VII (Seven)

This book… Goodness. VII is much more intense if I’d say so myself. Mischa and Ellen’s connection is fiery, vicious, and borders on insanity. Because I’m telling you, Mischa is whole different kind of man. I’ve finished this book barely breathing at all.

The story started from that epic ending from book 1. Ellen seems to be free now from Winthorp’s clutches’, but could she say the same in Mischa’s arms? Was he the lesser evil?

Mischa, oh Mischa. I couldn’t count the time that I’ve wanted to throttle, kick and scream at his callous ways, but then he will show you his vulnerable side and I’m like, I want to love and save him from his demons. Through of all of these, Ellen is getting to know what she is as a person through his “guidance”, by opening her eyes to the world that both men in her life lives, breathes and dies for.

Overall, what a crazy ride and with that ending again, I want to read the next book now!

Lana Sky has written another riveting tale of secrets, survival and seduction in VII : Seven. Where the angels hide behind the tainted souls, beauty hides behind scars of ugly trauma and love hides behind betrayal but when they come out of their dark corners even momentarily, that is a spectacular and overwhelming feeling.

The story of Miscah and Elle continues in VII. And the more the story progresses, the more I get intrigued by Miscah. He is an enigma. He has layers that I have not even started to peel off. He is a study of contradictions. Ruthless, cruel, violent, hurtful, dominating, caring, protective, loving. These adjectives don’t make a sense in a same line but Lana Sky makes it work perfectly. And Elle is becoming a stronger and more resilient woman. She is battered and bruised. She is tired, angry and hurt. But for the first time she may have some sense of control in her life. In typical Lana Sky way, the story line will feed you tiny morsels of secrets to make you even more restless and impatient to know what’s going on between the Mafiya and the Winthropes. But she has delayed gratification down to an art! The “relationship” of Miscah and Elle is unconventional to say the least. But in some deep primal instinctive ways, they connect in their souls. They can never be normal people. They have enough blood, nightmare and sins in their heads to make them untrustworthy and reluctant to embrace the goodness in their hearts. But they have it. And I was fascinated with the interplay of white, black and red.

You can call it an erotica, a psychological thriller, a taboo romance, a dark romance, a contemporary romance and so many things. But VII: Seven by Lana Sky is ultimately the celebration of the demons in your head and the light in your soul. It is about embracing the good, bad and ugly of life fully.

Received ARC for Honest Review

Holy heck what have I read?

VII is the second book of the series War of Roses. It is the story of Ellen, the woman who is caught up in 2 mafia freud and Mischa, the lead Mafia.

The further you read the book the more details and information are revealed about Ellen and Mischa. VII is a captivating story with so many secrets and so many revelations.

In the last book, I personally found Ellen very interesting however in this book, I just can’t get my head around Mischa. Mischa’s character is just so phenomenal. Through the book we see him to be the ruthless monster yet there is something about him that makes him human.

Talking about Mischa and Ellen. As the book goes on Mischa is this person who seems to hide his feelings and always pushes them away. He says he doesn’t like Ellen yet he can’t let her go. There is this bond between both of them that doesn’t allows them to move away from each other. It’s almost like she had tattooed herself onto him. As the story goes further, Mischa tries to hate Ellen, he tries to make her someone who she isn’t, someone who she can’t be. And as much as that can be maddening, it keeps the readers hooked to the story.

Overall, Mischa and Ellen’s story is very complex and yet again has Lana done herself good. Can’t wait for the third book!

This is a true psychological drama, where the dialogue is what matters the most in the story. We catch up with Ellen and Mischa, and Ellen is dragged even deeper into Mischa’s mafia world. Mischa is an enigma…he keeps Ellen on her toes with information that may or may not be the truth.

