Take Down by Mallery Malone

 Powerful. Dominant, Unforgettable. He commands submission at all costs.

Cage fighter, Gabriel Devereaux, a man of barely leashed power, is known as the Bayou Beast.

There is one woman he will do anything , pay any amount to possess.

Karina Armistead, has come a long way from the innocent girl Gabriel used to know. An internationally known singer, she can have anything she wants. But everything tells her that getting involved with the Bayou Beast may leave her wrecked beyond repair.

Little does Karina Armistead know, but Gabriel has decided that she will be his.

He will destroy anything or anyone who stands in his way.

Do not let the cover or the length of this book fool you.  When you read the first page you will be drawn into a world of cage fighting, lost love and revenge.  I fell for Gabriel the moment that author explained what he did with the money he earned on side fights.  He was a strong, sexy man who went for what he wanted and was determined to win every battle he was in.  His current reason for living was to go seek revenge on the man that tried to ruin everything he had built and if that meant taking down that man’s daughter Karina, then so be it.

Karina threw herself into her career of being an international pop star, trying to forget the pain she feels over a lost love from ten years ago.  Because of what she was told, she believes the man she fell in love with had abandoned her, little did she know that the charity auction was going to bring him back into her life.  When she offers a date to the highest bidder, Gabriel appears with the money in hand and the desire to fulfill his mission. 

The sparks were still there between them but there was also a lot of anger and resentment over the time they had lost and the reasons for losing that time.  The author did a great job at slowly unfolding the truth for the readers and the characters.  I was so invested in their lives by the time we got them together I was emotionally worn.  The suspense was high while I sat and wondered if Karina was going to be willing to help Gabriel with his revenge, it was going to change her life if she did, but if she didn’t she could lose him forever. 

I loved this book, it was so easy for me to get so absorbed in the story the outside world just disappeared.  It is a short book, didn’t take long to read, actually I had wished it would be longer because I wasn’t finished when the end came.  I will say that I think the synopsis gives off the wrong idea about Gabriel.  For me as a reader, when I read the word Dominant in a description regarding a man, I look for a D/S or BDSM theme in the book.  I didn’t feel there was any of that in this book and while I can see why someone would consider him Dominant, I don’t want you coming back later and say you were fooled.  He is a take charge kind of man, he goes for what he wants and takes control of the situation and personally I thought that was rather hot. 

Despite this being the third installment in the series, we still knew very little about Gabriel aka The Bayou Beast. All we really knew to this point was that he is an MMA fighter who participates in illegal underground matches for the thrill of it and that he has a reputation for being cold and lethal inside and outside of the ring. To learn that he had been in love and had his heart broken was not a surprise as it is the theme of this series. However, to learn that the woman who broke his heart is now a pop singer, THAT was shocking.

While I do so enjoy my bad boy, alpha males, it was Kari that I adored in this book. She’s a feisty character who has no problem facing down The Bayou Beast – something that even his business partners don’t like to do. This of course made for some rather entertaining reading as Gabriel sets off on a path of revenge that leads him back to Kari. He learns rather quickly that ten years have not diminished his love or desire for her. And what Gabriel wants, Gabriel gets - thankfully that includes some seriously hot sex.

Take Down is an excellent addition to the series and was a quick read for me. I enjoyed getting to know Gabriel better, so I was distraught when I read the lengths to which Kari’s father went to keep them apart when they were teenagers. As all three of the billionaire’s have had their stories told, I am assuming that this is the final book in the series. And while I can hope that I am wrong, I can at least take solace in the fact that Ms. Malone has other books available for my reading pleasure.

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