Best Laid Plans (Mercenaries, #1)

by Stylo Fantome

• ISBN10: 1517009359
• ISBN13: 9781517009359
• Publish Date: 6 September 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 340
• Language: English

Reviews

[Lynn]

4.5 stars

Wow!

This first book in the Mercenaries series is a lightening paced adventure across dangerous West African terrain.

Liliana Brewster has been training for this mission for five years. Her motivation is revenge. The plan is to kill the man responsible for the kidnapping and killing her sister. She's spent all these years, working as a transporter and money launderer to work her way into the Russian Bratva crime organisation. Now she's been noticed, and been given a job to move her nearer to her target...the boss Stankovski. She's spent the last month in a Bratva safe house in Monrovia, Liberia and now she's ready for her final job before taking a flight to Moscow...to find closure.

Marcelle De Sant is a well respected mercenary, working wherever the job and money lead him. He's in Liberia to complete a mission. Before he leaves, he ends up spending the night with the feisty redhead who's been hanging out at the Bratva safe-house. What happened next is a passionate night he'll remember for more than one reason...betrayal.

Marc and Lily's sexual chemistry is fed on adrenaline as they dodge the bullets on their dangerous road trip across Western Africa. Fate or presumptive events depending on your point of view, threw the lovers together, if only to kill one of them! Once the misunderstanding is violently worked through, Lily continues to proves to be a tough, bad-ass heroine who's more than a match for Marcelle De Sant. Respect that is unexpectedly earned. He's doubted her ability and naivety but she constantly surprises him with her toughness and skill...if only she'd shut her smart mouth up once in a while!

The plot becomes even more intriguing when the dangerous lovebirds run into trouble. There is a contract out on De Sant's head and an old “friend” is curious enough to find out why! Bentley Law and De Sant embark on a strange, violent duel ending with laughter...Law sticks around, deciding to not kill a man he respects and joins the ride. There are diamonds at stake!

The writing is superb, with my attention kept the whole duration of the book. At times, some scenes are a bit gruesome, however the violence is far from gratuitous. The protagonists are strong, and believable and their dialogue is snarky, hilarious and full of expletives. The ending was unexpected, but not jarringly so. It left me wanting to know what the future holds for Marc and Lily.

***arc generously received in exchange for an honest review***

[stacey_is_sassy]

Just as good as I remember...

I was again completely sucked into the dark and scary world of pretty rocks...aka diamonds. Listening to Best Laid Plans was like listening to an action/adventure movie with a lot of blood. These two are so crazy that they're crazy good together. Fist fights, spilling blood and holding guns to each other's heads is common...and more times than not, it's Lilly leaving the most damage. This story is so outside of my normal reads but I'm completely enthralled. It's sexy, fast-paced and very entertaining.

I didn't mind the female narrator when she was reading Lilly's part, but any other time made me cringe. Her performance of Marc sounded like he constantly needed to clear his throat, her accents just didn't seem right, and Law sounded like a girl. The problem with Marc sounding really gravelly is that when the male narrator performed, his version of Marc was very smooth. It's a female narrator so of course there's a chance a male character is going to sound like a girl, but her version of Law was excessively girly. I liked the male narrator's talking voice, it was easy to listen to and I had no problems identifying a character change.

If you're looking for something a little bit different, have no issues with excessive violence, foul language and HOT sexy times, I highly recommend giving Best Laid Plains a go.

I will definitely be going back for more of The Mercenaries on audio, and at the bargain price of $2...ish (if you pre-own the kindle version), it will be sooner rather than later.

**********

I wouldn't want to meet these two in a back alley...

Some things I've learned/decided at the conclusion of Best Laid Plans...

Diamonds are not a girl's best friend.
I do not want to be like Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider anymore.
Lions and tigers are not the scariest animals in Africa, the two-legged upright ones are worse.
Be careful where you step in Africa, it's a minefield.
And finally, if I have to visit Africa, I'll make sure to do a defensive driving course first.

Wow, that was the longest running action movie ever. Bloody life got in the way and it took a lot longer to read than I planned. The times in between reading left me on edge feeling like if I didn't hurry back, I'd miss something important. It was action-packed, smoking hot and exciting. You were constantly wondering what could possibly go wrong next. I was sucked into this tale from the very beginning to the end.

Some truths...the main characters are not goodies. They're not even baddies trying to be good. They are trained killers and no one is safe. You could probably say that Lilly wasn't all bad, especially compared to Marc. She was on a mission for justice and knew that there would be deaths, but she wasn't keen on killing for the sake of killing. Marc on the other hand...don't get in his way and don't piss him off. He's bad to the bone.

Lots and lots of violence with plenty of blood being spilt...on each other...by each other...to each other. Don't worry about Lilly though, she can definitely hold her own. Very evil characters are introduced and it's not always clear whether they are on your side or anyone's side for that matter. Guns, knives and bombs are being used constantly, but some of the worst violence was in the hand to hand combat.

I really enjoyed this story and loved the main characters, Lilly and Marc. This was a very steamy read and I don't think any of my smutty friends would be disappointed.

Kingsley was a great addition and I hope we get more of him in the future.

This is not a standalone, but the ending didn't make me want to throw my kindle. The author promises that she doesn't like to torture her readers, so I have high hopes the next instalment won't be too far away.