Self-Published | June 6, 2016 | Organized Crime, Mafia Romance
Seasons of Betrayal, book 1
★★★★★
SOURCE: INDIESAGE PR
In places where the sun can hide, the darkest betrayals are made.Violet Gallucci and Kazimir Markovic have grown up in the same city, but on opposite sides of the game they call life—Violet, an Italian principessa della mafia, and Kaz, a Russian Bratva heir. Lines have been drawn, and they know not to cross them.Their paths crossed once, a long time ago, but when they meet again, the territory and rules set out by their families that have kept them separated seem to bleed away.She's more than her last name …He’s more than a Russian …But secrets from the past—and the people determined to keep them hidden—have other plans for Violet and Kaz.Rival families.One city.Star-crossed lovers.They should be enemies.It could mean war.This is just the beginning …From authors Bethany-Kris (The Chicago War) and London Miller (Volkov Bratva) comes a thrilling, sexy new series—Seasons of Betrayal. Where the Russians and Italians clash in culture, mafia … and love.
{ about the authors } .
Bethany-KrisBethany-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
London Miller
{ excerpt } .
“It’s a good hour and a half, maybe a little more, of a drive back to Manhattan,” he said, his tone gruff. “Settle in.”Violet tossed him a look from the side, admiring his profile. “You seem to know a lot about me, but I don’t know a thing about you.”
He flashed a smile—white teeth and sinful in a blink.
“Shouldn’t that be something you learn before you get into a car with a man?” he asked.
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“You had a choice.”
Violet’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think so.”
Not the way it played out, anyway.
“You did,” he assured, never taking his gaze off the windshield as he pulled the vehicle out onto the road. “That choice, Violet, came for you when you came this deep into Brooklyn and made your way to Coney.”
Well, then …
Violet looked away when he cut her with a hard look. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“Yes, you were.”
“No, I—”
“How old are you now, about twenty-one, yes?”
Violet blinked.
He knew her name.
Her age.
That she lived in Manhattan without even asking.
He knew.
She ignored the drip of panic slicing through her middle. Despite the darkness that colored up his aura, he didn’t scream entirely bad to her.
And Violet knew bad.
“Turned twenty-one today,” she admitted.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel, drawing her attention to his tattoos again. It was only when he spoke that she finally tore her gaze away from the spider and its intricate web.
“I am sure there are far more places in Manhattan or Brooklyn for you to enjoy your birthday, other than my brother’s club,” he said. “No doubt, your father has made it perfectly clear where you are and are not allowed to go in New York, Violet.”
She liked the sound of his voice, and the way his r’s rolled a little harder than his brother’s had back at the club.
But she really liked the way he said her name. It came out a little differently than how most people said it. Instead of just the “i” following the “v” in her name, he said with a hard “o” following the “v”.
She shouldn’t have liked it at all, but she did.
Violet chewed on her inner cheek. “It’s not fair that you know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“You know it,” he said, smiling in that way of his again. “But I’ll remind you.”
He held out a hand, palm up, while keeping his other hand firmly on the wheel. Violet glanced between his hand and his face, unsure of what he wanted her to do.
“Shake politely like you’ve been taught,” he urged.
She glowered at him. “No, thanks. Only civilized people shake hands.”
He cocked a brow. “And what does that make me, a savage?”
Violet couldn’t have missed the heat in his tone even if she tried. Deciding she had pushed her luck enough for one night, she slid her smaller hand into his waiting palm, and ignored the way the heat of his rougher skin seemed to siphon straight into her smoother flesh.
His fingers circled around her hand before she thought better of touching the man, and squeezed just hard enough to make her look up at him.
“A savage man—one not like me—wouldn’t have bothered to get you inside a car, krasivyy,” he said, his timber dropping to a lower note. “He would have done what he wanted when he had you alone in an office.”
Violet tried to tug her hand out of his grasp, but he held tight.
“Kazimir Markovic,” he said, squeezing her fingers once more. “But I prefer Kaz. It’s very nice to meet you again, Violet Gallucci.”
Finally, he released her hand. Violet sat back in the seat fast, confused.
“Again?” she asked.
Kazimir—Kaz, he’d said—resumed driving like nothing had happened. “We met once, a long time ago.”
Violet didn’t remember that at all.
“When?”
“A long time ago,” Kaz repeated quietly. “You were helping me to find the sun that day, if I remember correctly.”
He was talking in gibberish.
Violet was sure of it.
{ playlist } .
{ review } .
What a stellar beginning of a ride this book was!
This was Romeo and Juliet times 100. Those lovelorn teens have nothing on Kaz and Violet, children of organized crime families. He's Russian, she's Italian. They met at a meeting between their fathers (to ensure no gun war between the two) -- a meeting that Kaz will hold on to. The four year old brought light to the darkness Kaz's world had become; from the early moment, she was his sunshine.
Granted, she won't remember and she'll fight tooth and nail when he gets to her again as twenty-somethings, but that initial feeling, that she was his reason, his light... those are feelings that only grow throughout their story.
Their story is not easy. Their love is forbidden to the nth degree -- something that they both know, both try to run from, and both will suffer consequences due to.
Their story is not done.
I was completely engrossed in this book -- I didn't want to put it down! Bethany-Kris brings greatness to the mafia genre, and I actually adore that she's teaming up with other authors, authors I don't know, and bringing more of these stories to light. This story was completely enjoyable -- the emotion, the suspense, the heat... Watching as Kaz goes from a cocky guy who just wants to prove something, to the man who tries to protect her from... everything that happens... I can't say it enough -- I loved these two.
Their forbidden love is one that could put the families at war.
Or will it bring them together?
It will take more pages than we get in Where the Sun Hides for this to be answered, and I cannot wait for the next book (even though this is a trilogy, and I just know I'll be dying for the last book at the end of that one)!
This was Romeo and Juliet times 100. Those lovelorn teens have nothing on Kaz and Violet, children of organized crime families. He's Russian, she's Italian. They met at a meeting between their fathers (to ensure no gun war between the two) -- a meeting that Kaz will hold on to. The four year old brought light to the darkness Kaz's world had become; from the early moment, she was his sunshine.
Granted, she won't remember and she'll fight tooth and nail when he gets to her again as twenty-somethings, but that initial feeling, that she was his reason, his light... those are feelings that only grow throughout their story.
Their story is not easy. Their love is forbidden to the nth degree -- something that they both know, both try to run from, and both will suffer consequences due to.
Their story is not done.
I was completely engrossed in this book -- I didn't want to put it down! Bethany-Kris brings greatness to the mafia genre, and I actually adore that she's teaming up with other authors, authors I don't know, and bringing more of these stories to light. This story was completely enjoyable -- the emotion, the suspense, the heat... Watching as Kaz goes from a cocky guy who just wants to prove something, to the man who tries to protect her from... everything that happens... I can't say it enough -- I loved these two.
Their forbidden love is one that could put the families at war.
Or will it bring them together?
It will take more pages than we get in Where the Sun Hides for this to be answered, and I cannot wait for the next book (even though this is a trilogy, and I just know I'll be dying for the last book at the end of that one)!
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