Control's Undoing (Trinity Masters #14)
Mari Carr, Lila Dubois
Blurb:
Love was never part of the plan.
Since his
sister’s brutal murder, Colum O’Connor found refuge in his work as archivist
for the Masters’ Admiralty. Haunted by grief and regret, he prefers books to
people, solitude to companionship.
But when a
dangerous enemy discovers part of a secret manuscript by one of the Masters’
Admiralty’s most scandalous members, Colum is forced to leave the safety of the
archive. With the help of enigmatic Xavier Allard and Annie Ward–a woman who is
more than what she seems–Colum races to find the missing pieces of Oscar
Wilde’s tell-all book.
The closer they
get to solving the mystery, the more undeniable their attraction becomes.
Worse, Colum realizes he might be falling in love with Xavier and Annie.
There’s just one
problem. Colum is already married.
Themes: Menage, Erotica
Rating: 4.75 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
We
are always sad to see that our favorite series are coming to and end, even
knowing that it will be bittersweet to finally get that one (or sometimes two)
final story to bring the series to a real conclusion. The Trinity Masters/Master’s
Admiralty series is one of those great series that has run long enough that you
just felt it would be there forever, always bringing you another dose of joy,
but alas it to is coming to a finale and we are left with all the tears,
laughter, fear, and love that Mari Carr and Lila Dubois have brought us but
will not be given any more. That said we
are being given the stories for the characters that we have fallen in love with
and will hopefully get to see them find their HEA before that one last “The End”
in the series is written. IF you are a longtime fan of the series like myself and
so many others, you have been waiting for Colum to find his way out of the
grief of losing his sister and come back to life and hopefully find love, but
we knew his story would be a difficult one after having been placed into a marriage
that would leave him lonely and alone because his spouses were never meant to
be his. Now the time has come for two strangers
to come into his life and change everything for
him, not only reminding him how to live again, but showing him out to
love and that he is capable of sharing his life with the right people. I’m melancholy
to say the least after reading this one, because I know have a bit of a wait
for the next book, the final in the series, and the one that we have truly all
been dying for and that will tear us all to shred’s before hopefully giving us
the HEA we need to survive the ending.
But whatever happened in the end I know that I have enjoyed this crazy, passionate,
loving, and fun ride with Mari and Lila and couldn’t thank them enough for
giving us a glimpse into the secret world of the Trinities.
Colum
O’Connor has been simply existing since his sister was brutally murdered, only
living for his work as the archivist for the Master’s Admiralty, but his world is
changing—now that he’s been placed into an impossible marriage that will never
be realized. He is investigating the newest threat to their society and has
been assigned two of the most unlikely partners in his task—Annie Ward and Xavier
Allard—but he is not prepared for the impact they have on him or the way they
look at him either. Annie Ward has been sent from the Trinity Masters, their American
sister organization, to assist Colum in researching and tracking down a piece
of a shocking unpublished manuscript written by trinity member Oscar Wilde, however
she has her own hidden talents. Xavier is a Wilde expert and jumps at the chance
to assist Colum, but his darkly sensual magnetism is causing extremely
uncomfortable feelings in Colum and leading to very interesting interactions
between all three of them. Soon they are
embroiled in a continuing mystery, sending them jetting back and forth across
the Atlantic and having adventures Colum is not equipped for, but as they get
to know one another better is become harder to deny the pull they feel to each
other. The heat and passion they are all feeling is irresistible, even though Colum
knows he should resist, but when Annie and Xavier break past all of his walls, they
all give into their needs and there is no stopping their hearts from being lost.
Can they find a way through the hopelessness of their situation to be together
or are they forever doomed to be separated and forced to give up a love they never
saw coming for them?
How
does one truly get over the grief and pain of losing a sibling, one that has
been your best friend and support system your entire life? Colum has struggled
with this for a while, trying to bury his grief in drink, in work, and in hiding
from the world, but even that has never allowed him to forget the pain. But in pushing
away the pain he has also been pushing away the beauty, not allowing himself to
remember the happy moments with Josephine and embrace the love he shared with
his sister. One of the most beautiful parts of Colum’s growth in this story was
the way that Xavier and Annie finally helped him to process his loss so that he
was able to get back those happy memories and have a chance to find himself
again instead of being the shell he was after his sister’s loss. He is such a
sweet, quirky, introverted but brilliant character that I knew I would love
getting to see him be the star of the story, but I never imagined how darkly
sexy he would be when he found that level of confidence with his partners. Honestly,
Colum is crazy hot and I want me one of him! Annie is a great character as
well, one hell of a badass, but at the same time a sunny, sweet, and loving
character that is there to bring out the best of both her men. She has a dark
past, one that she has tried to move past, looking for the light in the
darkness instead of being sucked down all the time, but she also will do
whatever it takes to protect those she loves or considers her responsibility. She
is witty, sassy, and empathic, giving Colum the shoulder he needs to talk
through his pain, but also knowing when to push him to come out of his shell to
give them all the passion they need. I want to be her when I grow up. Xavier is
the perfect, snotty, artiste with a dark and sensual side—the perfect third to
round out this trinity. He is sometimes just that little bit haughty and French
in a way that you just know he is sneering at you in his head, but then the
next moment he is reciting darkly sensual poetry as he seduces you right out of
your clothes. He also has a streak of crazy that you just know will keep life
interesting as he slowly takes over your life and punishes you (in the most fun
of ways), but is protective and caring of those he loves. Together the sweetly
introverted Colum, dangerous but sunny Annie, and sensually audacious Xavier
make a perfectly balanced Trinity.
Control’s
Undoing is one of those stories that we just devour
and then have to go back to reread slowly so we can savor every moment. A story
of one trinity developing quite by accident between three people that were brought
together to complete a task, but never meant to be lovers, as they investigated
the tragic demise of a man that lost his own Trinity and lost faith in the
society that should have back and protected him. Colum has not ever had an easy
life, introverted and unable to easily move through society, he has always had
to lean on someone to function in social situations or around people that don’t
know him well. He is completely unprepared for the love that smacks him and brings
out a side of himself he never knew was there, leading him into a whole new
adventure of loving two people that he is willing to sacrifice everything for.
Annie has finally found a way to live with her trouble past, moving forward in
a positive direction so when he arrived in Dublin on a new assignment she has
no idea her destiny await in the form of two sexy men that should be totally
wrong for her. They turn her world upside down and remind her that even if her
past has darkness, the skills she acquired can be used for good as she protects
her men and helps to bring down the enemy confronting their Trinity societies. Xavier
has been asked to offer his expertise on Wilde, giving him a new adventure and
chance to learn more about his favorite subject, meeting the loves of his life
was never in the plan though. Now he has to help to find the manuscript, seduce
the sexy archivist and gorgeous American, and then devise a way to keep them
all together in the end, but he will do whatever it takes to keep them with him
forever. I loved every moment of this story, getting to watch each of these
lovers find new pieces of themselves with the help of their soulmates, and of
course seeing them working together to overcome every obstacle in their path to
happiness and lasting love. Together Colum, Annie, and Xavier were a force to be
reckoned with and one that no one and nothing was able to defeat or stop,
making them one of my favorite trios in all of the series combined. While I know
it will be bittersweet, I am DYING for the last story (Fate’s Design)
which will give us the much await conclusion to the all-important Eric and Nikolett’s
story, though we haven’t been told yet if they might have a third. Knowing the
series is ending is truly bittersweet, but I’ve enjoyed every second of the
crazy ride and look forward to new and amazing adventures from both of these remarkable
writers in the future.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
