From Russia with Fangs (From Russia…#2) by Jacey Conrad/Gia Corona-Review, Giveaway & Release Day Blitz

FROM RUSSIA WITH FANGS
From Russia…#2
by Jacey Conrad/Gia Corona
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 24, 2015

Between her family’s drunken antics and vicious verbal attacks from her so-called friends, Irina Sudenko Volkov is having the worst night ever. And that’s before she’s widowed.

Volatile, cheating, no-good Sergei’s death-by-assassin unleashes chaos in the werewolf criminal underground. Irina’s panicked Papa assigns Beta wolf Viktor Zhukovsky to Irina’s security detail until her husband’s killer is found. As Irina’s world crumbles around her, the perfect princess mask falls away and Viktor meets the sharp, passionate woman underneath. Their initial chemistry gives way to a deeper attraction when Irina begins to see the decency underneath Viktor’s gruff, tattooed exterior, despite his insistence that it doesn’t exist.

Their tendency to find themselves semi-nude and in enclosed spaces is a source of amusement to her sister, Galina, but each of them knows of the deadly consequences if their relationship is brought to light. Things get even more complicated when Papa Sudenko begins to match-make Irina and Andrey Lupesco, who also happens to be in a secret relationship with Galina. Family dinners are awkward. With danger closing in on all sides, Irina has to find her claws and learn to howl.

In the much-anticipated sequel to From Russia with Claws, readers get a new perspective of the lusty exploits of the untameable Sudenko family. Gia Corona and Jacey Conrad craft a delightful tale of the anything-but-average human Irina and the libidinous lycanthropes in her life.

•••••••

REVIEW: FROM RUSSIA WITH FANGS is the second instalment in Jacey Conrad’s (aka Molly Harper) and Gia Corona’s contemporary, adult FROM RUSSIA paranormal, romance series focusing on the werewolves of the Russian Mob. This is beta wolf and security expert Viktor Zhukosvsky, and human female Irina Sudenko Volkov’s story line. FROM RUSSIA WITH FANGS runs parallel to, and crosses over with, the events of book one FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS therefore, if you have read book one, there is plenty of duplication and repetition.

Told from third person point of view (Irina) FROM RUSSIA WITH FANGS follows Irina in the days following the murder of her abusive husband and werewolf Sergei Volkov. Irina is the adopted, human female daughter of Russian mobster Ilya Sudenko, and has become the bargaining chip in her father’s business dealings. When Irina’s husband is killed, Ilya assigns beta wolf Viktor Zhukovsky as Irina’s personal security guard in the hopes of protecting her from not only the probable repercussions upon her husband’s death, but from a potential threat from someone inside the Sudenko family. What ensues is the building and forbidden relationship between Viktor and Irina, and a takeover at the top of the Sudenko pack.

The relationship between Viktor and Irina is quick to build and begins during the funeral visitation and ceremony. Four years earlier Irina had been forced into a marriage, by her father, with a wolf she never loved, and she is having a difficult time grieving the loss of her late, abusive husband. Viktor’s protective nature found our heroine drawn to his strengths and need to protect; their attraction to one another is immediate and intense. The $ex scenes are seductive, entertaining and impulsive. Viktor and Irina are caught with their proverbial ‘pants down’ on several occasions, but they are not the only couple who get caught in a compromising position.

All of the Sudenko siblings play a secondary and supporting role including Irina’s sister and alpha female Galina Sudenko. Galina’s storyline begins in book one FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS and continues into the second instalment- there is a cross over between books one and two.

If you are a fan of Molly Harper, be warned, that the writing style is different and Harper’s use of humour, wit, and sarcasm is not as prevalent, and the tone of the story(s) is altered and slightly darker, but that is not to say that different is less entertaining. The premise is intriguing and exciting; the characters are charismatic, aggressive and captivating; the romance is sensual and erotic.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

___________

FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS
From Russia…#1
by Jacey Conrad/Gia Corona
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 18, 2015

When Alpha female Galina Sudenko agreed to attend her distant cousin’s birthday party, she wasn’t counting on meeting the devastatingly handsome and powerful Rom Alpha, Andrey Lupesco, or having her sexy times with him interrupted by the murder of her idiot brother-in-law, Sergei. But such is life when your father is one of the most powerful werewolves within Seattle’s supernatural Russian organized crime syndicate.

Not content with being just a pretty face and good breeding stock, Galina sets out to make her mark within the family. But in doing so, she runs afoul of her eldest brother, Alexei, the heir apparent to the family dynasty. He has no intention of ceding his position without a fight.

Andrey and Galina’s burgeoning romance is threatened when she discovers that before his death, Irina’s husband, Sergei, hijacked Andrey’s shipment of the werewolf drug, Bullet, a synthetic drug that gives the supernatural creatures a cocaine-like high. Sergei’s theft means that Andrey had a reason to have Sergei killed, leaving Galina to decide whether to risk trusting Andrey even as her feelings for him deepen.

As her brother Alexei’s behavior becomes more erratic, Galina must find the missing shipment, prove to her family that she’ll be a capable leader, and decide whether her lover Andrey can be trusted before she can hope to challenge her brother for his position as head of the family.

A tale of sexy werewolves, forbidden love, family power struggles, and danger closing in, Gia Corona and Jacey Conrad’s From Russia With Claws will leave you howling for more!

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS is the first installment in Jacey Conrad (aka Molly Harper) /Gia Corona’s FROM RUSSIA adult, contemporary, paranormal romance series focusing on the werewolves of the Russian mob. This is mob daughter and Alpha female Galina Sudenko, and Rom Alpha male Andrey Lupesco’s storyline.

Told from third person perspective (Galina) FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS introduces the Sudenko family of Seattle, Washington. Galina Sudenko is an alpha female but women are not allowed to serve at the ruling table. After the murder of her sister’s (Irina) husband, Galina goes in search of the evidence that will point the guilt at her brother in law’s own demise. Enter Andrey Lupesco, a Rom alpha werewolf, and the man who would steal Galina’s heart.

Andrey is a Romanian wolf, and as such is not respected within the Russian mob. When a shipment of a new designer drug for wolves known as Silver Bullet goes missing, Andrey suspects that someone from the Sudenko family may be behind the missing shipment. What ensues is Andrey and Galina’s search for the product, and the forbidden relationship between our leading couple.

FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS is an entertaining paranormal storyline with moments of sexy fun, humor, and romance, along with some darker scenes of violence and death, and dysfunctional family relations. The large ensemble cast of characters includes our strong, sexy, alpha heroine who is willing to fight for what she wants- she wants Andrey Lupesco, and she wants the head seat at the family table. Andrey is an alpha male, whose positions sits on the fringes of the Russian mob, and with it comes the dark and dangerous world of importing and distributing a new, designer drug. These are not lawful citizens of the USA, but high ranking members of the US/Russian mob.

There are some moments of humor and sarcasm as per Molly Harper’s style of writing, but less prevalent then in her other series and story lines. The premise is entertaining; the characters, although colorful and dynamic, were not very well developed; the $ex scenes are numerous and provocative. There are several issues of repetition that felt like deja-vu, and in some cases almost word for word phrases and sentences.

FROM RUSSIA WITH CLAWS is a welcome addition to any library for fans of the paranormal romance genre. I love the Russian mob trope with shifter wolves.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy