Review ~ Ghost (Boston Underworld, #3) by A. Zavarelli

ebook downloaded for free via Amazon.

Release Date: August 25th 2016

Publisher: Self-published

Description:
Talia. 
I have always been a bird. Caged by one prison or another when the only thing I ever wanted was to fly away. 
Sold. Beaten. Starved. Drugged. 
Nothing scares me anymore. 
Until him. 
He makes the numbness go away. 
He is hazardous to me. It has nothing to do with his mafia lifestyle, and everything to do with what he offers. 
A gilded prison. 
A retreat from everything that I once knew. The reality I have no desire to return to. 
He thinks he’s caged me, but soon… 
I’m going to fly. 

Alexei. 
I live by a code. The Vory code. 
In this mafiya world, there are traditions. 
Expectations. 
She does not care for these things. She does not care about anything. 
She thinks she has me fooled with her haunted eyes. 
What she can’t know is that I see her better than most. 
She wants to fly. 
But I’m going to clip her wings. 
And make her my wife. 

My Opinion

I picked this up on amazon for free and have had it on my Kindle for at least a few months. Since I read and enjoyed Crow yesterday, I had to dive straight into this.

Ghost follows Alexei and Talia's story. In a way I'm glad I moved on to this without reading book 2 as the couple linked due to Talia's connection with Mack. Of course, I still want Ronan's book, but this order worked for me.

I found this book to be darker than the first. There are more details on the torture, more angst, and more rage. Talia is broken when she Alexei finds her. However, putting her back together again isn't always the first thing on Alexei's mind.

Alexei was an interesting and complex character, and he intrigued me from book one because of his deafness. While I think the author did push the limits sometimes with how well he could lip read--especially when I wasn't completely sure Talia was looking at him, I thought it added an interesting dynamic to the book.

As for the relationship, it was engaging. I wouldn't say there were sparks due to the nature of it. However, I definitely believed in the emotions and growth both characters went through.

Overall, I enjoyed this just as much as the first and will be reading more.

4

Review ~ Crow (Boston Underworld, #1) by A. Zavarelli

ebook downloaded for free via Amazon.

Release Date: February 8th 2016

Publisher: Self-published

Description:
An Irish mobster. A missing friend. Two loyalties, ripping me apart. 

I had a plan. 

Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right?

Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door. 

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either. 

Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission. 

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him. 

Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay.

My Opinion
It's taken me a few weeks to get through this book. I started it after downloading it free from Amazon and them got swamped with ARCs to be read for the end of this month so put it to one side. In fact, I almost didn't go back to it.

Crow started off interesting and then something kind of lost me as the chapters went on. It wasn't getting to the point quick enough for me, which is why I nearly didn't pick it back it again. However, I was tired and didn't feel like starting a new book so I gave it a second chance and this time I couldn't put it down. After the initial slowness it picked up and had me turning pages at a rapid rate. I didn't want to sleep until I'd finished it.

This book got better the more I progressed. Lachlan and Mack grew into their roles, their chemistry developed to an off the chart level, and so did the plot surrounding them. Lachlan was fiercely loyal. It was what I liked most about him, but I also like how Mack challenged him. Despite his position in the syndicate, she wasn't afraid to stand up to him. They worked together and I believed in their relationship and how it developed.


Overall, I'm glad I took a second chance on this book. It turned out to be a great read and I'll definitely be reading more.

4