Beautiful Sacrifice: A Novel (The Maddox Brothers Book 3)
<— SUPER HIGHLY ANTICIPATED since I requested my own “Maddox twin” back in 2011, and we’re finally reading their stories! And I’m not the only one that had a special penchant for the twins…
Maryse: anything even resembling “Travis” has me on pins and needles…
Fabi: Beautiful Sacrifice. I think my heart just skipped a beat.
Anne: Maryse I loved Beautiful and Travis! He was my first real “bad boy” and still love him. That book gave me all the feels!
Fabi: No one can eclipse Travis but the last book was my favorite next to Travis’. He’s the oldest brother and I felt like the story was more mature. I just loved it.
Heather: Uh gotta love the Maddox brothers, love this series and cannot wait to read this book!
Lisa: Omg!! Just finished Beautiful Sacrifice!! So freaking good!!! Such a great story!! I’m speechless!! Started reading it last night and all day today!! Awesome that it came out early!! Nothing better than spending a cold rainy day reading a book you have been longing to read and totally losing yourself in it!! Jamie McGuire you rock!!! Heavy sigh!!!!
Karen: I’ve so got my fingers crossed for this one. Beautiful Disaster. is an absolute favourite.
Yep. I pretty much read it in one sitting, and it was pure Maddox-bad-boy guilty pleasure fun. Loaded in lots of sexy “push-pull” (you know the drill… rivals first, friends maybe, and an unavoidable “more” later). Tons of romance drama (and I mean DRAMA!!!). I mean it. She (the author) totally went there.
Where? I’m not saying but my jaw dropped and then… it dropped even more. I think it’s still on the floor. And I’m leaving it there.
Know why? ‘Cause I’m good with it. *devious smirk*
So what’s it about?
Taylor the Maddox twin is a FREAKING HOT SHOT FIREFIGHTER. Gah!!! Could he have chosen a more sexy bad-ass, protector hero job? Well… there are equal “awesome-hero” ones to that one, but how does it not surprise me that THAT is what he is? Nope. Not surprised and I LOVE IT!
Well… while working his contract in Colorado fighting huge forest fires, he meets Falyn at the diner where she is waitressing. Independent, unencumbered, JADED, Falyn. Jaded for many reasons, but much of her “jade” is for the hot seasonal firefighters that leave too many of her girls behind…
No self-respecting local girl would be caught dating one of those fascinating, brave tanned young men for two reasons. They were seasonal, and they would leave you behind, pregnant or heartbroken. I’d seen it so many times, and not just with the hotshot crews, but with the airmen passing through, too.
She was raised in a wealthy household with parents that expect the “best”. Actually no. Not expect. DEMAND.
Taylor’s movement caused my father to notice his arms. “Hotshot crew, eh? And part-time doodle pad by the looks of it.”
Taylor chuckled, glancing down at his right arm. “My brother’s a tattoo artist.”
“You’re not really dating this deadbeat, are you?” As usual, my father’s question was more of a demand for an answer.
And something happens that has her hauling ass out of her privileged (yet unloving, demanding home) to a town so far from her real life, she’s practically living in poverty. But she’s free. And she’s… for the most part… happy. And free? Well… free from a lot. But not from something… BIG. And I MEAN BIG.
So when Taylor flirts with her, bugs her, enrages her, and yet keep coming back to see her,
“What are you smiling about?”
“You just said you were attracted to me.” His self-satisfied smile was contagious.
“Yeah, but that was before you spoke.”
Taylor’s smile immediately vanished. “You’re so f**king mean. It’s disturbing that I like it so much.”
*snort* 😛
…and he eventually wears her down just enough for her to finally notice something about him.
A long sigh separated my lips. He was too cute and too charming, and he was on a hotshot crew. I was already one statistic. I wouldn’t let him turn me into another. One dinner wouldn’t be hard, and I sort of owed him for playing along while I’d pissed off my parents. I was well practiced in walking away though. One dinner, and we’d be done.
She NEEDS him. I won’t tell you how, but it’s not what you think. 😉
“That is going to be one pissed off young man when he figures out what you’re doing.”
My chest sank in. “I already feel bad enough.”
“Good. At least you still have a conscience.”
