3.5 Stars Book 2 is in the Phoenix Rising series, Renegade is a friend to lover story with an ongoing suspense storyline running through. Each book is different characters but must be read in order to understand what is happening. I liked the story and characters and will read more.

Gemma and her friend Walker have always side-stepped arond the areas of Sex with eachother. He surprizes her by being naked in her bed when she herself comes home early from a bussiness trip. She doen't expect anyone would be sleeping in her bed, when she herself crawls in bed naked. The two of them surprise eachother whn their bodies tocuh.....zing they're both sexually aware of eachother. The sexual chemistry is off the charts... neither want to admit they want the other (afraid it would ruin their friendship). The story line was good... but the constant back and forth between each of the characters point of view was juvenile - it took away from the story line.

Again Murder!! Mayhem!!! and Love. The plot thickens in trying to find out what happen to Liam. and also Gemma and Walker.While Noah and Kenzie are figuring out there part of the puzzle Gemma insist she helps Walker in his pieces of it. She also figures out he can help her figure out this BDSM stuff. She trust him so why not. But the more he teaches her the more she falls for her best friend. As they get closer to the truth about Liam they get closer to the truth about each other. And OMG the epilouge!! I didn't see that coming.I can't wait for the next story.

While only in her mid-20s, Gemma is bored with sex. She’s yet to find a partner to truly satisfy her. While meeting potential new clients, she believes her sexual fantasies have been answered. Now she needs to convince him she’s not as naive as he thinks. It just so happens that her oldest best friend, Walker, was in town and Gemma believes he’d be perfect to help her gain experience.
So, this book was much better than I thought it would be. My favorite person in the book was Walker. His character saved this book from being another gawd awful version of FSOG! I think the one thing that bugged me was when Walker is catching Gemma up on her roommate. I felt like it was a super long summary of another book that I should’ve read before this book.

Renegade is the continuation of the Phoenix Rising series. This time it's Walker (Liam's SEAL brother) and Gemma's story of best friends-to-lovers. Walker is in town on his continuing quest to investigate Liam's death. He and Gemma have been best friends since they were teens. She helped him learn to read and graduate from high school and he protected her from her mother's sleazy boyfriends and helped her learn to open up, let go and live. 9 years later they're still best friends and there has never been anything between them but friendship. Until she gets it in her head that Walker, the man she trusts most in the world, can help her learn the ins and outs of BDSM so she can try out a relationship with Declan, one of her potential new clients in hers, McKenzie's and Charlotte's wedding planning business.

When they dive in head first into the BDSM business, the attraction between them explodes. And it's hot and sexy and sweet, but I have to admit that the he doesn't want more than friendship with me, she doesn't want more than friendship with me thing got really old, quickly. It was obvious that even if there hadn't been more than friendship feelings between them before, they were certainly developing them, and if they had bothered to ask the other about it, they would have known just how they felt! So much non-communication between two really close best friends.

Moving along not so silently in the background is their investigation into Liam's death, and we finally get a few more answers about what happened back then. Of course, more questions are proposed, but still, we finally get some clarification about Liam's death. The scene with the family of the doctor whom Liam rescued in particular, is a telling one. And then that epilogue, that unexpected epilogue! So good!

If friends-to-lovers and/or romantic suspense is your thing, I highly recommend you read Renegade. It's steamy, sweet and the continuing quest for knowledge about Liam's death is entertaining and intriguing.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything In Between
-The sitch. Best friends Gemma and Walker are drawn into the search for what really happened with their friend Liam (set up in the first book), and along the way, Gemma decides she wants to learn about submission and wants Walker to teach her. Um, yes please. Then romance happens.
-Friends to lovers is my jam. Sign me up. Every time.
-Works as standalone. There’s plenty of detail to catch you up on the overarching storyline.
-Love scenes were smoking. There’s good chemistry between the leads as well as some BDSM, but it’s pretty light, just enough to up the heat factor.
-Not a super safe read. If you’re into absolutely no OW/OM contact, there is some in this book. It’s all on the heroine’s side and it never leads anywhere, so I was able to get past it but I know some folks won’t, so there’s your warning.
-A tad repetitive. It suffered a little from the constant reminder of “he/she couldn’t/doesn’t want/love me THAT way.” Could have cut some of that out.
-I would read the next one. The teaser at the very end lets this chapter of the overarching storyline wrap up and entices the reader to continue on. I was intrigued enough that I would be willing to read the next book.


The Bottom Line
It was an enjoyable friends to lovers tale that, while a tad repetitive, made up for it with the sexy and the overarching storyline is one that caught my attention. I’d like to see how it all wraps up.

Renegade is the second book in Brynley Blake's Phoenix Rising series but it's the first book that I have read by this author.
Admittedly, I found myself feeling a bit lost while reading the books because events had happened in the first book that I had missed (because I hadn't read the first book in the series).
I'm planning on buying the first book in the series and reading that and then planning on a re-read of this book because although I did flounder around a bit during the story because of information I had missed out on in the first book, I really enjoyed reading Renegade
Ordinarily, when I'm reading a book and I feel as though I have missed out on too many things or too much information that was previously mentioned in other books, I'll put the book down, but I didn't do that with Renegade because the romance and chemistry between Gemma and Walker just completely sucked me in and kept me reading, I wanted to see the journey they'd take me on and what a journey it was. I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series.

An arc of this book was generously provided to me by Entangled Publishing LLC (Brazen) and Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

Again Murder!! Mayhem!!! and Love. The plot thickens in trying to find out what happen to Liam. and also Gemma and Walker.While Noah and Kenzie are figuring out there part of the puzzle Gemma insist she helps Walker in his pieces of it. She also figures out he can help her figure out this BDSM stuff. She trust him so why not. But the more he teaches her the more she falls for her best friend. As they get closer to the truth about Liam they get closer to the truth about each other. And OMG the epilouge!! I didn't see that coming.I can't wait for the next story

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

While I did not read the first book of the series, I was able to understand the plot of the story and kept engaged in the story. I think that after reading this story, I want to read the first book and see how Noah and McKenzie met.

I liked that Gemma and Walker were able to be friends for so long and keep their relationship strictly platonic, and really valued their friendship. There is such a great mix of romance, intrigue, and drama that it was hard to put the book down, even a little humor - Gemma's bad hookup at the beginning was hilarious!

It was interesting to me that there was such a difference between Declan's definition of what he wanted in his sub and how Walker treated Gemma as his sub. I know that Gemma was tired of being with "boys" but thinking of going with Declan had an "eww" factor for me, so I am glad that even though she thought it was over for her with Walker, she declined Declan. I enjoyed seeing their friendship progress beyond friends to lovers.

The ending was a great set up for the next book, and I even wondered if there was a possibility that Liam was not dead earlier in the book. I was so glad when Gemma and Walker found Valor and had evidence that showed Liam had not turned traitor to his country. Now, I have to patiently wait for Liam's book!

Even though Renegade (and each book in the Phoenix Rising series) features a new couple, YOU NEED TO READ Rogue (Phoenix Rising #1) FIRST! While the romantic focus is on Gemma and Walker (and sort of Declan), the major plot arc starts in book 1 and being familiar with it makes the reading experience so much for enjoyable. Renegade is a quick read - fast paced, hot, and totally unexpected. It really sucked me in and I'm fully committed to this series and am so along for the ride to find out what happened to Liam. That being said, Gemma wasn't my favorite heroine in the wold and I totally liked Walker way more. I also sort of don't like the idea of using one man (even if he is a friend) to prepare for another man - that just seems like a recipe for disaster from jump. But I do love a good friends to lovers trope and the added element of BDSM made this one quite enjoyable. I give Renegade 3 out of 5 wine glasses and can't wait for book 3!

This is another one of those series where I'm glad I didn't give up after not liking the first book in the series. This book redeemed the series for me and I can't wait to read the next one! I'm dying to know how it all ends up!

The characters were built and developed well. I liked the back story between Gemma and Walter; their friendship and humor made me laugh several times while reading this. It also made her requesting help from him much more realistic.

book 2 of the phoenix rising series, renegade, picks up right where rogue left off. kenzie and noah are off in malaysia trying to find clues to liam's bucket list, while walker follows up with gemma and charlotte on things at home.

liam's bucket list takes walker and gemma to the west coast. where they try to connect the dots between the actions he took just before his death and whether or not the rumors of liam's betrayal is true. it also takes them to a place where the limits of their long time friendship are stretched and boundaries are crossed.

gemma has always had a problem getting off when she's with guys, when the father of a wedding client propositions her with a D/s relationship, she's intrigued. maybe that's what she has been missing her whole life. when she comes across walker's research for their trip to san francisco and jumps to the conclusion that he's a dominant, she is delighted. she can test her limits with her best friend, the one person she knows she can trust above all.

walker doesn't know how to tell gemma that she's wrong about him. even though the more he experiments with her, the more he realizes that there are some aspects to the bdsm lifestyle that appeal to him. his original goal in agreeing to her crazy plan was to discourage her from seeking it out with the silver fox. but once everything gets all muddled he's not sure what his goal is. except maybe just being with gemma.

both of them are seeing each other in a new light. and the decades of friendship only add new depths to their sexual connection and incredible chemistry. walker and gemma are made for each other, and all they need to do is admit that they are better together than apart. something that changes everything, even though it changes nothing at all. because no matter what they are best friends. they've always been best friends. they will always be best friends. just with some extra loving.

oh, and this book has this amazing cliffhanger that was kind of everything i hoped it would be. book 3 in this series is looking like it might be my favorite, and this is saying something because i really loved both 1 and 2.

I'm all in favor of strong women, Gemma came across as neurotic. She's a boss in business, but a disappointment in love. Her need for control has left her in a dire romantic drought. Will her thirst ever be quenched? Renegade has a Sex in the City vibe with a splash of mystery thrown in. More funny than sexy, Declan and Gemma encourage getting your feet wet, before diving in to romance. Cute meets tempting.
(3.5 stars)

3.5 Stars!

Renegade is a friends to lover story that has a suspense plot started in the first book of the Phoenix Rising series. Each book is focused on a different couple but continues the same plot of discovering what really happened with Liam, a brother, a friend and a navy seal. I would recommend starting with book one.

While the background plot is about Liam, the forefront story is about Gemma wanting to learn BDSM in hopes of catching the father of her client. She's tired of playing with boys and thinks that since Declan is older and more experienced, she'll get what she needs from him, except he only wants a submissive. He's leaving town on business and asks her to look into what it takes to be a submissive and decide when he gets back. Gemma turns to her best friend in hopes that he will teach her the ropes.

There is a lot going on in this book for being on the shorter side. It's paced well and I enjoyed the overall plot with Liam. I do wish I had started with book one and the epilogue was a great teaser for book 3. ARC provided by NetGalley.

I liked Renegade by new to me author Brynley Blake, however, I felt that some pertinent details were lacking from the intriguing subplot. After perusing some of the reviews and the synopsis of book one, I believe reading this series in order will provide the greatest enjoyment.

Wedding Photographer Gemma Ward, and Navy SEAL Walker Kincaid, have been best friends for nine years. They always have fun together and their friendship is very powerful. Due to some BDSM photos on Walter's computer, Gemma is surprised to learn that Walter is a dominant. So when Gemma decides that a submissive relationship may be what has been missing from her love life, she asks Walker to help her learn about the lifestyle.

Walker is in the middle of investigating the death of fellow SEAL Liam Prescott, and one of the many clues is a BDSM club in San Francisco. Walker is not a true dominant, and he knows that Gemma is not the submissive type, but he goes along with it because he wants her to be safe. Gemma joins Walker on the unofficial investigation, since Liam was her friend as well, and Liam's sister is Gemma's roommate. Gemma and Walker fall in lust and love as their friendship evolves into much more.

Author Brynley Blake passionately depicts some of aspects of the BDSM lifestyle. Gemma and Walker are hot and their sexy times are even hotter. The epilogue totally took me by surprise, and as a result, I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I received an ARC of Renegade from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Renegade is the second book in Phoenix Rising series and is best read after the first book. This book is centered around a new couple, Gemma and Walker, but the mystery of missing guns and involvement of Walker's fellow Navy Seal, Liam Prescott, that stared in Rogue continues to unravel in Renegade. I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the combination of action and scorching hot romance. I really liked Gemma and Walker as a couple. They have great chemistry, and I loved how they were both new to BDSM and explored it together. The big twist at the end of the book made me even more impatient for the next installment. I can't wait to read Charlotte's story and to finally find out what went wrong for Liam.

I was completely lost by not reading the first book. I made that mistake and was lost. I wish it was stated that this really is Book 2 .... not just book 2 in a series that could be read as a stand alone.

I am officially hooked on this series after only two books! Renegade is all consuming and hard for me to put down. This is Walker and Gemma's story.

Gemma is best friends and business partners with McKenzie and Charlotte. It's Kenzie's brother Liam a Navy SEAL who is KIA'd during a rescue in Afghanistan. Even though his best friends are there, his SEAL team, things aren't adding up. We meet Noah in book one who also knows Liam and Kenzie's is off working on Liam's bucket list. His list may contain clues as to his purported gun smuggling for a Mexican drug lord that has endangered the girls lives. Hard to tell who the real enemy is in this series and this book unfolds a little more of the story, but mainly focuses on Walker and Gemma.

Walker and Gemma have known each other since they were kids. They are best friends, he's her protector and was on Liam's SEAL team. He was there when Liam died. He and Gemma are also tracking down clues on Liam's bucket list. The girls run a wedding planning business and while being hired for a wealthy young woman's wedding the girls father takes an interest in Gemma. He's a dominant and wants Gemma as his sub. Gemma doesn't, never has and never will have a submissive bone in her body. Walker doesn't like the guy, so takes it upon himself to "break in" Gemma. The steam between these two is off the charts and that's without any sex. Clearly what little self talk we get from both, they are both afraid of losing the friendship they have and their real feelings for each other begin to surface. It's a great thing to watch this unfold. Gemma allows herself to be vulnerable, something she's never been able to do and Walker is just crazy about her.

They travel to California to follow up on a few things on Liam's list, Walker taking her for a motor cycle ride up the coast north of Big Sur and neither one want the days to end. They go back to San Fran to meet with the Dr's wife the SEAL team rescued. Read book one because you should read it, but I can tell you without being a spoiler the Dr is successfully rescued only to wind up dead in a bizarre car accident after he returns home. The wife spills a lot of details to Walker and Gemma and they have a little more info to go on, also on his bucket list was a visit to a BDSM club in the bay area where they will meet someone who will further help them along. The scenes from the club are very benign so no worries there. They return to their hotel to spend their last night together and another steamy night between these two, knowing in the morning Walker has to put her on the plane back to Charleston and likely back into the arms of the jerk who wants her as a sub. Neither of them want to say what they need to say before she goes.

I'll end it here and trust me, there's plenty more story but no spoilers here. I'm only going to say the Epilogue blew me right out of my chair!! Brynley!!! Better be on book three pronto!!

I loved this book, Walker and Gemma and the story as it is unfolding. The suspense is great and the plot is tightly woven. As I said, you don't know who's on what side, in fact we're not clear what the sides are at this point still. Which drew me in even more. You won't want to miss this one and won't be able to put it down. It's a must read.

5 tight stars all the way! Great book Bryn!!!


**arc from NetGalley and Entangled in exchange for a fair review**

Loved this book! Its sweet, sexy and edgy. Gemma is independent and sassy and needs someone to show her what she's missing and who better than her best guy friend.

This was the second book in series, and I am going back and forth, I kind of want to know what happens with Liam which is in the next book, however this one just wasn't for me. This was Gemma and Walker, who were best friends, and since Gemma wants to be more adventurous sexually for an older man she meet, she asks Walker to assist, and you can imagine the rest, they fall in love, or admit they they always loved each other.