What do you think?
Rate this book
Kovalyov Bratva #2
Lágrimas doradas
LE HARÉ LLORAR LÁGRIMAS DORADAS SI SE LE OCURRE VOLVER A ESCAPAR
Esme no era más que una chica en un club nocturno. Hasta que la convertí en el centro de mi mundo. En la reina de mi reino. En la madre de mi hijo. Teníamos todo un futuro en nuestras manos. Y después ella me abandonó en esa montaña a mi suerte. Poco a poco me recuperé. Volví a la vida. Recobré fuerzas. Volví al lugar al que pertenezco. Y ahora ha llegado el momento de reclamar lo que me pertenece. Hace un tiempo, Esme pensó que yo era su salvador. Qué equivocada estaba. Porque para el momento en que la vuelva a ver… Seré su peor pesadilla.
LÁGRIMAS DORADAS es el segundo libro del dúo Kovalyov Bratva. Comienza a leer la historia de Artem y Esme desde el principio en el libro 1, JAULA DORADA.
Esme no era más que una chica en un club nocturno. Hasta que la convertí en el centro de mi mundo. En la reina de mi reino. En la madre de mi hijo. Teníamos todo un futuro en nuestras manos. Y después ella me abandonó en esa montaña a mi suerte. Poco a poco me recuperé. Volví a la vida. Recobré fuerzas. Volví al lugar al que pertenezco. Y ahora ha llegado el momento de reclamar lo que me pertenece. Hace un tiempo, Esme pensó que yo era su salvador. Qué equivocada estaba. Porque para el momento en que la vuelva a ver… Seré su peor pesadilla.
LÁGRIMAS DORADAS es el segundo libro del dúo Kovalyov Bratva. Comienza a leer la historia de Artem y Esme desde el principio en el libro 1, JAULA DORADA.
532 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2023
1514 people are currently reading
1558 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Fox
195 books4,806 followersNicole Fox writes smart, sexy mafia romance novels. She is a crazy cat lady in her late 30s with a coffee addiction, an overactive imagination, and a husband who somehow puts up with her impulsive need to keep buying new plants for their house.
Sign up to her mailing list and get a free book!
Sign Up Here
Sign up to her mailing list and get a free book!
Sign Up Here
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews
February 20, 2024
Me ha gustado mucho el estilo de la autora y la bilogia en sí está mb, historia muy entretenida, con mucha acción y mucho romance.
Me he quedado con ganas de saber lo que sucedió con Cillian ... a ver si publican pronto en español su historia ... por que sí, esta bilogia la he leído en edición español, que no está metida aquí en su ficha original pero existe.
JAULA DORADA y LAGRIMAS DORADAS se llaman.
Me he quedado con ganas de saber lo que sucedió con Cillian ... a ver si publican pronto en español su historia ... por que sí, esta bilogia la he leído en edición español, que no está metida aquí en su ficha original pero existe.
JAULA DORADA y LAGRIMAS DORADAS se llaman.
March 20, 2023
This was awful from start to finish. I'm giving up on the series.
June 20, 2021
Some issues, but not bad
Overall, I thought this book was alright; definitely not as good as the first one, but not terrible. It did drag, and I don't understand why we spent 60% of the book with the main characters separated. For about the first half of the book, Esme bothered me. For a woman who's spent her entire life in organized crime, I would have thought she'd be a little smarter/more resourceful. She mostly just seems like she's either making snap, uninformed decisions or like she's living in la la Land. She abandons Artem after he's basically mortally injured, without any money or idea where she'll go (dick move if you ask me), and then complains about life being hard. Well... ya, duh. I can't believe she had the audacity to blame Artem for her situation after she's the one that ran away. Like, she wanted to"be safe" for her baby but how she gonna make that work with no money and no place to stay? It's not Artems fault that she had a little princess meltdown and took off while he was bleeding out on stranger's dining room table. He could have died and she would never know, but ya, totally his fault he didn't magically divine her change of heart and come charging in to save the day. Which leads me to my next complaint: there are some very unrealistic things that happen in this book that the author would have known about if she did a simple, 30 second Google search. Like the fact that you can't just jump up from a C-section and take off like all you've got are some muscle cramps; and that newborn babies have very few distinguishing features, they certainly do not have square jaws and angular noses; like the fact that Artem definitely would have died from a bullet and a knife wound in the gut (there's no way both of those injuries would have missed organs) without hospitalization and surgery. But the error that irritated me most was the constant misues of organized crime terminology. Before writing a 'Mafia' romance, the author should 110% know that the terms Bratva, Cartel, and Mafia are not interchangeable; yes, there are all branches of organized crime but they represent completely different groups. Mexican narcos would be part of the Cartel, not the Mafia. And a Bratva Pakhan (she couldn't even get that terminology right, Don is a term used by the Italian Mafia) would not oversee Cartel members. These are really simple things that anyone with access to the internet, or a Netflix subscription, could find out easily.
