Six

Six kind of met my expectations but didn’t live up to my hopes. The premise sounded like just my kind of story: twisted love between a cold, emotionless assassin and his hostage, enemies to lovers, a kiss me kill me vibe, dubious consent tension….but the execution fell kind of flat. For me it was a cross between just OK and despite everything I have to say I liked it somewhat because it never really bored me. But it did disappoint me. This review will contain some mild spoilers and be kind of rant-y.Paisley is a lab technician in a Cincinnati Medical Examiner’s Office. As she’s contemplating the mysteries of their newly acquired murdered execution style John Doe; in sweeps her previous night’s hot and sexy hook up from the holiday work party at the local hotel bar – who stops long enough to check out John Doe, kill everyone in sight and grab Paisley. Turns out Mr. Hot and Sexy of the magic man parts (like seriously it has to be magic) isn’t really named Simon; but is in fact a super secret CIA assassin Cleaner who goes by the moniker Six. Six snatches Paisley (who he later transforms into Lacey with some contacts and a dye job) for reasons – I’m not even sure he’s clear on. First it’s because she has “information” about the dead guy; then it’s because he needs a cover….mostly it’s because he needs a reason to drag her all over creation with him so there can be a story.Six left me wanting in a couple of areas. The one I could more easily over look if everything else lined up – was plot. It’s just really implausible. Six utilizes one of my greatest pet peeve tropes of all time: the highly unlikely coincidence – and it uses it twice. As Six and Lacey traipse across the country first they run smack dab into Lacey’s ex. Boyfriend in Florida, then in Nevada checking out another John Doe at another medical examiner’s office the technician on duty (and soon to be dead girl) just happens to be Lacey’s BFF from college (so there can be added angst, Oh Nooos you killed me friend, I killed my friend, Seven killed my friend). Then there’s the whole – why exactly are the Cleaners being cleaned with such enthusiasm – just because certain team members decide to go walkabout? It did not feel to me like a cohesive story.Then there’s Six and Lacey – and this is where things really fell apart for me. I have no major complaints about Six because he had no personality to speak of to complain about; but neither did I have any affection for him. Six is kind of a shallow cardboard box. No real character development, backstory too little too late; and because the story is told from Lacey’s perspective we never get in his head. The fact that he continued to insist that he had to kill Lacey right up until the bitter end frankly ticked me off. Even when the organization and the rules that he feels sworn to follow have gone completely sideways and it’s burning down around him he’s still insisting “I’ve got a bullet with your name on it”. Really? Jerk. (I'd use something much stronger but this is Amazon after all)And if my love for Six is lacking; don’t even get me started on Lacey. I’m all for enjoying a healthy sex drive with a hot guy…but what in the world is wrong with this chick? Rape fantasy fans – do not be mislead. Even the dubious consent is dubious. I’m not trivializing abuse; there’s body betrayal and sexual trauma and then there’s Lacey who wants nothing more than to enthusiastically jump on this guy and his parts at every possible opportunity – despite his repeated promises to end her with a bullet as soon as she outlives her usefulness and his giving no indication that he sees her as anything more than a disposable pet. Lacey’s character in fact embodies another of my romance novel pet peeve tropes: the feisty, sarcastic, “tough and cool” heroine – who comes off as childish and not very bright. This type of character always comes across as “trying to hard”. Lacey’s deal is that she has “accepted her fate” therefore she is going to "live to the fullest". She has accepted her fate to the point that if Six was going to kill her I swear she’d load the gun for him and make sure to get an old sheet to kneel on so he wouldn’t feel badly cleaning up the mess. Even if you have no sense of self preservation – have a little self respect. If you are going down by a hit man’s bullet – even if he is hot and gives great orgasms – make an effort to make it as messy, inconvenient and problematic for him as possible – if you can’t get the upper hand by manipulating him before the time comes.The relationship between Six and Lacey just lacks chemistry. There’s lots of sex – not particularly graphic – not like erotica level – and not especially steamy or titillating in my opinion. Lacey does get to see some action and becomes almost a partner to Six towards the end which I liked (except that she was a partner standing there with a glock in her hand and willing to hand it over to get on her knees and wait for her bullet and can I again ask…what is wrong with this chick? Other than the power of the magic man parts and maybe that’s enough – which makes her as shallow as Six.) There’s not a lot of great dialogue – because Six doesn’t actually say a whole lot. There is a HEA I guess. (less)

