Mercenary - Bella Di Corte

Mercenary
Bella Di Corte
(Gangsters of New York, #3)
Publication date: November 13th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

I had something to live for.

The moment I saw him, I knew.

His eyes would hypnotize.
His lips would speak the most beautiful promises.
His body? Made for pleasure.

But if Corrado Capitani thought that he could fool me into thinking he was a good man, he was wrong.

The moment I saw him, I knew the truth.

Those eyes hid his poisonous heart.
Those lips were vessels of deception.
That body? Made for inflicting pain.

He wasn’t sent from heaven. He was sent to drag me back to hell.

I had something to die for.

Alcina Parisi had a price on her head, and she’d eluded the best. She thought no one would ever find her, but I did. Everyone in our world called me Scorpio–the man who never let the enemy go. But she was a weapon, not an adversary, and I’d claimed her as mine.

Mercenary is the third of three books set in the savage world of the Gangsters of New York series.

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

Bella Di Corte has been writing romance for seven years, even longer if you count the stories in her head that were never written down, but she didn’t realize how much she enjoyed writing alphas until recently. Tough guys who walk the line between irredeemable and savable, and the strong women who force them to feel, inspire her to keep putting words to the page.

Apart from writing, Bella loves to spend time with her husband, daughter, and family. She also loves to read, listen to music, cook meals that were passed down to her, and take photographs. She mostly takes pictures of her family (when they let her) and her three dogs.

Bella grew up in New Orleans, a place she considers a creative playground.

She loves to connect with readers, so don’t hesitate to email her at belladicorte@gmail.com if you’d like to reach out.

Website / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Instagram / Bookbub / Goodreads

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My Review

This third book in the Gangsters of New York series features Corado and Alicna. I don't actually remember coming across them in the previous two books, but there is certainly a connection here. Particularly with our hero and heroine from Machiavellian. This story is about the love between Corado and Alicna and also how she copes with being part of his life and if his way of life really is everything to him.

I have to admit that I thought I was going to struggle with this one a little. The start of the book has a lot of different characters and I found myself getting a little lost as to who was who. It didn't take too long for me to get my head around it all and work it out though.

I really enjoyed this final instalment to the series and I think it worked well being the last, as it fitted well with that first book. I liked Corado and Alicna as a couple and enjoyed reading about the development and growth of their romance.

In Pursuit of Happiness - Freya Kennedy

In Pursuit of Happiness by Freya Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit that light-hearted chick-lit type reads aren't usually my go-to when it comes to something new to read. I happen to love books by Freya Kennedy's alter ego Claire Allan which are a bit more my line, being thrillers. Even so, seeing as I do enjoy her writing, I thought I'd give this one a go when I spotted it on NetGalley. I have to admit that I'm glad that I did.
This book tells the story of Jo and her attempts to sort out what she actually wants out of life. Since getting her heart broken while living and working in Spain, she's been taking the easy route. Not pushing herself to chase her dreams and letting life just unfold around her, rather than trying to chase her dreams.
I enjoyed this story. Jo and the other characters in her life were really enjoyable. There's a great humorous streak that runs through the book, particularly from cantankerous old Harry who runs the local shop. He has some wonderful ideas about life and what he should or shouldn't stock that had me giggling to myself.
This was an enjoyable and entertaining read and I'm really glad that I gave it a go. It seems that there is a previous book that features many of the same characters The Hopes and Dreams of Libby Quinn. In Pursuit of Happiness works fine as a standalone, but I think I might go back and give it a go all the same. I'll certainly be on the lookout for any future novels from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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Secret Shores - Ella Carey

 From bestselling author Ella Carey comes an utterly gripping and sweeping historical novel about
terrible choices and heartbreaking family mysteries. The past holds more secrets than we can ever imagine…

1946. Young, beautiful artist Rebecca survived the devastating war that claimed the lives of so many of the men and women she grew up with. Her friends have returned as empty shells or not at all. But although peace has been declared, Rebecca is still fighting at home. Her controlling mother will stop at nothing to prevent Rebecca from following her dream to become a painter.

When Rebecca meets dashing young Edward, a pilot during the war, she discovers both love and an escape. Edward makes her feel truly loved, alive and excited about her future and art. But when Edward takes Rebecca to visit his childhood home on the sweeping coast, their trip ends in tragedy. Edward’s father commits suicide and, consumed by grief, Edward is faced with a terrible choice: love or family?