And once that reveal is revealed… the reveals just keep coming… and not all of them are pretty. But what can we expect from a Maddox boy but HUGE intense love and yet… full-on drama?
YES!!!! AND AND AND!!! It’s pretty darn funny at times, too. Most every character in this one? Real. And HAD MY HEART!!!!
She crossed her arms. “Now, if he is anything but a gentleman—”
“I know,” I said. “I’ll punch him in the throat.”
“Good girl,” Phaedra said, punching the air. “They hate that.”
“She’s right,” Chuck called from the kitchen. “We do!”
LOL!!! Quite a few of these hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments!
But yet there’s one “reveal” (or hint at a reveal)… that I can’t quite figure out if the NEXT (and last) book is going to clear up for us, or if it was something I missed in Thomas’s book…:
MichelleS: Can’t wait to red your review. Please let us know what books we have to read in order to enjoy this best. I read the first two, but none of the subsequent books.
Maryse: I know if you read Trent’s book, you’ll come across part of his story in this one that becomes VERY relevant… I haven’t read Thomas’s book yet and there is some SERIOUS tension with Thomas and his crew… and something is going on with Travis that I’m not quite sure of yet. Something that looks bad, for him. Heart wrenching? Maybe more of that was revealed in Thomas’s book? But I know Taylor has no clue what it is.
Does anyone that has read BOTH Thomas’s book and now this one, know?
I’m having a feeling the last book in the series will blow my mind, ’cause I think Travis is gonna be a big part of it.
But this one? Oh… it was at times, over-the-top (yes… it was). *nods*
Whether it be too often amazingly coincidental (or “tied in a bow” aka: fate <— and I LOVE and totally believe in fate so I’m not pooh-poohing it!). Or OMG NO FREAKING WAY (very realistic moments and reactions colliding with the “too good to be true” parts). I’m gonna tell y’all… it almost balanced things out. The good with the bad and the over-the-top, and all that.
Yep. I’m good with it.
‘Cause I read for escape, thrills, and fantasies and reality <— THAT is my FAVORITE. Of course, completely different from my own reality… OR maybe even exactly like my own – guess it depends on how it plays out. 😉 I don’t know why “realistic” gets me so hooked (I mean if I want to escape, why would I want to escape to “reality”? Right?)? Well I dunno. It’s just that some of these authors turn “reality” into SO MUCH FUN (even in the devastation). And often end it in so much HEA that I can’t help but appreciate the “bad times” to get to such an amazing epilogue. P.S. This one had an AMAZING epilogue!
But if you ask me, even amongst the “over-the-top” amazing, too-good-to-be-true situations, a few hard-core realities can help fuzz up the starry-eyed perfect fated situations. Shock us romance readers into reality submission. And whether some “things” or occurrences might not be considered “romance” I love my romance with a HUGE dose of reality. I like it sweet, but I especially like it exciting, infuriating and crazy and this one? It’s all three.
And those perfectly fated situations that were (to some) atrociously marred by reality? Perhaps that just added to the reality that IS fate.
“Some things are destined to be — it just takes us a couple of tries to get there.” <— J.R. Ward!!!!
Oh YES. If this doesn’t describe this story… and my love of “book-life”, “book-love” and these unconventional “romance” stories, I don’t know what does. Although I will acknowledge that some of my fellow readers insist this is NOT romance. However, I beg to differ. This is just an unconventional … or should I say at times, “distressingly realistic version” of love. He’s plenty romantic… IT’S plenty romantic. Just so human and because of that… painful, at times.
He breathed out a puff of air and looked forward. “Then why are we going?”
“Because it has to hurt before it can get better.”
He looked back at me, his eyes falling to my lips. “I don’t want you to hurt.”
“I know,” I said, squeezing his hand. “But you’ll be with me, right?”
“For as long as you’ll let me.”
*sigh* My heart.
So I’m gonna let y’all discover one of the Maddox twins on your own and hurt, and cheer along with the best of ’em!
