Mafia Captive by Kitty Thomas

So there are several authors whose works stick with me. Kitty Thomas is one of them. Not only do I love her work but I reread it a lot. There is something about having read a book and still being able to gain enjoyment from going back to it again and again. Mafia Captive is one of those books, plus it takes place during Christmas. It's become a personal tradition to read it for the holidays.

Kitty writes dark and so her books are not for everyone. They are different and different is good in my opinion. Below is all the fun and pertinent information on this title and on the author herself.

So if you like dark. If you enjoy a good mafia story. If you have a soft spot for furry animals. Or if you like some kink thrown in as well, then this book is for you. Plus Christmas, and the mention of various foods. My mouth is salivating at the thought.

Enjoy!

Title: Mafia Captive

Author: Kitty Thomas

Genre: Literary Erotica/Contemporary

Publisher: Burlesque Press

Release Date: April 18 2013

Blurb/Synopsis:

Faith Jacobson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After witnessing a mob hit, she’s only moments from death when Angelo Raspallo decides to give his brother an unlikely gift.

Leo has avoided involvement with the family business, but it doesn’t make him a saint. He’s troubled and ashamed by his darker desires, one of which is to own a slave. But when his brother throws Faith at his feet, repainting the scenario to make Leo the hero rescuing her from certain death, his moral fortitude will be tested. If Faith were kinky, it would be easy to live out his fantasy, but she’s not. Not even a little bit. Even the mildest spanking sparks terror in her that Leo can’t bear.

The gift soon becomes a burden as he fights with himself over how to handle the addition to his home. He could release her, but his brother doesn’t do loose ends. The only thing keeping her out of the bottom of the harbor is Leo’s mercy. She’s like a beautiful piece of art he keeps in a glass case but can never touch. Is possessing her enough?

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any of this book’s content in a real world setting. This work is intended for an emotionally mature, adult audience.

Book Links

Amazon ~~ https://amzn.to/2yaJLr8

Barnes and Noble ~~ http://bit.ly/2DsJaXp

Google Books ~~ http://bit.ly/2y9Nm8D

iBooks ~~ https://apple.co/2ybVUvR

Kobo ~~ http://bit.ly/2yf4SZ8

Smashwords ~~ http://bit.ly/2yc9AHh

Also Found in THE CAPTURE FANTASY COLLECTION

Amazon ~ https://amzn.to/2ykzSY3

Barnes and Noble ~ http://bit.ly/2yaxlPT

Google Books ~ http://bit.ly/2yaRntw

Kobo ~ http://bit.ly/2ykAwEX

Smashwords ~ http://bit.ly/2yeyLZx

KITTY THOMAS writes dark sexy stories that play with power. She began publishing in early 2010 and is considered one of the original authors of the dark romance/erotic subgenre.

This work is meant for an adult audience. The author does not endorse or condone any of the behavior carried out by characters in her stories. She believes fiction is meant to challenge the reader, not teach morality. If you haven’t developed morals by the time you start reading erotica, it’s probably too late.

Kitty writes standalone novels except for the Pleasure House Books which are interlocking standalones and can be read in any order (The “order of publication” is listed for those who want a reading order.)

Pleasure House Books

Order of Publication: (i.e. the order in which they were wrote.)

1. Guilty Pleasures

(https://kittythomas.com/book/guilty-pleasures/ )

2. Broken Dolls

(https://kittythomas.com/book/broken-dolls/ )

3.  Surrender

(https://kittythomas.com/book/surrender/ )

4. Pretty Lies

(https://kittythomas.com/book/pretty-lies/ )

For Complete Book List Checkout Kitty’s Website

(https://kittythomas.com/books/ ) 

Author Links

Amazon Author Page  (https://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Thomas/e/B003DYCDF0/ )

Blog (https://kittythomas.com/blog/)

BookBub  (https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kitty-thomas )

Facebook Author Page   (https://www.facebook.com/KittyThomasBooks/ )

Goodreads   (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2654606.Kitty_Thomas )

Twitter  @kitty_thomas (https://twitter.com/kitty_thomas )

Website  (https://kittythomas.com/ )

Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski

This is going to be an unusual review reflection on the book Happy Doomsday. Why you may ask? Well, the main reason is that I'm not sure how I would rate this book as a whole. I could rationalize and break down the parts that make up the whole and go from there. This is something which I will end up doing. There are going to be spoilers and I'll try to keep them from spoiling too much.

