Manipulation

<b>Audiobook - 5 stars<br />Story - 3.5 stars</b><br /><br />-Damn! Lucky and Bo are kinky bastards.<br /><br />-I liked the case but i also felt it was too long. <br /><br />- We get a bit of Lucky and Victor's past.<br /><br />Overall i liked it. <br /><br /><br />

Dear Eden Winters, you have to stop putting Lucky and Bo, as well as me, through the grinder !!! No, wait, who am I kidding ?? Don’t stop, I have such a fantastic time.<br /><br />This part starts right where "corruption" ended : Lucky is deeper and deeper in love with Bo but can Victor, his ex-lover, be back from the dead to haunt him and destroy his relationship with Bo ?<br />The blurb says it so well :<br /><blockquote> <b> <i>”Lucky Lucklighter has a new life. His old life wants him back”</i> </b> </blockquote><br />But what the blurb is not telling is that, while Lucky has to make sense of his past biting him back, figure out who to trust and protect Bo as much as he can, Bo is in danger to be taken down by his demons and fully swallowed by Cy, his undercover identity as an outlaw biker working for a drug cartel.<br />Ghosts raising from the past, secrets, revelations, mistrust, treason, danger, abduction, murders, cupidity, insanity and….manipulation. The plot is riveting, the pace is relentless and above all the chaos brought by this unsupervised undercover mission, Lucky’s emotional journey and Bo’s struggles put me down on my knees.<br /><br />This is so far my favorite part of the series and I have a feeling it’s a pivotal milestone in Lucky and Bo's relationship. As this series gets better and addictive, I have no doubt that “Redemption” is going to slay me : please, please, may Lucky and Bo’s love be strong enough to overcome all the coming obstacles.

Audio 5 Stars <br />Story....4.25 Stars <br /><br />Finally! No more hiding! ??❤

4.5 stars. This series continues to be great fun. The characters are excellent, and the plots are unusual, demonstrating a unique knowledge of the underside of the pharmaceuticals industry. There are clearly still more plot twists to come for these guys in future books, and I'll happily read the next one when it becomes available.<br /><br />In this book, there is an interesting shift of dynamic. When the series began, Lucky was the expert, the veteran, and the driving force in the relationship in most ways. He was also the one holding back emotionally, pretending he didn't care and didn't feel anything. As we've moved through the series, that has changed. Bo has become both more sure of himself and more capable in his work, and Lucky has begun to admit, at least to himself, just how deeply he cares about Bo.<br /><br />But there are still major fracture lines in their relationship. For one thing, the case has kept them apart, other than stolen moments and painful crises. Bo has a lot of worries, anxiety over his weaknesses, determination to be a hero even when it means sacrifices he might regret. He hides his doubts more than ever, since his undercover experiences have encouraged him to put on a tougher, cooler facade. He's walking a difficult line as an agent, and having a hard time keeping straight what he needs to care about and what he must sacrifice to close his case. <br /><br />Lucky has also changed. With Bo as the primary undercover agent for so long, Lucky has been playing second fiddle and worrying, and it doesn't suit him. Lucky would like to dive in, be the hero and save the day. At the same time, he <i>is</i> smart and experienced enough to know that he can't always do that. He's also realizing just how much Bo means to him, and how much his own family does as well. There are some revelations that affect how he remembers his past, and that may come into play if he ever tries to contact his family in the future.<br /><br />This is an action-packed instalment. We find out a lot about Lucky's past with drug lord, Victor Mangiardi. Lucky has to reevaluate what happened at the end, when Victor's empire collapsed. He meets people from his past, and they're mixed up with Bo's case. Keeping his emotions straight, helping bring drug dealers to justice, and figuring out what Bo needs from him is a big challenge.<br /><br />I enjoyed this book a lot. There were a few times when I wondered about the logic of the case - having a bad guy who is using his own drugs and obsessed and a bit crazy covers some of the questions, though. I really enjoyed seeing Lucky's emotions come to the forefront in this book. He's come a long way from the wise-cracking, deliberately abrasive, solo player that he was in the first book. Bo hits some really tough moments, and it's clear his happy ending will still take a lot of work and pain. The end completes this potion of the story, but still feels very open. Not a cliffhanger, but clearly not an ending. I look forward to finding out what comes next.

