From New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren
comes a sexy new standalone in the Stripped series...
HOLD YOU AGAINST ME
Stripped Series
Skye Warren
Released May 31st, 2016
From New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren comes a sexy new standalone in the Stripped series...
Once upon a time the daughter of a mafia king fell in love with a foot soldier.
This fairy tale didn't have a happy ending.
My sister and I barely managed to escape alive, and we've lived in relative hiding ever since. I'm safe now, but I can never forget the boy who gave his life to save mine.
Except there are whispers that he's still alive. And he's fighting a war.
Even knowing the risks, I have to find him. I have to find some way to protect him, the way he protected me. But he isn't the boy I left behind. He's a violent man. A criminal. And he's been waiting for me--the final pawn in a dark game of survival and love.
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Review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book I read in the series and it can definitely be read as a standalone!
I knew I’d like the book just by reading the blurb. Clara is the daughter of a mafia boss. Three years ago she and her sister, Honor, managed to escape from him and his plans for them. But everything comes at a price and their freedom cost a life. Despite the violence and cruelty around them, Clara and Giovanni knew that their stolen time would come to an end but neither expected what was to come!
Fast forward 3 years and the two sisters haven’t wasted Giovanni’s sacrifice. Well-hidden and safe, they have created new lives for themselves. Clara is doing what she loves, living an ordinary life but she’s far from happy. She can’t stop thinking about Giovanni and what they had. So when Giovanni kidnaps her, informing her that he is the mafia boss now, Clara knows that the boy she once loved is truly gone!
Hold you against me was really good! I didn’t really connect with the characters but the plot was really good. I loved how the story was set up. We got see Clara’s new life and then bits and pieces from her past with Giovanni but we also got to hear how the sisters and Giovanni managed to survive. It was awesome! Of course there was some drama and action but the main focus is these two characters. We also got to see glimpses of Honor’s life with Kip and some others characters from the previous books in the series!
I don’t know if this is the last book in the series but it was a great ending!
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*
Excerpt
Something moves me gently, constant and rhythmic like waves. I’m warm. There’s something soft curling around my arms, wrapped inside my fists. Padding beneath my cheek that smells like home.
An unnatural darkness weighs down on me, keeping me from waking up—a demon’s whisper in my ear. You’re warm, you’re safe. Sleep.
But something is wrong.
I remember falling asleep, so suddenly, remember drinking water that I hadn’t filled. And I remember the phone call from Amy telling me that Giovanni’s alive. Impossible.
Awareness pricks my skin like a cold breeze. Wherever I am, I’m not alone.
I blink rapidly, forcing my eyes open. They adjust to the darkness quickly, taking in the tinted windows on either side and the wide leather bench curving beneath me. I’m in a car. A limo, to be exact. And it’s moving.
On the opposite side of the long space, a large body reclines. I can see the wide stance of his legs, the pale white of his shirt. A suit jacket tossed beside his hip. His face is hidden in the shadows of the vehicle.
I was raised by the head of the Las Vegas mafia, the capo. I grew up around guns and violence, so I know when a man is armed. It’s the way he holds himself, the warning shimmering around him like a dark halo.
This man is armed and extremely dangerous.
Every muscle in my body tenses. My mind still swims in thick water, because I must have been drugged. He drugged me, this faceless man. Why did he take me? It won’t be anything good, that’s for sure.
Even worse, I suspect this has something to do with my past, with my family. It’s messed up that I’d rather be taken by some random psycho. But at least then I’d have a chance of getting away.
“Who are you?” I demand, my voice hoarse from whatever drugs they gave me.
There’s a long pause, the weight of his regard as heavy as a finger trailing down my neck.
“Have I really changed that much, bella, that you don’t recognize me?”
Something moves me gently, constant and rhythmic like waves. I’m warm. There’s something soft curling around my arms, wrapped inside my fists. Padding beneath my cheek that smells like home.
An unnatural darkness weighs down on me, keeping me from waking up—a demon’s whisper in my ear. You’re warm, you’re safe. Sleep.
But something is wrong.
I remember falling asleep, so suddenly, remember drinking water that I hadn’t filled. And I remember the phone call from Amy telling me that Giovanni’s alive. Impossible.
Awareness pricks my skin like a cold breeze. Wherever I am, I’m not alone.
I blink rapidly, forcing my eyes open. They adjust to the darkness quickly, taking in the tinted windows on either side and the wide leather bench curving beneath me. I’m in a car. A limo, to be exact. And it’s moving.
On the opposite side of the long space, a large body reclines. I can see the wide stance of his legs, the pale white of his shirt. A suit jacket tossed beside his hip. His face is hidden in the shadows of the vehicle.
I was raised by the head of the Las Vegas mafia, the capo. I grew up around guns and violence, so I know when a man is armed. It’s the way he holds himself, the warning shimmering around him like a dark halo.
This man is armed and extremely dangerous.
Every muscle in my body tenses. My mind still swims in thick water, because I must have been drugged. He drugged me, this faceless man. Why did he take me? It won’t be anything good, that’s for sure.
Even worse, I suspect this has something to do with my past, with my family. It’s messed up that I’d rather be taken by some random psycho. But at least then I’d have a chance of getting away.
“Who are you?” I demand, my voice hoarse from whatever drugs they gave me.
There’s a long pause, the weight of his regard as heavy as a finger trailing down my neck.
“Have I really changed that much, bella, that you don’t recognize me?”
Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dark romance such as Wanderlust and Prisoner. Praised as a “true mistress of dark erotica”, her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, four dogs, and one evil cat.
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