El Sabor de la Luz (La Bratva Izotov nº 2)

Izotov Bratva #2

by Nicole Fox

A list of red flags that I, Elaina Hunter, have ignored:

- Billionaire chef. (Suspicious.)
- My actual boss. (Problematic.)
- Emotionally unavailable. (Classic.)
- Secret mafia ties. (Less classic. Still an issue.)
- Faked his own death. (Honestly, at this point, I should've seen it coming.)

I should've run after the first one.
I definitely should have booked it after what I saw him do in that alley.
And yet here I am, pregnant with his baby, opening my door to him at midnight because he said pretty please.

Bastian Hale makes me want to tear my hair out.
He makes me want to cry and scream, and also kiss and cuddle.

But if he thinks I'm the same girl he ruined, he's got another thing coming.
This is a new me. Eliana 2.0.
And this version won't fall so easily.

If Bastian wants forgiveness...
He's gonna have to beg for it.

Genres: Romance, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Second Chance, Dark, Mafia Romance, Disability

570 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2026

About the author

Nicole 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.

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Reviews

[Dora Koutsoukou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Part 2/2

1,5 🙄⭐️s

Having sex when the hero is on the brink of death is a terrible and unfortunately overused cliche! ! 🙄🙄
Regardless, I skimmed through the whole story because I was bored and the execution was not at its finest…
(What happened to Zeke and Yas❓)

[LACEY · Rating 1 out of 5]

this story just pissed me off. why did Bastian needs ilianas help to rescue his little brother. is she trainedin these skills, absolutely not, in fact shes losing her vision and pregnant. seriously this plot was even thought about. so many times this book had me stratching my head. like these

A door opens and she immediately smells wintergreen from across the room, yeah okay. her other senses are heightened because she's blind, ma'am be for real, you've been blind a month. sage asks Iliana if she's pregnant, just randomly with no reason at all to ask, ma'am you are only 8 weeks, no one can tell. stating a few times that clothes are stretched tight over her belly, again are you kidding me, you are only 12 weeks now. one of the times was Zekes hoodie, I know dang well that hoodie was big, youre going to tell me that a 12 week belly was stretching it to the limit. I just feel like no effort was put into this book and I have read many of her books and love them, this though, terrible.

also why was iliana so damn stubborn, for what though. it didnt add anything to the book except to make me dislike her and draw out boring conversations. word count was obviously needed because what's up w1ith the stupid vocabulary words at every chapter, pointless and did anyone actually read them.

another issue, who let's a pregnant blind girl sleep on a pullout couch and everyone else's takes the bedrooms, these people dont like you and they are not your friends or a real man. also what kind of man finger bangs his girl with bloody fingers whiles she's wearing a torn hospital gown while sitting on a sidewalk, just gross and definately not a turn on

who gets shot in the stomach and is like im going to my girls mom's house who has no medical experience and im going to live, no way in hell. also who gets shot and 3 days later has sex. that's not sexy, that weird that you cant control your hormones to recover first. 3 days are freaking kidding me, its not like it was a graze, no straight in the abdomen. also it's not like he's laying down and she's doing the work. no, he's effing her and he's careful to avoid putting pressure on her stomach. I just cant with this book, she's only about 13 weeks now, give or take because only a few days passed since they mentioned 12 weeks. was there no proofreader. ugh

[Zenia Najarro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

Ok seeing as I read this book, including the first one, in less than 12 hours I had to give it 4 stars. I was sucked in and NEEDED to know what was going to happen. The FMC was a bit hard to deal with at points, she was a bit too stubborn but it did add to the book and develop her relationship with the mmc. I love Bastian's growth especially after talking with Georgia(also appreciate her growth). I do feel Yas's storyline contributions were unnecessary but I was intrigued enough that I was upset when there was not a metion of her in the epilogue, especially with the trauma that occurred at the end. Essentially the ending was disappointing, felt rushed. Overall I did enjoy these books the first one more than the second.

[Andria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh My God. I'm so pissed with this book. I loved the first one, but this was terrible! So many issues that had me really questioning if a 16 year old boy wrote this.

First of all, and possibly the biggest issue, is Eliana. The smart, sassy girl from the first book was body-snatched by an idiot with super human smell and hearing, weeks after going blind. It takes YEARS to develop the awareness of your surroundings and she's able to change locations daily with no issue? Bull shit. Then you have the issues with her pregnancy. No one can tell at 8 weeks. At 12 weeks, the fetus is the size of a LIME, and yet her balance is off, center of gravity is weird, and she feels like a whale?! No. Just, no. Do some fucking research.

