If you are ignoring the author's warning about reading the reviews before the book, then I am going to save you a bit of confusion if you continue on. I apologize in advance to the author, because I am going to critique the hell out of her book's editing before I even get into the actual plot points.

This book was written by an obviously British author, since all the locations are in England (around London), but this isn't the problem, I had problems when I was wondering if there had been spell-check problems when the author used some words and terms I had never heard before, and mistaken them for something else.

The most glaring example was her use of the term "pants" when she was referring to "panties". This was a BIG problem. Just imagine in your readings where switching "pants" for "panties" could cause confusion. So, just remember this when going forward. Her term used for pants was "trousers" or something to that effect. So "pants" equals "panties"....trust me you will thank me later when you are scrunching up your eyebrows wondering what the hell is he doing....

Another pet-peeve I had was the authors use of the words that have become more and more common in books, that drive me batty...."S'all right", "S'ok", and the like. Whenever I read those types of words they instantly take away any kind of authority to the character. No one wants to read about a dark and dangerous leader of a South American cartel use the term "S'ok". I hate it, and just because the author is trying to imitate how someone would sound in real life doesn't mean this translate on the page. Authors are always trying to do this and should stay away from it.
In this case the Hero used this type of phrasing from the beginning and it totally turned me off. Especially since he's supposed to be some big baddie.

Although there are times when authors use their local words and terms for the most part they make sense and I understand the meanings, pants and panties aside. However, in this book just about every page had some kind of local term that often times was confused with other terms an American audience may not be familiar with. I won't even get into them since everyone's reading ability differs. So have fun with that....

Another big problem was that there was actual editing errors that caused words to link up, for my became formy (when used in the sentence "....for my Porsche" it caused a bit of confusion. There are a few instances where this occurred. Also, I hate to be such a Debbie Downer, but the author really needed to have someone look over the book before publishing it so that basic grammar and phrasing would be correct. The heroine in the book had been conditioned by a mafia type to the point where when he called her "my pet" she understood that he was happy with her. This is fine and dandy, but when someone uses any specific word or term as a proper name it should always be capitalized. So calling her "my pet" felt wrong. It was like reading "god" and not "God". Also, the author didn't use certain phrases correctly "a tete-a-tete" (I don't know how to make those marks over the 'e') is not the same thing as coming to blows between two people, but this was how she used it.

Ok, enough of my bitching. I am only getting this out because if you are a grammar Nazi like I am, you will be thrown A LOT when reading this book.

Now the story itself. I liked it, but it definitely had the feel of someone who was writing on the fly. There was no consistency between the characters intentions and interactions. The hero is supposed to be this scary South American Gang lord who rules over thousands and brings fear to those other mafia types who would normally be the main "bad guy" in a book. So why on earth is he bending backwards and getting all sappy and emotional and understanding with the heroine? His actions do not in any way match with his character outline.

Another thing was the degree and quickness that the heroine is able to overcome her conditioning that was supposedly so deeply ingrained that it took years and major medical and torturing techniques to develop it? I was able to see her struggle, and really appreciated that the author did add bits of character points that indicate the heroine had a complete lack of understanding of certain basic motivations. So points for that.

In all the story was good. It had a good ending, and was fast paced (although the plot itself wasn't fast, but my reading the book was). The only thing I think I could say is that if you haven't read other books with similar plots, this should be ok.

Ok, so for all my bitching I have two major compliments....first, the sex scenes (though they were few) were really hot...along with the fighting scenes they made up the best parts of the book. If the author gets around to writing another story (this one had a real first-draft feel) and incorporates sex scenes with the same style and heat, that's something I would read.

Another plus was her depiction of the violence. Yup. Violence. Some authors pull the punches when dishing out the pain to their protagonists (especially the women), but the horror that visits the heroine in this book left me wondering if she would actually make it. So bravo for this. Too many authors just don't have the imagination nor the stomach to really do it, but this one did.

So, in all the book was good, I wont read it again, but I will buy and read the sequels. I hope that when they come out the author has learned a bit from this first one and applies it to the second.

I would recommend reading it, if you like the dark romances then this one should be good, but how good is subjective to your own reading experience. I tend to read about 20 books a month and up to 50 so I am a bit jaded now.


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A Nice Change

I really enjoyed the book. This author changed it up on me by taking the path less traveled here and there. She made me know and care about these characters and I cannot wait to read what happens next! Thank you Anita Gray ( )

Wow! This book starts dark, gets lighter, gets really dark, and finally an HEA.

Blaire has been twisted from a young age to be the perfect killer security for Maxim, a Russian mob boss. That is, until Charlie walks into her life and messes it all up.

Blaire goes through some heavy stuff and manages to fight through. It's a roller coaster ride that I'm so glad that I got on. ( )