“Instantly Have You Addicted” – Oprah Magazine#1 Contemporary Romance#1 New Adult Romance#2 Most sold book on Amazon#2 Most sold Fiction book on Washington PostTop 2 book in the entire Amazon Kindle store“My absolute favorite L.J. Shen to date. Indulgent and addictive.” – USA Today Bestselling author RS Grey“This book will ruin you for all other books in 2019” – Bestselling author BB Easton From … will ruin you for all other books in 2019” – Bestselling author BB Easton
From USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author L.J. Shen comes an enemies-to-lovers romance with a twist…
They say your first kiss should be earned.
Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky.
They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred.
Mine were broken before we left church.
They say your heart only beats for one man.
Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end.
I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit.
Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage.
They say that all great love stories have a happy ending.
I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter.
One kiss.
Two men.
Three lives.
Entwined together.
And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever.
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Captivated from beginning to end
This book gripped me, not only am I a lover of all things angst and suspense but throw in a Mafia feel to the whole plot and I’m basking in another world, relishing in the plot and this was definitely a book I got lost in.
About the plot:
Francesca Rossi is a 19-year-old Mafia princess who has grown into the ways and traditions of her family, she expected to marry a Made man. Her holidays and celebrations have been filled with people from her own world, she has fallen in love with one of her childhood friends, her first kiss is reserved for only him and she can’t wait to one day marry her childhood sweetheart Angelo Bandini and tie as tradition expects to tie the Rossi and Bandini family together.
Francesca is a young woman who has been sheltered and has done what is expected of her until a huge plot twist for her life explodes into her plans re-writing her pages and the twist comes in the name of Senator Wolfe Keaton.
Wolfe, what can I say other than swoon, I loved that he was an older character, don’t get me wrong I loved L.J Shen’s previous books but the fact that Wolfe was maturer was a plus for me, he wasn’t a boy taking orders or a boy who is just discovering this dark and cruel world he lived in, Wolfe had been there, experienced the cruelty committed by others and dealt with his own devastation and he was well on his way with his plans and his own personal mission of revenge.
Senator Wolfe is definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing to the public but behind the mask, he is a man out for revenge using the power of his position to get what he wants and that is to break the man who took his family by taking something of his.
Wolfe uses blackmail and his position to convince the head of the Rossi family to give him the hand of his daughter. Wolfe has no interest in the Mafia princess other than hurting the enemy by taking the apple of his eye, his pride, and joy, his only daughter.
“You’re a collected debt, a retaliation, and, quite frankly, pretty decent arm candy.”
The Kiss thief is a story of revenge and an enemies to lovers romance. The blurb suggests love triangle but it isn’t, well, not in the cheating kind of way, Francesca has feelings for Angelo Bandini, in her eyes he is her chosen prince but that is all snatched away the night Wolfe takes her from her home with the blessing of her father and the promise of an imminent wedding to plan.
Francesca finds herself not only living in the home of a man she doesn’t know but also engaged to be married and then the fun begins, Francesca has backbone and won’t surrender without a fight, I don’t think Wolfe expected the petite princess to have such a sharp bite, I loved these parts of the story, the push and pull, the fights and then the surrender, two very stubborn characters.
I loved the development with these characters, the growth in their hate to love relationship, overall I loved everything about this book and could not put it down!
A gripping story with an emotional roller-coaster ride from beginning to end, brilliantly written, I want more.
Told in first person dual pov and leads to a hea. Available in KU
Can’t put it down until you finish it. Amazing characters.
THE BEST BOOK!!!!!
This book, OMGOSH, what can I say!!? It read like a Recency Romance in modern day times! Wolfe was such a strong Alpha and Francesca was such a sweet, young, naive innocent and they were just so combustible together! Both had walls of steel built around their hearts because of their pasts. Francesca’s walls came down a little easier than Wolfe’s, but she was so feisty and such a little spitfire that she refused to cave in to his dominance! I loved their banter! My heart would melt at the little sweet things and then break every time their’s did at the painful things! The push and pull of their romance after their arranged marriage, all the miscommunication, the jealousy, some of it real, some imagined – you know the author has perfected her art when you connect with the characters on every emotion.
The secondary characters were so intertwined in the story too. Angelo, Ms. Sterling, Mama, Arthur Rossi, Kristin – we might not have liked them all but they were so essential to the story.
I read this book through KU but this is one book I want to own and re-read over again. The epilogue was perfect. This was my first book by LJ Shen and I have just found a new author to add to my list!
I devoured this book! The Kiss Thief is definitely one of the best books LJ Shen has ever written. I’ll recommend this to anyone who likes romance, you’ll surely fall in love with both of the characters. I had all kinds of emotions reading this book. It pulled me in, ripped my heart into pieces, and piece it back together! It’s a story that will leave you with a book hangover, it is that good!
