Dance of Ruin (The Darkest Dance 2) by Jagger Cole-review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 24, 2025
He’s my villain, my ruin, my sweetest damnation.
I’ve always been a good girl.
The brilliant ballerina. The perfect politician’s daughter.
That is, until my father declares war on the Barone Mafia family, and I become the price to pay.
Now, the devil himself has his claws in me.
Nico Barone is a beautiful nightmare wrapped in leather and ink.
A criminal genius with malice in his veins and destruction on his lips.
He promises to break me.
To strip me until there’s nothing left.
To be the composer of my symphony of sin and ruin.
He thinks I’m the pawn in his game.
But this pawn will bring a king to his knees.
Even if it kills me.
••••
REVIEW:DANCE OF RUIN is the second instalment in Jagger Cole’s contemporary, adult THE DARKEST DANCE dark, erotic, Mafia romance series. This is Nico Barone, and ballerina Naomi Kim’s story line. DANCE OF RUIN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. There is a slight cross over with the author’s Venomous Gods series.
WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from three first person perspectives (Nico, Naomi, Vaughn) DANCE OF RUIN follows Naomi as she is witness to a murder, and Nico Barone blackmails our heroine in exchange for her life. Naomi is the daughter of a man running for political office, but Naomi is also a victim and a survivor who finds herself a pawn in her father’s fight for power. Nico is determined to take away all of Naomi’s personal autonomy but in doing so will discover all is not as it appears to be. Another player has been circling the seats of power, and the group known as The Black Court is forced to step outside of their rules, and take back control from the people who are single-handedly killing for power.
The world building follows several paths including Nico’s control of our story line heroine. Naomi is an innocent in the world of organized crime but a woman who is about to become a pawn in the fight for power and control, and a victim of blackmail for something she did not do. Meanwhile, Naomi’s father journey to the dark side has repercussions and ramifications that will directly affect our heroine, going forward.
The relationship between Naomi and Nico begins acrimoniously as Nico is resolute in his need to break our story line heroine. Naomi immediately knows the control of her life has been forfeited but for reasons no longer under her control. Nico perseveres in taking down the people who have targeted our story line heroine but all is not as it appears to be, and Nico finds himself begging forgiveness for the sins of the past. The $ex scenes are provocative and erotic, and not without questionable consent.
The secondary and supporting characters include the return of the Black Court (The Hound, The Raven, The Wolf, The Bull, The Stag)- a group of self-proclaimed vigilantes in the world of organized crime; Naomi’s fellow dancers: Evelina, Milena, Vaughn, Naomi’s understudy Dove, Brooklyn, Bianca, and Madame Kuzmina; Don Carmine Barone and his wife Lyra Ostrova (Dance of Deception); Bratva Kingpin Kir Nikolayev. We are introduced to Naomi’s father Leonard Kim, as well as a new organized crime unit known as The Obsidian Syndicate. The requisite evil has many faces.
DANCE OF RUIN is a story of betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, power and control, obsession and cruelty, mistrust and misunderstanding, dysfunctional family dynamics, forgiveness and love. The character driven premise is dark, dramatic and tragic; the romance is limited but impassioned; the characters are powerful, determined, desperate and aggressive.
Heed the trigger warning-they are dark and heart breaking.
Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one DANCE OF DECEPTION
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
A reader first and foremost, Jagger Cole cut his romance writing teeth penning various fan-fiction stories years ago. After deciding to hang up his writing boots, Jagger worked in advertising pretending to be Don Draper. It worked enough to convince a woman way out of his league to marry him, though, which is a total win.
Now, Dad to two little princesses and King to a Queen, Jagger is thrilled to be back at the keyboard.
When not writing or reading romance books, he can be found woodworking, enjoying good whiskey, and grilling outside–rain or shine.
You can find all of his books at www.jaggercolewrites.com
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