First off, this is (and was, depending on when this is read,) one of six book from the Kindle First Reads for the month of August. After looking at the other books, I decided this was the one I was going to try out. I like the idea of the zombie apocalypse or "doomsday" books. (See the post about Flesh.)

Okay then, onto the review of this book. I love the cover. It's different enough and after reading the book it makes total sense. The way the book is described put me into a totally different mindset of expectations that what I personally gleaned from the book itself. This is where it gets tricky is my overall liking of the book.

The story has a prologue and then it goes back in time to the beginning for the three main characters. I was expecting the three characters to meet up quickly and that the story would have been about the three of them in this doomsday scenario. That is not what happened. It was over halfway into the novel before the events in the prologue to even happen.

I was tempted several times to put the book down and expect not to finish it. I felt that it was a bit on the boring side in several places. However, this is one of the parts that I have to rationalize and give a good solid 4 to 5 stars on and that's the way it was written. Now I'm sure there may be some confusion seeing as I just said the opposite, but what I mean is that, I couldn't stop thinking about the book. Even as I questioned why I was reading the book and my feelings about said book, I either couldn't put it down or I thought about it and needed to know the ending.

Having read several other reviews since I finished the book, I know I'm not the only one out there that had varied thoughts and feeling on what was written on the page. Which is a good thing.

So onto major spoilers.

This is the warning I'm giving.

So this book is about Dev, Lucy, and Marcus, all 16 years old. Lucy and Marcus find each other pretty quickly after the event where basically all life just is gone. There is no explanation as to what happened or why it happened. What is known or what is heavily implied, is that the only survivors are ones that were just about to end their lives. At the end of the book, the event is never explained with the story being open ended.

Dev was the most explained and fully fledged character and most of the book has to do with his survival. He has Asperger's and he decided to stay in his home and make his neighborhood into a fortress. The author goes into detail about Dev's thought processes that at times seemed overkill, but we can understand Dev really well. Including his rationalization of needing eggs for breakfast.

Lucy and Marcus have their backstories explained rather quickly and without the fine detail. In the end Marcus' story ultimately doesn't matter due to his rather quick and off the page death. (I was actually shocked when this happened.) Lucy ended up pregnant with her best friend's baby and she discovers that he killed himself, which incidentally was what she was going to do once she found out. It's at this point there is a lot of mentions of abortion because she doesn't want the baby and religion. She loses the baby during the event, but ends up becoming pregnant by Marcus.

Marcus was a character that wasn't very likable in a lot of ways. And I was shocked and saddened by his death because of the baby, and the few things he did to become likable. In the way I read the book, he created a path for Dev. As did Lucy and the baby.

Everything that happened pushed Dev into feeling something. Feelings weren't something he could understand in the book and every event seemed to create a little bit more understanding in his mind. From taking in a dog he really liked, to having to kill him due to rabies, to leaving his home in the end to search more survivors with Lucy and the child they raised together.

There were a lot of political mentions and various other bits here and there that maybe wasn't needed. Though looking at the world through the eyes of the characters this can be explained.

There is also a wave of rats and wild pigs that show up throughout the book. After some thought to this, I view the animals as the driving force to keep the characters moving or for Dev, to hole up and create a self imposed cage of sorts. A cage that he ends up leaving in the end.

