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446 pages, ebook
First published January 11, 2016
He was tall. His eyes were the color of the ocean. And he made me believe that I could want something, take it and have it. Own it. Keep it. Something precious would be mine. Even if that belief only lasted seconds, I’d waited all my life to feel that feeling. To really, really believe.
“Jesus, you’re a bossy motherfucker,” Nick muttered. “Then again, you always were.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Knight muttered back, but did it grinning.
“One thing you do still gotta learn is, when it’s family, Nick, there’s a limit to the shit I’ll eat. But there is no limit to the love I’ll give.”
Back in the day, Nick Sebring had been known as the incompetent, unprincipled wastrel younger brother of a successful man.
He was no longer any of that.
What he was was a dark horse.
The instant I caught sight of him, I froze.
He was tall.
His eyes were the color of the ocean.
And he made me believe that I could want something, take it and HAVE it.
Own it.
Keep it.
Mysterious pussy could also just be a mystery.
And Nick was now drowning in the mystery of Olivia Shade.
Which meant he had no choice but to solve it so he could surface.
And maybe survive.
Sebring," I gasped.
"Come," he ordered.
My entire body started trembling.
"Fucking COME," he growled.
Shuddering under him, I came.
Spectacularly.
“What he was was a dark horse. No one had expected anything of him except, perhaps, the frequently earned title of baby daddy and an early death due to his own folly.
But now, in our world, he was respected and even feared.”
“She was not a ghost who could be seen.
She was a hostage in a lavish cage.”
“And I’m the man who’s got two priority missions. To get you free of a life you hate and to get you to a place that you smile, frequently and easily.”
“Just so you don’t forget.
You mean more to me today than you did yesterday.
And yesterday, you meant a fuckuva lot to me.”
”He made me laugh. He made me feel. He made me believe there was something to me.”
“Beauty bound.
She was not a ghost who could be seen.
She was a hostage in a lavage cage.”
“Life is short and it mostly sucks so who cares what the nutritionist thinks?”
Wars fought over a face like this. A man would work himself into the ground for it, go down to his knees to beg to keep it, endure torture to protect it, take a bullet for it, poison his brother to possess a face like this.
“My brother found that face,” Knight finished.
Nick hadn’t found that face.
He’d found that woman.
"I'm not bawling."
"You were close."
"You were being sweet."
"Like I said, get used to that."
"Then you were an ass."
"You should probably get used to that too."
What he was was a dark horse. No one had expected anything of him except, perhaps, the frequently earned title of baby daddy and an early death due to his own folly.
If I didn't ... all would be lost because I would get lost in the desperate desire to swim forever in Nick Sebring's eyes.
"The House of Shade has been a house of cards for years now. A cold wind blows, it'll blow away and everything stacked inside will go with it ..."
"Just so you don't forget," he began.
"You mean more to me today than you did yesterday."
Her lips parted and her eyes got bright a different way.
"And yesterday you meant a fuckuva lot to me," he finished.
He'd made it.
He'd fuckkng made it. With his own hands, sweat, balls, guts and brains.
He'd made it and he'd earned it and there he was ...
Living it.
The perfect world.
"Yours."
Nick Sebring has issues. Born feeling like an outsider in his own family, growing up under the shadow of a brother who could do anything, Nick isn’t that great of a guy. But when this culminates with Nick lashing out to hurt his brother through the woman he loves, Nick turns inward and makes some decisions about the man he intends to be.
And as he does this, he falls in love and truly learns the man that he’s grown to be.
When his love is murdered right before Nick’s eyes, Nick knows he has to avenge her. He knows how he’s going to avenge her. And he has no qualms using Olivia Shade to exact that vengeance.
Olivia Shade has grown up on the outside of her family too. Her problem is that they don’t want her outside. They want her all the way in, right under their thumbs. She pays the price for seeking escape and learns her lesson—she’ll never see a dawn where she wakes up free.
Then she meets Nick Sebring, and even as she fights it, the hope that died years ago starts to blossom. She can find love. She can have a man of her own. She can be happy. She can be free.
Olivia hopes while Nick schemes.
However, as Nick peels back the layers of all that is Olivia Shade, he finds something surprising. He understands its fragility. He falls in love with its beauty. He seeks to protect it.
But he forgets to protect his Livvie from one thing: Nick Sebring.
Can I say first how much I LOVE the cover! It's so beautiful and meaningful and when you read the epilogue it will all make sense ♥
This is Nick's story, the bad trouble making (not the good kind) Sebring brother we met in Knight . He was despicable in that book and many readers doubted his potential redemption and with good reason. But after reading this I can say with absolute certainty that Nick has grown into a different better man.
Back in the day, Nick Sebring had been known as the incompetent, unprincipled wastrel younger brother of a successful man.
He was no longer any of that.
What he was a dark horse.
The book started in a heartbreaking way with Nick having lost his woman "Hettie" while they were working undercover (he was a CI and she was an FBI agent). Hell bent on revenge, he convinces Deacon teach him what he knows in order to complete the mission he started with Hittie, take down The House Of Shade aka Olivia's father's gangster organization.
"I had my woman I couldn't build in a dream.