Bastian is also extra stupid in this book. How did he become so successful with how stupid and incompetent he is? "Eliana, come help me save my cripple brother even though you just became blind." *face palm* "Let's go stay with Zeke so my ass hole brother has another person to use against me"*eye roll* "let's bring the blind and pregnant girl to sit in the car, just in case and not be surprised when she runs in and saves the day"*are you fucking serious?"

The only person that developed in a positive and believable way was Georgia. and considering we barely see her, that's saying a ton.

This was so hard to finish, and I wish i hadn't wasted my time with it.

[Luna ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

»Because I need you to understand, Eliana, that there is no line I won't cross for you. No version of myself I won't become. And I'm not sorry for that. I can't be sorry for that.«

★ ★ ★

❥ 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝜗𝜚˚⋆
I still like her but I think she was unnecessary hard on Bastian sometimes. I love the fact she has a backbone and I‘m impressed how well she handles herself being blind.

❥ 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 ⋆✮
I love this man. He does everything for the people he loves. Bastian is the perfect mixture of a dominant and dangerous but still soft man.

✥ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌
This was a solid conclusion for this duet. It‘s not as thrilling as the first book but still entertaining. For me this could have been much shorter but similar to the first one this was a quick read considering there are again over 500 pages. I can‘t say enough that I‘m not a fan of duets because most of the time this is just a money maker in my opinion. There are few duets I truly enjoyed and this was one of them. I liked the overall idea of this storyline and the characters were amazing. So thumbs up! I will definitely read more books from this author because her writing style is really good. I had fun reading this book.
I must say I understand people disliking this book because you need to switch your common sense off while reading. It didn‘t make sense that Bastian wants Elianas help (while she‘s pregnant and blind) to rescue his brother from the Bratva. Like wtf? This doesn’t make sense but it‘s entertaining so I ignored the unlogical plot. If you can‘t switch off your common sense/brain while reading then this book isn‘t for you.

𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?
Yes.

𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓 ׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒
plot: 3/5
spice: 1/5
humor: 4/5
couple/tension: 4/5
world building: 4/5
happy end?: yes

𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 ₊ ⊹
protective and possessive hero, billionaire, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, disability representation, surprise pregnancy, light mafia, dark, age gap

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
#1 Taste of the Dark ★ ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#2 Taste of the Light ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Haley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I wanted to stab my eyes like 20 times during this book. The first 50% of this book was decent and I was able to manage it but then every single page was her icing him out and continuing to say I can manage on my own like a billion times. And then the guilt after being a b****. Well guess what happens when you pushed him away (doctors office). Btw that scene after was entirely gross. Umm he just punched a dude to death in the face and then he sticks those fingers, that are coated in blood, into places that should definitely not have another random guys blood into. She has something for sure now. The story just kept getting more insane after each chapter. Their ragtag friends coming together and learning about him being a killer and then being okay with it was just the icing on the cake. Especially when her MOM finds out. Ummm I know you aren’t the best mother but ummm maybe have some good motherly advice for her lady. Anyways, 500+ pages / time that I regret. 😂

[Carly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad. I can't get past some of the more ridiculous scenes in this book.
There were just so many unrealistic storylines, the pregnancy symptoms, the reality of blindness ... it was just not well done.

[Ohh look · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was a hot mess I'm actually annoyed at everybody who was giving it five stars.

[Ambers Book Nest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, I believe, the third book or series I’ve read in which the FMC was blind. It's not a subject that appears very frequently in romance novels. However, I thought Nicole Fox did a good job writing Eliana. I believe it depicted some of the terrible encounters and difficulties that a blind person would go through. Although I do feel like sometimes it could have been addressed a little further. Taste of the Light is just full of drama, danger, twists, turns, suspense and complete chaos. Each turn of a page came with another horrible thing happening to either Bastian, Eliana, Zeke, Yas or Sage. Everyone suffered in the book because of Alexei, so it was more than satisfying to see his end. I think the only reason I rated this book low was because even though there was all this drama and chaos, the book didn’t keep my attention: sometimes finishing this book became more of a chore than fun. But that all being said, I think this was a great story, and I can't wait to see what comes next from Nicole Fox, and you bet I'll be first in line again to apply for an ARC.

“I need you to understand, Eliana, that there is no line I won’t cross for you. No version of myself I won’t become. And I’m not sorry for that. I can’t be sorry for that.”

