*Thank you to Give Me Books pr for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. They also provided all info and graphics.
RELEASE BLITZ
Title: Thorns of Death
Series: Thorns of Omertà #3
Author: Eva Winners
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Tropes: Single Dad, Grumpy/Sunshine, Forced Proximity
Release Date: July 6, 2023
BLURB
Enrico Marchetti.
One of the five Italian mafia kings.
Powerful. Untouchable. Corrupt.
It started with one innocent look across a room in Paris. He was a lot older than me. A Roman god dressed in an Italian suit, surrounded by an aura I couldn’t resist.
When I ran into him again, he effortlessly pulled me under his spell. But little did I know, a night full of carnal pleasure would cost me everything.
When Enrico Marchetti wanted something, he didn’t just take it. He possessed it. Now, his sights were set on me.
There were secrets this man was keeping. They surrounded him, his dead wife, his children.
I wanted no part of it, but there was no escaping him. He had taken me to his kingdom, locked the doors, and thrown away the key.
Now the only thing left to do was fight. Even if it killed me.
GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102185376-thorns-of-death
Review
Eva Winners is my new queen of mafia romance. I signed up for this blog tour based on the synopsis and I had no idea that she has an entire world of mafia romances. I read the first two books in the Thorns of Omertà series before reading Thorns of Death and I honestly should have read her whole backlist. I have never read a romance series where each book is so entwined together. Events that happened in Isla’s brother, Illias (his romance with Tatiana is what the first two books in this series are about) also happened in this book except we got to see it from Isla’s perspective. And there is stuff happening with Isla’s friends and events from the first two books in this series that I know probably happen in earlier and future stories in Winner’s catalogue. I can’t help but picture how intense Winner’s notes are for her books and the bulletin boards full of string connecting everything she must have in her office. It is seriously impressive and helps me to overlook the few critiques I have.
Isla and Marchetti had intense chemistry that leaped from the pages of the book. I really enjoyed their interactions and how Isla stood up for herself when she needed to. I love reading about a possessive/obsessive hero and Winners doesn’t disappoint. I also found Isla’s search for the truth about her mother to be surprisingly engaging since I already knew most of the story from her brother’s books. There is a lot of action and stories are consistently being told (for past and current books) but the attraction and romance between Marchetti and Isla always remains a focal point. There are more elements to this story that I found so intriguing but part of my love of the story was being surprised by some of the events and reveals.
My main criticism is how often words are repeated. Especially since I binge read this series and so I didn’t really get a break from it. I also wasn’t as invested in the romance between Isla and Marchetti because I somehow liked Isla less in this book than I did seeing her in the previous two books. She seemed immature and the interactions between her and her friends were a bit much for me. That’s not to say that I didn’t totally swoon over Marchetti and Isla. I just had a stronger connection to Illias and Tatiana.
As I’ve said over and over in this review, this book interweaves various storylines from past and future Winner’s stories but you definitely don’t need to read them all to enjoy this book. Tatiana has three brothers who have all had their romance stories told previously and it didn’t take away my love of Thorns of Lust and Thorns of Love at all. I now have a new project of not only keeping up with Winner’s new releases but catching up with her past books as well.
PURCHASE LINKS
US: https://amzn.to/40gcNlj
UK: https://amzn.to/3Ye8FAf
CA: https://amzn.to/3XRA0sq
AU: https://amzn.to/3HK9rzG
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE
#1 Thorns of Lust
US: https://amzn.to/3RA9GRr
UK: https://amzn.to/3XSCmHy
CA: https://amzn.to/3Dv1Qmd
AU: https://amzn.to/3HGNktX
Free in Kindle Unlimited
#2 Thorns of Love
US: https://amzn.to/3jhGxNY
UK: https://amzn.to/3HpFTG8
CA: https://amzn.to/3WSYjFd
AU: https://amzn.to/3Dsa0M5
Free in Kindle Unlimited
COMING SOON
#4 Thorns of Silence – Releasing October 19
US: https://amzn.to/431HwCI
UK: https://amzn.to/430EChB
CA: https://amzn.to/430ECOD
AU: https://amzn.to/3CRMPtM
AUTHOR BIO
Eva Winners released her first novel Second Chance At Love in 2020 and has been writing feverishly ever since. She writes about everlasting romance for every century focusing on characters emotional development and always guarantees an HEA.
She loves yoga, wine and her kiddos. In her spare time, she seeks adventures either hiking through trails or exploring the beaches.
Writing books has always been her passion and she brings real life to the forefront in everything she writes about.
Deeply passionate characters and stories will draw you in and you’ll never want to leave.
Follow her on social media to stay up to date with all her new releases!
AUTHOR LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evawinners
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/581607146052327
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evawinners
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eva-winners
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/evawinners
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/evawinners
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Evawinners
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