Amazing first read by this author!
The Kiss Thief was such a great story! Francesca Rossi is the daughter of the head of The Outfit. She is promised to one man, but handed off to another without an explanation. Wolfe Keaton has an ax to grind and if he can use Francesca to get it done then so be it. If only things went according to his plan. Such great characters and a well written story. I really enjoyed it.
As with every other book I’ve read by LJ Shen, I was mesmerized by the story. It’s emotional and intense and completely riveting. The inauspicious start to the relationship between Francesca and Wolfe gives way to a story of soaring passion and a breathtaking love that touched me deeply. I loved this unforgettable romance.
I am voluntarily reviewing an advance reader copy of this book.
Excellent from beginning to the end.
I found the story very well written, with an excellent start unpredictable and a very tense atmosphere very well described.
The heroine Francesca finds herself trapped and yet responsible for nothing, and although she is been dragged in at first, she must choose between the plague or cholera then. The dialogues, the characters and the situations are excellent.
At 19, Francesca is the daughter of a wealthy mafia family and is in love with the son of another mafia member, Angelo. She expects a kiss according to a legend of her family but this kiss is stolen by Wolfe Keaton, a young senator she does not like, and this in front of Angelo. The next day she finds horrified that her father has betrayed her and that she is promised to Wolfe who then takes her home. Wolfe wants to take revenge and get rid of Francesca’s father and take away what is most precious to him and the best way to touch him is to take his daughter. Between her old love, the mafia, the manipulations, the cold heart of Wolfe, her family, Francesca seems to be the lamb sacrificed to all plots.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
5 Stars!!!
This is by far the BEST book from LJ Shen in my opinion because she is able to stir a lot of emotions from me. My heart also goes out for these damaged characters.
It has a complete list of my favorite trope.. all packed in one read.
– Enemies to lovers
– Arranged marriage
– Miscommunication
– somehow forbidden
– Damaged hero
– Enough groveling
– BEST of all, it’s angsty!!!
So you can only imagine my reaction before diving in.
What. A. Rollercoaster. Ride!!! I enjoyed (slash that) devoured every single pages of this book.
Wolfe is someone you’ll love and hate. He is snobbish and ruthless yet sometimes he is sweet and caring. No wonder Francesca’s feelings towards him is puzzled.
There were a scene where some might find degrading. But not to me. In fact, I find her courageous enough in doing so especially after she explained her action pretty well. Francesca for me is not a spineless doormat but feisty and a fighter.
Needless to say, our hero redeemed himself in the end.
Overall, I. LOVED. IT. Highly recommend.
Reminded me of Beauty and the Beast
This book is amazing. It’s emotional, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. The characters are so incredibly well written and developed. I quickly fell in love with each of them.
I am always looking for new releases from LJ Shen, these books NEVER disappoint, I LOVED, Loved the Sinners of Saint series and couldn’t read them fast enough
I want to start by saying I loved this book! But there were a couple things that I don’t like in general that were in this book, thus the missing last star. One is a character trait and the other 2 are things that the characters did. They just turn me off in a story, even one as good as this one. I don’t like reviews with spoilers so I’ll leave it at that.
5 Stars
The Kiss Thief by L.J Shen was such fantastic read! L.J Shen has done it again! This is a brilliant enemies to lovers, with politics, mafia, hidden agendas, drama, suspense, intrigue, electrifying chemistry, sexual tension, tense situations, mystery, as well as a bit of a love triangle.
I won’t go into the story here, as the blurb does that better than I ever could- and without giving away any spoilers. But, I avidly read this story from beginning to end, in one sitting. And LOVED it. I can always count on Ms. Shen to deliver- and she does that in spades with this book!
Superb!!
Thank you, Ms. Shen!
I devoured this book!!! Nemesis and her Villain will have you enraptured from the beginning up to the very end. Senator Keaton is a character you will love to hate, then have to love in the end. He was definitely a jerk in this story and it’s not the word I really want to use to describe him but think more of a donkey. Francesca was sweet, loving and even though she seemed a little to naïve at times all she wanted was to live out her dreams and fantasies. Angelo was another character I enjoyed, and as much as I wanted him and his childhood sweetheart to have a chance to live their dreams, I didn’t mind at all that this story took things a different way. This story had my heart racing and me on the edge of my seat at times. This was a story full of revenge, suspense, betrayal, heartbreak, hate, romance, love and so much more. I enjoyed this story a lot and look forward to reading more books from this author.
