Showing posts with label jm darhower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jm darhower. Show all posts

ARC Review: By Any Other Name by JM Darhower

24 Feb 2015



RELEASE DATE: 23 February 2015

BUY LINKS
AMAZON US

A deadly rivalry. 
 Two families at war. 
 Nobody is safe, not even the innocent. 
 Especially the innocent.
 Blood will be spilled. 

 Genevieve "Genna" Galante knows a thing or two about causing trouble. After all, it's engrained in her DNA. As the only daughter of Primo Galante, notorious boss of the Galante crime family, her life is dictated by a certain set of rules… rules Genna was never very good at following. 

 Matteo "Matty" Barsanti never wanted anything to do with the family business, but as the first-born Barsanti son, certain things are expected of him. It's his duty, according to his father, to help take down the enemy... even if that enemy means something to him. 

 A chance encounter on an elevator changes the course of lives, causing the biggest trouble of Genna's young life. The only good Barsanti is a dead Barsanti. She's heard it said time and time again. So what happens when she falls in love with one of them? 

 The story of star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of the biggest rivalry New York has ever seen, determined to make it… if only they can survive their parents' feud. Show less

Book Review - Sempre (Forever #1) by J.M. Darhower

26 Oct 2014

5++ PER SEMPRE STARS! ★★★★★


PURCHASE ON AMAZON: CLICK HERE

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco grew up under vastly different circumstances. Haven, a second-generation slave, was isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege and excess. 

Now, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think. 

In a world full of chaos, where money and power rule, Haven and Carmine yearn to break free, but a string of events that began before either of them were born threatens to destroy them instead. Murder and betrayal are a way of life, and nothing comes without a price—especially not freedom. But how much will they have to sacrifice? Can they escape their pasts? And, most of all, what does it mean to be free?

{Read more for my 5++ stars review!}

Book Review - Monster in his Eyes (Monster in his Eyes #1) by J. M. Darhower

2 Oct 2014

3.5 I LOVE NAZ STARS! ★★★☆ 

  


"And when his eyes cut my way, and I see the darkness on the surface, I'm reminded that this man hangs out with monsters. And one might even exist inside of him."

I was left pretty disappointed with how I imagined this book would be like. I don't know if it was just that my dark reads standards have been raised or this book just underwhelmed me after seeing some great reviews on this one. I found myself really baffled about Karissa & Naz's relationship to a point that I don't buy it at all.

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Monster in His Eyes revolves around Karissa, the 18-year old girl who apparently only attends philosophy class and seems to be struggling with that subject since her professor is giving her a damn hard time with her papers. Also, she has a tendency to lose her phone often which allowed her that one fateful (or not so fateful) encounter with our anti-hero, Ignazio Vitale aka Naz who is this sexy, confident 37-year old man in a black suit.

From one encounter to another, they started spending more time together but in all of those times, Karissa never really found out what Naz's work really is. And when she does, her world is about to be turned upside down.

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Prior to diving into this one, yes I've been warned about Miss Little Naive and Gullible Karissa. So yeah, can't say I'm shocked about how a 18-year old girl decided to run off along with a 37-year old man whom she hardly knew, let alone possibly do torturous things to her. And then you know, let this man banged her without a damn condom at first go. At this point, I was just shaking my head in disbelief but I pulled through no doubt.

But here's the funny thing. It wasn't so much of Karissa that didn't make this book worked for me. It was actually more of the heavy insta-love thing going on. I know I said this was a minor pet peeve for me, but this one was just WAY too unbelievable for me to fathom. And what sucks more was the fact that I absolutely DO NOT understand what Naz sees in Karissa that made him LOVE her.



Absolutely zero chemistry and I felt so disconnected from both MCs. I'm not surprised because all they pretty much do is go out for fancy dinners, occasionally watch movies and then mostly sex and BAM! Suddenly these two are professing their love for each other and then that's me for most of the read:



I'm sorry, I really am. But I simply cannot buy their "love story". It pretty much made no sense to me at all and this makes me really sad that I felt so emotionless reading this story; no flutters, nothing. I wanted to love their LOVE but there ain't any :(

“He set out to destroy me, but he fell in love with me instead. I fell in love with him, and that's what destroyed me in the end.”



The saving grace for the book for me is definitely Naz's character. THANK GOD. He was like an enigma and with his calm & cool demeanour, I was rather compelled by him. He will probably be the sole reason I will pick up Book 2 and being told from his POV will definitely be something to look forward too :)

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Overall, I still enjoyed the book for the most part. The first half felt a little dragged and mundane but when things started picking up in the second half, I couldn't put down the book. And I'll admit that the twist at the end came as a little shock to me and will get me going to read Book 2 ;)