Utterly distraught, Rebecca goes out to the shore by moonlight to paint. Under the stars, she stares into the waves, thinking about her life. The next morning she has disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a pencil on the sand. Finding the truth will change everything for those who were left behind…

Fans of My Name is Eva, Rhys Bowen and Lucinda Riley will fall head over heels in love with Secret Shores.  

Author Bio:

Ella Carey is the international bestselling author of The Things We Don’t Say, Secret Shores, From a Paris Balcony, The House by the Lake, and Paris Time Capsule. Her books have been published in over fourteen languages, in twelve countries, and have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. A Francophile who has long been fascinated by secret histories set in Europe’s entrancing past, Ella has degrees in music, nineteenth-century women’s fiction, and modern European history. She lives in Melbourne with her two children and two Italian greyhounds who are constantly mistaken for whippets.

Ella loves to connect with her readers regularly through her facebook page and on her website.

http://www.ellacarey.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ellacareyauthor/

https://twitter.com/Ella_Carey

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3mCH9tX

My Review

Secret Shores is a novel set in two time periods. It tells the story of Edward and Rebecca's doomed love story back in in the 1940s and Edward's editor's story in the 1980s.
Tess is a successful editor but like many women, she finds herself struggling with the restraints of being a woman in a man's world. She has to work twice as hard, be twice as good and still she might not be seen as being as good as her male counterparts. When she loses her most successful author to new colleague James, it seems that everything is going wrong. The more that Tess reads Edwards novel and the story of his past, she can't help but reassess her own life and what she wants from it.
This is an emotional read that sucks you in once you start. It's hard not to feel a connection with both Edward and Rebecca as their romance unfolds in the 1940s and Tess as she deals with things in the '80s.
I really enjoyed the story and although I did sense where one or two things were heading, that didn't diminish my appreciation of the story at all. If you like love stories that stretch through the years and stories that wrap you up emotionally, dragging you along with the highs and lows, then I think that you'll love Secret Shores.

Marauder - Bella di Corte

Marauder
Bella Di Corte
(Gangsters of New York, #2)
Publication date: August 7th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

He stole my heart out of revenge.

There was one thing I always thought was mine to give: my heart.

I never imagined a marauder would steal it out of vengeance—vengeance that had nothing to do with me. His greatest enemy happened to be the man in love with me, and somehow I became nothing but a pawn. I was no damsel in distress, though. More like an archer, ready to battle.

And my target? The marauder himself.

Cashel “Cash” Kelly.

Kelly might have been as gorgeous as he was ruthless, but he had no idea what I’d do to steal it back. Or better yet, get even.

She was determined to keep what was mine.

They say hearts can’t be stolen unless they’re willing to be. Tell that to the man everyone on the streets called “the marauder.”

Me.

Because by the time I was through, Keely Ryan’s heart would be mine. And my enemy’s? As good as broken. Trouble was, the archer was precise with her aim, and her arrow was pointed at my heart.

Goodreads / Amazon / Bookbub

Author Bio:

Bella Di Corte has been writing romance for seven years, even longer if you count the stories in her head that were never written down, but she didn’t realize how much she enjoyed writing alphas until recently. Tough guys who walk the line between irredeemable and savable, and the strong women who force them to feel, inspire her to keep putting words to the page.

Apart from writing, Bella loves to spend time with her husband, daughter, and family. She also loves to read, listen to music, cook meals that were passed down to her, and take photographs. She mostly takes pictures of her family (when they let her) and her three dogs.

Bella grew up in New Orleans, a place she considers a creative playground.

She loves to connect with readers, so don’t hesitate to email her at belladicorte@gmail.com if you’d like to reach out.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Instagram / Bookbub

My Review

After reading and enjoying Machiavelian, the first book in the Gangsters of New York series, I was looking forward to seeing what Bella di Corte would come up with next. I knew that Mari's friend Keely was going to be the main female character this time. She wasn't my favourite character last time, not that she was awful, but I just didn't warm to her. I was interested to find out how she would fare in her own book.

To begin with, Keely is seeing a policeman called Stone. Irish gangster Cash Kelly has a grudge against him and as a result, decides to take Keely away from him. Once they are together, it's clear that there is much between Cash and Keely than revenge. I wasn't entirely sure why Keely was with Stone in the first place, it didn't seem to work as a relationship, but it certainly drove the reason for her to get together with Cash and that worked much better.

