“Beautiful. Poignant.” —Rachel Van Dyken, #1 NYT bestselling author
Everyone knew Bruno.Devilishly handsome.Ruthless criminal.Cut-throat businessman.
When a phone call changed my life, I refused to let anyone in.Helpless, my best friends went to the only man in town she knew would help.…Bruno, the notorious mobster who’s feared by everyone, including me.
And he had no problem breaking down … in.
Helpless, my best friends went to the only man in town she knew would help.
…Bruno, the notorious mobster who’s feared by everyone, including me.
And he had no problem breaking down my door.
Scooping me into his strong, capable arms.
Whispering soothing words in my ear.
Chasing away the fear threatened to swallow me.
But then he did the one thing I never expected him to do…he stayed.
Can the man who’s only spoken about in whispers become my greatest savior and my deepest love?
Enshrine is a USA Today bestselling steamy, inspirational standalone romance by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Chelle Bliss. This is a story about survival, hope, and most of all…love.
“An emotional journey you won’t soon forget.” —Meredith Wild, #1 NYT bestselling author
“Enshrine is such a gorgeous, breathtaking story.” —Toni Aleo, NYT bestselling author
“Enshrine rocked me.” —Terri Marie, NYT bestselling author
“This book had me hooked from the first page!” —SE Hall, NYT bestselling author
“Captures you so completely.” —River Savage, USA Today bestselling author
“A must read.” —Kaylee Ryan, NYT bestselling author
“Get ready to feel every page and fall in love with the unexpected.” —Author Cat Mason
“A sexy, palpable, real life romance.” —Author Rachel Blaufeld
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Style: Contemporary Romance
Story: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5
Dark Level: 0/5
Sexual Level: GOOD
Triggers: Yes
Violence: No
Male: Mysterious & Kind
Series: No
Pages: 354
Audio: GuyV:Good & GirlV:Good
Kindle Unlimited: No
STORY:
I will start out by saying, not going to lie, the blurb seemed a bit misleading. I will dissect this book a little differently.
Callie’s storyline 5/5
Callie’s story hit home and mentally and emotionally stirs a lot in me. I question finishing, not because it was bad, but wondering if I could get through it. I am glad I could. I am sure it will affect others in their own way. Following Callie’s story was detailed and amazingly told. I admire what Bruno did for her and love their story together through their journey.
Bruno’s Storyline 2/5
It was noted in the blurb that he was a cut-throat businessman and ruthless criminal, mmmmm, I disagree. Even though who Bruno is was made to be a mysterious, that was ok, but it was misleading.
CHEMISTRY:
Sexual chemistry 2/5
I was a little disappointed. I honestly thought I was getting an erotica story with the blurb and the cover. Their emotional chemistry was amazing, but physically, it was ok (not to take away from Callie’s story or the message).
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
I love the secondary characters. I know this is a standalone book but would have loved to see this as a series with Bruno’s sister and Callie’s best friend finding their ever after. Bruno’s family was lovable. I enjoyed them.
Overall, very strong storyline, I love and even walked away with a life lesson of messages or two from it. I was a little disappointed with other areas, however, the powerful storyline was good.
***I don’t equate these stories to real life. It’s about personal taste and what you would or want to tolerate with the books you read. I know we all have different opinions and preferences with what we read and hope this review was helpful.
Strength, determination, and about how one persons love can strengthen another.
Bruno intrigued me from the very beginning as there was a mystery around who he was and what he did for a living. When his true identity was revealed the pieces fell into place and it all made scene. My heart broke for him as he talked about his wife and unborn child.
Callie beginning in the healthcare field heard the word cancer and her hole world fell apart. I know all to well what the c word can do to a person and my heart broke for her. Watching her cope and go through the stages from dread, to acceptance, ready to fight was an emotional ride and I feared that if it was for Bruno she never would have made it.
I loved seeing Bruno and Callie progress in their relationship throughout this book and I’m so happy they got their happily ever after and Callie got the family she never had.
Chelle Bliss’s Enshrine- my goodness I was not expecting this story to be what it was based on the blurb. I’m glad I’d read some reviews so I knew what to expect- if not, I might have felt a bit frustrated because this is intense in a different way than other Chelle reads- this is about a girl whose life is turned upside down when her body betrays her, and she finds herself fighting for her life as she faces cancer, turning to the one man for support that everyone says she should avoid.
I wasn’t expecting this to be the story- but Chelle tugs on your heart while also handling Callie’s story with love and care. It’s not easy, and cancer does crappy things to you and your mind, so that means at times our heroine in particular isn’t always likable. The connection took a bit longer than usual to develop and the secret too long to come out, but the chemistry gets there. These characters are imperfect, but the chemistry is sweet and loving once we find it and as they both evolve from this life changing moment as well as grapple with the fickle concept of time, trying to savor lives precious moments rather than be paralyzed by the unknown.
“Time is the most precious thing we have. We blindly go through our days as if they’re in infinite supply. Each year, time moves faster, evaporating before our eyes, and we don’t even realize it. The only time we pay attention to time is when we’re told ours is running out.”
Even if the characters weren’t perfect, I loved this quote and the overall message of this story- life is short, love too precious- pay attention, wake up, live.
Wow this was a totally different Chelle Bliss read. I got hooked with the Men of Inked and am working my way through all of her books. This one is a totally different style for her. Callie has gotten news that will change her life forever. Bruno steps in to help, despite her protests. Loved the mystery surrounding Bruno and was completely in love with him from the beginning. Callie was all over the place emotionally but I felt that was probably pretty accurate to her situation.
Chelle knows how to write a steamy book no doubt, but Enshrine really was more of an emotional, slow build kind of love story. Loved that despite his bad boy image Bruno was such a deeply caring man. Really enjoyed seeing Chelle write out of her box with Enshrine. Grab this one if you want to laugh, cry and have your heart broken then pieced back together one page at a time.
