Lost Hearts (Memento Mori)

I can't lie, I'm glad we're getting to know what happened to these men, the forgotten. It's tough to review this one without spoilers of the previous series, or of what's coming. If you haven't read the ones before, the details of the life Jax led are sketchy and told in pieces. It's tough to review without over telling those details. Jax and River shouldn't work. For all the normal reasons and for the things he brings to the relationship from his past. But they do. And I was invested. This book is only as good as it is because of the strength of the author in telling the story. This is a book...and a lead character who could have easily been painted into a corner with no way to tell a story that gets him out of it. But, not in this case. It's a wonderful romance and a chance to see Jax getting the partner he deserves in River and the life he deserves. It's pure Bliss. And I recommend this title.

MEMENTO MORI is the first instalment in Lexi Blake’s contemporary, adult MASTERS AND MERCENARIES: The Forgotten erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on six former military soldiers (Jax, Dante, Sasha, Tucker, Owen and Robert) whose minds and lives were eradicated and erased. This is Jax, and mountain tour guide River Lee’s story line. The Forgotten is a spin-off from the author’s Masters and Mercenaries series, and the characters were first introduced and play an important throughout the original series. NOTE: If you have not read Lexi Blake’s original Masters and Mercenaries series, their may be some confusion as it pertains to the Lost Boys backstory. SOME BACKGROUND: Several months earlier the mercenaries from the McKay-Taggart Black Ops group rescued, from an unauthorized military lab, six men they labelled the ‘Lost Boys’. With their memories wiped clean, no ID, and no traceable DNA, the Lost Boys were essentially ‘new born’ soldiers trained to kill and destroy. Told from dual third person perspectives (Jax and River) MEMENTO MORI follows the building relationship between Jax, and tour guide River Lee. Jax, and his fellow Lost Boys are desperate to uncover the truth about their pasts, and the drugs used to control their lives, but without any memories of the who, how, or why, the where was a mystery until the probability of a secret government lab in the mountains near Bliss, Colorado. Enter mountain tour guide River Lee, a woman whose own life spiralled out of control with the death of her father, and the subsequent fraudulent marriage to a serial con-man. What ensues is the building relationship and love between Jax and River, and the potential fall-out as Jax must keep secret the truth about the mission that is about to go horribly wrong. Jax is a man frustrated about his lack of a past. Along with the men he calls ‘brothers’ Jax is willing to risk it all to discover the whereabouts of the secret lab but risking the life of the woman he loves means going it alone. River Lee is unable to move past the her husband’s betrayal, and falling for a man like Jax meant another round of betrayal when the truth was revealed. The relationship between Jax and River is one of immediate attraction but Jax’s handler ‘Big Tag’ has warned the Lost Boys that their mission must remain a secret; and affairs of the heart will only lead to heartbreak and pain. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. There is a very large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including the men that Jax calls brothers: Dante, Sasha, Tucker, Owen and Robert, as well as Big Tag; Heather aka Solo; Andy and Ty. The requisite evil has many faces, some of whom may be working for the same side. You may need a spread-sheet to keep track of all of the characters, and their relationships to one another. There is plenty of confusion as well, with the numerous names and aliases for all of the story line characters, which makes for a difficult time trying to keep track of the familial relationships, government departments and connections. MEMENTO MORI is a story of family, friendship, betrayal and loss focusing on six men who have had to relearn the skills of life, as well as their struggle to move on from the evil that continues to permeate their minds. The premise is entertaining and engaging; the characters are broken, colorful, dynamic and lost; the romance is passionate and heated.

Awesome but the way it played out I don't understand why the CIA is killing each hurting each other so badly without killing one another. They get other people to do it.