[Neapolitan670 📚🖤 · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many times will he grasp at the grim reapers cloak 😱

The second in this duet follows on perfectly, Eliana and Yas are holed up in a grotty hotel, Eliana now completely blind. Bastian has been doing his brother’s bidding and falling deeper into Bratva life. The girls find an apartment to rent as far away as they possibly can from the city, Eliana finds out she’s pregnant. Soon after they learn that Bastian Hale is d3ad, of course Eliana wants to go to his funeral, certainly not a good idea when she is being watched. From here we are thrown into their story….

“𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒. 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎.”

I really wouldn’t be able to say which of the duet was my fav, because they both have their elements. However, this second one is more intense with build ups, tension, angst, vi0lence and emotions, it is one you don’t want to put down but also one you are sat on the edge of your seat and growling 🤣 I do enjoy me a Nicole Fox read, she has a way with making you have all the feels, with her words and her visuals.

[Kat Jowett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow the second half of this duet was just as good as the first. Nicole managed to write an emotional hard hitter, with a FMC that was kind and strong. Ely is now blind and learning to maneuver the world without her sight, pregnant with only jas as her support and ya know what she's a badass never a challenge she can't face, bastian has a whole host of issues least of all his apparent death.... he has to try fix things with, Ely, zeke, jas and sage. Figure out how to beat his bratva boss brother, deal with the fbi, grapple electrical wires to rescue his disabled brother. Among other things. Safe to say there's a whole lot of drama but bastian is actively trying to be the person his family need. There's so much more to this book, there's mums trying to make amends and be better, yas learning that you don't have to push people away before you get hurt and sometimes the bravest thing you can do is love, sage has to learn to forgive day by dad when trust is desperately broken.

The emotion I felt reading this Nicole did a fantastic job writing from the perspective of all these people with such different feelings and situations and I loved it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Intel Chicky Reads Romance (Kara Merideth) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting conclusion!

Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1\2
Trope: Workplace romance
Angst: 😱😱😱😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥

Overall, this was a really good conclusion to the story. It was a little slow paced at times, but it picked up again toward the end. All the drama, greeat banter, and accidental babies that you expect with a Nicole fox book. Always a 1 click.

[Juliette Harden · Rating 2 out of 5]

✨Vibes: Romance, Mafia-ish
💕Favorite Quotes: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
"Love just is. Like gravity. You can fight it all you want, but eventually, you're gonna fall."

Would I recommend: **IT'S A HARD NO FOR ME**

💭Thoughts: Ummmmm.....the math just wasn't mathing for me in this book. AT ALL. I was very disappointed as this would make my 43rd book of hers that I have read (which I LOVE her mafia books so much, I tell everyone they should read them) and it fell so flat, it was hard to get through. Let's just say, I am not a DNF'er and I almost succumbed because of how bad this was. Here is a list of just a few things that had me scratching my head or that just left me so dumb struck at the ludicrousness of this book:

1. If homegirl is blind, how the hell would she have seen what the pregnancy test said being as though she didn't want to tell her best friend yet?! Did she happen to pick one in her blindness that spoke to her. Did she get lucky and get one that had brail that she can now magically read? It didn't make sense at all.
2. Why all throughout the book did it have her "seeing". I swear the author forgot that she wrote a blind character sometimes. There were moments where it was like okay she would say something in the book and then remind us well she just assumed that is how they looked or what they were doing because she was blind and then in other moments it straight up was written that she could magically see for that scene alone. WEIRD
3. The most tragic scene in this book though was reading how he defended her in this moment that she needed it and he killed a man. Not the point here though.....It talked about how bloody his hands were multiple times, to the point where as a reader you are like dang okayyyyy his hands are covered in blood (we get it) all to say that and then they end up on the side of the road on a sidewalk where he then presumes to finger bang her.....**WITH HIS BLOODY FINGERS 😬** I mean if that doesn't scream DISGUSTING, I don't know what does. Definitely screams unsanitary, need to get tested immediately.
4. The ending was atrocious. What the hell happened to the best friends?!?! Like did they die? Did they survive? Are they living happily ever after? Are they still together? WTH happened????

**STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW SIS.....MAFIA MAIN CHARACTERS AND MAFIA TRUE STORYLINES**

***Not me realizing there is an extended epilogue that I read and liked more so than the actual real book. FYI for anyone who didn't read it, you do find out where the best friends are and how they are doing. At least I got that answered for me.

