A dominant leader flees the mafia, looking for a fresh start in a small town. He put all his effort into starting a business and resigned himself to a life without love. A neurotic germaphobe lives vicariously through the books she reads, preferring to play it safe in real life and hide behind her sarcastic remarks.“I am NOT that neurotic! I just have germ issues and I tend to over-analyze … tend to over-analyze things. Sure, I second guess myself all the time and have a tendency to freak out over the small stuff. I’ll admit that I do ask a lot of “what if…?” questions. Fine. I’m neurotic.”
One fateful day, the simple act of taking a wrong turn leads Violet right into Rocky’s life and completely turns it upside down. Accustomed to his orders being obeyed immediately and without question, Rocky doesn’t appreciate Violet challenging his authority at every opportunity.
“I don’t like being told what to do. Especially when some arrogant tough guy thinks he can boss me around. I might have argued with him just to keep him close. He smelled like heaven. Although with a body like his, I knew he was no angel.
Violet charmed her way into his heart with her quick wit and stubbornness, causing Rocky to fail at his many attempts to resist her.
“He’d never met anyone like me before. I trash talk, curse like a sailor, and pretty much say whatever’s on my mind. Life is too short to pretend to be something that you’re not.”
Rocky tries to keep his violent past hidden from Violet, but it suddenly catches up to him and he can no longer deny who he really is. Will Rocky turn his back on the life he built or stay and fight for what’s his? When Violet is faced with situations that rival anything she’s merely read about, will she be able to face her fears and work together with Rocky or will the truth tear them apart?
“It’s one hell of a wild ride! Take a look inside the first few pages and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Follow the journey of Rocky and Violet as they take a dirty detour…
Please note: As is often the case after “Boy Meets Girl” but before “Happily Ever After,” Steamy Bedroom Scenes will occur. Well….some of the steamy scenes actually take place outside the bedroom. You’ll have to read the book to find out more!
This is a full length, stand-alone novel with no cliffhangers.
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What a total blast this story was. I loved the characters. I loved their banter. I loved the organised crime connection. I loved the pain and sacrifice. I just loved it, mostly!
Firstly, the book cover and title didn’t sell the story to me, sadly, so if you think about reading this book, believe me when I say the writing and storyline is so much better than the title and cover portray it to be. As you read the story the title becomes clearer. As outlined in the synopsis, it’s about a germaphobe, although the story is not entirely focussed on Violet’s condition, it just adds to the overall humour that the story carries with it throughout the book. The detour part is pretty much self explanatory as Violet, unwittingly stumbles across a gin distillery when she gets lost in her car. Inside the distillery, Violet finds the real deal and it’s not what the company bottles!
After escaping the underworld control of New York, a group of Italian and Russian friends have set up shop in Pineville and with a solid business venture, they are trying to keep their noses clean. What Violet finds though is two impossibly handsome men: one with a playboy image; Sergio, and the other with a dark and brooding personality; Rocky. After trying to evict Violet, rudely, from their premises, and failing, Violet offers to work for them in return for self-defense classes, courtesy of Rocky. Rocky, reluctantly, agrees and expecting Violet to run scared from him, doesn’t expect her to turn up for work but she does and it’s not long before she’s engrained in the business and the proprietors’ lives.
All of the story’s characters all held a special place in my heart. Rocky, for obvious reasons, and Sergio, well because of his cheeky personality, but also the Russian/Ukrainian contingency: Irina, Vasily and Dmitry. As expected, with such a group of misfits, readers are treated to a captivating story as we’re carried along with them and lay witness to their various antics. This story is seriously funny and it had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. I was hesitant to read a mob style comedy but it somehow worked, really well.
What didn’t work so well, for me, and some other readers alike, was the slightly immature relationship that Violet has with her mother; Frankie, and her friend; Stella. I could easily have lived without those parts of the book and that part of the story nearly, very nearly, led me to DNF this book. The number of times that Violet recounted her sexual interactions with her mother and friend were not necessary and took the overall shine off the book. In my, humble, opinion, if those parts of the story were to be heavily edited then this book would be a sure-fire hit. But I read on and I am happy that I did. The remaining story was brilliantly penned.
The author’s personality certainly comes across in this book, and also on her website, with her hysterically funny blog posts. What I can’t believe is that Grace has so few Facebook and blog followers. It’s such a shame that the wider book world have yet to meet the wonderfully quirky personality and comedic writing style that Grace Risata demonstrates.
So, if, like me, you love your mafia books with a hint of humour (although in this case it’s more of a significant dollop), then give this book a try. I personally feel it is very similar to the Eagle Elite series, written by Rachel Van Dyken, which also portrays a lighter side to the underworld darkness.
Well done Grace, keep on writing, keep on entertaining us and keep on making us laugh!
Grace Risata gives depth, passion and emotion behind her words in My Dirty Detour, a mafia romantic comedy. This down the dirt road, backwoods distillery tale was enjoyable, entertaining and well received. It had a great pace with descriptive characters that will have you…
I liked how the ‘mafia’ aspect was kept hidden from Violet, even though as the reader you can read between the lines. Violet was a hoot of a heroine with her germ-a-phobia, naïve ability to see what’s ahead of her really brought another dimension to the scene. Rocky was a true ‘alpha’ leader in the sense. He took charge at every turn but caved when it came to Violet. Together they were humorous yet sexy!
The language/dialogue was entertaining and I felt I was right there within the midst with the characters, especially the AK-47 scene with Violet and men. The way she blew them out of the water with her enlightenment was comical. Grace has the ability to make you one of the cast and I commend her for that.
Even though My Dirty Detour was enjoyable, I will say I did have some issues: some parts I ended up skimming due to the overabundance of description. Some parts were just drawn out too long and could’ve been shortened. Also, it seemed that every high moment that occurred for Violet she ran to her mother with the news… that was a little redundant to me. Over the top in my eyes.
