Review – Bridges Burned by Marie James

Bridges Burned; Mission Mercenaries #3
(Interconnected standalone within a series)

Publication Date: February 2, 2023

Genre/Tropes: Mercenary/Dark/Mafia Romance

Author: Marie James

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
Bridges Burned is the third book in this dark mercenary series. While this book revolves around the mafia, revenge, and has a slow burn between the main couple, there is also a familiar feel to parts of this story. It didn’t make me like it any less, but perhaps that will help sort out why I continue to return to the comfort of this familiar world.

There seems to be a recurring theme among these mercenaries; kidnap a woman and then experience remorse while trying to figure out their next move. Yes, Hollis fell into the classic blunder that his fellow co-workers previously did. Silly mercenary. On top of that he swore off ever falling for anyone given his family history and isn’t that like waving a red flag in front of a romantic hero. He was going down and going down hard.

Hollis’ one goal in life is to take out the man who ruined his family and when he gets the opportunity, regardless of his job, those around him, even his own life, he takes it. He never stopped to think about collateral damage along the way, collateral damage in the form of a beautiful woman named Madelene.

As for the heroine, Madelene may have grown up in the mafia world and known all about the brutality and darkness, but what broke her was that she was eventually sold to the Severino family like a piece of furniture. Engaged to a monster, she is suffocated with the thoughts of her future, but when she’s kidnapped by a stranger, it might actually be the escape she never knew she’d get.

Neither Hollis or Madelene know about a healthy relationship or what love really is, but together they understand darkness and that is what I liked about the two of them. They really understood one another and what could be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Their time together may have built slow, but it was meaningful. Plus….the twist at the end…brilliant.

Synopsis:

BRIDGES BURNED by Marie James coming February 2!

I didn’t swear vengeance on the Severino Family after Ellie’s death. I was only a child after all.

I didn’t swear vengeance when my father, a coward who wasn’t man enough to seek justice for her, drank himself into a divorce.

Going after them would be a death sentence.

I chose to live my life in the shadows, seeking revenge for others.

That was until I ran into the very man that took Ellie’s life.

I can still smell the smoke clinging to my skin from all the bridges I burned because of that man.

Walking away was no longer an option.

Killing him would be easy, but taking the woman that was promised to him seemed like a better wager.

Exacting retribution through her was the gamble I made.

Surviving her now seems impossible.

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