The Kiss Thief by L.J. Shen
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
THEME: Mafia/Political
RECEIVED: Tour
BLURB:
They say your first kiss should be earned.
Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky.
They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred.
Mine were broken before we left church.
They say your heart only beats for one man.
Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end.
I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit.
Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage.
They say that all great love stories have a happy ending.
I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter.
One kiss.
Two men.
Three lives.
Entwined together.
And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.
REVIEW:
This was my first read of the new year, what a way to kick it off! This was exactly what I needed in a new book, one I didn't even know I needed. The romance is sexy, angsty and delicious. The drama is suspenseful, gut retching and holy moly did that just happen. This story will knock you off your seat, the characters will take hold and shake you to the core, not just emotionally but because you as the reader will be sucked into their world. L.J. Shen beautifully wrote a story that I was on edge of my seat about 90 % of the time, the synopsis was iffy at first but once I read the story, I got it, the worries I had, obviously are gone. This is nothing like I thought it was going to be.
The Kiss Thief follows Francesca Rossi, the princess of the mafia world. She is spoiled and loved, but also trapped. She wants to go to college and learn, her father wants her to marry and have children. She's only loved one man, who also wants her, but they have been waiting for the right moment. Until everything changes, her first kiss is stolen by a Wolfe, not just any wolf, but a gorgeous, frustrating, cruel man named Keaton Wolfe.
Francesca at the beginning is spoiled, blind to what is really going on around her, but she is also young, only nineteen and unsure about the realty of her world. In the beginning I felt she was too naive, too sheltered, too whiny. But then this girl started to grow, she started to see what was in front of her, the people, the life she lived, the life she now will have with Wolfe. She has to grow up fast, get tough, and bring out the side of her she had but pushed away.
Wolfe is a force to be reckoned with, he doesn't care about what other people say, he has the power, the control and the secrets to ruin a lot of peoples lives. Francesca is another piece to a game that he's playing to win, but he doesn't expect that this little girl will change something in him, make him see what he didn't think he could ever have. He is downright cruel at times, his worlds are harsh, but they need to be, he has a plan and he will make sure he takes down the very people who destroyed his family.
This is a love hate kind of romance, there are so many times where I held my breath because I have no idea what I would do in Francesca situations at times. I felt for her, sometimes I wanted to shake her in frustration, same with Wolfe. Both of them have these insane layers that peel off bit by bit and they both come to realize that they need each other. I don't want to say much more because this story has so many shocking moments, sexy moments, holy crap moments. I loved it all.
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Excerpt
“Are you sure you’re on my card?” I turned to the man with a polite yet distant smile. I was still disoriented from the exchange with Angelo when the stranger pulled me against his hard body and pressed a possessive hand lower than socially acceptable on my back, a second from groping my butt.
“Answer me,” I hissed.
“My bid on your card was the highest,” he replied dryly.
“The bids are undisclosed. You don’t know how much other people have paid,” I kept my lips pursed to keep myself from yelling.
“I know it’s nowhere near the realm of what this dance is worth.”
Un-freaking-believable.
We began to waltz around the room as other couples were not only spinning and mingling but also stealing envious glances at us. Naked, raw ogles that told me that whomever the blonde he’d come to the masquerade with was, she wasn’t his wife. And that I might have been all the rage in The Outfit, but the rude man was in high demand, too.
I was stiff and cold in his arms, but he didn’t seem to notice—or mind. He knew how to waltz better than most men, but he was technical, and lacked warmth and Angelo’s playfulness.
“Nemesis.” He took me by surprise, his rapacious gaze stripping me bare. “Distributing glee and dealing misery. Seems at odds with the submissive girl who entertained Bishop and his horsey wife at the table.”
I choked on my own saliva. Did he just call the governor’s wife horsey? And me submissive? I looked away, ignoring the addictive scent of his cologne, and the way his marble body felt against mine.
“Nemesis is my spirit animal. She was the one to lure Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection and died of vanity. Pride is a terrible illness.” I flashed him a taunting smirk.
“Some of us could use catching it.” He bared his straight white teeth.
“Arrogance is a disease. Compassion is the cure. Most gods didn’t like Nemesis, but that’s because she had a backbone.”
“Do you?” He arched a dark eyebrow.
“Do I…?” I blinked, the courteous grin on my face crumpling. He was even ruder when we were alone.
“Have a backbone,” he provided. He stared at me so boldly and intimately, it felt like he breathed fire into my soul. I wanted to step out of his touch and jump into a pool full of ice.
“Of course, I do,” I responded, my spine stiffening. “What’s with the manners? Were you raised by wild coyotes?”
“Give me an example,” he said, ignoring my quip. I was beginning to draw away from him, but he jerked me back into his arms. The glitzy ballroom distorted into a backdrop, and even though I was starting to notice that the man behind the demi-mask was unusually beautiful, the ugliness of his behavior was the only thing that stood out.
I am a warrior and a lady…and a sane person who can deal with this horrid man.
“I really like Angelo Bandini.” I dropped my voice, slicing my gaze from his eyes and toward the table where Angelo’s family had been seated. My father was sitting a few seats away, staring at us coldly, surrounded by Made Men who chatted away.
“And see, in my family, we have a tradition dating back ten generations. Prior to her wedding, a Rossi bride is to open a wooden chest—carved and made by a witch who lived in my ancestors’ Italian village—and read three notes written to her by the last Rossi girl to marry. It’s kind of a good luck charm mixed with a talisman and a bit of fortunetelling. I stole the chest tonight and opened one of the notes, all so I could rush fate. It said that tonight I was going to be kissed by the love of my life, and well…” I drew my lower lip into my mouth and sucked it, peering under my eyelashes at Angelo’s empty seat. The man stared at me stoically, as though I was a foreign film he couldn’t understand. “I’m going to kiss him tonight.”
“That’s your backbone?”
“When I have an ambition, I go for it.”
A conceited frown crinkled his mask, as if to say I was a complete and utter moron. I looked him straight in the eye. My father taught me that the best way to deal with men like him was to confront, not run. Because, this man? He’d chase.
About the Author
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
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