Brush of Despair
*Post contains affiliated links. Book provided by the author (because I begged!) *
First I have to fangirl squeal a little bit because I FINALLY got to meet Selena Laurence in person!.
Me with Selena at RWA in Denver
She is sweet, funny, and genuine. Basically everything you hope the creator of some of your favorite imaginary people to be.
And she creates amazing characters, as I said in my review for Breath of Deceit—it’s like they are going to step off the page and have a cup of coffee with you!
So I knew that Brush of Despair was going to be fabulous. Selena definitely did not let me down!
Cian MacFarlane has a job to do, but it's not the one his father Robbie gave him. With dear old dad watching night and day, Cian struggles to maintain his role as a deadly mob boss. His real focus is informing to the FBI, cutting deals with the Feds to keep his brothers out of prison. Cian is walking a tightrope on the streets of Chicago, and the only thing keeping him sane is Lila Rodriguez. However, Lila may have her own issues at work when her boss is found murdered, and she's tapped to take over the dark website Rogue.
But when Cian's brother Liam, the family enforcer, gets tangled up in human trafficking things really go to hell. Now Liam's taking chances neither he nor the family can afford, and Cian's desperate to find a way to save him before it's too late. When the dangers stack up and Cian feels as though he's the only thing preventing the people he loves from dying too young, hope can be a hard thing to come by. Can Cian pull off a last minute miracle? Or will his brush with despair become something more permanent?
Cian is the focus of the series, but this is really Liam’s story. If I was ever going to get involved with an Irish Mobster and got to pick from the four MacFarlane brothers, it would be Liam.
He’s the enforcer—the muscle that keeps the men working for them in line and the family’s rivals on edge—but he isn’t the typical bad-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold. He’s living by a code that protects his family and that’s all that matters…until a decision makes him realize choice might not be an option in his life, but he might be able to make it happen for someone he believes deserves it more than he ever did.
If Dublin Devils was a Netflix show, I would binge watch the hell out of it. Expertly told in multiple POVs, every chapter ends with a breath-holding cliffhanger that means you have to keep going right then. There is just no question.
Speaking of cliffhangers, while Brush of Despair does wrap up most of the storylines, I will give forewarning that it ends with a cliffhanger…a HUGE FREAKING MOUNTAIN of a cliffhanger which has me DYING for the next book!
I absolutely recommend Brush of Despair. It is the second book in the series and can easily stand alone, but if you truly want to immerse yourself in the family, start with Breath of Deceit.
*A note to my romance-loving friends, this is suspense with romantic elements. It is not a traditional romantic suspense.
If you prefer more romance and less mobsters, I highly recommend Selena’s Power Play series. You can check out my review of POTUS here.
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