THE ENIGMA by Jodi Ellen Malpas: Release Blitz, Teasers & Mary’s Review

This is Jodi’s second book in the Unlawful Man Series, and I couldn’t read it fast enough!! I’ll warn you this is a looonnnggg book but stay with it because it gets more intriguing and complex. PLUS, I cannot forget to mention just how insanely electrifying both James and Beau are together. If you loved The Brit, The Enigma is going to blow you away. It’s graphic. It’s gritty. It’s a whole lot of steamy too!! It’s an unconventional love story. But most of all it’s so good. Beau Haley was a rising star, a young cop that has climbed the ranks of the police department with extraordinary speed. Maybe it was just a natural occurrence that she would follow in her mom’s footsteps becoming an FBI agent. That is until Beau witnessed the demise of her mom in a blazing detonation of her car. The explosion also left Beau injured and permanently scarred from the flaming inferno created by it. This turned Beau’s world topsy turvy. She left her fiancé at the alter and embarked on her mission of seeking justice for her mom’s death after it was determined to have been an accident. As a result of what happened to her mom Beau has been left with a life filled with tumultuous demons. She had spent the last few years of her life away from crowds, filled with anxiety and living with her two uncles so she wasn’t alone. James Kelly is a cold-blooded killer. Seeking revenge of the death of his whole family from a fire at the hands of a mafia king who went by the name of The Bear. James was dealing with his own kind of justice at the barrel end of a gun. He was systematically taking out The Bear’s men one by one, waiting for the day he would be able to take out The Bear himself. James was an enigma, there was little folks knew about him but he was strong, he was smart and he was determined. The thing is James has his own demons to battle and interesting enough he also has been burned by a fire. After one of the most bizarre of circumstances the two meet. Which ultimately leads to James hiring Beau to paint his office. And then the tug of war between James and Beau begins a delicate dance. Let’s just say there is a tremendous amount of sexual tension that will eventually lead to some pretty steamy sex. Yet, Beau soon figures out that being with and around James seems to bring her calm and peace… even when not knowing much about him with her instinct telling her to leave him alone. I loved that even with their messed-up lives that they found a sanctuary in each other. That love could bloom, and they might be able to work together. The whole dichotomy of The Enigma is that in a way both Beau and James were after the same thing, but they had difference methods about how to arrive at the same place. Beau and her law enforcement background was fighting for justice to prevail and prove her right. At the same time, James was like a vigilante, taking it upon himself to seek revenge for his family’s deaths. Both essentially getting the same end results. One legally, the other not! Be ready to hang on to your seat as the book becomes a bit of a wild ride (cue: grab a notepad) as you get toward the end of the book. AND if you are loving The Enigma, you’ll have a great big smile on your face since there is another book coming!!

“I don’t want to fix you. I want to love you.”

“I’ve fought for power Beau,” I whisper. “I’ve fought for freedom. For revenge. For hatred. But I’ve never fought for love.” And it’s the toughest f#@%&*$ battle yet. “Can I win?” I ask, and she slowly lowers her arse to her heels, silent. Stunned. “Answer me,” I grate. ‘Because everything is f#@%&*$ irrelevant otherwise.” I join her, settling my arse on my heels too. “So, Can I win?” “Can I?” she counters quietly.

“She’s toxic. But to me, she’s a balm. And I’m fatal. But to her, I’m life.”