BENNETT MAFIA by Tijan
SUMMARY:
There were always whispers about my roommate at Hillcrest Academy.
The wealthiest of the wealthy sent their kids to our boarding school, and Brooke Bennett had been at the top, though I never quite knew why. She was fun and outgoing, but she kept quiet about her family. The only things she showed me were photographs of her brothers.
I became fascinated with her second-oldest brother. Kai Bennett.
He was the most of them all. Smoldering. Hypnotic. Alluring.
Kai had eyes that pulled me in and a face that haunted my dreams.
Then I met him.
He came to our school with their father, and that’s when I learned what kind of family Brooke came from. They were mafia, and Brooke’s oldest brother was dead. Her father said accident, but Brooke said murder.
Three months later, her father died, and Kai became the head of the Bennett Family. Brooke left Hillcrest for good, and that was the last time I saw her.
Fourteen years later, I’m staring at her face on the television. Brooke is missing.
Two days later, Kai Bennett kidnaps me.
__________________
Well, she did it again, Tijan made me cry! I guess she would blame Kai but I'm holding Tijan responsible for my waterworks. Bennett Mafia could totally be more than just a standalone (says the needy, greedy bookworm inside me but alas...). With so many characters that steal your heart, it's bittersweet to hit the end. Don't let my whining get in the way, I want more. I always want more.
Bennett Mafia is a page turner for sure. I was right there constantly trying to see where it was going. So many questions, I didn't even have time to verbalize because I couldn't pause my reading to process them. I needed to keep reading. I needed reassurance. I needed hope. I needed some darn answers!😆
So to alleviate your fears here a list of answers for you:
Yes
No
Not at all!
Absofrigginglutely
Girl, please!
I hope you told him where to shove it!?!
What were you thinking?!
Those have nothing to do with anything. You honestly thought I'd be a rat!?! It's like you've never read a mafia book before. Rats don't love in the end. I'm not a rat.
Reading aside, Tijan had me by the proverbial balls throughout this book. I had a perpetual sense of unease that only diminished with the epilogue (and even then you know I want more!). Romantic, steamy, and a double side of mafia chaos, Bennett Mafia is everything you don't know you want.
Take a walk on the Bennett side!
There are very few authors that I never read the synopsis of a book by Tijan is at the top of that list. When I saw it was a new Mafia story I couldn't wait and I was not disappointed.
I felt the start had a slow pace I realise it was setting the scene because when the story picked up I couldn't put it down. Kai had all the traits I look for in this genre, yes he's ruthless but he has to be he's the last line of protection for his family. Riley gosh I couldn't love her more. A fearless young woman with such a fantastic back story. Together they were combustible, the chemistry jumps out at the reader.
The secondary characters all play their part in the story and I'm hoping/pleading that at some point the author delves back into their world to give us more from the Bennett family.
reviewed by Sweet Spot Sisterhood
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Bennett Mafia website: www.tijansbooks.com/bennett-mafia.html
Reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/
Other news, The Boy I Grew Up With's audio is live today!
Connect with TIJAN
Website: www.tijansbooks.com
Excerpt
I woke in a bed
with the softest sheets I’d ever felt, and drool. So much drool.
It took a second
for me to catch up, but once I did, I bolted upright with a gasp.
It was pitch-black
outside.
Glass doors. The
same modern bedroom with an entire apartment just beyond the doorway and the
soft glow of a light on in the other room.
I was in Kai
Bennett’s room, in his bed.
Could I close my
eyes, go back to sleep, and wake up in Oz? Was that an option? I’d take it in a
second if so.
The sound of a
page turning came from the next room. Then I heard a chair push back.
Soft footsteps
came until he stood in the doorway.
The light was on
behind him, casting him in full shadow, so I couldn’t see any details except
his very trim and toned silhouette.
Why’d someone so
evil have to be that good looking?
“Why’d you take
me?” I shifted to a sitting position, pulling the sheets around me and noting
that I was in a different shirt and wore boxer briefs over my underwear. He’d
changed my clothes.
That was low on
the list of problems, but… “Where are my clothes?”
He let out a soft
and tired-sounding sigh. “You stumbled going into your room and hit your head.
My brother didn’t notice the blood trickling down your back, but my guards did.
They alerted me.” He nodded. “Your clothes were bloody. They had to be
changed.”
Now that he
mentioned it, my head was pounding.
I touched the back
of my head and hissed, feeling a large bruise. The fact that I hadn’t noticed
that spoke volumes. I was too consumed by everything else.
And speaking of
that, on to my second question. “What do you know about 411?”
He answered
without hesitation, crossing his arms over his chest and propping one shoulder
against the doorframe. “I know they helped hide you and your mother. I know
they’re relatively new, but they’re effective. They have heavy funders backing
them, and I know they set up one man for murder, who is now in prison. I know
your employers might mean well right now, but they are dangerous.”
I blinked a few
times, taking that in.
I winced on the
inside when he mentioned the frame job. That had been an operative who went
rogue, but no one fought to defend the guy.
I scowled. “He
tried to murder his wife.”
“But he didn’t.”
I snorted. “You’re
sticking up for the one slightly innocent monster? You?”
Watch your tone, Riley. You forget who
you’re talking to.
I could hear my
mother’s voice admonishing me, and I bit my lip as soon as the words were out.
It was too late, though. I waited, watching to see if this infamous murdering
monster would come toward me now.
He didn’t move,
just murmured, “You are not a good enough fighter to speak like that to me.”
That same shiver
went up my back. There was a deadly warning in there too.
I swallowed over a
lump. “I’m sorry.”
But was I? Was I
really?
He had murdered.
Cord. His father. Brooke?
I frowned. “You’re
looking for Brooke? That’s why you kidnapped me?”
“Among other
reasons, yes.” He lifted his head again, straightening from the doorframe and
taking a step toward me. Just one step—enough to be imposing, slightly intimidating,
but still giving me space to breathe so I didn’t scare away.
He was so
measured, so calculating.
“My sister
contacted you the day before yesterday. I want to know where she is.”
All the oxygen
left the room, and my head started spinning again. “You think—what? No.”
“Yes.” His voice
was hard now. Gone was the subtlety. “Brooke asked me to keep tabs on you. She
cares about you. You work for a network that specializes in helping people
disappear, and I know she was desperate. She went to you; I know this much.”
He took another
step toward me.
I sat up
straighter, rolling to my knees and then to my heels, ready to spring if I
needed to.
Another step.
He squatted next
to the bed so he was level with me, and now I could see him. He’d shifted out
of the shadows, and I saw how fierce his eyes were. They blazed with anger and
determination.
His perfect lips
barely moved as he grated out, “You will tell
me where she is.”
I swallowed again.
The lump in my throat had doubled in size.
He wasn’t going to
take no, but I had to try. “Before I saw your sister on the news, I hadn’t
really heard much from her since you drove her away from Hillcrest. I swear to
you that’s the truth.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I know you know where she is, but don’t worry. If you won’t tell me, I know
others who will.” He stood abruptly and went back to the main room.
I scrambled out of
bed and padded after him.
I wasn’t prepared
for what I saw. I don’t think anyone could’ve been.
I thought he had
been reading a book, maybe looking over files for his business. I’d been
sleeping in his bed, and he was waiting with a glass of wine beside a fire.
Something cozy like that.
I was so wrong.
As I got to the
doorway, I saw them, and someone started screaming.
It was me.
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