Michael Valente...
My father was the Underboss of an organized crime family. He was murdered when I was a teenager leaving me broken. My mother died in a tragic accident, her death annihilated me. My life was in shambles until Victor Pastore, one of New York’s most notorious gangsters and my late father’s best friend, recruited me to work for him.
Everyone expected me to walk in my father’s shadow, to be the prodigal son, the next big thing to hit the mob. I was torn between filling those expectations and walking the straight line my mother wished I had. Nothing made sense and I felt as if I was just passing through life.
The only beacon of light in my otherwise dark world was the one girl that was off limits to me. The one girl who could bring me to my knees consuming my mind, body and soul.
She’s the sweetest temptation I’ve ever known and the most illicit.
Nikki Pastore....
My father’s a gangster. My boyfriend’s is the king of New York’s nightclubs. I am often labeled as Vic’s daughter or Rico’s girl, never just Nikki. I struggle for people to acknowledge me for the woman I am and not for the men in my life. I’m fighting a losing battle.
There is only one person who sees me for me, my Mikey.
He’s wild.
He’s reckless.
He’s hot as hell.
He’s completely unattainable, but oh so tempting.
I was looking forward to see what Alicia had done with her first solo book.
I was really surprised and not in a bad way. This book is the type of book that pulls you in from the first page and has a grip on you that will not let go until you have finished.
We follow Eternity, a girl who at first had a sheltered life and then at the age of 14 years old, everything shatters around her. Losing her parents is an event that tears at her soul, but she becomes strong and looks after her younger sister.
You would think that after the event of loosing her parents, things couldn't get any worse, but they do. You feel for her as her life is changed for the worse and it is all out of her control. Forced into a world that she has never even contemplated existed. She doesn't lose any of her fight, and this might very well be a blessing in disguise.
Ryke Justice is a man who is so lost, so troubled, there are two sides to him.
You really do not mess with a man like him and it is a death wish that will come true.
Ryke meets Eternity and there is something about her that calms and soothes him. They seem to be made for each other.
Alicia has written a book where it is dark as well as dirty, and by no means a fluffy romance.
It contains certain themes that may be triggers for some, so beware of this before reading.
I loved reading every minute of this book and Alicia has written a read that keeps you interested as well surprising you at certain points.
A fantastic solo debut book, a storyline that is easy to follow and flows beautifully.
I look forward to the next book, as I really really, really need to know what happens next.
****Arc received via Obsessed by Books ******
"Lost in that moment - when I stare into their eyes as their soul slips away and they take their last breath - is my aphrodisiac. Causing hurt feeds my monster. We bask in their blood. Each scream is my medication."
What happens when you are discarded from your perfect and privileged life and have to claw your self through each night just to survive till the break of the dawn. When the one person you trusted to keep you safe turns into the monster that now haunts your dreams? To be able to see an end of the horror as your eighteenth birthday fast approaches having scraped your way to expending freedom for the ordeal to begin anew and the reality is ...the horrors have only just begun. Meet Eternity who's charmed life shatters at fourteen when someone enters her home and kills her parents. Having had the rules drilled into her by her parents she follows the protocol and asks her Uncle for help. Almost four years on and Eternity has endured far more than most. As she bides her time, taking the abuse nightly until she can legally walk away as an adult and be sole guardian for her sister the past comes back to haunt her.
Sold. Into a world a rich and deprived world. A promise when she was only fourteen she is now nothing more than a broken promise that should have been wiped out on that fateful night. She has become an Angel. Follow the rules or be punished. Be available, be alluring and most of all please the highest bidder no matter the cost of your soul. No longer allowed to think without permission, just a walking fantasy for men that are powerful, wealthy and most of all hunger for all things illicit. This is Eternity's new life, after suffering her "training" at her Uncle's hand nothing can prepare her for the next six months. Her status a new angel means she is there to learn, to be forged into the perfect sexual fantasy by fear, pain and total control. The flames of anger, injustice and pain are hard to extinguish, deals made and broken crush her young girl dreams and she must find the strength to survive, to "Accept it. Like it. Live it." Yet the man with the wolf eyes calls to her in this living hell. He appears to be her solace, but will he make this Angel fall?
Ryke is the Illicit Angels very own brand of Justice. Dealing with anyone that breaks the rules or steps out of line Justice deals in blood, death and pain. His turbulent eyes reflecting his battle to calm the raging beast that demands the screams of anyone that dares to stand against him. Like a warrior of old he swaggers headlong into danger and emerges victorious and his boss uses his skills to maximum effect. Recognising his Angel, the broken promise of almost four years ago, Justice must abide by the club rules. Stepping up to train her and protect her as much as he can from the lifestyle she has awoken to, can he resist her for six months? His monster inside wants to feast on her fears and play with her whilst fiercely protecting her from anyone else but Ryke is battling his own demons from the past, searching for redemption in Eternity's battle to survive. Can she calm both the man and the beast? Can she survive his darkness?
This amazing first in the series is wickedly dark and brutal. Opening with blood and ending in a most magnificent cliffhanger revelation I enjoyed every word. Never shying away from the grim reality of the sex trade, abuse and non consensual acts at times I was reading between my fingers. But the scenes although are graphic are never over the top nor there just for shock value. Well written, dramatic and wonderfully descriptive I feel like I have run my finger tips over the carved Angels, walked through the corridors and sat down to watch the show. Eternity is strong and courageous, fighting to save her sister throughout. Ryke is a haunted man, his past has a right hold of him and he battled constantly with the beast that shares his body. Learning about him slowly through the one permitted question per day is captivating, slowly stripping back his layers. I need more!
A four and a half star #ShowMeYourBrave read.
Janine Infante Bosco lives in New York City, she has always loved reading and writing. When she was thirteen, she began to write her own stories and her passion for writing took off as the years went on. At eighteen, she even wrote a full screenplay with dreams of one day becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love. She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself.
