Title: Buttons & Grace
Author:  Penelope Sky
Publisher/Year:  Createspace Publishing 12/19/17
Length:  190 pages
Series:  Buttons #6

Overview

I started a blood war.

I’ve made a terrifying enemy.

Over a single woman.

It was a stupid decision, but I don’t have any regrets.

Because Bellissima is finally mine.

My Thoughts

The summary doesn’t do this story justice, but it at least sets the tone for what we’re going to get. We know that the relationship between Adelina and Cane is one that’s destined to fail, and it’s more painful to live through than the roller coaster that was Crow and Pearl’s story. the notion of Cane finally having Adelina in a secure place is a nice notion, but one that doesn’t have much sound foundation.

We spend a lot of this story wanting to see a happy ending, but that’s impossible. Tristan isn’t dead, and being able to get Adelina back from him was a set up. one that was planned and was more like a test than anything else. What comes of it is Crow being kidnapped and tortured, with the only solution being giving up Pearl as a trade. We all know that she’s not an option, which means that we have to prepare ourselves to say goodbye. Nothing for Cane is panning out in this book – he loses the girl he loves because she doesn’t love him back, and he’s losing his brother because there’s no way to make a trade like that.

Crow’s only job in life is to protect Pearl, and so he sends her away with Lars which was maybe the smartest move ever. An added twist factors into things now too – being that of a new Barsetti on the way, and we know that things will get even more crazy. The connection that Pearl and Crow have makes this story rooted so deeply in all things that fairy tales are made of, and we want to see that play out in a good way, but have a bleak view of the future.

The mission to get Crow back is a suicide mission once they realize that Tristan has been setting them up time after time, and it’s getting BAD. The solve, thankfully from the sane thoughts of Adelina and Pearl are to trade their arms business for the help of the Skull Kings and, which means that Cane again loses something important, but maybe gets his brother back.

From this point on, we see a depressed and dejected Cane, a man who’s heart is broken, who’s soul is broken, who has no professional purpose in life. He gets angry, resents Adelina for her feelings, and agrees to let her go back home. It’s not what his heart tells him to do, but he has to do it for her. Even with Crow and Pearl reassuring him that things will work out, it’s an impossible thought to him.

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from all of the stories by our author, it’s that no two relationships and plot lines are the same. What panned out in one way for one duo will not be the case for another, so while there is so much weight against how things netted out for Crow and Pearl, we know that it can’t work out that easily for Cane and Adelina. Everything that we’ve seem between them have been on a different level, so their ending to their story has to be different as well.

We still get moments of sweet romance and tenderness which is unique, all while still seeing the same rage and anger that’s the Italian trait. Both carry this story through and certainly kept me beyond engaged that i was able to finish it in just one day. I can’t wait to see how things continue since there has to be more of the Barsetti story somewhere. Enjoy!