*** Now a USA Today bestselling series! ***From USA Today bestselling author Willow Winters comes a heart-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat gripping, romantic suspense. I should’ve known she would ruin me the moment I saw her. Women like her are made to destroy men like me. I couldn’t resist her though. Given to me to start a war; I was too eager to accept. But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That …
But I didn’t know what she’d do to me. That she would change everything.
She sees through me in a way no one else ever has.
Her innocence and vulnerability make me weak for her and I hate it.
I know better than to give in to temptation.
A ruthless man doesn’t let a soul close to him.
A cold-hearted man doesn’t risk anything for anyone.
A powerful man with a beautiful woman at his mercy … he doesn’t fall for her.
more
Willow Winters has done it again and this book is going down as my early favourite of 2018. This book is gripping; an astounding mix of cruelty, brutality, beauty and frailty combining to produce a story that will leave you shellshocked and wanting more.
Carter Cross is the dark knight who works to ensure that his world does not slip from his tight control. Aria Talvery is his songbird, beautifully broken by a world in which women are only pawns. Both are connected, haunted by a past that they will not share. These characters bleed from the pages as Willow Winters demonstrates her absolute mastery as a writer and you can’t help but relate to their most dark actions, feelings and desires. Merciless is an amazing novel not just for the intriguing interactions between Carter and Aria but also for the secondary characters that surround them and the world that Winters is building. This book carries on from Possessive and while it can be read alone it will be much richer if read as a series.
Merciless left me speechless. It is an unbelievable read and I would highly recommend everyone meet Carter Cross.
Merciless by Willow Winters. This is the story of Carter and Aria.
There is a fight brewing between three mafia members. Carter is the head of one and Aria father is the head of another one. Carter wants Aria for his own and another gang trying to make a deal with him takes Aria and give her to him. Carter is hard on Aria making her break but their attraction is one that takes over for them.
Aria is learning to deal with being owned by Carter and the up and coming war that he will ensure kills her father and friend. Although Aria isn’t close to her father she has mixed feelings dealing with what is to come.
This was a really dark romance but one that I couldn’t stop reading. I can’t wait for the next installment in their story.
Carter gets Aria kidnapped and he is going to try and break her. This book is so intense lots of twists and turns. Great characters and storyline Highly recommended Amazing book.
This is my second read through of Merciless. It is dark, viscous, smoking hot and filled with the push-pull relationship of Aria and Carter.
He is the villain and the savior of her story. She is the savior she never knew she was and the weakness he cannot show.
Enemies to begin with. She hates him. He torments her. She is weakening and he is awaiting her breakage. Together their create a firestorm of lust and a tenuous trust.
There is so much emotion in this story! You want to hate Cater for all he is and all he does but you can’t quite dismiss him as just a bad guy.
Aria seems weak but she has a fire when the time comes and she needs it.
While I really don’t like the cliff hanger I am barreling onto the next story because I have to know.
This is the story of Aria and Carter. Aria is the daughter of one of rhe most violent crime families there are. However that doesn’t stop her from.being abducted and given to Carter Cross. This is the beginning of a war. Carter has his reason for helping the faction that brought Aria too him but he always has a reason for everything he does. The more time he spends with her the more he realizes this girl is very broken. No matter what though he wouldn’t let her go even if he was forced. These two have some serious chemistry too Ns I loved them together This is quiet the thrill ride if a story too You do not want to miss it.
What a read!? Carter and Aria’s love story is anything from conventional and easy. Battling their own demons from their past and present in order to secure a future together will come at a cost. Exposing their souls to one another like ripping a band aid off fast. The humility and pain are the necessary ingredients these two need into order for their relationship to last.
Merciless introduces you to the beginning of this love story with such rawness that it will not just capture your attention, but rather capture your soul. This page-turner book is the beginning of your new addiction to Mrs. Willow Winter’s writing. The pages will go by so fast, it will actually hurt to know you’re near the end of the story.
I highly recommend Merciless as a good starting place for introducing you to the Carter family. Enter at your own risk, Merciless is the get way drug to the entire Merciless World.
This book was amazing. I’ve never read Willow before but after seeing a TikTok of why this book is her most loved and hated I needed to know. Carter Cross makes what Christian Grey does look like child’s play! I wouldn’t want to cross him but I may enjoy a punishment or 2. Aria is wonderful character. I’ve read quite a few books her the females in a dom/sub type of relationship have no backbone. I for one hate a meek, wishy washy female character. Aria had a strength to her for most of the book and even though she submitted to him she never lost it. That ending has left me needing more!
4.5 stars
I have had this audiobook for a while now and finally took a chance on it. And now I wonder why I waited so long.
This story is about three rival crime families. Carter Cross wants Aria, the daughter of another family. When the leader of the third family takes her for him so he will help take down her father, will Carter be able to keep Aria safe and make her understand that life as she knew it is over?
This story has some rough parts with the way Carter treats Aria but he sometimes tries to hide his softer side. Will she come to trust him? Can they work together to make a life together?
I did not realize that this was the beginning of a series and now I need book 2. I listened to the audiobook and really liked the narrators of Savannah Peachwood and Jacob Morgan.
Okay, so I am late to the game in reading a Willow Winters book, but boy am I addicted now.
Just didn’t connect with Carter and Aria as much as I would have liked in this book.
Where to start with Carter? Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like him to start with, but the more we learn about him how can you not like him. He could have handled things better at times and didn’t have to be so hateful.
Aria I think a lot of my opinion of her was that she was just so sheltered from everything, especially things about her dad and his business.
