The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙❤️💚💜
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎🌍
Character development: 😊😄😘😍🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration
The heroine: Mercy – she is twenty-five years old and works as an Administrative Assistant at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. She has also been studying to become a substance abuse counselor whenever she is able to take night classes. Her mother died of a heroine overdose when she was just twelve years old and her father, who was an auto mechanic is now in prison for Murder. Mercy has a lot of guilt because her father accidentally killed a coworker of his when he tried to sexually assault Mercy, and he was convicted of murder because they spent their entire savings on hiring a shyster lawyer who was incompetent.
The Hero: Gabriel – His seventy-five-year-old father Vlad Easton, is one of the biggest mob bosses in Phoenix and is in prison for another six years. He basically runs the prison and likes to think he is in charge of Gabriel and his brother Caleb as well. Though in the three years he has been in prison so far, Gabriel and his brother have opened a successful nightclub that looks like a legitimate business, although it does launder millions of dollars of drug money from his father and uncles side of the business.
The Story: On Mercy’s first weekly visit to see her father in prison, she is distressed to find out that a member of the family of the guy her father killed is locked up with her father and attacked him. She is very worried about her father, especially when he tells her a bit about how the prison works. He points out one guy who can get anything he wants from the outside and can get to anyone on the outside or inside. He also points out a mob boss who has the warden and a bunch of guards in his pocket. Mercy looks over to the mob bosses table to see who he is visiting with, and her eyes meet Gabriels.
Gabriel has no shortage of females at his beck and call. Though lately he has been getting a bit bored of those kinds of girls. He sees Mercy and instantly wants to get to know who she is and get her into his bed or on her knees. He finds out that she will be back to visit her father the following week and shows up again (though he usually only visits his father once a month). He finds out that someone has been beating up Mercy’s father. He knows that he can help offer protection for her father and uses that as a way of getting Mercy to do what he wants.
I liked the fact that Gabriel has power but wants to go legitimate. He doesn’t want to go the route of his father and end up in prison himself. Though he was a massively arrogant jerk the first half of the book. He was used to women falling at his feet and doing anything he wants, and he has a pretty low opinion of women in general. When he bribes Mercy into coming to stay with him, he says it is only for a week or so, because he is sure that he will grow bored with her in that amount of time.
I was half-way through this book when I saw that it was book 1 of 4 in the story of Mercy and Gabriel. I most likely would not have started it if I had known that. Though the premise was good, and the story and romance held up to my expectations, I am not sure if I want to listen to three more books about this one couple, though this one was good enough for me to go on to the next one.
This audiobook was told in dual points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Alex Kydd and Ada Sinclair. Alex Kydd is a good narrator; I like the voice he uses for Gabriel; it is kind of low and gravelly. He is great at using completely different sounding voices for other characters as well. Ada Sinclair has a clear, feminine voice which is very pleasant as well.