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Mercenary Love #2
Testing Arthur
Mercenary men. Sexy, muscled men with weapons. What happens when hard men fall in love with other men? When another person becomes more important to them than their own lives? Hard, ruthless, men who will put everything on the line for love and honour are the focus of this series. With unexpected love comes grave responsibility, and the rocky path to a happy ending can sometimes leave bodies along the way. The heart may love where it may, but sometimes, to protect it, you need a big weapon and a lot of attitude…
Testing Arthur by Amber Kell
Book two in the Mercenary Love Series
If you loved Texas Pride by Kindle Alexander and Set Ablaze (Uniform Encounters) by Morticia Knight then you will not be able to put down this absolute treat!
Sometimes strong men need help too…
When Arthur Turner is injured on the job, he relies on his sometimes lover Patrick Edwards to see him through. But Patrick is evidently finished being Arthur's secret lover tells Arthur he only came to check on him because he still cares. After almost dying, Arthur has to re-evaluate his life choices.
Patrick is part owner of his own business, has a solid group of friends…and is utterly in love with a closeted man. When Arthur offers to give up everything for him, he wonders if pressuring Arthur was the right thing to do. Would his lover eventually regret choosing Patrick over his previous life?
Now a killer is on the loose. Fixated on Arthur, the killer is enraged to discover Patrick is part of Arthur’s life. Determined to have Arthur for himself, he lays a trap hoping to get Arthur alone and under his control.
Two men torn apart by lies come together to finally have the relationship they always secretly wanted
Testing Arthur by Amber Kell
Book two in the Mercenary Love Series
If you loved Texas Pride by Kindle Alexander and Set Ablaze (Uniform Encounters) by Morticia Knight then you will not be able to put down this absolute treat!
Sometimes strong men need help too…
When Arthur Turner is injured on the job, he relies on his sometimes lover Patrick Edwards to see him through. But Patrick is evidently finished being Arthur's secret lover tells Arthur he only came to check on him because he still cares. After almost dying, Arthur has to re-evaluate his life choices.
Patrick is part owner of his own business, has a solid group of friends…and is utterly in love with a closeted man. When Arthur offers to give up everything for him, he wonders if pressuring Arthur was the right thing to do. Would his lover eventually regret choosing Patrick over his previous life?
Now a killer is on the loose. Fixated on Arthur, the killer is enraged to discover Patrick is part of Arthur’s life. Determined to have Arthur for himself, he lays a trap hoping to get Arthur alone and under his control.
Two men torn apart by lies come together to finally have the relationship they always secretly wanted
87 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
5 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Amber Kell
179 books1,278 followersAmber Kell has made a career out of daydreaming. It has been a lifelong habit she practices diligently as shown by her complete lack of focus on anything not related to her fantasy world building.
When she told her husband what she wanted to do with her life he told her to go have fun.
During those seconds she isn't writing she remembers she has children who humor her with games of 'what if' and let her drag them to foreign lands to gather inspiration. Her youngest confided in her that he wants to write because he longs for a website and an author name—two things apparently necessary to be a proper writer.
Despite her husband's insistence she doesn't drink enough to be a true literary genius she continues to spin stories of people falling happily in love and staying that way.
She is thwarted during the day by a traffic jam of cats on the stairway and a puppy who insists on walks, but she bravely perseveres..
She also writes under the name Mikela Q. Chase
When she told her husband what she wanted to do with her life he told her to go have fun.
During those seconds she isn't writing she remembers she has children who humor her with games of 'what if' and let her drag them to foreign lands to gather inspiration. Her youngest confided in her that he wants to write because he longs for a website and an author name—two things apparently necessary to be a proper writer.
Despite her husband's insistence she doesn't drink enough to be a true literary genius she continues to spin stories of people falling happily in love and staying that way.
She is thwarted during the day by a traffic jam of cats on the stairway and a puppy who insists on walks, but she bravely perseveres..
