Axel (Corps Security Book 1)

This book is really emotional. I had tears reading it, but what a great read. I think it's a must-read the author can tell a great story that you really get into

How I love renewed reunited romance. The couple Axel and Izzy, were high school sweethearts, who had experienced love, and were destined to be together forever.Axel goes off to join the marines, leaving Izzy behind, they vow to keep in touch, fate steps in and kicks their future off the cliff, Izzy has to deal with some really hard life experiences, she looses family members, and end up moving away from the town to stay with other family members, she leaves her forwarding details with Axel's foster parents, but hatred gets in the way.After she leaves town, fate throws more heartache her way, she has to deal with further events.She becomes friends with Dee who is with her through almost everything. They are besties!Dee convinces Izzy to go out, when she meets a new man, Brandon, she eventually marries him, but he slowly takes away her control, eventually keeping her away from friends and family, she has been sneaking visits to Dee, unfortunately she gets back late, he knows and beats her unconscious, she finally leaves him, and starts a new life, although not perfect she starts living with Dee's help and Greg's he becomes a very good friend. with a security company.He joins forces with some old marine buddies, and a chance meeting whilst out completely rocks her world apart. The new partner in the security firm, turns out to be her long lost love, Axel, who she thought was dead, he spent the previous years thinking she ran from him. closing himself off, after finding out Izzy had moved on and married, thinking she was happy. They had years of unsaid words to catch up on, she wanted nothing to do with him, he wanted nothing to do with her, although deep down they still had strong feelings for each other.Her ex husband continues to threaten and torment her, but with the help of the new security team, he finally stops harassing her. Leaving Axel and Izzy to finally live out their dreams!The ending was really lovely, and so pleased they gave their love the second chance it deserved. Not to mention how hot and sexy their reunion was.

Harper Sloan has written some very sexy men. I mean I think I fancy them all actually.It's best to check the trigger warnings in Axel because it starts off straight in the thick of it with a scene from Izzy's relationship with her ex partner, who does reappear throughout the book and difficult scenes do transpire.Izzy can probably come across as marmite because she sometimes goes off the rails when it's uncalled for or overreacts but I really came around to liking her and her over the top moments when she was enraged. Harper has written some very strong female characters and Izzy's character arc from being the abused house wife to this fiesty, independent woman is amazing to read.Axel had me swooning from the moment they reconnected in the club. He's the perfect combination of protective alpha and sweet boy next door. Now with a lot more muscle. I love how their story reconnects and the drama that occurs from their past. The conflict which split them apart is something that I very rarely read and it was intriguing to see where it went.Highly recommend!

*MAJOR SPOILERS*I wanted to like this way more than I did, as I love hot, protective alpha males, but some of it was so annoying that I could only give it 3 stars.Izzy (Iz/Isabelle) has escaped a life of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her husband, Brandon. Fast forward 2 years - Izzy is living with her best friend Dee, and Brandon is harrassing her from a distance. Their friend and security consultant, Greg, assigns the task of tracking Brandon down to his new partner, Axel Reid. When Izzy meets Axel, she realises he's the love of her life who she lost contact with when he joined the marines several years previously. I liked the premise of this story and it had a lot of potential.So why only 3 stars? Well, here are my reasons:*Izzy was so annoying and confusing as a character to me. She spent a lot of time talking about trying to gain back control of her life after everything her husband put her through, yet was she heavily reliant on Greg and his friends, including being carried around everywhere like a child! I felt she lacked any strength. I know she went through a terrible time, but her constant sniveling got on my nerves!*Izzy knew Axel's foster mother hated her, yet continued to send letters for Axel to her, assuming he was receiving them. Then she believed her when she told Izzy that Axel was dead!!! WTF?!*I really don't get what Greg saw in Izzy and Dee. Yes Dee was less annoying than Izzy, but a hot, built, alpha ex-marine being happy to carry the girls shopping and escort them to nightclubs? I don't think so. Their relationship was laughable to me.*The book was written in the present tense, yet the author constantly slipped in some past tense, even in the same sentence at times!*Brandon was able to walk up to Izzy's home, knock on the door, and beat her up. And all of the men were inside watching a game on the TV!!! Great security firm, yes?!*The men all sounded like neanderthals. The way they spoke was gruff and not a bit sexy or alpha.I did like Axel though, and I would've liked to have known more about what he had been through throughout his life. No doubt all the men in this series will have their own book, but this is the end of the road for me. A better version of this type of book is the "Sweet Series" by Maya Banks.