House of Paine by Kylie Walker
Date of Publication: February 2, 2016
Blurb
Paige Acosta's world is flipped upside down when she learns her brother Greg, a undercover NYPD cop has died from an accidental heroine overdose. Paige knows this was no 'ACCIDENT'.
Greg was obsessed with bringing down the two largest crime rings in New York.
The Paine and Kramer families.
Paige is already familiar with the head of the Paine family...he was married to her mother for five years.
To avenge her brother's death, she drops everything and finds herself immersed in a world filled with tension, terror and the threat of death.
Paige learns just how far she'll go to discover who murdered her brother…and questions how far she's willing to go with the son of the man who started it all.
Excerpt
She could smell the aroma of coffee and it was enticing. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she slipped into her moccasin slippers and still dressed in her tank top and booty shorts, she stuck her head out into the hallway. She could hear the shower running. Thinking she could get her coffee and get back to her room before he got out, she headed for the kitchen. She walked through the swinging double doors and looked around. She hadn't come in here last night. It was a gourmet kitchen with every amenity a gourmet chef might want. She went over to where the coffee pot sat, reached up into the cabinet above it and found a cup and poured herself one. She brought the mug up to her nose and inhaled its aroma letting the steam seep its way into her pores as she did.
She took a sip just as she stepped out into the living room and nearly choked on it. Damien was standing in the center of the room, rubbing a towel through his hair. He was completely nude and Paige had never seen anything like him in her life. Something coiled deep inside of her, something she'd never felt before…like a dam on the verge of collapse. Her body trembled with a raw need. He looked like he'd been sculpted out of clay, or stone. His smooth tanned skin encased a body of solid muscle without an inch of fat anywhere. Brilliantly colored tribal tattoos sleeved his entire right arm and climbed up to his collar bone and neck. On his inner right forearm was the word ‘PAINE'. They caught the light of the sun coming in through the glass walls and Paige wanted to trace them with her fingers. She stood rooted to her spot, fighting the violent urge that coursed through her body to touch him. She could picture herself running her hands across his broad shoulders and letting her fingers dance down across the most defined set of pecks and abs she'd ever laid eyes on. She let her eyes roam over his body freely, soaking in every detail, and as they fell on what he carried between a pair of muscular, shapely thighs, the words "total package" ran through her mind.
"There's coffee made," he said, without looking up. He knew she was there watching him. His confidence…or was it arrogance…only served to turn her on more.
"I got some, thanks."
She was surprised that her voice even worked. It felt like everything inside of her was shaking. He looked up at her then. Paige wasn't sure what her face looked like at that moment but whatever it was amused him. His sexy full lips quirked up on the edges in a mischievous grin as he said, "If you need a shower, it's free."
He turned away from her then and she couldn't help but watch the flexion of his taut ass and quads as he walked away. His back was as muscular and defined as his front and he had tattoos across his upper shoulders as well. When he disappeared from her sight, it still took her several seconds to recover her heart rate and breathing enough to move herself forward. Paige shivered, then allowed herself to picture him again and finally headed for the shower…a cold one, at that.
About Kylie Walker
A true Canadian at heart, although I love to travel anywhere warm.
I am a book addict, coffee addict, a wine addict and a writer!
Find Kylie Walker Online
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2.5-3 stars
So, this is a straightforward story, without any twists or turns. I predicted it from the start.
Young girl - a loving sister, devoted daughter, wants to do good so heads down the medical pathway. When she learns of her brother's untimely death, especially the circumstances surrounding his death. The grief and anger, coupled with the disillusionment of the situation has her seeking revenge. Incorporating herself within the second deadliest crime family, Paige learns that sometimes death is better than living.
Along the way she encounters her former step-brother Damien Paine. These two have a sizzling attraction to the other, that neither can curb. The anger, hatred and grief, draws them together. Damien has this fiercely protective need when is comes to Paige.
As Paige's emotions get the best of her, she does the unthinkable and soon we see Damien and Paige's own catastrophic romance bringing them both to heel, when the heir to the Kramer Crime Family is murdered.
This was a quick and easy read, the entire story, for me, needed to be more intricately woven. Whenever I hear of a crime syndicate, I think of death, lies, betrayal and brutality, The House if Paine missed the mark for me. My expectations was something darker and brutal. I craved and needed that darkness to solidify and satisfy my own cravings of morbid curiosity.
Damien was an entirely different story for me. I thought it was too easy for him to be smitten with Paige, and his entire demeanor was unbecoming of a criminal mastermind. In Damien's case we see where nature vs nurture worked in his favour.
I am still looking forward to see where book 2 will take them. Especially a stand off among brothers.
*ARC provided by Rock Star PR on behalf of the author for an honest review* Thanks!
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