Menace (Scarlet Scars) Paperback – January 14, 2017

This is not a romance or fairytale. However, it is the beginning of a love story. It is not by anyone’s stretch of the imagination a Rom-Com but the clever and punchy dialogue at times had me laughing at loud while reading.The world of Lorenzo Oliver Gambini (Scar) is not one filled with sunshine, hearts and flowers. It is a dark world filled with a broken childhood, a scarred face, murder and mayhem. Lorenzo would sooner shoot you than look at you, if you proved to be intolerable. Yet, the light that burns deep in the heart of this man is made from the gold of his willingness to raise an infant brother to manhood never allowing his darkness or dark world to touch his “innocent” brother.When we first meet Lorenzo, he is in a cold weather funk and life itself has become intolerably boring. When he collides with Morgan Olivia Myers (Scarlet), she is both fascinating and frustrating for Lorenzo. She breaks his rules time and time again without getting herself killed by Lorenzo to the surprise of his crew. She is alluring in all the ways she needs to be for Lorenzo, yet she is a puzzle he cannot seem to solve…beginning with the tattoo of the letter “S” on her wrist. Lorenzo is surprised that he doesn’t mind her staying around when he normally can only stand a hook-up and nothing else. He realizes one essential aspect of Scarlet’s current existence. She is being hunted by a Russian mobster and he is curious to know why?The storyline of Menace is driven by Lorenzo’s need to keep interacting with Scarlet and learning all her secrets. He commits to being in her corner as her “friend” not her “fairy tale”. He also tells her he does this because he is “bored”, and she brings color into his life. It is at this point that the reader begins to call into question whether he is a reliable narrator or if he is so emotionally damaged and has lived in the dark for so long that he cannot recognize his own emerging feelings…new feelings that begin to work their way into his guarded but golden heart.Scarlet was blessed with this name by Lorenzo. (You would think Scarlet was chosen as Morgan’s nickname from the shade of red that he saw when he first met her but I like to interpret it more as a female diminutive of Scar… much like dude/dudet – scar/scarlet. She carries her own physical and emotional scars from a childhood broken by violence and her narrative hints at what she may have suffered at the hands of the Russian. She has also never really known the genuine and honest love of a man. She sees Lorenzo as “dangerous and cold-hearted” while also being a man with a “deep soul, and “generous and warm”."He can’t fix what’s wrong with me. Nobody can. They can’t even understand. But being around him, it makes me feel things, things I’ve missed just as much as the music and the laughter, things that make me feel alive again. He’s excitement. He’s adrenaline. He makes my heart do stupid [stuff]. [Stuff] my heart shouldn’t be doing. Because everything that turns me on about him could also snuff me out. He’s violent. He’s temperamental. He’s dangerous. So dangerous. Twenty-four hours ago, I watched him murder someone. He didn’t even flinch as he pulled the trigger. But then again, neither did I. I watched him do it without reacting. Maybe we’re not that different."The story is told in three alternating first person POVs. Lorenzo, Morgan and a young child who we are not sure of their identity until later in the book. The author writes all three voices with engrossing “fluence”. There is a pervasive sexiness alive between Lorenzo and Scarlet. Their intimate moments are delightfully detailed, plausible and well… hotly and wonderfully fantastic!!! Lorenzo steals hearts from the first with his willingness to please…“I’ve been passed around, like a piece of meat… but men that go down for the fun of it are unicorns.”I continue to enjoy this author and her superb characters and character development. It’s amazing to me how she can take an unsentimental, gruff talking, semi-psychotic, bad boy surviving as a boss in the shadowy world of organized crime and make him unquestionably swoon-worthy, seriously swoon-worthy…pledging himself to the cause of a hurt and almost broken woman who has known so very little peace and comfort in her young life. Lorenzo is a sexy skilled lover. He has great wit and intelligence, as well as, the charisma of a leader. He is also ruthless, territorial and prone to angry outbursts just in case you forget he is the boss of a criminal empire.Scarlet is appropriately cautious, but she does push her limits with Lorenzo. She is far from being completely broken by the intolerable experiences of her young life. She has managed to lock away a good portion of her heart for those special few that may come to deserve it. The gruff things Lorenzo tells her do not really bother her and I think this has Lorenzo somewhat flummoxed? Scarlet has seen her fair share of selfish evil-doers and Lorenzo doesn’t fit the profile.The story ends on a hopeful note, but I needed the next book in this duet ASAP!!! There is more to this unconventional love story and I’m eager to learn the whole story.If you enjoy your hero off-center with a locked away golden heart and who is devastatingly irritable because he is damaged and playing counterpart like the prince, he denies being, to a feisty heroine just made to order for said hero then this book and I guessing the next in the duet are not not to be missed…“If you give the monster a name, it takes away its power, because we’re really just afraid of what we don’t know. If you name it, if you know what it is, you can be stronger than it.

Wow! JM Darhower has done it again! Written a book about unforgettable characters. I LOVE her "Made" series, still one of my favorite gangster romance series of all time. Its hard to write a review of this book without giving away the surprises but let's just say this book, like many of her others, have these characters that you don't want to fall in love with but you do. She creates the best anti-heroes in the genre. We have Lorenzo, "Scar" who appeared briefly in "Target on Our Backs", which I haven't read yet but you don't need to read that series to follow what's going on in this book. Lorenzo has been disfigured by his vicious step-father so he has a scarred face and heart. The only thing he really cares about his his younger brother Leo, who he somehow raised to be a decent person.Lorenzo is an enigma, he can be cold-hearted, petty and indifferent and yet there's something underneath all of that darkness that let's you know he can be and sometimes is a good person. He meets Morgan "Scarlet" in a bar when she picks his pocket. He finds her and they begin this torrid, but really strange relationship. Initially, I think they just find each other intriguing and they definitely have a strong physical chemistry. But as time goes on, Morgan's past starts to catch up with her and Scar finds himself having to get her out of scrappy situations. But don't make any mistake, Morgan is not a femme fatale, she is strong, fierce, determined and meets and deals with Scar on her own terms, which is one of the reasons why I think he's so attracted to her. He's one of those guys who probably never says I love you but shows you thru his actions - not in romantic ways but in ways that count in life threatening situations. They both also have this really weird, dry sense of humor so you find yourself laughing a lot too.What I also like about story is that it's told from the POV of three people, Scar, Morgan and a little girl. Some of Scar's POV's are hilarious bc the book is written, from both Scar's and Morgan's POV as if they are talking to you, the reader directly. There's this part in the book where Scar is remarking that he never lets anyone know when he is uncertain about a decision he's making. Then, almost as if he's winking at the reader, he says: ...I'm well aware that I just told you, but you don't count so stop trying to interject yourself in the damn story. This is an important moment" Too Funny! At the end of the book, you begin to see how all three their lives are connected. I don't usually like cliffhangers but in this case I'm OK with it bc the second book is out already so I can see what happens next without waiting. This was a GREAT READ!!