Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Bksprout/ ROOK by Hannah Rio

   Bksprout

 Book 5 of Shattered Pieces Mafia Romance Series 

 

The Knight made his move. Romeo Rivas married in secret, defied a dead king's blood pact, and set the dynasty ablaze. But the war he ignited didn't strike the Knight—it struck the youngest son. Dante Rivas. Taken. Chained. Held by a ghost the family doesn't know exists. A dead king's system still executing from the grave, and a Mole rotting inside the empire's walls.

The weapon sent to break Dante is the woman who will either deliver him home—or destroy everything the Rivas name was built to protect.

----------

 

Usually, the mafia prince takes the captive. Not this time. I hold the chains.

ISADORA
I was hired to execute the youngest Rivas heir. Instead, I chained him to a chair.

Twenty years ago, his father punished me with annihilation. Giovanni Rivas erased my identity, relocated me, and rebuilt me into a lethal, unfeeling weapon. I have spent two decades surviving among mafia men who used the weapon and never cared if the woman beneath it existed.

My instructions were simple: end Giovanni’s bloodline. Revenge was supposed to be clean.

But Dante Rivas isn't a terrified boy. He is a nineteen-year-old lethal instrument who wears the same brutal training I do. He doesn't flinch. He watches me. He reads the twenty years of trauma hiding beneath my armor.

When I examine his bruised ribs, the tension in the room snaps. His green eyes burn through my defenses, and he hardens against my touch. When he pulls me in, he doesn't feel like a captive. He feels like a master. His mouth devours me, his hands finding places I’ve kept numb for two decades. I shatter against the concrete, making sounds I haven’t made in years.

I was the weapon. Dante made me the woman again.

But the man stripping me bare is the son of the king who destroyed my life. If I let him live, I betray my employers. If I let him touch me again, I betray myself.

Every king falls. Every bishop bleeds. Every knight wages war. Now the Rook moves—and the board will never be the same.

(ROOK is a dark, gritty, high-heat mafia romance featuring forced proximity, an older female captor, a lethal younger male captive, and a devastating enemies-to-lovers forbidden romance. It is the next installment in the Shattered Pieces series.)

=========================================================================

**SERIES DESCRIPTION

Across this six-book saga, the Rivas family is torn apart by power, secrets, and betrayal—but also remade through the dangerous bonds of love. Here, dominance and rebellion collide, surrender burns into obsession, and the heat is scorching, raw, and unforgettable. And yes—through every shadow and every betrayal, an undeniable happily-ever-after waits.

 **WHO’S IT FOR

For readers craving a dark, high‑stakes romance that blends forbidden desire with a moody, thriller‑infused atmosphere, where obsession and betrayal pulse through every sinful confession.

Explicit
310 pages
English
Contemporary Romance Romantic Suspense Dark Romance dark mafia romance spicy forced proximity age gap enemies to lovers forbidden love crime fiction organized crime revenge romance action thriller 
Must review on:
Amazon 
My Review 5 Star Notes TITLED:  He's the Brilliant Brain 

