Book: The Rook's Obsession by J.L. Beck, C. Hallman
Reviewed by Suzy Wickedly Good Reads
Rating: 5/5
Okay, THIS ONE! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but The Rook's Obsession absolutely hooked me.
Liam's sister Laura, long believed to have died in the boat explosion that killed their family, is ALIVE. She survived, but with no memory of her former life. The mafia family that found her took advantage of that blank slate and trained her to become one of their top assassins. Laura is now Ivy . Nick, Liam's best friend and second-in-command, loved Laura. The second he learns she might be alive, he's on a plane looking for her. By the beginning of the book, he's already spent months searching. He's gotten close several times but hasn't managed to catch her. Then, Nick walks into his hotel room one night and finds Ivy waiting for him. With a gun pointed at him. Apparently finding Laura was the easy part. š Ivy doesn't remember Nick. She doesn't remember Liam. She doesn't remember being Laura at all. But she also can't bring herself to kill Nick. And why does this stranger know that she likes to drown her french fries in mayonnaise? š
I LOVED this storyline! It gave me a little Mr. & Mrs. Smith mixed with Point of No Return , wrapped inside a spicy mafia romance. But what really worked for me was that Nick can't simply find Laura and expect everything to return to normal. The woman he loved has changed. Ivy isn't helpless or waiting to be rescued. She's a highly trained assassin who can kick ass and take care of herself. Nick has to accept that Ivy isn't the Laura he lost. She's Laura 2.0. And maybe loving her means learning to love the woman she has become instead of trying to turn her back into the woman he remembers. Of course, it's C. Hallman, so YES-the spice is there. š„ But the storyline was actually the most rewarding part for me. I was completely invested in Nick and Ivy and wanted to see how their story would play out. I enjoyed the first book, but this one pushed the series firmly into must-buy territory for me. I can't wait to see where C. Hallman takes this mafia world next! āļøš¤