Torture to Her Soul (Monster in His Eyes #2) by J.M. Darhower

Publication:September 29, 2014

Publisher: J.M. Darhower

Source: The Author / Bought

Don't say it unless you mean it… It's a simple concept, one I've said time and again, but something people don't seem to comprehend. You should choose every syllable carefully, because you never know when somebody will hold you to your word. Somebody like me. I'm not a good man. I'm not. I know. I have enough darkness inside of me to rid the world of every stitch of light. But there's one I could never harm, one light I couldn't bring myself to snuff out. Karissa. She thinks I'm a monster, and maybe I am. I taunt her with my touch, get a thrill out of torturing her soul. But I'm not the only one. The world is full of monsters, and I'm not the most dangerous one out there. Not even close… God help me, I love her. I do. And God help anyone who tries to take her from me.

“When you’ve got nothing left inside of you except for darkness, it becomes easier to snuff out somebody else’s light.

And that’s me. I do what I want, take what I want, and make no apologies for any of it. After all, I wasn’t born this way. The world made me who I am, and the world pays for that mistake every day.”

OMG.There are just no words….there are no words to adequately describe how great it was to finally be able to read the conclusion of Naz and Karissa’s story! I was beyond excited. Naz is such a tortured bad ass. And Karissa...she is still a little innocent and naive about things, but if Naz is okay with that then I am too.  They are opposites, but they are good are for each other.

Torture to Her Soul basically picks up not long after where the first book left us. And much to my surprise, I discovered that this story is told from Naz’s point of view. Something I wasn’t expecting, but I very much enjoyed.  I kind of feel torn while writing this review, because I don’t want to get spoilery and ruin the experience for those who have yet to read it. So I am going to try and keep it short and simple.

Karissa is still struggling with her feelings for Naz. She loves of him, but she knows she shouldn’t. Naz doesn’t appreciate the fact the Karissa  is shutting him out.  Naz is afraid that he is losing her. He is conflicted about his feelings as well, but he knows that he needs her. He needs her like he needs air to breathe. And she needs him more than she realizes.

It was pretty interesting being able to see inside Naz’s head….his thoughts and reasonings. It was especially interesting to see his relationship with Ray and how that changed when Karissa entered the picture.  Naz has always had his head in the game. He made a promise to Ray and he plotted his revenge for years. Letting that hurt and anger fester inside of him the whole time. But nothing could have prepared him for falling in love with Karissa Rita. And he has to deal with the consequences of that.

Nothing is ever cut and dry. Love can be the greatest thing, but it can also be painful. The truth is never simple and when your in bed with mob, you can never get too comfortable. Naz and Karissa’s life is never be boring, that’s for sure. And I loved being a part of their journey. Monster in His Eyes is still the best book of the two in my opinion, but I still enjoyed  Torture to Her Soul a lot. I loved seeing the progress...the give and take these two made. And I think their ending was a good one. The author really knows how to write a story that hooks you in and gets you emotionally invested.

So this didn’t really turn out to be the short review I had originally hoped for. And I am probably rambling for a good portion of it. My apologies. I can’t wait for you guys to read it and tell me your thoughts on it!

RATING: 5 out of 5.

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon

Join the Addiction:

My Blog: | Twitter | BlogLovin’ | Facebook

Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels #1) by Karina Halle

Publication: June 15, 2014

Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

Source:  Bought

From the USA Today Bestselling author of Love, in English and The Artists Trilogy, comes a dark romance about a good girl and a very, very bad man. It’s a deliciously twisted take on forbidden love, set among the drug cartels of hot, steamy Mexico and is not for the faint of heart. It contains explicit sex, violence, abuse, drug use, bad language and sexy Mexicans. You have been warned… For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive. When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move. Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible. As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American   prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her. Unless she ruins him first. Some men were born to create empires, some women were meant to be queen. **Dirty Angels is the first standalone novel in the Dirty Angels Trilogy, in which all books feature or involve different characters. The character of Javier Bernal is from The Artists Trilogy, and while reading TAT is recommended if you want additional insight into this twisted character, it is not required.**

This story is not one of those sugary sweet romances. It is dark and gritty. It's not afraid to grab you by the shoulders and refuse to let go. And I loved every single minute of it.

