Book Blurb:
An innocent coffee. A dazzling stranger. What can go wrong?
Anna Raymond focuses only on her work at a little custom printing company in LA. She’s become a recluse after a traumatic experience that tore her life apart. Her only close contact is with her father. And then Eric happens, barging into her life one morning at a Starbucks. When night falls, she has witnessed a murder, fought for her life, and revealed secrets she meant to stay buried forever.
Eric Reed is a hired killer, well aware of his effect on women and how to use it to his advantage. He’s in LA for one thing only: finish the contract he’s been assigned. Anna was nothing but a means to an end, but he finds himself reluctantly drawn to the enigmatic woman, a mistake that can cost him everything.
That long, cold night, trapped together, changed something fundamental between them. Anna must make a choice, but is it her path to happiness, or will the fervent Eric burn her to ashes?
My Review:
After reading the first book in the series I had my reservations but as I predicted in my review of Heat (book one), Nicolina’a writing style has improved immensely and the result is this fantastic book. It really is a great read that will draw you in and captivate you until you are living on the dark side. I never believed that I would be cheering for a girl to fall I love with someone who is trying to murder her but that is exactly what this book is about and that is what I felt!
Anna has had a nice life but it is nothing that would be called overly fancy. She has a good job, nice house and some reliable friends but that is it. She is close to her dad but has always put her law career first. Then a year ago she suffered a horrific attack that changed her whole outlook on life. She becomes withdrawn, shy and timid. She swapped her big time job for a no pressure, easy-going financial law job rather than the fast paced criminal law role she had before. She no longer goes out and prefers the sanctuary her house, along with nightly phone calls with her dad, brings. She most definitely is not looking for a man or even talking to the other sex. So she cannot understand why a gorgeous, confident guy in the Starbucks queue wants to talk to her about coffee but at the same time makes her feel alive for the first time in over a year
Eric Reed is good at his job. He has worked for malicious mob boss Luciano Salvatore for almost his whole life. He may not like or trust Salvatore but Eric knows he wouldn’t be alive without him after his difficult childhood. Eric is comfortable with who he is and is not ashamed that he gets off on inflicting pain. This also extends to his love of women. He likes to use, abuse and give them pleasure as long as they know it will only be the once. He doesn’t believe that his lifestyle will align well with having a woman in his life. So why, when a job goes horribly wrong one night and a witness sees Eric, is he not able to kill her? Instead he feels drawn to her and an overwhelming need to protect her.
Anna and Eric’s relationship is beautiful. The way he helps her heal and knows exactly what she needs is so delicate and breath-taking to see. I loved Eric so much. He is cocky, possessive and strong on the outside but he is also kind, caring and insecure. He is just as broken as Anna but in a very different way. Anna is such a lovely character. At her lowest, having suffered in silence for a year, she finds inner strength that she didn’t know she was capable of that helped her to heal. Eric gives her space to realise her feelings but my word is the wait agonising.
This book has an epilogue that features all of the Russo family and it is great. I love the catch up we get from Nathan and Sydney from book one. We also get a lot of information in this book about a very unhappy Christian and I am sure there is going to be a fantastic book that goes into detail all about what happened. I think this series is only going to get better.
Overall, I really loved this book. Nicolina Martin has made so many improvements since the first book and it really shows in this book. The characters are great and very realistic even in a mafia style environment. The plot is full of drama, suspense and intrigue with an extremely large amount of beautiful chemistry that leads to some hot and steamy sex. What is there not to love! I fully recommend this book and cannot wait for the next one.
Note: I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is available for Free on Kindle Unlimited or can be purchased here:
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Fq2IdB
Emma's Romantic Reviews 