Now of COURSE, considering my “tempered” review here, y’all know Travis is still so obviously my #1. I have a feeling nobody will EVER eclipse him. This is made fact by my 5 re-reads (each one – almost just as spectacular as the first read), and re-reading all of my favorite “Beautiful Disaster.” quotes on Goodreads… that book, my friends is PURE romance angst perfection, bad boy intensity at it’s most real, and MY MOST amazing love story of all time. Sure he’s scary, sure he’s over-the-top, sure he’s too intense, too fast and too young but OMG… Travis. ‘Nuff said.
So as hot and obviously sexy and angsty as Taylor is…? He didn’t take Travis’s place for me, so he’s…
4 stars!
And… WOW. THIS:
He swallowed and then opened his mouth, speaking quietly, “Get the f**k away from me. I know full well that touching you would be like putting my finger on a loaded gun.”
“Then don’t pull the trigger,” I dared him, my lips almost grazing his.
*waggles eyebrows* 😀
P.S. While the read well as standalones, best to follow THIS READING ORDER.
P.P.S. Oh… and one thing I struggled with, which caused me trepidition in connecting to Falyn, was how aggressive she was with him at first calling him a certain… “rag”. *gasp!!* Whoa girl!!! Hold on, you don’t even know the poor guy to be that mean to him, yet. Maybe it’s what they say over there? Yikes! *giggle* 😛
Just started this today and I’m so excited! I’m only a few chapters in so far, but I’m totally hooked and I get the feeling there will be a few twists and turns coming. Love me some Maddox brothers!
Oh YES Michelle. You’re in for some *gasp*
😀
I have these on my kindle but have yet to read them. Should I read Beautiful series first? (Beautiful disaster, Walking disaster and Beautiful oblivion) Or is just reading the Maddox brothers series (Amazon shows this as Beautiful Oblivion, Beautiful Redemption and Beautiful Sacrifice). I find these very confusing and I’m not sure where to start.
Katherine… OMG YOU MUST READ BEAUTIFUL DISASTER!!!!
*GAH!* I am SO jealous of you that you get to read it for the first time. It is my all-time FAVORITE book in the world!
Follow this order: https://www.maryse.net/reading-order-guide/jamie-mcguire-beautiful-disaster-series-reading-order.html
😀 LUCKY YOU!!!!
Thank you Maryse! I love your blog, we have very similar tastes in books and have followed your recommendations as much as much as I can afford to. I read almost a book a day so my addiction can get expensive if I allow it.
What a review! And mine is sitting in tbr since midnight on the 30th. Nope. No more waiting. I have to read this one NOW.
Skipped your review but will come back to it. I’m at 30%, have some guesses as to what’s going to happen, and loving Taylor!!!!! I love twists!!!
We loved this one, and read it ridiculously fast. Taylor might be the sweetest of the Maddox brothers https://bit.ly/1KAFg7G
Beautiful review! Well I have read all the books and I have to agree that Travis is my best too! Just to answer a question about Thomas and Travis! First of all if you haven’t read Thomas’s story you REALLY have! ! Well, almost all the book is about how Thomas ( FBI agent – who no one from his family knows what his job is except from Cami ) is going to persuade Travis to lie to his wife and family, like him, and be an FBI agent, because if he doesn’t then he is going to gail! The main reason is because of the fire that happens on the last fight of Travis! I think it is not right to say more but you really need to read Thomas’s story because I don’t think in the next book ( Tyler’s story ) will be more information about the connection between the two of them! ! All the answers are in Thomas’s book and in the end of the Walking Disaster ( after 11 years of Travis and Abbys’s wending ) 😀
While I really love the Maddox Brothers and each book is unique in their own way, I was a little disappointed with the way things went down. The one thing I HATE in books happened!!! Ugh, but I guess it all ended good. I must say your review made me feel a little better about the whole thing!! Thanks Maryse!
LOL Jean… I knew *that* would be trouble for a lot of readers… 😉
Ok so i might be on the outside with how i felt, i love the Maddox boys, and i so wanted to love this story.
I have to say i did love it BUT it felt so so rushed.
I would have loved to have seem more about her daughter, or even read the story about her falling pregnant.
It just seemed so rushed i was disappointed.
It could have done with another 100 or so pages.
But that’s just my feelings.
well crap, now I want to now what the reveal is and why it’s “unconventional.” Dammit, Maryse!