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Review: Mafia Queen (The DiLustro Arrangement #3) by CD Reiss

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Title: Mafia Queen
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year:  Paige Press 10/12/21
Length:  298 Pages
Series: DiLustro Arrangement #3

Overview

What doesn’t kill you makes you a killer.

Santino DiLustro changed me. You can’t spend time in bed with the devil without getting addicted to the heat.

Before him, I was a girl. Innocent and weak. 

Now, I’m a woman. A fighter. A killer.

I’ll burn the world down for him. Shatter the sky. But I will not break. 

No. I will rise up and destroy whoever dares to threaten what my king has built, because I am forever his queen.

My Thoughts

I was relieved when this final installment of the story came out – we were left on such a distressing cliff at the end of book two that I NEEDED to see how the story would pan out. If you remember, things were going downhill fast at the end of book two. While Santi and Violetta were finally in a good place, trying to start the life that they felt they needed, Dami (Santi’s old best friend) was jealous and wanted what he felt was his – the inheritance that Violetta was getting of the sacred crown – and he chose to use Gia (Santis’ cousin) as bait on this.

This story shows us how easy it is to sway someone – convince them that the life they have can be better – that they can get more power and stature just because someone tells them. that’s what happens in this story with Gia. We learn that she had a romance with Armando – one of Santi’s closest men, but Dami showed interest, and claimed her, really to use her as a pawn, and Gia was quick to jump on that attention – to go with what Dami wanted because he had power and she wanted it. She was almost the demise of Santi, and that makes our opinion as a reader of her go way down.

So….we left the last installment with Gia pulling the trigger and shooting Santi, so he’s no longer a factor in the story. We watch him fall and believe he’s dead. At that notion, Dami gets what he wants – he takes Violetta now and goes to marry her so that he can get what he feels he deserves – the crown and the rights that he felt Violetta’s father bestowed on him and not Santi. Lucky for Violetta though, she’s not one to go down without a fight, and she makes a mess of things – kills someone and wishes that it were Dami in fact, but gets out of the marriage.

Violetta is now forced to be the Queen – to rule over Sanit’s men since that’s her position to hold. To gain their trust and their support and some how overthrow Dami and the Tabonas – all other ‘mafia’ groups that want to take over the territory that Santi has claimed.

The roller coaster continues – Violetta learns Santi is alive, they try to get to the Crown from the lawyer yet Dami is a step ahead of them and blows up the lawyers office. Death and destruction continue in this third book because every turn we take there’s another thing going wrong. Santi is captured, tortured, his finger is cut off, he’s imprisioned, and there’s no hope for salvation. The saving grace is in the form of Violetta’s mother’s ‘consigliere’ – he comes bearing the crown – which makes every one bow to Violetta since she’s the only one who can handle it. to everyone else it’s hot to the touch, and it’s ethereal – forcing everyone to bend when they see it.

Things move quickly from here – we see plans and strategies put in place, knowing that there will be death and destruction coming next. We have Dario who’s a mafia leader from New York come to their aid, with his own agenda though since he comes when he believes that Santino is dead. There’s something that we’re not quite getting to with him in this story and I look forward to seeing where his saga takes us since CD Reiss hints that the next series coming is about Dario.

When we began this series, there was the hope for love and the need to validate family. We have ups and downs in this story – watching as love is forced and not earned. Power is exchanged and taken from those who earned it by those who are too hungry for it. We watch as there’s a hope and desire for a life that’s never meant to be, in the hopes that we can make a life that works ….with balance. There’s chemistry and passion and there’s heat and need. All the necessary ingredients to a story that keeps moving quickly and resolves in a way that’s worthy. So….that all being said – i’m now off to find something new to read. Enjoy!

Review: Mafia King (DiLustro Arrangement #2) by CD Reiss

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Title: Mafia King
Author:  CD Reiss
Publisher/Year:  Paige Press 6/15/21
Length:  250 Pages
Series: DiLustro Arrangement #2

Overview

Santino is my king. My lover. My husband.

