Review: The edgiest and most emotional of them all!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2014
Maddox has always been taking care of the ones he loves, but his guilt for the one time he didn’t speak up has hunted him for years. He feels unworthy and like a failure, so he keeps to himself, making no commitments and keeping people from seeing who he really is. So when he meets Bee his rapport with her is no different since he doesn’t expect to see her ever again.For the past few years Bee has been struggling about who she is and about what her family expects her to be. She knows what she wants and how to go about it, but she’s still conflicted by that one aspect of her life. Not one to let people get close to her, she sees in Maddox something that calls to her and although she wants to keep her distance, their chemistry is too strong to be denied.Loved. L-O-V-E-D this story.Out of all the books in this series, I have to say that Masquerade is so far the edgiest and most emotional of them all. I loved Maddox. He tried so hard to do the right thing and feels so conflicted about his actions when his family came apart. He feels guilty for Adrian, for his sister and his mother. He carried such a heavy burden on his shoulders that I just wanted to smack some sense into him and keep him from feeling worse.Like Maddox, Bee’s problems were taking its toll on her. But in a sense she was stronger and more determined to stick to her guns. I loved how the author went about bringing these two together. It was great to see how Bee recognized some aspects of herself in Maddox and how drawn they were to each other.Was there chemistry? Hell yeah! But there was so much more to their connection than lust. Slowly but surely they came to rely on each other. Their interactions grew from cold and withdrawn to something more meaningful where you could glimpse their vulnerability and their need to connect to someone else. Neither one of them was looking for love, but they got smack with it nonetheless. Through flirtatious banter, honest exchanges, looks and touches Maddox and Bee’s connection grew into something palpable that could not be stopped.Masquerade is the second book in the Games series and although it can be read as a stand alone I recommend reading Facade first so you can get the whole story behind what has Maddox so conflicted. Plus it was a great story and a 5 star read for me.All in all, an amazing story of letting go, fighting your demons and opening up to what the future holds.