She also writes under the name Mikela Q. Chase
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 7, 2013
What a let-down. I am worried because I’ve come to expect much better from Amber Kell these days.
I took so many notes while reading this but I’m thinking they’re probably pointless. At the time I still thought this might be salvageable. Oh well, here we go.
I only needed to read the first page to realize that I must studiously ignore any of the supposed mystery here. Must pretend protagonist is not too stupid to see the obvious. Tunnel vision, engage! Subtlety is for losers!
It feels as though a chunk is missing. Between volumes we did go from Arthur breaking Patrick’s nose and threatening to kill him to “I love him”, and we never learn how this happened ’cause it sure as hell wasn’t love at first sight like they seem to claim now. But the way they talk here? It’s not what they say but it feels as though they had no other interactions since what we saw in the previous book, as though they never really talked before.
Okay then. This is not about an existing relationship. Despite both of them protesting love from the get-go, clearly all they ever did before this was fuck. It’s insta-love in a can.
Arthur is so caught up in his macho crap that he’d rather hurt his lover’s feelings and then make it up to him than allow the man to nurse him back to health. That’s one messed up head case. By the way, while you may think you don’t need a psychiatrist to diagnose PTSD, you need one to treat it. Idiot.
What’s with these urges to hurt Patrick? Is this trying to do a Ty & Zane kind of relationship? Oh god, I think it is. Military, FBI… Gah. Just no.
And… no. No, no, no. True, it’s a silly, unrealistic romance. But you can't be in this much pain and popping erections over and over. That’s not happening.
Repetitive. Stop giving the exact same exposition over and over. Arthur may be on drugs but that excuse doesn’t apply to the author! (I hope.)
Timeline is more than weird too. I don’t want to get into that. Too frustrating.
Why is Arthur’s phone ringing again after Patrick set it to vibrate?
Awkward time skip, as well.
This is just so sloppy… Patrick out of nowhere knows Lisa’s name, for example. Bah.
As I’ve said before, I don’t mind a simple story. But repetitions, lazy writing, and character stupidity kill them every time.
I need a break before I tackle book three. Perhaps the author’ll be back on her game with that one.
I took so many notes while reading this but I’m thinking they’re probably pointless. At the time I still thought this might be salvageable. Oh well, here we go.
I only needed to read the first page to realize that I must studiously ignore any of the supposed mystery here. Must pretend protagonist is not too stupid to see the obvious. Tunnel vision, engage! Subtlety is for losers!
It feels as though a chunk is missing. Between volumes we did go from Arthur breaking Patrick’s nose and threatening to kill him to “I love him”, and we never learn how this happened ’cause it sure as hell wasn’t love at first sight like they seem to claim now. But the way they talk here? It’s not what they say but it feels as though they had no other interactions since what we saw in the previous book, as though they never really talked before.
Okay then. This is not about an existing relationship. Despite both of them protesting love from the get-go, clearly all they ever did before this was fuck. It’s insta-love in a can.
Arthur is so caught up in his macho crap that he’d rather hurt his lover’s feelings and then make it up to him than allow the man to nurse him back to health. That’s one messed up head case. By the way, while you may think you don’t need a psychiatrist to diagnose PTSD, you need one to treat it. Idiot.
What’s with these urges to hurt Patrick? Is this trying to do a Ty & Zane kind of relationship? Oh god, I think it is. Military, FBI… Gah. Just no.
And… no. No, no, no. True, it’s a silly, unrealistic romance. But you can't be in this much pain and popping erections over and over. That’s not happening.
Repetitive. Stop giving the exact same exposition over and over. Arthur may be on drugs but that excuse doesn’t apply to the author! (I hope.)
Timeline is more than weird too. I don’t want to get into that. Too frustrating.
Why is Arthur’s phone ringing again after Patrick set it to vibrate?
Awkward time skip, as well.
This is just so sloppy… Patrick out of nowhere knows Lisa’s name, for example. Bah.
