The New York Times bestselling authors of the Masters of Ménage series present the third scintillating novel featuring the privileged, wealthy, wild men of Creighton Academy—the Perfect Gentlemen.

Years ago, Naval officer Dax Spencer and NCIS agent Holland Kirk indulged in a steamy affair—until she betrayed him in the wake of his father’s death. Dax tried to put her behind him with a payback of his own. But he never forgot Holland…

Now, as Dax and his fellow Perfect Gentlemen unravel a web of lies, he discovers his family’s tragedy is part of a much larger conspiracy. Soon, all clues point him back to New Orleans…where Holland waits, protecting her deadly secret and holding a torch for the only man she’s ever loved.

Once reunited, they can’t fight the passion flaring hot and wild. But something sinister lurks around every corner, from the elegance of the Garden district to the beauty of the bayou. Dax and Holland may find their way back to each other—if they survive...

While I wouldn’t say the series started going downhill exactly, it was this book that the series started backsliding for me. I loved the first book and fucking loved the second book. Don’t series books get better with each successive book (see Hidden Legacy)? Unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t up there with the first two.

When this book begins, all we know is that Dax and this Holland person have had a nasty falling out. Which is putting it mildly. What I mean by that is that you know it’s putting it mildly even before you find out what happened. It’s just apparent that Dax hates this woman. It could have been this:

Until he’d seen that translation, he’d never intended to set eyes on her again. She’d betrayed him in the cruelest fashion possible by closing her investigation after giving it as much thought as someone opening an umbrella on a rainy day. In the blink of an eye, she’d made a judgment call that gave the press free license to vilify his father. Hell, she’d even had him believing his father was guilty at one point. She’d torn down his family to further her career. Oh, he’d paid her back. Now nothing lay between them but anger and regret.

Yeah, it was that.

Im not a fan of books that go from past to present in general. When I’m in the middle of a series where there has been a lot of action and I want to know more about the present, like, now, I have even less patience for the jump back in time. I understand that Dax and Holland’s past had to be told. It was just such an adjustment in reading pace compared to the first two books. It was hard. Very hard. So hard that I started skimming the past until I got to the good part and understood exactly what happened.

Holland sacrificed everything to keep Dax safe. They were in love. Seriously in love. Like get married, have babies, etc. in love. After years and years of knowing each other, Holland finally took a chance on Dax. He was everything she hoped he would be and more. The problem that lay between them now is the suicide (or was it?) of his father. Holland isn’t certain it was suicide any longer and she is determined to help Dax find out the truth. That’s until the Russians come to her with a threat. Drop the investigation or Dax dies. If she doubted it, she stops when he comes home that night and tells her some crazy driver almost hit him. If that didn’t do it, the text would have.

To help Holland stop the investigation, the Russians put money into her account to make it look like she was on the take. Dax is too hurt to wonder why Holland–Holland–would do something like that to him. He has no idea how he could have been so wrong about her. He quickly beats feet and leaves New Orleans. He takes Holland’s best friend with him and elopes with her in Vegas, though. Whoops. Guys are dumb. For real.

Now we’re back to the present (If you’ve stayed with me this long, grab yourself a drink–you deserve it). Dax may be blind, but he’s not stupid. He’s finally realized what happened all those years ago and he’s seriously shaken. He abandoned the woman he loved. Still loves. He left her in danger. He married her best friend. He took everyone from her. She was good friends with his mother, friends with his sister. All gone. Dax knows he has a lot to make up for, but he’s determined to do it. He’s going to get her back. He’s going to make sure they have what they should have had years ago.

There’s still that thing with the Russians though. That and someone is taking shots at both Holland and Dax. Not to mention something is going on with Holland’s uncle, who is the captain of the New Orleans Police Dept. They have serious problems. But they still have each other. Right?

Winding down…I really enjoyed the last 35-40% of this book. The whole book was very well written, but the whole thing was about pace. It was really hard to switch gears. I don’t think I really did, even by the end. Even with that, I liked Dax and Holland a lot.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Perfect Gentlemen

The second Perfect Gentlemen novel from the New York Times bestselling authors of the Masters of Ménage series.

Privileged, wealthy, and wild: they are the Perfect Gentlemen of Creighton Academy. But the threat of a scandal has one of them employing his most deceptive—and seductive—talents…

Recruited into the CIA at a young age, Connor Sparks knows how dirty the world can be. Only when he’s with his friends can he find some peace. So when an anonymous journalist threatens one of the Perfect Gentlemen, Connor vows to take down the person behind the computer, by whatever means necessary—even if it means posing as his target’s bodyguard.

Publishing a tabloid revealing Washington’s most subversive scandals has earned Lara Anderson the ire of the political scene—and a slew of death threats. To keep herself from ending up a headline, Lara hires a bodyguard, a man as handsome as he is lethal.

When the bullets start to fly, Lara is surprised to find herself in Connor’s arms. But as they begin to unravel a mystery that just might bring down the White House, Lara is devastated when she discovers Connor’s true identity—and finds herself at the mercy of forces who will stop at nothing to advance their deadly agenda.

If Scandal Never Sleeps was wow, this book was wow squared. This book is my favorite of the series. I loved it. I love Connor, I love Lara, I just loved everything about this book. Well, except the lying. But really, what are you going to do?

After the death of one of their own, no one understand the danger more than Connor Sparks. Connor was never naïve, not even as a young scholarship kid at Creighton Academy. He may have been innocent, but even that was questionable. When he was approached by the CIA shortly after graduating, Connor didn’t have very many options. So he said yes. Now he has the skills needed to find out who killed Maddox Crawford. But it’s not his skills as an operative that are needed. It’s the charm he’s never had that is needed in this case. Since he knows that will never work, he decides to go all in with a seduction.

Lara Anderson runs Capitol Scandals. It’s an online website which seems to publish tawdry political news. What the site truly does is pull people in with the tawdry and get them in stay with the true political scandals and news. Connor is sure that she’s involved with the Russians that killed Mad. He’s gone in undercover on the web to get to know Lara as everything she wants in a man. Everything Connor isn’t. He doesn’t much care at first, then he gets to know her. As things start progressing further, he realizes that Lara needs real protection.

Lara doesn’t know why her new friend Niall thinks she needs a bodyguard. She’s willing to listen to him because she’s falling in love with him. He believes in everything she does. He’s basically her dream man. The she meets Connor and she really questions what Niall is thinking to send such a neanderthal to protect her. Connor is everything she doesn’t like in a man. He’s big, bossy, and he eats meat. He also doesn’t listen to her. Lara tells him in no uncertain terms that she is not in danger, but he won’t listen to her. Then someone tries to kill her.

Connor is walking a very fine line here. He has to be Connor in front of Lara, but he still has to keep up the Niall persona online. If he doesn’t, Lara won’t trust Connor. In real life. Another thing is that Connor is falling for her. The problem is that Lara is falling for Niall. So there’s that. What a conundrum.

I loved watching these two fall in love. Connor was always on the outside, even with the Perfect Gentlemen. He finally found somewhere that he belonged, with someone he felt he belonged with. The problem is that he lied to get there and he doesn’t know how to get out of it. He stupidly thinks that Lara never has to know. When you’re friends with the President of the United States, you can’t really hide what you’re doing. Especially when the woman you love thinks he’s a murderer.

I loved Lara too. She was such a staunch defender of her beliefs, whether they be political or environmental. Her and Connor were such opposites, but they were absolutely perfect for each other. Just perfect. I adored them.

Oh, we also find out more about what happened with Mad’s death, why the Russians are involved and if Zack has anything to do with it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Perfect Gentlemen