THE KISS THIEF
by L.J. Shen
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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.
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Review
5+ stars!
“Our hearts were tarnished. Stained. And guilty.
Unpredictable to a fault.
And bound to break.”
WOW WOW WOW! I am blown away by LJ Shen’s newest novel, The Kiss Thief. She has the amazing ability to write original stories that pack an emotional punch and I was consumed by it. Intense, complicated, raw, angsty, and full of all the feels, it was unputdownable!
I’ll be honest I was scared to start this book because of my fear of love triangles. I knew Shen would deliver a story that would wreck me, and wreck me she did. However, I trusted that she would piece me back together, healing my heart in the best possible ways, and she did not disappoint.
The Kiss Thief weaves a story of love versus hate, loyalty versus betrayal, and ruthlessness versus kindness, and brings everything together into an epic romance that will leave you hung over for days. This book is so different than I expected. The love triangle is a significant part of the story but it’s so very much more than that. Full of hurt, betrayal, pain, and loss, it’s also a story of growth, loyalty, acceptance, and most of all love. It is far from easy and is full of cruelty, lies, twists, and secrets but it proves the power of love and the lengths people go to keep it.
Wolfe is a senator with an agenda and will stop at nothing to achieve it. He is brutal and heartless. He gets what he wants and he has his sights set on Francesca, the mafia princess of The Outfit run by Francesca’s father.
Angelo is part of The Outfit. He is sweet, caring, and Francesca’s choice. He makes her heart flutter and is suited to her in every way. She has loved him forever and she is finally ready to make her move.
I’d imagined our kiss countless times before, but I’d never expected it to feel like this. Like home. Like oxygen. Like forever.
Then, Francesca is faced with a heartbreaking reality. Everything she hoped for is stripped away when she is taken away by the one man she despises.
I sucked in a breath, realizing for the first time what we were.
A story of a Nemesis and a Villain with no chance at a happy ending.
Where the prince doesn’t save the princess.
He tortures her.
And the beauty doesn’t sleep.
She’s stuck.
In a nightmare.
I adored Francesca. She is ripped from her life and thrown into a situation that is opposite of everything she’s wanted. Nonetheless, she is strong, smart, and resilient. She handles the situation in the best way she can and she perseveres.
Angelo is loyal and will do anything for Francesca. He is heartbroken when she is taken from him. He does not give up the fight when he goes up against Wolfe and definitely creates some problems for him and his plans.
Wolfe. What do I say about Wolfe?! Shen is a master at creating anti-heroes you can’t help but love and he fits the bill. He did some things that really angered and frustrated me, leaving me screaming at my kindle. His actions were devastating and I didn’t know how I would get over them other than to trust Shen. I did and before I knew it was engrossed in all things Wolfe. He is multidimensional with layers upon layers that hide his truths. He plays his part well but when he lets us inside and we see who he truly is. His character growth is well developed and I loved seeing his redemption.
Separately, the characters are fantastic but together they were EXPLOSIVE! Every single moment sizzles with attraction and the sexual tension builds deliciously. The immediate lust is undeniable but it’s when the feelings start to blur that really makes your heart race and moves the story. They are confusing and surprising and not all welcome but in the end love persists.
I flew directly into my cage, asking him to lock me inside. Because the beautiful lie was far more desirable than the awful truth. The cage was warm and safe. No harm could find me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my head in his steel chest and holding my breath to prevent the next sob.
Through these characters we see what true love is. It’s unexpected and powerful. It can morph from one extreme to another with believable intensity. I felt everything and I loved it all, even the painful parts that left me with a tear-stained face and especially the swoony, full of heart moments that left me breathless.
Overall, The Kiss Thief is a beautiful love story that has stayed with me days after turning the last page. It’s a story that I want to go back and relive over and over, and a new TOP FAVORITE!
“Your love story started off on the wrong foot, but it will be magnificent precisely because of that.”
*ARC generously provided by the author and Candi Kane PR in exchange for an honest review*
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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