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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
At this point he’d been lying to them for so long it seemed rude to tell them the truth now.
Lunatic was a bit different for me. I was very much invested in finding out what Archer was hiding, and just his general story. I think I understand why he is the way he is, but I also wanted a bit more. The conflict with the family, and especially Noah, was really well done.
I loved getting to know about Project Watchtower, and I am sooo fucking excited about the first book in The Watch series now. I mean, I was already excited, but after meeting Gift, I feel like I can’t wait.
Archer and Mac are perfectly cute together, and I enjoyed their story, but I was honestly a bit more intrigued by everything else going on than their relationship. There were definitely parts of their dynamic that I loved tho, don’t get me wrong. The sort of ‘enemies with benefits’ thing they had going on was interesting and waaay different than any of the other books. Not that they were really enemies or had a FWB situation, but they kept getting drawn to each other without really wanting to. Especially Archer tried to, but that big hunking redhead was too much to resist. It was also neat to see that connection to Shep and Elijah’s book in the Elite Protection Services series.
I have very little knowledge about psychopathy, but the part in the book where Archer gets completely overwhelmed because he experiences new emotions was very interesting. They explain it a little like a child experiencing big emotions, or the first time a Deaf person can hear with implants, etc. It’s so new to him and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Professional gambler
Psychopath MC
Accidental marriage
Case solving
Enemies to lovers
Secret gov. project
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Child abuse
Sexual assault (off page, in the past)
Graphic torture
Violence
Feelings of loneliness
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM drama: No
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
By day, Archer Mulvaney makes his living as a professional poker player. By night, he exacts vigilante justice following his father's strict code of ethics. His family thinks he's a drunken reprobate, but could there be more there? Mackenzie Shepherd grew up in the shadow of his sociopathic brother. His mother, Molly, literally wrote the book on raising psychopaths and sociopaths. After he stumbled upon something he shouldn't have as a wildlife photographer, his life is in danger...he just doesn't want anyone to know. Him and Archer are tasked with heading a secret government project to further Thomas and Molly's research where they need to agree on every decision. Easier said than done, as agreeing to disagree seems to be the one constant for them. And scorching hot sex. With the full power of the Mulvaneys behind them, they must figure out who is trying to end Mac's life before it's too late.
"Fuck yeah," Mac muttered. "You tell 'em, baby." Harlow chuckled beside him, drawing his attention. "I'm going to fuck him so hard later someone's gonna call the cops," Mac said, nodding his head. "And then I'm going to convince him to marry me."
I was so excited for Archer's story because I feel like we haven't learned that much about him in the previous books. On the surface, he's a drunken professional poker player that his family doesn't take seriously. Was I a little shocked to learn that his alcoholism was a front for being his father's most trusted advisor? Yes, I totally was! Was I even more surprised that Archer and Mac ran into a "waking up in Vegas married" situation? Yes, but I loved that for them!
Once again, Onley has been able to create a completely different dynamic than the past five and a half books and I loved that. Although I wished we could've gotten a little more of Archer and Mac's relationship in this book, I really loved the mystery they had to solve and how the family came together. This was the first instance of real conflict amongst the family, too, which I found very interesting. I loved the cameos and updates we got, and the special relationship that Noah and Archer was flushed out.
Another interesting thing in this book was Archer's evolution. Mac was very clear on what he wanted the entire time - he wanted someone to give a damn about him. His mother's attention growing up was focused on his brother and studying sociopathic behaviour. That didn't leave a lot of time for Mac. Getting a rise out of Archer and seeing the man behind the drunken pirate facade was so special for both of them. Several times throughout the book, it seemed like Archer experienced new feelings that were confusing to him and that created conflict for himself and him and Mac.
The epilogue gave us a preview of what to expect from Aiden and Thomas's book and I'm really looking forward to it, as sad as I'll be to say goodbye to this series! Archer and Mac were such a unique couple, once again showing us that love doesn't fit into a pre-conceived box and that's totally okay.
"You're mine, Katniss. You hear me? I'm not fucking going anywhere. And neither are you. We're in this for life. If you run, I'll fucking find you. I need you to know that. I'm sorry, but it's true."
Finally at about 40% it started feeling like a Necessary Evils book.
The romance was a bit lacking (so much happened off page)
Seems like this book is being used to set up a spin off series but the story really suffered for it.
Not specifically looking forward to book 7 but I guess we’ll see.
It was a surprising story, but very good!
Archer was a lot different than he appeared in the previous books, and I enjoyed getting to know the real him.
Mac is a wonderful addition to the family.
Loved all the banter/bickering between Archer and Mac, the meddling of the family and the plot itself was also well though-out and executed.
