WOW!!! Forsaken leads you into darkness and into the underbelly of evil of the worst kind, family betrayal. It’s not a pretty story with a big bow on top. Instead, you will be taken on a journey filled with despair, agony, fear, joy, intense love and hope. Hope for a life of freedom, hope for a future and hope for righting the wrongs done by those closest to you.
Scum of the earth Martino Rossi is the epitome of evil. He’s the mafia Don of the Rossi familia. He sets up his only daughter, the beautiful Grace Rossi, to be kidnapped by members of the rival mob familia, the Romano crime family. Grace is instructed to listen and obtain information and report back on what she hears once she is rescued. Grace’s life has been filled with abuse by her father. Beatings after beatings. He’s never accepted her. She was a disappointment to him because he wanted a son. A son he could mold and shape into the hardened criminal he was himself. (I just want to shoot his a**!) Grace agrees and plans on escaping before the kidnapping takes place. She has plans to run as far away from her family as possible. She has made small bags of heroin and swallowed them. They will stay in her stomach until she vomits them up. Her plan was that if she wasn’t able to escape as planned, she would use the heroin to commit suicide. But that was the only way of hiding it.
Gio Luca (I just love that name) is a hit-man who lives with his dog Rigs. Gio is a dark, dominating, very hot, muscled, panty melting gorgeous hit-man with sniper skills that can’t be beat. He kills without guilt. It’s what he does and he’s very good at it. He’s no nonsense and says what he wants when he wants and has no filter. Gio also has a very yummy and dark sexual appetite.
When his father, Bruno, tells him they are going to meet with members of the Romano crime family to accept a contract hit on Toni Rossi, the second in command in the Rossi familia, Gio has serious reservations. If they take this job and complete the “mission”, it will most likely start a war between the Romano and Rossi families and that could prove disastrous…
Bruno Luca raised his son to be a killer. Gio's flashbacks of his first kill at 10 years old left me sad, shocked and disgusted with Bruno. Bruno also works with Gio on contract hits but Bruno hasn’t had work in a while. Bruno has a huge chip on his shoulder. He doesn’t accept that he will never be a “made” member of the familia because he is not 100% Italian. Instead, he believes if they can pull off this hit, it will help them get noticed and one step closer to being a made member. Unfortunately, Bruno’s eagerness and impatience to being a made member of the Romano crime family cloud his judgement and has him acting in haste and not thinking and planning hits with the care and caution needed to pull off the job without issue. (I wanted to biff him off the side of his head more than once, I’ll tell you that).
During the meeting with Marco, the second in command in the Romano familia, Bruno accepts the hit on behalf of himself and Gio as well as accepting the temporary “gift” given to Gio. What is that gift you ask? It’s Grace Rossi, mafia princess, daughter of the Don of the Rossi crime family, Niece of the target hit, Toni Rossi. It is expected that Gio train Grace to become the perfect submissive/sex slave that will, one day be sold into the slave trade. Gio is shocked his father did this but had no choice but to accept the gift and the challenge. Things are set in motion and Grace is taken by the Romano familia and turned over to Gio.
When Grace wakes up, she doesn’t know where she is. She discovers that not only has she been stripped of all clothing, she’s in a cage. A cage that’s not locked. Other than the cage, the room is empty. She’s terrified and has to accept that her dreams of escape and a better life have been ripped from her and now her future is uncertain. That’s where her journey with Gio begins. She is so fearful and does NOT trust him. She refuses to eat or drink and she’s becoming ill. She contemplating ending her life but doesn’t have the courage to follow through.
The relationship between Grace and Gio is extreme and intense. Both are instantly attracted and drawn to each other. Grace fights it and tries to hide her growing attraction, questioning her sanity, all the while trying to come up with a plan of escape. Gio is not fooled by her stubbornness and begins his training. It’s a psychological game of cat and mouse. He watches her on the video camera that’s installed above the cage. He learns so much by doing so.
Gio is so very gentle and kind to her. As trust is slowing built, feelings are forming between them. He slowly tries to build trust between the two but that does not come easy. Gio finds it challenging to get Grace out of the cage. He told her that she was safe in the cage and he would never enter it. But told her if she comes out of the cage and he gets to her, she will become his and he will do whatever he wants with her, that he owns her.
Despite her growing feelings for Gio, she’s still so afraid of leaving the cage for fear of her safety that she never left. She has her father’s abuse to thank for that. Since that wasn’t working, he gave her certain times where she was allowed to leave the cage and would never be approached by him. She would be safe. Easy peasy right? NOPE!!!
His training doesn’t go as planned. Obstacles keep getting in the way. What obstacles? I’m not telling, but it’s exciting. There is so much that happens and I don’t want to give it all away. The story up to this point covered approx. the first 10 or so chapters and the best has yet to come.
What happens when Grace finally gives in and leaves the cage and gives in to her attraction to Gio? All I’ll say is HOT DAMN!!!!!! You’ll be screaming for more more more!!!! Once Gio gets a taste of “His Princess” he vows never to give her up. She belongs to him.
When the pressure of honoring the contract hit gets to be too much, Gio comes up with a new plan of attack. Gio must also come up with a plan that will ensure safety to the one person he cares most for, Grace.
When the ultimate unforgivable betrayal becomes evident, Gio sets things in motion that will hopefully allow him to leave with Grace and have a future together. When Grace’s life is further threatened, it’s a race against time for Gio to bring down those responsible and save the woman he loves so much. Will Grace and Gio succumb to the violence brought upon them? What happens when Grace meets up with the one person who left her broken? I’ll never tell, but it’s explosive. You’ll find yourself cheering….. I know I did!
Do you have what it takes to take on this gritty and emotional read? I sure hope so or you will be missing out on one wonderfully written and fantastic story. Thank you Willow Winters & B.B. Hamel for writing this intense and super exciting romance!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book and I also purchased my own copy. What a great addition to my collection!
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Top reviews from other countries
Asta Gedviliene
Thrilling dark romance with HEA!!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2018