As I’ve said before, I don’t mind a simple story. But repetitions, lazy writing, and character stupidity kill them every time.
I need a break before I tackle book three. Perhaps the author’ll be back on her game with that one.
March 11, 2013
This was disappointing for me. I loved Tempting Sin and was really looking forward to Arthur's story but he came across as dense and zero self esteem needy in this one. The stalker was pretty obvious as well so the fact that Arthur missed that just made him lose credibility in the brains department. The first third of the book was also dragging.
I gave it two stars because 1. Sin and Calum made cameos. 2. The ending was a happy one. 3. The story of their childhood showed how Arthur stepped up even as a minor to take care of his brothers.
I gave it two stars because 1. Sin and Calum made cameos. 2. The ending was a happy one. 3. The story of their childhood showed how Arthur stepped up even as a minor to take care of his brothers.
April 12, 2013
Arthur is returning home after nearly dying on the job, a situation where his work partner did die. He can’t let his brothers know especially Caleb, because they will freak out. So he comes home alone and is faced with his ex-lover, who he refused to acknowledge in public because of his job, waiting there to take care of him. He acts like a beast, not wanting Patrick to see him weak, but Patrick is going to be there until he’s better. It was funny when Arthur admits to himself, “There was no way to sugar-coat it…he’d turned into an attention whore).
I have to say that while reading this I felt like Arthur had had a personality transplant. In the previous book, Tempting Sin, Arthur is the epitome of a bad ass. He breaks Patrick’s nose in a heartbeat and he’s just flat out protective, ferocious Alpha male. Here, he is a diluted version of himself. Even the fact that he hid Patrick away and refused to come out of the closet was a surprise to me because Arthur just didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would bow to what other people thought. Especially to the detriment of someone he loved (hence his fierce protection of Caleb).
The mystery is very obvious, almost from the first few pages you can see who it is going to be. There is also a child thrown in the mix, the daughter of Arthur’s slain partner. This was more of a distraction to the story for me. What saved it for me mostly was Patrick. I liked him and wanted him to be happy. He was patient and deserving of someone to adore him.
I also wondered how Patrick and Arthur got together since at the end of Tempting Sin they were on opposite sides (one with a broken nose) and here they have broken off a relationship (such as it is) and were in love. I would have liked to get some of that backstory, since it is their book.
I have to say that while reading this I felt like Arthur had had a personality transplant. In the previous book, Tempting Sin, Arthur is the epitome of a bad ass. He breaks Patrick’s nose in a heartbeat and he’s just flat out protective, ferocious Alpha male. Here, he is a diluted version of himself. Even the fact that he hid Patrick away and refused to come out of the closet was a surprise to me because Arthur just didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would bow to what other people thought. Especially to the detriment of someone he loved (hence his fierce protection of Caleb).
The mystery is very obvious, almost from the first few pages you can see who it is going to be. There is also a child thrown in the mix, the daughter of Arthur’s slain partner. This was more of a distraction to the story for me. What saved it for me mostly was Patrick. I liked him and wanted him to be happy. He was patient and deserving of someone to adore him.
I also wondered how Patrick and Arthur got together since at the end of Tempting Sin they were on opposite sides (one with a broken nose) and here they have broken off a relationship (such as it is) and were in love. I would have liked to get some of that backstory, since it is their book.
April 7, 2013
This book is more serious than the first volume, and tackles a relationship which was broken when Arthur thought his job was more important than coming out and his love for Patrick. Neither he nor Patrick manage to move on though, and as difficult as it is for these two men to figure out how to live together, not being a couple proves to be totally impossible for both of them. Tension is added via a creepy stalker, whose identity was quite clear to me from the beginning, but the way in which he sneaks around was interesting to watch.
Arthur thinks his job as an FBI agent is everything and far more important than his personal happiness. It takes a serial killer's attempt to murder him for Arthur to rethink his priorities. Since he will need quite a while to heal, he has enough time on his hands to reconsider everything. Patrick's presence to help out is both distracting (due to the temptation) and helpful, since he manages to remind Arthur about the really important things in life.
