Sometimes it only takes a minute. A connection of eyes across a room, a quickened heartbeat, and everything changes.I was a cocktail waitress with a fondness for partying and meaningless sex. He owned half of Vegas, with the reputation to match. I should have turned away. Instead, I stepped closer.Then, the lies started.Rumors spread.Stalking commenced.And someone died. None of it stopped me from … commenced.
And someone died.
None of it stopped me from falling in love.
*This is book 1 in a duet. The second book, Double Down, will release on June 18th*
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Loved this sexy forbidden romance!
I LOVE Alessandra Torre’s books, and I can’t wait to devour this forbidden romance!!
My FAVORITE kind of Alessandra Torre book–sexy, suspenseful, a touch of darkness. I LOVED it!!!
It’s like Oceans 11 meets Molly’s Game meets SEX, LOVE, REPEAT, which is one of my FAVES by this author. Bell is a great heroine, sassy and independent, damaged–and Dario is the perfect alpha match for her. He’s big and broody and determined to have her.
And what an ending!!! I can’t WAIT to see what happens next! Don’t miss this sizzling thrill-ride…
I’m all for a sexy forbidden romance, especially from Alessandra Torre!
A book I couldn’t put down from start to finish. Alessandra Torre at her very best!
If you love sexy romantic suspense, do not miss!!
Even Money is insanely creative and incredibly fast-paced. I highly recommend it! AT at her best!
Sexy, forbidding and Vegas! Click!
Don’t miss this latest book from the insanely talented Alessandra Torre! It’s a sexy, forbidden romance set in Sin City!
No one does sexy forbidden romance like Alessandra Torre! So freaking good!
I adore Alessandra Torre and her ability to weave an intense, emotional, sexy story. I can’t wait to find out what happens next in Double Down!
A creative new series to follow, fairly funny, decently believable.
Vegas has never been hotter. Have mercy.
Even Money is the first installment in Alessandra Torre’s adult romance duet titled: All In. It introduces the characters, develops the various relationships, sets the insta-love in full swing, and ends on an epic cliffhanger that had my jaw dropped. The ending took what was initially a 3-star read (IMO) and bumped it up to 4 for me personally. I’m excited to see where Torre decides to take this story.
The All In duet consists of the following installments as of June 2018:
#1-Even Money
#2-Double Down
Thank you to the following for permitting me access to an advance reader’s copy (ARC) of Even Money. This generosity did not impact my honesty when rating/reviewing.
Source: NetGalley
Author: Alessandra Torre
Publisher: Select Publishing
Genres: Erotica, Romance
Pub Date: June 4, 2018
3.5 STARS!
Dark, gritty, and suspenseful, Even Money was an explosive novel with a mafia feel to it!
Life hasn’t been easy for Bell, but it’s made her strong willed and independent. She’s comfortable in her own skin, using sex as a means to be in control… Until Dario comes walking in her work place, flipping her world upside down.
Dario Capece comes from humble beginnings. He rose to the top, making him a very powerful man in Las Vegas. He’s successful, rich, good looking, and imitating to the max. A sexual creature by nature… Bell becomes Dario’s achilles heel.
Even Money was at times a slow burning insta love story. Alessandra Torre has written a quick, super sexy read filled with murder, deceit and lies. Though at times I felt there was too much drama, the ending literally mind screwed me, leaving me with so many questions! Gah!!! I need book 2 now, please!!
This is the sexy forbidden romance you’ve been wanting! #1click and happy reading!
“He was too everything —a black hole that could suck me in without even feeling the crush on my soul.”
WTF? MIND. BLOWN.
What have I gotten myself into? And how long do I have to wait before I get more of it? Damn…
The author did an awesome job of making me feel the intense chemistry and connection between the characters who were unwilling victims of their own lust. Once their eyes met it was too late, they couldn’t unsee each other or uncross the line that would change their futures.
And even as I kept turning the pages and realized the devastation that would result if they gave in to their desire for each other, I couldn’t stop wishing for it anyway. I felt the zing myself, so strong that I worried my Kindle would melt before I got to the last page. They pulled me in and I was ready to burn with them as long as I got to go along for the ride.
And what a rollercoaster ride it is. Unfortunately, I’m forced to remain harnessed into my seat, waiting for the hair-raising adventure to conclude in the next book, Double Down. But no worries, I’m not going anywhere. I’m All In . The line forms here…
If you’re a reader who enjoys romantic suspense – #oneclick this book ASAP!
An unbelievably intense story with unexpected twists that will knock you for a loop.
Every time I read another book by Alessandra Torre, I fall in love a little more with her writing style and the characters she has so beautifully crafted.
Let’s talk about the characters …
Bell – such a fitting name for a character that is both apprehensive and fragile, much like a beautiful bellflower, from a past that is heartbreaking, yet so strong and true in her present life, much like a sturdy bell on top of a tower, for overcoming the past and living with a strong conviction and well just living – finding her own path to a life beyond her past.