<br />I really, really adore this series. It's smart and detailed. Well researched and well written. The characters are kooky with an emotional side you can invest in. And whether you love Lucky or love to hate him, he eventually wins you over every time.<br /><br />Book 4, Manipulation, picks up where book 3 left off...and any time I get some Lucky &amp; Bo action, I am a happy girl. The storyline eventually takes us south of the border and dives directly into Lucky's past...the one he's been running from all along.I found this book to be one of the more telling books of the series as we really get to examine and uncover more of Lucky's past with drug lord, Victor Mangiardi. We also get a good bit of Stephen, Victor's slimey nephew. Blech. <br /><br />But what I enjoyed most about this book is the progression and growth of the love between Lucky and Bo. I really love it when series allow us to go along for the ride as couples become more and more commited to each other. And this felt like a treat.<br /><br />If you haven't started the series, I highly recommend it. And for fans of Lucky &amp; Bo, this book will not disappoint. <br /><br />

OMG, this was freaking amazing!!!!! More intense, more suspenseful, angrier and Lucky, darn it, just melted my heart. The book starts right where the third left off with both Bo and Lucky alert and waiting for someone to make their move. But as the time passes and nothing happens, Lucky is sent back without Bo, which gives him too much time on his own to contemplate about his relationship with Bo and his fears. But Bo's sudden disappearance puts everything into perspective throwing Bo in the middle of the biggest illegal dr*g operation on the other side of the border.<br /><br />This was a non stop roller coaster. Both Bo aka Cyrus and Lucky had to use their acting talents, subterfuge and cunning to stay ahead of the game while trying to save innocent men who were being used as if their lives don't matter. It was a test for both men as agents and lovers - will they make it back unscathed or will this change them and their relationship forever.<br /><br />Many secrets long buried about Lucky's past finally came to light lifting Lucky's guilt and helping him to make tough decisions. It's a cat and mouse game they play but the poison ready to ship makes it so much deadlier. I loved it. There were moments that I thought: "This is is! They will never make it!" It was nerve wracking to see both Lucky and Bo go through so much but the love and devotion they had for each other, excellent ability to do their job and hope that they can trust someone out there carried them through to the finish line.<br /><br />Some things are still left unanswered, the bad guys are still out there but hopefully not for long, but Bo and Lucky are never surer about each other than now - Bo has a long way to go to recover and Lucky will be there for him no matter what. So good! I highly recommend it!

Feels like someone stomped on my heart ? and when it was about to heal they did it again ??. I ….on to the next book

Audio Review 02Jun2019: No change<br /><br />This one was rough to listen to. I remember reading about what Bo went through and thought, once again, how much I wish we had his POV...and though I guess I didn't mention it in my original review, I still think I would love that. <br /><br />But, again, this is sort of Lucky's journey. Just like him, I question(ed) Walter's motives and wonder what he could be hiding from Lucky. (I know, now, but still I felt the "coincidences" weren't adding up right.) Probably didn't help that I also read/listened to that one book in the Cut &amp; Run series (where we find out why Ty is partnered with Zane) and then that other one (where we discover that one of Ty's handlers was up to no-good) just before I started this series and was suspicious of everyone at that point, not knowing who to trust anymore. A little of that memory trickled in and got me feeling anxious again.<br /><br />So much relationship development in this book, too, where it doesn't seem like it would logically fit...but it totally does. Character growth as well. From both of them. That ending though? *cries*<br /><br />Once again, Darcy does a bang-up job on the narration. He just gets better and better with each installment. (Although I was sold on him about an hour into the second book.)<br /><br />But now...omg, how long until book 5 comes out on audio? *whines* I want it naowwwww!!<br /><br />(LOLing at how I'm writing a review with a mind to avoid spoilers...when this book is 5 years old and most likely all the friends on my feed have already read/listened to it. *shrug* Oh well.)<br /><br /><br />Original Rating 16Sep2016: 4.25 Stars (What, no review?)

