A dark holiday story, where revenge and obsession collide. First time killer Elijah is on the run and gets help from a dangerous man that is now committed to keeping Elijah close. Very close.
From the blurb:
I didn’t expect my Christmas gift to be six-foot-two, a trained killer, and obsessed with me.
Eli
One bullet. One dead man. And now my wreck of a life is spiraling out of control.
The bastard deserved it, but I’m just a regular guy. I botched the escape, and since I killed him while wearing a Santa costume, they call me the Festive Fugitive. Cute. Too bad I’ll be spending Christmas behind bars or in a body bag.
Then he appears. Cesar.
My dark salvation. A trained killer who looks at me as if I’m his personal miracle. I killed his boss, yet he says I did him a favor. He wants to protect me, claim me, cage me in his arms, and God help me… I let him.
Because what’s falling for a monster when there’s a manhunt hot on my tail and a target on my back?
Cesar
Taken as a child, I was turned into a loyal weapon. I killed, tortured, burned, and bled. I was respected and needed. Until I wasn’t.
When I lost an eye, my master pushed me aside, but as I waited for my ‘one last job’ so I could retire, Eli pulled the trigger.
I never expected some half-starved, grief-drunk civilian in a Santa outfit to free me, but that’s what happened.
Eli is everything I am not—fragile, impulsive, untrained. And yet he killed the man I was bound to. He doesn’t know it, but he owns me now.
He thinks I’m his protector, that I’ve taken him under my wing. But it’s more than that.
He’s mine. My obsession. My purpose. My beautiful, reckless mess of a man, and I’ll burn the world before I let anyone take him from me.
I guess Christmas came early for Eli this year.
★★★★★★★★★★
“Festive Fugitive” is a standalone M/M dark romance where a trained killer takes an amateur vigilante under his wing and gets increasingly obsessed with his new ward. (+Christmas crafts!)
Themes and tropes: Size difference, trained killer, snowed in, on the run, only one bed, hurt/comfort, revenge, loneliness, possessive hero, past trauma, brainwashing, dark humor, disabled hero, morally gray heroes, touch starved, free use (within the couple)
Warnings: Violence, strong language, PTSD
SNik's review:
Third in series (Murder and Mistletoe), but can be read as a standalone. Hurt/comfort. Dual POV. Heed content warnings.
Elijah has killed the man that destroyed his family, but now is on the run, unknowingly getting help from a grateful killer. Cesar’s boss and keeper is murdered and now Cesar is obsessed with the man that did it, helping Elijah escape is only part of what Cesar would like to do with him.
This story is full of insta-obsession, insta-lust, insta-love, and insta-codependence, and if you can handle all that with morally grey characters then this book is for you. K.A. Merikan has a way of connecting two men that may be red flags for most people but are able to find that special person that meets them equally in their shared hopes and desires. All of the action, violence, and possessiveness were entertaining, and of course the spice was off the charts. I found myself rooting for Cesar and Elijah to get their HEA, and the glimpse we got was actually sweet. A fun, dark, holiday themed romp of a read.
Festive Fugitive is currently available as an audiobook, e-book, and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
Festive Fugitive is currently available as an audiobook, e-book, and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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