Revenge (A Lawless Novel, #3)

by Lexi Blake

Passion and danger collide in the this contemporary romance featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.

When Drew Lawless discovers a fatal flaw in his plan to avenge his parents’ deaths, he turns to the one woman he promised he wouldn't touch. He offers her a deal, one that will bring her into his investigation, his life, and his bed. 

Investigative reporter Shelby Gates never dreamed how twisted the case would become—or how fascinated she would be with Drew. Every day they spend together binds them. And every night brings her closer to realizing he might be the man for her. 

As Drew's feelings for Shelby grow, so does the danger. From the streets of Dallas to Austin’s high-tech business world, Drew and Shelby play a game begun twenty years before—a game they will win, or die trying.

• ISBN10: 0425283593
• ISBN13: 9780425283592
• Publish Date: 20 June 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425283592

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

Revenge is the 3rd book about the Lawless brothers and focuses on Drew. Drew is the mastermind of the family. He kind of gives off the evil genius vibe and to say he is ruthless is a bit mild. His plan is to use Shelby to do the dirty work of finding the information he needs and then cut her loose.

Drew has never been my favorite brother. Bran was a serious whore, but he was at least likable. Riley is the best (even if he had his own douchy moments). But Drew...Revenge has been his life's mission and it has made him cold and calculating. Shelby is a brilliant reporter who had already uncovered some anomalies in the Lawless family case. She was also a great ally to Carly in book 2 (and I loved Carly!). Really, Drew was going to be the biggest hurdle to my enjoyment of this book. Could I ever really believe he would change and not be a cutthroat dick? I just wasn't sure it could happen.

You get to peek in on the lives of the other Lawless siblings and their spouses which creates a really well rounded supporting cast of characters. Hatch is still around as well. He reminds me of Haymitch from the Hunger Games. A drunken fool until forced to sober up and help guide some youngsters in their revenge plot. Even their names were similar enough that I kept mixing them up! Plus, there is a new character who comes out of nowhere and will make you question things! Drew is his typical, skeptical self, and Shelby is more trusting, which describes them pretty much in everything they do. As the reader, I found myself agreeing more with Shelby, but also thinking "Maybe I'm an idiot who is getting played!". The mystery keeps you turning pages and unable to put the book down.

By the end, I did see character development in Drew and I enjoyed him more than I expected. Nerdy boy has a wild side for sure!

Revenge is an extremely well crafted story with twists and surprises that will engage and enthrall you. Blake has created a masterfully written tale of family drama, betrayal, and Revenge!

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: no


• Trope: revenge, fake relationship


• Triggers: spoiler


• Series/Standalone: Series (must be read in order)


• Cliffhanger: No, this is the final book in the series and there is resolution


• HEA: yes

Books by Maya Banks, Laura Kaye, Chanel Cleeton ...then you will probably like Revenge!

Revenge

See full review on The Book Disciple

[Rowena]

Revenge is the third book in the Lawless series and it follows the eldest of the Lawless siblings, Andrew. Andrew Lawless is a super geek with vengeance in his heart. Nothing will stop him from protecting his siblings and when a new threat (introduced in the last book, Satisfaction) arises, he sets about trying to take the bad guy down.

Drews got a plan to bring the bad guy down without including his siblings. They’re happy and moving on with their lives so he feels that keeping them out of everything is for their own good. His plan brings Shelby Gates into his life and she changes everything. She was hired to do a job by Drew and that job included pretending to be his girlfriend. Drew, Drew, Drew…you know fake relationships never work out the way that they’re supposed to.

So the plan is to do as much undercover research on their target as possible and the only way that Drew can keep Shelby safe is by moving her into his home and watching over her himself, even though including her, puts her life in danger. None of that matters to Drew Lawless because he’s so focused on keeping his family safe that everyone else is collateral damage.

Drew was a punk ass jerk face for his original plan. He’s always been a freaking jerk but the amount of love he had for his family kind of mitigated my frustration with him. At his core, he’s a good guy but he didn’t know how to act around people. He could only focus on the problem at hand, not understanding all of the shit he was stirring everywhere else. He’s intentions were good and his heart was in the right place but he did some shady shit to get things done.

Shelby is probably my favorite heroine in this series. She is strong and independent but she was also caring. She cared and she loved deeply. She was also loyal to a fault because even when Drew didn’t deserve her loyalty, he had it.

Seeing these two come together and then be split apart and then come together again was fun. I loved that Drew’s outlook on certain things changed but he didn’t change too much that he was a stranger. I loved that Shelby fell in love with asshole Drew and made him want to be a better person for her and the family. Their romance was hot and sweet and everything that a romance should be. They were great characters apart who went through fire for each other. Their story wasn’t an easy story but it was action packed and fun to read.

It was good to see the Lawless siblings and meet a very unexpected and new character that I hope to see more of in a future book. I really liked the way that this story wrapped up and I loved seeing Drew meet his match in Shelby. She didn’t let him get away with being a shithead and he became such an awesome hero in the end. I always liked him, despite him being a total dick but it was good to see his character really grow and change. There’s a lot going on in this book, lots of stuff that blew up Drew’s world but I loved seeing the family gather round and help bring the bad guy down. I love that stuff.

Overall, this was a great addition to this series and Lexi Blake did a great job of wrapping things up. I was a happy camper and I definitely recommend this one.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

[Eve1972]

This cover is OK. Miz Blake's M&M series have WAY better covers in my opinion. It makes great use of graphics, and the composition is great. I am just not overly thrilled with the "REVENGE" Firstly it is a bit too far to the left (as is the author's name and bylines). Secondly, the font used just isn't that appealing to the eye. Book one was by FAR the best cover out of all three.

I was a little apprehensive going into this one. Book two just wasn't that great and I am STILL trying to bleach my brain of Bran and his 100+ hookers. Thankfully this one reminded me why I adore this author's writing so much.

It goes without saying that this one was well written. Even a less than stellar Lexi Blake book is always well written. It had a non-stop pace. It had twist and turns. It had a VERY interesting development. I cannot wait to see where that is headed. It had angst. It had drama. It had feels. It had a few sex scenes (I wish there had been more). It had a great cast of secondary characters. It had Ian and a baby (hello ovaries) and two very likable main characters (no 100+ hookers for Drew!!)



A couple of things kept it from being a perfect read for me. One, I didn't particularly care for Charlotte's little chat with Shelby. I felt at that point the onus was on Drew to do the chasing and some groveling. I didn't think the guilt trip Charlie laid on Shelby was fair and honestly for all the manipulations Drew had pulled by that point he got off WAY too easily in the groveling department. Two, I would have liked to have seen an epilogue.

Those were just small things though, and overall this series has been very enjoyable to read. Two thumbs up from yours truly.