Souls Unfractured
Series: Hades Hangmen Book 3
By Tillie Cole
Genres: Contemporary Romance / MC / Dark Romance
Reviewed by Dottie
SYNOPSIS
“FOR FRACTURED SOULS ARE LIKE MAGNETS.
DRAWN TO COLLIDE INTO AN IMPOSSIBLE BLISS…”
Labeled a ‘Cursed’ woman of Eve from birth, Maddie has endured nothing but pain and repression at the hands of The Order’s most abusive elder, Moses. Now living with her sister in The Hangmen’s secluded compound, finally, Maddie, is free. Free from the suffocating faith she no longer believes in. Free from endless years of physical and mental torment.
Just… free…
At age twenty-one, the timid and shy Maddie is content to live within the confines of her new home—safe from the outside world, safe from harm and, strangely, protected by the Hangmen’s most volatile member; the heavily pierced and tattooed, Flame.
Flame.
The man who ceaselessly watches over her with his midnight dark and searing eyes. The man who protects her with a breath-taking intensity. And the man who stirs something deep within her numbed heart.
But when circumstances conspire for Flame to need HER help, Maddie bravely risks it all for the broken man who has captivated her fragile soul.
The Hangmen’s most infamous member, Flame, is ruled by one thing—anger. Plagued by haunting demons from his past, an all-consuming rage, and isolated by an abhorrent hatred of being touched, Flame’s days are filled with suffocating darkness, pierced only by a single ray of light—Maddie. The shy, beautiful woman he cannot purge from his thoughts. The woman he has an overwhelming need to possess…
… the only person who has ever been able to touch him.
Flame’s mission in life is to protect Maddie, to keep her safe. Until a trigger from his troubled past sends him spiraling into madness, trapping him in the deepest recesses of his disturbed mind.
His Hangmen brothers fear that Flame is beyond saving.
His only hope of salvation: Maddie and her healing light.
Dottie’s Star Rating
(5+++ Stars)
Review
This is beyond a wow, this is a holy shit, wow book! I wish, with this type of book that more than five stars were allowed (and for some of the very few books that stand out like this one does); the ones that completely break your heart and then piece it all back together…yeah, this is one of THOSE books!
This is Flame and Maddie’s story. We all knew it was coming. (Which reminds me, here’s the standard spiel – these books are NOT stand-alone books. You really MUST read the first two before you read this one. Inherently, some of this review might at least hint at spoilers for the first two Hade’s Hangmen books due to the nature of this type of series. You have been warned.)
This very idea of this book has been salivated about long before it was actually even written. Everyone who has been reading this series wanted this book. We all (including yours truly) were dying to know Flame’s story. How did he become the man he is? What happened? Why is he so obsessed with Maddie? What was going to happen between them once their story was told? So many questions and yet, this book answers them all with complete and total perfection!
I, personally, was always curious about Flame. Why is he such a crazy, out-of-control guy? Why couldn’t he be touched? Why did he endlessly guard Maddie even though he didn’t talk to her? What caused him to be a cutter? How did he become one of Hade’s Hangmen?
And then there’s Maddie. She’s timid. She’s quiet. She’s withdrawn but yet observes and notices everything. She’s gorgeous and unlike Lilah, she doesn’t seem to blame her beauty for her lot in life. She’s accepted who she is and places the blame squarely where it belongs – with the elder in the commune who was so cruel to her from an early age. She doesn’t yearn to return to them like Lilah did. But she does yearn for happiness. She yearns to feel safe. And when Flame is around, she feels safe.
But if you’ll recall, Flame was shot and ended up in the hospital toward the end of the second book. And without his presence, Maddie doesn’t feel safe. She feels like she doesn’t belong. She yearns for him. And she knows that when he was shot, it was to save her life (he leaped in front of her to save her). He’s her hero many times over. She’s living for the day he returns, and when he does…
…I reached the exit and saw, waiting below, at the edge of the busy road was him. . .Flame. He was pacing back and forth. As always, I counted his steps. Eleven to the right, eleven to the left. As I drank in how he looked, I feared my legs would collapse. That confusing sensation of my stomach swooping hit me, as my eyes focused on his leather-clad legs and the Hangmen cut partly covering his bare torso. His strangely cut dark hair was in its usual state of disarray. His skin was pale and he had lost weight. I frowned. His muscles were twitching more than usual. His hands were clenched into fists more than normal. His lips were muttering something inaudible from this distance, yet. . .he was still Flame. He was still the man who protected me. He was still the silent shadow that kept me safe. The man I missed with incredible fervor…
Once Flame returns, their story can truly begin. Maddie is no longer living in the apartment above the garage at the compound; she has moved to the cabins behind it with her “sisters.” And Flame, well he actually has his own cabin not too far away from Styx and Mae’s cabin where Maddie is staying. Knowing she is so close yet he cannot see her does not sit too well with Flame; he is used to guarding “his” Maddie. Although his buddies try to convince him to wait until the next day to go back on Maddie-guard-duty (since he’d just been released from the hospital that day), but he felt he could not stay away from her and found himself walking down toward the prez’s cabin. She could not sleep either and was sitting outside enjoying the peace of the night; all the while knowing Flame was home and finally feeling safe again after several weeks of his absence. And when he finds her, they sat together and, honestly, my heart sighed in happiness. The peace they both felt in each other’s presence was very sweet.