*** 5 + Stars ***OMG... this book came as a complete surprise! It was intensely riveting! I could not put this book down and consumed it in one sitting! It's deliciously dark, frighteningly dangerous, and insanely erotic. This fast paced, action packed conspiracy novel will leave you with goose bumps and chills up your spine. It will make you think twice about one night stands. It will make you think about every breath you take.It wasn't Paisley Warren's first one night stand but ended up being her last. After meeting Simon in a bar at her work end of the year party, a delightful hook up seemed to be the pick me up she needed in her lonely life. She awoke the next morning a bit tired but completely rejuvenated from her sexual tryst. She should of called in sick and stayed home in bed relishing in the previous night's sexcapades. Instead she made the second fatal mistake in a 24 hour period, she went to work.Working as a lab technician at the Hamilton County Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is an interesting job. She has seen it all until the latest John Doe crosses their doors. His circumstances of death and condition of his corpse lead to further investigation. Paisley discovers an unusual condition in his blood. Just as she is re-evaluating her findings, all hell breaks loose in the lab. Her co-workers are brutally murdered right before her eyes. She is taken hostage and forced to show the killer the mysterious John Doe. It is her death sentence. Her captor is none other than Simon,the one night stand from the night before. Now he is her executioner. Her only bargaining tool is the findings from the lab results she ran on the mysterious John Doe. She will do anything to stay alive and she is going to hold onto her information as long as she can.Her captor is not the ordinary man she thought he was. His name is not Simon. He is a trained killer that goes by the name SIX. He is definitely going to kill her, the only question is when.SIX is a ruthless killer involved in conspiracy, espionage, government secrets, and contract murders. There is nothing redeemable or good within his being. He's gone rogue and is on a mission to find out who is behind the assassinations of the other agents in his inner circle. One is already dead, there has been an attempt on his life, and several of the nine killers have gone to ground. Paisley is the only person that may have a bit of information on how these agents are being disposed of. He will get the information and then he will kill her.SIX is on a hunt that will take him and Lacey ( aka Paisley) from Georgia to Paris and lead them from one end of the country to the other. He will do everything including torturing his hostage to get what he wants. He has no conscience. The only thing that matters is getting to the bottom of this conspiracy.During her captivity Paisley will evolve into an entirely different person. She has to do whatever it takes to stay alive. She hates her captor but also craves him. He is her safety net as well as her executioner. It is stockholm syndrome in it's deepest form.It's not a happy romantic story. It's the story of Paisley Warren's death. And she will die.K.I. Lynn wrote a powerful story. It made Jason Bourne seem like a novice. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. The writing was perfectly executed with the right amount of intensity, dark humor, ruthless passion, and emotional passages. The fast paced action and the element of mystery added to the intrigue. It was impossible to figure out what would happen next.I highly recommend SIX by K.I. Lynn.

Wow! What an explosive and unpredictable ride this book was. It was nail biting and dangerous, but was also overflowing with passion and heat. When I first started reading “Six”, it didn’t immediately grab me in the way that a story from KI Lynn usually does, however as a lot of my book friends had highly rated it and I have usually loved almost every book that I’ve read from this author, I decided to continue and I was very quickly fully immersed in the story of Six and Lacey.This novel starts out with a kidnapping and then unfolded into a dark, steamy and exciting read. One which saw me rooting for an anti hero and becoming fully invested in the relationship that was developing between the abductor and his captive. I was gripped by Six and Lacey and what was happening in the pages before me. It was edge of the seat stuff and it kept me turning those pages, trying to work out what would happen next.Written in entirely Lacey’s POV, it was easy to understand and care for this sassy and sarcastic girl. I loved how courageous she was when faced with so much danger. Lacey made a brilliant heroine. I also couldn’t help but like Six, and I found myself searching for any kind of sign that he was falling for Lacey. There were many moments in the beginning that I would have loved to read the book from his POV, but as the story continued, I was soon discovering more about him and was sure that this tough killer was starting to care for his prisoner. The hopeless romantic in me never gave up hope for Six and Lacey's relationship. “Six” was a sexy, dark and suspenseful romance that was well worth the read. If you love dark reads, this novel is for you.

I really enjoyed this book Six and Lacey ( I see her as Lacey much more than Paisley) were such complex characters, Six had one of the most sociopathic personalities I have encountered in this type of fiction, but I found myself intrigued and fascinated with the complexities in his fragmented person. Lacey/Paisley was very interesting in her behaviour both as a hostage and also a survivor, the ability to adapt like chameleon , survive and stand resilient against such overwhelming predicaments us a rare trait, this talent assured her transition from frightened despairing hostage to an equal partner with the strength and will to survive any situation thrown her way. This helped Lacey became an asset to six changing herself so she became more than just cattle in his eyes. This is not a romantic flowers and roses story, nore will you hear dramatic declarations of undying love from our hero ( or should i say anti-hero) but as this tale unfolds there is an underlying sweetness to some of six's actions which you can see are so foreign and confusing to him , there is also lots of hot sex which practically sets the pages ablaze with intensity what's lacking in emotion is certainly not missing between the sheets, the action and intrigue kept me on the edge of my seat, and the shootouts were very gory and realistic (this book didn't spare the reader and kept it real) i found Six a great read with two very complex main stars which i enjoyed immensely.

Holy bejesus thisbwas an amazing read! It was so wrong it was right!I want a hot one night stand like that...preferably without the kidnapping! Who am I kidding, if its Six, ill be kidnapped too!God I loved this book.....this just about summed it up for me! 'The situation was too weird, too strange to even compute. Sane people would be flagging clerks down, slipping between clothing racks and hightailing it away from him. Instead, I was standing in a department store acting like his wife with a wet spot in my underwear.'

Great book, had me on edge. I couldn’t put it down and read in 2 days! One thing that niggled me is very petty but being a huge fan of The Walking Dead, I couldn’t let it slide. It is April when Paisley says she is missing the new series of the walking dead. The series does not air during April. It airs October-November and again February-March. I’m a geek! LolI will definitely be checking out K.I. Lynn’s other books

WOW..........I started to read this book awhile back, I didn't like it when the killing started, so I put it down, then a year passed and I tried it again, and I have to say, WOW, I so loved reading it, I didn't want to put it down, I think everyone should try this book, I really did enjoy it. Well done.