Overall, I thought this book was alright; definitely not as good as the first one, but not terrible. It did drag, and I don't understand why we spent 60% of the book with the main characters separated. For about the first half of the book, Esme bothered me. For a woman who's spent her entire life in organized crime, I would have thought she'd be a little smarter/more resourceful. She mostly just seems like she's either making snap, uninformed decisions or like she's living in la la Land. She abandons Artem after he's basically mortally injured, without any money or idea where she'll go (dick move if you ask me), and then complains about life being hard. Well... ya, duh. I can't believe she had the audacity to blame Artem for her situation after she's the one that ran away. Like, she wanted to"be safe" for her baby but how she gonna make that work with no money and no place to stay? It's not Artems fault that she had a little princess meltdown and took off while he was bleeding out on stranger's dining room table. He could have died and she would never know, but ya, totally his fault he didn't magically divine her change of heart and come charging in to save the day. Which leads me to my next complaint: there are some very unrealistic things that happen in this book that the author would have known about if she did a simple, 30 second Google search. Like the fact that you can't just jump up from a C-section and take off like all you've got are some muscle cramps; and that newborn babies have very few distinguishing features, they certainly do not have square jaws and angular noses; like the fact that Artem definitely would have died from a bullet and a knife wound in the gut (there's no way both of those injuries would have missed organs) without hospitalization and surgery. But the error that irritated me most was the constant misues of organized crime terminology. Before writing a 'Mafia' romance, the author should 110% know that the terms Bratva, Cartel, and Mafia are not interchangeable; yes, there are all branches of organized crime but they represent completely different groups. Mexican narcos would be part of the Cartel, not the Mafia. And a Bratva Pakhan (she couldn't even get that terminology right, Don is a term used by the Italian Mafia) would not oversee Cartel members. These are really simple things that anyone with access to the internet, or a Netflix subscription, could find out easily.
August 9, 2021
So this one was pretty rough for me. The first half was not as enjoyable as the first one. But the second half of this one was very good.
4/5 stars
4/5 stars
April 19, 2021
My goodness! What a chaotic ride! The angst and tension! I was anxiously turning the pages! So many frantic moments! It was really exciting and thrilling! Fantastic book!
June 19, 2021
*KU READ
Gilded Tears is the end of Esme and Artemis's story and OMG what an ending. I couldn't put this book down. I went from the first book Guilded Cage right into this one because I had to know what was going to happen.
If you are looking for well-written, strong characters, and a romance for the times this is your duet!
Blog: http://myfantasylandblog.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/fantasylandblog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fantasylandblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasyland...
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/27664...
Gilded Tears is the end of Esme and Artemis's story and OMG what an ending. I couldn't put this book down. I went from the first book Guilded Cage right into this one because I had to know what was going to happen.
If you are looking for well-written, strong characters, and a romance for the times this is your duet!
Blog: http://myfantasylandblog.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/fantasylandblog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fantasylandblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasyland...
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/27664...
April 9, 2022
A good way to end the duet! A lot of the book was spent with Esme and Artem apart but I still really enjoyed it! It's very binge worthy!!
March 10, 2021
This one’s gonna be a no from me. It’s extremely disappointing considering how good the first book was. Honestly this one barely deserves 2 stars. I decided to give it an extra star solely based on the ending.
How did this one fail so hard. Let me count the ways. The biggest issue hands down for this ROMANCE novel is that the couple was separated for over half the book.
So this book picks up exactly where the last one left off. Artem has left Esme with Cillian to investigate the perimeter breach. The first 10-12% of this book is all action describing the events that transpired from the perimeter breach.
Finally Esme “rescues” Artem and takes him to get medical help. She decides at that point that she needs to leave him because she doesn’t want to be involved in his Bratva life. So at 14% she leaves him. He’s not really conscious for a week. When he comes around he’s obviously not happy she ran off. Does he go find her? Nope.
He’s a pissy little manchild. So he basically tantrums and pouts until around 30% before he decides he’s going to reclaim his title and wife. Does he start looking for her, nope. He jets off to Ireland to round up help instead of looking for his extremely pregnant wife. Because he’s a giant manchild.
So now we make it to 53ish % before Mr. Bratva can be bothered to look for his wife. Now while the manchild was pouting and not looking for his wife, said wife was giving a series of unfortunate events a run for its money.
While Esme and Murphy’s law were battling for dominance we are treated to her birth experience. This author has clearly never had a c-section or met anyone who has had one. Seriously, how does all this get past editors, alpha and beta readers and ARC reviews without being addressed.
I have had SIX c-sections, two of which were emergencies. There is no universe in which the actions that Esme took post c-section are even the tiniest bit believable. You can’t even get out of bed for TWELVE hours post-op. When you do finally get up, you need help and more importantly MORPHINE. I’m not even joking. After the first 24 hours they switch you to OxyContin or Hydrocodone but even those are serious opioid painkillers. You can’t walk anywhere with full doses of narcotics for at least 3 days but more realistically you need those pills for a good 7-10 days post op.
So ridiculously unbelievable birth experience and all the many terrible, awful, no good, very bad things that happened to Esme post-Artem, aside. Mr. Manchild himself finally gets catches up with his apparently amazingly elusive wife at 57%.
FIFTY SEVEN PERCENT. Seriously. I suck at math but even if you count the generous 2% they are physically together in the first 14% of the book they are separated for 55% of the book. A romance novel in which the main characters are not even in the same country for 55% of the book.
I’ll admit once they finally reunite at 57% the book improves a little. Not a lot. I’m apparently still holding a grudge for over half the book long separation our our romantic partners.
How did this one fail so hard. Let me count the ways. The biggest issue hands down for this ROMANCE novel is that the couple was separated for over half the book.
So this book picks up exactly where the last one left off. Artem has left Esme with Cillian to investigate the perimeter breach. The first 10-12% of this book is all action describing the events that transpired from the perimeter breach.
Finally Esme “rescues” Artem and takes him to get medical help. She decides at that point that she needs to leave him because she doesn’t want to be involved in his Bratva life. So at 14% she leaves him. He’s not really conscious for a week. When he comes around he’s obviously not happy she ran off. Does he go find her? Nope.
He’s a pissy little manchild. So he basically tantrums and pouts until around 30% before he decides he’s going to reclaim his title and wife. Does he start looking for her, nope. He jets off to Ireland to round up help instead of looking for his extremely pregnant wife. Because he’s a giant manchild.
So now we make it to 53ish % before Mr. Bratva can be bothered to look for his wife. Now while the manchild was pouting and not looking for his wife, said wife was giving a series of unfortunate events a run for its money.
While Esme and Murphy’s law were battling for dominance we are treated to her birth experience. This author has clearly never had a c-section or met anyone who has had one. Seriously, how does all this get past editors, alpha and beta readers and ARC reviews without being addressed.
I have had SIX c-sections, two of which were emergencies. There is no universe in which the actions that Esme took post c-section are even the tiniest bit believable. You can’t even get out of bed for TWELVE hours post-op. When you do finally get up, you need help and more importantly MORPHINE. I’m not even joking. After the first 24 hours they switch you to OxyContin or Hydrocodone but even those are serious opioid painkillers. You can’t walk anywhere with full doses of narcotics for at least 3 days but more realistically you need those pills for a good 7-10 days post op.
So ridiculously unbelievable birth experience and all the many terrible, awful, no good, very bad things that happened to Esme post-Artem, aside. Mr. Manchild himself finally gets catches up with his apparently amazingly elusive wife at 57%.
FIFTY SEVEN PERCENT. Seriously. I suck at math but even if you count the generous 2% they are physically together in the first 14% of the book they are separated for 55% of the book. A romance novel in which the main characters are not even in the same country for 55% of the book.
