Reviews: Break Me (Outlaw MC #8) AND Outlaw MC of Mars: A Christmas Story (Outlaw MC #9) by James Cox

What if bad guys ruled the world and the good guys were the outlaws?

Now that the war is won, Outlaw returns to earth to break Liam out of prison. But what the VP of the club experienced is still unknown. Outlaw must prepare for the worst, a broken lover that he took too long to rescue. Meanwhile, Mars is rebuilding under new leadership but the peace is short lived with an old enemy on the loose. And the Prospect has some unexpected revelations, like his crush on Outlaw. As if the president of the Outlaw MC didn’t have enough to deal with.

Finding Liam in an abandoned earth prison is his goal, the rest of the universe would have to wait. Outlaw only hoped he wasn’t too late to be Liam’s hero.

AND

The war is over but the fight Liam faces has just begun. He must confront his memories or be consumed by them. Nightmare’s plague his sleep. Although Liam’s body has healed, his mind is fractured and dark. As the joy of Christmas falls on Mars, Liam along with Outlaw and Reilly return to earth. To the very prison where Liam’s torment first began...

 Will the Outlaw MC of Mars finally find their happy endings?

I love this series. Like, a lot. And, while I’ve loved reading every pairing along the MC’s journey to retake Mars, I’ve been dying to get back to Outlaw and Liam. Liam’s imprisonment on Earth has been hanging over every story and the toll it takes on Outlaw is a heartbreaker. James does a great job of showing Outlaw’s strength he keeps up for all the members of their cause while at the same time I could feel how much the loss of Liam is tearing him apart.

And then there is Reilly, the Prospect who has been in love with Outlaw from day one. (Also, that is TOTALLY him on the cover.) I wasn’t sure how this was all going to play out and still let me keep my feels for the original relationship between Outlaw and Liam. It’s what got me hooked on the series to begin with, so, not gonna lie, I was a little nervous.

But, one of the many things that James does so well, is build a menage relationship. Seriously, that’s something that is NOT easy to do and a reason why a lot of readers don't dig on reading them, I get that. The relationships all start to run together, the feels are all the same and when it comes time to head to Pound Town, the holes become interchangeable. I don’t want to read about interchangeable holes. 

I want my characters to keep their personalities and the relationships should all be unique. Outlaw can’t love Reilly the same way that he loves Liam. But, he can still love him and the difference is what makes it so good. The relationship begins to take some shape, but Outlaw is never going to move forward until he gets his Liam back.

 The journey to Earth, what they found and how they rescued Liam was soooooo good. Just because the MC reclaimed Mars, didn’t mean the excitement was over. And Liam, poor strong, amazing, beautiful Liam. He was so damaged, BUT, he was an Outlaw MC of Mars and no tentacled beast was going to keep him from going home. He knew. He knew Outlaw was going to come get him, he just had to survive long enough.

Now, the whole Reilly thing was a bit of a surprise, but what I like about this series in general is how these guys acknowledge their feelings of confusion or trepidation, but at the same time, they know how lucky they are to find love and they appreciate it without a ridiculous amount of angst. Given the world they are living in, it makes sense. There were no declarations of insta-love, just openness and optimism of what they were heading toward together.

Liam needs a lot of support right now and it will take two men to help make him whole again. This is where the uniqueness of the characters comes in and works so well again. Outlaw and Reilly both provide an unwavering foundation, but they offer it in completely different ways. I loved it. Liam isn’t instantly healed as soon as he gets home and gets a dose of Outlaw’s magic peen. But, he’s on his way and with Outlaw and Reilly by his side I had no doubt he would find his peace again.

Now, you can’t stop at #8, there is a 25 page little Jizzmas gem that follows, The Outlaw MC of Mars: A Christmas Story #9  that you have to read. For one, it’s a great wrap up of all the pairings we’ve read about in books 1-8, it also gives the final scene I needed/wanted for Outlaw, Liam and Reilly. Liam is “forced” to face his demons by his lovers and while it may have been a little unconventional and definitely uncomfortable for Liam, his partners were there for him and the final scene was some hot-as-hell therapy that I could totally get behind. This is a must read for fans of this series. That being said, I already miss them!

For more info on the Outlaw MC's of Mars #8 and #9, check them out on Goodreads, hell, check out the whole series!