Sam Crescent

Holy cow! I now understand the loving fandom for Sam Crescent. I couldn't get enough of the broody Slavik and the rebellious Aurora.

This is a seductive story about an unwanted and insecure mafia daughter who is forced to marry a dangerous Bratva brigadier. The tumultuous and captivating relationship between them is addictive. The slow build to their first kiss is delectable and their final culmination is worth waiting for. Aurora's compassionate nature is noteworthy, considering the show more hardships she has faced. Slavik's possessiveness over his wife is both enticing and treacherous, for he kills anyone who threatens her. His transformation from a tough, no-nonsense Bratva killer to a loving partner is a true testament to the power of love.

Ms. Crescent's characters are captivating and emotional. She writes heartbreak, suspense, and passion with great intensity and conviction making this book a must-read for fans of dark mafia romance. I look forward to reading more of her books. show less

I enjoy Sam Crescent's writing, but I was disappointed that book 2 followed a similar plotline as the first book. They are both stories about an arranged marriage of the "ugly" virgin sister and the silent but deadly Bratva brigadier.

Adelaide is a curvy woman who is ostracized by her family and forced to marry the Bratva brigadier who was originally engaged to her greedy and power-hungry sister. She has been conditioned by her family's toxic dynamic to believe that she is unworthy of love show more and attention and this insecurity is further fueled by her sister's constant belittlement and lies and Andrei's stoic demeanor. I prefer stronger female leads and found Adelaide a bit whiney and immature for my liking. Personally, I thought Andrei was very lenient toward her which is uncommon for a man in his line of work. She does finally come into her own toward the end of the book by conquering her fear and being the wife Andrei would be proud of, but I wished her epiphany had come sooner in the story.

Andrei Belov is not your typical Bratva soldier. Yes, he kills people for a living, but he shows a surprising tender side toward Adelaide, which can be attributed to a secret from his past that involves her. His possessiveness and protectiveness toward her stem from his mistrust of everyone around her, as he rightly fears that she may be harmed due to his profession. When he finally opens his heart and shows her his smile, it's game over for both of them.

The supporting characters include Andrei's Pakhan and strange matchmaker Ivan Volkov who is a cross between a kindly father and a psychopath, Slavik and Aurora from the first book who have a marriage for Adelaide and Andrei to aspire to, and Adelaide's mysterious friend Nathan who has an interesting secret life.

The danger is eminent and the suspense is fierce as the Volkov Bratva hunts down traitors, forms new alliances, and get their long-awaited revenge. Not to mention, the chemistry between the main characters is provocative and worth waiting for.

Despite the duplication in storylines, I recommend this book for those who love romantic suspense and complex characters destined to live happily ever after.

Thank you to Ms. Crescent for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review. show less

I was really getting into this; and ya it is very predictable but the writing style keep me reading til the end. However the ending felt to rushed to me. There was a bit a build up between the main characters and the tension between them felt real and then once they had slept together everything was all hearts and flowers and they lived happily ever after.

Guess I was just looking for something a little more after they finally gave into their feelings.

I am not sure why I have been picking so many Sam Crescent books lately but I hope I will be forgiven because she is a fantastic story teller. I picked this story because of the blurb, it was really compelling to me so I purchased the book (last November) thinking it would be further down the line but the blurb kept dragging me back to book until I finally relented and started reading and then proceeded to read it again. Don’t get me wrong I usually read good books more than once but never show more twice in the same week, there is usually six months to a year before a book starts calling my name again.

Baker is number 14 in The Skulls series and the first book of that series that I have read and now I have a strong urge to start at the beginning with book one because, like Laurann Dohner, Sam created a world where you get more than just the main characters, you get a three-dimensional world of ongoing lives. Clearly Baker and Millie’s story started in an earlier book that focused mostly on the main characters but yet was able to branch out and encompass everyone in one way or another, I love series that are written this way.

Baker is ready for Millie to be in his life but when he here hears she has a date he plans to crash her date and get her back, how romantic, I absolutely love that part. Millie left her greed ridden snobbish family and her rotten cheating scum bag fiancé and found a place where she felt she could be happy. So when Bethany the Bitch arrives, determined to take what Millie loves from her, Millie fights her insecurities as she stand up against her sister. Have to tell you just from what I have read in Baker alone I totally love the Skulls women, they definitely can rock it out when provoked. Millie chose her family well.

This is the part that I am both excited about and sometimes dread, how should I rate Baker. For the most part I clearly love this story but there are a few places that left me dazed and confuse, but I will get to those in a moment. I would like to give Baker a five-star rating because I do love the story and will no doubt read it again warts and all but I just can there were eleven edits in all at the end of my count and some of those edits were really left me going ‘what the fuck’ and disrupted my reading flow both times I read the story. That being said I am sorry but I am giving Baker three stars, who know maybe this Summer I can find time to make some changes to my rating system so that when I do come around to reading Baker again it will be different.

This review posting contains the body of the review, which is only a portion of the original review which is posted here http://lauralusbookreviews.blogspot.com/2017/06/baker-skulls-14-by-sam-crescent.... show less