I’ll admit once they finally reunite at 57% the book improves a little. Not a lot. I’m apparently still holding a grudge for over half the book long separation our our romantic partners.
July 7, 2021
Wasn't horrible but not the best. Like the last book, it dragged. 60% of this book felt like a chore. I just couldn't seem to really care about what was going on and what was happening. I was just waiting for it to end. Esme, ugh, was just stupid in most of the book. The decisions she made were questionable at best. For a girl who grew up in the cartel and violent life, her choices were dumb. Like beyond dumb. She made such rash decisions instead of just stopping and thinking for a moment. She abandons Artem while he's pretty much dying, which is a shitty thing to do in my opinion. She has no idea where to go, no money, nothing. And she has the audacity to complain about how hard it is. Then blames Artem because she ran away. Like really?!?!? I just couldn't stand her. Throughout the book, there were other things that just felt a little too unrealistic. Like you can't have a C-section and just run right after without any symptoms and recuperation. Some of those things just took you out of the story. I will say I do love Artem. That's why I kept reading. Him and Cillian. They were awesome characters and I loved them. They are the only reason I even finished this book. I do want to read this authors other books as I've heard good things. But I did not enjoy this series as much as I thought I would
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2021
❝ —Esta no es la vida que quiero —le digo directamente—. Pero...
Levanto la vista y Artem espera pacientemente mi respuesta. Parece tranquilo, pero sé que debe estar nervioso por mi respuesta.
—Pero si es la única forma de mantenerte en mi vida, y en la de Phoenix... supongo que tendré que aceptarlo. ❞
Amo esta historia y a sus protagonistas, ni siquiera puedo ordenar mis pensamientos porque las emociones me abruman y no puedo esclarecer mis ideas tan dispersas. Estaba atravesando una especie de bloqueo lector y ambos libros me ayudaron a superarlo, me encontré definitivamente sumergida en la historia de Artem y Esme.
El libro está narrado en primera persona desde el punto de vista de ambos protagonistas, lo que siempre es un plus para mí, me gusta saber lo que ambos piensan. A pesar de ser un poco largos, te atrapan de inmediato y logran mantener tu atención durante toda la lectura. Siempre están sucediendo cualquier clase de cosas.
Artem, a pesar de que no es una blanca paloma bajo ningún estándar, es un personaje muy interesante, te sorprende mucho la forma en la que madura y se convierte en una mejor versión de sí mismo a lo largo de la historia. Artem vive una lucha entre todo lo que sabe y el hombre en el que desea convertirse. Cuando abraza su naturaleza y su derecho por nacimiento, pero también lucha por él, es uno de los mejores momentos para mí.
Los varones que hablan otro idioma y usan apodos cariñosos en ese idioma para su amada, me pueden. Artem dándoles su propio apodo a Esme y a su hijo me derretía los ovarios. Artem me tiene ahí y no me quiere soltar.
Esme, mi querida Esme. No puedo dejar de lado todo su crecimiento, pasó de ser una mujer complaciente, a la digna esposa de un don de la bratva y una mujer increíble y fuerte, tuvo que luchar contra sus emociones y sentimientos, enfrentarse a la disyuntiva entre loss sueños y anhelos de una vida diferente, y la vida al lado del hombre que amaba. El tiempo que pasó "huyendo" de Artem, le permitió reafirmar sus sentimientos por él, y analizar a profundidad la posibilidad de un futuro juntos a pesarde todo.
El tiempo que pasaron separados, en lo personal, no me molestó. Siento que ambos lo necesitaban, tenían mucho que procesar, mucho que afrontar, aclarar sus sentimientos y decidir de una vez por todas lo que querían, ver las cosas desde una perspectiva diferente. Además de que ese tiempo les permitió a ambos volverse más fuertes.
Mi opinión puede que esté sesgada porque amo a los protagonistas, pero creo que todas las piezas cayeron en su lugar en el momento en el que debían hacerlo. Su reencuentro fue emotivo pero también explosivo. Al final hay algunas cosas que no me cuadraron o me parecieron demasiado convenientes, pero en general me encuentro satisfecha con estos primeros dos libros de la serie, y por supuesto, con Artem y Esme.
Si te gustan los libros de mafia y los matrimonios por conveniencia con un poco de oscuridad de por medio (digamos que Esme en realidad no tuvo una opción), estos libros definitivamente podrían gustarte. Artem definitivamente redime sus acciones cuestionable con Esme.
Levanto la vista y Artem espera pacientemente mi respuesta. Parece tranquilo, pero sé que debe estar nervioso por mi respuesta.
—Pero si es la única forma de mantenerte en mi vida, y en la de Phoenix... supongo que tendré que aceptarlo. ❞
Amo esta historia y a sus protagonistas, ni siquiera puedo ordenar mis pensamientos porque las emociones me abruman y no puedo esclarecer mis ideas tan dispersas. Estaba atravesando una especie de bloqueo lector y ambos libros me ayudaron a superarlo, me encontré definitivamente sumergida en la historia de Artem y Esme.
El libro está narrado en primera persona desde el punto de vista de ambos protagonistas, lo que siempre es un plus para mí, me gusta saber lo que ambos piensan. A pesar de ser un poco largos, te atrapan de inmediato y logran mantener tu atención durante toda la lectura. Siempre están sucediendo cualquier clase de cosas.
Artem, a pesar de que no es una blanca paloma bajo ningún estándar, es un personaje muy interesante, te sorprende mucho la forma en la que madura y se convierte en una mejor versión de sí mismo a lo largo de la historia. Artem vive una lucha entre todo lo que sabe y el hombre en el que desea convertirse. Cuando abraza su naturaleza y su derecho por nacimiento, pero también lucha por él, es uno de los mejores momentos para mí.
Los varones que hablan otro idioma y usan apodos cariñosos en ese idioma para su amada, me pueden. Artem dándoles su propio apodo a Esme y a su hijo me derretía los ovarios. Artem me tiene ahí y no me quiere soltar.
Esme, mi querida Esme. No puedo dejar de lado todo su crecimiento, pasó de ser una mujer complaciente, a la digna esposa de un don de la bratva y una mujer increíble y fuerte, tuvo que luchar contra sus emociones y sentimientos, enfrentarse a la disyuntiva entre loss sueños y anhelos de una vida diferente, y la vida al lado del hombre que amaba. El tiempo que pasó "huyendo" de Artem, le permitió reafirmar sus sentimientos por él, y analizar a profundidad la posibilidad de un futuro juntos a pesarde todo.
El tiempo que pasaron separados, en lo personal, no me molestó. Siento que ambos lo necesitaban, tenían mucho que procesar, mucho que afrontar, aclarar sus sentimientos y decidir de una vez por todas lo que querían, ver las cosas desde una perspectiva diferente. Además de que ese tiempo les permitió a ambos volverse más fuertes.
Mi opinión puede que esté sesgada porque amo a los protagonistas, pero creo que todas las piezas cayeron en su lugar en el momento en el que debían hacerlo. Su reencuentro fue emotivo pero también explosivo. Al final hay algunas cosas que no me cuadraron o me parecieron demasiado convenientes, pero en general me encuentro satisfecha con estos primeros dos libros de la serie, y por supuesto, con Artem y Esme.
Si te gustan los libros de mafia y los matrimonios por conveniencia con un poco de oscuridad de por medio (digamos que Esme en realidad no tuvo una opción), estos libros definitivamente podrían gustarte. Artem definitivamente redime sus acciones cuestionable con Esme.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2021
3 stars
I liked the first book better.
The action in this one and the overall plot had a lot of OTT moments and some plot holes.
Overall, I enjoyed the duet thought.
I liked the first book better.
The action in this one and the overall plot had a lot of OTT moments and some plot holes.
Overall, I enjoyed the duet thought.
October 21, 2021
I was really eager to read this book when the last one ended on a huge cliffhanger. This book was more darker, grittier and thrilling than the last. I enjoyed all the action and Artem finally got back what was rightfully his.
I've read many books in this genre and the one thing I've learnt is that when you are born into this lifestyle, there's no escaping it, no matter how hard you try. That's why I knew right from the first book that Esme's wish to leave that kind of dangerous life behind was not going to work in her favour. She claimed to hate the lifestyle but she slowly came on terms with the fact that you've got to do whatever you've got to do in order to survive in their world.
Artem was definitely more experienced, storng, mature and strategic this time. He was logical but willing to take a risk to save his family. It was a delight to watch him be a good father and a husband.
