THE KISS THIEF BY L.J. SHEN

Release Date: January 9th

Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser at RBA Designs.

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Review

Francesca is a charming 19-year-old girl, she comes from a rich Italian mafia family and her dream to satisfy her parents is to get married. She already knows to whom her heart is swinging, it’s Angelo, a childhood friend. However, Francesca’s father is forced to see the other things and he gives his daughter’s hand to Senator Wolfe Keaton.

I like Francesca, she’s interesting, she respects her parents but she wants freedom. She does not accept to have to marry Wolfe but finally she will find a good side to this story. She is stubborn and knows what she wants, despite the fact that she is forced to marry a man she barely knows, she will discover that she finally has more freedom now than at her parents’ house.

Wolfe is not a bad boy but he is not a nice man either, his goal is to become president of the United States but also to destroy Francesca’s father. It is not for pleasure that he chooses the latter as his wife but for revenge. However, he will be fooled by Francesca’s charm and her barriers will fall one after the other.

I like to see Francesca and Wolfe together, they are adorable, they fight, love, argue and tear each other apart to make up for it later. The only moments I didn’t like so much are the ones near the end when Francesca makes decisions I don’t understand. But I’ll let you discover all this.

Quick Word: A story of forced love that ends well.

Chronique

Francesca est une jeune fille charmante de 19 ans, elle vient d’une riche famille italienne mafieuse et son rêve afin de satisfaire ses parents est de se marier. Elle sait déjà vers qui son cœur balance, c’est Angelo, un ami d’enfance. Cependant, le père de Francesca est forcé de voir les autres choses et il donne la main de sa fille au sénateur Wolfe Keaton.

J’aime bien Francesca, elle est interessante, elle respect ses parents mais elle a envie de liberté. Elle n’accepte pas de devoir se marier avec Wolfe mais finalement elle trouvera de bons côté à cette histoire. Elle est tétue et sait ce qu’elle veut, malgré le fait qu’elle soit obligée de se marier à un homme qu’elle connait à peine, elle va découvrir que finalement elle a plus de liberté maintenant que chez ses parents.

Wolfe n’est pas un bad boy mais ce n’est pas non plus un homme gentil, son objectif est de devenir président des Etats Unis mais aussi de détruire le père de Francesca. Ce n’est pas par plaisir qu’il choisit cette dernière comme épouse mais par vengeance. Cependant, il se fera avoir par le charme de Francesca et ses barrières tomberont les unes après les autres.

J’aime voir Francesca et Wolfe ensemble, ils sont adorables, ils s’engueulent, s’aiment, se disputent et se déchirent pour mieux se réconcilier par la suite. Les seuls moments que j’ai moins aimé sont ceux vers la fin où Francesca prends des décisions que je ne comprends pas. Mais je vous laisse découvrir tout ça.

En bref : Une histoire d’amour forcée qui finit bien.

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Blurb
They say your first kiss should be earned.

Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky.

They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred.

Mine were broken before we left church.

They say your heart only beats for one man.

Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end.

I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit.

Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage.

They say that all great love stories have a happy ending.

I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter.

One kiss.

Two men.

Three lives.

Entwined together.

And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.

Excerpt
“Are you sure you’re on my card?” I turned to the man with a polite yet distant smile. I was still disoriented from the exchange with Angelo when the stranger pulled me against his hard body and pressed a possessive hand lower than socially acceptable on my back, a second from groping my butt.

“Answer me,” I hissed.

“My bid on your card was the highest,” he replied dryly.

“The bids are undisclosed. You don’t know how much other people have paid,” I kept my lips pursed to keep myself from yelling.

“I know it’s nowhere near the realm of what this dance is worth.”

Un-freaking-believable.

We began to waltz around the room as other couples were not only spinning and mingling but also stealing envious glances at us. Naked, raw ogles that told me that whomever the blonde he’d come to the masquerade with was, she wasn’t his wife. And that I might have been all the rage in The Outfit, but the rude man was in high demand, too.

I was stiff and cold in his arms, but he didn’t seem to notice—or mind. He knew how to waltz better than most men, but he was technical, and lacked warmth and Angelo’s playfulness.

“Nemesis.” He took me by surprise, his rapacious gaze stripping me bare. “Distributing glee and dealing misery. Seems at odds with the submissive girl who entertained Bishop and his horsey wife at the table.”

I choked on my own saliva. Did he just call the governor’s wife horsey? And me submissive? I looked away, ignoring the addictive scent of his cologne, and the way his marble body felt against mine.

“Nemesis is my spirit animal. She was the one to lure Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection and died of vanity. Pride is a terrible illness.” I flashed him a taunting smirk.

“Some of us could use catching it.” He bared his straight white teeth.

“Arrogance is a disease. Compassion is the cure. Most gods didn’t like Nemesis, but that’s because she had a backbone.”

“Do you?” He arched a dark eyebrow.

“Do I…?” I blinked, the courteous grin on my face crumpling. He was even ruder when we were alone.

“Have a backbone,” he provided. He stared at me so boldly and intimately, it felt like he breathed fire into my soul. I wanted to step out of his touch and jump into a pool full of ice.

“Of course, I do,” I responded, my spine stiffening. “What’s with the manners? Were you raised by wild coyotes?”

“Give me an example,” he said, ignoring my quip. I was beginning to draw away from him, but he jerked me back into his arms. The glitzy ballroom distorted into a backdrop, and even though I was starting to notice that the man behind the demi-mask was unusually beautiful, the ugliness of his behavior was the only thing that stood out.

I am a warrior and a lady…and a sane person who can deal with this horrid man.

“I really like Angelo Bandini.” I dropped my voice, slicing my gaze from his eyes and toward the table where Angelo’s family had been seated. My father was sitting a few seats away, staring at us coldly, surrounded by Made Men who chatted away.

“And see, in my family, we have a tradition dating back ten generations. Prior to her wedding, a Rossi bride is to open a wooden chest—carved and made by a witch who lived in my ancestors’ Italian village—and read three notes written to her by the last Rossi girl to marry. It’s kind of a good luck charm mixed with a talisman and a bit of fortunetelling. I stole the chest tonight and opened one of the notes, all so I could rush fate. It said that tonight I was going to be kissed by the love of my life, and well…” I drew my lower lip into my mouth and sucked it, peering under my eyelashes at Angelo’s empty seat. The man stared at me stoically, as though I was a foreign film he couldn’t understand. “I’m going to kiss him tonight.”

“That’s your backbone?”

“When I have an ambition, I go for it.”

A conceited frown crinkled his mask, as if to say I was a complete and utter moron. I looked him straight in the eye. My father taught me that the best way to deal with men like him was to confront, not run. Because, this man? He’d chase.

About the Author
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.

Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.

She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.

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