THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF (Stolen Hearts #2) by Mallory Crowe-Review and Guest Post

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 14, 2017

She was the one that got away. The one time Adam couldn’t finish the job. The one time his conscious got the better of him.

Now she’s back and Adam has two options: Kill her or help her get the revenge she deserves.

No matter how convincing her arguments may be or how distracting he finds her, he was raised on one staunch principle that has kept him alive so far. Never trust a pretty face.

••••••

REVIEW: THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF is the second installment in Mallory Crowe’s contemporary adult STOLEN HEARTS series. This is Melody Murray, and mercenary Adam Smith’s story line. THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: Following a theft that went horribly wrong, Melody, along with her sisters Jennifer and Toni vow revenge against the men who stole from the sisters something that can never be returned.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Melody and Adam) THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF follows Melody Murray on the hunt for the men responsible for destroying the Murray sisters’s lives. Adam Smith aka Blondie is one of the men present the day that Mallory witnessed the murder of someone close to her heart but a murder for which Adam was not directly responsible. What ensues is the building relationship between Melody and Adam, and the cross country journey of Melody and Adam as Melody seeks revenge for a murder and betrayal.

Adam Smith is a mercenary; a gun for hire whose first encounter with Melody ended with chaos and death. Melody Murray is a reluctant thief; a cautious thief who wants nothing to do with her family business but a thief seeking retribution for the murder of her mother; our heroine is determined to use Adam Smith to get what she wants. The relationship between Melody and Adam is quick to develop as our couple must work together toward a common goal. The $ex scenes are limited, seductive and intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There are a number of secondary and supporting characters including Melody’s sister Toni, and her partner in crime, former Chicago police officer Scott Hart; hired killer James Weston; the daughter of one of the men Melody is hoping to destroy –Willa Belli, and Jadon Belli, COO of Cordon Enterprises.

The world building focuses on revenge, retribution, family and love. Melody Murray is determined to avenge her mother’s death but too many distractions including a threat against Willa Belli; the interference of Melody’s ex-husband; a police warrant out for Melody’s arrest find our couple seeking refuge in out of the way places. There is a limited amount of trust between our leading couple including the fact that Melody was willing to kill the man with whom she is falling in love.

THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF is a story about revenge; about one woman’s determination for retribution for the murder of her mother; about one man’s penance to help the woman he could never forget. The premise is fast paced, entertaining and captivating; the characters are passionate and determined; the romance is sensual. THE BEAUTIFUL THIEF is an animated look at love on the run.

Reading Order and previous reviews
The Cocky Thief
The Beautiful Thief

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Book 1 THE COCKY THIEF is ONLY 99¢ for a limited time (ebook only):

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Hello! I’m really happy to be writing this guest post for The Reading Cafe! Sandy has always been so great to me and I only hope I can be a little entertaining to give back to all of her readers 🙂

Because blogging isn’t my specialty, I asked Sandy to give me a few recommendations for topics to discuss. And she gave me a great list of options and my answer to each of the craft related topics were “I don’t know”.

Now as a full time writer with over twenty books out, I should know how I do this for a living. I’m not naive enough to think I just walked up to a keyboard and thanks to my overwhelming talent, coherent stories just started to flow.

But when I write, I’m not thinking of craft. I’m not thinking of the nuts and bolts. I’m very driven by characters and where my intuition leads me when I write. But after countless discussions with other writers and private talks with friends it, finally hit me.

There’s a reason I don’t have to plot out each individual character arc. There’s a reason I don’t have to write a super detailed outline with action points carefully planned. It’s because of my childhood. When I grew up, I didn’t just casually read. I DEVOURED books. When I was in elementary school, I was reading my mother’s full length mystery novels. In middle school, I was well into romance books. Because I wasn’t super popular (that’s a post for another day…), I’d have some days where I wouldn’t even leave the house in the summer. I’d just shut myself in my bedroom and see how many books I could get through. It was a competition with myself. (I cannot stress how strange I was as a teen.)

Looking back, I think my obsessive nature when it came to those books gave me more knowledge on craft than a thousand writing workshops I could attend. So am I talented? I like to think so, but I think one of my biggest advantages in the competitive publishing world is the early foundations set up from reading book after book after book after (okay, this could go on for a while…)

So the best advice I can ever give any advanced, amateur, or up and coming writer is to keep on reading and never stop.
Happy Reading!

~~Mallory Crowe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Mallory Crowe is the award winning author of the Fractured Farrells series, the Bad Boys of the Underworld series and many other novels. She grew up surrounded by rescue dogs and escaping into romance books whenever possible. After trying to do the “adult” thing by getting an accounting degree and CPA license, she decided to try her hand at writing and never looked back.
An avid traveler, reader, and Netflix addict, Mallory currently lives in Michigan, with her husband and three laid-back dogs.

 

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