To get what he wants, he’ll have to play a game of dirty pool.Michel Marcello never wanted to be a mafioso like every other man in his family—he wanted to be more. That doesn’t mean he’s unfamiliar with the life, or that he can’t hold his own against other made men.They forgot where he came from … notorious Irish mob boss stokes flames beyond the ones that ignite between Michel and Gabbie Casey. Rivals shouldn’t mix, but these opposites have never been more attracted, either.
The lines between family loyalty, their duties, and responsibility begin to blur.
Love ruins all.
But these two aren’t the only ones playing this game, and it just became far more dangerous to get out alive.
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Dirty Pool is a standalone romantic suspense.
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I loved this story so much. I laughed and cried with Gabbie and Michel.
Without spoiling anything I can say as much that their chemistry is something I would describe as explosive. I admired how they fought for each other.
Yes, and one last thing. Never underestimate a Marcello!
Can we all just bask in the awe if Michel Marcello for a while?!?! This man! People underestimate him, time and time again throughout Dirty Pool. Not only am I in awe of Michel, but Bethany-Kris is brilliant. No matter how many stories, people, or situations Kris creates for us… everyone is unique and beautiful. Bethany-Kris is the queen of organized crime! It’s a serious talent! Mix that with Kris’s serious talent for story development and the organized crime situations and she creates these unstoppable stories.
I loved Gabbie. She’s a fascinating character… she’s always bent to her father’s will, succumbed to what he wanted or what he said. But with Michel, she finds her voice, her inner strength. Kris is excellent in showing the wonderful attributes of her couples. How they work better together than they ever could separately. Both, Michel and Gabbie are energetic and lively separate but when you put them together they are just magnificent! I loved how instantaneous their attraction was… how hot their love was. I enjoyed how when they feel, they feel hard and fast. They both knew what they wanted and went for it. Who doesn’t respect that?!?
Dirty Pool is a bit of a different read than most of Bethany-Kris’s books… we don’t have a ton on mystery and high tension with high stakes. It’s more character development and fantastic story development. Either way, Dirty Pool has Kris’s signature writing and I cant help but love every word she writes. Everything about these characters and their love is through the roof with heat and passion.
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.
As a spin-off of The Filthy Marcellos series, we are given young Michel Marcellos and Gabbie Casey’s rocky road to a HEA. Both have mob fathers who rule with an iron will and fist, but this unlikely pair of star-crossed lovebirds live on opposite sides of the mafioso tracks. It’s basically the fighting Irish vs the Italian stallions as they circle around and face each other off vying to maintain respect and control of their respective territories. This time, however, the drama unfolds mostly on Detroit turf and not the New York stomping grounds of the actual Marcellos clan.
When push comes to shove, Michel Marcellos proves he is made of the same stuff as his mob don padre. He may not be a made man but he’ll only take so much until he feels forced to take matters into his own hands. I was quite surprised a future doctor would do what he did, especially to a guy he really didn’t know. Now the other guy, many of you will feel he had it coming. He mostly did come across as a patient, not a hot head kind of guy.
One aspect about Michel I couldn’t wrap my mind around was a pre-med school student hero not batting an eye at selling drugs like he is the neighborhood candy man. It just doesn’t mesh with the mindset of someone on that career path. Knowing the nitty gritty of what illegal drugs do to the human body, I just can’t see it, folks. Heck, he’s rich so didn’t even need the money. Even more out there was he did it for the thrill … in a territory he didn’t know the ins and outs of. He was too smart and rich to be that plain stupid, IMHO. I honestly don’t know why he wasn’t given a mob side job of patching people up instead.
Gabbie has always been a loving, devoted daughter to her Irish mob da, but when she is forced to fight for love she has the backbone to make it happen, folks.
All in all, I enjoyed seeing this couple defeat the odds and get their HEA.
Title: Dirty Pool, Author: Bethany-Kris, Pages: 250, stand-alone, very graphic steamy scenes, Irish vs Italian mob backdrop, graphic mob violence, future doc hero, romance safe, HEA.
(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review, nor is there any affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/PR firm.)
Deciding to stay at the bar, after losing her cousins as it was a mob club, when a man sat next to her, she liked what she saw and he didn’t seem to know she was the daughter of an Irish mob boss.
Working out he was in Irish territory, he knew he wasn’t safe, the Irish and Italians didn’t get along. Michel didn’t miss the goose bumps from his touch, they both felt it between them.
After spending the night with Gabbie, Michel finds out her father is the boss of the Irish, while his is the New York boss, knowing it’s the wrong place and time for them even though Gabbie wants to see him again.
Gabbie and Michel can’t stay away from each other, not being able to stay away. Despite the warnings, Michel adored Gabbie already, he wanted to know where it could go with her, never having had a connection like it before.
All they want is to be together, but everyone is determined to keep them apart and use them for their own vendetta, Michel may not be a made man, but he’s a Marcello and he wants what’s his and nothing will stop him.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author to review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
To get what he wants, he will have to play a game of dirty pool. Michel Marcello never wanted to be a mafioso like every other man in his family. He wanted to be more. That doesn’t mean that he is unfamiliar with the life, or that he can’t hold his own against other made me. They forgot where he came from…. His chance encounter with the fiery and beautiful daughter of Detroit’s most notorious Irish mob boss stokes flames beyond the ones that ignite between Michel and Gabbie Casey. Rivals shouldn’t mix, but these opposites have never been more attracted, either. The lines between family loyalty, their duties and responsibility begin to blur. Love ruins all. But these two are not the only ones playing this game, and it just became far more dangerous to get out alive.
If you have read any of Bethany-Kris previous book then you probably know who the Marcello Family is. This is the story of Michel. He is not really involved in his families business but that makes him no the the Marcello that he is. WHen he meet Gabbie Casey, who is the daughter of and Irish mob boss he knows that the Italians and the Irish do not mesh. This is a modern day Romeo and Juilet tale. It will have you reading well into the night to figure out what happens between these characters and families. I really enjoyed it. Bethany-Kris really excels at writing stories about the Mafia. If that is your cup of tea, then you do not want to miss this book.
The countdown was on as soon as I read teasers for Dirty Pool. I began reading this book the moment it landed on my iPad. It fed my Mafia Romance fix to a tee with everything I look for in the genre.
The story features a deliciously forbidden romance between an Irish Mafia Princess and a Marcello. It’s a love story between two people headed in different directions from the rest of their families. Neither have shunned their families, it was just their passion to help others took them outside of their family businesses.
Michel Marcello and Gabbie Casey shouldn’t be together. They saw to it that they were together more than they were apart despite her father’s efforts to convince them otherwise. Their deceptive dates had me smiling. With Michel’s charm and Gabbie’s determination to follow her heart, they were perfect for each other.
Messages sent to keep them apart were loud and clear. Desperate times call for drastic measures and Michel takes the lead when he was left with no other option. With no shortage of action mixed in with the romance it would make a fabulous film. Then I got thinking I think every book I’ve read of Bethany-Kris’ would work well on screen!
What blew me away yet again was the fast fabulous pace of the writing. Far from being an adrenaline overload, the drama built over time. The ending was perfect. There were still awkward moments that kept the story flowing while easing you into a beautiful serene ending.
The story gets dirty in more ways than one. Dirty Pool wasn’t the hustler book I expected but a plot where the characters seize whatever opportunity available. More than one cameo appearance at the end brought a smile to my face as Michel welcomes Gabbie into the Marcello family.