The First Cut is the Deepest (Beautiful Redemption – A Book Review)

Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers #2)

Author: Jamie McGuire

Published: 2015

On Goodreads

My Rating:

Rated S for scars that go heart deep and create sabotaging self-doubt.

If a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves. But what if he didn’t love you, first?

Liis Lindy transferred to the San Diego FBI office to get ahead in her career and get away from her ex-fiancé. Married to the job, she doesn’t have time to screw around, and even if she did, she had zero desire to do so. Well, until she met a mysterious, but devilish man at the local bar that unexpectedly tempted her wild side.

Thomas Maddox is known for being arrogant and impossible to work for. But, he’s good at his job. While he’s saved many lives, he is faced with his most difficult case yet. His younger brother Travis is facing prison time unless he agrees to work undercover and help Thomas bring down a dangerous mob.

Things get complicated after Thomas chooses Liis to attend Travis’s wedding and help get his brother on his side. It won’t be easy, especially, since she and Thomas must pose as a couple. With the two already teetering on that very edge, they both are left wondering if they’re really pretending at all.

The Maddox Brothers Reviews

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Beautiful Disaster/Walking Disaster

Beautiful Oblivion

The way reality and fantasy collided with this one was sublime. When I say fantasy, I mean that luscious daydream that makes your toes curl…tightly. It was fun and intense. Thomas and Liis are quite the dynamic duo. Explosively stunning and bitingly blunt.

Giphy

Maguire addressed one feeling that I’m sure everyone feels at some point in their life. The feeling of coming second in your lover’s life. It’s a terrifying emotion to imagine and it’ll rock you hard. For Liis, it came in the form of Cami. Yup, Beautiful Oblivion’s Cami made a cameo and it was tense! My heart shot up into my throat when she made her appearance. Liis and Thomas balance each other out so well and I love Cami. She’s seriously tough. However, it wasn’t easy seeing her come between Liss and Thomas. Dealing with meeting the first love is enough to almost drive anyone away, especially when your human still cares about them. McGuire smothered this one in gasoline and struck a match on it.

Getting a glimpse at the other Maddox brothers was fecking riot. Since starting this series, I get giddy at the peeks of the other brothers when they get a cameo. You never know what you’re going to get with them and they add so much humor and backstory to it. They’re also a great representation of the total don’t-give-a-shit, cares to the wind, guy. Slightly cringing, partially aggressive, and occasionally you want to punch them. Still, past that unbelievable exterior that’s both eye-roll worthy and makes your cheeks flush, there’s a heart. A heart that doesn’t just dip its toes in the water. It takes the plunge.

Movellas

Naturally fast-paced, there was no room for a breath let alone sleep. I was hopelessly hooked. McGuire has always filled my need for an adrenaline rush of sexual tension. She creates such a natural balance between storytelling and action. This was no exception.

If anything had truly gotten to me, it was the back and forth between Thomas and Liis. His inability to move on from his first love and Liis’s understandable issue with that and how it compromised her life. I wouldn’t be will to up end my life for somebody who wasn’t fully invested in me either. It became a bit of a struggle when this fight happened continuously though. This is a major hiccup for any relationship but while reading it over and over? Oh man, my brain was melting a bit. I was starting to feel the aggravation and frustration Liis and Thomas were feeling. Still, I had such a strong appreciation for the way they both seemed to sacrifice something for each, were willing to do that to take a chance on each other. Liis had no intention of re-opening her heart but did. Thomas surprised me the most. He was willing to follow her and her career wherever it led her. It was unexpected since it’s typically the female that had to follow her guy and his career. Talk about switching up the game. It’s good to see the guy put his love first. Actually, I love to see it.

Overall

Absolutely loved this one. Sure, it’s not some deep, undying, moral story, but it’s fun and entertaining and verging on mind-blowing. This is one of those series you get lost in for the sake of escaping real life into fantasy. Totally worth the indulge.

Quotables:

“Then, we have to trust each other. If something is between and getting the job done. I remove whatever it is.” (Thomas to Liis, p. 72)

“You can love someone without wanting to be with them. Just like you can want to be with someone before you love them.” (Thomas, p. 96)

“Feds don’t chase. They hunt” (Thomas, p. 191)

“It’s somewhere in the unforeseen when the best, most important moments of our lives seem to happen.” (p. 253)

More to come soon…                                                                                               

  -K.

Song Today? Runaway by Thriving Ivory.

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