Though I loved the plot, I just had one complaint. I didn't really like the way things went forward in the beginning. Esme made some stupid decisions and she was solely responsible for what she had to endure when she was running away from Artem. I guess they were separated for the whole twenty four chapters and things only got interesting after that part.
Overall, the side characters were realistically portrayed and I loved Cillian so much! He was an interesting character and I would have liked it if we got some more insight about what went wrong between him, the girl he loved and his family because at the end of the day he was their own blood and everyone in his family just seemed to love and miss him a lot. I absolutely loved the storyline and because we got both Artem & Esme's povs, I could understand why they made some choices. I would recommend reading this duet if you haven't picked it up yet!
I've read many books in this genre and the one thing I've learnt is that when you are born into this lifestyle, there's no escaping it, no matter how hard you try. That's why I knew right from the first book that Esme's wish to leave that kind of dangerous life behind was not going to work in her favour. She claimed to hate the lifestyle but she slowly came on terms with the fact that you've got to do whatever you've got to do in order to survive in their world.
Artem was definitely more experienced, storng, mature and strategic this time. He was logical but willing to take a risk to save his family. It was a delight to watch him be a good father and a husband.
Though I loved the plot, I just had one complaint. I didn't really like the way things went forward in the beginning. Esme made some stupid decisions and she was solely responsible for what she had to endure when she was running away from Artem. I guess they were separated for the whole twenty four chapters and things only got interesting after that part.
Overall, the side characters were realistically portrayed and I loved Cillian so much! He was an interesting character and I would have liked it if we got some more insight about what went wrong between him, the girl he loved and his family because at the end of the day he was their own blood and everyone in his family just seemed to love and miss him a lot. I absolutely loved the storyline and because we got both Artem & Esme's povs, I could understand why they made some choices. I would recommend reading this duet if you haven't picked it up yet!
April 19, 2022
I wasn’t able to fly through this one like the other Fox books I have been reading lately because, well, life. But I still absolutely enjoyed it. I loved that this duet wasn’t near as agnsty and dark as the Solovav series was. I enjoyed seeing emotions between both Artem and Esme.
The over all story in GILDED TEARS was great. For more than 50% of the book, both Artem and Esme are separated. Some may not like this turn of events but I believe it helped Esme grow in herself and see the things she wants much clearer. As for Artem, he was able to recover and not just in healing physically. He needed to recover mentally in a lot of ways. Whoa. Probably too much deep there. But yeah, just my thoughts.
Loved the romance that was always on point between these two. Not one minute could they go without gravitating towards the other. They have a chemistry that was off the charts and connected in so many ways. Absolutely adored them.
So a big, huge, gigantic twist plays out at the very end of the book. Don’t fear, Artem and Esme’s story wraps up nicely but it’s definitely a great lead in to the next book of the series. All in all, a fabulous duet that kept me on my toes the entire series. 5 Stars!
The over all story in GILDED TEARS was great. For more than 50% of the book, both Artem and Esme are separated. Some may not like this turn of events but I believe it helped Esme grow in herself and see the things she wants much clearer. As for Artem, he was able to recover and not just in healing physically. He needed to recover mentally in a lot of ways. Whoa. Probably too much deep there. But yeah, just my thoughts.
Loved the romance that was always on point between these two. Not one minute could they go without gravitating towards the other. They have a chemistry that was off the charts and connected in so many ways. Absolutely adored them.
So a big, huge, gigantic twist plays out at the very end of the book. Don’t fear, Artem and Esme’s story wraps up nicely but it’s definitely a great lead in to the next book of the series. All in all, a fabulous duet that kept me on my toes the entire series. 5 Stars!
February 26, 2021
This very intense & captivating mafia romance is definitely worth reading. The continuation of the story from “Gilded Cage #1” into this book “Gilded Tears #2”is smooth & flawless. The well-written, intriguing plot is filled with suspenseful situations that are well-described. The characters are strong-willed individuals with complex personalities & one of them (Artem Kovalyov) is quite determined to succeed at any cost while the other character (Esmeralde Moreno aka Esme) is trying to cope with unusual situation she finds herself in.
