Body Count: A Mercs Romance

by Lizzy Bequin

How far would you go for revenge?
Six months ago, Sonia Fairchild’s team was slaughtered. Now the Mercs Guild is offering her a chance to settle the score.

The job?
Infiltrate a decadent deep-space pleasure resort for the rich and powerful.

Her cover?
Posing as the plaything of three deadly Mercs—men who dominate the bedroom as ruthlessly as they dominate the battlefield.

Fairchild’s never been the submissive type, but she’s willing to do anything for revenge. Anything at all. And when the line between duty and desire starts to blur...

Blood won’t be the only thing she’s thirsty for.

Fans of Split by the Mercs will love this deliciously dark sci-fi romance featuring a tough warrior woman and a fake foursome that quickly becomes far too real.

Book two in the Mercs Universe. Can be read as a standalone. HEA guaranteed.

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2025

Reviews

[Craig Vasiliev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very hot read.
What I enjoyed the most here were the action sequences and the fighting scenes.
I do believe that this may be my favorite book so far, by this author.

I do recommend that you pick this one up.

[~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!!! Lizzy!! WTF?!

This story was AWESOME! Best one in this series! I love everyone in this one. The pacing was perfect. The plot was intriguing and action packed, and at times scary. We all know that it was hot.. It wouldn't be a Lizzy Lit Fest if it wasn't hot..

I was completely hooked to this story from beginning to end. There were some very shocking reveals here. I gotta say I was surprised by all the twist reveals. I'm happy about that.. I'm also glad to see that this book has a nice tie in and personal connection to book one,

There is NOTHING that I would want differently about this book..
I was excited about how this one ends and I LOVED what happened with Inga..
The scene leading up to that with Fairchild and Nash though, had me 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It took me so long to finish chap 29 because I could not stop 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 about that one scene.

This book and story is a journey. The road is amazing to travel with Reece, Dutton, Nash and Fairchild. Though I must say Dutton is my fave Merc.. I love Reece and Nash, but I am in love with Dutton.

Thank you Lizzy for penning such a great story! Again!
And Thank you for spoiling me with such awesome reads!

Would I recommend?=Does a Bear sh^t in the woods?
Plot/Plight?=5+
Spice?=6+
MCs?= Yin & Yang
Ending/Epilogue 10

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Lizzy brings her "A" game for Body Count, her second story set in the Merc Universe. It was intense with lots of Merc action, insanely erotic, and ended with a very satisfying HEA. Oh-and there's one scene in particular that had me laughing so hard I was crying!🤣🤣🤣
I loved that one of the MMC's (Reece) was the son from the union of characters from the first book, Split by the Mercs!😍 Well done, Lizzy! I'm so fan-girling you right now❤️

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ms Bequin's writing! Although this is definitely spicy and smutty, it's also a well rounded story. I love these Mercs and can't wait to see what comes next!

[Cat H · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 stars.
Definitely hot, but not my favorite from this author. I just wanted a little more on the relationship side of things🤷🏻‍♀️

[Kate V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Body Count was fine. I’ve read better from Lizzy. I don’t know exactly what didn’t resonate with me but the smut felt transactional and lacked real intimacy and connection. I was desperate for vulnerability and passion. It certainly wasn’t a bad story. Just didn’t vibe with it.

[The Beloved Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was easily Lizzy’s best book in my opinion and has great characters, fantastic smut, and great story! But for me it was the military tactics abd overall design combat that really made this great! Wow!! Like, this was awesome. No tentacle men or blue Avatar dudes that are 9 feet tall..just Mercs doing what they do best!

Sonia!!

Yes f*cking, ma’am!! 😈😈😈

I think her character was fantastic but she just jumps out in the beginning when she’s so militant and tough. All sexy GI Jane!! Sonia, yep..she’d get it. With her boots on! Get it soldier!

🤭🤭🤭

Reese was cool and he was a good military captain. He showed leadership and resolve. Dutton was cool. Nash was a dick, but he saved the day with that..well..you know..splattershot moneyshot!! 🤪🤪🤪

Rook?

I think I would have kept her. But hey, I get why Sonia got her. With the way she was feeling then Sonia could have made her a fluffer for her three dudes and made her watch..but Sonia don’t share! 🫣🫣🫣

Anyways, fantastic read!

[Giovanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always I love how Lizzy's FMCs are never wallflowers. I love the hard ass women. This time Sonia is offered a chance of revenge but it has a little clause.. Getting up close and personal with a new Merc team, Reece, Dutton and Nash are to be her polycule to infiltrate a planet to kill the person responsible for killing her previous team..
Also little cameo in the end of the book of the team from Book 1!.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Body Count is book two in the Mercs Universe set. It can be read as a standalone. She's given the chance for revenge so she takes it. This mission will take lots and lots of practice. Lots of action, violence, and non-stop HEAT.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three-Man, One-Woman Mission
Desire for revenge drives her, but the companionship she finds with her team sustains her. This story starts with some great action, immediately into some red-hot action (15% and already they’re intimate!) and doesn’t let up. I loved the action, both bedroom and otherwise, and I just devoured this read.

[Michele Blanchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh. This book was wall to wall 3 on 1 sex, but there was very little actual story in there. I was just bored and ready for it to be over. Lizzy Bequin always writes great smut, but usually there is a better story in there as well. Can't win them all I suppose.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sonia Fairchild is stilling trying to pick up the pieces of her life 6 months after her last mission went wrong and ended with casualties. She is struggling and a chance at revenge gives her a new spark of life.

This mission is more than the usual seek and destroy merc mission. She and her new team need to infiltrate a pleasure planet that requires them to play the part. Killing is a no brainer for Fairchild, but tapping into the softer, feminine parts of herself is definitely not so easy.

Luckily she ends up with a team that tempts her to bring that side out to play. There is a spark of more than a job connection from their first debriefing. Fairchild is pushed to prove this is a mission she can handle.

Their mission includes exhibitionism, to lure their mark, but it needs to be believable. Lots of cameras and microphones to capture and broadcast every moment on the pleasure planet. That starts as awkward, but the team leans into what they do have control of and it helps their teamwork and trust bloom. They are all they have to rely on.

Twists and turns blew my mind. I laughed out loud at how they got the upper hand. A unique skill to have.

I loved that the right 3 mercs were who became her team and then more. They became possessive of her from almost the beginning. Helped me to know it was not just a job for them as well. Having the story told from all 4 viewpoints - Fairchild and the 3 mercs - made it much easier to know what they were thinking and feeling. Especially during the exhibition competition. A lot of trust required.

I loved the tie in with the first book. Not necessary to have read, but was a wonderful moment/bonus for readers who have.

If you have read book 1 you know what you are in for. I would say if you loved Warped, this book is in the same wheelhouse as far as action. If a fan of any of author's other books, go for it. It will not disappoint.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shelley G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 really brings it all. Super hot, super spicy, excitement, danger, betrayal, danger, dominance, submission, family, respect, revenge, pay back, friendship love. Fairchild loses her team on a mission and wants to get the man responsible. 6 months later still grieving she’s given a chance for revenge. She is put with a new team but has to go undercover as part of a poly group so must learn how to act submissive against her nature with two strangers and a man who was like a big brother she hasn’t seen in years. This means sex and lots of it before arriving at their undercover destination and once there in front of spectators and cameras. So it has to be believable. Once there they spy the target but multiple events happen including a big plot twist so plans go haywire. They must figure out how to not only save themselves and each other but still get their target get off planet and deal with the repercussions of their time as hostages. Bit by bit the three men bring out sides of herself she never expected and it’s easy to play submit and enjoy. This creates a bond beyond teamwork between all 4 and the men develop feelings for Fairchild beyond anything they’ve ever had before. Esp possessiveness she’s theirs alone. Once back at headquarters things again don’t go as expected when those in charge decide they are going to break the team apart. This doesn’t go over well. Headquarters will never believe what’s coming next but u don’t mess with mercs and though their target escaped once nothing will stop them from finding him.
Well written, great flow from event to event, richly detailed, descriptions off the charts world building incredible.
I highly recommend both bk 1 & 2. Can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Morally_Gray_Nola · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Body Count’ was so worth the wait—at least now that the wait is over. Leading up to having this book in my hot little iPad … UGH! Lizzy Bequin outdid herself here. ‘Body Count’ has replaced ‘Warped’ as my favorite Lizzy novel—which basically boils down to me preparing to alienate more family and friends during our book conversations when we talk about great sci-fi books. The argument being sci-fi romance doesn’t qualify as true sci-fi 🤬 My three go-to authors always being Sybur Phyer, Lizzy Bequin, and Krista Luna (There’s plenty more, but those are my sci-fi romance faves).