I was riveted by the scenes between the two lovers…or are they enemies? It’s not very clear for a while. What is clear is that Mischa has an agenda, and Ellen ‘s role may not be accidental. Perhaps the fact that Mischa kidnapped her instead of her sister was part of the plan? Reading the scenes is like watching a well oiled play on stage. Both Ellen and Mischa are using all they can in their mental warfare.

Ellen starts to discover secrets, and it helps her understand Mischa’s unstable anger. She is slowly leaving her old violent life behind while she falls for Mischa’s softer side. The problem is, can his softer side prevail over his monster side? How does Mischa reconcile his feelings with who Ellen is?

“Your eyes. You look at a man without the foolish hopes and dreams most women do. Or the greed.” He sighs: a harsh sound between a growl and a laugh. “You look at a man…and you tempt him, Rose. You’re naked and open, and you show him what he is back. Like a mirror. And some stupid men, like your husband… They believe that they can change that reflection. All they have to do is make you moan.”

“If he can make you cry, Rose. Scream his name. Whimper.” He speaks each word into me and my eyes flutter, threatening to roll. “Then he can… shape that reflection… He won’t be a monster. Not anymore.”

There’s a lot of violence, but I don’t consider it super dark. It’s a drama that gets in your head and sticks there. Mischa is playing just as many games as he accused Ellen of playing. As the reader, you are kept anxious and wary as you try to discern what is truth and what is lie. It’s a delicious way to engage with unique characters so abused that you truly wonder if they can withstand the war. There’s a lot about these characters that is not clear yet. BuT what is clear is that Ellen and Mischa are obsessed and fascinated with each other. Let’s see where this wild ride ends in book 3.

Middles are hard. I’m so anxious for the conclusion of this story!
As always, if you haven’t read a Lana Sky, you need to know going in that they are not pretty or nice or light. They are heavy and dark and full of potential triggers. Read at your own risk.
The middle of this trilogy is all about revelations. New information about just about everything because Ellen and Misha have come to a certain arrangement about things. There’s still lots of violence, and secrets, and moving from one place to another because of the mafia war happening all around them, but VII is all about development.
As expected, it ends on a serious (but almost expected) cliffhanger. I’m generally not a dark romance fan, but this series and author have my attention!

Wow this read just keeps getting more and more intense. Frankly with all Ellen has been through I don’t know how she is still alive. There are so many sides to Mischa it is hard to keep track of them all but I do like him. The story is filled with drama, suspense and so many twists and turns my neck is a bit sore. However, the darkness and intensity keep me glued to this read and the many layers are pealed away on Mischa’s personality and the secrets of Ellen’s past and parentage are revealed. Looking forward to more in this dark and twisted story. I loved it!

Mischa & Ellen’s story continues in ‘VII: War of Roses Book 2’, & what a story. It is intense, horrifying, dark, haunting, brutal & utterly mesmerizing.
Ellen (Rose) continues to be swirled deeper & deeper into the dizzying, dangerous & absolutely vicious world of Mischa & the Mafiya of which he is one of a few terrifying controllers. She is swept into the riptide known as Mischa, & every time she thinks she may get a few strokes ahead, catch her breath, that she is beginning to understand at least a tiny portion of Mischa, his goals, his plans, she is sucked deeper than before.
And the reader is in the same situation as Ellen. We think we know the important things about Mischa: he’s brutal, cold, vicious, laser focused on power & dominance & whatever it will take to obtain them. He’s a cruel & heartless monster that tortures Ellen mentally & physically with seeming enjoyment, that torments her to the point of near catatonia & thoughts & threats of suicide.
And yet, and yet, both Ellen & the reader see a few tantalizing layers of Mischa exposed: how he rescues & cares for her when another Mafiya power player kidnaps & beats her, how gently he acts with a rescued young girl when he thinks no one sees him. But these all too brief snatches of another side of him are swiftly & always subsumed by the monster that guides his actions, words & deeds.
The one thing Ellen craves more than her freedom, more than the end of Mischa’s abuse & imprisonment, is knowledge. And Mischa parcels out tempting bits & pieces of knowledge to Ellen but she’s never quite sure if these bits are truth or lie. So again, Ellen remains agitatingly off balance, confused, second guessing her beliefs, assumptions & reality.
I was snapped back & forth like Ellen, hating Mischa, fearing him, distrusting him, & yet HOPING that there IS something, ANYTHING redeemable in this monster who saved Ellen as a child.
This story is daaaark, has triggers, is intense, mesmerizing, enthralling. It is all these things & MORE because the author has a superb method of writing that pulls the reader in at the beginning & never lets you go. And the twist at the very end is a direct hit in the gut to Ellen & the reader . . . .
A stellar gutting read I found fascinating & loved.

