Devil's Reach #1 #2 and #3 by J.L. Drake

*adult content*

I was really in a mood for a dark romance, the last one I read just didn't do it for me. I am very pleased to say this one was Fabulous! 

All I hoped for and more.

Blurb for Trigger:


***This book ends with a small cliffhanger. Intended for 18+. May contain Triggers.*** 

I was raised by the Devil himself. 

Formed into a man who was unreachable. 

I went from the boy with bruises to the man with a trigger. 

Killing is the only thing that calms the itch. 

The demons inside were a constant battle… 

…until she changed everything. 

Problem is when you spend most of your time in the dark, is it smart to step into the light?

4.5 Stars- Trigger

Holly Mother of Smut!

This was awesome. I had no intention of finishing the book  in one sitting, but once I started I could not stop. There was so much going on. So much passion, friendship, darkness, lust, violence... there was too much of just about everything and at the same time not enough. I need more.

Tess and Trigger are both really well written characters. I loved that the author gave them both a background, a story. I didn't feel at any point that she focused on one more than the other even if the whole story took placed at Trigger's bar. 

Trigger has a lot of demons and he is not a nice guy to anyone outside his circle. His hardcore personality and broken childhood made him a character that is impossible not to love. 

Tess is hardcore too. Trigger is not sure about her to start, and neither was I. But boy did she grow on me!

The side characters were all phenomenal as well. I have no idea how JL Drake managed to give all the characters so much personality on just 321 pages... Seriously, some authors write 500 pages book and hardly manage to give the two  main characters personality. She did an outstanding job. I am in love with all the characters!

The only thing I did not like was the ending. I am not a fan of bringing back the dead. But, I am still to read Demons, so maybe it wont be that bad. I also confess that this last year I have completely gone off book series because cliffhangers drive me nuts. It isn't a problem here because I have the next book and I just ordered the third one, but yah... the cliffhanger is not small. You need the next book!

Blurb for Demons:

Trigger… 

I thought the light would bring redemption. 

Salvation. 

But it only brought the Devil to my doorstep. 

My demons are breaking through, and the reaper is moving closer. 

My weakness has been exposed, and there’s only one person who can calm this hell… 

Tess… 

I broke a promise to myself, and now I’m paying for it. 

I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be a part of this hell. 

But I don’t have a choice… 

The reaper is riding bitch on our backs. 

DISCLAIMER to add to online listings: 

This is Book 2 in the Devil’s Reach trilogy, and it ends with a cliffhanger. Intended for readers 18 or older. May contain…triggers

3 Stars- Demons

Another great book by JL Drake. This one though was not without fault.

Tess and Trigger's relationship was utter perfection. These two broken souls understand each other better than anyone and the tension between the two of them had me on the edge of my seat. JL Drake wrote their relationship perfectly. Trigger's inner demons and inability to do feelings made him all more interesting. And when he finally started sharing? swooooooon 

Tess once again became more likable as the book progressed. Her darkness makes her a much more interesting character than the broken shell she is around her mother and Clark. 

Here are some of the things I had issues with though: 

It suffers from what I call 'middle book syndrome'. The book was very slow and repetitive. Tess and Trigger took forever to be together again and even longer to figure out their issues, got frustrating. 

Unresolved Issues. As I said on the previous review I am not a fan of the dead coming back to life and even less when it is not explained how. 

Tess' and Clark's relationship dragged for far too long, it was exhausting. 

The ending....aahhhh... please tell me we will not have to go another 30% of a book waiting for Tess and Trigger to be together? I didn't like that it took so long here and it will drive me crazy if it does in the last book.

Now, lets not forget the side characters, they are still fabulous. There is a BIG part of me that hopes they get their own books!

Blurb for Unleashed:

Trigger 

Tess was under the Devil’s watch while I suffered behind bars with my demons… 

The ace in my pocket brings power, and the temptation to flip overwhelms me. 

I’m playing chicken with the reaper, and it’s only feeding his thirst. 

The smell of blood is a drug. It fuels me. Consumes me. 

I am lost. 

Tess 

The Devil stole me, but I refuse to belong to someone else. 

I’m a fighter. 

I will do whatever it takes to get back to my family. 

Treachery and betrayal surround us. 

The only way out is to turn the greatest loss into the greatest victory. 

3 Stars- Unleashed

This was great! The tension, the passion, the darkness... the book had me on pins and needles.

Goodness the tension and passion between Trigger and Tess is unbelievable. Their romance is not sweet, it is row, it is dangerous, it is dark. They have a connection that goes deep and neither can ran away from it. 

The side characters are phenomenal. Every single one of the boys deserves their own book. I don't think the story would have been the same without them and that says a lot. They were as important to it as Tess and Trigger.

I am also glad that we got to see Trigger's darkness and not just hear about it. He is one scary bastard. Shit you not, I could feel his stare through the pages of the book. 

Sadly, although I freaking loved the series and will recommend it to anyone that likes a dark romance, there were things I really didn't like in Unleashed.

There was way too much women drama. Peggy was an unnecessary character, as was Melissa later on. They felt like page fillers to me. And than there was the nail in the coffin, the random woman Trigger almost gave in to after asking Tess to marry him and what Tess said to him about other women in his room- implying he cheated on her. I hate cheating. I despise cheating. I get he wasn't himself there for a while, but I'm still not cool with it. It made Tess look cheap and therefore the story itself too. I don't think he did cheat, I think he sent them away just like he sent Peggy away, but that is never cleared up and since he was obviously about to do it at one point  it killed the romance for me- SPOILER AHEAD- someone tosses a woman to him, she is about to blow him, he goes hard and thinks: "She had plump lips, which could be used in my favor." Nothing happened only because Tess intervened. After all that, their romance just died for me.

Because of all the drama the book was unnecessarily long. Some of the plot twists annoyed me when they happened but now I can see why and appreciate them. So yah, if the  women drama were to be cut off, I think this would deserve a 5 start like the first book.

Go read:

GoodReads

Trigger on Amazon

Demons on Amazon
Unleashed on Amazon