[Samantha Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 was good, we found out that Eli is pregnant and her and Yasmin are on the run currently. They then have to help Bastian save his brother, Sage from his other brother. There was a lot going on in this one. Again this was different from Nicole’s usual books. I would give it a 3 out of 5 on spice level.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

What?

So many ways to move this story forward, and this is what was chosen? Firstly, this duet should have only been one book. Secondly, the characters went from likable to just ridiculous. Thirdly, just no. So much wrong with this ending.

[Joy · Rating 1 out of 5]

horrible

I didn’t even finish this book. It didn’t need to be a duet. A lot of stuff could’ve been resolved in the first book.. please don’t waste your time

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get comfortable with your favorite bottle of wine, your snacks, your cozy blanket because you aren’t putting this down until the last page has been turned picking up where we left off. Eliana is left to pick up her new reality without vision, without the man she fell in love with, her world continued to change with her trying to keep the ones she loves safe but for her that means sacrificing herself it seems to be the only way. Bastian we have learned to love him because of the tender moments he shows his girl he doesn’t let her blindness stop her or them, will stop at nothing to protect the ones he love and I love that he supported her, allowed her to have her own independence just cleared some of the hurdles and was there to catch up telling her she can do it. But Eliana had to realize that strength within herself but the one thing I can say she did things like she wasn’t blind and once she realized that Bastian wasn’t going to leave her well that just gave her the wings she needed to fly on her own but where are they headed, where will they land, they push, they pull, they fight every thing for the love but will they win that love, the more they fight the stronger the pull towards one another, and through it all will they find their own happiness somewhere along the way?

[Caroline F · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m breathless! What a wild ride! This was a dark and spicy story that was, at times, pretty tough to read. It was heart-thumping and heart-stopping, and towards the end I seriously thought there was another cliffy coming!

There was no denying that Eliana and Bastian belonged together but what an arduous path they trod to get to their HEA. They kept getting hits right up to the final chapters. I could see time left in book was getting very low and wondered how the author was going to wind the story up. Yes, it did feel a bit rushed but, honestly, I was just so glad their horrible ordeals were over that I didn't care that we didn't get more of them in the aftermath.

Poor Bastian! I had moments of sheer devastation for him and the hard decisions he had to make. Eliana was so hard on him that I wanted to shake her for her stubbornness and hardheadedness. I loved the family unit they made with Sage, Yas, Zeke and Georgia.

This book was heaps darker than the first one and, as I mentioned earlier, it was hard to read at times - I could hardly bear the cruelty portrayed. However, in the heart of the story was the love that endured between Eliana and Bastian - undeniable and stronger than they could ever imagine.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2CAVPX...

[Winfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book is worth reading... slow burn (YES) but oh how it burns once Bastian and Eliana get started it's flaming. Then we toss in their best friends passion you have a story that will not let you go.

The ending will make your jaw drag the floor.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one sucked, to put it bluntly. I skimmed the middle and read part of the end. It got dark.

[razika · Rating 2 out of 5]

everything I could say about this book would have negative connotations attached to them

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despised it.

I absolutely could not stand this book. Unfortunately I am not one who can DNF a book. I always feel like it'll get better. Surely it has to get better. This will have an upswing, right?

I need to stop being so optimistic. Because this book was garbage. And I would not recommend this series to anybody. Let me tell you why and spoil it all.

For starters, there's too much garbage going on. Every 5 minutes they're on the run from the brother. Listen, two times? That's cool. Four times? No. That's excessive. I'm over it. I have never wanted a book to end so badly.

The whole blindness thing too. Cool, she went blind. But she was able to do things and "see" things she shouldn't be able to when blind. So for her to say stuff like, "he was leaning up against the dresser with a smug look on his face." Really? Cuz your blind eyes can see that? Your blind eyes that can see nothing and you live in the dark, can see how he's standing and the look on his face? Honey, I think not. There were so many examples like that where she was "seeing" things. She saw a notification on her phone. No she didn't. She might have heard a notification. She might have been alerted to a notification. But she did not see it because she's freaking blind! There are probably at least 50 different examples of stupid stuff like that that just ruins the book in my opinion. And then, she's out here fighting and running into a building to save Sage and Bastian because he drew the place on her hand multiple times? How does that account for the other guy who's there who could have come in behind her? Bastian didn't really know the inside layout of the building. So how does she? He didn't know where the stairs were located. Bastian knew which window his brother was at, But to have her go in blindly after crossing the street and inside the building, up the stairs and smash the guy upside the head with her walking stick. I forget what she calls it already. That was just not believable at all. And while I do love a book that has unrealistic visuals, I want that with the men. They're all 6'2+ bulky beyond belief with a manhood that'll tear you apart. That's the unbelievability I want. The rest of it needs to be semi-realistic.