This book picks up right after the end of XV (book 1) and is written in first POV (Ellen). Like I said in my review of the first book, Ellen and Mischa’s story is not a romantic love story. Their story is brutal as they continue to battle each other and all of the other outside forces that trying to get to them (or get Ellen away from Mischa). During the course of this book, Ellen experiences even more physical trauma, but none of it is from Mischa. The author starts showing a subtle shift in the “relationship” between Mischa and Ellen and gives the reader glimpses of a slightly softer side of Mischa. We also get to see a different side of Ellen where she decides that she is going to start taking more control in her life and no longer allow herself to be a pawn in this chess game between the Winthorps and all of the Mafiya families. Towards the end of the book, Ellen and Mischa strike a type of truce. Throughout this book, Ellen learns more about her family, the Winthorps, Mischa, and so many other things. But I still have a lot of other unanswered questions that I hope will be answered in the third book. This book does end in another somewhat cliffhanger-type ending with Ellen being given some life-changing information. While I was reading this book, I found myself continually questioning what was going on. Mischa accuses Ellen of being manipulative and of knowing more than she let on. And I found myself wondering the same thing, wondering if she is going to eventually be revealed as a n unreliable narrator. There were also times during the book that I got frustrated with both characters and needed a break from the angst and almost constant conflict between them. But, that’s the kind of book that this is. It is an angsty, dark, mafia “romance.” Even though those last few sentences may make it seem like I didn’t enjoy the book, the exact opposite is true. I did enjoy it and think that all of those thoughts and feelings are to be expected from the way Ellen and Mischa’s story has been crafted and told. This series is dark and doesn’t have any “romantic” scenes in it (so far), so it’s not going to be for everyone. But if you like dark and twisty stories, then this series is worth checking out.

Twisted, dark, sexy, beautiful read!!!!! Lana Sky, you know how to make my black heart happy

I thought book one left me breathless. It did, but wow, book two took my breath away more than I ever imagined it could. Book two picks up where book one left off so you do need to read them in order.

Ellen and Mischa’s “relationship” is more than messed up. Ellen endures even more trauma in book two, you wonder how she’s managed to stay alive to this point. Mischa is just plain cruel, or is he? He physically and emotionally abuses Ellen. However, we are given glimpses into a man who may care more than he’s comfortable with.

In real life, I’d never root for them to develop an actual relationship, no matter how gentle he can be at times. However, in my fantasy world, I’m cheering for them. The way Mischa takes care of Ellen after her altercation with Nicklaus, and his treatment of the young girl, makes it hard for me to completely hate him. I also get the sense Ellen feels more free to be her true self around him, or at least stand up for herself if nothing else. I also get the impression Mischa wants to be different with Ellen. He’s just struggling with years of molding of his role and hiw he should act as leader of the mafyia.

The writing, once again, is excellent. I was glued to the story and didn’t want to have to put it down. There were even more secrets revealed, as well as twists and turns. We don’t know who to trust and it seems neither do Ellen or Mischa. I thought book one ended in a heck of a cliffhanger. That was nothing compared to the cliffhanger we are left with in book two. Book three can’t be released fast enough. I have to know what happens next!!
*I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. This is my honest review.*