GRR Reviews Forever Marked (Marked Series Book 1) by Jesse Lorenzo

Forever Marked was a pretty decent thriller, but the confusing plot (there were TWO bad guys, not just one) with motives that don't really make much sense just left me confused.

To recap, Ellora was 23 when her parents died in an auto accident. Forced to take over her father's contractor business, she found herself in the crosshairs of a ruthless man who wanted to possess her at any cost. Barely surviving an attack in her own home, then an assault in the hospital, she took what she could and fled to a different continent, all the way to Scotland, hoping to find safe haven in her parent's hometown. And there she did find a protector in Behr, a working bachelor who can see she has a secret. But her obsessor is determined to bring her back at any cost, because he needs a deal done and Ellora's father was asking too many questions...

To explain the problem I'm afraid I have to spoil the plot a bit.

WARNING SPOILER AHEAD

TOLD YOU SO

Any way, Ellora has TWO enemies... Dalton, who's the billionaire sociopath, and Gideon, who's the hands-on psycho that does Dalton's biddings. It was Gideon that attacked Ellora in her home, scared her in the hospital, and chased her all the way to Scotland. The problems are twofold.

1) Why does Dalton care so much about bringing Ellora back? Dalton was creepy to Ellora, but the book never made it clear whether Dalton wanted Ellora for twisted reason, or for business reasons. She turned him down, sure. Maybe his ego was bruised. But the business reasons make absolutely no sense. Ellora's father was head of a big contracting firm that took one of Dalton's projects, but got killed in an auto accident. So pick another vendor. Why make Ellora take the reins of her father's company, then try to kill her? (Sent Gideon to attack her in her home, then sabotage brakes in her car) Later we learned Ellora's father also was compiling evidence of Dalton's misdeeds, but Gideon revealed that while he did sabotage the brakes in both cases, he was "only supposed to scare". So what's Ellora's role in all this?

2) Gideon went all the way to Scotland to hunt down Ellora, and almost managed to stuff her into a duffel when help arrived. WTF? This is SCOTLAND, not New Jersey. What was his plan to get her back to the US, without going through any sort of inspection?

If this book made sense I'd given it 3.5/5. As is, I can only give it 2/5

Category:  Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Confusing romantic suspense about a girl running away from TWO sociopaths and found love and protector in Scotland

Tropes: evil boss, kidnapping, protector, woman peril, conspiracy

Overall Rating:  2/5