Both of these characters have been through so much. Maddie’s story, which we already knew a lot of from the previous two books was horrible. Unimaginable. And we learned that once Mae ran away, her life only got worse at the commune. It made my heart ache hearing about it. But then there’s Flame’s story – his story hit me so hard in the gut, it was so far beyond horrible and completely broke my heart – hearing how he was treated when he was younger. It answered a lot of my questions about who Flame is and how he came to be the way he is. It’s a story that honestly tore me apart and if there are any of you who aren’t fans of Flame thus far (and until now, I too could understand that), I believe everything will change about how you feel about him once you read his story. I’ve gone from kind of fearing a fictional character to wanting to wrap him in my arms and just loving him. And I do (love him, I mean, metaphorically, of course).
And “watching” them each discover what love could actually be together was breathtakingly beautiful…
With his body tensed, he lowered me down the final few inches, until my lips pressed against his, my eyes closing at the strange feeling. At first touch we both remained unmoving, my face suspended over his, his warm moist lips pressed stationary against mine. Then his finger stroked along my cheek, and his lips began to move so gently against my lips. And I felt this kiss all the way to my soul. Flame’s mouth continued to explore, then to my surprise, I felt his tongue softly, tentatively and nervously, slip into my mouth as he released a quiet groan…His tongue further filled my mouth and Flame increased his speed. And I felt like I was floating, as our mouths fused as one. It felt like I was not me. I was not Maddie. He was not Flame. But then my heart swelled when I remembered it truly was is us. The hand on my face was his, and the mouth taking mine so devotedly, was Flame’s. My Flame…
If ever there was a story about two damaged souls coming together and finding wholeness within each other – this is that book! I loved how she understood him and supported him in everything. I loved how she was his whole world…
…”I think. . .I think I kept hold of the old beliefs, because. . .because I did not know who I was without them. My whole life I had served the disciples. I had been a slave to my fears. Then, when I was free, I would sit in the darkness, watching others embrace the light. . .watching them sing. I would mouth the words, wanting so badly to feel the freedom I could hear filling the air. But I could not. I could not bring myself to let go. I feared the person I was.” Flame’s finger played along the skin on the back of my hand, and he inquired in a hushed whisper, “And who are you?” Tears filled my eyes and a smile graced my lips. “Yours,” I confessed, from the deepest recesses of my heart. “I am yours.”…
These two were incredibly sweet (I know, I know, Flame – right? But I’m telling you that this was incredibly sweet!) They didn’t play any games. They just recognized their soul mate and once they came together, they never looked back.
This story, and this series, is so far beyond what a “standard” book (whatever that is) is. The messages in this series, the voices of the women being suppressed within some cults (and the author and I are both pointing out there are many people living in alternative situations where they are perfectly happy, but not all of them are and these are portrayed in this series) are important. The story line will make you happy, angry, shocked, relieved, and soothed. At one point, I yelled at my Kindle, “Oh, no, he did not!!” This is a series that has me so completely anxious for every release that I’m practically pacing, watching my Kindle for its appearance, when I know one is about to be released. It is a fabulous series and I cannot recommend it highly enough. And next up…Rider’s story – yes, Rider. How Tillie Cole is going to pull that off, I have no idea. But I know somehow she will, amazingly!
Purchase It Ain’t Me, Babe Here:
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About Tillie Cole
Tillie Cole is a Northern girl through and through. She originates from a place called Teesside on that little but awesomely sunny (okay I exaggerate) Isle called Great Britain. She was brought up surrounded by her mother — a farmer’s daughter, her crazy Scottish father, a savagely sarcastic sister and a multitude of rescue animals and horses.
Being a scary blend of Scottish and English, Tillie embraces both cultures; her English heritage through her love of HP sauce and freshly made Yorkshire Puddings, and her Scottish, which is mostly demonstrated by her frighteningly foul-mouthed episodes of pure rage and her much loved dirty jokes.
Having been born and raised as a Teesside Smoggie, Tillie, at age nineteen, moved thirty miles north to the ‘Toon’, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where she attended University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Religious Studies. She returned two years later to complete a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching High School Social Studies. She regards Newcastle to be a home from home and enjoyed the Newcastle Geordie way of life for seven ‘proper mint’, ‘lush’ years.
Tillie, from a very young age has been part of the theatre community and loves nothing more than to entertain through the mediums of cheerleading, dance, drama and singing (sometimes in the rain). She can also be found in nightclubs around the world imitating her favourite artists alongside her crazy BFF’s – The Teesside Massive – or, sat on the front row at the theatre bopping along to her favourite musical, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show ‘, clad in a only a maids outfit, clutching a bag of rice and sporting a vibrant shade of red lipstick.
One summers day, after finishing reading her thousandth book on Kindle, Tillie turned to her husband and declared, “D’you know, I have a great idea for a story. I could write a book.” Several months later, repeating the same tired line, she was scolded by her husband to shut up talking about writing a novel and ‘just bloody do it!’ Immediately she set off on a crazy journey, delving deep into her fertile imagination. Tillie, ever since, has written from the heart. She combines her passion for anything camp and glittery with her love of humour and dark brooding men (most often muscled and tattooed – they’re her weakness!).
After years of teaching high school Social Studies and following her Professional Rugby Player husband around Europe, they have settled in Calgary, Alberta where Tillie spends most of her days (and many a late night) lost in a writing euphoria or in her dream of pursuing a dazzling career as a barrel-racing, tasselled-chap, Stetson-wearing cowgirl… Ye-haw!
Rave And Rant About Raunch 