6 Locke-d and Loaded Stars
ARC received for an honest review
"I crave her and everything and everything she keeps trying to hand me. I crave her and everything she could give me. My very being calls out to her, and I work daily to refuse it.
So I pushed.
Until she ran.
But that ends right now."
Let me start by saying that I am an out and proud Harper Sloan and CS series lover! And because Locke is the last story from the Corps Security series, it was a bittersweet experience for me to read it. But as with all the previous stories in the series, Locke (and Harper Sloan) did not disappoint in delivering the stunning and heartwarming series finale, if I may say.
Maddox Locke, we've known him from the earlier books as a serious and reserved guy. He rarely smiles and mostly keeps to himself. And we also know him as someone who loves his friends and treats his friends as his family. He is fiercely protective, amazingly thoughtful and loving and undeniably sexy. But all of these wonderful things about him are obvious to everyone but him. He sees himself as broken, tainted and a guy that would darken every light that he comes across with. Maddox Locke grew up in a home with a mother and brother who constantly drills him about how evil he is, how he taints everything he touches and how undeserving he is of great things in life. But he had Mercedes who he drew his strength from. A love he thought would make all the negative things in his life more bearable.
Until it was not.
Deception.
It was all a lie.
And he was left broken ever since.
My heart broke into a million tiny pieces for the young Maddox who didn't get to enjoy a fun and loving childhood and I was furious as all hell for the adult Maddox who carries around the negativity and godawful treatment he got from his mom and brother. The first 5 notes I have on my Kindle were all about how horrible and hateful that mother of his is! It made me want to reach into my Kindle, snatch Maddox up and give him a tight hug and tell him encouraging, supportive and loving words. At the same time, I admire Locke's fortitude, the courage he possess must be good for a dozen more people. Because who grows up being treated like trash, with no one to lean on for love and support, and still be the kind of man who protects others and puts others' happiness above his? Maddox Locke does.
But as crushed and damaged as Locke still feels after all these years, Emersyn "Emmy" Keeze had it as bad, if not worse. She grew up in the "stripping business" where her parents are the owners and they treat her as one of their strippers, in every sense of the word, instead of their daughter. They fix her up with a creepy older guy, Shawn, just for business and disregard her safety and well-being. However, Emmy was brave and determined to get out of that life and live the way she wanted. She put up with the abuse and sadness and kept her focus on her way out, the light at the end of her very miserable dark tunnel. And then Zeke Cooper appeared like a knight in shining armor and speeding up her plans of getting out. Cooper became Emmy's hero, her confidante, her safety net. He took care of her and helped her build a new life, settle in a new town and work with them at Corps Security. Emmy was happy.
Until she wasn't.
Cooper protected her again.
And now she run and went back to the life Cooper protected her from that first time.
I want to thank Harper Sloan for not getting into the everything Emmy experienced being the Princess of Syn. I don't think my heart can beat any more erratically and my tear ducts can hold much more tears if she did. Emmy was a brave woman. Seriously, she was determined to get out, so she toughened herself up and focused on the other side that's waiting for her. What she went through must not have been easy and it's unimaginable how parents can treat their own flesh and blood like a piece of meat. And so yes, I admire Em for how strong of a woman she is. She is strong in every way possible given her experiences in life. I want to rain glitters all over her.
And like two missing pieces of a puzzle, Maddox Locke and Emmy Keeze completed the beautifully powerful picture of the Corps Security series.
Maddox went after Em when she disappeared on them after the tragedy. We caught glimpses of their attraction in the earlier books and this time, we get to read and experience it full force. Their individual life stories are heartbreaking but when they're together, they balance each other out. It's a refreshing feeling reading characters, especially female characters, be tough and fight for the ones they love. Not easily giving up even though they have doubts and insecurities, at the end of the day, their love is stronger than all the demons they are fighting inside them. The guilt, the hurt, the inferiority and feeling underserving of good things. But like with every amazing thing worth having, their relationship did not come easy. And I did not expect it to. If it were easy, I would have been disappointed because it would not feel real and authentic. What Harper Sloan did was present to us all the pain and awful things each of them experienced and make it into one beautiful flawless collage of every emotions from two flawed people who found light and love with each other. It was worth the wait and the tears.
Harper Sloan and the Corps Security series never failed to crush my heart, bring me to tears and fall in love all at the same, and in each and every character and book. Alpha males or not, the stories and writing alone are enough to hook me right in and make me the fanatic that I am now. I don't regret anything. Of course the steamy sexy scenes are my favorite too! *insert winky face* Locke was the perfect way to end this series and introduce us to the next book. Ah! The Epilogue was hardcore! I loved it! Bittersweet, I tell you!
Stars: 6 stars!
Recommended to: Everyone who's up for an emotionally-charged love story.
POV: First person. Dual POV.
Series: Yes. Standalone. Final book.
EXTRA COMMENT: Epilogue... if you are a sucker for epilogues like me, Locke's is MEAN one! As if I'm not excited enough for HIS book!
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