Breaking down the book and looking at it in different lights makes the book intriguing. I didn't find it very humorous, though it is thought provoking. Within the culture of today, the zombie apocalypse is thought about and plans are made on how to survive it. There are no zombies in this book. It's the world.

I enjoyed reading about how one would survive with nothing was available anymore. This was about survival and how to go about it. This book doesn't gloss over the gore that's for sure.

Now that I've written up this very odd and different review, I still don't know what I truly think of the book. Do I want to know what happens when they leave at the end? Yes. So depending on what I'm looking at to review my range is between a 4 to a 5ish. Let's just say that this book will stick with me and has occupied my thoughts.

I have told people about this book and I can only say that I'm not sure how I feel about the book, but I couldn't put it down. It's a book that you either want to read and experience or it's not. The determination of how you perceived this story will be different from mine.

Bastards and Whiskey by Alta Hensley

I absolutely love being part of a book club. It's a great way to find new books and then have the opportunity to discuss them. Seeing as I read a lot as it is, I sometimes need a little help choosing a book. Especially when my TBR won't get smaller.

Last month it was The Tutor, which I reviewed. This month it was Bastards and Whiskey. I'd actually had another friend read it, but I was in the midst of other books and I threw it on a list. Lists are the best things ever. They can be very helpful. Such as collections on the Kindle app. I swear by it, once I started using it. Narrows things down. I'm even attempting to use Goodreads. Mainly to keep up with books I've read.

I digress. Something I do often and have no intention of changing. But I got this book and broke it open. Only thing was, I wasn't ready to read it as is. I needed something more so I went to my record player. (I'm not that old, or maybe I am seeing as I recall listening to records with friends back in the day.) This is a newfangled contraption with a CD player too. I found an older record and put it on. Something still wasn't right. I mean I had a record playing Kenny Rogers. Maybe I didn't need to go that old school. I traded out the music to Urban Chipmunk. (Note: This is not the best music to read something like this book too, but reasons.)

Everything was almost perfect. Almost. Perfect. Whiskey! Yes, I needed a whiskey drink before I could dive all the way into this book. So some ginger ale and whiskey later along with some very catchy music, I was on my way to reading this book.

This was a book that was very well paced. The characters were both likable and yet they were flawed by their pride and unwillingness to communicate. Kenneth and Anita made a wonderful couple in that they pushed each other outside of their comfort zones. There are so many ways to inadvertently create spoilers in a review of this book.

The story is told from both of the characters POV. This makes the story that much better. Anita is from a place so small and insignificant that she sees it as a mile marker and not a place. She is poor and only has an older woman she cares for in her life. (Also a twice mentioned old biker that was also a tattoo artist.) Meanwhile, in New Orleans Kenneth is an extremely rich lawyer who own a gentlemen's club called Spiked Roses. Anita ends up in New Orleans and working at Spiked Roses.

This is where the story gets dark and dirty. It's also when we see a struggle where Kenneth wants Anita. We also see how naive Anita really is. I wanted to scream at her, the same as Kenneth, when she ends up going home with a man for a shit ton of money but she will also have to deal with being degraded. Which she is unable to handle so she cuts and runs with the money. Kenneth goes after her and their story begins.

The character development was great. The sex was dirty and hot. Holy cow. Be prepared to need a drink after this book. There are other books in the series and I'm looking forward to seeing how the series progresses. 

Flesh by Kylie Scott

I've been reading Kylie Scott for a little bit now. I started with her Stage Dive series and then to her Dive Bar books. They were engaging and funny. Simply put, they were great entertainment. The characters were great to read about. They are some of my favorite rereads. Not that I should be rereading much with my ever growing TBR list.

Sometimes, one needs a book they are familiar with to escape into. And her books are great escapes. Then, I found out she wrote some books set during a zombie apocalypse. I wasn't sure how well that was going to work out for me. I debated for a heck of a lot longer than I should have. Then, Flesh went on sale and I had no reason not to give the book a shot.