4*
Francesca has been smitten with Angelo for years, now she’s older he’s hoping to make his move. An unexpected decision on her part leads her into the path of wolfe.
Are the notes in her box her true destiny and are things as they seem.
‘My wings are not meant to fly”….”They’re meant to shield our family”
Sometimes when you read books, you just know how it’s going to happen, they meet, they end up falling in love, something tries to tear them apart, and then bam they end up together in the end. However, with this book, I truly had no idea how it was going to end. Right from the start I was captivated and couldn’t put this book down. The twists and turns, honestly with every book (and I’ve read them all) by L. J she doesn’t just take you through the story, she takes you on a serious journey. Her books are a roller coaster of emotions, and it’s a roller coaster I don’t ever want to get off of!!
Francesca has been sheltered for her entire life. Wolfe has seen more in his life than anybody should have to see. Both have different ideas of how life is supposed to go. One meeting changes everything. One stolen kiss changes their entire lives, in ways neither wanted nor expected. This is a book you won’t be able to put down!
Francesca and Wolfe are quite easily the characters of LJ Shen’s I’ve hated the most, but by the end I loved them both.
A spoiled girl stolen by an angry man, both of their lives ruined by her father. By the time Wolfe realizes exactly what she means to him, Francesca has almost given up on him.
An excellent read filled with politicians and Made Men, violence and a love to save them all.
I do not have to write again about my love for Leigh Shen. I waited for “TKT” when I saw the preview for the first time, then there was an avalanche cover, which I already wrote to the “best in 2019” and finally, one morning I saw “The Kiss Thief” on my reader.
Waiting and asking to read.
I did not fail to use it and stop her suffering.
I have mush from my brain.
Seriously.
This book made me mush from the brain and I can not do anything that would make him come back to his normal state again.
Leigh Shen defeated herself!
I thought that “Intrigue” was good. Then I liked “Dirty Headlines” too, but this … what I received in “The Kiss Thief” raised the bar so high that I have no idea if the author would ever come to her yet, even if he jumps.
The story begins quite well. You guess what will happen next. Francesca hates senator Keaton, and he has it somewhere, because he wants me to hook her father. Hatred is full of this book, but at some point it turns into love. Love, which is like a cleaver, separating the old life of young Rossi from the new, spent with her husband Wolf. But to this one love, the second one sneaks in … this one to Angelo.
And although you may think that you know the end of this story, you are really wrong. Leigh Shen has done such a cunning and unexpected turn of events that for a long time I blinked at the reader, wondering, “What’s just been fucking up here, I’m sorry?”.
Nobody expected it, and you will not expect it when you read it. You will not even feel it in your bones. It will just happen and BUM.
Heroes share a big difference in age. Keaton is thirty-eight years old, and Francesca, as I’ve only mentioned nineteen. It can be a deterrent, but believe me, if you do not think about it, you will not feel the difference. Between these characters, the boundary between looking at the world from two different sides is blurred. Although at first you can clearly see that Rossi is such a young, naive and stupid girl.
And Wolfe Keaton … eh … I will have to build a house for my book husbands, because they can not fit in my apartment anymore. Officially, I pat this master for myself. I have nothing to add.
“The Kiss Thief” is a must read this year. You may not like L.J. Shen by “Vicious” and her other books that showed up at us, but this position, as ONE you have to read. Literally burns from the inside while reading, it hurts pleasantly. For me, this is one of the best books in 2019, with the best cover. It will be hard to break this miracle. I hope that this book will be published in Poland, although I will buy the original version anyway. As if someone were asking … yes, I’m obsessed with this book
Why did I wait to read this book? I loved it! I really enjoyed the story as a whole. Not like the typical storylines that I generally read. Francesca is such a strong woman, clever and quick witted. Wolfe is a dick. Period. He pissed me off and made me want to poke his eye out. But he is a broken soul with some serious walls around his heart and Francesca is the one to tear them down but by bit. I fell in love with him.
There are many twists and turns in this story. There is every emotion. You are in for a wild ride when you read this. Be warned, if you can’t appreciate the an author creating a male character that treats a woman like crap as a means of setting the stage for the entire story, then this book is not for you. I’ve read the negative reviews regarding the “negative treatment of women” and “rape”. What I have to say to that is, it is something that is a pivotal moment in the book. You cry when Francesca submits fully to her fiancé and makes the decision to give up her most precious possession, her virginity. It makes you feel the hurt, the anger and the angst along with Wolfe’s tremendous guilt. It was what made the story. But everyone has their personal limits, so you have been warned.
This story was amazing. Well done Leigh!!
Love it. Wolfe is so broody. I absolutely love the story line and the out come. Couldn’t put it down. Hope to get more of them. Frankie is so stubborn and sassy.