HOLD YOU AGAINST ME
Series: Stripped #4
Genre: Dark Romance
Author: Skye Warren
Release Date: May 31, 2016
Once upon a time the daughter of a mafia king fell in love with a foot soldier.
This fairy tale didn’t have a happy ending.
My sister and I barely managed to escape alive, and we’ve lived in relative hiding ever since. I’m safe now, but I can never forget the boy who gave his life to save mine.
Except there’s a chance that he’s still alive. And he’s fighting a war.
Even knowing the risks, I have to find him. I have to find some way to protect him, the way he protected me. But he isn’t the boy I left behind. He’s a violent man. A criminal. And he’s been waiting for me—the final pawn in a dark game of survival and love.
Fairy tales aren’t for the girls who have a choice. They’re for the girls shoved into corners, trapped in darkness, bent over desks. Places where hope is an act of bravery. Where believing in love is an act of rebellion. Fairy tales are for girls who dream of happy endings, knowing they might not live to see tomorrow.
I loved the conclusion to this beautiful story. Tough Love, the prequel to this series is where we first meet Giovanni and Clara. It was also my first Skye Warren book, and I have not looked back! Skye includes the entire Tough Love prequel in this book.
My Gio:
It takes a monster to take down a monster.
My Clara:
He dragged me back into my worst nightmare and somehow made me want it.
The story begins in the prequel. Clara is a mafia princess who feels trapped in gilded cage. Her father is not a good man and means to make her marry a horrible man. Clara meets Giovanni, a foot soldier, when she is 15 and he is 17. She is able to escape her father’s evil clutches with the help of Giovanni. Hold You Against Me continues the story 3 years later, when Clara believes Gio to be killed for helping her escape.
Those are not his scars. They’re mine. He took them for me.
This is NOT your typical fairy tale. Skye Warren tends to write on the darker side, which is why I love her so much. She warned her readers that this book is on the lighter side of her darkness, but I still enjoyed it so much! She always makes me FEEL something in every single one of her books, and this one did not disappoint. Skye’s writing is sensual, beautiful, and smart. Her heroines seem real, trapped, trying to break free of some sort of struggle.
If you love mafia romance, this book/series is for you! I have a soft spot for mafia men. The danger, the tattoos, the darkness, the power, the broodiness, just do it for me!
I love Skye Warren to the moon and back.
I would read her grocery lists.
*Can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting from the beginning because this series is worth it! Hold You Against Me is the 4th book in the series, but any of these books can be read by themselves.*
Stripped Series
Tough Love (#0.5) – Included in Hold You Against Me
Love Way You Lie (#1) – Love the Way You Lie
Heartbreak (#1.5) – Heartbreak
Better When It Hurts (#2) – Better When It Hurts
Even Better (#2.5) – Even Better
Pretty When You Cry (#3) – Pretty When You Cry
Caught For Christmas (#3.5) – Caught for Christmas
Shit thing about life is, when you throw an immovable object into the path of a bullet, it doesn’t follow any laws or principles.
It’s official; I have PTKD (Post Traumatic Keri Disorder). The woman has ruined me. This book? I hope you all have your big girl panties on, because a walk through the meadows with unicorns it. Is. Not.
Jase has spent the last year of his life in hell. Now he’s free and the only thing burning inside him is revenge. It’s what he eats, breathes, and lives. The chain of events that began on that one bloody night a year ago that cost him him his family all lead back to one man; Tesarik. Only problem is? He’s so powerful he’s practically untouchable. So when the mystery man standing before him promises him the vengeance he seeks for the price of a favor, he knows that he may fight it but he’ll agree. The favor will take him deep into the bowels of the worst sort of human depravity. Into a something only known as The Seventh Circle; a group of men that get off on pain and death.
What begins is a story filled with heart-stopping moments, eroticism in a way only Keri Lake can write, and enough grit and darkness to leave you crying for your mama.
If you’ve read any book by this author, then you already know she’s not afraid to go to the very pits of darkness. She’ll take the readers deep into the bowels of the worst of humanity. Her writing is raw, gritty, and absolutely unapologetic.
If there’s one thing that Pam Godwin knows, it’s how to write one seriously intense alpha. The mere name alone, Emeric Marceaux, is enough to get my motor revving. This man will give you shivers and you’ll actually feel his intensity crackling through the pages. It’s utterly delicious. He’s a dose of dangerous, with a splash of depraved, and all of it is tied around a sexual magnetism that’s so captivating, your fingers will tingle turning the pages.
Dark Notes is a standalone dark romance with a deliciously kinky element of the forbidden teacher/student. Add in the fact that Ivory is only 17 years old, and you got yourself one crazy ride of a book. But that description doesn’t even begin to do this book justice.
Things begin to simmer between the two of them at first sight, and the author does an incredible job in making the sexual tension practically palpable enough to taste. Emeric is one of the most captivating characters I’ve read in a long while. He oozes sexuality and yet there’s this edge to him that adds an element of fear that just works so well.
While the sexual tension between Ivory and Emeric is instantaneous, that is the only instant thing in this book. The rest is the most delicious sort of slow burn. It’s almost like watching the most sexual game of cat and mouse unfold, and even though you know what the end result will ultimately be, you still can’t stop reading.
