Broken (Powertools: The Shields #4)
by Jayne Rylon
Blurb:
Ruby typically
supports a team of do-gooder assassins from the safety of her supercomputer in
their command center. She’s dragged into danger when hackers attack her, empty
millions from her crypto wallet, and threaten the global economy by tampering
with blockchain technology.
Worse, her
attraction to two of the agents she works with—Ace and Liam—is a distraction
none of them can afford, especially when she winds up sharing a bed with them
for her own safety.
They’ve got issues
of their own. Ace barely returned to active duty after a grievous injury that
wrecked his arm and nearly ended his career. His wounds fractured more than
bones, shaking Liam’s confidence and willingness to deepen their partnership
both on and off duty because they risk their lives daily to protect others. And
that’s before they admit that they’re falling for the same nerdy-yet-adorable
woman, who should also be strictly off-limits.
Can Ruby fix
what’s broken between the three of them before the hackers end her career and
her life?
Themes: Erotica,
Polyamory
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
I
have waited so long now for Ruby to finally get the chance to find love with
some sexy alpha males that I was afraid her story would be anticlimactic, but
oh boy I can say for sure that did not happen.
Once again Jayne puts her lovers through the ringer both physically and
emotionally before she lets them have their HEA and we get to come along for
the ride. This story picks up directly where the previous one ended, actually
overlapping a tiny bit, but if you haven’t read other novels in the series you
won’t be lost so fear not. Ruby is the
tech-savvy nerd that runs the command center of the Shields team and she spends
her free time lusting after her sexy next-door neighbors, Ace and Liam. Ace and Liam are partners in the field, best
friends, and occasionally more than that in the privacy of their apartment but
in public that side of their relationship is never shared with the team. Ruby’s biggest flaw is her curiosity, both on
her computer and in her real life, but she only allows herself to dig into that
curiosity when she is in the virtual world.
When she is digging into a strange coding anomaly her world suddenly
implodes as a cyber-attacker puts her and the shield team on red alert and her in
the sights of a very dangerous enemy.
Now Liam and Ace are determined to keep her safe, but having her as
their responsibility also means having her in their arms and soon their time
together heats up and secrets begin to come out about their personal
relationship. Ace has wanted his best friend
for years and recently his feelings for Ruby have become more as well, but Liam
has never let them become more than casual sex and Ace is terrified of
approaching Ruby for anything. Liam has
wanted both Ruby and Ace for a long time, but his fears of losing anyone he
loves keeps him from connecting or allowing himself to feel more for them, even
as he allows himself to give into the blazing chemistry between the three of
them. But when their enemy gets an
opening, putting Ruby in real danger, the trust between the three of them is
the only thing that will allow them to save Ruby and bring her back to them
safely. And even if she does return, can
they overcome their fears and find a way to have the relationship they all want
and the same love that the others in their team have found in their triads?
Wow
there were a lot of issues that Ruby, Ace, and Liam had to work through
individually and together in order to find a chance to have a healthy and happy
relationship. Ruby has never allowed
herself to really live in the physical world; her differences and nerdiness
leaving her too self-conscious and making her feel separate from her peers. She
is inexperienced despite her desires and, though she has wanted both Liam and
Ace from the first time she laid eyes on them, she has no idea how to reach for
what she wants in reality. Ruby was a real sweetheart, with a sassiness and facetious
nature that complimented her curiosity for life, making her the perfect third
for Liam and Ace. Ace is an alpha but
also a sweetheart who feels his emotions deeply and his most recent injury
sidelining him from frontline work has really messed with his head, leaving him concerned about his ability to protect those he cares about and his
skills. With some help from one of Ruby’s
old friends—who readers might recognize if you are fans of the Rylon series, Men in Blue—Ace is able to regain a lot of his confidence, reminding him that he is
a badass and if someone doesn’t show him the respect and love he deserves he
needs to demand it from them. His relationship with Liam has been complicated
from the beginning, but when Ruby joins their triad, that fire melts them down
and reforms them into something even stronger and more unbreakable. Ace’s accommodating and often irreverent view
of life hides a lot of insecurity, but his gentleness with Ruby and willingness
to go above and beyond to meet her emotional needs showed us that he would do
anything to be the man he needed for her, even though he’s been hurt repeatedly
by his lover. Liam is the kind of strong and dominate personality that takes on
the care and protection of those he loves, even as he is terrified of letting
them down. Those fears caused him to
push Ace away and deny the bond between them, even as Ruby calls them out of
the truth of their association, and creates tension that both enhances the
passion and causes strife between the three of them. With the leadership of another of Ruby’s
friends, Liam learns that his natural state can lead to amazing relationships
and that only by embracing that part of this nature fully will he ever really
be the man he needs for himself and his lovers.
I enjoyed seeing him finally come to the conclusion that hiding from
himself and his feelings was not the best way to live and releasing his fears
so he could claim the two people that had stolen his heart.
This
story is one that will have your heart breaking again and again and the pain
that these lovers inflict on one another and have inflicted on them, caused me to wonder if they would be able to heal.
I loved the way Rylon brought in older series characters, pulling in
Ruby’s old friends and allowing them to assist Ruby and her lovers in finding a
way into love, and I can tell you I will be running right out to read that
series (which I sadly missed) so that I can experience the full greatness of
JRad and Lucas. Ruby is a sassy badass
chick that finally learns the importance of standing up for herself and what
she wants from life in order to get her men in her life and her bed, as well as
showing her skills as a badass techno-wiz. Ace gets the healing advice he needs
to be able to pick himself up by the bootstraps and heal the mental injury that
came with the physical one he suffered which has mostly healed already. The
pain he has been dealing with, emotionally and mentally, takes him some time
but the love he gets from Ruby right away is the impetus he needs to push for
what he wants and needs from Liam too.
Liam is an ass in the beginning, just gotta say it, but he’s a sexy ass and when he finally pulls
his head out of said sexy ass he becomes the perfect alpha Dom for his two
lovers and we can tell right away that his fears have been the only thing
holding him back. The passion between
these three has been simmering from the first time they met, even if they denied
and joked about it while two of them carried on physically, and once they all
finally fell into the fire it consumed them quickly and they came out the other
side changed for the better. As usual
Rylon treats us to a bit of info about the next story in the final chapter to
drive us insane until that one is in our hands and I can tell you based on what
we can already see coming its will be a crazy hot one. Jayne once again sends us high with Broken characters putting each other
back together and finding a way to build a triad relationship that will stand
the test of time; the bar just gets higher and the next book might leave ME
broken at the end!
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
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