I really didn't like the heroine. We meet her as a fighter, she can actually win a fight with an experienced man - but a few pages later we find out, that she's an exotic dancer, a seductress - but also a virgin, of course - and an experienced nurse, because why not? She has so many faces, that I still don't know who she was. And the hero was disappointing. He says: lie down and spread your legs, and she finds him irresistible - obviously, which virgin wouldn't, right? Three weak stars. ( )

Okay this one kind of snuck up on me. The characters felt sort of wooden to start with - I didn't hate them but they just felt flat. But this progressively got better until the ending was just action packed and tense and adrenaline filled.

I really came to adore Mack. She was so brave and fierce and broken but determined and just fantastic. I also loved that she was willing to choke people out. And that she was a trained MMA fighter. I would've liked to see more of it as well. I also liked how she handled herself with regards to being shot at. She obviously had a hard life and some bad experiences and familiarity with violence, guns and gunshot wounds, etc - but it was nice that when she was shot at she could admit her own fears and limitations. And I loved the banter between her and Ronan. Ronan was awesome.

Crow was fantastic - I liked that he seemed more like a forever type than a one night stand. Like he wasn't just randomly hooking up with women all the time (well maybe he was but it didn't read like he was) but if not actively looking for love - open to the possibility. I really liked that because Mack totally wasn't. It seemed like a nice role reversal. Well sort of. I mean she did want security and that but she also seemed to have stopped believing it was even an option before Crow slowly brings her around to the idea of needing/having other people. I liked that the love between them was slow - they felt instant attraction but they were still working their own goals for most of the book.

One thing I didn't like was that she was a virgin. It felt false that as a virgin she'd be willing to play the role of stripper. Kind of seems stupid really to go into a place you're likely going to get sexually assaulted if not outright raped as a virgin. The human trafficking plot was sad and tragic. I felt so sorry for those girls and it makes me sad to think of women that are currently in that situation.

This was primarily romance than mob though. There was some stuff about different outfits and a mole but there were no real details about enterprises and raids and whatever.

So yeah surprising little gem. 4 stars. ( )

This had a good start, but was slow in parts. But mostly pretty interesting. But the end fell apart a bit and was a bit rushed. Or maybe the middle dragged on too much. In any event, I’m glad for Crow and Mack. They deserved to be happy. ( )

3.75 Stars

Started off great.

Had way to many TSTL moments on both mc's parts. They were both supposed to be tough & intelligent. This was often up for debate for me.

A few editing errors.
Repetitive inner thoughts on the female mc's side.

Some great action that could of & should have been better.

I'm a little disappointed, I thought it was going to be a lot better than it was.
Not bad. I liked it. But I definitely didn't love it.
It needed to move a lot faster and quite frankly it needed more details and action in the suspense elements. There were also some 'Plot Holes' that did not help with the flow of the story.

I will read more of this author.
Not sure about this series though.

( )

Fighting for love

Mack has spent months testing to get anyone to help her find her missing friend Talia. Finally, she decides that she'll just go undercover to find Talia herself. So she decides that she will go be a stripper at a club called Slainte owned by Lachlan Crow, a member of an Irish mob.

When Mack walks into his club for a job, Lachlan knows that she's going to be trouble and that he shouldn't trust her.

A Zavarelli really does well in writing stories like this. I enjoyed the relationship between Lach and Mack. Lots of good secrets in there and interesting reveals. I'm interested in the rest of the series. ( )