Zeke also seems to just keep getting his butt kicked all the time. He didn't seem to be that much of a weakling, but the poor guy was beaten over and over and over at this point as a secondary character. It was too much.

I normally love to read my books. I typically read one at a time because it gives me the time to devote to it and then I can move on to the next one. But I did not want to read this book... Because it was that awful. It took me days to read this dang thing and it shouldn't take that long. I don't even remember when I started it. I just know that it strung out for way longer than it should because the entire story was just so unrealistic and so ridiculous all around that I got sick of reading it and just wanted it over but didn't want to even read it to make that happen! And that saying something because I really truly love reading books.

I should have taken better notes on everything that I really truly despised about this book, but I kept on trying to think that it would get better. The fact that she's even blind in the first place is lame too. Like, why?

And Bastian... I'm still not clear his freezer timeline. I thought he was like 12 years old? But then I read on another part where he was like 8 or 9 years old? I'm so confused. But I didn't even care enough to go back and check because the book was just that bad. Usually I will actually go back to see if I read something right or if I interpreted it wrong. But I did not even care enough to do that in this book. I just wanted the book done.

Oh and speaking of finishing, let's go there for a minute. I am all about having adult shenanigans in all locations. Don't get me wrong. However, in someone's bush, yes you read that right, out in the real world, that was gross. And when he had bloody fingers and was then fingering her, also disgusting. And then towards the end, when they had all the family over, and she's on the counter in the kitchen and he's feasting on her delightful center... Also, no! Go clean yourself up. Go do it in a place that is not somebody else's yard or in the bushes/weeds and where people can literally walk in when you're hosting a party. Again, sometimes the possibility of being caught can be very sexy. In this book, it was not. At all.

-100/10 do not recommend this series (Yes, that's a negative 100/10)

I need to look up and see if I have read this author before. She doesn't stand out as someone I've loved in the past, but I've read so many random books, I truly don't know if this is just a one-off series or if this is common. I probably should have looked into that up before I read this review so I could wrap up whether or not I would ever read anything else by her.

Too bad 0 stars isn't an option.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book two of a duet and book one must be read first for the full story.

Rating: 3/5 stars
POV: Dual 1st person POV
Length: Novel
Relationship: MF

Primary Tropes/Features: Duet conclusion, On the run, Forced proximity, Morally grey hero, Mafia romance, Grovelling, Protective hero, Touch her and Die, Surprise pregnancy, Disability representation (Blindness due to Leber congenital amaurosis [main character], Paralysis/Paresis [side character])

Secondary Tropes/Features: Age gap (8 years), Chef/foodie vibes, Billionaire hero, Flashbacks, Kink (Spanking, Praise, Food play)

Content warning: Separation violence (on page, largely experienced by side character), Attempted murder (on page), Murder (on & off page), Torture (on page), Being held hostage (on page), Human trafficking (implied/discussed not seen), Blackmail (on page), Violence (on page), Drug overdose (discussed not seen), Parental death (discussed not seen), Gun violence (on page), Drug dealing (discussed not seen), Description of the dead (on page), Homelessness (discussed not seen), Prostitution (discussed not seen), Fatricide (on page)

Taste of the Light concludes Eilana and Bastian’s story with an interesting on the run romance that keeps you engaged. Whilst I have done my best to avoid spoilers some may still remain so I have hidden sections of this review.

The characters:
Eilana continued to be a strong willed and steadfast individual and with a lot of this book requiring her to stand up against not just Bastian but members of the Mafia that were intending her and her friends harm I feel like we got a good look at how deep her strength went. Her deep seated stubbornness felt fully developed in this book and we had that continuation of it being contrasted against her hope and light, especially as she came to terms with her pregnancy. She continued to be a well rounded character who I liked and was interested in. A fair amount of the first book was dedicated to Eilana coming to terms with the progression of her genetic condition. In this book she did go blind and whilst it was great to see her settle into this new way of life, own her disability, and navigate the world with such strength and ease it did leave something to be desired. With her blindness there were changes to her POV to reflect that but there were moments where the narrative was written like she could see everything that was happening and it did pull me out of the story. I’m the kind of person who gets annoyed by books and TV shows when everything works perfectly with no consequence or hardship, and whilst I’m not wishing the worst on characters, I missed and wished we’d seen more of her learning to manage her blindness and adapt. The worry of learning how to do this was such a fundamental part of her character arc in the first book and a big part of her characterisation within this book because she became helpless at some very important moments. So by not getting that development from hardship on page the book diminished her potential by taking away the reader’s opportunity to experience her learning how to live in a way that meant her disability did not define her.

