New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert continues her smoking-hot series about the O'Malleys-wealthy, powerful, and full of scandalous family secrets.
Greed. Ambition. Violence. Those are the "values" Olivia Rashidi learned from her Russian mob family-and the values she must leave behind for the sake of her daughter. When she meets Cillian O'Malley, she recognizes the red flag of his family name . . . yet she still can't stop herself from seeing the smoldering, tortured man. To save her family, Olivia sets out to discover Cillian's own secrets, but the real revelation is how fast-and how hard-she's falling for him.
Plagued by a violent past, Cillian is more vulnerable than anyone realizes. Anyone except Olivia, whose beauty, compassion, and pride have him at "hello," even if she's more inclined to say good-bye to an O'Malley. While his proposal of sex with no strings seems simple, what he feels for her isn't, especially after he learns that she belongs to a rival crime family. Cillian knows that there is no escape from the life, but Olivia may be worth trying-and dying-for . . .
ARC received for an honest review
This is my favourite book in the series - so far.
An Indecent Proposal reads a bit like a Shakespearean tragedy. Star crossed lovers, feuding families, death and mayhem all around.
Cillian O'Malley is struggling after events in the previous books ( you don't have to read them as you get enough information in this one, but why miss out?) and no one really sees him.
Then there is Olivia. She sees more than people expect, more than Cillian likes. And she knows more about the life he is in than he could ever imagine.
But boy oh boy is there something between them. I loved that Olivia wasn't all over Cillian like a rash from the get go. There was a slow burn to their relationship, giving themselves and the reader time to really connect with the characters.
Olivia is strong, independent and oh so feisty. I want to be like her when I grow up.
I felt that An Indecent Proposal was a darker, grittier story than the previous books, with the families balancing on a knife edge between peace and war... though is there ever really peace when it comes to mob families.
There was a bit of a set up for the next book in the series, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
I felt that An Indecent Proposal was a darker, grittier story than the previous books, with the families balancing on a knife edge between peace and war... though is there ever really peace when it comes to mob families.
There was a bit of a set up for the next book in the series, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
EXCERPT
“Hey, stop!”
She ran
after him, thankful she’d put on her badass
studded boots instead of the pair of heels she’d been jonesing after. An eight-hour shift on her feet would have
her hating herself if she’d gone with the
pretty shoes—and they would have
made it impossible to catch up with the O’Malley.
She
grabbed his arm and froze at the feel of his muscles flexing in her grip.
Holy wow.
He finally
turned to face her and it struck her that, without the bar between them, he was
so much larger than she was. Not large like her ex, Sergei—this man was built lean instead of for brute
strength—but he still dwarfed
her. And he smelled good, like some kind of spicy men’s cologne that instantly had her thinking
thoughts she had no business entertaining.
Like what
it would be like to bury her nose in his neck and inhale deeply. The insane
desire to do so almost overwhelmed her.
Everything about him was
overwhelming, from his beautiful face, to his impeccably styled dark hair, to
the tattoos peeking out of his clothes at neck and wrists. The ink creeping up
the side of his neck was like a wild thing trying to escape from his insanely
expensive suit, a strange combination of brutal strength and poised polish that
she should have known better than to be attracted to.
Except,
apparently, her body hadn’t gotten the memo.
She
realized she was still clutching his arm and made herself let go so she could
offer back the cash. Right, because that’s why you chased him down a dark street.
“I don’t want your money.”
“It’s called a tip, sweetheart. It’s just good manners.”
“I don’t want it.” Even as she said it,
she wondered why she was being so damn stubborn about this. He hadn’t asked anything of her. All he’d done was throw too much money at a
bartender, which was something plenty of drunks did from time to time. Except
he wasn’t drunk. She should
be elated at having the extra cash—God knew she needed it. Instead, there was a growing recklessness
in her chest, one she’d thought she’d outgrown a long time ago. “Just take it, okay?”
“No.” His gaze narrowed on her face, giving her the sudden thought that
he saw too much. Before she could decide what to do with that, he moved closer,
giving her another whiff of that cologne that made her whole body break out in
goose bumps. Or maybe it was the man himself, the streetlights creating a
skeleton’s mask of his face,
turning his eyes into dark pits of shadows. “Why do you care so much?”
“Oh my God, just take it back.” She should drop the cash and head for home.
Or, hell, at least take a few steps away so that she wasn’t in danger of brushing against him if she
took a deep breath.
But she
couldn’t force her hand to
unclench or her feet to create any distance between them. She cleared her
throat, trying to get her thoughts back on track. “I didn’t ask for your charity.”
“Yeah, I got it. You win. I’m an asshole.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Not in so many words, no.” His gaze raked her body much the same way it
had back at the bar, making every alarm in her head go off. Spending any more
time in this man’s presence was
dangerous, though she couldn’t say for sure what
she was most afraid of. She lifted her chin in challenge, demanding…She wasn’t sure what she was demanding. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and
she licked her lips. What am I doing? Walk away. Walk away right now.
No. Not
yet.
He
murmured, “If the shoe fits…”
And then
he gripped her jaw and kissed her.
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. She found romance novels at age twelve and it changed her life. When not writing sexy contemporary and speculative fiction romance novels, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her wee ones, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
