Sunday, February 26, 2012

Review: Revenge(Blood and Honor#1) by Dana Delamar


I received a copy of Revenge, from the author through the group Making Connections on Goodreads, for an honest review

Revenge (Blood and Honor, #1)
A woman on the run. A damaged Mafia don. A rival bent on revenge. . . 

Kate Andretti is married to the Mob-but doesn't know it. When her husband uproots them to Italy, Kate leaves everything she knows behind. Alone in a foreign land, she finds herself locked in a battle for her life against a husband and a family who will "silence" her if she will not do as they wish. When her husband tries to kill her, she accepts the protection offered by a wealthy businessman with Mafia ties. He's not a mobster, he claims. Or is he?

Enrico Lucchesi never wanted to be a Mafia don, and now he's caught in the middle of a blood feud with the Andretti family. His decision to help Kate brings the feud between the families to a boil. Attacks from without and within push them both to the breaking point, and soon Enrico is forced to choose between protecting the only world he knows and saving the woman he loves.




Review
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

If you are intrigued with Mafia aspects and the inner workings or gritty, dark stories than this is a book for you! Revenge is a fictional take on Mafia life in Italy that will have you questioning the line between reality and fiction, that is how well written this book is!

Well-developed characters help carry the story, they are perfected in their own way from sweet, endearing Antonio, rugged Ruggero, untrusting, jaded Kate, emotional Enrico and the purely evil Carlo. The relationships that are created and shattered all hold a significant part for the story and I'm guessing, for the future stories of Blood and Honor. Kate and Enrico were both agreeable characters that each have their own personal struggles that send them(and the reader) on a roller coaster. You ultimately are able to sympathize with each of them, making you eager for a happy ending.

The imagery is well laid out, to the point where the reader will feel immersed in the bellisimo Italia and the culture surrounding the Mafia. There is corruption, violence, blood and gore, death, hard decisions and the expected romance. In other words, this story has grit that will either have the readers cringing or increasing their reading speed. I was drawn into the story from the absolute beginning, unable to put the book down. The dialogue was simple perfection, where you could hear the Italian accents dripping from each character(save Kate). Dana Delamar expertly weaves in Italian words that flow flawlessly, giving the story an authentic Italian feel. Bestowed with many point-of-views throughout the story we are able to fully soak up the Mafia aspect as we get an inside look at both sides of the bigger 'family'. Yet, the story still carries a hint of mystery. Dana Delamar has obviously done a tone of research regarding the Italian Mafia, successfully turning it into a fictional story that will grab your attention, rendering you useless until you are satisfied at the end.

Blood and Honor will be a four book series, each taking a closer look at different characters involved in the Lucchesi Family. I found Revenge to be the perfect introductory story to the ones that will follow, allowing us to become attached to the future main characters and understanding their roles.


Revenge is available at AmazonSmashwords and Barnes & Noble

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