Pride
by Lana Pecherczyk
Series : The Deadly Seven #7
Genres : Vigilante/Superhero Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date : August 12th, 2021
Genius. Billionaire. Arrogant. Vigilante. Liar.
There are many words to describe Parker Lazarus. Some call him stubborn. Some call him impossible. Some call him a liar. He doesn’t care what anyone calls him, as long as he fulfills his destiny to rid the world of the fanatical Syndicate and leads his family to victory. Of his seven siblings, six have found their lifemate. But it should have been him first. He battles the deadly sin of pride, and he accepts no failure. Especially his own.
When Parker finds out his mate has been under his nose for years, an assassin masquerading as his assistant, his controlled world is thrown into chaos. Not only does he lose his arm because of his unwillingness to accept this truth, but he loses himself when she challenges him in ways he’d never thought possible. How did this woman slip past his defenses? How does she continue to defy him at every turn? Why does he risk everything – even his secret identity – to keep her safe?
Pride becomes more than another word to describe him. It becomes his downfall. And if he can’t learn to open himself up to failure, and to trust the help of loved ones, then his pride will pave the road to destruction. Not just for the Syndicate, but for all mankind.
Read it for free on KU!
It's been almost nine months since I read Lust, the previous book in the series and I have been (im)patiently waiting for Pride! Parker - the sexy, broody, arrogant Lazarus sibling has always been the one I'd wanted to read the most about and it took quite a while before I could finally read his book! It was just two years back when I came across Envy(book one) when I was searching for new books to read on KU and that blurb with the superhero romance tag really pulled me in! It's been quite a journey reading all the previous six books that feature each of the Lazarus siblings.
In Pride, we have Parker Lazarus, the eldest among the siblings and the last one to find his mate. Among the Deadly Seven, he senses Pride, and I think he's the only one among them who is the perfect embodiment of the sin in terms of character. He is arrogant, proud and thinks he knows the best. He's hard on everyone and he has always been the hardest on himself. When I came across his character during the previous reads, I'd always wonder 'With this attitude what kind of mate would he find?'. And this was a sentiment that was echoed by almost all of his family members lol. :D
That's when we come across Alice, his assistant, the one person who flew under everyone's radar and ended up giving us the biggest surprise. Turns out she's a Sinner, an assassin trained by the very organization that Mary(Parker's adoptive mother) belonged to and the same one that wanted to have him and his siblings killed if they were to be a threat to this world. For two years no one ever realized that the nerdy and capable assistant beside him was a capable killer. And it is a bigger shock when she turns out to be his mate. As one would expect, this hits Parker hard right in his pride(and heart).
It takes a while for Parker to deal with this revelation and his pride makes him do stupid stuff like losing his arm rather than accepting help and pushing Alice away when she wants to try to broker an alliance between the Sinners and the Deadly Seven. *rolls eyes* He was a stubborn idiot but a sexy and admirable one! ;) And Alice was the perfect mate for him. Don't be fooled by her nerdy assistant persona, but she's a level-headed and extremely capable woman who takes no shit from anyone. She knows how to put Parker in his place and how to be there for him when no one else is. I think I loved this pairing the most among all the siblings and I relished the slow development of the relationship and how they began to trust each other enough to show their vulnerable sides.
"Apparently, Alice was his mate. She was supposed to be by his side, but she needed to know what that entailed. There were all these expectations, and neither of them knew what they wanted or needed. Parker sighed, already looking like he’d given up."
Parker has to deal with a lot of things that end up forcing him to put down his pride and arrogance. While he's used to doing things his own way, after a few botched-up plans(that he was very confident in), he ends up realizing that he doesn't need to shoulder all the burden and learns to make concessions. I think he was the most real one among the family members and I loved watching his character grow. He also grows to admire Alice's tenacity and as he falls in love with her, he realizes that he doesn't always need to be the perfect version of himself. On the other hand, Alice also learns to put aside the things that were taught to her by the Sinners as she discovers that she doesn't always need to atone for the sins that she was forced to commit. The sexual tension between them could almost set my kindle on fire and don't get me started on the Shibari play! *fans self*
“Alice. I’m going to spend my life proving that you’re not going to Hell and Heaven is here with me. Do you understand?”
After reading all the books in the series I'm really amazed by the character development and the amount of thought that the author has put into world-building and the overall plot! Each book has been better than the one before, with Pride being the best so far! We've also got some new developments where we end up discovering that there might be a bigger threat than the Syndicate waiting for our characters. These twists and turns blew my mind and I literally couldn't put my kindle down while reading, as I was so excited to find out what would happen next. The last few chapter had me on the edge of my seat worrying about what would happen to my favorite characters! And I'm actually surprised that the other siblings didn't hit Parker for the crazy plan that he concocted. They showed a lot of restraint! As always, I'm amazed by the tacit understanding between them and how they're always there for each other through thick and thin!
Also, that ending?! For the love of god, please give me the next book asap! I'm really worried for everyone and the situation with Daisy's newfound mate(no spoilers here) has me feeling so sad. This poor girl really needs a lot of good things to happen to her and I'm hoping that the author can fulfill mine(and Daisy's hopes! Hah, see what I did there?) in Book 8. Else, I'm gonna be heartbroken!
You can also find my reviews for the previous books in the series here :
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review*
Lana Pecherczyk is a freckle-faced writer from Perth, Western Australia. She’s a fan of 'pro-caffeinating' and writes in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Basically if it’s got sexy heroes, thrilling action and a kick-ass heroine, you know she’ll write it because she loves reading it. When she’s not writing the next great novel, or wrangling the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of her Kelpie, she fights evil by moonlight, wins love by daylight and never runs from a real fight. You can find her books on Amazon and other good online retailers.
Follow her on social media here:
Comments
Post a Comment