Interesting Prologue !  Isadora hates Giovanni Rivas with an icy passion.  All she did was say, No, to him using her and then he did what he said he would. He erased her ! Not dead but now she was a ghost who killed for others; not him ! Dante was the Trained Brain cruelly  trained from young to notice things and he does.  He hardly never really notices that though.  Isadora was trained to notice things also because she HAD to in order to survive ! No one has every rattled to her before Dante. And she's got  job to do and she's studied her prey for quite a while.  A man, outside her assignment has been watching her and helping her at time. He said to watch the young man. He was an interesting addition to the story, Anyway, when Isadora and Dante first meet, he's bolted in a chair with injuries. He's only 19 years old and she's 40 years old but when he looks at her? He sees her. No man as ever seen her as a person; just a weapon or being the one who killed them. He sees another person like him; another brain, someone like him. Never happened before ! He begins to see just how cruel his father was to him and his other 3 brothers. 
He was also more dangerous when hurt. I liked that thought.  Look out  Isadora ! I loved the reverse age difference in this dark romance with her being the older one. 
In the beginning I did have one problem having never read any other other books. It took me a while to find the rhythm to know who was speaking.  However, I fell in love with Isadora and Dante. In fact, the whole family was awesome ! Romeo, Nora and her 13 year old sister, Marisol and 10 year old Tomas were especially interesting in their interactions and their expressions of love ! Now, I wish I had read her story; sounds interesting as well. The rest of the brothers, have their own skills and their own stories. 
There are many levels of dangers and a very BIG Mole.  It gets really intense !
I love the fact that it is said by several from time to time that although the men are dangerous? The women in this family are more so. And that is proved time and again in the story.  Isadora is no different. She's really different but also very dangerous too ! 
 There are many levels of betrayal and most get destroyed. But there are several circles of hell that haven't been destroyed.  Yet ! That battle continues in the next story of another brother, called The Pawn and I know that's going to be VERY interesting as well. 
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Netgalley- Feb 24 2026/ Blood Relay by Devon Mihesuah

 book cover for Netgalley 

 General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers 

 In this richly layered debut thriller reminiscent of the real issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people, a badass Choctaw detective discovers an insidious plot against her reservation while investigating the disappearance of a beloved champion athlete.

Choctaw Detective Perry Antelope has been with her partner, Sophia Burns, for only six months. Perry is a seasoned investigator while the ex-Olympian shot putter Sophia is a former street-smart police officer. Together, they are an intrepid pair with an established record of success. But when Perry and Sophia are called to investigate the disappearance of Dels Billy, a beloved women’s Indian Horse Relay rider, they quickly realize that it’s not as cut-and-dry as anything they’ve faced before.

Piece by piece, they uncover unsettling connections between Dels’s disappearance and a series of unsolved abductions of women from Oklahoma reservations. But the perpetrator always seems to be one step ahead, and Perry soon finds herself—and her family—in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer. Despite her husband’s pleas for her to drop the case, Perry is determined to prevent Dels from becoming another statistic.

As the investigation deepens, Perry and Sophia follow a tangled web of clues that point to a close-to-home plot more chilling than they could have imagined. Torn between her family’s safety and her duty to her community, Perry must race against the clock, and across tribal Nations, to find Dels before her murderous abductor can carry out their sinister plan. 

My 5 Star Review TITLED: Filled with mysteries, and Histories and Love

The Prologue was stunning !!!  I just had to keep reading ! I adored Perry Antelope and her stubborn, relentless to find Dels, rescue her  and get the answers for her and everyone else ! She'll fight to the end and she does. I didn't like her Comanche husband, Troy at first. He was a nag.  They do have two children together a 16 year old daughter, Olyve and a younger son, Nico.  Her partner, Sophia Barnes is excellent at her job but also knows when to push Perry and when to just shut up and let it go.  She knows Perry takes meds for migraines when she pushes for too long and too hard. But there is just no stopping her. Sophia is married to linebacker named Mike. We don't get real deep into her marriage but they seem to be a pretty good fit. Turns out Troy and Perry loved each other deeply but she had a hard time expressing it. Their "language" was different. I ended up no longer disliking Troy.  The kids were great !

This is a REALLY intense story, with plenty of dangers, twists and surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat.  I loved that a lot of Native American history was included some of it I knew about and some I didn't!

Great ending; intense to the end.  And at the end, the author's blog was included as was the link to Facebook for the real "Fort Hall Relay Association". It had more information about the relays. I found both interesting.

 The author's blog can be found here:  https://devonmihesuah.ku.edu/

She has a lot more books that I want to explore now.

 I received a complimentary ebook ARC from publisher Bantam and NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book. By the way, a great cover for this eBook. It really caught my attention !