I shouldn't have waited. There was no reason I should have. This book certainly wasn't about a musicians or bartenders, nope it was about a woman and two men surviving zombies and the criminal humans.

Ali meets Daniel and they team up. Okay, so a heck more is involved than that. Daniel hadn't seen a real live girl in like 8 weeks or so. He was in instant love and protect the moment he saw her. (This is totally okay in this world. It's fiction and erotica and whatever else tag can be thrown on it.) Ali takes a bit longer to warm up but she needed a man in her life. (A living breathing one.)

Off they go to find themselves a nice house they can turn into a fortress. Oops, they run into bad people when they went "shopping". But Finn, the hot young cop comes in for the rescue. Then it's a series of events as they try to escape all while having sex and creating a bond among the three of them. Who wouldn't want two hot males looking out for you during a zombie crisis?

Totally, don't want to ruin the plot or story line so I'll just say that they end up in a safe town where more adventure awaits. Plus relations, because it's that kind of book.

There is a second book and a couple of shorts all set in this new zombie filled world. I will be checking them out soon. I loved the writing in this book and the engaging way the characters were and hope that it continues in the next one. In the mean time, I should start making up a list of things needed in the event of a zombie outbreak (it's possible) and to read that zombie guide that's been around for some time. It's imperative to know the difference between zombie sub-classes.

The Tutor by K. Larsen

I read a ton. To date this year, I have read over 50 books. I do it all on my own with just knowing I like the author's work, freebies, or the ever popular "oh, pretty" choice. Very recently, I joined a book club (Twisted Sisters) and the book The Tutor by K. Larsen was being read for June.

I ventured over to Amazon because I use Kindle and looked into the book. I was intrigued by the story line and couldn't wait to give it a try. Plus, I'd be able to talk to others about the book. Something that I have found can be difficult. The internet and e-books have made reading easy as can be and yet it is extremely diversified. Which is great, but not the same as being in a store and striking up a conversation in the romance or fantasy section because you are holding the newest book of one of your favorite series.

I read this book in a few days (cause life interfered) and was blown away while being completely captivated. There are several things that made me fall in love with this book. Some of them are technical and others are purely story and aesthetics.

First off, the structure and telling of the story were well executed. There are several characters that are telling the story. First and foremost is the main character Nora. She is the main voice and the story is told from her POV in the present and the past. Some of the other characters are sprinkled in and break up what could have been a story only told from Nora. The balance struck between these elements sucked me in and kept me reading.

This is a dark romantic suspense. Nora was kidnapped after going to tutor a young girl in the mountains at a very rustic cabin. She is a shy young woman who has experienced a lot of varying trauma. She is taken by the man, Holden, and it all goes from there.

Without doing a book report or giving away any major spoilers, I'm going to refrain from going into too much detail, because it was worth the read. That being said, the characters are all dealing with flaws. I couldn't stand certain characters at first, but as I read and as those flaws were brought to light along with motive, I had to change the my stance on those feelings.

Feeling and emotions were evoked big time. With the kidnappings and delving into the minds of the victims, kidnapper, and law enforcement, I wasn't certain what I need to be feeling. There were times I wanted to cry and others where I could have screamed.

My feelings in regard to Holden are mixed because he was severally flawed but he was multi layered to the point that while I should have hated him, I didn't. Others may disagree with me, but no two people will read the same work and come out with the same experience.

Now, onto just the randomness of what I liked. I liked the cabin and how cut off from the world it was. There was no electricity or running water. Now like Nora, I would have an issue with the plumbing part, because I really enjoy indoor plumbing. Just saying, best invention ever out side of AC and maybe the icebox (see what I did there?). The descriptions of the beauty of the world and quietness of the scene were picturesque.

I loved this book, but be mindful of the trigger warnings the author set forth.

