LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE STRIPPED #1 & HOLD YOU AGAINST ME STRIPPED #4 and by SKYE WARREN

Tough Love and Hold You Against Me
Reviewed by Jenny & Gitte

“I’m someone else now, someone darker. Someone you don’t want to know.”

We do love our Mafia romance reads, there’s just something about a tortured hero with a ruthless side and a touch of vulnerability, a man who will sacrifice anything for the woman he loves, a dark tale with danger and suspense in plentiful supply. When that’s brought to life by an author whose words and stories continually captivate us, we know to buckle in for one fabulous ride.

‘Suddenly his lips are against mine, warm and soft. God, I’ve seen those lips smile and twist and curse a blue streak, but I never imagined they could be this soft. ‘

Our hearts were pounding through Tough Love, the prequel story to Hold You Against Me (included in this book) that introduced us to Giovanni Costas, the eighteen year old son of a Mafia foot soldier and fifteen year old Mafia Princess, Clara Morietti who share a friendship and a blossoming love that is so beautiful and innocent in a world steeped in tradition, violence and danger. The Mafia way of life; where power is king, where marriage is a business transaction that has no place for love, a fact Clara and her sister Honor are about to experience. After all, Mafia Princesses are raised to look pretty, marry well and keep their mouths shut. Yet, they didn’t count on the love and sacrifice Gio would make to ensure Honor and Clara wouldn’t have to suffer that fate.

The prologue for Hold You Against Me is told in Gio’s point of view and what a harrowing, painful and heartbreaking prologue it was. The lengths this young man was prepared to go, the pain he was forced to endure and the loss he experiences all for love left our hearts a shattered mess.

“Where is the boy who held me in his arms when I cried? What happened to the boy I loved?”

Eight years later Gio and Clara come face to face once again, however, gone is the gentle hearted boy and in his place is a menacing, dangerous and damaged man, yet we didn’t have to dig too deep to expose glimpses of the tender man behind the hardened exterior.

“I want to look at you like this.”
“Like what?”
“With that hope in your eyes, like you know me.”

Those dangerous, brooding Mafioso men who we know, beneath it all, love their woman with passion and devotion make our pulses race and our knees weak. We can’t resist them …when they utter the word, ‘bella’ with such feeling, such possessiveness…well, we’re gone for. And we were well and truly gone for Giovanni, a ruthless tough guy with a loving heart that beats for solely for Clara.

“Bella,” he says, a wealth of meaning encapsulated in a single word. The love he once felt for me, the conflicted desire he now feels.

As for Clara, we found ourselves unable to connect to her on a deeper level. That was until we went back and read Love The Way You Lie. As hers and Honor’s story interconnects with this one, we felt we needed this background to her character to fully understand her plight and why it’s important to read Honor’s book. Clara never forgot the boy who stole her heart with whispered reassurances.

‘It’s right that I spent years mourning his death, because the boy I knew is truly gone.’

Skye Warren delivered a gripping and vividly mesmerising dark story which gave us a glimpse into the treachery, deceit and perilous world of the Mafioso. There is a passion in her words that challenges the reader and a beauty in her prose grips us in its clutches. This is a story fans of Mafia romance will devour, but please read in the order we’ve mentioned below to gain the optimum reading experience of Gio and Clara’s story.

✲✲✲✲  ✲✲✲✲

Love the Way The Way You Lie
Reviewed by Gitte & Jenny

Upon finishing Hold Me Against You we immediately dived into Love The Way You Lie as we just felt we needed to know where it all started for Honor and Cara. As we started reading we realised that despite how it’s being sold there’s no way you could possibly get the most out of Hold Me Against You without reading this one first. The storyline is almost a continuation and you learn of family connections and get vital backgrounds. We struggled to connect with Cara and Honor until we read book one. It’s as if we went backwards and had several ahaa moments.

“I’m afraid of dying, but I’m more afraid of never living.”

So, in this story we learn just what happened after Honor and Cara escaped their Father – The Don – and a life being sold off to corrupt men of violence. This is Honor Moretti’s story. This is a story of two sisters on the run – when to make ends meet – Honor becomes a stripper and the pair of them live in hiding from the Mob. All she wants is hers and Clara’s freedom however it’s still not quite within grasp sadly and it doesn’t come easy nor cheap- it’s paid for by sacrifices.

“I think we never really get over the past. It’s always shaping us.”

Honor is not living an easy life and has to go through hell to support herself and her sister. A sister who seems oblivious at times yet understands why they’re there. After all she had a taster of what was to come if she’d stayed in the midst of the mob family and those who challenged it. Our hearts bled for Honor and we have to say we now understood the sacrifices, the fear and the tragic circumstances so much more.

Everything changes the night when a powerful man enters the strip joint and a connection is made between him and Honor. Kip, a man with a slew of secrets and a complicated past sets his eyes on Honor – or Honey – her stage name. We were swept up by Kip alongside Honor and followed their journey with trepidation and pounding hearts. Was all as it seemed?

“Oh, sweetie, you’ve got so many strings you’ll never get free.”

No all is not as it seems and a thrilling and emotional ride ensues as wicked ties and convoluted pasts collide. We really enjoyed this story and are so glad we read it as in hindsight it made us appreciate Hold Me Against You so much more. Again, we have to highlight how beautiful and evocative Skye Warren’s writing is. Simply flawless.