Dario (Carelli Family Saga 2) by Eden Butler-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 14, 2021

DarioCarelli has one job—get the new bakery owner to fall in line.

Cuoricino, New York, their sleepy, small town, has rules. Rules his ironically kind-hearted mob boss brother set in place to keep everyone safe. But Ava Anderson has no intention of following a single one.

The woman is a hassle Dario doesn’t need. She ignores his ultimatums and mocks his intimidating guards, sending them back to him with a basket of baked goods and amped up on too much espresso. If Dario thought the charm he once had before landing in prison for a crime that wasn’t his would work, he’d teach Miss Ava a lesson in pleasure she wouldn’t soon forget.

But behind her sarcastic tone and forced smiles, Dario recognizes the same flight-or-fight look in Ava’s eyes that had grown sharper in his own reflection during his time locked inside one of New York’s roughest prisons: the desperation of someone with nothing left to lose. When Ava takes off, only to return months later pretending she’s not looking over her shoulder every time she walks down the street, Dario realizes there’s something more dangerous in Cuoricino than the enemies his brother’s rules try to safeguard: a woman he’d die to possess and kill to protect.

••••••

REVIEW:DARIO is the second instalment in Eden Butler’s contemporary, adult THE CARELLI FAMILY erotic, Mafia, romance series. This is Dario Carelli, and bakery owner Ava Anderson’s story line. DARIO can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information about the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Some of the events of DARIO cross over with, and run parallel to some of the events in book one SMOKE.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Dario and Ava) DARIO follows the tempestuous relationship between Dario Carelli, and bakery owner Ava Anderson. Six years earlier Reagan Roisin met a stranger, her would-be rescuer but all was not it had appeared to be. Fast forward to present day, Reagan , now known as Ava Anderson is a new store owner in the Carelli controlled town of Cuoricino, New York, and as such is expected to pay monthly fees to the family in question but our heroine has had enough of pushy mobsters for a lifetime, and refuses to pay the Carelli family. Enter Marco aka Dario Carelli, the man with whom Ava would fall in love but Ava’s life continues to spiral out of control, and with it, betrayal and deceit follow in its’ wake. What ensues is the turbulent and emotional relationship between Dario and Ava, and the potential fall out as Ava’s past demands retribution for betrayal and deception.

Ava Anderson is hiding in plain sight in Cuoricino New York but hiding is a relative term as her past continues to hold sway over her present. Refusing to give into the Carelli control, Ava finds herself facing the possible loss of her business but not before falling for a man who could break her heart. Dario Carelli never expected to fall for Ava Anderson but Ava is keeping secrets a dark and dangerous past. As the truth begins to unravel, Ava finds herself battling between head and heart knowing someone she loves is caught in the middle.

The relationship between Ava and Dario is predicated upon a lie, a lie that quickly begins to unravel as the truth is revealed. Ava is desperate to protect someone she loves but to secure a life she will have to betray the man with whom she is falling in love. From the outset, Dario has fallen for our story line heroine but struggles to remain neutral in the face of his family. Not only has his mother fallen for Ava Anderson but Dario is unable to stay away for a long period of time. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Dario’s large extended family: brothers Dimitri and Maggie (Smoke #1), parents Santino and Angelique Carelli, eldest brother Dante, their sister Toni ; Toni’s ex Luca DeRosa, their cousin Johnny, family associate and guard Dino, IT specialist Kat Harrell; as well as Ava’s soon to be ex Liam Shane, and her father Rory Connelly.

DARIO is a story of family and criminal enterprises, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, desperation and love. The fast paced, character driven premise is haunting and twisted; the romance is edgy and impassioned; the characters are broody, spirited and dynamic.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one SMOKE.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Eden Butler is an editor and writer of Fantasy, Mystery and Contemporary Romance novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum.

When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden patiently waits for her Hogwarts letter, edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.

She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana.
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