Reading and Living Life

Two months since my last post. Scary things since I've continued to do lots of reading. Granted life changes have thrown my reading plans out of the window. Plus spending time with family in an upcoming vacation. Granted there will be a plane ride involved, so reading will be had. That's the plan at least. Have a fully charged Kindle, cell phone, and a battery pack thing to recharge either device. That's the ultimate plan.

Onto some of the good stuff I've been reading.

Nuts by the awesome Scott Hildreth came out recently and I sped read though it while getting ready to sell my house. Let's just say packing and cleaning in a week for that to occur is a stressful task. One that was mitigated by P-Nut and his brand of crazy. This is book five from the Filthy Fuckers series and I think it's my favorite so far. I had to reread it, slowly, just because I knew I had missed stuff and that couldn't have been allowed to stand.

Upon the reread, I did catch the subtle humor I missed the first time. Bad me. I really didn't want to see this end. I wanted to cry because it ended. When I got to the last page, I silently weep for a moment, but knew that it would last forever. Plus reread!

Anyway, Percy aka P-Nut and Joey aka the love interest were my favorite couple so far. I also have gained the desire to cook fancier dinners and learn about all things motorcycle related to the actual motorcycle. Other than the obvious stuff. Granted in Rigid there is a lot of talk about music and I still need to go look up the songs mentioned in the book. That's neither here nor there. What's important are the characters and the story. Both of which are written very well.

I read quite a bit and didn't post anything so here's a list of what I read. I had fun reading them all. I have several books that have more than one book included and those books are not included as of yet. One I have to find them and two I need to remember to do so.

Suddenly Dirty by JA Low
Beast by A. Zavarelli
My Beautiful Killer by Riley Rollins
Ghostface Killer By M. Never
Beasting Beauty By Madison Faye
Huck By Alison Ryan
Wine and Whiskey and Wine and Whiskey: Everything For You by Nikki Belaire
Going Down and Getting Off by Katherine Stevens
Rock Me by Vivian Wood

I loved Nikki's books and have two more to go to finish the books she's written so far. I couldn't seem to put down Ghostface Killer. I have a few of her books to finish off as well.

Onward to new books to read and hopefully better updates. Not promising anything right now.

Binge Reading!!

I have gone onto a reading binge and knocked out quite a few books I had gotten some time ago. I've read over 40 different titles in 2017. Some are short stories, but mainly they are full length books. Between all the reading, I've been doing other things. Such as gaming, crafting a bit, watching tv, and of course working.

So about a month ago, an author by the name of Kitty Thomas gave me the opportunity to read an ARC of her newest book Surrender with the request I leave a review on Amazon when it went live. Now this is the third book in one of her book worlds that I really like. The books are stand alone and some familiar characters make appearances. Other than that, they can be read in any order. I personally loved her book Broken Dolls and her main male lead Brian. So being able to read this book filled me with joy.

So I get the ARC and I read it quickly and with minor interruption. One I had to get dinner, hello Taco Bell, and two I had to take care of pets, and three I was chatting with the author. There were also a few times I laughed at weird places and even threw in a Russian accent to the characters that were Russian. Normally, I don't assign accents to characters due to reading everything silently and in my head. But I did.

By the end, I was on a Kitty Thomas reading binge. I had her entire catalog on my Kindle, but I hadn't read most of them. A few were partially read. So I read the rest of her books in less than a week. I should have been curled into a ball questioning my sanity, but nope, I powered though and was relieved that I accomplished the goal.

Kitty's books are a bit on the darker side, but to  me the ending all work and they might not be the normal HEA that most would go for, but they make sense to the books and they conclude well. So the books I read were of course Surrender, then Guilty Pleasure, The Con Artist, Mafia Captive, Big Sky, Tender Mercies, Dark Night of the Soul, Blood Mate, The Last Girl, and Submissive Fairy Tales.

I finished Reaper's Fall by Janna Wylde and read her shorter novella Shade's Lady. I really like the Reaper's stories. The men aren't perfect and the women have backbones and humor.