ARC Sept 5-Bksprout/ "Savage Don's Undercover Wife" by Vira Black

 Savage Don's Undercover Wife Bksprout    Amazon 

 Part of: Empire of Savages (4 books)

 I spent three years undercover inside his empire. Then he blew my cover and made me his wife.

I poured years of my life into one cover identity, one empire, one target.

Damiano Vescari was supposed to stay a name in a case file. 

Untouchable. Off-limits. 

Until he crossed a room full of Chicago's most dangerous men and laid every one of my secrets bare.

Then he found out who I really am. Instead of handing me over to his men, he put a ring on my finger.

A fake marriage. Four walls I can't escape and a man who fills every inch of his suit pants like a felony I can't afford.

One moment he's Chicago's most feared Don. The next he's wiping his son's tears and looking at me like I'm the missing piece.

Somewhere between the lies I told and the truth he showed me, I fall. Hard.

One night the walls I built come down and I give him every part of me.

Now there's a baby growing inside me that he doesn't know about.

Then the truth surfaces. My father wasn't killed by the mob. He was killed by my own bureau. And now they're coming for me.

If they get to me before Damiano does, it won't just be my secret they bury... but our child too.

Explicit
294 pages
English
Contemporary Romance Romantic Suspense Dark Romance secret pregnancy fake marriage enemies to lovers forced proximity off-limits/forbidden love office/boss romance mistaken identity single dad oil tycoon protector
Note from the Author

Please read, enjoy, and review Savage Don's Undercover Wife. And don't forget to leave your review on launch day Saturday, September 5th. Thank you! :)

Must review on:
Amazon

 My 5 star review TITLED: He surprised me !

 The opener was a great shock and a wonderful start to the story ! Orina Sinclair is the undercover FBI agent that has been the accountant embedded in Damiano Vescari's financial department. And she's good at what she does. She's sharp, beautiful and thinks that she's been unnoticed. Nope. Other than Damiano's man, Corrado who is built suspicious. She knows he's been watching her every move. Orina's last name is really, Belucci and her dead father, Daniel worked as an FBI agent before he was murdered. Her FBI handler is, Cruz and he is a good man. I never dou

bted it for a minute ! He's just doing his job not knowing the full picture..yet !Damiano is more hip to what is going on with her than she ever had imagined. He could have killed her for what he knows. But he doesn't. Surprise for me #1.  He has a changing 7 year old son, Elio. She tries so hard to not be captivated by him but she softens a bit when she sees his innocent, welcoming face in dinosaur pajamas.  Damiano notices. He notices a lot but gives her space which was another surprise for me. He knows things about her father and will know even more as time goes on. He truly can be that Savage Don when people he cares about are targeted.  And people do get hurt. There isn't any grotesque violence, which I liked. Orina begins to see how tender Damiano is with people especially his son. 

There is a quiet intensity about this story, along with some heated moments between the MC's. But it's time to catch the true culprits behind her father's murder and other "hidden" felonies on the part of the FBI.  It's going to be a long battle with everyone caught. But there is one string out there that will probably need another book. But I don't consider it a cliffhanger because the parts I cared about come to a great end with a wonderful Epilogue.  

 I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Sept 3, ARC Bksprt/ Built To Burn" By Gianna Vonnie

 Built To Burn Bksprt    Amazon

 He didn't come to love her.

He came to destroy everything she had left.

Adriano Vale does not make mistakes.

He makes plans. Long, patient, devastatingly precise plans.

For years, he has prepared for one thing: revenge against the Caine family.

Now he is walking straight into their world with a peace offering in one hand and their destruction already mapped out in the other.

Get close.

Earn their trust.

Tear apart everything they built.

Then he meets Celia Caine.

Celia has spent her life surrounded by secrets no one will explain and a family that expects loyalty without ever giving her the truth.

Adriano should be another man she knows better than to trust.

Controlled. Watchful. Dangerous.

Instead, he becomes the one person who seems to see her clearly.

She doesn't know that every step he takes toward her family is part of a plan.

