anyone needed some happiness and sunshine in his life if was him. Although I’m looking forward to Toby and Blaise’s story I really really want more of Danny and nope I’m not telling you’ll just need to finish Justice and find out 😆
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:
"ɪ ᴡɪꜱʜᴇᴅ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʜɪᴍ. ʜɪꜱ ꜱᴀꜰᴇᴛʏ ɴᴇᴛ. ʜɪꜱ ʀᴏᴄᴋ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ᴏɴ.
ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ."
I love a damn good redemption arc, and though Sebastian wasn't truly a "Bad Guy" in previous books, he was definitely universally disliked. In all honesty, he was a raging prick. I loved him. He's the epitome of a grumpy MC and I adored how he fell for the sunshine in Matty. These two together may not seem like a great match to anyone on the outside, but they do not see what happens behind closed doors so to speak. With Matty, Sebastian is kind. He's caring and protective. And I loved whenever he would pick Matty up and just lug him around the place. I never thought I'd say Sebastian was cute, but here we are.
"ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏᴛɪɴɢ ʜɪᴍ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴡʜɪᴍ. ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴡᴀʀᴍᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ. ʜᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ."
The steam in this one was HELLA HOT! Matty may seem like an innocent little angel, but the little minx has a few surprises up his sleeve. Not to mention he knows how to work with what he's got in order to make the feared Sebastian putty in his hands. Matty and Sebastian had to go through quite a lot for their HEA. Lark definitely wanted to torture us a little. But I forgave her when I got to the epilogue. It was perfect.
A few different couples are teased throughout Justice. We already know about Micah/Nox and Toby/Blaise, but I am here to say I'm pretty sure we now know who our favorite wolf shifter Danny is going to end up with. Ol Danny boy has some skeletons in his closet he's going to have to contend with and his possible mate will definitely be a wild card in his plans. Not to mention just plain WILD. I cannot wait to see how these couples all pan out!
Angel's review:
I am a big fan of Lark's writing, there hasn't been a book she's written that I haven't enjoyed. All of her work is written so exquisitely, and all of her characters have such big personalities that make them endearing, and relatable.
I have been very curious about Sebastian ever since his character got mentioned, and I am so happy he finally got his own book! I always wondered what made Sebastian distance himself from everyone, and what happened to him... And in this book I got those answers. This book does have some angst and has the characters that we know and love bickering like always, and while Lark's other books have tugged on my heart strings, I think this has been Lark's most emotional book to date. This book made me teary eyed several times, reading about the betrayal Sebastian went through, and the heartbreak and turmoil he's experiencing absolutely gutted me.
I'm so happy that Matty's character is the light in Sebastian's darkness, he's guiding Sebastian away from the heavy weight of darkness that has been clinging to him ever since his family got taken away from him. I adored Seb and Matty's relationship, I thought the pacing was done well and I love the grumpy/sunshine trope that took place! Yes, Seb's a grump, but he made really sweet gestures toward Matty to make him happy, and to put a smile on his sunshine's face. I think this book is my new favorite out of all of Lark's work.. Sebastian and Matty's characters just grabbed a hold of me and did not let go, and I grew attached to both of their characters. I'm so happy that both Seb and Matty found their person. I also really enjoyed the nod to Lark's other series Caffeine Dreams, I thought that was a really fun way to tie in her other series!
I am now going to be eagerly awaiting for the next book!!
Justice is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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