Patrick works for Sin (from book one) and loves Arthur deeply. He is determined to make good use of the second chance they have been given. That doesn’t make the task any easier, but it does fuel his determination. He is wonderfully protective, has Arthur's best interests at heart, and while he isn’t good with words, his actions speak for him - loud and clear.
If you like stories about broken relationships that need patching up, if you enjoy reading about two stubborn men fighting it out, forced into dealing with their feelings by circumstances beyond their control, and if you're looking for a hot read with some mystery and a few creepy moments, then you will probably like this book.
Arthur thinks his job as an FBI agent is everything and far more important than his personal happiness. It takes a serial killer's attempt to murder him for Arthur to rethink his priorities. Since he will need quite a while to heal, he has enough time on his hands to reconsider everything. Patrick's presence to help out is both distracting (due to the temptation) and helpful, since he manages to remind Arthur about the really important things in life.
Patrick works for Sin (from book one) and loves Arthur deeply. He is determined to make good use of the second chance they have been given. That doesn’t make the task any easier, but it does fuel his determination. He is wonderfully protective, has Arthur's best interests at heart, and while he isn’t good with words, his actions speak for him - loud and clear.
If you like stories about broken relationships that need patching up, if you enjoy reading about two stubborn men fighting it out, forced into dealing with their feelings by circumstances beyond their control, and if you're looking for a hot read with some mystery and a few creepy moments, then you will probably like this book.
March 10, 2013
Arthur loved Patrick, but circumstances made it difficult for them to be together...at least, that's what HE thinks. I hated not having the full background to their relationship, like with Sin and Callum. I felt Ms. Kell could have done this book justice, if even in backstory telling. From book one I could tell they belonged together and I held tightly to release day just to witness their interaction.
I was disappointed, and I am NEVER disappointed with this author! A rewrite in the future would help clarify a lot of situations.
Sex does not make a relationship, so the lack of it therefore does not get to me. Conflict and resolution. I love drama and due to their background I expected even more angst. Four stars just because it's Ms. Kell and her abilities to churn out delightful stories, but it was an average book this time.
(P.S. it took this long to read cus I am a student again and school work comes first! )
I was disappointed, and I am NEVER disappointed with this author! A rewrite in the future would help clarify a lot of situations.
Sex does not make a relationship, so the lack of it therefore does not get to me. Conflict and resolution. I love drama and due to their background I expected even more angst. Four stars just because it's Ms. Kell and her abilities to churn out delightful stories, but it was an average book this time.
(P.S. it took this long to read cus I am a student again and school work comes first! )
March 5, 2013
2.5 stars round down.
Arthur seemed to have Tsundere transplanted when he got injured while in active duty. It was difficult reading the first 35% of the book when Arthur keep verbally pushing Patrick away when what he wanted was for the man to stay. Arthur was being passive/aggressive and it wasn't pretty or fun to read about.
The mystery part was somewhat predictable due to not so subtle hints peppered through out the story. The bad guy wasn't even being all that subtle with his approach which begged the question why no one noticed before. With that level of behavior, there should already be precedents that should alert some people.
In the end, I didn't like this one as much as Ms. Kell's other latest release.
Arthur seemed to have Tsundere transplanted when he got injured while in active duty. It was difficult reading the first 35% of the book when Arthur keep verbally pushing Patrick away when what he wanted was for the man to stay. Arthur was being passive/aggressive and it wasn't pretty or fun to read about.
The mystery part was somewhat predictable due to not so subtle hints peppered through out the story. The bad guy wasn't even being all that subtle with his approach which begged the question why no one noticed before. With that level of behavior, there should already be precedents that should alert some people.
In the end, I didn't like this one as much as Ms. Kell's other latest release.
March 13, 2013
I think this would have been better if we also heard the start of their relationship, maybe as a prologue since we seem to be starting in the middle of their relationship and takes a bit of time to catch up.