He doesn't know that every step he takes toward her is pulling him away from it.

He came to destroy the Caines.

Falling for Celia was never supposed to be part of the revenge.

And by the time she begins uncovering the truth, Adriano is already facing the one choice he never planned for:

Finish the vengeance that has shaped his entire life...

or protect the woman standing in the middle of everything he came to burn.

Some things are built to last.

Some things are built to destroy.

Adriano built his life to burn the Caine family to the ground.

He never expected Celia to be the one thing he couldn't watch burn.

Explicit
400 pages
English
Contemporary Romance Young Adult / New Adult Romance Dark Romance Mafia Romance Age gap Dark mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Betrayal & Angst Morally Gray Hero Hidden Identity He Falls First Forbidden Love Mafia Boss x Innocent Heroine
Hosted by Gianna Vonnie
Note from the Author

Please enjoy and leave your honest review when the book go live. Thank you.

Must review on:
Amazon
My 5 Star Review TITLED: Everyone watches !
 
Adriano Vale seeks vengeance on  Gerald Caine and he's waited for years after finding his eighteen year old brother, Enzo left dead on a dark highway.  Enzo was full of life, joy and laughter! He cared about people and it was real; people felt it. The Vale family was meant to find Enzo's body and it almost destroyed his family.  But Reid is not only Adriano's right hand man, but also loved Enzo like a brother. Reid and Adriano were step in step when it came to bringing the Caine family down !
Adriano knows just about everything about the Caine family. Thinking he knows everything that he needs to know to bring them down. Gerald has a  loud, proud, 31 year old son, named Theo.  He is proud, eager and wants to be seen. He still doesn't know how to read a room. Nora is 28 years olds and Adriano knows she's going to be a problem.  She does know how to read a room and he knows quickly that she is already reading him !She's sharp and calculating.  What he hadn't counted on was the youngest daughter Celia being a problem. She knows how to read a room and people and although being quieter, she's not stupid! Gerald is a cold,domineering bully ! Charming on the surface but cold underneath. 
Nora loved Celia in her own kind of hard way, barely showing it at times but they have both been trying to survive that house ! They love each other and know each other's tells. Their dead mother is the only one that truly understood and loved Celia unconditionally. They were a lot a like.
 Such an emotional, intense story with plenty of surprises and a few "happy times" between Adriano and Celia before it looks like it's all going to fall apart.
Perfect ending and even better Epilogue ! P.S. I loved the eBook cover !

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
 

Sunday, August 30, 2026

ARC Bkfunnel-AUG 20/ Forced Marriage to the CEO by Brenna Cole

 Forced Marriage to the CEO: A Forced Proximity Opposites Attract Billionaire Romance

  hello@brennafiction.com

amazon 

I received an ARC from the author and these are my honest thoughts. 

Friday, August 28, 2026

Arc Bksprout- Aug 25/ The Favorite Mistake by Juliett Key

   Bksprout 

I swore I'd never fall for my enemy…then I discover he's the billionaire who's been secretly saving my bar.

Thatcher Duvall is arrogant, impossible, and somehow turns arguing with me into his favorite hobby.

Every time he strolls into my dive bar, I remind myself he's the last man I'd ever fall for.

Until I find myself with him in the back room.

That lie gets harder to believe every time he steps between me and danger. 

He catches me before I fall, and looks at me like I'm already his.

Just when I finally admit I've fallen for my enemy, I uncover the truth.

Thatcher isn't just another customer.

He's my silent partner.

 One reckless night turns insults into forbidden kisses... and leaves me staring at two pink lines.

Now the man hunting Thatcher's empire is coming after everything he loves.

If I can't trust the only man who's ever fought for me first, I'll lose my family, my bar  and the only future I've ever wanted.


