Tag Archives: Carmen Falcone

Risky Vows (Chicago Mafia Bosses 1) by Carmen Falcone-review

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Risky Vows (Chicago Mafia Bosses 1) by Carmen Falcone-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2024

Amara
Marrying the mafia boss is the last thing I want. But, like everything else in my life, I have no choice.
So I’m forced to marry a hot, dangerous man to save my family’s business. He’s moody, ruthless, and stubborn, all wrapped into one tempting, tattooed package.
We need Massimo Gallo and his family.
Little do I know—I need him too. I can’t resist the intense chemistry between us.
The problem is, if he finds out the secret I’ve been keeping, he’ll get rid of me for good.

Massimo
As the head of an influential mafia family, I must fulfill my duty. I’ll marry Amara.
Do I want to? No. But she’s a means to an end, even if I don’t trust her fully—or her family.
But the sexy, curvy brunette has a lot to offer, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
I vow to make this sinful marriage work… by any means necessary.

••••

REVIEW:RISKY VOWS is the first instalment in Carmen Falcone’s contemporary, adult CHICAGO MAFIA BOSSES erotic, Mafia romance series. This is forty-one year old, Mafia boss Massimo Gallo, and twenty-three year old Mafia princess Amara Montefiore’s storyline.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Massimo and Amara) RISKY VOWS follows the arranged/forced marriage between forty-one year old, Mafia boss Massimo Gallo, and twenty-three year old Mafia princess Amara Montefiore. In the wake of the head of the Montefiore family’s health struggles, and their plummeting business ventures, their only daughter Amara has been offered up in marriage to Gallo Mafia boss Mossimo Gallo but Amara has previously loved and lost, and a forced marriage to Gallo means a loveless union for our story line heroine. Mossimo Gallo is only doing his duty as the head of the Gallo Family but something about Amara pulls Mossimo in like a moth to a flame, a moth that will be burned when the truth is revealed.

The world building follows the growing relationship between our story line couple as Mossimo struggles with his attraction to a woman he does not trust. Calling her ‘rat’ at every opportunity, the lack of respect for our heroine does nothing to prove his actions have changed but secrets revealed prove Massimo is willing to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love, defending her against the people who should have loved her the most.

The relationship between Massimo and Amara begins as an age-gap, forced marriage in which both families are to benefit from the questionable arrangement but the Montefiore family has secrets, and Amara may pay the price for the sins of the family. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense.

We are introduced to Massimo’s brothers Dante, Nico and Rocco; Dante’s girlfriend Andie, as well as their father Aldo Gallo; Amara’s parents Enzo and Vittoria, her brother Alonzo, their questionable security guard Ugo, and Massimo’s friend with benefits Daphne.

RISKY VOWS is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The premise is dramatic and intense but not as dark as some other Mafia story lines-there was more telling than showing . The characters are determined and desperate; the romance is impassioned but I did not feel any palpable sexual attraction-there was more $ex than passion, more hostility than chemistry.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Brazilian Surrender by Carmen Falcone – a Review

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Brazilian Surrender by Carmen Falcone – a Review

 

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Description:
Psychology student Camila Duarte is finally on her own, living in NYC and away from her overprotective brothers. Her serenity quakes when she receives terrorizing letters. When the threats ramp up, she hires the best problem solver in the business to protect her and look for the criminal.

After losing his wife and kid, Jaeger Bauer left the NYPD and has one simple rule: don’t get attached. A job is just a job. Working close to Camila, however, puts his remarkable self-control to the test. He wants to pursue her, even though they are complete opposites and want different things. As the stakes get higher, Jaeger needs to choose between protecting his client…or surrendering to desire and jeopardizing the entire mission.

 

Review:

Brazilian Surrender is the final novel in the Brazilians Series by Carmen Falcone.  

Camila Duarte finally got her wish.  Living on her own, away from her overbearing brothers. She has moved to New York with one intention – succeeding on her own volition! 

Living in New York she is finally doing her internship in Psychology at a hospital she loves. She has an amazing job, a great apartment that she shares with her roommate Zoe and her family is thousands of miles away in Brazil. For once she is doing things on her own, on her terms. That is until she starts receiving anonymous letters from a stranger telling her to leave town. At first she doesn’t think much of it but as they become more frequent and more volatile, she realizes she needs to tell someone. She knows she can’t turn to her brothers – they will either make her come home or show up in New York, neither of which is what Camila wants. She knows she can’t go to the police, because of how famous her family is in Brazil, which will only bring them bad press they don’t need.  Who better to tell than her beautician Gesa.  Gesa tells Camila to contact her nephew, ex NYPD officer turned security firm owner Jaeger Bauer. 

Jaeger Bauer has one rule since losing his wife and son and leaving the NYPD – do not get emotionally involved with anyone. When he agrees to meet with a friend of his Aunt’s he has no idea what he is getting himself into; nor if he will even take the job. From the moment he met Camila every being in his body told him not to take on her case.  But the attraction is too much and he gives in and goes against everything his brain is telling him and takes the case. Realizing that he wants nothing more than to protect Camila he slowly begins to let down his guard and allows Camila into his heart!