There's a lot to get through in this book with more than just Stone out to bring down Cash. Alongside this, he has to face his past and deal with his feelings for Keely. We also have little glimpses of events from the previous book, but I think that this would still work fine as a standalone if you haven't read Machiavelian. With so much going on, I did think that the pace did struggle a little in some places, but on the whole, this was a very enjoyable read.

I enjoyed the relationship between Cash and Keely, even if it did result in her name being Keely Kelly. They worked well together and I enjoyed Keely as a character in this book much more than I did in the first. 

There's another book to come shortly from this author in this series and I'm looking forward to reading it. 

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Mine to Keep - Rhenna Morgan

 

Bonnie Drummond is from the wrong side of the tracks, raised in a family of liars and criminals. No
matter how hard she tries to stay on the straight and narrow, she always finds herself sucked back into the family drama, forced to sacrifice everything she’s earned to protect her family.

But this time they’ve gone too far—crossed the wrong people—and to save them she’ll have to put her life on the line.

Roman Kozlov, enforcer for a New Orleans mafiya family, is the poster child for the life Bonnie is struggling to escape. But he's also as alluring as he is dangerous, and it doesn’t take long for their lives to begin to mesh.

With Roman, Bonnie finds the family she never had.

As their race for answers heats up, so too does the budding romance between them. And with danger nipping at her heels and love threatening her heart, Bonnie must come face-to-face with her past if she wants to have a future.

NOLA Knights

Book 1: His to Defend

Book 2: Hers to Tame

Book 3: Mine to Keep

Buy Mine to Keep 

Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335081162_mine-to-keep.html 

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335081162 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Keep-Protective-Romance-Knights-ebook/dp/B089YWMQQ1 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mine-to-keep-rhenna-morgan/1137532798 

iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/mine-to-keep/id1517805781 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mine-to-keep-13 

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rhenna_Morgan_Mine_to_Keep?id=XLfqDwAAQBAJ 

About Rhenna Morgan

A native Oklahoman, Rhenna Morgan is a certified romance junkie. Whether it’s contemporary, paranormal, or fantasy you’re after, Rhenna’s stories pack romantic escape full of new, exciting worlds, and strong, intuitive men who fight to keep the women they want. For advance release news and exclusive content, sign up for her newsletter at http://RhennaMorgan.com. You'll also find all of her social links there, along with her smoking hot inspiration boards.

Connect with Rhenna Morgan

Website: http://rhennamorgan.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RhennaMorgan 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RhennaMorgan 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhennamorgan/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8596977.Rhenna_Morgan 

My Review

Mine to keep is the second of the NOLA Knights books that I have read, although it is actually the third in the series. I believe that it is also linked to another series by Rhenna Morgan. Depite this, it works well as a standalone novel.
This is the story of Bonnie and Roman. Bonnie has had a hard life, her mother was killed after driving drunk. Her father has spent his whole life getting into all kinds of trouble and is now dying. Her brother isn't much better, being involved in hacking and all kinds of other criminal activity. When her brother and father are taken from their house, she turns to her friend Cassie for help. She knows that Cassie's husband is some kind of Rusian Maffia member and she soon meets his close friend Roman.
The attraction between Roman and Bonnie is instant and it's quite nice to see someone like Bonnie, who has clearly had a hard time of it all, actually having things go her way for once. Roman is a very dominating character, which isn't always my favourite thing, but they work well as a couple here.
I really enjoyed this read and didn't want to put it down and do other things (that I should have been doing) always a good sign. I'm looking forward to seeing if there's more to come in this series.

Ask No Questions - Claire Allan

Ask No Questions by Claire Allan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read a few thrillers by Claire Allan now. While they were all very good, I think that this one might just be the best yet.
Journalist Ingrid Devlin usually just reports on stories, but when she starts to look in the events surrounding the death of an eight-year-old twenty-five years previously, she soon finds that she is part of the story itself. As Ingrid starts to look at whether the right man was found guilty at the time, it soon becomes clear that there are lots of people who don't want her to look too closely and stir things up.
Ingrid is an interesting character, while she is caught up in the drama here, it's clear that she's usually an observer and possibly not too bothered who she upsets in her drive to get the story. With this story, she was on the scene as a ten-year-old at the time and so has a much more personal connection to the story. The disappearance had a huge impact on the community at the time and as we meet different characters through the book, it's clear that there are few, if any that don't still bare the effects of the events of Halloween twenty five years ago.
This is a thrilling and gripping read. There are quite a few twists and turns to navigate your way through, I didn't see all of them coming by any means and once I started, I didn't want to put this one down until I got to the end. A fantastic read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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