There is: Artem’s friend (Cillian), a despicable uncle (Budimir), a very determined dog, a unusual alliance, twists & turns, intrigue, action, family issues, deceit, betrayal, danger, enemies, threats, attacks, violence, conflict, murder, death, compromises, loyalty, memories, decisions, heartache, vengeful feelings, devious plans, manipulations, a unexpected surprise, some steamy scenes, love, contentment & a well-deserved, hard-earned delightful epilogue. I look forward to future books from this author with great anticipation & definitely would recommend this fascinating mafia duet.
There is: Artem’s friend (Cillian), a despicable uncle (Budimir), a very determined dog, a unusual alliance, twists & turns, intrigue, action, family issues, deceit, betrayal, danger, enemies, threats, attacks, violence, conflict, murder, death, compromises, loyalty, memories, decisions, heartache, vengeful feelings, devious plans, manipulations, a unexpected surprise, some steamy scenes, love, contentment & a well-deserved, hard-earned delightful epilogue. I look forward to future books from this author with great anticipation & definitely would recommend this fascinating mafia duet.
March 14, 2021
4.5
Ummm okay the beginning of this book jfc, okay like she left him and honestly imma say it was based and deserved and I agree. Like she truly was terrified to raise her kid in tje mafia world and like she had to figure out if she loved him eniugh to stay, and also he had to figure out how to live without her and like they both had to grow and sjit idk.
Umm the whole book everyone deserved better, she is truly the love of my life okay especially what she does in the end like ahhh. Also umm the end of the book I fucking loved okay yeah.
K here’s like this thing I found weird, she like never spoke Spanish really all of book 1 and pretty much all of book 2 till like the 70 percent mark and then all of a sudden she was speaking Spanish all the time. And it was just like weird. Like idk it felt so out of character cuz I’ve read like combined 800 pages of her barely ever speaking Spanish and now she was like it was so strange to read I was like huhh
Ummm okay the beginning of this book jfc, okay like she left him and honestly imma say it was based and deserved and I agree. Like she truly was terrified to raise her kid in tje mafia world and like she had to figure out if she loved him eniugh to stay, and also he had to figure out how to live without her and like they both had to grow and sjit idk.
Umm the whole book everyone deserved better, she is truly the love of my life okay especially what she does in the end like ahhh. Also umm the end of the book I fucking loved okay yeah.
K here’s like this thing I found weird, she like never spoke Spanish really all of book 1 and pretty much all of book 2 till like the 70 percent mark and then all of a sudden she was speaking Spanish all the time. And it was just like weird. Like idk it felt so out of character cuz I’ve read like combined 800 pages of her barely ever speaking Spanish and now she was like it was so strange to read I was like huhh
April 20, 2022
THIS WAS DEFINITELY A WILD JOURNEY!!!!
Even though in book one we got see the beginning of Esme and Artem, I genuinely enjoyed book two way more.
Esme always dreamed of being independent and seeing her go through that and risking everything while pregnant/ as a young mom made me love her even more.
Artem kinda pissed me off in the beginning but I am glad someone was there to kick his senses.
I loved every family moment 🥺🥺
Overall, I’m glad the couple was able to communicate better, beat out that “horrible guy”, and just be able to live in proper peace. It’s for sure the right ending it needed for this couple!!
Even though in book one we got see the beginning of Esme and Artem, I genuinely enjoyed book two way more.
Esme always dreamed of being independent and seeing her go through that and risking everything while pregnant/ as a young mom made me love her even more.
Artem kinda pissed me off in the beginning but I am glad someone was there to kick his senses.
I loved every family moment 🥺🥺
Overall, I’m glad the couple was able to communicate better, beat out that “horrible guy”, and just be able to live in proper peace. It’s for sure the right ending it needed for this couple!!
January 18, 2025
3 🌟
This one dragged a bit for me, the first half especially. It had more action that the first one naturally. It follows Artem on his journey to get back what he lost and Esme's journey running away from the life she didn't want but realising things along the way.
It was an enjoyable read and the writing was great. I mentioned in the first book's review that it was a classic Mafia plot line, marriage of convenience, which I love. I think the second book was supposed to be like a test to their love but the two mcs were apart from each other all through the first 60% of this one so it was a solo realisation journey, not sure I liked that.
This one dragged a bit for me, the first half especially. It had more action that the first one naturally. It follows Artem on his journey to get back what he lost and Esme's journey running away from the life she didn't want but realising things along the way.