When Fairchild is given the chance to team up with Reece, Dutton, and Nash to exact revenge by unusual means, she takes it. They have a week to ‘train’, and BOY do they train 🥵 I appreciate how Fairchild softens as Reece, Dutton, and Nash help her heal as they become closer as they come to mean more to her than just her new teammates. They go through so much. The most important part is they go through it together.

It was so awesome getting surprise information about, and a glimpse of, Rona and her men from ‘Split By the Mercs’ 🖤

*** Recommended ***

MMC:
✨Reece
✨Dutton
✨Nash
FMC:
✨Fairchild
HEA/Cliffhanger:
✨HEA
Series:
✨Book 2 of Mercs Universe
Epilogue:
🌗yes
Tropes:
👉dark sci-fi romance
👉military romance
👉why choose
👉power exchange
Triggers:
💥18+
💥sex, public, exhibitionism, voyeurism, bondage,
💥profanity
💥violence, graphic, gore, blood, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand combat training between MCs, SA - not by MMCs,
💥death
💥betrayal, revenge
Burn Speed:
✨fast
Spice Level:
✨🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 1/2
✨MF
✨MFM
✨MFM+M.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lynn_G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens with an ambush that results in Sonia Fairchild losing her entire team of fellow mercs including her mentor/father figure. For months afterward she tried to dull her grief and trauma with drugs and alcohol to little effect. One day she’s approached by a fixer she’d worked with in the past with an opportunity to exact revenge on the man responsible for her colleagues’ deaths, the catch being that she’s got to pose as one fourth of an exhibitionist polycule rounded out by three male mercenaries at a pleasure resort who’ll have cameras constantly tracking them in their suite, broadcasting to other guests for their own gratification. Of course the three mercs are incredibly hot and lethally competent in addition to being appropriately “ready” for the group’s enthusiastic coupling, throupling, and moresomes.

While the elements for some truly erotic moments were present, something in the execution of this particular novella was lacking. Perhaps it was any real feelings between Fairchild and the men - although they’d all admitted having feelings in their individual inner dialogues - or perhaps it was the sheer ick factor of the performing for the enemy aspect of it all, I’m not certain, but I preferred book one Split by the Mercs to this one.

I was generously provided an advance reader copy from the author and booksprout, and I’m sharing my honest review.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairchild is dealing with guilt from a mission that went sideways. When she gets offered a chance for vengeance against the man who funded the terrorist group, she is all in, but there is a catch to what the new mission will entail. Will she go for it when she finds out who her new teammates will be?

Reece has known Fairchild since basic training, and they have gotten on well. But Dutton, who is quiet yet focused and intent, and the youngest, Nash, who is cocky and confident, are new to her. Can she accept all of them and play the part she needs to, to get close to their mark?

During the mission, all four get close, crossing the boundary from professional into personal. Will this compromise it, or will it make the team stronger because they have more to lose?

Fairchild has to deal with survivor's guilt, vengeance, and betrayal, as well as friendship turning into love. But she is a Merc, strong, independent, and focused, and she will meet these challenges head-on and come out the other side a winner.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very steamy, Merc Guild
I really enjoy Lizzy's works and this one is no different. They are steamy, a bit dark, and unputdownable. This action packed installment is a good, quick read. Fairchild, a mercenary with the guild is the sole survivor of her unit. Shes given that up, until she gets the call that there might be a mission for her to get revenge. She's got to go undercover and do things she's never thought about before. And of course she is getting a new team an they'll be doing a while lotta teamwork together. Even though it's a mission, things get heated between the new team and even though they're supposed to be open, possessiveness and jealousy take hold. And when things go sideways, a while new problem enters the arena.

[Sandra Sanches · Rating 5 out of 5]

How far would you go for revenge?

Beautifully written,scorching hot erotic and with that perfect balance between plot and smut that only Lizzy Bequin gets so well.
The banter, the clash of wills and chemistry between the characters is absolutely delicious and hooked from the first word to the perfect ending.
Fairchild is a badass Merc broken by the loss of her team.
The guild gives her a chance of revenge and to that she has to submit to a team of three Mercs.
That will be the ultimate struggle given her dominant nature.
Not going to spoil the fun resuming the plot just going to add that the lider of this team Reece is the son of Rona and the Mercs of Split by the Mercs.
Highly recomend!

