Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: Steal The Key
SERIES: Wilde Contracts #2
AUTHOR: Maz Maddox
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 358 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2024
BLURB:
A necromancer, an incubus and a vampire walk into a bar….
My life’s one bad joke after another.
I’m in a race against time to steal a Death Goddess’s key before it falls into the wrong hands. There’s also a good chance the ruthless family I left behind are hot on my heels—and vying for the very same key that I’m planning to destroy.
Saving the world is tricky enough, but doing it while chronically broke is another thing entirely. I don’t have time to worry about paying my rent—even if I am late. Yet again.
And I don’t have time for romance, even if my heart has other ideas. Especially when it comes to a beautiful but distant incubus, and a vampire bodyguard I have no business finding attractive…
Talk about complicated.
But the clock’s ticking. Somehow, I’ve got to steal the key, avoid my family, and figure out my love life before things go to hell in a hand-basket.
Oh, and I need to stay alive. Can’t forget that.
All I’ve got are my shaky necromancy powers, an awkward sense of humor in the face of danger, and an empty wallet to assist me.
Piece of cake…right?
REVIEW:
What a fantastic book, it is a roller coaster ride. There are so many twists and turns, so many emotions and trying to make sense of everything. Wilde goes through it all pining, stuffing everything up, getting up and dusting himself off, unexpected happenings, heartbreak the list goes on. Prepare yourself for an epic adventure.
Wilde is still trying to come to terms with his necromancy powers and having a vampire bodyguard. He hates vampires because of what happened when he was a child. He is an assassin and generally vampires are his main target, his specialty, now not only does he have a bodyguard with him 24/7. Zane is a vampire who can feel his emotions, which are complex and conflicted. He hates him, doesn’t he? Despite himself, he notices Zane’s perfect hair, and ripped body. Hiding behind snark and sass, he doesn’t like Zane, does he?
Then there is Sias, who is an incubus who feeds from sexual energy, he has a harem of partners with Wilde being one. Their casual relationship has been changing lately, does Wilde want more? What does Sias want? What would more look like? Is it best to keep to the status quo? An incident at Sias has Wilde fearing that he has lost him after all, he is bereft and doesn’t know how to fix it, if it is fixable at all.
Life is confusing and Wilde doesn’t like confusion, he doesn’t like looking at his emotions and he especially doesn’t like that he might be wanting to rely on someone. That is dangerous territory for him, it has never gone well in the past, so he is determined to keep it all at bay and hope his treacherous emotions settle down.
Wilde’s past is coming back to haunt him, the family he found and then left. Seem to be trying to find the same artifacts that he is trying to track down. A showdown is inevitable, but Wilde is hoping that past affection will help him weather the storm of the reunion.
After Wilde is coerced into finding The Death Goddesses Key, he knows he is in a race against time to find and destroy the Key before the others get there. He just doesn’t know the terrible price he will pay in the end.
I really loved this book, Wilde is a fantastic character so brazen, bold and snarky on the outside, so lost on the inside. He makes terrible decisions based on his lack of self-worth which lands him in so many difficult situations. Zane is the aloof Vampire, who guards Wilde but lets all sorts of things happen to him, which is funny. Zane cares he just hides it really well.
The will they won’t they vibe, is strong in this book and keeps you guessing until the end. The action is fast paced and ultimately had me reaching for the tissues as I cried my eyes out. Hurry up I need book 3 to find out what happens. I’m rooting for you Wilde you’ll sort this mess out.
RATING: 
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