Tuesday, February 23, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: Target on Our Backs by J.M. Darhower

Series: Monster in His Eyes #3
Genre: Romantic Suspense

 ~BLURB~

The best way to keep your word is never to give it.

Not long ago, in a chapel in Vegas, I swore to love Karissa for the rest of my days. But nobody's promised an infinite number of tomorrows. Nobody's promised forever. Sometimes, all we have left is today.

Carpe Diem
Seize the day.

It should've been over, we should've been happy, but people are making it hard for me to live in peace. I've got so much blood on my hands they'll never be clean, and somebody out there seems to want me to pay for it. Happily Ever After always comes at a cost, one any real man would be willing to pay. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over and accept these consequences.

Because when it comes to the woman I love? The life I've fought for?

Nobody is safe.
GOODREADS

 ~BOOK REVIEW~
5 Stars

Full disclosure, I had a lot of anxiety going into this story. I mean, we left Naz and Karissa in a pretty good place at the end of the last one and while I craved more of them (at this point I think I probably always will), it was also reassuring to know they were still out there, the readers minds left to fill in the blanks of what they did next.
“When I think about a life without Naz, I start to feel lonely.”
Like the previous book, the foreshadowing in this one is heavy, and the red herrings did not help alleviate my concerns about their fate. Naz might be a dark hero but he’s still a hero—an original hero—and the desire to see him succeed, to conquer, to get back what he’s lost is strong.

Thankfully despite my apprehensions about where this third installment might go, all in all, I was pleasantly surprised.
“‘I’m the same man I always was…Just a little less preoccupied with murder.’”
Told via Naz and Karissa’s alternating first person POV this time, Naz is back and so is his confidence, which seems to be rubbing off on Karissa as well. I’ve liked Karissa since the first book and this one really sealed the deal on Karissa as a strong, kick ass heroine. Even Naz sees it ;-)
“Karissa puts up more of a fight when we’re fucking.”
I’m trying to resist going all fan-girly here because I dislike fan-girl reviews, but Naz has got to be one of my all time favorite male characters, and I adore his relationship with Karissa. They’re different yet they understand each other and complement each other well. After everything they've been through from the first two books, they have a rapport that clearly comes through the pages and when they’re together it feels like the reader is getting an intimate look at their private moments.  
‘Sometimes he scares the hell out of me and sometimes you confuse the hell out of me, and together the two of you just… you make sense.’”
Which ironically they do. And it’s why I hope they always stay a true love story.
“‘I don’t want our lives to be a damn Nicholas Sparks story!’”
Amen!

Where Monster in His Eyes brought them together amidst a whirlwind mystery and Torture to Her Soul dug deep into the man behind the monster, Target on Our Backs has elements of suspense, more glimpses at the dynamics between the characters, an interesting and ironic theme of friendship, nods to their early romance, details to aspects you probably didn’t know you were missing but they now make the story fuller, and a dose of adventure—the dark and dangerous kind, of course.

But the thing I enjoyed most about this book was simply Naz and Karissa’s daily life.
“‘Places to go.
People to see.
Blood to spill.
You know how it is.’”
Really, you know you’re sucked in to some fabulously crafted characters when where they have lunch is even page turning! (Spoiler alert: freaking Wendy’s!!! lol)

They’re quite entertaining as a married couple. Forget the big climaxes (the literary kind, not the kinky kind) I could just read 400 pages of their every day existence (kink included)….and their humor! Yes, the monster is funny! Who knew?
“‘You look like someone I used to masturbate to when I was in my teens.’”
Aside from the moving and emotional ending which was beautiful, I smiled and even chuckled a surprisingly good deal during this one.  Maybe I was just happy to revisit old favorites, but I believe that their dialogues and commentary, their now ease with each other, their individual quirks—that’s the ultimate gem and strength of the story.

Target on Our Backs will definitely become a re-read just like the ones before it. Honestly, I think this whole series are books that need to be read more than once to get the full effect.


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~Check Out the Rest of the Series~

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