Sometimes
love isn’t beautiful...
Sometimes
the only way to describe it is beautifully brutal.
If you
think you know him… You’re wrong.
If you
think you know his family… Wrong again.
If you
think you know his story… You don’t.
If you
did, you’d likely wonder how the hell a man like Maximillian Adorite managed to
make it to this point in his life. At twenty-nine, he’s experienced more than
most people could only ever imagine, all thanksto his family. Organized crime
they call it. Mafia.
No matter
how they spin it, it comes down to one thing. Max gets what he wants. Except
for the one thing he wants most.
Her name
is Courtney Kogan.
And now
that he’s had a taste of her, Max knows he’ll never be able to let her go.
The
Southern Boy Mafia series is a spinoff from the Sniper 1 Security series. It
has been set up to be read without reading Sniper 1 Security, however, the
characters will frequently cross over.
Sitting down to type this review I knew I was going to have
problems because while I am a huge Nicole Edwards fan, I had a hard time
getting into Beautifully Brutal. I have read Wait For Morning and was excited to find out this would spin off
and connect the two series together. I
just wasn’t feeling like I wanted to be invested in reading this book that for
me started off slowly and couldn’t hold my attention. It took me longer to read this one than I
ever have taken to read a book that I had been wanting for so long, but slowly
I did read it and the further along I got into it I did begin to like it
more. I just never loved it and it is
killing me to say that or more correctly type.
I enjoyed the feel of the Romeo and Juliet type thing that
was going on but while I really did like Max because you just knew that
Courtney was it for him from the start, Courtney I was never really able to warmed
up to. I think first impressions of her
(although it wasn’t really a first impression per say since I did read Wait For Morning), caused my unmovable
opinion of her. She just came across
very bitchy and for some reason it bothered me more than it usually does.
I will say this, even though this one may not be my favorite
from Nicole Edwards the heat level didn’t disappoint. I can always guarantee that when I read any
book by Nicole Edwards that the sex will be scorching hot and will leave me
squirming in my seat. I do still plan on continuing reading this series because
I think this may be an instance of my mood when I started to read Beautifully Brutal, and not the book
itself.
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Excerpt:
Courtney
spun around, her gaze slamming into his.
“Check on
me? Why the hell would you wanna do that?”
Because
it was an excuse to see her. But that wasn’t what Max told her. “I wanted to
make sure you were all right.”
Courtney
huffed as she returned to pouring the vodka into a glass, adding 7-Up from a
can sitting on the table. Max’s gaze instantly strayed to the extra glass, and
his frustration rose again.
She
tossed him a glare over her shoulder. “Oh, you’re referrin’ to when you blew
some guy’s brains out in the middle of your office? Don’t you have a dead body
to clean up or somethin’?”
He didn’t
say a word. His rule was that he’d never own up to anything. He didn’t feel
safe anywhere that wasn’t home, never knew when someone was trying to trap him.
And of all people, Max wasn’t delusional enough to believe Courtney wouldn’t
turn on him with the right motivation. Ultimately, she was one of the good
guys. And that was why they never had been able to find a middle ground. It was
more difficult than it appeared considering they were at opposite ends of the
spectrum—middle ground was just too far away for either of them.
Not to
mention, arguing with Courtney was moot. Max knew from experience that she
would never let up, which was why he’d given up long ago.
“Oh,
right. You have people for that,” she continued, turning to face him again
before taking a sip from her glass. “I’d offer you a drink, but then you might
think you can stay.”
“I’m
gonna stay,” he informed her.
Courtney’s
eyes narrowed on him, and Max’s body instinctively reacted, hardening
instantaneously.
“You’re
not gonna stay,” she retorted, her tone clipped. “Not today, not tomorrow. Not
ever.”
Max
shrugged out of his leather jacket, folding it across the arm of the sofa as he
moved closer.
“I’m
serious, Max,” Courtney said, her eyes widening as she backed up until her ass
hit the table. “You’re not stayin’. RT’ll be watchin’ my house until you leave.
It’s not an option.”
Max
continued to stalk her slowly until he was standing only a few inches away from
her. Unable to resist, he cupped her face in his hands, enjoying the silky
smoothness of her skin against his palms.
Damn, how
he’d missed her. It’d been damn near a full year since the last time he’d
touched her, since the last time he’d made love to her. Although touching her
now ... it was as though not a minute had passed since that fateful day.
“I’m
stayin’,” he said softly.
Courtney
shook her head, opened her mouth, but then snapped it closed. She wanted to
argue; it was evident in the lines that creased her forehead.
Leaning
forward, Max tested the waters, allowing his lips to brush hers lightly. Even
that was nearly more than he could handle. It’d been too damn long since he’d
touched her, tasted her, loved her. And fuck if he didn’t want to do it all
again. Right here. Right fucking now.
“Max, please,” Courtney pleaded quietly.
“Please don’t do this.”
“Do
what?” he questioned roughly, pulling back and allowing his eyes to slide over
her beautiful face, down the slender column of her neck, where he noticed the
rapid thump of her pulse.
“We’re
through,” she stated, her tone holding a hint of conviction.
“So
you’ve said.” In fact, Courtney had told him they were over many times during
the year they’d been together. And for the year that followed, right up until
this very moment, Max had thought about her every single day, about the way
she’d ended things so abruptly the last time. Didn’t matter that he’d called
her bluff and that had technically been the reason they’d gone their separate
ways.
Had it
not been for the crazy shit he had to deal with on a daily basis, he might’ve
actually taken the time to play her games. But there was another problem with
that. He was fucking tired of playing, which was the only reason he’d allowed
her to walk away then.
And that
was the real reason he was there tonight. He wanted to know whether or not this
was truly over. For him, it wasn’t. There wasn’t a chance in hell that he’d
ever be able to get over her. Probably not in his lifetime. But that didn’t
mean that moving forward wasn’t possible. With or without her.
If she
didn’t want him, he’d move on. He had business arrangements dangling in the
wind, one in particular that was entirely dependent on where he stood with
Courtney.
“Tell me
you want me to leave, Courtney. Tell me to go, and I’ll never darken your
doorstep again. You’ll never have to see me.”
Max could
see the surprise in Courtney’s eyes, in the way her throat worked when she
swallowed hard. He’d never made her that promise, never told her that he’d
willingly let her go, although he’d spent the last year staying away from her.
He’d had eyes on her the entire time; he knew every single move she’d made
during those months. He knew for a fact that Courtney had never brought another
man home with her, nor had she ever gone home with a man. Had she made that
choice, Max wasn’t sure how things would be at this moment, but more than
likely, there’d be another dead asshole buried six feet under.
The point
was, she hadn’t.
“Tell me
that’s what you want, and I’ll do it, Courtney. But know this ... if you send
me away this time...” Max took a deep breath, exhaled. “I won’t come back.
Whatever this is between us, it’ll never die, never go away completely, and
we’ll both have to live out the rest of our lives with the decision that you
make right here. Tonight.”
“I
want...”
The
pause that followed stole the air from the room.
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New
York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards launched her professional writing
career in July of 2012. Having been an avid reader all of her life and a huge
fan of creative writing, it seemed the likely path for her to take. Since then,
she has released fifteen books and has no plans to stop. As her full-time
career/hobby, Nicole writes steamy contemporary and erotic romances. Nicole is
a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who was born and raised in
Texas. Married with three kids and four dogs, she has plenty of interaction to
keep her imagination brewing. Her books have been featured in USA Today’s Happy
Ever After segment as well as Indie Reader’s best seller list. She has forged
her way as an independent author. Although she has a bachelor’s degree in Human
Resources, she prefers to be hiding out in her writing cave, talking to the
fictional characters that have built up in her head over the years. When she
isn’t writing or plotting her next book (sometimes translated to “playing on
Facebook”), Nicole loves to read and spend time with her family and her dogs.
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