He’s the head of the Cavallo crime family and the moment he choked my vows from me, my life was bound to his.

I’m done fighting my fate, until I hear two rumors, and I’m shaken to the core.

One rumor about the past—that I wasn’t the first bride Santino took.

Another about the future—a new bride is about to be taken.

Changing the old ways is like dousing the flames of hell with tears.

But I married the devil himself, and when I vowed to obey, I lied.

My Thoughts

We were left at the end of the first book with unsettling information being shared and as a result, all the emotions that Violetta was feeling were now unbalanced. She wants to love this man, her king, but she also doesn’t trust anything that he says since it turns out that he was engaged to her sister first and the ring she has was her sisters. So she’s not truly the chosen sister. or is she?

This second installment takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions, actions and passion. Violetta wants to hate him with everything that she is, yet she finds that her body and her heart won’t allow it. She fights him, but she then realizes that she can’t win that fight so she finally succumbs (after about 50% of the book).

There are several plot lines to follow in this one. The first is understand the story and the details behind Santino’s relationship with Rosetta and what that stemmed from and became. Once Violetta realized that there really wasn’t the same level of intimacy, the same connection, the same reason to be together and that sets that bit of the story right.

There’s also the plot that reveals who Violetta’s father really was – what his role was back ‘on the other side’ and what that means for her safety now. Santino has claim to many things, but his relationship with Violetta isn’t necessarily by the books, which leaves a few loose ends that will come to haunt us as the book goes on.

Then we have Gia, Santino’s cousin who’s being sold into another marriage, much like Violetta believed she was. Gia’s happy about the deal, but Violetta is so against the notion of these debt brides that she continues to fight Santino to change how things are, to make things different and that causes all sorts of ‘wars’ to happen in their territory.

Where we’re left at the end of this story is a gun fight, a scheme that goes awry and the unknowns of who’s going to live, who’s going to have the secrets saved or revealed and what that means for the future. There’s a treasure at stake here that Santino and Violetta are trying to claim as it’s her birth right and someone from Santi’s past is trying to take hold.

I”m bummed that we have to wait for October to get this final installment to see what happens since we’re really thrown by the last few scenes in this book. It’s insane, intense and full of lies. We’ve learned that people aren’t trustworthy and the one person who pulls the trigger is the LAST person that we ever thought would do it. I’ll have to be patient, but i’ll also tell you guys to enjoy this one!

Review: Mafia Bride (The DiLustro Arrangement #1) by CD Reiss

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Title: Mafia Bride
Author:  CD Reiss
Publisher/Year:  Paige Press 3/14/21
Length:  250 Pages
Series: The DiLustro Arrangement #1

Overview

Some girls dream of marrying a prince, but I never imagined I’d be sold to a king.

Santino DiLustro.

The king. 
The monster. 
The keeper of secrets.

When he forced me to marry him, I cried for love I’d never know.
When he locked me away, I cried for the freedom I lost forever.
Every other tear I’ve shed is for my soul, because I’m falling for the devil himself.

My Thoughts

I haven’t read anything by CD Reiss in a minute and i’m so happy to have found this first installment in the series. There’s always been an element of Mafioso in our authors books, and this time is no exception.

We’re introduced to Violetta, our leading lady when she’s first just a child in her uncle’s home. We know that she’s living with her uncle and aunt because her parents were killed years ago back in Italy and now she’s in America being taken care of by family. She notes an older sister Rosetta but we learn that she passed as well. This first time that we meet our heroine of sorts, it’s when she sneaks a look at a man who’s come to visit her uncle, a man that exudes power and darkness and yet at the same time he’s got such beauty that his soul does something to hers.

Fast forward several years and we’re back with Violetta, when she’s in nursing school, trying to make a future for herself in the American world while trying to stay true to her roots in the Italian world. She’s following all the rules that her family dictates for her and at the same time, she envisions what her future can look like when she’s done with school. She has an amazing summer vacation to Malta to look forward to until that’s ripped out from under her feet.

Enter Santino – Re Santino – King Santino. A Mafia boss, leader…all around intimidating guy. And ironically the same man that Violetta was captured with all those years before. She walks into her uncles home one day to see Santino standing over her uncle and he’s sobbing uncontrollably. Fast forward a few days and Re Santino is back at the house for dinner – with all the family there as well, and we learn that there’s an ultimate reason.

Violetta has been ‘sold off’ to Santino to be his wife. She’s forced against her will, losing everything that she had been working so hard for her entire life to be married to this man who doesn’t know her, who doesn’t know much about her and frankly who she’s not even sure there’s mutual like with.

We watch their relationship go from one of complete opposition, so a slow burn of something better. something more. We see Santino’s patience as he recounts bits of his past and how he introduces Violetta to parts of her past and history. She learns jiust how much of her past is intertwined with Santino and how well he knew her family back in the old country. While he opens her eyes to things that she didn’t know before, she appreciates the honesty and it starts to transform her opinion of what her life is to become.

He treats her like she’s from the old world – dressing her in old clothes that aren’t really right for a 19 year old. He keeps her ‘locked’ up in the house because he knows the evil that’s out to get him. She tries to run from him, hoping for any way to escape which turns out to be a bad move when she’s kidnapped, injured and bares witness to a few murders. She’s sent to stay with one of Santino’s past women who has protection by Santino’s men, and there she slowly starts to learn what it is that she needs to do in order to gain Santino’s interest and keep it.

The story takes a sweet turn from here – all that fear and tension and anxiety transforms. When Violetta makes it clear what she needs, he gives her a vacation to outdo anything that she’s experienced. The go to Italy and she gets toured around the country to all the places that she holds dear. She meets the woman who raised him, and she starts to fall into her role as a hostess and wife. She warms up to him enough to give him a part of herself that no one else has ever had, and then the other shoe drops, literally the next day. His aunt and his ex-best friend’s sister show up and the sister decides to spill more information than Santino would like about Violetta’s sister’s death, and the capacity in which Santino was aware and involved.

So we’re left on the edge of our seat – truly feeling back for her because she’s given her soul to this man, and now trust has been broken, there’s so much misinformation out there that I don’t even know that the truth will save them. Add to that the notion that someone is also out to kill the king – Santino knows that he;s being hunted, yet he’s not sure by whom. I”ve got my suspicions that it’s his ex-best friend Dami, but i’m sure we’ll find out how that plays out in the next book. So now I have to wait 2 months until it’s out – but i’m excited to see where this story goes. Enjoy!

Review: Ruin (Songs of Corruption #2) by CD Reiss

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Title: Ruin
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media   10/14/14
Length: 269
Series: Songs of Corruption #2

Overview

Antonio is a killer.
He’s beautiful, educated, a prodigy of a thief and as violent a man as ever came off the boat from Napoli.

Theresa knows it, but that doesn’t stop her from getting emotionally and physically entangled with him, and this is how, maybe, she got it in her head that she can protect him.

But it’s not her job to save him, and she’s just not getting that. Every time she tries to protect him, she practically gets him killed, and the tighter he grips her, the more dangerous she becomes.

It’s almost as if…well, he’d never admit this….but it’s almost as if protecting her the way he does is he one thing he should stop. As if the only way he’s ever going to find a moment’s peace is to just embrace her as a partner, rather than a defenseless creature.

But he’d never do that. Not this violent man.

My Thoughts

i’m in a weird place with this one.  I’m a huge fan of CD Reiss and the parallel series that i’ve read so far, yet this 2nd installment in this series – Songs of Corruption just left me wanting something more.

If you remember back to when the first one came out, we were quickly introduced to Theresa – who’s a Drazen – a large family that’s quite powerful in the business realmn and Antonio – someone quite powerful in the Italian Mafia realm.  Of course , there was a lot of drama that ensued – since Theresa was dating someone who’s end goal was to take down the mafia ….leading to some great chemistry between these 2 leads.  i had such high hopes because the story line was getting very dicey and then my prolonged wait….left a bit to be wanted.

Where we pick up in this 2nd book – Ruin – is that Theresa’s in hiding with Antonio because of the attempt on her life as a result of her relationship with him.  So what we have for the first quarter of the book is a lot of her in hiding so to speak, not being able to really do much but wait for Spin to come back and have his way with her.  (i know – very direct and to the point there).

The rest of the story is a lot of back and forth about what’s going to happen with Spin’s territory, and what he has to do to get out of the lifestyle since he’s really not made for it and wants to have a life with Theresa – if he can.

What i’m struggling with is that we get a decent story line – yet it’s really not overly developed.  We see the stirrings of plans being set up to get out of the area – and live their lives together – but it’s just glossy – on the surface and never really getting too much further into the meat of it all.  We get to see a bit more of the interactions with Theresa’s many siblings, but again, just a topline level of it – and never really getting to hear about their background and growing up which would have added a bit more dimension to things.

There’s the expected amount of passion here – we see that there’s clear chemistry between Theresa and Antonio – and that’s certainly carries us through – but i feel like i kept wanting ‘more’.

Then there’s the epilogue – i think that it’s a good tease of things – gives you a sense of geography and the tension of a situation – but i don’t know what it means for the series itself.  I get the sense that this was a 2 book series, yet…..i don’t know.  So all in all, took me longer than i would have liked to read this – and it was just eh….. good news though is that i still love this author and there’s much much more to pickup and read.

Review: Spin (Songs of Corruption #1) by CD Reiss

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Title: Spin
Author:  CD Reiss
Publisher/Year:  Christine Demaio  3/11/14
Length:  197 Pages
Series: Songs of Corruption #1

Overview

Mafia capo, Antonio Spinelli blew through my orderly life like a cyclone.

Gorgeous and passionate, with a breathtaking brutality, he put me under his spell the moment he touched me, drawing me into his underworld of risk, violence and betrayal.

And I found, just as this sophisticated savage didn’t trust me, I didn’t trust myself. Something happened to me. Some alchemy from the heat between us.

I discovered I was a savage, too.

My Thoughts

After reading the Songs of Submission series by CD Reiss, i’ve realized that i like where these stories take us, not only because of the heat and passion that we get from this author, but because the character relationships themselves are really nicely evolved.

In this story, we focus on Theresa who is Jonathan’s sister.  What’s nice about this story is that it’s happening while Songs of Submission happens, so it’s not like one comes before the other, they are really parallel stories.  we get a glimpse into snippets of the other series, but it’s not at all necessary to have read the other to get what’s going on here.

Anyhow, we meet Theresa who is wealthy because of her family, but successful on her own.  She’s an accountant for a top talent agency in Hollywood, who also has a knack for the minute details.  She’s also recently come out of a relationship with Daniel who’s running for LA mayor, and this breakup is because he cheated on her.  There’s still a lot of love there though, and that’s an undercurrent of this story.

Where Theresa meets Spin, the title character is outside a bar one night when Maggie, Theresa’s sister gets drunk and somewhat attacked.  Spin and his friend Paulie come to their rescue and from that night on, Theresa’s life is changed for ever.  maybe for the good , and maybe not.  See, Spin has ties to something that’s not quite illegal but not really legal either.  Meaning, he’s involved in mafia type activities and leads one of the families in a sense.

We are taken on the journey with Theresa and Spin, and Daniel for that matter, trying to see what can be salvaged and what can evolve, all the while allowing Theresa to come into her own and realize that she’s much stronger and dark than even she knew.

Through a series of events, Theresa puts her ‘big girl pants’ on, to defend herself to Daniel, to defend herself to Spin, to come to the aid of her best friend and roommate Katerina and to admit that she’s been holding back from men and relationships in the past and knows what she wants now.  She asks for it and demands it of Spin.

The question of where this story takes us isn’t a new one – it’s obvious really – will Theresa allow herself to go into something new and unknown, or will she continue to be drawn back to the safety that Daniel offers?  He does a great job of pulling her back in over and over again and makes he question things.  The other question is whether Spin can offer her what she needs, and if he’ll even allow himself to do it.  We see the battle between them and that makes for a lot of steam, heat and passion when they come together.

