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Three Tricks by Elizabeth Knight
Series: Hidden Empire #2
Publication date: November 30th, 2021
Pages: 254
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Synopsis:
Remember when I said Two Tricks doesn't work with MC gangs... Well I might have jumped the gun on that.
The leader of the Phantom Saints MC kidnapped me in order to broker a deal with Tricks. Jokes on them when they find out the truth. But that is the least of my worries right now after saving my best friend from getting taken by a rival MC.
Fun fact-- turns out I'm now number one on everyone's hit lists. Someone out there doesn't like me, or the fact that I joined forces with the Phantom Saints. They are pulling out all the stops to make sure I don't last the week breaking up this alliance. Too bad for them I'm just not that easy to kill. Fuck with my family and I'll end your life, simple as that.
Problem is, with so many players on the field I can't figure out who is calling the shots. Looks like I'm gonna need to pull another trick out of my sleeve...
Book 2 of the Hidden Empire series
This is an adult MC romance where the leading lady doesn't have to choose who she loves or how many. Book contains 18+ content--swearing, sexual situations, and aggressive assertive alpha-hole men and pint-sized woman.
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Review:
When Dax realizes that working with the Phantom Saints is the only choice she can make for the betterment of the Hidden Empire and their own MC, she is far from happy about it. She still doesn't fully trust the men who are leading the MC even though her body and heart crave them more than she's comfortable admitting. Someone out there is gunning for her and they are willing to do whatever it takes to protect her from certain demise. But she can't cower behind their MC's power. She is the enforcer of the Hidden Empire and Two Trick's eyes and ears. The only thing she can do is try to find out who is after her, why, and stop them in their tracks. With the help of her deliciously handsome and equally deadly men, she hopes she can save all of them before it is too late.
The second installment in the Hidden Empire series was a little lackluster compared to the first. When I put down the first book I was anxious to read the next and find out what happened to Dax and her men. After the second I am wondering if I will continue the series or if I will move on to something else. Don't get me wrong. The story is full of intrigue and action but the romance is starting to feel less of an aggressive woman keeping her men in check and more like a woman who is willing to abuse her men whenever she decides they deserve it. There was one scene which doesn't spoil the overall story that made me feel off about their dynamics. Picasso and Eagle were on Dax's shit list and in a stupid act to see if she still cared about them they staged a break in and lay on the floor like they had been attacked. She saw right threw it and instead of yelling at them for acting fools during a time of tension she threw chili oil in their eyes which could have potentially blinded them. When she learned that she could have blinded them she only shrugged it off. She is always punching and kicking and hurting them so that they are aware she calls the shots. They are all waxing on poetically about how much they care about her and the extent they would go to for her and she's just like, "uh, cool, cool, cool, can you get me a coffee?" I have grown to not really care for Dax.
While the first book was a high 3 star book (almost a 4) this one was borderline a 2 star book simply because the twists and turns of the mystery were starting to become more complicated than it really should be and the main female protagonist has become vastly unlikeable for me. I might finish out Dax's trilogy just to fulfill my completionist personality trait but I am still on the fence. Which is where this book overall stands with me.
The one saving grace for me, was starting to see a bit of the backstories for the men of the Phantom Saints. Learning where they came from and why they joined the MC made them a lot more well rounded and personified them so they felt more real. Cognac's story was absolutely terrible and my heart broke for him. I do so hope that before the wrap up of the series that he finds some sort of revenge for the loss of his family at the hands of the men who are part of the overall conspiracy against Dax.
If this book wasn't imperative to the overall series, I would say skip it. But, muscle through it and lets hope together the next one is a bit better.
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