4 of 5

Adult Romance/Mafia Romance (Contains the sensitive subject of physical and mental abuse)

ARC provided for an honest review – book is now available on Amazon!

Ellie is a smart and beautiful woman whose life is about to be turned upside down. She works as reporter and her current project is a story to bring down the Russian Mob. Of course, she has been doing her fair share of investigating for this story and the Mob has noticed. She is no longer safe. Ellie has even more to overcome. She has been in an abusive relationship for years and her confidence/freedom stolen from her. After a severe attack that ultimately sends her to the hospital and lands her abuser in jail, she decides to go out and enjoy her freedom. Her night out quickly becomes ruined when a group of guys begin to her harass her, luckily Roman is there to protect her. Little does Ellie know, Roman is about to become much more than her savior.

Roman is a paid hitman. He gets the job done, no questions asked. Fate has brought him to the bar where a breathtakingly beautiful woman, Ellie, is being harassed by a group construction workers. When he saves her he doesn’t expect to be taken back to her place. A night of “having fun” ends up turning into something more. This one night stand will forever tie him and Ellie together.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this story. Ellie is very likable and relatable. From the very beginning I wanted her to overcome her abuser and take a stand to be stronger, independent and to gain her confidence back. I wanted her to build her life back up and take on the world but life never goes as planned. Ellie’s life is quickly turned upside down. I do really like that she never gives up and keeps fighting for what she wants, this is very inspirational and a great message in this story! Roman is very similar although he is more of a mystery. The reader isn’t introduced to Roman and his back story until further into the story which makes it a little bit harder to connect and understand him… but once he is introduced I felt more emotional invested in him. I wanted Roman to also overcome his past and grow as a character.

My main criticism of this book is that I lost a bit of interest due to the lack of romance/chemistry between Roman and Ellie after the beginning. The beginning hooked me and then it fizzled. I would have loved a little more than a one night stand or maybe have Roman express more interest in Ellie. Having his perspective and thoughts on Ellie, like him being attracted to her, wanting to know more about her, even investigating into her could have helped build up the chemistry/attraction and kept the story captivating. Don’t let this part keep you from reading this! The story picks back up about halfway through and will take you for a ride!

Another great thing about this novel is the plot. This plot is full of twist, turns and suspense! Oh my goodness – I was on the edge of my seat multiple times and could not put this book down! I flew through it! The last half was my favorite AND it featured characters from Holly Hart’s Brawler’s Baby.

Check out Hitman’s Baby on Amazon and the first in the “secret baby series”, Brawler’s Baby (My Review)! Both can be read as standalones.