review || THIN LIES { blog tour } by Bethany-Kris

Publisher | May 2, 2016 | Organized Crime Romance
Donati Bloodlines Trilogy, book 1
★★★★★

SOURCE: INDIESAGE PR

Calisto Donati

She was just a woman. That’s what Calisto wanted to tell himself; that’s what he wanted to believe. Emma was nothing more than a woman. There were other women for him to want. To obsess over.

It couldn’t be Emma Sorrento.

Not for Calisto.

She was taken.

She was claimed.

She was not his.

In a few days, Calisto would hand her off, and that would be that. He wondered why it wouldn’t be that easy to let her go.

What good had saving her done?

He had simply taken her from one monster to give her to another.

Emma Sorrento

Emma slid on her mask. All someone would need to do was look close enough to see what was really beneath the sheer falseness of her smile.

At the other end of the table, Emma found her lies staring her right in the face.

He smirked.

And winked.

Calisto Donati was her worst mistake, her greatest shame, and the one thing she still wanted more than anything. Emma could still feel him all over her, long after his touch and kiss was gone. In thirty days, her entire world had changed—he had changed her.

Emma had a feeling that if she played another game with Calisto, she would surely lose.

She had already lost once.

Wasn’t it enough?

WARNING: The first two books in the Donati Bloodlines Trilogy end on a cliffhanger, and are not considered safe romance.

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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.

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{ excerpt } .

“Shit,” he muttered.

Pushing up from the couch, Calisto went in search of the goddamn ringing phone. He checked his watch as he strolled into the kitchen with bleary eyes. Six in the morning.

Jesus.

In the last three weeks that Calisto had been watching Emma, he hadn’t known her to wake up earlier than eight. Maybe he should have woken her up the night before and gotten her back to her penthouse and into her bed.

Calisto found the cordless phone under a dish towel on the kitchen island. That confused him more than anything. He was ninety-nine percent sure that he had brought the phone into the living room the night before after talking to security, getting the popcorn set up, and turning the movie on. It shouldn’t have been in the kitchen, and it definitely shouldn’t have been covered by a dish towel.

He didn’t get a chance to answer the call before the ringing stopped. Calisto cursed under his breath again, noting it had been security calling. Quickly, Calisto hit the three digits for the fools downstairs and waited for someone to pick up.

“Good morning, Mr. Donati.”

“Morning,” Calisto grumbled.

It wasn’t a good morning. He was still tired, he probably shouldn’t have chugged six beers in a matter of a couple of hours, and his back still hurt from sleeping in an upright position on an uncomfortable couch.

Fuck the good morning.

“Someone called two seconds ago,” Calisto said. “What did they want?”

“Actually, we’ve called three times. Someone was just getting ready to come up and wake you.”

Calisto blinked and then rubbed at his eyes. “Sleeping off a rough night. Sorry about that. Is she up and around?”

“That’s part of the reason we were calling. We noticed about a half hour ago that your sensors were activating from room to room before Miss Sorrento entered the elevator and went into her own suite. Approximately ten minutes later, the emergency door exit in her pantry was activated. We assumed you were awake as well because of the sensors in your suite, sir.”

It took Calisto far too long to realize what the man was saying.

“Wait one goddamn second,” Calisto muttered. “Are you telling me that you didn’t begin calling me the moment she stepped into the elevator and then entered her penthouse, like you’re supposed to?”

“Well, sir … You see, after last night, the morning shift was left a note that we weren’t to bother you with seemingly unnecessary calls. And again, we assumed you were also awake and knew that she was, too.”

“It’s morning! She entered her place alone! Yes, that is a necessary call.” Calisto’s agitation bubbled just below the surface. He was two seconds away from telling the fool right where he could shove his fucking note. “The exit door, you said?”

“Um, yes, sir. About ten minutes ago. We started calling you the moment it was opened.”

Calisto didn’t berate the man on that issue. It was his own damn fault for drinking before sleeping.

“Thank you,” Calisto said.

He hung up the phone, tossed it to the kitchen table, and made a beeline for the only bedroom in the suite. The moved phone and dish towel suddenly made sense to Calisto as he searched for his suddenly missing car keys. His suit jacket was hanging off the chair where he left it, along with his dress pants. The keys should have been in the inside pocket, but they weren’t.

Cristo.

Affonso would have a fit.

Calisto would be responsible.

Emma must have moved the phone. She likely tried to muffle the sound with a towel so that when it rang, it wouldn’t be loud enough to wake Calisto. She probably took his keys as well.

Sneaky.

Damn, he had to admit it was a good play.

Emmy, you crazy girl … What are you doing?

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{ review } .

I love Bethany-Kris. I love the way her mind works with her organized crime families. When this latest trilogy was announced, I was beyond excited -- the story of Calisto and Emma is so intense, it's going to take more than one book...

Emma has always known her place in the family. She's always known that one day she'd be married off. But married off to an old widower was not in the realm of her imagination. This particular book starts us with the announcement, through Calisto 'obtaining' her for his uncle.

Calisto knows his role, but he didn't think he'd fall for the spitfire Emma. She certainly shows him she's smarter than she looks, and I loved her for it. Calisto's falling for Emma was expected, sure, but it wasn't written in a way to which it felt predictable. While he has no claim on the girl, and he has to give her up, watching as he falls for her and showcases protectiveness for her gave great insight to his character.

I am super curious of how Bethany-Kris is going to weave this tail. In many trilogies, I find that the second book is "filler" but I'm hopeful that I will enjoy it just as much as this one -- even though I'm sure I'll be just as angsty to read the third the moment I put the second one down. With the way this particular part ended, one can only imagine what Calisto (or Emma and her ways, for that matter) will do in the next installment.

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