“It was better to be dirty. It was better to take what you could. It was better to embrace your lustful, needful, animalistic side because that was the side that lived.”

So what did I not like? Pretty much nothing. Well nothing except that Luisa's selflessness was a little frustrating at times. I agree with Javier when he said no one likes a martyr. But she's a strong and very tough woman. Javier is one bad-ass dude.

Separately these two are fine. But together...together they are one great team. She is the ying to his yang. I could not see either one of them with anyone else. Their relationship began under abnormal circumstances, but their feelings for each other turned into something intoxicating and addictive.

This is the first book I've read by Karina Halle, but it for sure will not be the last. This is a darker read than I am normally used to, but one I am glad I took a chance on. It was one of those reads that when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about. It's dark, disturbing, yet beautiful.  Like I said earlier, I loved it.

RATING: 5 out of 5.

BUY:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Book Depository | iTunes

Join the Addiction:

My Blog: | Twitter | BlogLovin’ | Facebook

Scare Crow (Crow’s Row #2) by Julie Hockley

PUBLICATION: March 25, 2014

PUBLISHER: iUniverse, Incorporated

Nineteen-year-old Emily Sheppard is losing her sanity. Ever since her mob king boyfriend, Cameron Hillard, abandoned her for her own good, Emmy has been attempting to move on with her charmed college student life as if nothing happened. Now rejected from the underworld and left grieving over Cameron’s alleged death, Emmy realizes she belongs nowhere. Worse yet, she is now keeping a dangerous secret. After just a short time with Emily, Cameron has lost control over his world. As he miserably attempts to return to what is left of his life and unravel the mess he has made of the underworld, Emily’s hate turns to desperation. She needs to kill the kingpins responsible for Cameron’s death before they come looking for her. As Cameron secretly observes Emily, he has no idea of the danger he has placed her in—or that it may already be too late for him to save her. Scare Crow is a tale of revenge, terror, and love as Emmy and Cameron embark on separate journeys to face enemies, correct past mistakes, and find their way to their destinies.

I first fell in love with Crow’s Row when I read it back in 2012. It was an awesome story that I loved pretty much instantly. Needless to say, I was super anxious, waiting for the sequel to come out. When I heard it was releasing in March, I was over the moon ecstatic. Finally I would get to see more of Emily and Cameron.

Scare Crow pretty much picks up right were the previous book left off. Emily is still broken up over Cameron’s death…vowing to make those responsible pay. And Cameron is still very much alive, trying to get his organization under control.

I liked seeing her Emily changed…how Cameron’s ‘death’ changed her and how she coped with that. I could totally understand her wanting to make the people she thought was responsible pay for what happened to Cameron, but her ideas were not very realistic. That was pretty much expected though, since she has no experience in killing or doing anything underhanded and dirty. But I was rooting for her the entire time.

I liked the story, but not as much as I was hoping I was going to and not as much as I loved Crow’s Row. This is the part were it might get a little bit spoilerish if you like to go into the book without knowing too many facts. So STOP here!

I did not like that I didn’t get to see Cameron and Emily share any kind of scene until well past the first half of the story. That was a little disappointing. And the ending? It was…okay. It wasn’t the ending I was hoping for. It still left me with some questions, which I was not expecting at all. But I just recently found out that there will be a THIRD BOOK!! So I am placated…at least until it comes out.

RATING: 3-3½ out of 5.

