Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Savage

SERIES:  Hart Consulting

AUTHOR:  Rae Marks

PUBLISHER:  Pride Publishing

LENGTH: 346 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 11, 2022

BLURB:  

Book three in the Hart Consulting series

A happily ever after only ten years in the making.

For ten years Mase has tried to tamp down his feelings for Jazz. Every time they come close to having something real, Jazz panics and disappears. They break apart only to collide again. After three years away, Mase comes home just in time to see something that twists his insides. Jazz was slipped a drug that loosens his tongue just enough to let a bit of his past slip free. But he only calls out for one person, Mase.

They’ re locked together for the next few weeks. Mase is determined to show Jazz that there’ s something undeniable between them, even if Jazz fights him every step of the way. But their investigation takes a dark turn, and Mase’ s past is trying to catch up with him and push Jazz out of the way.

REVIEW:

Note:  This is the third in this series and it’s recommended to be read in order.  There are major spoilers for the previous books as well as a lot of foundational information for the organization, teams and missions.

Book three opens with Jazz taking off after the drugging incident of book two.  Mase is furious that he’s run off without backup.  Luckily he’s tracking Jazz and is there to make sure he’s safe.  Jazz is furious because he’s taking care of personal business and he did not want Mase or anyone following him.  That personal business is not something he’s ever shared with anyone.  In addition, he’s got to make contact with a long lost and unclaimed family member that he does not want to see.  He doesn’t want Mase to know about this either and so he’s really unhappy when Mase barges in.

After the confrontation, Jazz makes contact with another person from his past that he’s not keen on seeing but that he feels somehow compelled to see.  Mase accompanies him which makes things better in some ways, worse in others.  He’s embarrassed about his past and he’s done his best to compartmentalize so many things that happened to him in his youth.  He’d definitely got a lot to deal with and he’s taken a lot on himself and beats himself up a lot.  No matter how much Mase tries to convince him that none of this was his fault, he struggles a lot.

When they return to Hart Consulting, things are still tenuous.  Mase is still dealing with his family issues as well with his brother Nick constantly badgering him to speak with their dying father.   This leads to a lot of bad feelings and anger for Mase that he is not in a good headspace to deal with.  When another unexpected family member shows up, it’s clear that there are things that Mase had not known and that maybe they would have made a difference if he had.  But there is a lot of water under the bridge that he’s not wanting to deal with.  The rift seems to be getting larger though between Mase and his brothers which is affecting the team as well.

When Jazz decides to deal with his issues, he’s finally starting to make headway.  He and Mase have reached an understanding and are exploring their relationship.  But then Jazz finds out that someone else from his past is searching for his family determined to flush him out.  He sees red.  Once again Mase is there for him.  But when he’s recalled overseas before he can have a heart to heart with Mase, there is a possibility that he’s lost his chance because both he and Mase are caught up in a bad situation.  Jazz finally realizes that without Mase, he has nothing.

This episode of the story focuses more on the personal relationship between Jazz and Mase and less on the trafficking operations.  I think I enjoyed this one the most because we finally get some forward progress with Mase and his family as well as Jazz and Mase who are like moth and flame and yet seem to come together only repel each other when things get too close.  When we finally understand what has happened to Jazz – not just with his family, but all the bad things from his past – it’s clear why he struggles with being with Mase.  He’s protecting himself and he has not dealt with trauma that has scarred him and every time he runs, it just makes things worse.  Things come to a head and he’s forced to either let Mase go or deal with the situation.  The problem is that he still isn’t honest with Mase and he tries to push things that end up making him panic.  Between this push/pull with Jazz and the pressure from his family, Mase is about at the end of his rope too.  It’s clear though that these two are meant to be and they will never be happy with anyone else.  Sam (who is one of the MCs of book one) does his best to help Jazz realize that he has to deal with his issues if he really wants to make things work with Mace because that’s what he’s had to do to have a healthy relationship with Bray, one of Mase’s brothers.

The family conflicts and screwed up dynamics  – both Mace and Jazz’s – I thought were very well written and did not try to wrap things up nicely in a bow with letting bygones be bygones and everybody is one big happy bunch.  Rarely is that how things turn out and I appreciated that sense of reality in portraying how people really are able to deal with family drama/trauma and misdeeds.  In the end, the encouragement of family and friends and the support of found family allow Jazz and Mase to realize that they will always be better together than apart – no matter how hard they will have to work for it.  In my opinion, this is the strongest book of the series from a personal growth and dealing with life issues perspective.  Recommended.

RATING: 

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