4 Stars – only because I didn’t really connect with the characters in this book. (less)
Definitely adding this as One of my favorite books!!!
First book in these series. This series is about Carter and Aria. Holy hell hold on because this one tops Laura and Seth. I loved them two, but these two are my favorite couple. There was just something about these two that gripped me. I absolutely loved Aria and how no matter what she gave him to Carter once she realized how she felt about him. Yes she fought him but the love was always there.
Carter Cross is at war with her family, but he will do whatever he has to do to keep the girl that he thinks saved him so long ago. But did she really save him? What will happen when the truth comes out? How are these two going to get along with each other knowing all that they know? Intense, suspense, intriguing. I absolutely loved every page turning moment of this book and cant wait to read more from this wonderful couple
Part 1 of 4 books.
Soooo Good!!! This book took me by surprise. I’m not normally into darker, suspenseful type books. But this one was just enough of it all. Enough suspense. Enough darkness. Enough sexual tension and great dirty sex scenes.
I highly recommend this book.
OMG! What can I say! To say I love this story is an understatement! This book is simply amazing. Reading this kick-ass story had me speechless. This dark and suspenseful Mafia romance is packed with murder, mystery, danger, darkness, kidnapping, drugs, passion, and twists and turns—some you see coming, some you don’t! It will be hard to put this down once you get started. With the powerful characters at play, it was thrilling and shocking—I was captivated from start to finish! This dark romantic suspense is raw, emotional, intense, but deliciously addicting. I wasn’t expecting the turn this story took; it has quite an unexpected revelation that may leave you flabbergasted but it is jaw-dropping good! The author effortlessly transported me to the turbulent and violent life of the Mafia world (Romanos vs Talvery Crime Families) in which there is a decade feud over territory. A war the Cross brothers did not want to be involved in.
Carter Cross is the oldest of the Cross brothers (Jase, Daniel, and Declan), and he is an enigma of a man who is very handsome and sexy, ruthless, cold-hearted, arrogant, dominant, violent, sweetly contrite, and a notorious boss that is head of a drug cartel—nobody says no to him and mess over any of his family and gets away with it! He rules without mercy, dishes out brutality without a second thought, turned cruelty into an art form, and he was raised to break others. He can be the man of your dreams and nightmares all at once if he is crossed. Aria Talvery is the daughter of the most violent crime family in Fallbrook, who loves to draw. Aria’s father always protected her and kept her away from knowing his business. But what her father could not protect Aria from was when she witnessed her mother being murdered. I felt sorry for Aria when she witnessed her mother being murdered. Unfortunately, for some reasons that are unfathomable, Carter sets his sights on the daughter of the Talvery Family crime boss—Aria! Carter saw the opportunity to capture, imprison, and finally claim Aria as his own—as well as use her, torment her, and humiliate her as he sees fit. But why kidnap Aria? Is there some deep imbedded secret that Carter is concealing? Could Aria be the first casualty of the war? But what Carter did not expect was that Aria would not break, and she does not give in or back down. Who could have killed her mother? What will Aria do when the only man she hates is the only one who will keep her alive? Willow Winters, you delivered no holds barred Mafia romantic suspense book that grips readers to the core as you unleash an unfiltered, suspenseful, addictive, intriguing, and calculating Mafia love story. I can’t wait to read the next book.
Kidnap erotic romances are fascinating to me, because the writer has to have the skill to 1) keep a reader engaged in a LOVE story where one person is being forced into the relationship and 2) give us a kidnapper relatable and appealing enough that we find ourselves hoping kidnapper and kidnapped end up together. Sounds a little twisted, right? Especially when it’s done in the gritty realism of our contemporary world (versus something like an idealized pirate captain/captured princess scenario of our historic romances) An author who can do it well gives the reader permission to set aside political correctness and dismay with the situation, in favor of a full emotional investment to see how it all turns out. Willow Winters succeeded in that. My only complaint with the book was the abrupt cliffhanger ending; otherwise this would have been five stars!
This book is edgy, and suspenseful and all the things a good dark romance book should be. I really enjoyed it!
This was my first Willow Winters read ever and I was blown away by her writing! I have seen lots of recommendations to pick up her books and I finally did it. I am furious at myself for not doing so sooner.
This book was a quick, intense, dark, sexy read that captivated me from the first page. I could not stop. If we don’t count the few hours I slept, I probably finished this in about 5.
Carter Cross is a character I have fallen head over heels for. The Alpha domineering boss has captured and been captivated by the Talvery crime lord’s daughter, Aria. Though most of his motivations and goals for wanting her are kept secret, he wants nothing more than to own and possess her – body, mind, and soul. Aria is torn between her own desires for Carter and her will to save herself and her family from the Cross’.
The emotional journeys that these two characters travel had me on the edge of my seat until the cliffhanger that had me pulling my hair and saying, “Damn, Willow. You got me good.” Pushing and pulling, commanding and fighting, will these two cast away their doubts and succumb to their desires?
Oh Damn! This book is so dark, gripping and twisted. If you love a crazy, merciless, powerful hero then this book is for you. At first, I can’t understand why Carter needs to act like a monster and selfish bastard for breaking and torturing Aria much until that awaited mind-blowing dinner has came. I swear, I didn’t see it coming. One of the characteristics I love about the Cross brothers is the Possessiveness they show for the woman they’re dying to have and protect.
I love Carter Cross
I really enjoyed reading this first book and will continue the series. Ms Winter’s is a hell of a story writer. I have many of her books, and still have others to read. Great job!!!