And I sat, tied to a chair, powerless to do anything, looking right into her eyes when they blew a hole through her head.
That mission is not complete. Our mission. The one I had with her, our fucking mission.
It isn't complete. There is work to be done. For her."
Then fast forward 4 years, Nick built an empire with an army of his own, all in preparation to exact his revenge. The only thing he had to do was get to Olivia, the weak link in The House Of Shade and use her to take down her father.
What ensued after they got together was a battle of wills. Olivia trying to protect Nick from her father and him trying to stop himself from developing feelings for her and jeopardizing his plan.
I needed ...To reduce him to a tool, a length of warm, hard flesh, a stiff cock, all there simply to get me off.
This was what I always tried to achieve with Nick. Effort that was wasted because I spent every moment between being with him until being with him again thinking about being with him.
Olivia was such a badass heroine, she was strong fierce sassy and she didn't let anybody walk over her, but she was also tortured with physical and mental scars. Her entourage was toxic and she didn't have the freedom she craved because she was under her father's (who was a mobster) thumb.
"Beauty bound. She was not a ghost who could be seen. She was a hostage in a lavish cage."
Their first encounters were HOT and incredibly erotic, the steam factor is off the charts sexy!
The epilogue was pure perfection! I loved it! We got an epilogue for each anti-hero Deacon, Knight, Creed, Raid. It could not have been done better.
I had such high expectations for this book! But this was not Kristen Ashley at her best. I liked Knight way more than I did Sebring. I couldn't connect to the characters, I felt more emotions when I read about Nick and Hettie than when I read about him and Olivia. The storyline was perfect, the characters were wonderful but it lacked the connection I craved. I would have loved more developpement and depth. If you're a fan of the series then definitely read this one, the epilogue was the best I had ever read so far. The feels Oh. My. God I loved the last part of the book sooo much!!
Erotic and emotional this was the end of the unfinished heroes series, I will never forget it. 4+++ Stars
"Sometimes you kill me, baby."
"That mission is not complete. Our mission. The one I had with her. It isn't complete. There's work to be done. For her."-NickSebring brings us the story of Nick. Nick was introduced in KNIGHT and he made quite an entrance. His cocky, spoiled, "I'm too sexy" attitude paled in comparison to the magnificent Knight Sebring. Now he has the opportunity to redeem himself. Nick has matured significantly and additionally, he has experienced great loss. At the start of Sebring, Nick is a man on a mission and the name of his game is revenge! With the support of his family and friends (all of our favorite characters from the series), Nick puts his plan into action.
"A Shade lived like a Shade."Olivia Shade is his target. Liv, the daughter of a gangster, is obligated to work for her father and the family business. She has been held captive by her family and left to live a hopeless life full of regret and pain. Her only escape is to indulge in her sexual desires by frequenting an underground sex club. She watches and enjoys the escape. When Nick inches his way into Liv's life, the attraction is instantaneous and the passion might have overloaded my kindle a time or to throughout the read!
"I believed I could feel complete. I believed I could have someone by my side. I believed I could feel safe. I believed I could be happy. I believed I could be loved. Something precious would be mine."-Liv
"He took her mouth. And like she'd done to his, he consumed it."The sexual chemistry between the two is off the charts. As Nick gets to know Liv, he recognizes that she isn't at all who he thought. He experiences inner turmoil over the feelings he is developing for Liv and is his drive for revenge. Liv is completely unaware of Nick's plight and slowly begins to fall in love with him. Nick is able to revive Liv and he brings her security in a way that she has never experienced before.
"Fuck, he was so fucking falling in love with her."-Nick
"You mean more to me today than you did yesterday."-NickTold in dual POV, Sebring was a good addition to the series. Both Liv and Nick are quite complex and their interactions were natural and quite enjoyable to read. The underlying tension of Nick's secret drives the action throughout. The brutality of the Shade family enhanced the story because the fear was real and the emotions that evoked were intense. Additionally, the progression of the relationship between Nick and his brother Knight (I love that man) was nothing short of perfection. The two brothers coming together after years of turmoil brought a satisfying spark of joy! The story was well crafted and very sexy. My only setback in this read was that I did feel like Liv's transformation was a bit abrupt towards the end. Still, I was quite pleased with how things turned out!
"You'll live free and easy. And we keep on, we get to where we're headed, you gotta do what you promised along the way and believe."-Nick
"Hurry, honey."
“You’re here forever and you’re by my side.”
“The instant I caught sight of him, I froze. He was tall. His eyes were the color of the ocean. And he made me believe that I could want something, take it and have it. Own it. Keep it. Something precious would be mine.”
“Just so you don’t forget,” he began. “You mean more to me today than you did yesterday.” Her lips parted and her eyes got bright a different way. “And yesterday you meant a fuckuva lot to me,”
“I’m gonna walk out of here not touching you and the last thing you’re gonna hear from me is that I love you, baby. Fuck, I so fuckin’ love you.”
They kissed hard and uncompromisingly. Battling. Seizing. Claiming. Going at it. Giving it all they had.
“Just so you don’t forget, you mean more to me today than you did yesterday. And yesterday you meant a fuckuva lot to me.”