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

Bethany-Kris | July 5, 2016 | Mafia Romance
Donati Bloodlines Trilogy, book 2
★★★★★

SOURCE: INDIESAGE

Calisto Donati

Calisto had never been a fan of pain, but he found it provided a certain relief. 

It was a high that couldn’t compete with anything else he experienced. That was why he fought bare-knuckled, why he drove fast, despite knowing he might crash, and why he still enjoyed looking at Emma Donati—no matter her current status. 

Pain felt good. 

He might have been a fool for doing so, but as long as he got what he wanted from it, he didn’t really care. 

When he fought, he was given release. When he drove, he was given freedom. When he looked at Emma, he was given memories. 

All of them brought a certain level of pain. All three might kill him someday. 

Calisto glanced at Emma, taking her in again when she didn’t know he was looking. 

He realized then that only one might actually be worth dying for. 

Emma Donati

Emma kept her gaze on the book in her lap, pretending like there wasn’t an argument going on across the room. She had become terribly good at acting like she didn’t hear. 

Calisto watched her out of the corner of his eye while he argued on with Affonso.

She was too focused on Calisto to care about their fight. 

His anger. The tightness of his jaw. Searing soul-black eyes. 

The two men were not the same. They might have shared blood, but their hearts were entirely different. One man never let her out of his sight when he was nearby. The other acted like she didn’t exist. 

This was what it was like, she realized, to be in love with someone she couldn’t have. 

Calisto Donati would never be hers.

This wasn’t a fairy tale that would end happily. 

They weren’t star-crossed. They were impossible.

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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 } .

“I’m sorry,” Emma said quietly.

She watched the cars they flew past, wondering who was inside the vehicles, and what their lives might be like. Were they happy?

Calisto cleared his throat. “For what, dolcezza?”

“Earlier.”

“You’re going to have to give me a bit more to go on.”

Emma willed away the guilt compounding in her chest, promising to keep her quiet. “I was snappy at you. I shouldn’t have been. You didn’t deserve it.”

She caught sight of the small smile gracing Calisto’s darkly handsomely features. Quickly, Emma turned her head again, not wanting to stare at him for long. It never helped her, it only hurt.

“I think I can overlook it,” Calisto murmured.

“And why is that?”

“Hormones.”

Emma’s mouth popped open a second before she reached over and whacked Calisto hard in the arm. It was nothing more than second nature, and she didn’t think much of it. But when Calisto started to laugh, hard and loud, Emma did all she could to stay still in the seat as she watched him let loose. His shoulders shook and his soul-black eyes lightened in his genuine amusement.

It made her companion all the more appealing. It reminded her of one of their first drives together. It was bad all over. Because it made her feel damn good all over.

Emma hid her sudden frown by looking back out the window again. Apparently, Calisto hadn’t missed it.

“We’re not very good at this whole thing, are we?” he asked.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Being near one another. Do you remember what you said at the wedding reception when we danced?”

Emma wished her throat didn’t suddenly feel so thick with emotions. “Yes.”

“Well, what was it?”

“That we could do this. Pretend like nothing happened. Be friends.”

Calisto chuckled, but the sound was hollow and sad. “We’re not very good at it. I hide away from you, making sure I’m not within yelling distance. When I do come around, you barely hold back from spitting at me. Like you hate me.”

Emma’s heart clenched painfully. She slowly rotated in the seat, wanting to see Calisto as he spoke. Months ago, she’d learned that he could be emotionless and detached on the outside, but his voice gave everything away.

And his eyes, too.

“I don’t hate you,” she whispered.

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Reminder: This is not a standalone.

When we left off, Emma was marrying Calisto's uncle, Affonso. Calisto fought his desires for Emma, but in the end, there wasn't much he could do--as much as he disliked his uncle.

The problem? Emma doesn't love her husband, she loves Cal. And Calisto loves her.

In this second part of the crazy web of Emma and Cal, their story takes a deep turn. There's the ultimate betrayal in Affonso's eyes, but more than that, something happens that has the ability to completely shatter what is between Emma and Cal.

I love Bethany-Kris, and I love her mafia families. Emma and Cal's story is no different. I don't typically care for the middle book in trilogies, but if anything, Thin Lines has my heart physically aching for these two. You can't help but want them to find a way toward happily ever after but after the events in this book... Between Cal and the events he specifically goes through, and the hand that Emma's been dealt...

Goodness, I don't know how I'm going to wait for the next installment!

{ giveaway } .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CALISTO AND EMMA AREN'T STAR-CROSSED. THEY ARE IMPOSSIBLE. READ WHERE IT ALL STARTED IN THIN LIES, BOOK #1 IN THE DONATI BLOODLINES SERIES, #FREE WITH #KINDLEUNLIMITED!

Purchase (#FREE with #KindleUnlimited): Amazon | Amazon CA | Paperback

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, the third is a HEA.