Seductive Sadist (Vengeful Villains 6) by Kristen Luciani-review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 15, 2023
She is the white dove to my gilded cage.
Skyla St. James, my ex-best friend’s sister and the girl I’ve been secretly obsessed with for the past four years. One hot night and one forbidden taste turned me into an addict in need of my next fix. But underworld rules trump emotion. And the family always reigns.
So I used her, manipulated her to do my will, and took her virginity in the process. Then I disappeared from her life…until the night before her wedding to my family’s enemy. I never wanted a wife. And she doesn’t deserve a ruthless killer for a husband. But life doesn’t ever go as planned. I should be a famous quarterback in the NFL, not a bratva enforcer. I wanted to escape this darkness forever, but my ex-best friend made sure that would never happen when he sabotaged me in the final play of our championship game. All the scouts scattered like cockroaches when an injury took me out of the game forever.
Now I’m bitter, angry, and back for revenge. Kidnapping Skyla before she marries my arch rival will give me back the control I lost four years ago on that football field. Except making her my captive isn’t enough to get me the respect and power I crave. I need to marry her. One simple “I do” I can save my family’s livelihood and win the war against our enemies. But I didn’t count on the others who want retribution for her father’s crimes. So now, my objective has changed. I need to keep my bride-to-be alive and protect her from everyone who wants her dead.
They won’t stop. They will find her. And when they do, they will find out just how vicious I am and how far I’ll go to protect my little dove. If they touch her, they will suffer and die.
Nobody will claim what’s mine.
••••••
REVIEW:SEDUCTIVE SADIST is the sixth instalment in Kristen Luciani’s contemporary, adult VENGEFUL VILLAINS dark, erotic, Mafia romance series. This is Skyla St. James and Zakhar ‘Zak’ Malikov’s story line. SEDUCTIVE SADIST can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise there WILL be triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Zak and Skyla) SEDUCTIVE SADIST follows in the wake of the almost wedding for Skyla St James, and the man to whom she was sold. Years earlier, Skyla fell in love with her brother’s best friend Zak Malikov but one night together found Skyla on the receiving end of rejection and betrayal, and the fall-out would destroy Zak’s football career. Fast forward to present day, Zak now works as a soldier for his brother Luka, the new head of the Malikov crime family, a position Zak has never wanted, and had no desire to learn but when his leg was shattered ending any chance at a professional football career, Zak found himself struggling to get his life under control. With the upcoming arranged marriage of Skyla St. James to a member of a rival crime family, Zak is desperate to ‘kidnap’ the woman he still loves but a woman who despises our hero for sins of the past. On the run with the man that she hates, Skyla has been targeted as payment for a debt, and battles between head and heart distrusting the man who is saving her life. What ensues is the acrimonious and hate filled second chance relationship between Skyla and Zak, and the potential fall-out as Skyla’s attempts at escape only compound the threats of everyone involved.
The relationships between Skyla and Zak is one of second chances but Skyla’s hatred towards Zak is compounded by Zak’s hatred for the St. James family. Skyla’s twin brother, and Zak’s best friend Kylian destroyed any hope for Zak’s future in the NFL, and the list of sins between the two families continues to grow. Zak had only ever wanted to play football-leave the crime world behind but a moment of vengeance ended any and all hopes for Zak, his future and the woman he once loved. Skyla would never forgive Zak for destroying her heart; the ensuing humiliation; all of which landed her as fodder for the dangerous game her father was playing. Rekindling her relationship with Zak was next-level madness but Zak would be the only person able to save our heroine not only from herself but from the people desperate enough to try and take down an entire criminal enterprise. The $ex scenes are dark, dramatic, and intense, and not without some questionable scenarios and a perceived lack of consent. I struggled to see past the anger and vitriol between our story line couple- Skyla was always pushing the line between hatred and love, a line that crossed towards hatred most of the time.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and powerful secondary and supporting characters including Zak’s brothers Luca and his wife Natasha, Nikolai and Kenzie; their sister Valentina; Skyla’s sister Laney, brother Kylian, and their parents Amelia and Stuart St. James. The requisite evil has many faces including Nathan Van Dyne, and Skyla’s intended fiance Tyson.
SEDUCTIVE SADIST is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, mistrust and acceptance, forgiveness and love. The premise is dark, gritty, raw and disturbing thus may be upsetting to some readers; the romance is negligible -the couple are always at one another’s throats; the characters are broken, desperate and determined.
Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Twisted Tyrant
Dirty Devil
Cruel Captor
Dark Deviant
Merciless Monster
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
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Kristen Luciani is a USA Today bestselling author of steamy and suspense-filled romance. She’s addicted to kickboxing, Starburst jelly beans, and swooning over dark, broken anti-heroes. Kristen is happily married to her own real-life hero of over 20 years. In addition to penning spicy stories, she also has a part-time job as her three kids’ personal Uber driver, which she manages to successfully juggle along with her other tasks: laundry, cleaning, laundry, cooking, laundry, and caring for her adorable Boston Terrier puppy.
Mafia romance is her passion…and her poison.