Due to Kitty Thomas, I picked up a book from Anna Zaires called Tormentor Mine and read though it pretty quick. This was another darker romance. A hitman that falls for a woman he tormented to get to her husband only to stalk her and make her his. Sounded fantastic. It is too, plus there will be more of the story, because it ended with a "cliffhanger." Not the type of cliffhanger which makes you scream WTF what happened, but more like a there will be another book to explore this relationship and life. Totally worth picking up. Soon I will read whatever else I have by her on my Kindle, though I have other books to binge on first.

Another favorite author of mine is Kallypso Masters. She writes romance with a BDSM theme. Recently, she released the novel Jesse's Hideout. It's a sweet romance novel with a few meddling ghosts. Due to this book, I now want to try fruitcake, hot buttered rum, and oatmeal raisin cookies with Chinese 5 spice in them, (Books with food usually make me crave said food. It's a curse, plus Kristen Ashley's books do it to me the most.) Kallypso's work has a lot of fantastic description and brings you into the story.

Speaking of Kristen Ashley, I binged on her books Creed, Raid. and Deacon. I'd read the first book some time ago and I don't have the last book as of yet. All were good, but I think I really loved Deacon the most.

The follow up to Candy Boys was Dirty Princes by Jo Raven. I needed a lighter romance with some smiles so I read this one since I laughed so much with Candy. While it still had comedy, it wasn't as much as candy. I like it even if I wanted to smack one of the characters and give him the stick eye. All part of the story though and I got the ending I wanted so it's all good.

I was in an MC romance kind of mood so I read Nicole Snow's Never Have an Outlaw's Baby. There was lots of sex and drama in this book. Is there any other kind of fun in a book?

Then, a book I've been waiting a year for finally released. Twist by Kylie Scott. Joe and Alex are fantastic. Joe is a man's man and he's super sweet. Though he does have his I'm a man and oblivious moments. I've read the Stage Dive series and the first book of this series and would recommend them all. Now I have to wait another year for book 3. *pouts* Follow her on Facebook and watch the shenanigans ensure between her and Joanna Wylde.

I started reading Scott Hildreth's  Selected Sinners MC books. I've read the fist two books, Making the Cut and Taking the Heat. Both of which are gritty and something else like everything else I've read, but I have the rest of the series on the kindle, waiting and watching from the carousel whenever I pop in. I love the journeys he puts his characters through. Rigid was another book I binged because I was waiting for it. There were all the emotions in it. Now I'm looking forward to the next book about P-Nut. He's a bit of a nut, but he seems to be a lovable nut.

The book I actually finished last was from an author I discovered at the release day Facebook party of Rigid. Straight No Chaser by Nikki Belaire was good. Lately, a lot of the books I've been reading in the 1st person POV has a duel POV, but not this one. It's in Luc's POV the entire time. He's a mafia boss who's in love with his little brother's nanny and will stop at nothing to make her his. The only issue I really had with the book were when scenes would change and I had no idea it happened. To be fair, I've seen the issue in another book I'm reading as well. It pulls me from the story because I didn't realize what was going on. Other than that tiny thing, I'm happy I met and read a new author. Looking forward to reading her other books I also have on the Kindle.

I think there are something like 7000 files of books on the thing. Not sure how that's even possible, but it is. Books for a lifetime. This post is a bit longer due to the mass amount of books I read in the two months I haven't posted. I have several more I'm almost done with. If I reviewed each book on here, it would take forever. I've read Quickies with Eddie short stories as well. Those are by Eddie Cleveland and are good. (Must be signed up to his newsletter to get them.)

That's all I've got now. Back to crafting and reading. Plus I need to shop for a new coffee maker. Mine died and I was lucky enough to have a percolator that still works in the cabinets. It certainly works, but I like the drip coffee makers too. Though I wouldn't mind being able to make the special yummy drinks too. Can't wait to see the options available to me now.

Happy reading!