Nero by Sarah Brianne Series: Made Men #1
on June 25th 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Young Adult, Mafia
Pages: 339
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
Nero is the king of Legacy Prep, living a life of power.Elle is the school’s punching bag, living a life of fear.The only good girls Nero knows jump in his bed when he tells them to.The closest Elle has come to a bad boy like him is in the cafeteria line.The mob boss gave him orders to find out what she knows.Her mouth is sealed.
I just want to be a fu**ing made man.I’m just a fu**ing waitress.
Nero is not a book that I would normally pick up to be honest, but I was in the mood for a mafia romance (I am just in this type of reading mood currently) and so I grabbed it up without realizing that it did have some YA elements in it. Although I would say that its borderline between YA and NA. The rest of the series is NA, so this book definitely worked for me because to be honest…it DIDNT feel like a Young Adult romance at all, it feel more adult romance like to me so I actually really liked this book for the most part.
It features two best friends, Elle is our heroine. Her parents have no idea what she goes through, her father is disabled and she keeps the truth from them as much as she can. Her one refuge is her best friend Chloe who has issues of her own. Both Elle and Chloe are horribly tortured by everyone at school. While at work, Elle witnesses a mafia killing and she knows that she will need to keep her mouth shut. However the mob boss, Dante, knows that she saw something but he needs to know exactly what before making a decision. So he sends in his younger son to do a job, and get close to her.
Suddenly the boys that never lifted a finger to help Elle and Chloe are suddenly looking out for them. Elle doesn’t trust Nero at all, she finds his suddent interest suspicious but she can’t deny the feelings that she is starting to have for him.
We see a couple that have to overcome some issues of course. I will be honest, that I wasn’t a huge fan of Nero especially in the beginning. We see the true test of “bullies” in this book and honestly I never had to deal with bullies but we see how cruel they can be and how much control they sometimes can have. And seeing what Elle and Chloe go through, is so heartbreaking at times. But once Nero comes into the picture, he starts to be the “knight in shining armor” and protect these girls from the bullies and really the “whole” school because they know not to mess up with him and his buddies as they are part of the mafia.
I was pulled in pretty quickly into this story and I really loved the elements that are introduced to us here. And so many parties that just drew me in. I did find it fun seeing Elle make Nero work for it and he does redeem himself very nicely. Even though I wouldn’t say that I LOVED this book, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Seeing the dynamics of the mafia world, and getting some nice elements to a fairytale retelling that I fell hard for.
If you are a fan of mafia style romances…then pick this one up here!!
Vincent by Sarah Brianne Series: Made Men #2
Published by Young Ink on March 15th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
Vincent knows the glamorous side of the Mafia, being born a soldier. Lake lives on the opposite side of the tracks, born the daughter of a soldier. The light and dark side of him are at constant war, but he is letting his darkness reign. She is trying to find peace, and she will soon be far enough away to find it. Discovering that his boss owns her, showed him how little he knew her. Knowing all about him only makes her want to hate him.
I’m a fu**ing made man. I’m just fu**ing trailer trash.
*WARNING* This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All sexually active characters portrayed in this ebook are eighteen years of age or older. Please do not buy if strong sexual situations, violence, drugs, child abuse, and explicit language offends you.
*NOTE TO READERS* This book is a stand alone story. However, to receive the full experience 'Nero (Made Men, #1)' is recommended before.
In the Second book we have Vincent’s book here and if you love Cinderella retellings, than this book will have you hooked. Our heroine Lake doesn’t live the way that she appears to live for everyone. Her father is part of the mob, not “made” but works for the mob but has a serious problem….a gambling addiction. Lake only spends her time with her mother and step family on the weekends. Her mother acts naive, but her stepfather and stepsister are cruel to her where she is relegated to clean and to cook and live in small room in the attic with a mattress on the floor. She just has to buckle down and get through high school so she can leave for good.
Vincent is the “player” of the group, he is the one that draws women to him like magnets. But there is one woman who is his weakness, his sisters best friend, Lake. When Lake realizes that her father’s gotten into some horrible trouble with the mob and that his life is in danger due to his gambling habits, she becomes the mob’s property which puts a test to the fragile relationship between Vincent and Lake.
I will have to say that this story was highly entertaining and I found Vincent to be quite the alpha male. And boy some of his actions “cracked” me up the wazoo. This story is also on the edge between YA and NA, so even if you aren’t a fan of YA….you can still enjoy this book. I really enjoyed this book just as much as book one. I found both characters to just fit in the right ways, and even though they have some bumps I found them to be so fun to read. And yeah I enjoyed Lake even if she was a bit naive at times especially when it came to the mob, however she is strong, independent and spirited. She definitely has a inner strength you have to admire. We do have some conflicts of the story involving the debt that Lake owes to the mob and the abuse she suffers from her step family. And it was interesting to see how these problems become resolved through the story and I really enjoyed the way this author developed the plot here. The romance though was delightful, a bit dramatic at times but quite lively and a bit swoony too 🙂 I can’t wait for Chloe and Luca’s story!!!
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