mignon mykel { reviews }: review || SCARLESS AND SACRED { blog tour } by Bethany-Kris

Friday, January 29, 2016

review || SCARLESS AND SACRED { blog tour } by Bethany-Kris

Bethany-Kris | January 11, 2016 | Organized Crime Romance
Chicago War, book 3
★★★★★

SOURCE: INDIESAGE PR

Secrets and wars leave the deepest scars.

Evelina Conti has always worn a mask. She is an Outfit principessa, respected and adored. She wasn’t allowed to be anything else. Her father went from a grieving husband to the Outfit boss, and now that Riley heads the family, Eve is more suffocated than ever. No matter how much she hates it, the Conti princess still has a role to play. A little attention from Theo DeLuca seems innocent enough, but nothing is when it comes to him. And certainly not when everyone believes that Theo is out to kill her.

Theo DeLuca has a target on his back. His biggest problem is figuring out who put it there when everyone is aiming at him. He doesn’t need a woman causing him issues, but the Conti princess keeps showing up at the worst times, and he’s the one left saving her. Between the men surrounding him that Theo can’t trust, and the past he can’t outrun, Evelina might be the one thing he doesn’t have to question. But when Riley decides to use Eve as his next move, even Theo might not be able to save her.

The war in Chicago is not even close to being over. This game is deadly. Each hand played cuts another mark into someone else. The Outfit boss is struggling while the men around him are rallying. As the body count continues to rise, the families keep losing.

Sacrifices are a part of war. No one will walk away from this without scars.

***

PLEASE NOTE: Scarless & Sacred is not intended to be read as a standalone in this series. It is the third book in the series and should be read after the first two books. Trigger Warning: Scarless features graphic violence and scenes of past abuse.

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{ about bethany-kris } .

Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something ... when she can find the time. To keep up-to-date with new releases from Bethany-Kris, sign up to her New Release Newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bf9lzD

{ review } .

The Outfit had cut too many scars into the people it called family, Theo included. Everyone had marks to show.

No one in this life walked around scarless.

Yet again, this book overlaps bits of the previous two, and I. Just. Loved that. It's so fun to see certain scenes in other characters' eyes, especially when it comes to blood family thoughts versus mafia family thoughts.

This book goes back a little bit further than the others, though, showing Theo's earlier friendships as well as putting a huge light on Theo and Dino's headbutting. But more than that, it helps showcase just what family, in the biological sense, means to Theo.

Evelina is the type who likes to stay in the shadows. She'd rather not be noticed for multiple reasons, but one of the key driving factors in her choices is her distrust in the families. She may have grown up in the lifestyle, but it's not one she'd wish upon another. I love her worries for Adriano, her younger brother (I also loved watching as Adriano and Alessa prepare for the next stage in their life).

However, she certainly held her own where Theo was concerned, and I loved her strong moments the most -- especially because Theo knew what was up (always listen to your lady...).

"You," she said in a hiss.

Theo's smirk melted away. "What?"

"You are acting like a spoiled man-child that had his favorite toy taken away, Theo, and I've had enough of it..."

Theo had moments I loved, too, and where many of the men in the life treated their women one way, Theo knew better than to lie and withhold information, and I felt that was definitely a huge positive characteristic for him. He was alpha, sure, but he cared deeply about his sister and eventually Eve, and once you were in his circle, he was one of the most protective men around.

Evelina hadn't made a place in his life. She simply took the open spot that Theo hadn't known was missing someone until it was filled.

She just was.

As with the previous books, I enjoyed the familigia drama that intertwined with the regular family drama, as well as the hill that Theo and Eve had to climb to find their HEA (and Theo and Eve's isn't quite the typical HEA, either...). The drama, the intensity, the history, and then mix that with the chemistry... and this was another great addition to this series. Bethany-Kris has made up an incredible mafia world where the families fight with and against one another, and the next generation can't help but fall in love with one another. This series just keeps getting better and better, and knowing that the author's key couple in the series is next makes the next (and last!) book one that I'm super excited to get my hands on.

{ previously in series } .

DEATHLESS & DIVIDED 5★{ review }

RECKLESS & RUINED 5★{ review }

{ giveaway } .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments:

a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.

Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

~ Mignon

http://mignonmykel.com

GOODREADS updates

Dirty Saint: A Secret Baby Sports Romance by Vesper Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book almost failed to get my attention. Why?

The hero.

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Everything by Erin Noelle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review

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