Title: Thief
Series: Boston Underworld #5
Author: A. Zavarelli
Genre: Dark Romance
Release Date: February 23, 2018
Blurb
I’m a good girl.
I live by a code
that can’t be bent or broken. It is my duty to my family to stay innocent and
pure. To marry an Italian man. The stars are already aligned.
But Nikolai Kozlov
re-writes my destiny with five simple words.
You belong to me
now.
He's Russian mafiya.
A thief. A skilled liar with no moral boundaries. He is everything I have
been taught to hate. A man who stands for nothing. A man who takes what he
wants without a second thought.
And what he wanted
was me.
He thinks he
controls my fate, but what he doesn’t know is, sometimes it’s the good girls
you have to watch out for.
I’m a dangerous man.
I live by a code.
The Vory code. It is my duty to my family to protect the brotherhood. To
destroy anyone who threatens what we stand for, including her.
She’s a dancer. A
beautiful little doll. My prisoner, and my new favorite puppet. This mafia
princess thinks she has me under her spell, but in the end, she is simply
collateral.
It’s a shame to
destroy precious things.
But this is what bad
men do.
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Review:
3 stars
***
The characters names were kind of confusing to me, with all the similar nicknames. Tanaka (who is supposed to be Black and Italian but whose name sounds Japanese to me) is called Nakya and Niki as nicknames. And Nikolai is nicknamed Nika. I knew who was who, but it was kind of odd that the names were so similar.
Nikolai and Tanaka have a very volatile, sometimes violent relationship. I would classify it as love/hate, heavy on the hate. He chokes her multiple times. I understand when reading a mafia book that sometimes these guys act like this and are violent towards enemies, but Tanaka was innocent and never did anything to him. This continued far into the book, even after they begin falling for each other. Nikolai runs hot and cold throughout the book too. Just when I thought he was growing as a person, developing true feelings for her and letting her in, he would backslide. I don't know how she could ever trust him. There were several instances of questionable consent and borderline abuse, as well. Even at 96%, Tanaka still thinks he might kill her. There was so much that happened between them, and no real apologies, that I felt it was too much to come back from. It was hard for me to imagine and trust in their HEA.
Tanaka has some major issues, as well. With her dance career over, due to a mysterious sabotage resulting in a devastating injury right before she was taken by Nikolai, she feels out of control and like her life is over. She begins to control the only thing she can in this situation, by refusing to eat and purging. Nikolai did help her recover from her eating problems, by forcing her to be tube fed and see a psychologist. So that was one good thing he did, even though he still intended to possibly kill her afterwards.
There were also parts of this book that I really liked. I was definitely sucked into the story and couldn't put it down. The story was unique and interesting and the writing was engaging. The mysterious, suspenseful parts of the story were unpredictable and intriguing. I did feel the connection between Tanaka and Nikolai and, during their happy times together, I did feel their love. Overall, though, I felt like everything the couple went through together and put each other through was a little too dark and volatile for my personal taste. I definitely do recommend this book if you like a dark mafia read.
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Excerpt
The first thing I always notice about a person is their
posture. I was raised to believe that good posture conveys good manners, as
well as respect for those around you. Nikolai carries his posture like a casual
‘f#ck you’ to everyone around him. There is no decorum in his leather jacket,
jeans, or his haphazardly laced motorcycle boots. Everything he wears is black,
but the small glimpse of skin beneath is a riot of colors. Tattoos cover every
inch of his exposed skin, including his throat.
I’m not sure which is more offensive- the ink or the faux
hawk atop his head. This is not the way you attend a ballet, nor is he the type
of man I expect my father to keep company with.
“Tanaka.” He reaches for my hand and kisses it in a way that
few men would ever dare to do in my father’s presence. “You dance beautifully.”
The words are unmistakably accented. Russian. And I’m
struggling to maintain my composure while making sense of this situation. My
father has always been protective of me. His own men know better than to speak
to me or look at me, but for this stranger, somehow, it’s okay.
My manners, at least, are still intact, so I reply as I should. “You’ve seen me dance?”
Nikolai flashes a boyish smile in contrast to the deepness of his blue-green eyes. “I like to invest my time in the arts.”
My manners, at least, are still intact, so I reply as I should. “You’ve seen me dance?”
Nikolai flashes a boyish smile in contrast to the deepness of his blue-green eyes. “I like to invest my time in the arts.”
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Author Bio
A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling
author.
She likes all things chocolate, books that come with warnings, and putting her characters through hell. Her tales have been known to flirt with darkness and sometimes court it unabashedly altogether. Revenge themes and tortured souls are her favorites to write and this gives her an excuse to watch bizarre and twisted documentaries in her spare time.
She currently lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies.
She likes all things chocolate, books that come with warnings, and putting her characters through hell. Her tales have been known to flirt with darkness and sometimes court it unabashedly altogether. Revenge themes and tortured souls are her favorites to write and this gives her an excuse to watch bizarre and twisted documentaries in her spare time.
She currently lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies.
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