Nancy Haviland is a new author to me and I’m really glad that I gave this series a chance. When I signed up to read this book, I knew it was book 2 and I already had book 1 on my TBR. Luckily, I had time to read book 1 and I enjoyed it. I have to say that I enjoyed this book more than the first and only because I think there was a lot of world building going on in that one and there was a lot going on. Still- a very good book! (You do not have to have read book 1 to read book 2… I’m just picky about that kind of thing and I had the time to read both books.)
I really, really enjoyed Vengeance. Ms. Haviland does not skimp on the details and she fleshes out characters very well. She also fills you in on the main characters in book one, Eva and Gabriel and I always appreciate when an author continues to develop previous characters arcs.
Vincente is one big bad dude. He is an enforcer, an assassin and all around badass. For real. Nika is his one weakness and he really tries hard to resist her for as long as possible. When he met Nika she was married to a guy that is real piece of crap. Nika are Vincente are completely drawn to each other and V has a very hard time getting over his attraction for her. Their chemistry is immediate and completely undeniable. V tries to maintain his distance due to her being married even though he thinks Caleb is a giant asshole and little does he now how big of an asshole Caleb truly is.
As fabulous as Vincente is, Nika is my favorite character in this book. She has been through so very much and has endured more than anyone should have to and she truly deserves someone that can provide her protection and tenderness. Her “husband” is such a huge, gigantic piece of crap that it’s not even funny.
While she is drawn to Vincente in times of need, she is no shrinking violet and she is not afraid to do kind of stupid and ill-advised things for those that she cares about. She is an extremely courageous woman and I really liked her character.
I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of mafia romance but this one totally has my attention and devotion.
She pulled away from Vincente and did a ta-da motion with her arms that had all three of them—fucking Alesio looked a little too closely—peering down at the black tights and silky black shirt she wore, the neckline of which was so wide that it had slipped off one shoulder.
Her arms fell to her sides, and she seemed to lose her small burst of energy. “S’not as fun as I thought’d it’d be, though,” she grumped as she came to his side again. “Can’t do much. Not even play with someone like Vincente here, ’cause he doesn’t like me.”
He ground his molars to dust, while ignoring Alesio and Vito’s interested looks. He slipped his arm around her waist. “Come on, Red. Let’s get you home.”
She continued like he hadn’t spoken. “What’s your name?” she asked Vito.
“I’m Vito.”
She laughed, the sound musical and lovely. “Of course you are. And you?” she turned to G’s cousin. Vincente glared at him, the thread that was his control stretching.
“Alesio.”
Nika gasped, her widening eyes making her look like a guileless porn fantasy come to life. “You’re Gabriel’s Alesio? Oh, my God!” She launched herself at the handsome little shit, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek—more like the corner of his very shocked mouth. “You helped save Eva! Thank you! You’re officially my new hero. Maybe we can get together one day and you can tell me what went down in that cabin. Eva won’t talk to me about it ’cause she’s afraid the bad stuff will tip me over this edge they seem to think I’m on . . .”
As she continued, babbling about how silly and adorable Eva’s protective instincts were, Vincente stared. At her. In another man’s arms. Her fingers absently playing with the hair at Alesio’s nape. Her body pressed against his. Her beautiful lips—which had now tasted Gabriel’s cousin!—mere inches from possibly doing so again. Her undivided attention on the handsome face that belonged to a guy closer to her own age than Vincente was.
This would eventually be his reality. Seeing her like this with someone else.
Alesio’s hands were up and out, in a pose of total surrender. His head jerkily shaking back and forth as though saying, “Wasn’t me. I didn’t do nothin’.”
The weakened thread holding Vincente’s control snapped with a dangerous twang, and without being conscious of it, his body took over. He reached out and clamped his fingers around Nika’s upper arm to pull her off the enemy—who was so lucky they were standing in the middle of a crowded club. He spun her around to face him, pulling her in until their noses were brushing against each other.
“Do not. Ever. Throw yourself into another man’s arms in front of me again. Do you understand me?” His voice sounded as if it had been dredged from the very pits of hell, his expression feeling like one he’d stolen from Lucifer himself.
And Nika, oblivious to the ominous cloud hanging like a pall around them, patted his cheek with her soft palm and smiled up at him. “Sure. Sure.” She turned back to the boys, or as much as she could because Vincente didn’t let her go. “It was nice to meet you guys. I guess I’ll see you again when I visit Eva. Ready?” she asked him.
Striving for calm, he slid his hand down to her hip and tucked her closer to his side. She came as easily as if they’d been doing this for years.
Yeah. Years—if he were to give in and take her as he was so tempted to do—that would wear on her. Steal her independence by nailing her to his side, giving her nothing but a front-row-center to an endless string of possibly violent, dangerous days she didn’t need or deserve. Maybe even get her killed in a wrong-time-wrong-place thing like the car bomb that had taken his mother’s life. All the while she would be shackled to a man with no heart or soul left to speak of.
That wasn’t what he wanted for Nika.
He curled his free hand into a tight fist and punched it into Vito’s thick chest and then flipped Alesio off, not wanting him to feel left out.
“Later, boys.”
Purchase:
Leave a Reply