March 6, 2013
I liked it a lot, but the first one was better.
September 13, 2017
This book was very repetitive. Several paragraphs was constantly repeating the same passage mention in previous chapters.
March 6, 2013
3.5 stars
I don't like the blurb. It's a bit misleading about the killer part until reader's get near to the very end of the book. The setup for the start of the story ruins any illusion of mystery and kind of makes any suspense that going to occur predictable since it's revealed on the first page who Arthur's obsessed fan will be.
I personally thought this installment was pretty good and almost as good as the first in the series. I felt like Amber was finally getting a bit of her groove back. I kind of thought Arthur would be a bit more badass then he was depicted in this book from the last but I wasn't disappointed. The ending was sweet and nice and I look forward to Jonathan's story (if there's any plans for one anyway).
I don't like the blurb. It's a bit misleading about the killer part until reader's get near to the very end of the book. The setup for the start of the story ruins any illusion of mystery and kind of makes any suspense that going to occur predictable since it's revealed on the first page who Arthur's obsessed fan will be.
I personally thought this installment was pretty good and almost as good as the first in the series. I felt like Amber was finally getting a bit of her groove back. I kind of thought Arthur would be a bit more badass then he was depicted in this book from the last but I wasn't disappointed. The ending was sweet and nice and I look forward to Jonathan's story (if there's any plans for one anyway).
August 28, 2014
I am actually very disappointed. After reading the first book, I was looking forward to Arthur's book. When I read the blurb and found out it was Patrick I laughed so hard. It seemed like she got their personalities mixed up. In the first book Arthur was the badass take charge person and Patrick seemed like immature trouble maker who needed to be put in his place. I pictured this book to be completely different going in. Arthur was this scary badass and the she turned him in to a complete closeted needy wimp. The only saving grace was Patrick maturing and being the dominate. Also, I would have loved to see how they went from Arthur breaking his nose to them falling in love. Instead they we show up in the middle of their relationship after they already fell in love and have already broken up.
May 29, 2013
Soo disappointing! It felt like we came into it in the middle of the story first of all! Then he is supposed to be in the closet but he's been dating patrick for b over 2 years and no one in his family ever found out! yea right! Then we never get to see any reactions from the family and friends for Arthur's coming out. This book can't even compare to the first one! I really hope the third is much better. ..
March 19, 2013
Hmmmmm... Well I agree that a little bit of back story with this two would have helped very much! I felt as though I missed a book along the way. Arthur pretty much worked my nerves in the beginning with the back and forth of his emotions. And I just couldn't get a clear picture in my head of Big.. Strong Patrick... who didn't seem all that big and strong.
April 26, 2013
This is a great story with two strong men. Patrick walked away from Arthur because he didn't want to live in the closet but when Arthur is nearly killed he comes back to help. Arthur declares that he is ready to be open about his feeling for Patrick. But before they can settle down they have to deal with a crazy stalker.
May 6, 2014
A good book but nowhere near as good as Tempting Sin, the first in this series. I think it's because the book is too short, I felt it could have been greatly improved by including some of the first part of their relationship.
Would certainly recommend it and read it again.
Would certainly recommend it and read it again.
March 5, 2013
3.5 stars
March 29, 2013
Same as the first really. I didn't click w it's their relationship or the characters...I felt like I was missing storyline to really make it work.
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June 2, 2013I wondered where the Arthur of the first book had gone. Strange.
August 17, 2013
Almost couldn't finish reading this due to how badly it was written. It read like it was written in a day without much thought to editing. Repetitive and too quickly resolved.
November 8, 2013
Eh, this wasn't my favorite book, mostly because I thought there would be some trumoil between Patrick and Arthur but there isn't. Kinda killed the book high for me.
December 8, 2013
3.75 stars
My favorite of the three books in this series.
My favorite of the three books in this series.
February 1, 2015
Ended too abruptly
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews