REVIEW- BLURRED RED LINES (Carrera Cartel Book 1) by Cora Kenborn

Nothing’s deadlier than sleeping with the enemy.

Eden 

In the wrong place at the wrong time, my life is forever altered when I witness a botched cartel hit. Kidnapped and held against my will, I find myself thrust into a longstanding cartel war as some sick consolation prize. I’ll make it out of here, and when I do, everyone from the drug lord to the bottom-feeding trigger man will fall. 
That is, if I can stop myself from falling first. For him. I should hate him. He holds me prisoner, but I'm the one who refuses to leave. 

Valentin 

My name is whispered in fear. As the heir to the Carrera Cartel, I’m determined to defy my legacy and do things my way. When an innocent man’s death put a witness on my radar, I try to convince myself I’m keeping her prisoner to discover her secrets. It’s a lie. I want her, but this dangerous attraction risks both my empire and our lives.
I’ve spent my life in a solitude of my own choosing, but now that I have Eden beside me, I won’t let her go. If we burn…we burn together.   AMAZON   5 STARS


Of course, going into this book I knew the language and some of the events were going brutal.  And there was that in the story but it didn't stop there either.  
Both of the main characters were awesomely interesting and their personalities were not drawn in a shallow way, they had depth.   Eden was one tough cookie in some ways and she would be the first to say that she was no angel.  But wow, she sure was going to have to draw on that toughness for what she had to go through.  Don't get me wrong, she also had some really good qualities too.  She was loyal to those that she loved and she doesn't budge an inch when it comes to being a part of protecting them the best that she can.  
Valentin (Val) had lived an incredibly violent life beginning when the violence erupted in his six year old life. Prior to that he had a loving mother, a baby sister and a sometimes fear inducing father (when he was around).  It didn't take to long after that for Val to be drawn into the brutality of his father's lifestyle.   He thought all kindness, any tenderness or heart had been pretty much beaten out of him.  But then he met Eden.  I liked the way he put it that Cherry/Eden stormed into his life. That was a really good way to put it.  I really got a kick out of how Eden came up with the name "Danger" before she knew his name was Val.  And even after she did know his real name she often called him Danger.   Things also began to get worse when it came to the war with Manuel  Munoz's gang.  The war was heating up with more losses including people in the Carrera Cartel. 
Tension, danger, surprises remain high throughout the book.  Talk about reading a book at the edge of my seat.  There was also a surprise twist that I had wondered about for awhile. 
An Epilogue is included and I enjoyed that as well.
Heck, I even smiled when I read the unusual Acknowledgements that the author wrote.  I didn't just smile.  It made me grin.  I definitely like her style!   I will be keeping an eye out for more books by this author.

I borrowed this book for free with my Prime Reading membership