Dario Capece – Much like a pheonix – he’s risen up from the ashes into a strong, confident and successful businessman. He too has fought his way through a not so pleasant past and has successfully forged his way both into my heart and the heart of Vegas.
This All In Duet book 1 has made me want to bet it all, roll the dice, gamble on love to find that HEA … BUT … that ending … was sheer terror, gut wrenching, brilliance. It caught me totally off guard .. to the point where I was going back and re-reading prior chapters thinking that I simply had to have missed something because what I thought was happening, what I was reading, could NOT possibly be happening .. I mean, how could she do this to her readers?! … and then .. after the smoke clears and the reality sets in (ok yes, I realize I’m reading fiction, but it’s my reality in the moment) I come to grips with the here and now only to be flipped yet again in the final moments of book 1!
To say that I’m ANXIOUSLY awaiting book 2 would be an understatement – June 18th CAN NOT come soon enough!
Side note: I would love to know how Alessandra Torre intended for Mr. Capece’s last name to be pronounced. It’s things such as this that plague me while reading – #justsayin
I’m struck dumb! Not just by the impressive cliffie but by the magistral writing that I just read. This book had one great development of a plot, a love story, and a suspense that had me biting my nails.
Dario Capece is a big man in Vegas. He owns the Majestic hotel and several casinos around it, and he and his wife Gwen are a driving force in the glittering world of Vegas. Until one day he went sniffing around this small casino, very successful and exclusive, looking for an opportunity to invest, and found his destiny instead, in a young waitress.
Bell has it good. After a harrowing experience in her teen years, and a poor upbringing in a trailer camp, she’s now working with two great guys, with great working conditions and great pay, and she also has time, opportunity and money to pursue a college career. She doesn’t need to meet a big honcho with deep pockets, dangerous reputation, sensual vibe, and married, to burst into her life and send all her senses tingling like mad. They can’t resist their chemistry, and yet their situation is incredibly complicated, with a lot of high stakes and danger from unknown sources.
The plot moves inexorably forward, and these two play a game of one step forward, two steps back. Bell realizes the danger to her heart if she falls in love with this man, yet he’s so vulnerable and true with her. Dario is stuck between the woman he loves and the woman he swore to protect. I loved, loved how Dario and Bell fell slowly and reluctantly in love. I loved Dario’s openness and loyalty, and loved Bell’s kind and innocent manner, even with her upbringing. Dario’s and Bell’s love affair is not welcome in Dario’s world and someone is getting angry; the suspense that comes from a psycho mind starts early and goes on crescendo as the book develops.
Her two bosses and friends, Lance and Mick, were cute nerds, successful little fish in a big pond. Loved their big brother interactions with Bell, and their protectiveness. The book is written in two POV’s, Bell’s in first person and Dario’s in third person. In the beginning it was a little confusing but turned out to be a neat trick. This book was captivating and addictive! Can’t wait for next installment!
EVEN MONEY is the first instalment in Alessandra Torre’s contemporary, adult ALL IN romantic suspense duet focusing on Las Vegas billionaire and multiple casino owner Dario Capece, and college student /cocktail waitress Bell Hartley.
NOTE: Due to the story line content, there may be some triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person point of view (Bell), and several third person perspectives including Dario Capece EVEN MONEY follows the forbidden relationship between Las Vegas billionaire casino owner Dario Capece, and twenty-two year old college student / cocktail waitress Bell Hartley. Bell Hartley is a struggling cocktail waitress working for an underground casino that caters to the uber rich and famous- those who wish to remain out of the public eye. Enter Las Vegas casino owner Dario Capece, a married, powerful, self-made billionaire, known as the king of Vegas, who worked his way up through the ranks including a ten-year marriage of convenience to the Majestic Casino heiress Gwen Hawk, a marriage, that for all intents and purposes was, in name only. Affairs and sex outside of the marriage is an accepted practice between the married couple but falling in love, with someone else, meant a change in status that was a difficult prospect to swallow. Meeting Bell Hartley threw all caution to the wind including his personal mandate never to fall in love, or to let any outside relationships interfere with his business or his wife.
Dario Capece wants Bell Hartley within minutes of meeting our story line heroine but Dario’s reputation as a manwh*re with a hard-nosed, take no prisoners attitude is only surpassed by the scathing reputation of his father in law Robert Hawk. Warned by her friends to not get involved with Dario Capece, Bell Hartley is drawn like a moth to a flame, an involvement that has attracted the attention of the man in charge. Bell Hartley is no withering wallflower but a tormented heroine whose own past is filled with betrayal and loss. What ensues is the insta-lust/inta-love relationship between Dario and Bell, and the fall-out as the upset to the status-quo means someone may be about to lose their life.
EVEN MONEY is an intriguing and suspenseful story line that reveals a number of heart-breaking backstories, the power of money, and the potential for greed and jealousy to destroy them all. The premise is edgy and fascinating; the characters are spirited, flawed and tragic; the romance is intimate, intense and provocative without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. EVEN MONEY ends on a cliffhanger-you have been warned.