To Chuito the apartment was a self-imposed prison for a lifetime of sins. To Alaine, the girl next door, it was salvation from her overbearing, religious father.He was a devil.
She was an angel.Two people who should’ve never met, let alone become friends, but it’s not until they give into the dangerous passion that’s been simmering under the surface for five years that things go to hell.
On the outside, Chuito ‘The Slayer’ Garcia is on top of the world. He’s successful. He’s wealthy. He’s a champion MMA fighter surrounded by friends who support him, but they don’t know what he was before he came to Garnet.
A gangster.
A thief.
An addict.
A murderer.Now his past is churning up demons he can’t ignore. Chuito knows he needs to go back to Miami to end it, but there’s something holding him back, a single temptation he can’t resist before leaving.
Alaine.
She’s the one drug he can’t give up…even if it destroys them both.
“To me you’re coke. Fine. Smooth. Perfectly white. Very bad for me, but so fucking sexy I don’t give a shit. It’s worth going down for.” – Chuito Garcia
His destiny always found him no matter how much he ran from it. As sure as Chuito knew the next breath would have to enter his lungs whether he wanted it to or not, he knew that Alaine couldn’t be his forever.
This was THE best fighter romance I’ve read. Ever. To date.
This was Kele’s best book to date.
This is a book that will not only stay with me but it’s going straight to my re-read shelf along with my top 5 favorites.
Simply said, I loved the absolute FUCK out of this book.
I can’t tell you that I loved Chuito in the previous books because let’s be honest here, the man can be a true asshole to anyone that isn’t his closest friends or family. If you’ve read The Viper and saw how he treated Marcos’ girlfriend, you know what I’m talking about. But beneath the tattoos, the title belt, the reputation, and the rough gangster exterior is the heart of a protector. Chuito is a man that does everything fiercely; the way he lives, the way he fucks, and definitely the way he loves. He will do anything for his family. Even if it means selling his soul to the devil, or better yet the Italian mob, to protect his best friend and cousin.
Fate caught up with everyone eventually. Even the devil wasn’t immune to it.
The Slayer will take you back to the beginning and really give you the bones of Chuito’s story, and it is no light read. This is not a man that had an easy life. This is someone that got his first battle scars on the streets, running with a gang that’s only more dangerous when it’s crossed. But when he saw a way out, he took it. Unfortunately, the life had already fully sucked in his cousin and he was unable to help him then. The story line here mixed in with the events of Crossing the Line, and to truly appreciate this book, I would highly recommend reading that first.
Alaine is a ray of life that Chuito never expected to deserve or to give him the time of day. But when the beautiful young woman becomes his neighbor, the begin an incredibly strong friendship. Alaine has been in love with Chuito for as long as she’s known him. There isn’t a part of him that doesn’t call to every feminine part of her. Now let me tell you, watching the way that Chuito is with her will absolutely melt your heart. This is not a man that ever hides his feelings or leads her on. He’s not your typical manwhore that sleeps around to take his mind off of the one woman he doesn’t think he can have or deserves. He couldn’t be further from that. But that doesn’t mean that he gives into her. She’s too good for him, too pure. His past and his life can always catch up with him. His current situation with Tino isn’t exactly one he wants touching her either. So while he loves her, he knows he can never give her more than that.
I just love you. That’s it. Only love. Not sex. I can just love someone. Love is good. Sex is cruel.”
Their connection was something that absolutely drew you in. The chemistry between them is so palpable it’s electric. Their private dancing is just the icing on the cake.
Listen to the drums. That’s the part you listen to. Feel it.”
“I’m feeling it.”
No. Feel it like a heartbeat. Like life. You want it to be a love song, hear the sex in it. Hold me like I hold you.” He jerked her tighter against him as he said it, forcing her breasts to crush against his chest and her dress to ride higher up on her thighs. “Like you need me.”
God but I loved it.
This was not a love story of a few days or even weeks. This was a love story strengthened by friendship and grown through several years. This may just even be one of my most favorite couples I’ve read to date.
Chuito fights the connection between them for a long as he can. But inevitably, it proves to be too much, and when these two finally get together? Well, forget sparks, we’re talking about 4th of July fireworks here. I don’t remember the last time I read a book where the first sexual encounter actually gave me goosebums. With the books I’ve read, believe me when I say that this pervert has been desensitized to most of it. But boy did these two together get my heart pumping.
She clung to his shoulders and let him take her mouth the way he had taken her heart a long time ago- violently and without warning.
But it was so much more than just an incredible love story. At the heart of it, there’s Chuito’s past catching up with him and him fighting like hell to protect Alaine and his cousin from it. There was one scene in this book that was so incredibly gut wrenching to read, I actually had to set the book down for 5 minutes after reading it, just to calm myself.
Gangster tears weren’t ordinary tears. The cut had to be deeper than bone, a hurt that made motherfuckers unrepentant murderers. It ripped open souls and bled out humanity.
All of my favorite secondary characters from previous books made an appearance. And of course what would this series be without Tino and Nova. Now Tino, oh my darling Tino. I freaking love this man. The banter between him and everyone else was the comedic relief that was definitely necessary and oh so welcome.
You just told me you manspaced. You’re fucked up too.”
“It’s a common courtesy,” Tino went on. “No woman wants to suck on a hairy dick.”
But when if there’s one thing that Tino does even more fiercely than Chuito, it’s protecting his loved ones. And there is definitely one heart breaking choice that Tino makes in this book that you just know will haunt him all through his book and I can’t wait to see how that plays out.
I’m pretty sure that I highlighted over half this book. I just couldn’t stop myself. I loved it so hard.
I’m talking everything; the story, the romance, the angst, the heartache, EVERYTHING. As long as this book was (an it was LONG), I never wanted it to end.
This is a book and author that needs to be on everyone’s TBR list. I don’t care who you are, it’s impossible not to fall in love with this series or these characters. If this book doesn’t make you fall head over heels for Chuito and Alaine, then we haven’t been reading the same one. I’m that confident. Kele Moon is an incredibly talented author that continues to write books that are better and better than the last. All have her signature voice, but yet they’re different in the best of ways. No one book, character, or story of hers is the same. I can’t tell you how much I love that. This book will break your heart, it will melt it, and then it will piece it together, all in one breath stealing and captivating story. I simply cannot recommend it enough.
READING ORDER
A freckle faced, redhead born and raised in Hawaii, Kele Moon has always been a bit of a sore thumb and has come to enjoy the novelty of it. She thrives off pushing the envelope and finding ways to make the impossible work in her story telling. With a mad passion for romance, she adores the art of falling in love. The only rules she believes in is that, in love there are no rules and true love knows no bounds.
So obsessed is she with the beauty of romance and the novelty of creating it she’s lost in her own wonder world most of the time. Thankfully she married her own dark, handsome, brooding hero who had infinite patience for her airy ways and attempts to keep her grounded. When she leaves her keys in the refrigerator or her cell phone in the oven he’s usually there to save her from herself. The two of them now reside in Florida with their three beautiful children who make their lives both fun and challenging in equal parts–They wouldn’t have it any other way.