Reviewed by Cheryl K
TITLE: Bullied: No More
SERIES: Legacy #4
AUTHOR: Rain Carrington
PUBLISHER: AAS Publishing
LENGTH: 309 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2020
BLURB:
Finding peace at last, Javier Duran thought he’d hung up his guns and camo from his life as a mercenary to live in a town surrounded by beautiful mountains. Taking jobs that required him to be out of town periodically was perfect for him, except this time, when someone broke into his sanctuary.
Daniel Norman didn’t have an easy life. Abused by his brother and ignored by his father, he only existed. Learning how to get around security systems was the only skill he had that his family gave him credit for, so he did it well.
The house on the edge of town, the mysterious man who owned it, they were different for Daniel. Intrigued, he did his job and got their crew into the house, but regretted it as each room he entered told him a little more about the man who lived there.
When Javier returned home during the break in, everything changed for them both. Attempting to save Javier, Daniel commits murder, and Javier is determined to save him. To a cabin he’d bought the same time he’d bought his beloved house, he whisked Daniel, getting to know the quiet young man and finding more than he bargained for.
The age difference was Javi’s main concern, knowing his feelings for Daniel could only grow. Discarding him like others had, however, could break him. Can Javi chance his own heart to save the heart of the young man, or will his old life creep back in and destroy them both?
REVIEW:
I am always excited to read a new to me author. This story by Rain Carrington intrigued me and I had high hopes as I started it. This book is part of the Legacy series but can be read as a standalone. The premise of this story is about Javier and Daniel. Javier is a mercenary with decades of life experience under his belt. Daniel is an abused and bullied young man. Daniel comes from a family of thieves and they have targeted the home of an absentee owner. Except the owner of this home is Javier and he was not really the absentee owner, Daniels brother thought he was. As the thieves are discovered by Javier, Daniel saves Javi’s life – killing his brother in a moment of blinding rage and ending the extreme bullying.
This story has great potential for an age-gap story, that builds on the high level of angst and abuse the characters are subjected to. The story felt disjointed to me and took several days of making myself sit down and read the story to get it finished, which is not a typical read for me. We have vague subplots going on and not a lot of explanation for them. This story is presented as a standalone, but I feel the previous book in this series should be read to gain more insight into some of the subplots mentioned in this book. The highlight of this story is the relationship between Javier and Daniel, and we experience a nontypical dominant and submissive relationship.
Although there is a HEA for this story, I was left unsatisfied with the journey they took to get there. With these concerns, I can only give this story a three-star rating.
RATING: 
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