Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Now that there are no more secrets between them, assassin Hawes Madigan and ATF agent Christopher Perri are ready to move forward together. But there is still a lot to get sorted inside Hawes’ family business, including figuring out who is the mole setting them up. Someone isn’t happy with the changes Hawes and his siblings are trying to make, and that person would love to see Hawes dead. The only way to figure out who is behind the betrayal and to stop them before they destroy everything is for Hawes to investigate from the inside. This mean putting himself back in the clutches of someone who wants to harm him, but that is the only way to figure out the truth and see the culprit behind bars.
Hawes and Chris have come a long way together in just a couple of weeks, but this latest mission will test what they have built between them. The men will have to trust in each other and the feelings they have between them if they have any hope of making it out alive.
A New Empire is the final book in Layla Reyne’s Fog City series and an excellent end to a wonderful trilogy. This book is the culmination of the story built over the last two books, bringing a climax to the question of who is fighting against Hawes and his siblings to prevent them from making changes in the company. And even more critical, how they will be able to stop this person without losing their lives. This involves Hawes pretending to have had a change of heart in order to get close to the culprit. With the stolen explosives still in play, uncertainty about who is on their side, and someone looking to see the men dead, the story has lots of excitement and twists. At times, things got a tiny bit complicated for me to fully follow. But overall, I found this story exciting and suspenseful and it brings the overarching thriller storyline to a nice resolution.
With all the chaos, what keeps things running is the connection between Hawes and Chris. They have had a hard road between them and a lot of secrets, but they have reached a place where they are solid. It is the trust they have for one another that not only allows them to take risks, but also to have the strength and confidence to move forward over the dangerous mission. I love these guys together and this story brings them to a good place. I’ll admit, whenever they mention that it is has only been two weeks since they met, it does throw me out of things a bit, as it is such a short timeline. But I really do love them as a couple and Reyne can make me feel like the men have been together much longer from the strength of their connection. I also continue to really love the dynamic between the Madigan siblings. In the face of all the chaos, these three are rock solid, and it really rounds out the story nicely to see them working together and supporting one another.
While this story closes out the trilogy, happily it isn’t the last we will see of these folks. Reyne has confirmed that both Holt and Helena will get their own stories (and after reading this book, you will know their love interests, if you haven’t already guessed). For fans of the Agents Irish and Whiskey series, you may also enjoy seeing some cameos from that world. Overall, I found this a great ending to a series I really adored. I can’t wait to catch up with these characters once again!
