Review: Mastered by the Mavericks by Angel Payne

Reviewer's Rating: 4

4.0Overall score

Flying fear free in the arms of love

Mastered by the Mavericks By Angel Payne

Erotic BDSM Romance / Military Romantic Suspense

Released December 1, 2015

Angel Payne Writes, LLC

Series: The WILD Boys of Special Forces, Book 8

Reviewed by Jean

Angel Payne’s USA Today bestselling series continues with Book 8, MASTERED BY THE MAVERICKS:

The first step to solving a problem…

Brynna Monet is on a man diet for the rest of her life. No more G men, spies, or soldiers, period. Willpower comes easily from the scars on her heart, left by a string of dominant bad boys who have all asked too high a price for her passion: her trust.

But what ransom will she give for her best friend’s life?

When the unspeakable happens, Brynn insists on courting temptation in every hot, dangerous sense of the word—times two. In order to save her friend from the captivity of a madman, Brynn is assigned as a secret consultant on one of the military’s riskiest missions, working with a pair of the Special Forces’ most notorious bad boys: Rhett Lange and Rebel Stafford.

…is admitting you’ve got one.

From the moment Brynn lands in the middle of a Texas wilderness with these two, she questions the sanity of her decision—and the survival of her willpower. Like the most decadent dominant dessert, Rhett and Rebel embody everything her body craves—and her spirit fears. Their control unravels her fantasies, their command exposes her desire…and their courage, with themselves as well as the monster they chase, moves her heart.

But, like all dreams-come-true, it’s temporary.

Though Brynn submits to her lovers, she knows better than to give up her trust—until the fate of the mission hinges on exactly that. Can Brynn face her biggest fear to save a friend’s life—but still know her soul at the end?

Flying fear free in the arms of love

I really loved the blend of military romantic suspense and erotic BDSM romance in Mastered by the Mavericks. I haven’t read the previous books in the series but after this one I’m thinking I definitely need to pick them up. While Mastered by the Mavericks hinted at events from previous books in the series it merely whetted the appetite for more. I in no way felt like I had missed crucial details necessary to this particular story.

When the story begins you get really fast just how close-knit this group is and just how hard it is for them to watch their brother in arms devastated and torn apart at the kidnapping of his pregnant wife by a mad scientist determined to breed the ultimate soldier. But it’s not just the men that are feeling the need to step up and rescue her. After all, Zoe is Brynna and El’s best friend and they’d do anything to ensure she comes home safe. Hearing that the enemy has a thing for redheads starts the wheels turning for a willowy redheaded, Brynn. So while she’s all for jumping on the bait bandwagon, her ideas aren’t exactly met with enthusiasm from Rebel and he’s fighting a losing battle in his argument. And his partner, Rhett isn’t exactly backing him up. About the time, Brynn lays him out flat three times it’s time to end the discussion.

Brynn with her degree in criminal psychology isn’t quite the picture she presents as a dancer. She’s also not sure what she got herself into with the two special forces sergeants that totally trip her trigger. While all of her friends seem to have settled into the whole BDSM lifestyle, Brynn wants nothing to do with walking that path in life. A little rough sex is one thing, but she’s seen just how devastating losing yourself in the submissive role can be to a person’s psyche and she’s not going there. Brynn is dealing with some very valid fear issues and just a few trust issues. That doesn’t stop her from totally melting in both Rebel and Rhett’s arms in turn, setting off fits of pique and jealousy between two best friends. Two best friends who just happen to be skating the edge of desire for each other and avoiding the two-ton elephant sitting squarely between them.

That is until the two decide to turn their joint attentions to taming a redhead in their downtime. Funny how loosening up and claiming Brynn brings Rebel and Rhett’s feeling for each other to the surface as well. So while this could have been a story all about Brynn coming to terms with her fears and submissiveness it becomes so much more as Rebel and Rhett come to terms with their feelings for each other as well. These two are packing their own sets of luggage when it comes to issues. Rebel and his rough cajun upbringing is the team’s explosive expert. Rhett, on the other hand, is the team’s intel specialist and the product of a transatlantic divorce where he was shuffled from continent to continent as a child. One of them has always had a devil may care, love em and leave em attitude and the other would love nothing better than to find the one to make him feel complete. Resolving their issues and getting to HEA isn’t cut and dried either. There is also the little issue of rescuing Zoe.

Things, of course, get a bit sticky along the way and the suspense is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off in the background. I really enjoyed the combination. If I had one issue it was that there were times when I had troubles separating the two men out in a scene. I had to slow down my reading to make sure I was getting just who was doing what. It was very clear if the two were talking but not so much when it was action being narrated. I think part of what caused the issue was their names both starting with R. Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what the issue is and sometimes it’s just an attention span issue on my own part. Bottom line, the interactions between Brynn, Rhett and Rebel are explosive. I would definitely recommend Mastered by the Mavericks and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Ms. Payne has a winning series arc here in the WILD Boys of Special Forces.

♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Release Blitz: Mastered by the Mavericks by Angel Payne

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The WILD Boys of Special Forces Series:

Saved by His Submissive, Book 1
Handcuffed by Her Hero, Book 2
Surrendering to Her Sergeant, Book 3
A WILDer Wonderland, Book 4
Wet for Her Warriors, Book 5
Hot for His Hostage, Book 6
A WILDer Kind of Love, Book 7
Ready for Their Rule, Book 9… Coming Spring 2016