Axel by Harper Sloan Review

Axel - Corps Security #1 by Harper Sloan

What they say: Fate hasn’t always been friends with Isabelle West. In fact, fate has been a downright bitch. Isabelle has learned the hard way how hard life can be when fate isn’t by your side. It can hand you dreams on silver platters, but it can snatch them right back and hand you nightmares. One thing Isabelle knew for sure fate was consistent with was taking away everything she ever loved. For the last two years Isabelle has been slowly clearing the clouds of her past. Happiness is finally on the horizon. She has a thriving business, great friends, and her life back. All she has to do is jump over the last hurdle…her ex-husband. When problems start causing her to fear her new life, and memories that are better left forgotten start rushing to the surface the last thing she needs is a ghost from her past to come knocking on her door. 
Axel never thought he would look into the eyes of Isabelle West again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to now. He’s carried his anger for so long he isn’t sure he can just turn it off, but when he is faced with protecting her and an unexpected desire to have her again, life gets a little more complicated. How will Axel and Isabelle deal when all their cards are put on the table and everything they thought was true blows up in their faces?

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What I say: I'm a bit behind when it comes to the Corps Security series and I stumbled across Axel as part of an anthology but have already downloaded book #2 Cage. Anyway...

The story follows Isabelle/Iz/Izzy West as she begins to rebuild her life after leaving her horrible ex-husband. Izzy is 30 and kinda broken. As the story unfolds, we learn more of her backstory and I completely understood why she was so depressed; she's had a pretty crappy time of it over the past 12 years! The most noticeable thing about Izzy is her strength, she's a fighter, who although she considered herself broken, she never gives up.

Holt Reid aka Axel is a bad ass ex soldier. He's a protector and an all round alpha male. Combined with his physical prowess he's got one hell of a potty mouth and a certain swagger. I loved him! What I liked was no matter how fierce and traumatised he was, he's really thoughtful. 

There are a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunications in the story and most of their problems could have been fixed by the characters opening up to each other or being a bit more forthcoming. It has to be said a lot of this was outside of their control, and certain characters definitely deserved a smack or two.

The secondary characters were all intriguing and I'm uber glad Axel is the first in a series, as these ex-marines all deserve their own story. I loved Cage (I did think he was in love with her in a non-brotherly way). Plus Beck and Coop, although Maddox was by far my fav of Axel's guys. Maddox just seems so broken; he needs a nice girl to come along and save him... Right, onto Dee. All gals need a great bestie and Dee is all kinds of awesome! Dee is sassy, sweet, funny and a fab friend to Izzy. She kinda reminded me of Tina's best friend in Friend-zoned.

Be warned! Axel covers some pretty serious issues and the topics may not be for everybody. BUT amongst the heartache and drama there are some really sweet friendships, romantic scenes and some brilliant one-liners. Axel is actually really funny in places. It's also REALLY FREAKING HOT! This one's definitely not for younger readers as there are a lot of smexy moments and bad language, but don't worry these all fit with the story *fans self and swoons*! 

4 fab and HOT Stars in my Sky!