CD Reiss doesn’t disappoint in the sense that we get really heated scening, great passion and chemistry that cannot be contained.  It’s volatile and that’s exactly what you need in a first installment to a series.  It sounds like the intention of this series is to be a trilogy, so i’ll keep my eyes open for the next installments.  I hope that you guys give it a try – it’s a great segue from Songs of Submission.  Enjoy!

*note – clicking on the cover will now take you to BN.com to buy!

Review: Sing (Songs of Submission #7) by CD Reiss

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Title:  Sing
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media Inc. 11/12/13
Length:  172 pages
Series: Songs of Submission #7

Overview

The stunning conclusion to the USA Today Bestselling series.

Take my hand, my love
On sinews of air we tread
Aught but distance our guide
With no tempo to our gait
No endpoint drawn
Neither plot nor plan
By the thorns of a compass rose
We bound toward the horizon

My Thoughts

Exactly what i needed in the finale of this series.  I have to say, the shortcomings and downfalls that i felt in the 1st have were remedied, and if you needed fear, anxiety, love, passion and romance, yet with the uncertainty in knowing that nothing good could ever come from what’s going on – you get that here.

At the end of Resist, we see Jonathan drop to the ground and we don’t know what’s happening.  Interesting that once you learn why he’s in the hospital, you come back to wonder if the pains in his arm from falling down the hill in the last book was from the fall or a heart attack  – right?

So, the focal point of this final installment is the life and death scenario of Jonathan, hanging in the balance since no one knows what’s going to happen. While all this is going on, Monica has to live her life, and well, it’s not going as perfectly as expected.  She’s worried that she’s screwing up her chances with Carnival since she has to postpone a session, she and Darren aren’t close anymore really – they don’t have much time for one another, she learns that her house is being auctioned, so she’s forced to reconnect with her mom which can’t be good – and all at the same time, she knows that most of Jonathan’s family hates her and that’s never helpful.

As Jonathan’s status continues to go downhill, we find an unexpected friendship from Brad, Dr Thorenson who lives next door to Monica and happens to have access to information about Jonathan’s health that she can’t get elsewhere.  I”m sure that i’m not alone in thinking that while he continues to just act like a good friend that there isn’t more to it.  let’s not go there for now though.

Jessica seems to be in and out a bit of this finale, but somewhat more under the radar since she knows that she can’t hold as much against Jonathan as she tried previously.  with the release of the recording that Monica was able to get from the phone she took from Jessica, there’s less ammo there to support any abuse against her.  so…the question is what’s her next angle to ensure that the money from the trust isn’t pulled from her.

There are so many times throughout this story that Jonathan really is on death’s door, that i’m not surprised how it ends.  i think that it needed to happen as it did.  what i loved though, is that since we know that he’s so gravely ill, and can’t be the domineering physical lover, we get a lot of verbiage and nuance that’s really just through talking and imagination that you still think that you’re right there in it with them.  This is a really great POV that the author put on the story so that we’re not left with just an editorial, and not so much erotica.

In any event, there is of course an epilogue of sorts that wraps things up for us, and in a way that makes you think that there is a happier outcome from stuff- but i have to say that i’m pleased that we didn’t get to the conclusion from a linear path, and that’s great.  I look forward to the spin offs from this series, since there are so many characters to build off of.  (i mean….7 sisters ….really???)

Review: Resist (Songs of Submission #6) by CD Reiss

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Title:  Resist
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media Inc. 8/5/13
Length:  200 pages
Series: Songs of Submission #6

Overview

The story of Jonathan Drazen and Monica Faulkner continues.
Monica steps up to the plate…..I looked down at him, with his tourmaline eyes and copper hair, and believed him despite my better judgment.

I forgave him despite my misgivings. I loved him just because I did.

My heart wasn’t sensible or guarded enough, not by a sight. I was a walking raw nerve ending of emotion, as if the years I’d spent away from men and sex had made me more emotional, more vulnerable, more foolish.

