This is part one of a dark romance duet. The story will be fully resolved in part two.Keep your friends close, and your enemies in your bed….VIOLETTaken.Kidnapped.The innocent waitressnobody would miss,nobody would care about.Given to him;A cold-blooded, unforgiving hitman.With sexy eyes and an irresistible body.But he doesn’t know who I am,Or what secrets I hide. ANDRIUSA gift—mine!To own, to … am,
Or what secrets I hide.
ANDRIUS
A gift—mine!
To own, to keep.
To do with as I please.
But she’s so much more.
More than I ever imagined.
And I vow to get to the bottom of this…
This beautiful, mysterious, and broken gift.
Because now she belongs to me.
Please note this is a dark romantic suspense and therefore all the trigger warnings apply!
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Violet has a past which she doesn’t know it all. She only knows what her dead father has told her. She now has plans to kill the man responsible for killing her family. Her plans change terribly when she is gifted to Andrius. With his own fight for revenge too he will find out the truth of Violet. What will come of this because each have feeling for each other. But does he sacrifice the truth for revenge.
Highly recommend this addictive mafia series. Tore through this and the next book and I’m almost done with the third and final book in the series. Such great writing – such three-dimensional characters!
Andrius has replaced every book boyfriend that I have ever had. Sorry Violet, you have to share. 🙂
For reals though, the ending of this book made me cry. Actual tears coming out of my eyes. Not like most other books, where I have tears in my eyes, but they never fall. Oh no, The Gift made me cry and the only reason I think I didn’t start sobbing, was because I knew Andrius and Violet would have their HEA (it is a romance after all. Also, I read the Mafia Vows first in which Andrius and Violet make appearances).
Now to get to the actual story. The Gift takes place almost immediately where The Trap leaves off. Violet is given to Andrius as a gift and Andrius has no idea why. Is Violet a spy for Allyov? Is she working for the police? He has no idea. But he’s drawn to her that’s for dang sure. And poor little Violet is caught in a trap of her own making. But of course she too feels the pull to hottie Andrius.
And the ending……TEARS! Thank god I was able to jump into the next book immediately.
The Gift: Bratva Vows – Book One
Violet has been gifted to Andrius by his Bratva boss Sergei Allyov; although Andrius wasn’t expecting this he is going to figure out a way to keep Violet safe from Allyov. Violet on the other hand isn’t going to make that easy, she hasn’t until now realized that the plan she had would never have worked. She did not have a plan for escaping Andrius though.
Andrius, who has felt drawn to Violet has a code of honor and he is going to try honoring that code, never hurt women or children, but as his attraction to Violet grows will he be able to stick to his personal code.
Through all of book two the reader can see the indecision that face both Violet and Andrius and on top of all that has been going on Violet’s secrets are about to be discovered and Andrius will have to face his past.
S.R. Jones has navigated the reader through a lot of emotional laundry for both Violet and Andrius. Will their backgrounds kill their relationship? Can their feelings both emotional and physical destroy their ability to move forward? We will find out in book three. Again, I have to give kudos to S. R. Jones and her team from matching the cover hero to the book hero, Andrius uses his fists and you see this on the cover, it looks like Andrius’ knuckles after hitting the wall. Very impressed!
I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher to review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
Violet: Taken Kidnapped. The innocent waitress nobody would miss, nobody would care about. Given to him; A cold-blooded, unforgiving hitman. With sexy eyes and an irresistible body. But he doesn’t know who I am, or what secrets I hide.
Andrius: A gift-mine! To own, to keep. To do with as I please. But she’s so much more. More than I ever imagined. And I vow to get to the bottom of this…This beautiful, mysterious, and broken gift. Because now she belongs to me.
The Gift is the first book in the Bratva Vows. This is a dark romance and may have triggers for some. I love a book that is told from two points of view and the gift is told from Violet and Adnrius’s points of view. This book grabbed me from the very first chapters. There are so many secrets and plans and things you just are not going to be able to figure out. I love when a book keeps me on my toes. The ending is going to have you wanting the second book the minute you finish this one. I know that my review is vague but I don’t want to give anything away about this book. Just know that your going to love these characters and the chemistry between them. I can not wait to have the second book in my hands.
What a story. This is packed full of everything. Violet was Andrius’s gift from Allyov. This is a cliffhanger and what a cliffhanger it is. Now on the next book to see what happens. Enjoy.
