Menace by J.M. Darhower
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Once upon a time, there was a guy who got so fed up with life that he resorted to murder and mayhem just to feel alive.
…
Lorenzo Gambini is bored. So fucking bored. Most people either annoy him or avoid him, afraid to face him. Figuratively. Literally. With his face partially disfigured, scarred, he looks every bit the monster the stories make him out to be: the notorious menace they call Scar. They say he’s a sociopath. Maybe he’s a psychopath. Whatever path he’s on, people tend to stay far away from it.
…
Until one day, a young woman bumps right into him–a woman just as fed up with life, but for much different reasons. With a Scarlet Letter inked on her wrist and secrets buried deep in her soul, Morgan Myers is running from something… or maybe somebody. Lorenzo isn’t quite sure.
…
You can bet your ass he’s going to figure it out, though.
As good in audio as it was in print!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😌😎🙃😮🤐
The heroine: Morgan (a.k.a. Scarlet) – She is a thief and a stripper and though she prostitutes herself to a cop who she wants help from, she is adamant that she is not a prostitute. She has an ‘S’ tattooed on her wrist which everyone wonders about and has some dark secrets. There are flashbacks of man from her past, known only as the tin man.
The Hero(es): Lorenzo Gambini (a.k.a. Scar) – Originally from Florida, he is the new mob boss in NYC and he took over the city pretty quickly in a bloody way by killing all the mob bosses in one fell swoop. Lorenzo is a sociopath and isn’t bothered with feelings or morals, there is only one person in the world he might love and that is his younger brother, who is intellectual and too soft for the life Lorenzo leads so he tries to make as normal of a home life as he can for his brother, while being in the mafia. He often doesn’t succeed in that.
The Story: Lorenzo is brutal and callous and utterly hilarious. One of my all time favorite Heroes. He has a long scar crossing his face and is blind in one eye from an injury given to him by his stepfather. When Morgan pickpockets him and steals his money, he is determined to find her and get back at her. He finds her and threatens her and is surprised when she fights back with all she can.
“They’re all wearing black, I realize, as I glance around the packed living room, except for Lorenzo, who dresses more like some hoodlum/model hybrid. It’s weird, right?”
I love Lorenzo. He is wisecracking, sarcastic and has no patience for other people. He is an insomniac, and a bit paranoid, but he has no fear and is so likable. You can’t help but love him. He was introduced in Target on our Backs the third book of the Monsters in his Eyes series, and he was awesome in that one (read my review of that book for a terrific quote from Lorenzo).
“I happen to like my balls. They accentuate my cock quite nicely, you know. I’d show you, but well… you’ve got to earn that first. So pay attention, okay? There’s work to do here.”
I enjoyed the fact that Lorenzo sees past what Morgan does for a living and values her for the person she is. He sees that she has been through things in her life that led her to where she is and helps her to turn her life around (well as much around as working for the mob is).
The book was told in dual points of view with dual narration. Narrated by Kasha Kensington and Iggy Toma who both do a great job and have pleasant voices that are easy to listen to. I like duet narration better, where the male does all the male voices and female does all the female voices, but dual narration (alternating chapters) is fine.
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