I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling like the victim of a crime of consent.

My Thoughts

WOW – i loved where this next installment took us.  Lots was inevitable, but i’m glad that we got to see more of the grit.

The roller coaster of a journey between Monica and Jonathan continues, where they continue to go back and forth on who’s walking away from whom and for what reason.  Monica continues to have this desire to pursue her career yet not at the sacrifice of what Jonathan’s going through, yet he won’t allow for much wiggle room in letting her take care of things how she needs and wants to.  That’s his demanding side coming up but well – to be expected.  They know that they have this heat and passion that draws them to one another, and it’s nice to see that they realize that they can’t just use sex as a crutch (as juice as CD Reiss makes it seem in these heated scenes)….so where to go from there right?

What’s nice in this 6th installment is that we start to learn more about the Drazens and even about the folks that surround them.  Margie continues to play a role and i can’t wait to see where it takes us.  Then there’s Jessica who we’re not sure yet why we can’t trust her, and what rabbit she’s going to pull out of a hat, but Monica’s willing to figure it out – at Jonathan’s fear and anxiety.

This is one author that knows how to write novellas though – we get yet another impressive cliff hanger at the end of this piece – we’re at the Collector’s Board Gala that Jonathan really wanted to avoid because it’s ‘Jessica’s circle’ and his mother and father usually attend, but due to circumstances that are partly his doing, Monica is asked to attend (on the arm of Eddie – her rep from carnival) so that she can boost her career.  What we don’t know is what’s going to go down at the event – with the folks that we know will be there, and what’s going on in the life outside, it’s going to be a mess – and we get that.  Jessica was trying to unleash on Jonathan in the end of the last book and he’s tucked his chin and put out some stuff that she probably didn’t want out there, which leads to stress.

We meet someone that we’ve only heard about up until this point, we learn about the fate of another, and then for a third, their life is in limbo, which is exactly what we like to have in these types of stories.  edge of the seat stuff coming i’m sure!

Review: Burn (Songs of Submission #5) by CD Reiss

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Title:  Burn
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media Inc. 6/23/13
Length:  298 pages
Series: Songs of Submission #5

Overview

——————–Here’s how it’s going to be, goddess.

Until you surrender yourself to me fully, I will not touch you.

Until the world can know you belong to me, I will not kiss you.

I’m going to be inches away, at your side. I’m going to whisper in your ear and put my breath on your neck, but the heat of my skin will not feel the shudder of yours until you commit yourself to me completely.

My Thoughts

we are finally getting somewhere, and i think that’s due to the fact that we’re now past the midway point in the installment series.  I love where this story is going, and i think that CD Reiss has done a GREAT job in laying it out for us in a way that keeps us guessing.

What we get in this 5th installment is quite a variety of emotions and wondering who’s trustworthy.  What we also get too though is a bunch of randomness that i’m not sure really means much to the story.  or will it?

We travel to Vancouver for the opening of the exhibit that Monica and Darren agreed to help Kevin with, and of course, things become much more complicated there.  while we know that Monica and Jonathan are ‘on a break’, we know that he doesn’t trust Kevin at all yet, even with the information that he’s learned from Santon on who planted the cameras….but that’s all with just cause.  Given the fact that Monica’s ‘attacked’……by one Kevin Wainright.

Anyway, we travel to Vancouver where a lot happens, and a lot doesn’t.  There’s still a wall up between Monica and Jonathan and they are doing their best to both keep it intact and rip it apart.  The question really becomes, is it worth the fight?  isn’t it better to just give in one way or another?

I really liked where this story ends up though – while i kind of figured that we’d get to a point where someone had their life threatened again or was arrested, i wasn’t sure about the circumstances, and the way this has played out so far has kept my interest.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all about a story of who to trust and who not to.  We’re starting to get to the bottom of what this relationship could mean to Monica in the bedroom (and all over any surface she encounters).  while i’m happy to say that the word that i HATE (a.k.a. snatch) hasn’t made an appearance lately in the series (thank heavens), we’re also not really getting a strong dom  – which is something that i’ve come to really want and appreciate in this genre.  i know that Jonathan is supposed to be quite the top, but he seems very playful in it and tentative, and i know that it’s because of what he’s explained to us – he realized only with Jessica that he was into this, and really didn’t get a chance to live it out to the fullest.  I don’t know – i’m just used to a much more authoritative dom.  regardless – at least the scening that we do get is nice, and we get to see what he can do to a woman, and what Monica lets him do to her.

