Review: High Stakes by Vanessa Waltz
♥♥♥ 3 Stars ♥♥♥
Once I had read the blurb, this book intrigued me enough that I knew I had to read it. While I did like it, there were also parts that I didn't care for so much. But, it wasn't a horrible read or anything.
Adriana is college student, who is struggling to make ends meet. This is because she has to also take care of her mother who seems to be always asking Adriana for money for this and that. Adriana has gone through a traumatizing event where her father was killed in front of her. Since then she suffers from nightmares. She also is a kleptomaniac who is constantly stealing things for the thrill of it. And, she drinks quite a bit of booze to deal with her stress.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
"What is it you want?"
"Complete control..." the fingers stroking my arm squeeze.
"Over you."
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Things turn around for Adriana when she meets Vincent, a captain from the Vittorio mafia family, at a poker gathering. Adriana has always been good with cards, since she was young. When Vincent offers her a job as a card dealer, she accepts because of the money she will be making. Even though, she doesn't exactly have good vibes about the whole thing. That doesn't stop her from lusting after him either.
First off, I enjoyed the story line, in fact it was really able to hold my attention with all the Mafia things going on. I really liked that part of the book, despite some parts being a bit predictable. Still, it was interesting.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
'I've never felt this safe in my life. When I'm with him, I'm not afraid of the dark.
He is the dark.'
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
My first impression of Adriana was not very good, she had a drinking and stealing problem, which I thought she needed help for but unfortunately never got. I also thought she was a bit judgmental in her thinking at times, especially when it came to her mother. And, even though I didn't like her mother, she kind of reminded me of Adriana in some ways too, which was kind of funny that Adriana herself never saw it. I can't say that I liked her 100%, but after a while, near the end, I will say that she did slightly grow on me.
Vincent was very intriguing from the start. He had that confident brooding air about him. And holy moly was this man intense. He was a total mercurial, dominating, alpha. There were moments where he I couldn't really understand what Vincent was feeling was or thinking. So, I kind of wish we would of had a bit of his POV. There were even moments he scared crap out of me. The sex scenes while hot, were also very raw and gritty. I even cringed a bit, and I've read some dark messed up things. Like I said, this man was REALLY intense.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
“You were made for me.”
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
I did enjoy the story for the most part, I just felt like there was some things missing from this book. I just wish I could have felt a little bit more of a connection between Adriana and Vincent, than when they were just having scorching sex. I would have liked to have known Vincent the person a little better as well. To me, they both kind of fell for each other rather suddenly but I couldn't really feel it. And the ending was a bit abrupt to me, too. I would have liked an epilogue or something more because it almost felt like it wasn't finished yet. Overall, it was a good read, not great, but just good.
~ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.~
View all my reviews