It was an enjoyable read and the writing was great. I mentioned in the first book's review that it was a classic Mafia plot line, marriage of convenience, which I love. I think the second book was supposed to be like a test to their love but the two mcs were apart from each other all through the first 60% of this one so it was a solo realisation journey, not sure I liked that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2022
3.5 stars
After the love I had for Gilded Cage, this one felt like a let down. About half of the book was spent with our couple apart, and for such a long book, that just didn't work for me. And since that was the beginning of the book, I was already irritated with the book by the time it got good again, but it was too late for me to love it. I did enjoy the writing, this duet is my first time reading this author, and I loved the narration of the audiobooks, and I would happily read her again.
After the love I had for Gilded Cage, this one felt like a let down. About half of the book was spent with our couple apart, and for such a long book, that just didn't work for me. And since that was the beginning of the book, I was already irritated with the book by the time it got good again, but it was too late for me to love it. I did enjoy the writing, this duet is my first time reading this author, and I loved the narration of the audiobooks, and I would happily read her again.
April 23, 2023
4.5⭐️
I genuinely loved this.
Honestly the best Nicole Fox duet that I’ve read so far!!
The 1st half of this book dragged but the 2nd… zoo we mami:))) literally SO good
________________________________________________
Artem is too damn hot for his own good🥵
Aaaand him, Esme, and little Pheonix… cute as fuck😍
I genuinely loved this.
Honestly the best Nicole Fox duet that I’ve read so far!!
The 1st half of this book dragged but the 2nd… zoo we mami:))) literally SO good
________________________________________________
Artem is too damn hot for his own good🥵
Aaaand him, Esme, and little Pheonix… cute as fuck😍
February 21, 2021
Holy Shit!!!
Nicole Fox has outdone even herself this time!!!
This duet kept me glued to my tablet and the edge of my seat till the very last word of this book.
It has so many twists and turns that it boggled my brain but,I loved every minute of reading it.
Highly recommended! You won't be disappointed I promise!😁😁😁😁😁😁📚🐛
Nicole Fox has outdone even herself this time!!!
This duet kept me glued to my tablet and the edge of my seat till the very last word of this book.
It has so many twists and turns that it boggled my brain but,I loved every minute of reading it.
Highly recommended! You won't be disappointed I promise!😁😁😁😁😁😁📚🐛
May 29, 2023
5⭐️
This book was action filled, heartbreaking, heartwarming, sexy, cute and gave me the happy ending I desperately need Artem and Esme to have!
Also a certain person showing up literally has me squealing..
This book was action filled, heartbreaking, heartwarming, sexy, cute and gave me the happy ending I desperately need Artem and Esme to have!
Also a certain person showing up literally has me squealing..
June 27, 2024
Def my favorite of these palate cleansers. I would have given it 5 if she hadn’t just gratuitously just thrown that last little bit at the ends and not properly wrapped it up or brought the character up again.
March 27, 2021
Loved the strength of Esme!
November 30, 2021
Loved
I really loved this second book in the series by Nicole Fox. Its not an easy ending but a fantastic one.
I really loved this second book in the series by Nicole Fox. Its not an easy ending but a fantastic one.
February 7, 2023
There were a few What? moments that I didn't see coming in this duet. All around a pretty great read.
November 29, 2021
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋💋
Love, hope, death, desertion, and ruthless Mafia lords who will never let you go.
Excellent book and entertaining characters to keep you riveted to the pages.
Wonderful writing too.
💋💋💋
Love, hope, death, desertion, and ruthless Mafia lords who will never let you go.
Excellent book and entertaining characters to keep you riveted to the pages.
Wonderful writing too.
December 15, 2021
¡Simplemente, fascinante!
November 14, 2025
Both characters need extreme therapy (and prison time)
And the author needs to think things through because surviving two bullets and a knife? And giving birth via cesarean and walking out of the hospital bed the same day?
And the author needs to think things through because surviving two bullets and a knife? And giving birth via cesarean and walking out of the hospital bed the same day?
February 27, 2021
This is the second book in the series, and I do recommend reading them in order for best enjoyment. Artem and Esme’s story continues with loads of drama, suspense and steam. The characters have lots of depth and there is lots of emotion. I was hooked from beginning to end. I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews