MAKE YOU MINE

MAKE YOU MINE                                          JACKIE ASHENDEN
Posted:  May 10, 2015

Alex St. James was left with a choice. Pick up the dice and find where they lead, or walk away. Choosing to see where the snake-eyes go, Alex plays in a poker game run by the devil who haunts his past. He will risk everything to find answers—that is, until his alluring, enigmatic bodyguard, Katya, becomes someone he cannot risk losing…

Katya is fiercely conflicted. Aching to break free from Alex to track down her former lover, Katya agrees to one last job—to protect her dangerously sexy boss as he gambles his future in exchange for clarity about his past. As the stakes are raised, Katya's loyalty shifts from the man she loved to the man she swore to protect. But in order to get what she wants, Katya will have to go all in… 

MY REVIEW:

     There are some things that can never be given back.  Once they are taken they are gone for good.  When it happens during the prime of your youth it can have harmful lasting effects.  Especially, when it is a senseless act done for the other persons either own enjoyment or to relieve stress.  Sick.

     This is such the case for both Katya Ivanova and Alex St. James.  Both come from shady backgrounds.  She from Russia where she served in the military special forces.  Serving under her father a general.  The thing is Katya’s mother committed suicide when Katya was younger.  She had come home from school where she found her in the tub with a smile on her face and blood everywhere.

     At that moment things went from bad to worst.  You see her father took it as a female sign of weakness.  So, he gathered all her dresses and put them in the trash along with all the dolls her mother gave her.  Which made her sad because her mom had given them to her and they were important.  Then she was off to military school no questions asked and no emotional counseling.  She learned to be a “good little soldier.”  Her father introduced her to Mikhail the man that was to be her future husband when she became old enough to join the Special Forces.  They were in the Special Forces together for two years just not in the same unit.  There was never any sparks.

     She had few years to get to know him.  Then he’s sent on this mission to Chechnya it has been two years now and there has been no word of him.  At the time she asked her father and those higher than her father and they told her if she went looking for him she could be killed or tried for treason.  What hurt the most was that her own father would not help.  It was not that she loved Mikhail but she had made a promise to him and her father was the one who taught her to be loyal and here he was turning his back.  So that is what she had to do turn her back on her own country, father, and her government that she served and came to the United States to serve as a bodyguard.  

     She did vow to keep searching for him through her connections and that is what she did.  But all were afraid for they knew what would happen if they got caught.

     Now there’s Alex who is a walking ad for condoms and for using safe sex.  He is a millionaire several times over from a set of clubs he owns with his friends Gabriel and Zac.  They have a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.  Which has served Alex so far.  You see Alex is nothing if not a liar.  Basically, know when he opens his mouth he’ll be lying the thing is he has done it for so long to keep people away to not allow them to get to close and see who he really is so he doesn’t get hurt again.  He has been running from his biggest secret in his life for the last 19 years.  He was 16 years old at the time and he is not 35.  All of that time spinning his web of lies and now he is so tired and out of control.

     Three months ago his step-father was shot, not killed but bad enough to be in a coma.  Soon after Gabriel gives him 2 silver dice they were from his step-dad.  They all know they are important and Alex will know what he does but first he goes into a tail spin.  The first thing he does is hire a female bodyguard, not just any bodyguard the best of the best, she is Special Forces.  During these month she follows him everywhere and has a front row seat to all his sexcapades.  There is always socialites, models, actresses, and sometimes more than one.

     Then this night a night where Alex wakes not from his usual screams from nightmares but he’s not sure what it was.  He does know lately it feels as if he has eyes on him always.  He dresses and goes to the living room living the two girls he brought home sleeping.  He goes to the wall of windows that his penthouse has and looks out at it snowing down upon New York City.  When he notices Katya looking at her computer on the couch not saying a word.  This is what gets to him that she never shows expression or speaks.  They speak about his uneasiness and if he wants her to arrange for the girls transportation in the morning since he never seems to be with any of his women more than one night.  He says no then tells her to go bed.

     When she wakes bright and early the next morning she goes and works out in his in home gym and thinks on how to give him the news.  You see she got an email from one of the many contacts that she has that they spotted Mikhail and now she feels she must go and try to rescue him.  But when she goes into the living room he is on a phone call and he seems like an animal that has been caged far too long.  He is like a panther stalking with the phone when all of a sudden he hangs up and throws it on the coach and it bounces to the floor.  She waits because she needs to talk to him.  When he gets off the phone she can tell he is on edge and it may not be the best time to talk to him but it can’t be helped.  When he asks what she needs she has to tell him for sure now.

     At this point she announces that there is a family emergency and she needs to be let out of her contract.  With him 3 months early.  He just stares at her for the longest time.  He thinks to himself how he had never really looked at her before, although she is not his usual type she is a nice looking woman.  Fit, curvy, regal, tall and pleasingly symmetrical.

     Alex tells her no to the ending of the contract.   He tells her she’s lying that she’s not leaving due to family.  Katya hates how he studies her like he does those he gambles against.  She banters with him stirring his blood and his mind.  Not only is she the most qualified bodyguard but is someone that intrigues him and she is a woman and she makes him feel more at ease than all the men bodyguards that he ever had.

     This is a “I can’t stop turning the pages” kind of a book.  You know Alex is a train wreck with tons of secrets and lies but you can’t help but feel sorry for him and love him too.  Your heart will for sure go out to Katya she is so new to everything concerning being a woman but also to the world of men and women.  These two for as much as they banter come to a real understanding and do find a real affection for one another find out how that comes about by reading this page turner.  I give this 5 ++++ stars.  Provided by Net Galley.

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