Saturday, March 02, 2019

Early Review: Salvatore by Cecy Robson


Book Description

Desperate men do desperate things . . .

Salvatore Romero is a dangerous man. If you’ve lived the life Sal has, rage is to be expected and maybe so is heart. After his father killed his mother in a jealous rage, Sal was left to raise his two younger brothers, becoming a parent long before he was ready.

Desperate for money to support his family, Sal sought help from his old friend, Vincent Maggiano, the son of New Jersey’s top crime boss being groomed to take over his ailing father’s empire.

Sal never planned to join the mob. He also never planned to fall for his brother's sweet and ultra conservative counselor, Adrianna Daniels.  

Aedry isn’t the type of girl Sal is usually drawn to. Her skirts are longer, her hair is tamer, and her heels aren’t clear. But he can’t deny the attraction he feels. And Salvatore’s dark, sexy, and dangerous persona is the exact opposite of the clean-cut business men who usually catch Aedry’s attention.

Neither planned on a life of crime nor did they plan on love. But now, both are in too far.


My Review

I don't read a lot of genre's other than PNR most of the time but there are some authors that I just love their writing style and this happens to be one of those authors, so I knew I was going to request this book as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. 

Sal's story broke my heart. When he and his younger brothers were kids, their father killed their mother. And I thought, Oh hell, this story is gonna make me cry. I felt so bad for the kids, especially Sal since he was the oldest and he wanted to take care of his brothers. The entire child welfare system is messed up and would rather break up a family than help them stay together. So when Sal's friend, Vincent helps him keep his family together, he's now indebted to him. It wouldn't be so bad if Vincent wasn't the son of a major mob boss and was slotted to take over the family business at some point. 

Sal ends up working for the mob and it's a bad world, a bad time and a bad life but he's keeping his brother's safe so that's all that matters to him. Sal has done a lot of things but he's never killed anyone...yet. But if Vincent gets his way and Sal takes the new position as his bodyguard, he will probably have to kill someone since the other mob bosses are coming after Vincent when he takes over the family business. Things seem to be going on as normal as ever but Sal and his brothers have gotten really close to the boys guidance counselor, Adrianna Daniels. Watching Sal and Aedry get to know one another was almost sad at first. He's really not used to someone normal like her and he messes up a bit before they finally start getting along.

Sal has been so careful not to get involved with anyone who could be hurt by what he does but Vincent finds out about her and uses her to try and get Sal to do what he wants. As soon as Adrianna meets Vincent, she knows that there's more to the man than just a regular boss and Sal knows that she might be in danger if he steps out of line with Vincent.

I was a little mad at Sal for ever getting involved with her in the first place knowing who he associates himself with and what he does. He put her in danger. I was wondering how this was going to end. How they were going to get their HEA or if they were. Then in the span of a few pages everything changes. That twist happened so fast, it left my jaw on the floor for a few seconds. I actually had to go back and re-read what just happened. I never saw that ending coming but it was great! 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

This book will be available on March 13th, 2019. 

Disclosure: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.