Devil's Due - Andrew Warren

In this exciting prequel to Tokyo Black, Thomas Caine struggles to keep a low profile in Pattaya, Thailand. But when human traffickers start an explosive war with the Thai police, Caine finds himself caught in the crossfire. A girl he has sworn to protect has been kidnapped by this shadowy syndicate, and Caine is forced to wage a bloody one man war to get her back. 

Soon, the former assassin finds himself taking on the Russian mafia, and an insane criminal warlord who believes that he is the devil himself! Can Caine use his deadly skills to defeat these new enemies, and help an honest cop find a group of missing girls before they are sold into slavery? 

This book is a prequel novella... Tokyo Black, the first full length Thomas Caine novel, is coming soon, Summer 2016!

*I received this book as an ARC to read and post a honest review*

This book was everything the blurb described and more.  It was bloody, fast paced, made us take a look into the dark side.  The whole book was coloured in shades of grey.  There was no clear cut black and white, right and wrong.  Everything was somewhere in the middle.

I loved the beginning.  I feel like it really showed what the book was going to be about without giving away anything and leaving us extremely confused and shocked.  The first part of the book made me brace myself for the rest of the book and boy am I glad I did!  

We were introduced to Thomas Caine, a man who had a lot of history behind him.  He was in hiding after being betrayed and wrongly accused of being a traitor by his country who did not the whole story.  He was wronged and he was looking for revenge and justice.   We were also introduced to Naiyana, a dancer in a strip club who Caine has sworn to protect.

When someone starts to kidnap girls from strip clubs to sell them at an auction.  Thomas Caine is summoned to help but, he refuses.  But, when Naiyana herself is kidnapped, Thomas Caine is desperate and suddenly he finds himself dealing with different crime branches in Thailand trying to find the people who are kidnapping the girls.

He deals with the Thai mob families, the russian mafia and an evil crime lord who thinks he is the devil and he sure acts like one.   In this book we find out that there are levels of evil.  A lot of people cross the line and do things they are not supposed to.  However, ever crime branch draws a line somewhere.  

My favourite character in this book was not Thomas Caine.  Though he was a great character.  My favourite character was Naiyana.  I feel like she completely trampled women stereotypes.   Though she was a stripper in a club, she was strong.  She was not scared of confrontation.  When she was captured, she did not lose her spirit.  She came back to help Thomas Caine when he got recaptured unlike the other girls.  She was tough.  I really admired her throughout the book.  That girl had a warm place in my heart by the end of the book.

My favourite part of the book was the ending.  I feel like it was appropriate ending for the novella.  I cannot tell you about the ending because that would spoil the book for you guys.  But I can say that it was a cliffhanger and a taster for things to come in the Thomas Caine books.

All in all this was an appropriate starter book and I thank the author for giving me this book to read.  I recommend this book to readers to buy and I am going to read more books by this author for sure.

☂☂☂☂ I give it four umbrellas 

Buy the book on :

Amazon

Barnes & Nobles

And Never Let Her Go - Nancy Glynn

Eight years ago, Erin Donahue had it all—her own city apartment, a career in photography, and a man who’d do anything for her. But things change. Fate steps in. Now, living in the small town of Destiny, IL, Erin embraces her new life, free of hurting anyone else. She’s all alone, and she likes it like that. Independent, strong…and broken. Until a handsome, divorced rancher drives up her lane and drags her back into a past she wants to forget. 

A forbidden crush born long ago… 

In Afghanistan, Slade Callahan tucks Erin into his dreams and his heart. Guilt plagues him for wanting her when she isn’t his to want. She belongs to his older brother. But when Erin breaks his brother’s heart, she never realizes she’s breaking two. Honor keeps him from going after her. Discharged from the Marines, Slade moves on with his life and lets her go. Until tragedy strikes. His brother is dead. Found in his car with two letters…one to his wife—and one to Erin. 

A letter full of hope and secrets… 

Erin and Slade come together, fighting a love that won’t let go. Tormented by guilt, shame, anger, and the need to forgive, walls slowly crumble. Setting off a firestorm of buried passions, they embrace the truth in the stars. But their journey is only beginning when the letter is read. Decisions must be made. Is Erin strong enough to accept herself and trust in this beautiful love, or will she repeat history with another Callahan man?

“This book was an ARC given to me by the author Nancy Glynn in exchange for a honest review”

This was a book I had picked up after a long reading slump to try and get me out of it and I am so glad that this author gave the book to me to read because it sure did.

I have always loved the contemporary romance genre but, I was not too sure how I would relate to a book with the characters a lot older than I am.  But the characters were not only relatable but they took me on the story with them.  It was a ride that I did not want to get out of and I wanted everyone to reach safely at the end.   

What I loved about this story was that it was real.  The characters were flawed and their flaws were not sugar coated.  They were clearly flaws and though the characters would not have been the same without them, they were working on those flaws.

As most contemporary romance novels, it did have a happy ending but, the happy ending was not easily achieved.  The characters had to go through a lot of struggles to reach that successful end goal.

All the characters in this book made it the book it is.  Todd, Slade, Erin, Wendy and even the supporting characters like Judy, Harry, Mack, Nick and Rachel.  They all made the story what it was as a final product.

I loved Erin and Slade’s love story.  It wasn’t quick.  It had been boiling for a few years.  It was really hot.  You could feel the sexual tension sizzling under the surface and when it caught fire.  Whew!! I had to fan myself with something.  But, besides the sexual tension, there was something in their relationship which made it special.  Maybe it was the conversations between them or the way the two of them were always there for each other or just that overall feeling of pure happiness when they were not around each other.  Sure their relationship was not perfect but that just made it all the more better.  Sometimes you need a bump in the road to see the strength of a relationship.

Wendy was not a villain as such.  Todd’s wife, she was just an obstacle standing in the way.   There was nothing wrong with her, to be honest, I just felt bad for her.  She had just been a recipient of unfortunate circumstances and she just did not know how to handle it.  I loved Jacob, Todd and Wendy’s son!! He was the sweetest boy ever.

My favourite part of the book was when Erin was taking pictures and making memories through her camera.  She was a great photographer and I feel its very important to capture memories and keep them because time flies.

I think one of the most important lessons in this book was forgiveness and letting go and there were a few lines I really loved in this book.

One line was what Todd had written in his letter.  I think this applies to everyone who is going through rough times.  Someone needs to say that to all of them “ Forgive yourself.  You are perfect just the way you are.  Believe that.”  I think everyone needs to hear that at least once in their life and I am glad Nancy Glynn put that in there.  

Anyways, overall this book was amazing and it is completely worth buying.  So any contemporary romance lovers out there who are looking for a happy ever after but, also want to curl up and shed some tears on the unfairness of life.  This book is for you so, take the risk and read the book.  It will be worth your time.

Buy the book : Amazon