Jaeger knows from the moment he meets Camila that taking her case on will be risky. His body immediately responded to her presence.  Something he hasn’t allowed with any woman since his wife and child were killed. But Camila completely mesmerizes him. Her beauty, grace and vulnerability are nothing compared to how strong, independent and determined she is to make it on her own, outside of her famous family. But can he protect her and protect his heart at the same time? Can he allow himself to love and care for another again? 

What an amazingly hot, intriguing and suspenseful spicy romance.  The forbidden love that Jaeger feels he no longer deserves is like a thickness in the air that encompasses you. You feel his sadness and grief and fear of allowing himself to care for someone again. Completely overwhelming and deliciously spicy all at the same time. All the books in this series are standalones, but crafted and written so well that you do not need to read the other books to understand the dynamic and what is going on.  But also so hot and sexy that you want and need to read the other books just to complete the entire story, because Brazilian Surrender leaves you wanting more. 

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

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A Weekend of Misbehaving by Carmen Falcone – a Review

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A Weekend of Misbehaving by Carmen Falcone – a Review

 

A Weekend of MisbehavingAmazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM / The Book Depository

Description:
When fantasy becomes reality…

The last thing nanny Alice Sommers needs is to be caught skinny-dipping by her sexy, cranky-pants boss—in his pool. Her sister owes a crap-load of money to a slimy loan shark and Alice really needs this job if she has any hope of saving her family. Fortunately, her boss is richer than sin and needs her just as much.

Art dealer Lorenzo Baldi will lose his prestigious career if his anarchist father’s paintings are revealed to the art world. He’s determined to persuade the paintings’ eccentric owner to sell them to him, even if to pull it off, he’ll have to blackmail his daughter’s nanny—a woman with the sexy curves of a Botticelli masterpiece—into being his fake fiancé.

The gorgeous island of Capri inspires some major misbehaving. But even as the loan shark breathes down Alice’s neck and the paintings move closer to the art scene, Lorenzo drops one more bomb that will change everything.


Review:

A Weekend of Misbehaving by Carmen Falcone is the second book in the Time to Misbehave series. 

Nanny Alice Sommers is dealing with a lot more than someone her age should.  A promise to her father that passed away has led her to taking care of her bi-polar sister, her adorable niece and her ailing mother.  All this,  while being a nanny for single, hot and brooding Lorenzo Baldi’s young daughter Cara.

And while Lorenzo has always just been her boss, she has secretly hidden her true feelings for him. Alice’s  promise to her now deceased father is one thing she won’t compromise on.  So when a loan shark comes forward saying that her sister owes him $20,000, money that she just doesn’t have. She makes it as her responsibility to handle the situation.  As she always does.

With her Cara away at camp, and Lorenzo out of town, Alice stops by to take care of their family pet. While she is there she decides after the week she has had, what harm could come from a quick skinny dip in the pool. And just as she was enjoying the pool – she realizes that Lorenzo is home and he has a woman guest.   But this isn’t just any guest. This is Viola Campello and she has something

Lorenzo desperately wants. Lorenzo would like to buy Violets art collection.  But Violet is a bitter, staunch woman, fresh from a divorce and she will not take lightly Lorenzo allowing an employee to skinny dip in his pool.    In the blink of an eye, Lorenzo tells Violet that Alice is his fiancée. And this lie will set the stage for their future.  Alice must now pretend to be engaged to Lorenzo – even though she has hidden her feelings for him away for years.  Her job was much more important than a crush on her boss.  And now  Violet would like them to come visit her at her home in Capri.

Can Alice pull this off, and what if anything will she gain from this arrangement?  Lorenzo offers to pay her to continue the charade – all she must do is name her price.  Alice immediately responds with $20,000. Done.  But Lorenzo wants to know what she needs the money for.  And against her better judgment she eventually relinquishes the reason to him.

But with the charade in full force, can Lorenzo keep his feelings and his hands to himself.  Will Alice jeopardize her job for a fling with her boss? Can their arrangement benefit each of them without one of them getting hurt?  These questions are wonderfully answered and more.  

I found Alice Sommers, real and relatable.  She is the girl next door, the one that is loyal to her family to a fault.  She’s quick witted and comical and she knows where and what she wants. It was an immediate connection of likeability with her.  Lorenzo, not so much.

At first meeting I found Lorenzo uppity, staunch and unwavering. But as his story unfolds you find out just why he acts the way he does.  And will the one person that has been there for his daughter be able to fulfill what is missing in his life?  The build up of romance and frustration can be carved with a knife.  You want nothing more for them to admit how they feel towards each other and move forward.  But sometimes things aren’t that simple. 

Alice lays her whole truth out before Lorenzo but it seems he is hiding something from her. Like why is this art collection so important to him? And once Alice finds out will she still have the same feelings for him as she has now?

This story tests the lines of promises kept, and family loyalty.  Will Alice give up her hopes and dreams of the future to fulfill her promise to her father.  And just how far can family loyalty stretch?  I found this story wonderfully written.  I laughed and giggled like a school girl with a crush.  Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun, romantic read.

Reviewed by Erin

Copy provided by Publisher

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