Bruno the butcher, the alpha male with the softest side ever, or maybe that was only for Callie. He finds her when she needed someone the most, when she needed someone to save her from herself. Callie is independent, and so strong willed, it takes Bruno what feels like forever to break her walls down. What an amazingly sad happy story this was. Loved it.
This was my first read by this author.
I was not expecting the story to go the way it did. I liked the concept of the storyline but I couldn’t connect with the characters. Or at least the characters together. I really liked Bruno he was just a big teddy bear. But I wasn’t a big fan of Callie. This was an emotional read. I will read other books by Bliss.
This is one of my favorite books. The storyline was original. The characters were identifiable. I bought both the book and audiobook. Wonderful read.
Absolute favorite audio book! Loved this story.
Okay, this is a book about a woman who is diagnosed with cancer and her journey. I know if a say there’s too much cancer stuff I sound like a real a-hole. But, it’s true. There are pages and pages and pages and on and on and on rehashing the same emotions over and over and over. Seriously. I got it the first 12 times you lamented your woes. I truly do not need to read the same thing again in a different setting. The love story was really good. The best friend was yuck. The sister character super sweet; really the whole family was awesome. But, you don’t meet them until close to the end. Yes, it’s a good story. I recommend it. Just, you might want to skim when she gets really long-winded about her feelings about cancer.
Chelle Bliss warned that she was going to tear down the readers and then put them back together. She was not kidding. Grab the gentle tissues. Get ready to ugly cry (you might need snot rags too). Enshrine ripped my heart out and then gave me a glimmer of hope. Bruno, hunky alpha male on steroids, is known as The Butcher. Callie assumes it means that he is a killer. That doesn’t stop her from looking at him. That doesn’t stop him from staring at her.
Staring across a room is all they do until Callie is given life changing news. Becca, Callie’s friend, knows something wrong when Callie doesn’t answer her phone or door. She recruits Bruno to break into Callie’s home after a criminal wouldn’t care about breaking down a door.
Callie is broken on the floor. She hasn’t eaten or bathed in days. for some reason she tells Bruno everything. Bruno is devastated by Callie’s news. At that moment he knows he will be there for her. He is her savior. Bruno isn’t a butcher. Bruno is compassionate and caring. He is Callie’s biggest supporter. He is her caregiver. He is her everything. He will forever be her everything.
This is not a typical romance. There is a lot of sadness and fear. The love they have shines through it all guiding them out of the darkness.
Updated 11/02/2019 Grab the audiobook on Authors Direct. The narrators are fantastic. They work well together, blending a story that has a lot of lows and highs. I have loved this story many times in ebook form but the audio takes it to the next level. Who needs a movie theater when there are audiobooks like this available.
Callie had her life in order, everything was perfect, she had all the material things she wanted, then she realised she didn’t need them.
Callie wanted to be left alone, but her friend was worried and brings Bruno to help get in her apartment,
they all know who he is, what they call him, her friend said he’s the only one she knew that could break into her home and not be worried.
The confusing thing is that Bruno doesn’t leave, he’s constantly there giving her support, getting her friend to give her space, he knows what she needs and when she needs it, except from him.
Bruno will do anything to pull Callie out of the dark and fight, even if it means with him. He knows what Callie thinks of him, the rumours about him that people believe, but he can’t tell her the truth yet.
Bruno knows he has to give Callie answers why he’s helping her, but he wants her to fight first and be strong, because when she finds out she may push him away for good.
Definitely a book to read when you love a guy who fights for someone he knows he is meant to be with. Even when she doesn’t know it herself. It’s not a common thing to meet a guy who actually wants to take care of an ill significant other. The support and love that went into this relationship was amazing.
I would have given this a five except that the heroine was supposed to be a cancer researcher and when she was diagnosed with cancer she came completely unglued and closed up shop rationally. If she worked in this research field she should know how many new treatments were available and want to push forward with her life. Oh well… it was still a good steamy read, and no one ever really finds this kind of guy, so suspend your common sense and just enjoy this book for what it is.
I did like this book but didnt love it.
I didnt feel a big connection between bruno and callie and i expected more action to do with bruno and his job.
Overall it was a nice little read for me, others may love this but i prefer more angst and emotion. The writting was really good as well.
Oh my god! I loved this book!
Bruno and Callie *heart swoons*
Bruno “The Butcher” and yes I thought he was like a mob boss and killed people, but like Callie, I was wrong. He worked for the CIA since he left the military to help stop terrorism against the US. WHOA, was I glad to hear that!
Callie…She was diagnosed with cancer and just went into a downward spiral, sat in a tub for days, wouldn’t bathe or get dressed, that was until Bruno showed up in her life. (Bruno’s sister also had cancer)
I feel in love with Bruno and his tenderness toward Callie and the fact that he wanted her to fight and kick cancer’s ass, which who doesn’t?!
I loved this book. It touched not only my heart but my soul. I will this book over and over again. Whoa what an experience reading it. Thank you for writing such an awesome book.
This story was over the top. I found the main character whiney in a self involved pity party. Now, I understand that she had a hard blow, but more than half of this book was a “poor me but I am a brave soul” it was hard to take after a few chapters. It made me wonder, during those weeks of crawling around, who was cleaning up after her. Then we move into the sticky sweet romance. Just too much of a good thing. Disappointed by this story, to say the least.
Callie gets bad news about her health. She had a one night fling with Bruno years ago but doesn’t remember because she was drunk. Bruno steps up and takes care of Callie. I cried while reading this book. I loved it!
If you have a chronic illness it goes through what you feel just like the character. I was able to feel what she did
Great book. I didn’t want to put this down