Overall, this is a 4 Star book. It was an engrossing, witty mafia romance with some quirky yet unique substance. I am glad that Grace Risata is on my radar now and am looking forward to more of her novels.
*Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
**Review by Allyson, Late Night reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books Blog**
Violet is a 30-year-old divorcee and accountant working for a small cabinet shelving company. While coming back from an errand, She one day got lost and ended up (wait for it…) on a Dirty Detour. Violet found herself in front of an old gin brewery with nowhere else to ask directions to the highway. In the usual, Grace-Risata style, crazy thoughts came popping out of Violet’s head as she enters and ‘explores’ this brewery and meets a set of entertaining, mafia-sort of characters running the place.
Rocky is the hard, brooding owner of Grimm Rock Distillery (Home of the Olde Devil Gin) in Pineville. He left New York to live a more normal, quiet (not) life with Sergio, his good friend. The rest of his New York friends/crew somehow found their way to his brewery to work for him within a few months after leaving New York.
Note that I am not against “insta-love,” only “badly executed insta-love/lust-at-first-sight” stories –> this is NOT one of them.
Readers get both Rocky and Violet’s POVs, as we will enjoy their banters. Both characters are confident and held up their own in the book. They learned to support each other as they start discovering their own “fascination” with each other.
The chemistry is subtle but there. Violet is more expressive in her thoughts versus Rocky, who opens up midway through the book. It’s like a water dam’s floodgates opened, and emotions ooze out of the pages. There were lots of emotions – hunger, lust, and passion, inside the bedroom and out. Ironically, Rocky becomes the most expressive of this outside than Violet, which puts a smile on my face each time he tells her what he’s feeling.
Violet had unique qualities that proved to be a match for Rocky. She was strong and honest. She does have a “no-filter” brain and mouth, which resulted in so many snickering from me as I read through the chapters.
Violet’s new outlook is all about taking life as it comes. She is getting over her self-doubt regarding relationships after being “blind-sighted” by her ex-husband. With her no-nonsense attitude, she draws positivity with the people she bumps into in the story – i.e., Irina and Rocky. It makes her attractive and makes the story exciting. You never know what will come out of Rocky’s unpredictable personality, and Violet’s mouth will happen to the scene.
Rocky’s a secretive character but not surprised that he’s more expressive with Violet on his backstory and frustrations. He’s supportive of Violet since he’s not only fascinated with her but cares for her deeply in his own way. He knows the life he left is not the life he wanted for himself and his “family” in the long run.
I enjoy characters who are honest – Rocky and Violet are it. Mostly though, Violet’s the one who could not control herself. At some point, even with just the short span of knowing each other, Rocky and Violet can tell what the other is feeling, which I find this fantastic! Their connection is strong. Even knowing only each other for a short time, they are mature enough to settle into other’s lives, even with Violet’s crazy mind going “off-the-rails” and Rocky’s dark past.
Rocky’s dark past runs deep and catches up with him at some point in the book. It even came at the cost of his relationship with Violet and her safety. Violet does step it up to uphold their relationship, and the result will shock readers on how it all ended – with guns, goons, and gals!
I always enjoy Grace’s incorporation of the secondary characters – Rocky’s friends – Sergio, Dmitry, Vasily, and Violet’s friends – Stacy, Dottie (her aunt), and Frankie (her mom). All of them were able to look out for the best interests of Rocky and Violet while at the same time, support their relationship. They were a colorful crew of men and Irina. These friends are responsible for Rocky and Violet to work out at the end. They took to the time to know Violet while calming Rocky with Violet’s crazy antics. I was ecstatic that Violet and Irina got to know each other better since they helped each other a lot, especially with handling the other’s relationship and life outlook.
Granted that I am four years late *stumbling* into Grace-Risata’s party bandwagon, I have to say that 4-years-ago-Grace sure knows how to write well about witty, humorous from the start. My Dirty Detour is one of her earlier works, so the writing is slightly different from her more current books.
Grace has a personal writing style of juxtaposing grit and humor in her books, which works well. In this case, Violet’s witty humor is pitted against Rocky’s rugged, brooding demeanor. It makes readers enjoy the plot and characters until you get into the “heavy stuff” nearing the end. Add to this, readers can expect the same unique, strong-willed, loud-mouth, uncensored, and entertaining humor of a hero and heroine that rocks all her books. The ending was stellar with some hold-your-breathe moments.
Do check this book out or add it to your reading list. You will not be disappointed!
Violet recognizes she has issues, but she’s willing to explore new avenues, within certain neurotic boundaries. When she takes a detour one night, little does she realize the epic changes her life is about to undergo. Rocky has a past he’s trying to forget, but when Violet stumbles into his business little does he expect the explosive impact her arrival will have on the new life he has created.
This one will definitely make you laugh out loud, stay up late reading, and search for TV shows entitled “Mafia Princesses” (LOL). Violet, with all her anxieties and hang-ups, is a snarky, bold, wants to stand on her own two feet kind of woman, with panic attacks and absolutely no mouth filter. Rocky with all his anti-social behavior is a bit of a dark soul with a tortured past, but he’s hot and he quickly cares for Violet, so he definitely can’t be all bad. These are characters you will enjoy meeting and definitely want to get to know better, along with most of the side players.
There is a lot of the dialogue you will probably be able to relate to. I often found myself thinking I would have said that or wish I had. The interactions between the players is so enjoyable, you’ll easily become engrossed in the story and won’t want to put it down. The characters are delightful and quirkily charming (most of them anyway) . I highly recommend this fast-paced and extremely engaging love story. It’s definitely one you must read and will be one you will want to put on your “to be read again” shelf!!