Tainted Blood

When your favourite author come out with a book and teams up with another author who has me contemplating my whole life decisions because I came to know her so late in life, you already know that shit is going to be lit. I already knew it was going to lit because, one Bad Blood was fire, and two, its Catherine. Of course its going to be good. Duh! Yet somehow, they still manage to surprise me with the deliciousness.

This is a story of love and commitment overcoming years of rivalry, bloodshed, revenge years in the making, unsteady alliances and the darkness of this world that hides in plain sight. Where integrity and character, principles and virtues are tested, and internal darkness is harness and embraced when the moral boundaries set by society are not enough to overcome and survive.

I devoured this book in one sitting. Seriously. It was so good, so consuming and quite frankly, just unputadownable.

We pick up where we left off with Bad Blood. Thalia and Lola find themselves in a rather precarious situation. All their lives, they’ve been princesses and the apples of their father’s eyes. While they’re not blind to the nature of their families’ businesses, until this point, the men in their lives have sheltered them from the gory side of it. Now, here they find themselves in danger, their fates resting in the hands of men seeking revenge for sins of their fathers.  Thalia has always seen herself as having her mother’s heart; kind, gentle, full of light and sunshine. As a result, she’s resented her father for his darkness and his way of living. But when she realises just how much of Dante she needs to harness to get herself out of this little jam she finds herself in, will she do it or will she let her naïve, moral boundaries restrict her survival skills?

Meanwhile, Santiago is losing his shit when he’s finally caught in the web of the lies of his own making. What he thought was a bad, marital spat/situation turns out to be worse, his intentions to hate, break, ruin Thalia and return her truly damaged, do not matter now. Years of cultivated and nurtured hatred and revenge plots don’t matter anymore. Pride is set aside, testosterone brought down a notch, allegiance, weak as they may be forged for the greater good, as feelings that he has no name or experience with takeover in desperation. But whether he is ready to embrace these new feelings or not, he’s faced with a situation that forces him to make a decision one way or another. His wife and sister are in danger. Just how far will he go to rescue them? And what will become of him when he does? What will become of his marriage, and how far is he willing to go to save it when the odds are stacked so high against them?

Santi was the furthest things from a good man, but boy did I love me some of him! There’s nothing better than seeing a man determined that love is not for him, determined to ruin a woman only to find himself at her feet, head over heels in love with her.

Thalia was an amazing heroin. Loyal to a fault, tough as nails. Afterall, she is Dante’s daughter. I loved to see her grow out of her naïve, childing and judgemental ways and finally embrace that Santiago spirit in her. Growing into a fierce and self-assured young woman.

This book was the shit. Incredible chemistry, an undercurrent of mystery and darkness and a love so fierce and bright that it disintegrated and welded together a feud of over 20 years. My only gripe was Reece. How could he have worked for Dante for almost 20 years and he never clocked what he was into, especially with what he’s dedicated his life doing? More so he clearly was at the castle in Italy. How did nobody in Dante’s employ not notice his absence? And he just slid back into his role? Nah! But I’m nit-picking. Don’t mind me.