Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

In the length of his entire life, he could point to one unwavering truth: he loved Ethan to the depths of his soul. And Ethan loved him in return. And if that was the worth of his life, if that was what all he had, well— He was the wealthiest man who had ever lived.

You ever finish a book and go ‘what the fuck just happened?’ Well I have (and just did), and the answer is: EVERYTHING happened. There’s not a single thing that *didn’t* happen in this book. Maybe I should wait longer and let everything sink in before I write the review, but where’s the fun in that? There’s not a lot of coherent thought going on at the moment.

I can’t even imagine writing a book with this many characters, locations, languages, cultures, POVs, etc. I listened to the audiobooks so it was a struggle to keep track sometimes. These definitely aren’t books you put on as background noise. All of these storylines and timelines finally matching up, figuring out who the mole is, being just as unsure about who you can trust as the characters are, edge-of-your-seat action and suspense, and legit wondering if any of the characters were going to survive the day (lol), there was shit going down from the very first to the very last page. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Ethan and Jack finally got their (seriously hard fought) HEA. Sasha and Sergey broke my heart and my tear ducts, and Adam and Faisal obliterated what was left of my limping heart, lol. Three pairings and three equally emotional stories. And that’s just the romantic relationships. Again, Tal writes fucking fantastic action and suspense. The thriller elements were top notch in this, and Tal’s ability to write graphic violence that makes me go ‘eww’ and ‘rad’ at the same time is just one of the many reasons why I love this author so damn much.

I probably wouldn’t recommend this series unless you enjoy suspense and politics, because there’s a lot of it, but there’s three beautiful love stories in the mix as well. Honestly I want everyone to read the books.

He kissed Ethan’s temple. “I can never leave you, no matter what’s at stake. You are my world, Ethan. My everything.”

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Political thriller
Romantic suspense
Rescue mission
Established couple
Three love stories
International crisis
Bond-esque villain

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Racial profiling
Hypothermia
Graphic violence
Gun violence
Gunshot wound
Attempted genocide
Severely injured MCs
Severely injured side characters
Death of side characters (on page)
MC tortured on page
Vomiting
Resuscitation
Might cause feelings of claustrophobia

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No. One situation where it briefly looks like there will be, but absolutely not.
OM/OW drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, multiple POV
Genre: Romantic suspense/political thriller, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
MCs age: 41 and 46
Pages: 485

“You think I do not love him?” Sergey spun, rage twisting his face into something ugly. Spittle flew from his lips. “Of course I do! He is the voice in my head! I see him in the snow and in the stars! I cannot be free of him!”

May Allah bless you, Faisal, for how you loved me when I could not even love myself.

“Ana bahibak, Adam. Ya rouhi, enta habibi hayati.” You are my soul, the love of my life.