I've been waiting for this forth installment in the "Diversion"series for what feels like forever!! <b>It was totally worth it though, Eden did not disappoint! </b><br><br>So,<br><br>we have one Simon “<b>Lucky</b>” Harrison, former known as Richmond Eugene Lucklighter (a fake death may have happened)<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1415092663i/11723613._SX540_.jpg" width="400" height="300" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><i>(This is how I picture him, don't care what you think unless is "yummy! I would love me some of that!")</i><br><br>As I was saying, Lucky is a member of the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau (SNB), Starbucks coffee addict, foul mouthed and cranky as hell bastard but who gets all mushy inside when thinking of his lover, his boo (&lt;-- see what I did there? no? well just keep on reading)<br><br>Add to this, one William Patrick “<b>Bo</b>” Schollenberger (now do you see what I did there ^? - his nickname is BO and he's Lucky's boo! get it? *narrows eyes* well, it was funny in my head!!) - (no fake death so far, so that's his real name)<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1388590746i/7879940._SY540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><i>(yeah, you know it! I don't even care he's not a brunette as Bo is supposed to be)</i><br><br>Bo, is also a member of Southeastern Narcotics Bureau (SNB), a vegetarian, stevia enthusiast, neat freak and usually an even tempered guy but for the past 2 books he's been deep undercover as Cyrus Cooper (drug lord, bike riding motherfucker! - *shivers*).<br><br>I'm trying really hard for this to be a spoiler free review so I'm not gonna go into details, but the gist is Lucky and Bo find themselves in Mexico (courtesy of a major <b>asshole</b> from Lucky's past) in the middle of a drug war with no contact to their SNB division. Because of <b>the asshole's</b> (that's I've been calling him through the book) actions, Bo is put in a very difficult situation and he's starting to question his loyalties, while Lucky is trying to come to grips with his past and has doubts about his current SNB boss. Their relationship is also going through some hard times but after after Bo finally comes clean about some stuff and Lucky gets over his fear of commitment, things get back on track. <br><br>"Manipulation" is faced paced, funny, hot and packed full of action. If it wasn't for stupid RL getting in the way I would have finished this that day it came out! What I do want to emphasize is that <b>Eden Winters's writing is flawless, the attention to details is extraordinary</b>, she really did her job when it comes to research! I'm more than happy with how this all turned out! (I'm especially tickled about Lucky coming clean with Walter about them :D)<br><br>Looking forward to Lucky and Bo's next adventure, I'm curious whether Bo is able to get past his experience in Mexico!<br><br>If you haven't read the series so far I'm urging you to do this now, it's getting better and better! <br><br>Hugs!<br>

4.5 stars! I swear, I'm all reviewed out right now. This deserves much better than it's going to get. <br /><br />Ah Lucky! It's really difficult when you're used to being a no feeling asshole when you start caring about people. That's Lucky's problem right now. Because of Bo, he cares so, so much. And it's frankly terrified him. Until now. ?<br /><br />I'll admit, I'm glad Lucky doesn't have to carry the guilt over Victor on his shoulders any more but I'm even happier that Lucky has finally decided that nothing matters more than him and Bo, together. ❤️Now we just have to worry about what this last case has done to Bo, and where his head is at after all he's survived. We know what he feels for Lucky, and hopefully that will help him get through this. <br /><br />There's still a lot of unanswered questions about the past, and as par for the way things go for Lucky, I'm sure the past isn't done with him. *runs straight to <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/25783348.Redemption__Diversion__5_" title="Redemption (Diversion #5) by Eden Winters" rel="noopener">Redemption</a>*