Buyer be Ware, It's a Cliffhanger

Ok, so I'll start off with explaining my review process. A 5 star book must contain the following nine areas: Lots of laughs/heart wrentching or both , hot steamy sex, relatable/believable (I don't care if it's about vampires or mythical creatures, as long as the rest of the story is convincing), excellent narration, detailed but not excessively, keeps your attention and finally, worth listening to more than once. This book was not the best I've ever listened to but not the worst either....was OK. It contained 5 out of the 9. I will however say the suspense was great (and I hate suspenses, I'm the person who reads the last chapter of a book if the suspense is too much of a wait), and the plot was completely unpredictable. It's not your average story but enjoyable. Lastly, I hate cliffhangers with a passion, because I simply cannot wait to know what will happen next, and in many cases, it leaves me pissed off for days; but this one didn't leave me angry at all, I could live a few months or years for the next book. Which translates to being just an OK book.

10 people found this helpful

Dark and less than perfect

Lorenzo and Morgan are such an interesting pair. Lorenzo is a cold hearted killer and crime boss. Morgan is a stripper with a sad secret. One thing I liked about this story is that it's not hearts and flowers. For one, the hero has a terrifying scar on his face, making him blind in one eye. The heroine picks pockets and often finds herself at the mercy of very predatory men. There is also an interesting but tragic twist in her backstory (no spoilers). While Lorenzo and Morgan do end up together, I would argue that they have more of a FWB situation than a romantic relationship. Their banter was funny despite the dark tone of the story. Just a heads up, this ends on a cliffhanger.

I liked Iggy Toma. He really understood the characters and the story.

5 people found this helpful

Another great story!

I haven’t read a J. M. Darhower book that I haven’t enjoyed and this one is no exception. The author created another world that is definitely unputdownable.

2 people found this helpful

Amazing!

This was probably one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Well written, superbly narrated, I wished it was even longer. I’m glad there’s a sequel, which I’ve immediately purchased.

I won’t give away plot details, except to say that this isn’t your normal girl-next-door falls for sweet/hot/misunderstood alpha male. These are two broken people living hard, tumultuous lives. They aren’t perfect or even very nice in many cases. But this makes the story 10x better, and way more fascinating.

Narration was excellent. First time I’ve listened to either, and I’ll be frantically looking for more. Iggy sounded like the Joker to me in some instances, and it worked lol. She did a great job with Morgan, and her kid voices were spot on.

Don’t hesitate, get this book.

1 person found this helpful

Very MUCH enjoyed

Wow---
What a different type book-It is truly a different type of story - It's about Love, Trafficking, kidnapping, killing, a great adult story-with a twist. I liked that it was Not predictable and entertaining-i am looking forward to reading/listening to the 2nd book in this series's

1 person found this helpful

Hands down best audiobook I’ve ever listened to

Iggy Toma absolutely owned this narration. OWNED it. I was absolutely blown away by his performance. It was so real and natural, hilarious, dry, psychotic and downright GLORIOUS. I never wanted this duet to end and I’ll never recover from this book hangover. I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook.

Dynamic characters & great narration

This was my first story by this author and I loved it and it’s sequel Grievous. Lorenzo and Scarlet had tumultuous lives filled with chaos, struggles, friendship and love.

Average 🧡

Story is not too bad, sometimes corny, mean main man, fairly believable relationship. I'm not going onto the second book though.
Female narrators lengthy pauses for every full stop and comma drove me crazy at times however she is talented at voices was crisp and clear. Male narrator very good.

As good in audio as it was in print!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😌😎🙃😮🤐

The heroine: Morgan (a.k.a. Scarlett) - She is a thief and a stripper and though she prostitutes herself to a cop who she wants help from, she is adamant that she is not a prostitute. She has an ‘S’ tattooed on her wrist which everyone wonders about and has some dark secrets. There are flashbacks of man from her childhood, known only as the tin man.

The Hero(es): Lorenzo Gambini (a.k.a. Scar) - Originally from Florida, he is the new mob boss in NYC and he took over the city pretty quickly in a bloody way by killing all the mob bosses in one fell swoop. Lorenzo is a sociopath and isn’t bothered with feelings or morals, there is only one person in the world he might love and that is his younger brother, who is intellectual and too soft for the life Lorenzo leads so he tries to make as normal of a home life as he can for his brother, while being in the mafia. He often doesn’t succeed in that.

The Story: Lorenzo is brutal and callous and utterly hilarious. One of my all time favorite Heroes. He has a long scar crossing his face and is blind in one eye from an injury given to him by his stepfather. When Morgan pickpockets him and steals his money, he is determined to find her and get back at her. He finds her and threatens her and is surprised when she fights back with all she can.

“They’re all wearing black, I realize, as I glance around the packed living room, except for Lorenzo, who dresses more like some hoodlum/model hybrid. It’s weird, right?”

I love Lorenzo. He is wisecracking, sarcastic and has no patience for other people. He is an insomniac, and a bit paranoid, but he has no fear and is so likable. You can’t help but love him. He was introduced in Target on our Backs the third book of the Monsters in his Eyes series, and he was awesome in that one.

I enjoyed the fact that Lorenzo sees past what Morgan does for a living and values her for the person she is. He sees that she has been through things in her life that led her to where she is and helps her to turn her life around (well as much around as working for the mob is).

The book was told in dual points of view with dual narration. Narrated by Kasha Kensington and Iggy Toma who both do a great job and have pleasant voices that are easy to listen to. I like duet narration better, where the male does all the male voices and female does all the female voices, but dual narration (alternating chapters) is fine.

Loved this!!!!

I knew I was going to regret starting this without having the second book 😖 I need it!! Mafia, bratva, sex trafficking, and the ballsy men who give 0 f*cks to anyone. My fave POV is Lorenzo's for all the pop culture references 😋 He and Morgan are freakin H🔥T together!!!!! 🥵💦❤️