[Kaylee Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairchild was the last of her team standing from 6 months ago. She saved the package like she was supposed to but it still eats at her that she didn’t go back for her teammates. Then a new mission comes up to get revenge for her team. She has to go undercover with three other Mercs and let them dominate her in the bedroom for all to see. Multiple times. Problem is she likes to dominate herself. So she has to rein herself back as well. Training for the mission definitely brings feelings out for everyone. Reece, Dutton, and Nash were perfect for her. They just have to get through this mission. This book is full of all the spice! Definitely some action during the mission and honestly just so good! Absolutely love it and couldn’t put it down!

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is Book 2 of the Mercs Universe series it can be read as a standalone.

Readers 'will love this deliciously dark sci-fi romance featuring a tough warrior woman and a fake foursome that quickly becomes far too real.'

The characters were very appealing and complex and complicated and perfectly steamy together. Plot was intriguing and exciting and well paced. World building continues to excel and impress. All in all a great addition to the series. Enjoyed immensely and highly recommend.

Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[SBee Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

★”This promised to be a very interesting mission.”★

Fairchild would do anything to avenge the ‘unaliving” of her Merc Guild team, and she meant anything…even if it meant teaming up with a whole new team to go deep undercover, to catch the man responsible. “A good Merc knew how to follow orders,” and this warrior was not going to go down without putting it all on the line. She earns the respect of Reece, Dutton, and Nash when she shows focus and drive, and more than that, she fits right into their triad like she was meant to be there. Quite the entertaining ride from mission day handout to their very satisfying HEA! Loving this Merc Universe series!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot, Fast-Paced, and Addictive
Body Count by Lizzy Bequin is a steamy, action-packed read that hooked me right away. The mercenary romance vibe is intense, the chemistry is off the charts, and the story moves fast without dragging. I loved the strong characters, dangerous missions, and plenty of heat mixed with suspense. If you enjoy spicy romance with alpha mercs, high stakes, and nonstop energy, this book is definitely worth the read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sonia Fairchild under takes an undercover mission.
Sonia Fairchild is a Merc and on her last mission she was the only survivor after the building she was rescuing kidnap victim from explodes after she leaves it as ordered carrying the victim. Six months later she is requested to take an undercover mission to Calyxia: a deep-space haven where extreme behavior is acceptable. She must be prepared to indulge in intimate behavior with the other three Merc on her team.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Athena Diven]

Wow oh wow! Not only is this so hot and steamy, there's some serious feelings threatening to develop between Sonia and her 3 Mercs, Reese, Dutton and Nash, even though she told herself that she was only with them for the duration of the mission. Loved the storyline and the characters, as well as the world building. It's a fast paced story, with lots of passion, adventures and danger as well as an interesting plot twist towards the end. Loved every minute of it! Bravo!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lizzy has come up with a darker, intense romance that will blow you away. If you are looking for something sappy sweet then this isn't for you. You have genetically enhanced super soldiers, terrorists, betrayal, bloody battles, enough heat to set your socks on fire, and a few surprises throughout that make for a fantastic read.
I loved it, I didn't want to put it down.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Janet Smith McHardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sonia Fairchild is driven by ravenge after the death of her team. When she's offered the chance to get that revenge she will have to make some compromises. she teamed with Reese, Dutton and Nash and they will have to get very close indeed to pull this off. This is a very steamy read with great characters and an excellent plot. I look forward to more books in this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable story that's about Sonia who's seeking revenge on the death of her team members goes undercover with 4 mercs at a deep-space pleasure resort. This sci-fi, action ridden, steamy romantic, reverse harem romance story was an edge of your seat page-turning adventure that was a pleasure to read. Loved our characters: Sonia, Dutton, Reese, and Nash that drove this well written story. I'd volunteer to read and review this copy I'd received.

[Praline NZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyed this book. Just enough plot to keep it interesting, a few dramatic reveals, and good spice! I couldn't put it down.
Easy to read, can be taken as a standalone, the world takes you in very smoothly. I'll go get book 1 on KU to learn more about the team that makes an appearance at the end :)
Perfect for lovers of military RH with a touch of sci fi.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Narelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lizzy has a way with words, especially if you like your reads filled with sci-fi, military and more. Sonia Fairchild is going undercover at a pleasure resort with three comrades - Reece, Dutton and Nash. Simple really, pretend to be their bedroom plaything and complete the mission. In reality, it's anything but in this sizzling dark read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unputdownable dark, steamy read that grabbed my attention right from the start! Fairchild is the only survivor of her merc team and struggling with her grief when she is offered a chance to go undercover to capture the person responsible. There’s a big catch though - but she is willing to do anything to get revenge and in the process finds more than she ever imagined with her new team. Loved it!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.