Title: The Master
Series: Free Men, #3
Author: Kate Aaron
Genre: Historical/BDSM
Length: Novel (178 Pages)
Publisher: Croft House (November 22nd, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5 Hearts
Blurb: Being rescued was only the start.

Otiz lies in ruins. As Underlord of the region, Lysander knows where his responsibilities lie. He has an obligation to the survivors to rebuild their homes and their lives. But what about his home, his life?

Kai needs help. The damage inflicted on him goes beyond the marks left when he was tortured, but healing him might require more from Lysander than he’s capable of giving. Of one thing he’s certain: Tam and Kai will never be endangered again, because of who he is, even if saving them means setting them free.

All Lysander wants is to be left in peace. To recover from the horrors of his experience at the hands of his enemies. But with pressure piling up from every angle, peace is the last thing he’s likely to find. Suffocated by guilt, Lysander begins to spiral. How can he hold everything together, when inside he’s falling apart?

Product Link: www.amazon.com/Master-Free-Men-Book-ebook/dp/B00Q1UJ7NO

Reviewer: KathyMac

Review: The third and final book of the Free Men series, The Master, by Kate Aaron brings everything full circle allowing each person to find strength, courage, and time to heal from past wounds. We’ve read about Tam in, The Slave, and then Kai, The Soldier, and now we find out who the man is they call Master.
After they were rescued and return home, they find things are worse than they thought. The compound is in shambles and Otiz is crumbling around them. Lysander, along with Tam and Kai, take it upon themselves to help out as much as possible. The death and destruction around them is more than they can bear, at times. It leaves a foreboding impact with everyone in its wake.

At the end of the day, when it’s just the three, in the privacy of their bedroom, Lysander and Tam patiently administer soft touches, gentle kisses, and kind words to Kai in hopes of alleviating his fears and doubts. The truth surrounding his scars and damages are something they all know but refuse to speak of. Kai is hesitant and skittish during their intimate moments, but with Tam and Master, both, speaking words of encouragement and administering lotions carefully over his wounds, he begins to show signs of healing. Not just his body but his mind, also.

Kai finally makes a breakthrough reaching his climax and he is suddenly overwhelmed with tears. Immediately, he surrenders as everything he has endured comes crashing down on him. He is overcome by emotion and fear that was strangling him. Now, as Tam and Master surround him with their arms and bodies, true healing can begin.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him tight between us. I petted him and dropped kisses along the back of his neck, his belly surging below my hand as he fought to regain control of himself. “It’s all right,” I soothed, not letting up my grip around him for a moment. “We’re here. We’ve got you. Everything is going to be all right.”

Each new day they go into town to help restore order and rebuild better and stronger than before. Lysander spends a lot of time with Kai and he realizes how strong he really is. He has suffered so much at the hands of others yet he still carries on with renewed strength. They talk freely getting to know each other better and finding they have a lot in common, mostly their love for Tam.

Originally, the plan was for Kai to be a companion to Tam, a lover, and a friend. Someone Tam would have for himself if/when Master had to return to the courts. He is all of those things but he also wants Lysander to be there for him, not just Tam. To love and protect him. Thinking he is doing what’s best, Lysander does not encourage his way of thinking. He goes out of his way to discourage him from thinking he is anything other than a Master with a pleasure-slave. This hurts Kai, deeply, and it hurts Master, as well, he just masks his pain. As a reader, you will feel the hurt and despair it causes in Kai. To receive this rejection, so blatantly, is heart breaking.

Every day that goes by Lysander hates himself more and more. For the way he handled certain things, the way he continues to lie to his boys about matters out of his control. There will come a day, however, that the truth will come out. Decisions made years ago that, at the time, seemed the best for everyone, now, feels like failure and he is repulsed by his own actions and cowardly behavior. Will the truth set him free? Will the boys still want him once they know all of the lies he has told? Or… will he leave them thinking that is what is best for them? Tam will have Kai for support and a lover which was his plan all along. After all, it is his job to know what’s best for them.

The Master takes on a more calm and collective feel as they repair not only the damage to the compound but their inner demons, as well. The urgency and stress they were under is greatly reduced as their focus is now on rebuilding. Even though the pace is slower, there are still several breath-holding moments that will consume you as you read.

As they wonder thru Otiz looking for missing children and checking on their neighbors, Lysander and Kai come across some horrible, horrible, gut wrenching discoveries that will take them to their knees, literally. The author doesn’t skimp on details or descriptions as these developments take place. There are parts that are quite graphic and hard to read, mainly because you can feel their despair and the horror of the situation as if you were right there with them.

In these moments, guilt will suffocate and attempt to undo Lysander. It’s also in these moments that Kai will show enormous strength and fortitude. He will become the Master and Lysander the slave as he surrounds him with strong arms and feather light kisses.

They will travel many crossroads in this storyline but each one is met with strength, courage, and honesty. No more lies, only truths amongst the three as they decide their futures, who they spend it with and where. The author continues to hold you inside the story as they fight for their future. As the reader, all of my questions that I had from the beginning were answered and the story wrapped up with all parties knowing that they were where they wanted to be. An ending that will leave a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *

Title: The Soldier
Series: Free Men, #2
Author: Kate Aaron
Genre: Historical
Length: Novel (185 Pages)
Publisher: Croft House (October 26th, 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts
Blurb: Three months. That’s all it took for Kai to forsake freedom and learn to love his new life as pleasure slave to a wealthy Thirskan Underlord.

