Taken

Landon is a mercenary who works with his brothers for the mob. Landon has never had any say in what he does with his life and has been left to the mercy of his brothers. He just needs this one more op in order to be free of them forever. The op takes them to an island where they are to kidnap the owner of the house. The mission goes wrong and Landon and his crew are taken. When he comes to the owner of the house Kirith gives Landon's brothers to friends of his and decides to keep Landon for himself. Kirith is attracted to Landon and makes him a deal. Three months with him as his lover and then he is to be set free. Landon thinks this is doable and decides that what could possibly happen in three months that would lead him to his ultimate goal of freedom. He never figured he would give his heart away.This story was a lot better then I thought it was going to be. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It had a great plot with some suspense and the romance aspect was perfect. I like how Landon and Kirith were both looking for freedom and they were kindred spirits together. I liked their relationship and how it blossomed over time and when the action happens I was on my toes anticipating what was going to happen next.

Possible Spoilers within...Having read this story for the third time, I thought it only only fair that I thank the author with a review.The cast of characters is unique.... Not a stereotype in the book. There are several men to choose to fall in love with, I love that kind of balance in a great story, it gives it depth and more emotion and true-to-life feeling.Having written all that, there is violence, the story demands it and it is brilliantly constructed, never overdone and completely in context. Not a wasted or overdone sentence or plot in the book. Even the children, whom I often find overdone or precocious in an M/M, are perfectly suited to this story, and more, they add to it, are not just cute window-dressing or foils to make an adult look good or bad.I highly recommend this story but make sure you have a good block of time before you dig in, because it is hard to put down.

MILD SPOILERSLandon is a mercenary, but not by choice - he has been abused by his brothers and isolated from the real world. And when he is captured by Kirith, the powerful and gorgeous son of a famous mob boss, Landon is more than a bit overwhelmed. Kirith spares Landon's life and offers him a "deal" - spend 3 months with him on his private island and serve as his personal "boy toy," and Landon will have his freedom. Landon has nothing to lose, and he is drawn to his beautiful and seemingly all-powerful captor. But there is more to Kirith than meets the eye - hidden pain and longing, and before the three months are over, both men will lose their hearts.The setup is pretty typical for a master/slave M/M story. And although there are some uncomfortable moments, Landon's desire for the mysterious and charismatic Kirith makes their sexual encounters more than just non-con. That said, the story devolves into a different type of master/slave relationship (and not between our two lovers) which is far darker and more disturbing. This is where I had a difficult time with the book and, without spoiling the plot for real, the subject matter is, at times, hard to bear. Yes, there IS a happy ending, although not all sunshine and roses given the subject matter. Still, I recommend this book- it is engaging and hard to put down.

Landon is an unwilling mercenary working for underworld families. He is under the thumb of his brutal older brothers, but is planning for his escape. But he is captured on a mission to take Kirith Martinelli, the son of one family, at the request of a rival. Landon hates that he has done bad things in his short life, but understands that he will probably deserve whatever is coming to him. Kirith had been living peacefully on a tropical island with his young daughter, and Landon had been a part of an attempt to ruin all that.But Kirith is not a mob boss, even though his older brother most definitely is. Once he sees that Landon is not just another hardened mercenary, he offers him a choice: stay with him and do his bidding--even in bed-- for three months and then be free, or be sent off to captivity in the crueler hands of Kirith's underworld associates.This tale alternates between dark action and suspense and the very human wants and needs that exist in all people--the criminal and the more mundane. The tropical island retreat is both a magical place and also a defended prison. The characters, too, have their conflicting sides. Here we have traumatic events and pasts and the hope that love can still somehow overcome it all.

Yeah, o.k. - so the synopsis didn't really give you the entire outline of the book, but thats not what they're supposed to do. The synopsis is a brief blurb - if it were meant to tell you the whole story then you wouldn't need to read the book. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While the relationship between Kirith and Landon isn't formed under ideal circumstances (to say the least) it is, indeed, a relationship that develops between them. I found it easy to care about both Kirith and Landon; their difficult and jaded backgrounds keeping them both from falling into that "too perfect" pattern that we all too often see in M/M romance. There is a portion of the story that is difficult to read, but not because of the writing but because you hate to think of anyone going through something so devastatingly traumatic. What I do appreciate is the way the author wrote this part of the story. It is written in such a way that you are clearly aware of what has happened to the character without is being unnecessarily graphic.Now that the healing has begun for our hero's, I would love to see where the story could go from here. As Elisa mentioned in her review - lots of interesting characters here and lots of options for a continuation of the story. Highly recommended.