DECEIVED (House of Sin #2) by Elisabeth Naughton-Review Excerpt and Giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 15, 2018
Some doors were never meant to be opened…
I made a fateful mistake. I should never have peeked behind the doors into his forbidden world.
But I did, and now I’m a prisoner. Trapped by the man I thought loved. The man I once foolishly trusted; the man who, despite his lies and deception, I continue to crave.
He can melt my resolve with one rough, whispered demand, and I feel myself giving in to the desire he still stirs inside me. And yet, if I want to survive, I must find a way to escape. Because if I don’t, I’m afraid I’ll be consumed by a shadowy world that will ultimately destroy me.
Lost forever in his wicked House of Sin
••••••••
REVIEW: DECEIVED is the second instalment in Elisabeth Naughton’s contemporary, adult HOUSE OF SIN dark, erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on twenty-four year old, American Natalie James, and thirty-two year old Italian businessman Luciano Salvatici. DECEIVED should not be read as a stand alone as if picks up immediately following the events of book on FORBIDDEN.
NOTE: Due to the story line content, there may be some triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Natalie and Luc) DECEIVED continues to focus on the struggling relationship between twenty-four year old, American Natalie James, and thirty-two year old Italian businessman Luciano Salvatici. A virtual prisoner of the man that she loves Natalie finds herself caught between hatred and love as she is whisked to places unknown in an effort to save her life. The House of Salvatici in Italy, and the people in control stop at nothing to ensure the purity of the line including the death and destruction of their own. As Luc is pulled deeper into a world of madness, depravity and greed, Natalie realizes there may be no hope or end in sight. Heir to the House of Salvatici, Luc hopes to one day set changes into motion but changes later will not save the people he loves, now.
DECEIVED is a dark romance of family honor, deception, betrayal and fear. Hundreds of years of deviance, influence and control have pushed the five ruling Houses into a position of ultimate power such that our hero knows to protect the woman he loves sacrifices are made including the death of one of their own.
DECEIVED reveals the story of a darkened, twisted history of atrocities and wickedness, monstrous acts of condemnation and the inhumanity of power and greed; of one man’s fight to save the woman he loves, and one woman’s struggle to survive at all costs. Heartbreaking and intriguing, DECEIVED exposes the savage nature of the House of Salvatici, and the lengths, of which, the family will go to protect the secrets that keep buried centuries of sin, vile behavior and immorality.
Elisabeth Naughton pulls the reader into an intense, thrilling and erotic ride; an edgy and dramatic tale of misogyny and questionable acts of deviance and horror that will have you questioning the reality of the people in charge.
DECEIVED ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.
Click HERE to read Sandy’s review of book one-FORBIDDEN
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
NOTE: The excerpt is intended for mature readers 18+ due to strong language and content.
My heart bumped, and a familiar warmth spread through my chest when I remembered this was my Luc. The man who’d taken control of my body and awakened my heart with just one touch. The man who’d rearranged every one of my priorities. The man who’d saved my life on more than one occasion.
But just as quickly I remembered that he was also the man whose family was involved in multiple illicit activities throughout Europe, from drug trafficking, to prostitution, to even, and most horrifyingly, the creation of beta slaves—women whose sole purpose was to serve the depraved needs of the men in his House. And, I remembered, he was also the man who’d followed me to Idaho after I’d run from him, who’d drugged me and, now obviously, abducted me.
Everything inside me hardened like ice.
His eyes locked on mine, but they weren’t the warm, familiar eyes I remembered from our steamy time together in Italy. No, the second his gaze met mine, his stormy eyes flattened in a way that told me he was not, and never had been, the man I’d foolishly let myself fall in love with.
“You’re finally awake,” he said in his clipped Italian accent. “That’s good because we have a lot to talk about, wife.”
For a heartbeat, I didn’t move. Then that word—wife—hit me like a two-by-four to the forehead, and my gaze dropped to his left hand, resting against his hip. A thick black band encircled his ring finger.
Sickness shot up my throat, and my fingers curled into the stucco at my back. “No,” I managed in a shaky voice. “You didn’t.”
But even before the words were out of my mouth, visions flickered in my mind again. Visions of the man in the black suit telling me all that was left was the paperwork. And then Luc whispering I’d done well while he wrapped his thick arm around my waist to hold me up and drew my fingers toward a crisp white paper where he urged me to sloppily sign my name next to his.
“I didn’t.” Luc’s square jaw turned to a slice of steel beneath the scruff on his skin as he straightened from the doorjamb. “We did. And I suggest you get used to it, Mrs. Salvatici, because we’re not leaving here until you do.”
Panic turned to a rage I couldn’t control, coloring everything red. He thought he could drug me, kidnap me, force me into a marriage I didn’t want, and that I’d just get used to it?
No.
Hell no.
My gaze shifted to the sliding glass door at my side. And seeing my one chance for freedom, I didn’t even hesitate to reach for it.
“Natalie,” he warned in a hard voice at my back, “I wouldn’t step out that door if I were you.”
“Fuck you, Luc.” I shoved the door open and moved out into the warm tropical air.
And then I ran, exactly as I should have done the moment I met Luciano Salvatici.
Before topping multiple bestseller lists—including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal—Elisabeth Naughton taught middle school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Besides topping bestseller lists, her books have been nominated for some of the industry’s most prestigious awards, such as the RITA® and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton can be found spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home.
Follow Elisabeth: Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Twitter
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Wonderful review, Sandy. This really looks like a great series and intense read.
Terrific review, Sandy. Sounds like an awesome read. Thanks.
Looks amazing , thanks Sandy.
Looks like an intriguing and dark series, thanks for the great review.
Great review and excerpt!! Shared on all my socials!!
thank you !!!
Another excellent review, thanks Sandy. Congrats to Elisabeth on the new release.
great review, sandy. this sounds so good. thank you.
Very nice review, thanks Sandy. Looks amazing !
Looks like an amazing series, thanks Sandy.
Great review. I will be adding this to my list of books to read. Sounds super.
Excellent review. Looks a little bit like Pepper Winters style of writing.
I look forward to reading this one. Thanks.
Great review. I love the dark romantic suspense.