Devil May Care by Lark Taylor (The Reckless Damned #2)

Title: ⟫ Devil May Care

Author: ⟫ Lark Taylor

Rating: ⟫ 5/5

Blurb: ⟫ One life-altering kiss sets our whole world on fire.

Harlow

I’ll tell you what isn’t on my agenda for this century: finding my fated mate only to have him reject me.

In fact, having a mate and tying myself down for eternity isn’t even a blip on my radar. But the moment I meet Bailey, there’s no denying he’s meant to be mine. Everything about the gentle Welsh giant calls to me, consuming my thoughts.

The problem? He doesn’t feel the same way. One life-altering kiss has him running in the other direction, leaving me to watch over him from the shadows.
When the opportunity arises to build a friendship, I grab it with both hands. Surely being his friend is better than nothing, right?

It will have to be, especially with a clan of mages sniffing around and looking for trouble. Not unusual since I am an estranged son of Lucifer. But now that I have my mate to consider, things are a lot more serious. How can I truly protect Bailey when he doesn’t even know I’m a demon?

Bailey

I learned a long time ago that relationships aren’t for me. Nobody wants to commit to a bigger guy, especially one who craves a different role in the bedroom.

When Harlow sashays into my life, I can’t help but wish things could be different. Sure, he seems interested, but history has proven that eventually, everyone leaves me.

There’s no way a vibrant firecracker like Harlow wants to be anything more than friends.

But the closer we get, the harder it is to keep him at arm’s length. He tells me he wants a relationship, but how can I believe him when I know he’s hiding something from me?

Devil May Care is an exciting, high-heat, friends-to-lovers paranormal romance with a guaranteed HEA. It is the second book in The Reckless Damned series, and although it can be read as a standalone, more enjoyment would be gained from reading the series in order. Each book focuses on a different couple and will have an HEA.

Review: ⟫ I have been waiting with baited breath for Harlow’s story ever since he was introduced in the first one, and this did not disappoint at all.

Bailey broke my heart for so many reasons, but the obvious one is the mask he wears every single day – the mask that hides his insecurities and doubts, his fear of never being loved enough for someone to stay; his fear that his ex was right – they touched so many of my own insecurities it was difficult to read sometimes.

And we learned so much more about Harlow – how the slightly insane, out of control, full throttle demon could pull back and just – be. The side of himself that he showed to Bailey was so different to what we had seen in the previous book, it almost felt like a privilege or that we were peeking in through a window.

Obviously, the sex was <i>insanely</i> hot and slightly kinky. Actually, skip the slightly kinky part – I just remembered a scene with wings and falling that made me gasp!

But this story was so much more than that. It was a true friends to lovers story, with Harlow and Bailey growing closer slowly, learning about each other and realising that they were friends and it wasn’t just about the demon mark.

It was fabulous to catch up with Cal and Oscar again, and yes, I might just be champing at the bit to find out just what went on between Dagon and Dimitri. I giggled a few times with how Dimitri reacted to Dagon being in danger – the imagery was absolutely spot on! And can I just say, I would dearly love to see the inspiration for Ferry because hot damn!

I have to read this story again because I may have missed out on important plot details in my rush to see just how Bailey and Harlow were going to get their well-deserved HEA – the witches and ghasts were intriguing and the possibilities of what exactly are going on have my brain working overtime. But ultimately, what I truly loved about this story was the relationship between Harlow and Bailey – from the size-difference between them, the way they brought out the best/worst in each other, how protective they were of each other – it was just so so lovely!

I received an ARC from the author.