Spending six years in a prison because the man you love didn’t believe in you enough to come to your defense is life altering. Spending those six years in Icelandic prison where the brutal and sadistic criminals of the world are sent to perish, is a nightmare Sinjin wished she could forget. Now the man responsible for crushing her heart and sending her there is back and needs her help. Mace, one of the top operatives with the Global Defense Squad, needs her help capturing the man they’ve been hunting for years. Sinjin’s only option now is to either cooperate or stay in the hell hole where gang-rape or assault are still a threat.

Mace understands that he made a horrible mistake allowing Sinjin to be sent into a prison where she experienced unspeakable horrors. Going to her for help is the last thing he wants to do but in his job saying no to your superior is not an option. As soon as he sets eyes on his beautiful mercenary he knows he wants what they once had.

Getting past the pain of betrayal and the torture that was the end result will be as hard to conquer as the terrain of Iceland. In order for Sin and Mace to even attempt to find their way back to love their first order of business will be to find the deadly enemy that wants them both dead.

Coming across a blurb where the heroine is a woman of color and a mercenary to boot are what my wet dreams are made of. Tough chicks who are fierce in the bedroom and out and happen to look like me is what I’ve been craving for. Sin is Not a Four-Letter Word had an interesting concept where a heroine has done hard time in the type of prison you pray doesn’t really exist and it’s all because the man she loved thought more of his job than his love for her. I started off Aliyah Burke’s latest novel anxious and excited because I couldn’t wait to see how she would work through such a betrayal by the male lead.

The further and further into the story I went I couldn’t find redemption for the sins of Mace. I was praying for something solid from him to make me feel as if he warranted a second chance but instead of a take no prisoners operative Mace came across a whiny male who lost the best thing to ever happen to him and all he had to say was “I’m sorry”. Sorry makes up for stepping on my toe, hanging up on me, maybe, or being rude a time or two. Sorry doesn’t work for the male lead in a story where the result of his actions causes unspeakable horrors to happen to the woman he’s supposed to love. Aliyah Burke came up with a great storyline it’s just her execution and follow through was off. I didn’t see a tough operative in the male lead and he was more of a follower than anything. I also felt the believability was missing that a woman like Sinjin would so easily forgive or want to be with a man who came across as weak more times than not.