THE KISS THIEF BY L.J. SHEN
Release Date: January 9th
Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser at RBA Designs.
They say your first kiss should be earned. Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky. They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred. Mine were broken before we left church. They say your heart only beats for one man. Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end. I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit. Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage. They say that all great love stories have a happy ending. I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter. One kiss. Two men. Three lives. Entwined together. And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.
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Wow I don't even know where to start this book. There has been so much talk about this book for months with the title then cover and blurb. I 've just been dying for it. So when I got my hands on it I had to jump in straight away. Which I have to do with any of L.J. Shen's books. But this as just become my new favourite. It's amazing the story had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish. There is so much goin on in this book you don't have time to get bored. Francesca is an amazing character and one of my favourite heroines she is so strong no matter what is thrown at her she deals with it. And dealing with Mr Wolfe Keaton wasn't an easy job.
Wolfe for I don't know where to start but this guy is everything. He's sexy, a total arsehole, protective, harsh, ruthless and so guarded. You don't know what this guy is thinking. But when he sets his mind on something he gets it. Throughout this book I went through so many emotions. He made me crazy there were time I wanted to slap him hug him kill him and even throw myself at him. He is the best hero.
I'm not goin to say to much about the overall story cause you have to read and I highly recommend it. The story is twisted, sexy, addictive, emotional and intense. The writing is just so good L.J. Shen just keeps getting better. I alway get sucked into her books and with every book is a brand new story to be told. I'm not goin to lie when I heard that there was an historical theme to this book was nervous it's just not my think. But she just put her stamp on making historical different and more up to date if that makes sense. But you have to read this book you won't be disappointed.
The Kiss Thief is a breath-stealing tale of very complicated characters. Francesca is just a young woman of 19 who finds herself caught in the world of The Outfit, the Italian-American mafia, and treated as nothing more than pawn. So it's her time to show the world that she's more than just that, she's the Queen.
I was enthralled with this story and it had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how these characters would end up. I loved that it had me so captivated from the very beginning and I can honestly say that there were many parts where I didn't know what was going to happen. Ms. Shen isn't afraid to push some boundaries and it makes her stories very unpredictable for me, which I find an amazing part of reading them.
"Love is, after all, a little mad."
I loved the couple and I was happy with getting to see them grow together. Francesca is the character that really shines in this story though and I liked getting to see her prove that she did in fact have a back bone. She and Wolf had some amazingly explosive chemistry that was sparking right off of the pages.
EXCERPT
“Are you sure you’re on my card?” I turned to the man with a polite yet distant smile. I was still disoriented from the exchange with Angelo when the stranger pulled me against his hard body and pressed a possessive hand lower than socially acceptable on my back, a second from groping my butt.
“Answer me,” I hissed.
“My bid on your card was the highest,” he replied dryly.
“The bids are undisclosed. You don’t know how much other people have paid,” I kept my lips pursed to keep myself from yelling.
“I know it’s nowhere near the realm of what this dance is worth.”
Un-freaking-believable.
We began to waltz around the room as other couples were not only spinning and mingling but also stealing envious glances at us. Naked, raw ogles that told me that whomever the blonde he’d come to the masquerade with was, she wasn’t his wife. And that I might have been all the rage in The Outfit, but the rude man was in high demand, too.
I was stiff and cold in his arms, but he didn’t seem to notice—or mind. He knew how to waltz better than most men, but he was technical, and lacked warmth and Angelo’s playfulness.
“Nemesis.” He took me by surprise, his rapacious gaze stripping me bare. “Distributing glee and dealing misery. Seems at odds with the submissive girl who entertained Bishop and his horsey wife at the table.”
I choked on my own saliva. Did he just call the governor’s wife horsey? And me submissive? I looked away, ignoring the addictive scent of his cologne, and the way his marble body felt against mine.
“Nemesis is my spirit animal. She was the one to lure Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection and died of vanity. Pride is a terrible illness.” I flashed him a taunting smirk.
“Some of us could use catching it.” He bared his straight white teeth.
“Arrogance is a disease. Compassion is the cure. Most gods didn’t like Nemesis, but that’s because she had a backbone.”
“Do you?” He arched a dark eyebrow.
“Do I…?” I blinked, the courteous grin on my face crumpling. He was even ruder when we were alone.
“Have a backbone,” he provided. He stared at me so boldly and intimately, it felt like he breathed fire into my soul. I wanted to step out of his touch and jump into a pool full of ice.
“Of course, I do,” I responded, my spine stiffening. “What’s with the manners? Were you raised by wild coyotes?”
“Give me an example,” he said, ignoring my quip. I was beginning to draw away from him, but he jerked me back into his arms. The glitzy ballroom distorted into a backdrop, and even though I was starting to notice that the man behind the demi-mask was unusually beautiful, the ugliness of his behavior was the only thing that stood out.
I am a warrior and a lady…and a sane person who can deal with this horrid man.
“I really like Angelo Bandini.” I dropped my voice, slicing my gaze from his eyes and toward the table where Angelo’s family had been seated. My father was sitting a few seats away, staring at us coldly, surrounded by Made Men who chatted away.
“And see, in my family, we have a tradition dating back ten generations. Prior to her wedding, a Rossi bride is to open a wooden chest—carved and made by a witch who lived in my ancestors’ Italian village—and read three notes written to her by the last Rossi girl to marry. It’s kind of a good luck charm mixed with a talisman and a bit of fortunetelling. I stole the chest tonight and opened one of the notes, all so I could rush fate. It said that tonight I was going to be kissed by the love of my life, and well…” I drew my lower lip into my mouth and sucked it, peering under my eyelashes at Angelo’s empty seat. The man stared at me stoically, as though I was a foreign film he couldn’t understand. “I’m going to kiss him tonight.”
“That’s your backbone?”
“When I have an ambition, I go for it.”
A conceited frown crinkled his mask, as if to say I was a complete and utter moron. I looked him straight in the eye. My father taught me that the best way to deal with men like him was to confront, not run. Because, this man? He’d chase.
About the Author
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
Connect with L.J. Shen
Website: http://www.authorljshen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorljshen/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lj_shen
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorljshen/
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