Mature
2000 pages
English
Contemporary Romance Romantic Suspense Forced Proximity Opposites Attract Hidden Billionaire He Falls First Enemies To Lovers Revenge Love Forbidden Love Surprise Baby Alpha Male
Must review on:
Amazon

MY 5 STAR Review TITLED: He thought he could manage her
 
I loved feisty  Raisa  Tilling who doesn't take any guff off of anyone. Hey, she can't afford to. She has as struggling bar, bills barking at her door and she's supporting her grandmother who needs her medicine and a growing, teenage brother named Lucas ! So is she impressed with Thatcher shows up in her bar? Not a bit. I loved that she looks at his expensive shoes and comments often that they found their way into the wrong place ! But he keeps coming back, for her cheap beer, and her insults !  He became the man "with the shoes!" I loved how he always over tips and uses the same stool at the bar when he comes back. Almost like it has his name printed on it ! Raisa refuses to be "managed" in the guise of help because that's come back to bite so many times in her life. 
Dominic is an evil piece of work, who years ago helped found the Media company with Thatcher.  But now he's primed to kick out and dismantle the company and rake in the profits. Even poking into Thatcher personal life to help him get there. Jerk. 
Cole Merritt is a reporter, friend of Raisa's and has shown up at her bar for several years.  He's in love with her, and she knows it but he doesn't stand a chance especially when Thatcher shows up. Still he helps but also waits for verification of truths ! He's an honest reporter !
Thatcher has a great assistant that helps him so much and is a straight shooter and doesn't put up with his nonsense. She helps him so much with Raisa too !  Thatcher slowly learns not to try to manage Raisa. It's funny but also heart warming !
It gets really intense almost down to the minute but has a great outcome! I loved the eBook cover and the name of the bar.  

 I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Bksprt Aug 25,26/ Falling for Miss Fortune Again: Small Town, Second Chance, Secret Identity Sweet Romance by Katy Lee Hart

  Bksprt 

 Note from the Author

Clean and wholesome romance, no real references to the occult in this "fake fortune teller" story. 

 I had one dream: get on TV.

Preferably as a serious news anchor.
But I would have settled for weather or traffic.
Even standing beside a prize pumpkin with a microphone.
Instead, my agent got me a gig as Madame Miss Fortune at a traveling fair.

What can I say. I had to pay the rent.
So I made up funny fortunes, hid behind a black wig and veil, and tried not to think about how far this was from my big break.

Then the fair came to my hometown.
And Reed walked into my booth.
My ex. The man who broke my heart. The man I never quite got over.

One viral video later, my fake act became a real TV opportunity.
But the more my dream came true, the more my lies tangled around Reed.

Now my future depends on telling the truth, before Miss Fortune costs me everything.
General
386 pages
English
Contemporary Romance Rom-Com Small Town Romance rom-com small town romance clean and wholesome romance sweet romance closed-door romance second chance romance secret identity
Note from the Author

Clean and wholesome romance, no real references to the occult in this "fake fortune teller" story.

Must review on:
Amazon
File(s) available:
EPUB (Send via email & download) 
 
My 5 STAR Review: TITLED:  Unusual & Special !
I fell in loved with this quirky, emotional story ! Lucy was a hoot ! And the story started 5 years earlier with Lucy and Reed being in love. But he was charming and he got careless with Lucy and her love !  She got tired of the excuses and they had a huge fight ! He retaliated by saying he never knew what Lucy he was talking too. His pride kept her from calling her back until the next afternoon. And just like that they were over !
Fast forward now to current times ; which where the story stays. 
The job that Lucy took to pay her rent was hilarious! And she was good at it. Dottie and Earl who hired her fell in love with how good she was at it ! They also cared about her. 
The dialogue between Lucy and Reed was off the charts great' Humorous much of the time but also painful when the truth begins to come out. I kept wondering throughout her Carney Act  ..just when was it all going to blow up? And of course it does, in the most painful, dramatic way. After all, why not Lucy has always been accused of being dramatic ! 
I loved how the story came to an emotional end. I also thought the eBook cover was an excellent choice that fit nicely with the story !
 I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.