Finding himself surrounded by his own people once more, Kai should have been happy: relieved to be rescued from slavery, and out of the clutches of a man who was the sworn enemy of his people. Yet his people are not how he remembers them. Distrustful of Kai, and disgusted by his relationship with not one man but two, they make it abundantly clear he no longer fits in.

Beaten, starved, and tortured, when the chance comes to escape, Kai is barely strong enough to make the journey. Even if he succeeds, how could anybody ever love the thing he’s become in order to survive?

CONTENT WARNING: This book contains scenes of an adult nature, including graphic violence. Reader discretion advised.

ISBN: B00OXAX514

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Soldier-Free-Men-Book-ebook/dp/B00OXAX514

Reviewer: KathyMac

Review: When I finished, The Slave, book 1, of Kate Aaron’s trilogy, Free Men, I was crushed. Kudos to the author for the best executed cliffhanger I have ever read. Not knowing what was going to happen next was excruciating. But, thanks to the author and her generosity or maybe her foresight of reader reactions, book 2, The Soldier, was right there…ready to grab and delve back into once again. The Soldier is told, for the most part, in Kai’s voice. He was quiet in the first book, which was understandable considering everything he had gone through and continued to go through.

The Kai we first met was quiet and reserved. He also had an anger problem and was very cautious with handing over his trust. But, whether he trusted them or not, Master trusted him. When the soldiers were burning down their home and murdering anyone in their path, Kai was given a sword to help fight. And, fight he did.

The Granthian soldiers are on a mission of greed. Who they hurt or kill is of no consequence unless you have the information they seek. They have no compassion or sympathy for Kai even though he was one of them just 3 months ago. Granthia, Kai’s homeland, is against two men being together. Finding them in the same bedroom during the attack will only add fuel to the fire. The soldiers are too happy in their quest to throw rude insults and punches. They are crude and oafish in their behavior and nothing like Kai.
Being more concerned for the safety of his two lovers, Master and Tam, Kai takes what they pass out. Your heart will absolutely break for him as he takes abuse after abuse from the Neanderthals that were his fellow countrymen.

Each carried a bladder filled with water, from which he regularly sipped. I looked longingly at the one the man nearest me carried but received only a swift kick in the back of the knee for my trouble.

I fell with a startled cry, and the men laughed as I was jerked along behind the carriage before I could find my feet again. I scrambled to standing, spitting sand out of my mouth as best I could, the grains sticking in the gum collecting at the corner of my lips. My eyes stung, but I refused to let them see me cry.

Regardless to the amount of times Kai finds himself at their mercy, the brunt of their jokes, the insults and punches, he takes all of it. Hopefully, this part of their journey will be just a setback and not their future. With Tam and Master locked behind bars, unable to help Kai, he takes it on himself to find a solution for their rescue. When he is summons before the guards with questions of his living situation for the past 3 months he is confused and hesitant in answering them.

They are asking him things he knows nothing about. They don’t believe him and set out to torture the answers from him. The abuse that he suffers and the torment he is put through is very hard to read. His punishment is severe and will take months to erase the damage done to his body, if ever. His pain is very palpable and you want so bad to grab him in a hug and hold on tight. Throughout the entirety of this story, Kai hangs onto his convictions, his determination, and his perseverance is mind-blowing. Most would have given up in his situation but not one time did he ever consider backstabbing his lovers or leaving them to their own fate.

Before coming to live with Tam and Master, Kai didn’t know love. He had never had affection, nor had he ever been with a man sexually. He loved his best friend Maal, who had been killed on the battlefield, but he had never spoken the words to him. He really hadn’t even admitted to himself that it was love. However, in the 3 months he has been with Tam and Master, he has found something that he never thought to have of his own. He found love and passion, not with one man, but with two. He also realized as a slave he has far more freedom and choice than he ever did as a soldier.

He has never had feelings of security, safety, and contentment, but he does now and he doesn’t want to lose that. He will struggle with self-doubt and low self-esteem. He will grapple with feelings of unworthiness and nothing to offer his lovers in return. His body is severely damaged and scarred and he’s not sure if his manhood will work properly anymore. It will be up to Master and Tam to assure him they still want them to be together, all three of them.

Kate Aaron continues to weave this storyline with edge of your seat suspense. The dialog is authentic and the events that unfold, hard to read as they were, are told with details and descriptions that were easy to visualize. Every facet of Kai’s journey is hard, yet he shines through with so much strength and vitality. For him to come through this journey victorious will be something that I will be hanging onto very strongly.

This story is not only about Kai even though he is the strong one this time. Kate equally gives Tam and Master a voice, and through expression and patience, healing will begin. The three of them are forming a bond beyond the sexual equation that will become a formidable wall no one will penetrate.

This series is told with originality and an artful blend of creativity and imagination. It grabs you from the beginning and you will quickly become infatuated with each character. Just like the main characters, there are a few side characters that help to add depth to the storyline. The execution of the plot flows seamlessly and you are at the end before you realize it. The Master is the third and final book in this fast-paced gratifying story and I’m headed their now. An incredible story of love, strength, and perseverance that you don’t want to miss.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *