* Sisterhood Series Review * THIN LIES (Donati Bloodlines, 1) & THIN LINES (Book 2) by Bethany-Kris @IndieSagePR @BethanyKris

Thin Lies by Bethany-Kris

Reviewed by Anne Milne

5 of 5 stars

BLURB

Calisto Donati

She was just a woman. That’s what Calisto wanted to tell himself; that’s what he wanted to believe. Emma was nothing more than a woman. There were other women for him to want. To obsess over.
It couldn’t be Emma Sorrento.
Not for Calisto.
She was taken.
She was claimed.
She was not his.
In a few days, Calisto would hand her off, and that would be that. He wondered why it wouldn’t be that easy to let her go.
What good had saving her done?
He had simply taken her from one monster to give her to another.

Emma Sorrento

Emma slid on her mask. All someone would need to do was look close enough to see what was really beneath the sheer falseness of her smile.
At the other end of the table, Emma found her lies staring her right in the face.
He smirked.
And winked.
Calisto Donati was her worst mistake, her greatest shame, and the one thing she still wanted more than anything. Emma could still feel him all over her, long after his touch and kiss was gone. In thirty days, her entire world had changed—he had changed her.
Emma had a feeling that if she played another game with Calisto, she would surely lose.
She had already lost once.
Wasn’t it enough?

REVIEW

I love mafia books. They are always full of danger, corruption and angst, but this is a different take on the genre. It focuses mostly on the inner workings of the family and how it affects the women.
Emma has been promised in marriage to Alfonso who is 30 years her senior. It's a marriage she does not want, but there is no way to get out of it. You could feel her despair and anger at her parents for putting her in this position. Calisto is the nephew left to guard, get, and bring her to New York for the wedding. The connection between them is tangible! The sexual tension leaps off the page, but giving into it and getting caught will mean death.
I enjoyed the story and it's one of the most emotional mafia stories I've read with characters that I fell in love with. I can't wait to see where the next one goes, because I want more from Cal.

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Thin Lines by Bethany-Kris

Reviewed by Anne Milne

5 of 5 stars

BLURB

Calisto Donati

Calisto had never been a fan of pain, but he found it provided a certain relief.
It was a high that couldn’t compete with anything else he experienced. That was why he fought bare-knuckled, why he drove fast, despite knowing he might crash, and why he still enjoyed looking at Emma Donati—no matter her current status.
Pain felt good.
He might have been a fool for doing so, but as long as he got what he wanted from it, he didn’t really care.
When he fought, he was given release. When he drove, he was given freedom. When he looked at Emma, he was given memories.
All of them brought a certain level of pain. All three might kill him someday.
Calisto glanced at Emma, taking her in again when she didn’t know he was looking.
He realized then that only one might actually be worth dying for.

Emma Donati
Emma kept her gaze on the book in her lap, pretending like there wasn’t an argument going on across the room. She had become terribly good at acting like she didn’t hear.
Calisto watched her out of the corner of his eye while he argued on with Affonso.
She was too focused on Calisto to care about their fight.
His anger. The tightness of his jaw. Searing soul-black eyes.
The two men were not the same. They might have shared blood, but their hearts were entirely different. One man never let her out of his sight when he was nearby. The other acted like she didn’t exist.
This was what it was like, she realized, to be in love with someone she couldn’t have.
Calisto Donati would never be hers.
This wasn’t a fairy tale that would end happily.
They weren’t star-crossed. They were impossible.

REVIEW

After finishing the 1st book and that ending, I couldn't wait to read this one. If my heart hurt for Emma in the last one this time my heart broke for her. I was glad the 'deed' was glossed over... I know I wouldn't have coped with it. Calisto is a man in turmoil. He distances himself as much as possible from his uncle and Emma to try to forget her. Affonso has no redeeming features at all. He's an evil man, used to getting his own way, and doing what he wants to Emma his children and within the family. There are more shock revelations in this one and I gasped at every one. This series just gets better and better. It's fast paced and full of action and emotion!

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