Safe At Last - A Second Chance at Love Story by @maya_banks

Safe At Last is my favorite in the Slow Burn Series so far. I really enjoyed book 1 and book 2 was a miss for me, so I was a little nervous going into book 3. I read this book in an entire afternoon because I needed to know everything that was going to happen and how this story would end. Second chance love stories are a favorite of mine, and this was one of those stories.

Zack, who we've met throughout the first two books, has never been able to get over a girl. Twelve years ago she just disappeared on him. He searched and searched, worried she was dead. Until one day a client hires him and he comes face to face with Anna-Grace, aka his Gracie. Only she HATES him for something he did to her, and he has no idea what.

We've been following a group that has been targeting this family in the series, and that group comes into play when they beat Gracie to a pulp, which gives Zack his time to swoop in and try to fix things. As this story unveils and we learn what Gracie thinks that Zack did, I was on the edge of my seat to see how he would prove to her he had nothing to do with it and see her finally let go of the pain from her past.

Even if you've not read the first two in the series, you can still read this one and be able to follow along. I really, really enjoyed this story and hope that Maya Banks is going to continue the story with characters she has introduced. I'm hoping Eliza gets a story soon.

My Rating

About the Book

They say young love doesn't last, but a girl from the wrong side of the tracks with unique abilities and the hometown golden boy were determined to defy the odds. For Zack Covington, Anna-Grace—his "Gracie"—was the one. But one night forever altered the course of their future; when a devastated Gracie disappeared without a trace, Zack was left to agonize over what happened to the girl he loved. As the years passed, his desperate efforts to find her uncovered nothing.

Now working for Devereaux Security, he stumbles across a painting featuring a special place only he and Gracie would know. The image is too perfectly rendered for it to be coincidence. His Gracie must be alive. When he comes face to face with her, he is shocked—and heartbroken—to discover the wounded shell of the girl he once knew and still loves. Her psychic gifts are gone, and worse, she believes he betrayed her all those years ago.

Zack has enemies, and once his weakness is discovered, Gracie becomes a target for revenge. He'll have to save her before he can earn her trust and her love. And he vows they'll never be torn apart again.

In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2) by Maya Banks

I recently read and reviewed the first book in this series - Keep Me Safe - and really enjoyed it. It had been my first Maya Banks book and I knew it wouldn't be my last. In His Keeping was a miss for me. I had a hard time getting into this one for some reason. It may have been because I was struggling to figure out if this book was written in the future, which it didn't seem to be, or if there had been a big mistake in the beginning.

You see, in the first few chapters that are set are when Arial is a child. Right before we skip to, what I assume is modern time because nothing seems for futuristic during the book, the father is watching the new on his IPad --- 22 years before the story begins with Arial as an adult.

I did try to push this error aside and read the story for itself, but I never really felt that connection with the hero Beau that I would've liked.

Every book isn't for every person. Maya Banks writing style was still well written. I found no issues with that. Not liking this one book doesn't mean I don't want to read her again, because I do.

I'm choosing not to rate this book at this time, because I can't decide what I would rate it.

About the book

#1 bestselling author Maya Banks continues her suspenseful and steamy Slow Burn series with this second book—a twisting tale featuring a strong yet vulnerable heroine in danger and the sexy alpha hero who must save her.

Abandoned as a baby to a young wealthy couple and raised in a world of privilege, Arial has no hint of her past or who she belonged to. Her only link lies in the one thing that sets her apart from everyone else—telekinetic powers. Protected by her adoptive parents and hidden from the public to keep her gift secret, Ari is raised in the lap of luxury, and isolation. That is, until someone begins threatening her life.

Beau Devereaux is no stranger to the strange. As the head of Deveraux Security, he’s more than familiar with the realities of physic powers. So when a family friend approaches him about protecting his daughter, he’s more than ready to jump on board. What Beau isn’t prepared for is the extent of his attraction to his beautiful and powerful client. What began as a simple assignment, just another job, quickly turns personal as Beau discovers he’ll do anything at all to protect Ari. Even if it costs him his life.

A serial killer and stalker after a psychic woman - Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks

This was my first book by Maya Banks. I've heard her name for years, but I've just not picked up a book. Keep Me Safe was what I needed to read, I just didn't know it. I was sucked in from the beginning with the suspenseful plot. I had to know how Ramie was going to catch the serial killer who was stalking her.

She turns to a family that she helped in the past. Tori, the youngest of the crew, was someone Ramie helped with her psychic abilities. Ramie is able to take an item from a victim and go into their head to find them. However, when she does this, she goes through what they are. Rape, beatings, etc.

I was surprised by the fact that Tori and two of her brothers had an issue with their protection agency helping Ramie. After all, she saved Tori's life. When Caleb, the hero of the story, helps her to get away and catch the stalker/serial killer, I was kinda ashamed of his siblings. How they couldn't be more thankful toward Ramie. Without her, Tori would have been dead. But this angst between them all does add to the plot some.

Since this is my first Maya Banks book, I'm not fully familiar with her writing style. With that being said, if you're a big romance reader like myself, don't go into this book looking for romance, but more of the suspense. I see it's categorized as a romantic suspense on Amazon, but the romance part is lacking. Yes, there is kissing and sex between Ramie and Caleb. What fell short for me, was the chemistry. It seemed like they just got together, never any attraction. I never knew either was interested in one another until they went to bed together. But as I said, this may be the genre. 

The suspense/thriller is what makes this book. For that reason alone, I loved it. I want to read the rest of the series, as well as more by this author.

Lacey's Rating:

About The Book:

A sizzling story of a woman who risks her life and her heart to find a wealthy man’s missing sister—the first novel in a sexy new romantic suspense series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks

When Caleb Devereaux's younger sister is kidnapped, this scion of a powerful and wealthy family turns to an unlikely source for help: a beautiful and sensitive woman with a gift for finding answers others cannot.

While Ramie can connect to victims and locate them by feeling their pain, her ability comes with a price. Every time she uses it, it costs her a piece of herself. Helping the infuriatingly attractive and impatient Caleb successfully find his sister nearly destroys her. Even though his sexual intensity draws her like a magnet, she needs to get as far away from him as she can.

Deeply remorseful for the pain he’s caused, Caleb is determined to make things right. But just when he thinks Ramie's vanished forever, she reappears. She’s in trouble and she needs his help. Now, Caleb will do risk everything to protect her—including his heart. . . .