I used to watch her through the lights. I watched as her body turned and twisted as she morphed into my siren.
I wanted her—I craved every ounce of Ryleigh Turner. But I knew once I had her, all I would do was corrupt every inch of her pretty little soul.
Valentinos aren't made for tales of love. We star in the horror stories you fear.
We're the monsters that make you scared to ever hope again.
It's time that she realises that.
****
He's watched me for months, given me every reason to allow my curiosity to start killing me slowly.
He makes the world melt away; he makes me want to throw all my inhibitions away and greet him personally. But every time the music ends and the lights lift, he vanishes, crushing my hopes.
Until one day, a moment of chance happens.
How does a man like Dante Valentino cope with a woman as messed up as me?
Easy.
I let him have every inch of my tainted soul.
***
Not all love stories have a beautiful start.
Some just need a perfect trigger.
**This is a dark romance with intense scenes of murder and sex. There is coarse language used throughout. Not for the faint hearted.
If this is the dance
with the devil,
why does it feel so
right?
They say some
matches are made in heaven, some are made in hell. Some others are made on the
path in between, I might add.
I have only recently
come to love Mafia Romance books, and Trigger belongs with the
more-than-well accomplished instances in the genre. This is not a chocolate-box
romance, not even an angsty tale of thwarted love. It is more, so much more.
Mobsters, Godfathers
and Capos, are usually easily acknowledged as the villains in any story. What
happens when they are the victims of someone else's machinations? Someone more
evil and more twisted than they already are? What kind of judgement is to be
passed on them, when all they have been taught is violence, indifference and
revenge? This change in perspective totally hooked me up and made this book a
hard-to-put-down read. My interest was also piqued by the fact that Dante and
Ryleigh don't fall head over heels for good looks or a beautiful soul: they
fall for each other's scars and bruises and it's their darker side, what they
leave unsaid, what they don't know about each other that actually bring them
together. While reading Trigger, I appreciated the fact that the Mafia
background is kept as such; we get glimpses of what Dante's line of 'job' is,
and those are intense enough to make you cringe, but it's the unravelling of
his character that really stands out.
Dante Valentino and
Ryleigh Turner are both survivors and revenge is their only coping mechanism,
the only thought that has kept them alive. For different reasons, they have
numbed their hearts to love but they share the same purpose in life: justice
for their slaughtered families. In the first two chapters they are seen as the
product of their environment and upbringing (or lack thereof): a rich, ruthless
killer who prides himself in his job, and a badass pole dancer striving to make
ends meet; they are two lone wolves who are circling around one another, waiting
for the other to make the first move. And Dante is the first to act upon his
feelings (albeit unconscious ones) for that strange creature dancing on stage
with her scars for all to see. Electricity zings between them from the very
first start and in a progression of witty banter, loudest clash of wills ever,
an even share of bad, really bad mistakes, we're led to a confrontation scene
between them that is nothing but short of epic.
Despite all his
self-confidence and self-assuredness, Dante doesnn't stand a chance against
Ryleigh's unrelenting drive towards him: her stubborness, her astonishing
understanding of the twisted moral codes he lives by, not to mention her
willingness to take care of him, slowly but inexorably chip at the defensive
walls he has built around his heart. He tries to keep their relationship on a
physical level but his struggle to keep her at a distance only results in an
almost extenuating push-and-pull game that perfectly mirrors his internal
debate whether he should follow his heart's desire or...... Little he knows,
his heart has already made up its mind.
This is a standalone
in Author Still's Pericolo Series and I am absolutely going to read all the
other books, because this one left me breathless.
FIVE STAMPS
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes
As I pull her against my body, swaying to the music, I gaze down at her, and now my breathing shallows. The voice that whispers to me is unknown, dipped in disguise, and doused in addictive tones. It whispers the seed of madness that consumes me - fall in love.
But as always, I decide to stop the thought from burrowing any fucking deeper.
“This is lust, not love, cara. It’s what has you so confused. Lust mimics love to trick a naïve heart.” I keep the conviction strong in my voice, forcing her to understand what it is I want. We may have had this conversation before, but it didn’t do much to heed her rapid emotions. “I’ve never felt lust like this, and I know I never will again, which is why I brought you here. I want tonight to end with you screaming my name. I want to claim you as mine and make you realize I don’t do love.”
“I know you don’t,” she replies, bitterness edges her words. “You don’t need to worry, Dante. I know why you want me here. I got the message loud and clear, but if you think you’re getting into my panties quite so soon, you can think again. My motives here aren’t sexual. That’s just an added bonus.” She narrows her gaze on me, the pupils shrinking as she calmly responds to me. “I think the other evening proved a lot to us. I allowed you to have my entire body, and while I loved the way you commanded me, I won’t give it to you so easily. You’ve had a taste of it, Dante. You can work for another round.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” I respond dryly, ire heating me. “I could have any girl I wanted. I don’t have to wait for you to put out.”
She takes a step back, breaking our connection.
“Go on then,” she tells me, her voice strong. “Go and have any girl willing to give it up to you as easy as I did.” She doesn’t come back to me. “I’m going to the bar, so you go and find a girl as willing as I am to adhere to your sadistic requests.”
I used to be just another Fanfiction writer! That was until one person showed real interest in my work. And then another, and then another, until I had this whole group of people reviewing like crazy and wanting original work from me. I’d spent years writing for free online, I didn’t believe I had it in me to publish something!
But I’m glad I did!! I never imagined pushing my work and striving to reach my ultimate. I never imagined I’d be the girl who started The Viper Rooms! But who am I to deny the inspiration when it hits?
I love writing, it’s a lifeline. I love creating a world that others fall into. I love having the control to make a whole new world. It’s like a dependency, an addictive one. It’s one of the things I’m extremely proud of.
As much as I complain, I love the mini dialogues that go on in my head, the plotlines that attack me when I least expect them to. The ones that jump to life at the most inappropriate times and drive me totally crazy!!
For now I split my life between writing, dreaming, working, and volunteering with children.
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