The Dom Who Came in from the Cold by Lexi Blake
POV: 3rd person multi
PoP: 23%
Tropes: Second Chance; BDSM; Protector Romance; Found Family; Second Generation
Series: Masters and Mercenaries: reloaded book 5
Type of Series: Series of Interconnected Standalones
Rate: 5/5 Stars
Release Date: February 21, 2023
The Dom Who Came in from the Cold by Lexi Blake has been one of my most anticipated books of 2023. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint me at all.
Mae Beatrice Vaughn is a woman that people don’t realize she is as strong as she is.
Kyle Hawthorne is one of these people.
I love the way this book was set up. It opens up in the present with Kyle coming back from the dead, and Maebe not being okay with it. Then it transports us back to eighteen months prior when these two meet for the very first time. And their relationship progression until Kyle fakes his death.
There is nothing better than a woman scorned. Especially one who takes no crap from the person that hurt her. Maebe knew from the get-go it was a ruse, but no one trusted her with that truth. She makes a choice that she isn’t going to hide her head in the sand but rather create a new environment for herself. Yes, by the end of the book she realizes that she lost a lot of herself in doing this, but you can understand why and her motivations behind all of her actions.
Kyle was such a sad soul… and I mean that in all forms of the statement. He is lost when he meets Maebe and trying to find a new place in his life after his world basically implodes. Kyle holds so much close to the vest and not truly letting anyone in, and not talking about events that were a catalyst for his world’s upheaval.
He honestly thought that he was making the right decisions, but he made a grave error. He didn’t see Maebe as fully as he should. Yes, he fell in love with her, and yes he saw how strong she was, but he didn’t realize that she didn’t need to be protected by him. He needed her to stand next to her through the good and the bad.
As always Ian is a delight in this series, and it wraps up the storyline that has be threaded through the last couple of books seamlessly and the epilogue introduces the next spin-off series perfectly.
