Damage

We're a match made in hell, Stefan and I.
He took me to exact his revenge. I went from being a pawn to my father to being a pawn to Stefan. The only difference is I have a ring the size of a boulder on my finger and a husband I don't want.
And the hardest part is I thought he was different. I thought I was falling in love.
I guess my father was right. I'm not a very smart girl.
Stefan is a powerful man. He doesn't play nice, not if you're his enemy. But I've learned one thing about my husband. He takes care of what's his. And I am his.
His enemies have become my enemies, but he'll never let anyone hurt me. He's fiercely protective.
It's the predator inside that scares me.

After reading Collateral and Natasha Knight leaving me hanging with that crazy cliffhanger, I was anxiously counting down to the second book in the Duet. I’m so glad I got a chance to read Damage because I needed to find out what was going to happen to Gabriela and Stefan. Stefan is all about revenge at first until he starts changing in the second book. The second book is full of so many elements, but the biggest was betrayal. I was not expecting to find out a certain character was behind the betrayal either. I was disappointed with that character, but then Natasha had to have a big secret come out in this book. That character made up for  the betrayal, but after so many incidents happened to both main characters.

There was also the tension between Gabriela and Stefan that made the book addicting. Gabriela was a fighter. Stefan was a true protective alpha. I loved these two characters, even if Stefan tended to come off as a jerk. There was a lot of secrets between the two characters and trust issues, but after a while truths were revealed. Stefan was not the bad guy that Gabriela thought he was originally. He became her hero, even if he told her he wasn’t a hero.

Natasha Knight had a lot of twists and turns in Damage that I had a hard time putting down this book. I needed to find out what was going to happen next. Before I knew it, I was finishing the book. Now, I need to read more from Natasha Knight because I enjoyed this Dark Mafia Romance that involved an arranged marriage.

 This book was definitely a fantastic conclusion to the Collateral Damage Duet.

Story Rating: 5 stars
Steaminess Rating: 4 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of Duet and highly recommend reading in order.
Do I recommend this book? Yes.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes.
Tropes/Elements: Arranged Marriage; Mafia Romance; Age-Gap Romance; Betrayal; Lies
Hero: Powerful; Wealthy; Part of the Sicilian Mafia; Alpha; Scary; Sexy
Heroine: Abused; Damaged; Immature; Virgin; Prisoner

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FranJessca

Owner/Reviewer at A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog

I guess I should type a bio here. I'm FranJessca, or Fran for short. I'm the owner/reviewer behind A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog. I've been reading and reviewing books on my blog since leaving the Navy in 2011, and I will keep doing it as long as possible. My favorite genres will always be Romance & Fantasy, and I read every subgenre underneath those two genres. (Sorry, not a fan of nonfiction, so don't try to convince me to read it.)
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)

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