**I received this book on behalf of the Author and Know Your Books Off in exchange for nothing, except my honest opinion. Thank you.**

BUY:

Amazon | B&N  | Kobo

 Google  | iTunes

Join the Addiction:

My Blog: | Twitter | BlogLovin’ | Facebook

Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Darhower

Publication: April 27, 2014

Ignazio Vitale is not a good man. I suspect it, the first time I see him, sense the air of danger that surrounds the man. He has a way of commanding attention, of taking control, of knowing what I'm thinking before I even do. It's alarming and alluring. It's dark and deadly. It's everything I've ever wanted but the last thing I truly need. Obsession. It doesn't take him long to draw me into his web, charming me into his bed and trapping me in his life, a life I know nothing about until it's too late. He has secrets, secrets I can't fathom, secrets that make it so I can't walk away, no matter how much I beg him to let me go. I see it sometimes in his eyes, a darkness that's both terrifying and thrilling. He's a monster, wrapped up in a pretty package, and what I find when I unmask him changes everything. I want to hate him. Sometimes, I do. But it doesn't stop me from loving him, too.

The air is heavy, and his eyes are dark, the blue like midnight in the dim lighting. It's like seeing him for the first time all over again, but being greeted by an entirely different creature. He's a beast. A monster. And he looks like he wants to devour me…

His gaze burns through me, seeping down into my soul, seizing me like a prisoner. I'm a willing captive.

Karissa Reed has no idea how much her life will change the minute she encounters Iganzio Vitale. She is an 18 and he is 36. Yes I know he is twice her age, but I didn’t find it weird or creepy. There are times when I noticed the age difference between them, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story. It worked.

He doesn't make me feel as young as I am, or as young as he probably should make me feel. When he looks at me, I don't feel like an eighteen-year-old girl, freshman at NYU, still trying to find her way. When he looks at me, I feel like a woman, a woman worthy of the look he gives, worthy of his admiration…

I felt like Karissa told Naz more about her life than he told her of his. It didn’t seem to bother her as much as I thought it would or should for that matter. Though she’s afraid of getting hurt, and knows there might be a good chance her heart will be broken in the end, Karissa cannot bring herself to walk away. And despite some misgivings she begins to feel things for him that she hasn’t felt with anyone.

I'm not sure when it happened, which minute it was that drove me to the brink, pushing me over the edge and making me feel like I can fly without wings. Time consuming turned all-consuming as the man became the beat of my heart and the blood in my veins, stealing the little piece of my soul I always kept tucked away. He crashed through my defenses and knocked down my walls, and all it took was ticking seconds, one after another, slowly altering it all.

Naz is a complicated beast of a man and he makes no apologies for who he is or what he does. He isn’t a very open and forthcoming individual. It’s obvious there are things he is keeping from her which adds a nice element of suspense. He is a mystery…a riddle…but the one thing he seems to be clear about is his feelings for Karissa. Their relationship is sweet, sensual, dirty, and oh so complicated.

"I'm telling you," he says, his voice strained. "I'm warning you. I'm not a good man, Karissa, and I never will be. So don't think you can fix me, or that I'll ever change, because I won't. I can't. You have to know, if this goes any further, if you ask me to stay, I'm not going to be able to let you walk away."

When I first heard about this book, it sounded like it would be good, but I was a little unsure since I’ve never read anything from this author before. But after reading it, I can honestly say that J.M. Darhower knows how to write a good freaking story.  The characters were great, the writing/story-line kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen.

And here I am sitting at home, still thinking about Monster in His Eyes days after I finished it. I’m surprised, but also glad because I did not expect to get taken into Karissa and Naz’s world so completely. I loved it. It’s a great dark romance story with an air of suspense that made it even better.  And you can bet that I will snatch up the second and final book to Naz and Karissa’s story Torture in Her Soul when it releases this fall.

P.S.  This is not your typical romance read. This is no sweet as pie romance. It has no fairy tale ending that will make you believe in the power of true love. It is romance that is dark, intense, and a bit gritty. And left me wanting more…

I once thought the reality couldn't be as fascinating as the fantasy, but I was wrong. So very wrong. It might be the case for other people, but they don't know Ignazio Vitale. They haven't met him. They haven't seen what I see in his eyes. He's my other half. Maybe the stories got it wrong, I think. Maybe Cinderella didn't live happily ever after. Maybe, come midnight, she wanted to run away. Maybe her prince wouldn't let her.

RATING: 5 out of 5.

BUY:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Join the Addiction:

My Blog: | Twitter | BlogLovin’ | Facebook