Madness
L.O.R.D.S., Book #6
By Shantel Tessier
ISBN# 979-8337733944
Author’s Website: shanteltessier.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Review
The Spade Brothers have never been the same after their ‘training’. They used to be a bit more carefree and playful, but the horrors they were forced to live through hardened them. And, none of them suffered as many punishments as Haidyn. He’s the largest of the brothers, but also the one with the biggest heart. He was always willing to take punishments onto himself instead of having his loved ones be hurt. It’s caused him to encase that precious organ in layers upon layers of steel.
His brothers worry about him because he has suffered so much. Especially after Kashton found him with his wrists slit and dying. He swears he didn’t slit them, but nobody believes him. Since that day they have brought in therapist after therapist to try to help him. None last with the surly brother though. His latest therapist is Charlotte Hewett, who doesn’t even look old enough to be a therapist.
Haidyn knows she’s hiding something from him. And, he will use it to his advantage.
Annabelle Schults knows a woman’s meager place in the Lords’ world, but her mom has preached to her that she could be something greater. She wants to make her deceased father proud and show the world that women can hold power with the Lords too. She has already been initiated, which is honestly strange for a woman in their world. However, her assignment could be her undoing. She must take on a new identity Charlotte Hewett and pretend to be a therapist to Haidyn Reeves. She doesn’t know what the Lords want her to do with Haidyn, but if she fails, she will lose everything she’s worked so hard for. However, she underestimated how difficult the Spade Brother would be. And, when he finds out her true identity, she has to choose between failing her assignment and most likely forfeiting her life or being Haidyn’s personal toy. Will she survive her assignment or will Haidyn be the thing that finally gets her killed.
I really grew to love Haidyn in the previous book, Carnage. He quickly became my favorite brother, with that big mushy heart of his. It’s why the beginning of this book was so frustrating. He was not the man that I had loved in Carnage. He wasn’t the meanest Lord, but he definitely was hard on Charlotte. He’s learned a lot about mind games in the past four years and he was more than happy to use that to his advantage. Later in the book, it does make sense why he treated her the way he did. Once you realize what he knew about her all along and the reason that he thought she was there, it was understandable.
“I like a woman who fights. One who thinks she can stand up for herself. It just means I’ll have to work extra hard to keep her on her knees. It might require some chains and ropes, but that’s okay. Every woman deserves some accessories.”
I really enjoyed watching this relationship develop though. That casing on that big heart melted before our eyes and Haidyn gave us some truly sweet moments. The man I fell in love with came back to us! My heart absolutely broke with that video he made. So many feels. I had hoped that the second epilogue would include a little surprise, but no luck.
“I was willing to give my life up for hers. Now she’s giving me life. Nothing could be better.”
I think Adam really stepped up in this book. He was always there when Haidyn needed help, even with the risk it put him in. And, he came in clutch when his brothers found out who Charlotte really was. Without Adam, things could have been so much uglier.
There was some cross-over between the events in Carnage and Madness and I’m glad that the author decided not to revisit those scenes. She found a way to let us know what had just happened without a re-telling of the events. Although there are a few scenes, I wouldn’t have minded re-visiting. It does get to be a slippery slope when an author starts re-writing scenes though. And, the book was already over 800 pages without doing that.
Saint is still pretty upset in the role that Haidyn played in Ashtyn leaving all those years ago. I wonder why nobody ever brings up what he thinks would have happened if she had been there during their ‘training’.
There was a lot of information doled out in this book. I think delivering it all to us made the book a bit clunky at times and the pace a bit slower than normal. It was still a good read regardless. It felt like Tessier gave herself several new avenues to go down in the future of this series. I’m happy for that as the series has quickly become a favorite guilty pleasure or unhealthy obsession of mine and I don’t think I ever want to leave this pretty messed-up world.
I’m curious which brother will be the focus of our next adventure: Kashton … or Adam?