Having to attend the party Sergei has put on for him he’s surprised to see Violet, he’s looked into her but found nothing, but thinks she’s hiding something, when Sergei offers her as a gift to him, he has no choice, he knows what will happen to her if he doesn’t accept, also knowing she’s a liability.
Violet knows he won’t hurt her but there’s no denying that she wants him, waking him from a nightmare she knows she see the real Andrius and when she sooths him she sees his desire for her, but the kiss stops suddenly with him sending her away.
Andrius doesn’t want to take Violet with him to the meeting but has no choice, he knows she’s hiding something, and Andrius can’t help but test her to see if she will run and can’t work out why he’s happy she didn’t.
Making a decision she asks Justina to hep her look hot when they go out, so hot that Andrius won’t be able to keep his eyes off her.
There both playing a dangerous game, but when Violet decides she’s had enough of being played with and shows Andrius, has she pushed him to far, and what happens when they both find out each, others, secrets.
Does end on a cliff hanger.
This one starts off with a retelling of the ending of The Trap from Andrius’ view which gives us more to go on. I definitely recommend reading The Trap before starting this one, it will give you a basis for what is really going on. Violet has lead a troubled childhood starting when her mother and sister were killed and she and her father escaped to the UK and changed their identities, so essentially her life started at age 10. However, now her father has passed away and she has his diary and knows who killed her family and she is set on revenge. That was The Trap and then she was kidnapped and given to Andrius as a Gift. Andrius was not pleased but what was he going to do. He could not refuse her, after all his boss gave her to him and if he did not accept she would be killed. Andrius does not trust her or his boss and is definitely paranoid and he is the first to admit this. There is great chemistry between them and just when we are lead to believe things are finally going to smooth out, BAM, there is another twist and WAM so many questions are left at the end. Oh, bring on book 2 NOW!
**Received this ARC for review**
Andrius is a cold-hearted enforcer for the Russian mob with a strict code of no harm to women or children. He also has a hidden agenda he’s determined to carry out for which his code does not apply. When his current boss hands him a gift of Violet, an innocent (or so she seems), Andrius knows that she may just be the wrench in his plans. Can she be trusted and what is it she’s hiding? Violet has her own secrets, which if known could cost her life, but as much as she fears Andrius, she also unwillingly desires him. Together their chemistry is too hot to ignore, but when Violet’s past and secrets are revealed, will it be the end she imagines or something much more?
This is an intense and compelling dark romance. Be forewarned, this is an addictive start to Andrius and Violet’s story, but it’s not the end – yet. This storyline contains strong and passionate twists and turns which will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. You’ll become engrossed in this dark tale of Andrius and Violet and be impatient for the end yet to come. I highly recommend this intriguing and gripping start to what I expect will be a powerful duet. I am anxiously awaiting the end of the story.
I become very excited when I find a new author. For me recently that was S.R. Jones. The Gift took me completely by surprise and is my most recent favourite read. I would recommend you start with the prequel The Trap, (it’s free at the time of posting this review), which I also really enjoyed, but isn’t strictly necessary. I love a dark, romantic suspense and I can’t believe I haven’t come across Ms Jones before, especially as the synopsis got me very excited. A great plot, it’s thrilling, and intriguing, with some deep secrets and surprise flashes of humour. I love the storyline, the writing style, the twists and turns, and the characters. I spent most of the time I was reading on tenterhooks and, after that shock ending, am now anxiously waiting for the conclusion so I can be put out of my misery.
The Gift is book one of a duet, with the story concluding in The Hit and I can’t wait to read it.
If you have read the free prequel, The Trap, then you already have been introduced to Andrius and Violet. This book picks up right where they left off with Violet being given to Andrius. Andrius works for the Russian Mafia’s Boss. He is a ruthless killer but one little petite women, named Violet could change the world he knows. She has an agenda but keeping it hidden might be more than Violet is capable of. When she is taken and given as a gift to Andrius, can she use him to get what she wants or will she start to actually care for him. Both are keeping secrets from each other that could be deadly. This was a great start to the series and cannot wait for book two as this ends in a cliffhanger. Told in dual POV
This was a good book. I just hate it when it doesn’t all come in one book. I wish authors would just write the whole story in 1 book. I would rather pay a little more and have 500 pages to have the whole story at once. Now I have to wait to see what happens to Violet and Andrius. Ugh I hate the waiting.