Review: Control (Songs of Submission #4) by CD Reiss

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Title:  Control
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media Inc. 5/8/13
Length:  160 pages
Series: Songs of Submission #4

Overview

It is about Jonathan and Monica, living in Los Angeles and trying to make a life together.

My Thoughts

yes, the overview was quite basic don’t you think?  anyway, we are in the 4th installment and what i understand to be about the mid-way point in the series.  i think that we’re definitely getting to understand that there’s so much more under the surface of both Jonathan and Kevin that we’re not quite sure when it’s going to come out and explode.

Monica continues to wonder what’s the real situation with Jonathan and what he’s not sharing with her, and when she wants to learn more, she continues to use sex to get him to open up.  he finds himself falling more and more for her and doing things that he’s never done (at least not recently)….ie. dating….and that’s tough for him to come to terms with.  the good news though is that Jonathan has finally decided to cut off Jessica – his ex wife, but has a feeling that she won’t go down quietly.

Kevin on the other hand is going rogue as far as Jonathan is concerned.  because of what he’s seen of the artist’s prep work, he now fears for Monica’s safety, and that’s going to come to a head in this installment.

Jonathan takes control of Monica’s life again – doing things for her really w/o her permission, and then trying to control her in bed, which she’s really beginning to allow.  for herself to submit.  What we get here again, is quite a bit of steam and that’s really nice.

One aspect though that i’ve been trying to stop minding, but what has been bothering me for the first 3 books but eased up a bit in #4 is some of the verbiage or wording used to reference their parts.  I have a hatred for certain words and there is 1 that Monica uses OVER and OVER again that makes me want to drop the book.  it’s eased up a bit here in #4 thankfully, but still, thinks like that really detract from a book.

Anyway, we’re left at quite the cliff at the end of this installment, Monica’s made a decision to walk away from one of the men that’s really close to her in her life and we’re not sure what that will mean to her safety and well being.  we’ll just have to wait and see.

Review: Submit (Songs of Submission #3) by CD Reiss

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Title:  Submit
Author: CD Reiss
Publisher/Year: Flip City Media Inc. 5/8/13
Length:  197 pages
Series: Songs of Submission #3

Overview

“You’re mine. The minute I told you to spread your legs and you did it, you were mine. When I told you to beg for it and you did, you were mine. When you put your hands behind your back without being told, I owned you. You never had to say a word. You are a natural submissive.”

No. God, no.

My name is Monica, and no matter what Jonathan says, I am not submissive.

My Thoughts

This third installment really was a turning point across so many different things.  what we are dealing with is uncertainty in relationships, specifically between Monica and Jonathan and even Monica and Gabby.  We also have to deal with a death that is potentially a game changer, and really makes some of our favorite characters wonder about what their role in things are.

In this 3rd installment, Kevin gets in Monica’s head a bit.  Because of the uncertainty that Monica has in Jonathan, based on what his ex has said to her, she gives Kevin a chance to talk about things and that’s not healthy at all for her.  what that does though is that it gives him an opening to be back in her life, and i can’t say that i’m not expecting something bad to come of it down the road.

The relationship with Jonathan and Monica though is quite rocky.  He admits to his needs and explains them to Monica in a way that she’s not ok with and walks away from.  It’s tough since you know that deep down she’s aligned with him, but she won’t admit it in her head.

so, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with everyone.  Will Monica Submit as the title implies?  Will monica submit to the demands of a potential record label and what it will mean to her friendship with Gabby? and Will Monica submit to the whims of Kevin.  all good questionsi think – most of which will be answered in this installment and those that aren’t will hopefully be resolved in book 4.