Russian Tattoos: Prisoner
Kat Shehata
(Russian Tattoos, #2)
Published by: Limitless Publishing
Publication date: A:ugust 2nd 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense
American tennis player Carter Cook is being held prisoner by the Russian mafia…
Carter is the obsession of mob boss Vladimir Ivanov, a man she once loved. Now a mafia war has erupted on his home turf, and Vladimir’s enemies have put a bounty on her head to force him to surrender. If she is captured, his rivals will deliver a deadly ultimatum—his life in exchange for hers. The price for Carter’s freedom is Vladimir’s blood.
Vladimir holds ultimate power as godfather of the Ivanov Bratva…
He spent five years in a Siberian prison camp and has earned every tattoo inked into his skin. He is a powerful man who rules his crew with an iron fist.
But his enemies have discovered his only weakness—Carter. Vladimir knows if she stays in his world, he is handing her a death sentence, so he vows to get her home and never interfere in her life again. Giving up the woman he loves is the only way to protect her from the bad guys—including himself.
Vladimir’s rivals have a different plan for the ill-fated couple…
Some punishments are worse than death, and the head of the Ovechkin Bratva will go to any length to seek vengeance and inflict maximum suffering on Vladimir.
Carter may be Vladimir’s weakness, but she is also his only hope for survival. When the boss of the Ovechkin family threatens the man she loves, she must fight for Vladimir’s freedom before their rivals can deliver the fatal blow.
Love is blind—but it could also be deadly.
Sequel to:
READ ON FOR INFO ABOUT THE AUTHOR, MY REVIEW, AND A GIVEAWAY!
Author Bio:
Kat Shehata’s first career involved caring for exotic, dangerous, and adorable animals as a zookeeper. As an author, Kat weaves her love of animals into her work. She is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling children’s book Animals on the Other Side written with Sylvia Browne.
She is an avid tennis player and spends her free time playing matches in a recreational league in Cincinnati, Ohio. She holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Wilmington College, a professional writing certificate from the University of Cincinnati, and a master’s degree in creative writing from Spalding University.
Heather’s Review:
The first thing I should mention is that this book doesn’t work as well as a standalone. This is definitely a sequel, and I had to grab a copy of the first book in order to really get this one. There is also clearly another volume in the series coming, which you’ll see when reading PRISONER.
This book was enjoyable and well-written, full of passion and danger that is easy to get lost in. The tone can get seriously dark, and it’s full of twists and turns that may require a glass of wine (or whatever your poison) to get through without chewing your nails off. Sometimes a book is sold as “romantic suspense,” but it’s not terribly romantic, or doesn’t really provide suspense that isn’t fairly predictable. PRISONER suffers from neither of those deficits.
The relationship between the heroine and hero is very steamy, and has all of those tantalizing characteristics that make for a compelling romance. It was definitely a read that captured and held my attention. The characters are also very well developed, and Ms. Shehata really knows how to slowly reveal a complicated character!
My only problem was the particular brand of dark tone of the series. A contemporary “hero” that is a murdering criminal is a little… okay, a lot disturbing in the role of romantic lead. Plus, he kidnaps the heroine, which I thought was pretty much only a conceit of paranormals (because monsters) and pirate romances? If you’re talking about a “standard” human guy, then it’s a little squicky. It’s a matter of taste, I suppose, since I know a lot of people enjoy mafia romance, and this story falls at the darker end of that genre.
The book is really good, and if you don’t have the kind of squick I do, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy RUSSIAN TATTOOS: PRISONER. I’ll give it a glad:
4 Batty Moons!
GIVEAWAY!
Bloodthirsty Muses 
Great review, H.A! This sounds like a well written and character driven read! Glad you liked it! 🙂
Ahhh yes that kind of hero behavior can take some getting used to in a contemporary-ish setting. Thanks for the heads up on not being a standalone.
Ever since I started reviewing from tours and Net Galley, I run into SO MANY books that I had no idea were like, 3 or more along in the series, and I felt completely lost without having read the others, or at least had to scramble to understand what happened previously from hints in the sequel I’m reading! So I think it’s only fair that I let people know whether they need to read in order, or if it’s fairly easy to figure things out!