Powerful.
Sparrow Raynes grew up the daughter of a drunken father who happened to work for one of the most feared men in the Boston underground. But now that man is dead, and his son who’s known to be even more ruthless is to be her husband…and she has no idea why other than it’s been arranged and her father agreed to it. So she’ll do it, but she won’t like it. In her eyes it’ll be a marriage in name only because no way can she give her heart to the devil with the steel-blue eyes that’s known as The Fixer. He’s ruthless, he’s cold-blooded, but she refused to cower from him like even the most deadly of the deadly underground seem to…
Sparrow was exactly the kind of gritty anti-hero that I needed. L.J. Shen was not afraid to stick true to her characters and pulled no punches to do so, and I respect the hell out of her for this. Yes, Troy did some things that may not sit right with some readers, but for this reader, I loved to hate it. See I love when an author takes risks to stay true to the characters and that was definitely the case here. This is no insta lust, insta-love, or insta-anything. Troy and Sparrow’s connection formed over time and it felt authentic because of that. Considering how Troy is and where he came from, I wouldn’t have bought it any other way.
L.J. spared no detail to make her story gritty and real. It was action packed, super sexy, and filled with twists and turns. It was enough to keep me at the edge of my seat the whole time and eagerly turning the pages to see what will happen next. The romance was sizzling hot and together with the plot it all came together perfectly.
My only minor quibble with the book was that it went a little much and too creative with the analogies at times. But that was such a minor thing compared to everything that I loved about it that I barely batted an eyelash at it.
I’ve been waiting for Kai’s book for a long, long time. Ever since he was first introduced as a somewhat shady secondary character in 
Perfect Ruin is meant to be read after 
Kai is not a man that forms attachments. Any feeling has been beaten and tortured out of him when he was still a little boy. He doesn’t want an attachment of any kind any more than he can afford one. But when his job is to keep an eye on beautiful woman that he may have to use to bring her father to heel, it’s no hardship. What he never expects is for something to click inside of him once he does.
The connection between London and Kai is something that’s formed through many years. It may not be orthodox, but it’s them. Kai is not a gentle man, but with London there’s a part of him that comes to light that no one else has seen.
How in the ever loving hell do I even begin reviewing this book?! Honestly. I’m completely at a loss for words. So my only way out is to be vague as shit and trust me when I tell you you’ll thank me for it. You want to know absolutely nothing about this book. Even the very minute detail can be a spoiler. If you want my advise, avoid reviews altogether and go in absolutely blind. Hell, don’t even read the blurb.
First of all, while this book is categorized dark, I wouldn’t agree with that. It’s a heck of a lot darker than anything Penelope Douglas has written and surely a leap away from anything she’s written in the past. But dark? Well, on my scale, I’d rate it a light gray. It was erotic, and very edgy, but if you compare to the Pepper Winters, CJ Roberts, or the like, it’s not quite on the same scale. It’s also not for everyone. Penelope took some risks with this one and there are some scenes and occurrences that may not agree with everyone. But this girl? Devoured it like the crack that it was.
I read this 2 days ago and I still can’t stop thinking about it. There was one particular scene that really threw me and made me wonder if it was really necessary. However, after giving it some though, it was barely a blip on my radar. I also wished for a bit of something from Michael at the end (I won’t say what because I’m a teasing bitch like that) but you’ll see what I mean once you read it. But once again, thinking on it some more, Penelope stayed true to his character, and having him handle it any other way would not have been that. So I can respect that.
God. That one line. Who would have thought that my heart could melt and break at the same time from just 4 little words? But when 221; killing machine, savage with no memories of his previous life and raised to be a cold blooded killer, utters those four words to Talia….I was absolutely done for.
When Talia discovers 221’s true identity, she knows that he’s not only forbidden. He’s something else entirely. There’s a history there that he’s not aware of and she knows all too well. But that doesn’t stop her from being intrigued by the savage. During his recovery from the drug that stole his thoughts and memories, she cares for him….but something else begins to develop between them.
Reap is not quite as dark as it’s predecessor was. While still leaning on the side of gritty, it wasn’t as brutal. It was definitely a whole lot more emotional, however. I think this is in part due to the fact that I had a true connection to Talia and Zaal together. Talia isn’t exactly my favorite heroine, but she was much more memorable than Kisa. I loved how she cared for Zaal and the way she fought for him.
After so many friends raved to me about how amazing this book was, I was beyond excited to be finally reading it. Given that I’ve also spent quite a few months avoiding it. Why? Because my picky Russian ass has yet to read a book with the MCs being Russian and not having it be butchered to hell and back. So I get a little touchy.
Be warned….nitpicking galore to follow…
Taking into consideration her borderline abusive psycho of a fiancé and their relationship, I’m shocked she had no emotional or mental scars. This is especially true towards the end. She moves on from all of it without so much as a bat of a eye lash. No lingering emotional trauma…just is what it is.
It could have easily been fade to black or just loosely mentioned. It simply didn’t need to be as graphic as it was past the first 2 times.
