Reviewed by Taylor

TITLE: Dominant Predator
SERIES: The Border Wars #2
AUTHOR: S. A. McAuley
PUBLISHER: Total-E-Bound
LENGTH: 137 pages
BLURB: A relationship is the least of Merq and Armise’s concerns…

With one bullet Merq Grayson set the wealthiest citizens of the world on a collision course with the poorest—with those fighting for their freedom. As the Borders War reignites, the Revolution faces heavy losses. They scramble to maintain their advantage, to strike at the Opposition and crumble their power structure before they are able to rally.

But Merq is in the midst of an internal battle that shakes him to the core. For the first time in his life Merq will have to reconcile the inherent tragedy of war and decide just how much vengeance can be justified by spilt blood. How much can he trust the men and women around him? The President, Neveed, his former soldiers, his parents…and Armise.

Merq and Armise find themselves off grid and on the hunt for Committee members. Merq is just as unsettled with Armise at his side as he was with Armise as an enemy, but they will have to learn how to fight together—or they may just die together.

REVIEW:  

This is the second book in the Borders War series featuring Merq Grayson, a Peacemaker working for the Continental States, and Armise Darcan, a Dark Ops officer supposedly working for The People’s Republic of Singapore.  These men should be enemies, as the two sides are engaged in a war.  However, they have maintained a consistent sexual relationship for over a decade, and the end of the first book, the Revolution began with the shot of the first bullet in over 200 years.

So let me start off this review stating that I much preferred this book to book one.  It’s not that the writing was any better, because I think this author has immense talent in terms of world-building and presenting interesting characters, and plot twists that actually keep me excited as the series progresses.  The reason I preferred this book, however, is because I’m finally catching on and keeping up with the author.  This is one of the series I can tell that I’m going to have to reread all of the books each time a new one comes out.  I believe there will only be three books, so this isn’t a hardship, but in many regards I wish this came out as one large novel.  That being said, the author knows exactly where to end each novella, so that it punches you in the gut with tension.  There are many facets to this story.  Politics, family relationships, lover and ex-lover relationships, co-workers, and feelings of betrayal, disgust, lust, and maybe even love.  The reader needs to keep up with all the terms, the timelines, and the characters.  I wish the series progressed in a linear manner, because I believe it would flow smoother.  It often has flashbacks, which can be confusing at times.

But let’s get to this book in particular.  I LOVE Merq and Armise!!!  I love their entire dynamic and whether the other can fully trust the other.  I want to believe in my gut that both are being honest, if not to others, than at least with each other.  The sex scenes are hot and actually progress their relationship.  THANK YOU, JESUS.  The scenes aren’t filler, and each time one happens, it’s new, sexy, and peels away a layer to their relationship.  I also love that the secondary characters serve a purpose in exposing different aspects about Merq and Armise, while providing new plot threads.  There’s still a lot left unsaid between these two, which is both sad and humorous considering how many years they’ve had this ongoing ‘thing’ between the two of them.  But the author still reveals relationship dynamics slowly and interestingly as the series progresses.  From sleeping habits, to reasons for participating in different areas of the war, to sexual preferences.  I do wish we’d actually get more reveals about them, but I think it makes sense how the author has depicted their relationship to the reader thus far.  For years these two men have, for the most part, only expressed themselves with their bodies, both sexually and with violence.  They’ve never shown affection in traditional ways, nor would either at this point know how to handle that.  They know how to show the other that they lust after the other, they know how to show anger or disappointment, maybe even fear, but all of the rest will come later.  They are in the middle of a Revolution, and trust has come slowly, but both feel that in the midst of lies and war, they have to have at least one person they can believe above all others.

The secondary characters are also really intriguing and I’m dying to know more about Simion (who I have a soft spot for) and Neveed.  Also, 2^nd key?!?!?!?!  The technology is awesome, and I’m excited to learn more about the gen modification.  I hope the author really writes this series for many, many books, because I feel she’s only touched the surface of this world and these characters.

Recommended for those that love sci-fi, enemies to lovers, action, plot twists, and hot smut (ß who doesn’t love that last one!!).

Taylor rates it:

BUY LINK: Total-E-Bound  ::  Amazon  ::  All Romance eBooks 

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Taylor is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: TAYLOR’S REVIEWS
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