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New Release Blitz: A Town Called Noelle by M.K. Hardy (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Captivated by Brittany Cournoyer
Out of Darkness: Captivated – Brittany Cournoyer
Ethan Fletcher’s a rising star in the modeling industry, and after landing an ad on a billboard, things were looking up for him. From the outside looking in, he was living his best possible life. No one knows the struggles Ethan faced, or that every night he removed the carefully constructed mask he had to slip on just to face the outside world. However, the camera wasn’t the only thing in love with Ethan’s face.
When the gifts started to arrive, they seemed innocent enough. But, the attention from the fan who called himself The Suitor had Ethan on edge, and when someone important in Ethan’s life goes missing, he knows it’s no coincidence. Receiving no help from the local police, Ethan seeks comfort from a very unlikely source. Together, they find themselves in a race against time to catch The Suitor before Ethan becomes his next victim.
Captivated is book 1 in the Out of Darkness series. It talks about stalking, kidnapping, murder, and mental illness. Captivated ends with a happy for now and is a continuing series. This book is an extremely slow burn with a romance that progresses throughout the series.
Captivated is a story of an all-consuming obsession that tortured, maimed and killed.
Ethan Fletcher is a model who is so beautiful he mesmerized the enigmatic and very disturbed individual simply known as The Suitor. Very little is known of the man apart from the fact that he owns a cyber security company, is devoted to his cat and loves to woo men with expensive gifts.
He tried the same method with Ethan. However, Ethan was not the type to be wowed by expensive shoes. Because The Suitor was not the type to take rejection easily, he started taking drastic measures with tragic results.
At first, I thought, hey, maybe this Suitor guy had some redeeming qualities and he will end up with Ethan like one of those Criminal Delights stories.
I couldn’t be more wrong.
The man was pure evil. Nobody could forgive what he did to poor B, just because B did Ethan a favor.
Ethan is a model attempting to break into acting. He doesn’t do well with crowds and has social anxiety. Ethan loves working on his puzzles to calm his nerves. The model is a lonely man whose only friend was his agent, Beatrice a.k.a. B. Later on, Ethan discovered he had a friend in X, another model B handles and who he did not get along with at first.
My heart went out to Ethan. Bad enough he had to deal with anxieties, now he has a crazy man out to get him. On top of that, the police was not be taking the model seriously. The only person who actually seemed to care was X.
X had some surprises of his own, starting with the mystery of why he prefers to be called X. He liked helping Ethan with his puzzles and introduced him to his own version of grilled cheese sandwich. He was a solid guy who used his considerable pull to make the police move their damn asses and start doing something about Ethan’s case.
There is no romance in the story. I’m kind of hoping the author would make Ethan aro and/or ace, but as per blurb, the romance in the series is extremely slow-paced. And from here on out, I’m rooting for an Ethan+X merger.
The writing felt simultaneously slow and fast. The character progression and developments came slowly but the tension was tight and had me on full on suspense mode which made things go quickly. The book presented both Ethan’s and The Suitor’s POVs which made it even more creepy.
The ending resolved enough threads to give a satisfying conclusion. The Suitor was named. Ethan had the help he needed. He and X had an appointment with grilled cheese sandwiches. It also left teasers hinting The Suitor has more gifts to send. I cannot wait for the next one. I’m also dreading it.
This is my first Brittany Cournoyer and certainly won’t be the last. She did a great job creating a gripping thriller that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s a chilling portrait of what stalkers will do to get the object of their desire. Recommended if you like dark, depraved bastards with offers one cannot refuse and bright, beautiful men who dared to say no.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Gonna Get Close to You
Artist: Dalbello
Album: whomanfoursays -
REVIEW: If The Seas Catch Fire by L.A. Witt
If The Seas Catch Fire – L.A. Witt
Sergei Andronikov was a child when the Mafia wiped out his family, leaving him with nothing but a hunger for revenge. Years later, through ruthless strategy and tireless patience, he’s a contract killer working for the three families ruling Cape Swan… and he’s nearly in position to bring them all down from the inside.
Domenico “Dom” Maisano is Mafia royalty, a made man… and a hitman. He’s caught up in a violent life he can’t escape, struggling to maintain an image he doesn’t want, and suppressing desires he can’t have.
A chance encounter throws the killers into each other’s paths. Though Dom knows he’s playing a dangerous game, he’s intrigued and keeps coming back. Sergei can’t resist him either—Dom is everything he set out to destroy, but he’s also everything he’s ever ached for in a man.
Then Sergei gets the contract he’s been waiting for—the hit that promises to bring the town’s Mafia to its knees.
But when a capo makes an unexpected move, Sergei must choose between dropping the hammer on the families he vowed to annihilate, and protecting the man he swore he wouldn’t love.
And the wrong choice—or even the right one—will destroy them both.
I picked this up because I specifically wanted to listen to Michael Ferraiuolo. I went in blind and came out awestruck . It was so good!
First of all, I was delighted to discover that the main characters were an assassin and a mafioso. I love stories with these kinds of antiheroes and double the thrill that this is a love story between the two.
Sergei and Dom met in less than ideal circumstances, parted ways then met again because Dom couldn’t stay away. At first it was just for sex then the arrangement became something of an emotional lifeline for the two men desperate to escape a situation where the only time you get out is when you are dead. The book painted a good picture of the struggle Sergei and Dom went through. It was pretty much gutwrenching. It was such a convincing no-way-out scenario that I half expected the ending to be tragic. The only guarantee this ends happily is this being MM.
Sergei saved the day with his resourcefulness and quick thinking. The man is deadly as fuck. Dom was the most reluctant made man there is. He had no choice because his uncle, the don, effectively traumatized him to submission. Dom was also his uncle’s personal hitman. Thing is, he is really just a gentle soul so even though he was bigger than Sergei, he could learn a thing or two about intimidating a target from the smaller man. They were supposed to kill each other but the chemistry between the two hitmen were off the charts. The enemies to lovers aspect was executed really well here.
If The Seas Catch Fire is a book about people with guns so violence and death are a given. It was described as dark, but although there were scenes of torture, I felt it didn’t cross over to the disturbing territory. However, the protagonists make morally gray decisions so if you are not comfortable with these kinds of characters, this might not be the book for you.
Author L.A. Witt impressed me yet again with her story telling. The twist and turns, the gritty atmosphere, the heartbreaking family situations and intense scenes all came together in a powerful emotional rollercoaster that I have come to associate with her angstier books. She makes her characters go through so much shit that I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up dead. How Sergei and Dom pulled it off was pure suspense. It was almost perfect but of course, something had to go tits up and there was a very close call so boy, was I relieved to see them miraculously survive!
I had a great time with this book. It’s a winning combination of good writing and outstanding narration so I recommend experiencing If The Seas Catch Fire in audiobook form.
P.S.
I also recommend other L.A. Witt books, the riveting Bad Behavior series, review here, and the fluffier, To My Future Number 1 Fan, review here.
Rating
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Slow Burn
Artist: David Bowie
Album: Heathen -
SOUNDTRACK: Slow Burn by David Bowie
Soundtrack to If The Seas Catch Fire by L.A. Witt