Bastian continued to be a person who favoured efficiency and excellence above all but the life we got to see come from him in the first book was gone. At the start of this book, and for a lot of the following chapters, he was an empty shell of man with an empty existence. The sides of Bastian readers and Eilana loved in book one slowly came back to him through the events of the book but nothing started it like the display of sorrow, hope, and rage that came from realising his own actions might have caused him to miss out on his child’s life. In book one, Bastian was your typical broody and closed off billionaire and the mafia lite elements of the story only hinted at the extremeness of his possessiveness and need for control so with this book exploring his role and experiences with the Mafia much more we got a true sense of his darkness. Learning how he was not just a good guy that had done bad things but a bad guy that would continue to do bad things if the situation called for it and nothing called for it more than protecting the potential for something to happen between him and Eilana so he could be there for her and their child. With Bastian we were given a great development of vulnerability as he came to terms with a harrowing distraughtfulness that came from realising that the things that he thought were possible and that hope that he was starting to regain had been destroyed. Though it was a shame that we weren't given the same on page dedication to his atonement. With the events of the plot resolving so did the hardships of his relationship with Eilana and despite how at peace he was in the epilogue I feel like the reader didn’t get to see how he grew and atoned after the events of the duet nor how he got to that level of peace so it undermined the conclusion to his character arc of not letting his past define him.

The romance:
This book started at the point of book one’s cliffhanger ending and quickly shifted to Eilana drowning in the events of being on the run, going blind, and finding out she's pregnant. Whilst Bastian who would soon go on to become a ghost may as well have been dead after losing the two people he cared about the most and being in the process of convincing himself that looking for them was the wrong thing to do.

In a call back to how their relationship initially developed they struck a deal where she agreed to help him but with the condition that once it was done he would disappear. Eilana and Bastian were no longer two people in love but each other’s source of destruction and despite their love for one another, Bastian's attempts to get closer resulted in her pulling further away each time. Steps to reconciliation were made and quickly destroyed as Eilana set boundaries against his heavy and high handed needs for control but that remained difficult to maintain when Bastian’s response was often to take a knife (sometimes literally) to a problem. Like with the first book the path to their dynamic changing was quick and it wasn’t long before they were together despite defining what was happening between them as the opposite of that. In this book we lost the banter and teasing that came from their enemies-to-lovers development and were instead given an emotionally charged progression where they came to terms with their connection in the context of their new situation. The overall road to resolution was quick but it was engaging and gave their story a satisfactory conclusion before wrapping it up in a sweet epilogue.

The side plots:
I’ve written about it more above but understandably the plot of Eilana's genetic condition that took her eyesight remained the most noticeable of the side plots. I am not someone who has any lived experience with the disabilities portrayed within this book and I cannot speak of this from the viewpoint of a sensitivity reader but I did find the portrayal of her emotions around going blind and the impact that had on her psyche to feel authentic. The emotions related to this were engaging and they felt like they were given the respect that the severity of the topics would require.

Anything else beyond this became non-existent with the dominance of the Mafia storyline. As our main characters became “a broody teenager, a pregnant blind woman, her angry best friend, her golden retriever of a chef boyfriend, and a tortured man who's supposed to be dead” who took on the villains of this book. The Mafia elements had stepped up a lot in comparison to book one and didn't feel overdone. The story was engaging and the attempts at twists and turns, whilst obvious, were interesting and I feel like the book reached a satisfactory conclusion when it came to Bastian confronting his brother which was the main reason for the Mafia appearance within this duet.

The secondary characters:
Yasmin (Eilana’s best friend) and Zeke (Bastian's best friend) were heavily entwined in this book. Book one saw the start of a connection forming and their reunion here was emotional and in a way heartbreaking. What I loved the most about them was how they kept their wholesome and fun dynamic from book one but after almost losing one another there was an accompanying desperation that had me increasingly interested in their story and I would happily read more about them because at times they did seem to fall to the side. Sage (Bastian's younger brother) however was more fully developed. The breakdown of his relationship with Bastian was distressing for both them and the reader and gone was the happy go lucky wounded teen. Instead in his place was a teen who was not going to lose his future at the hands of his brother's actions. It felt like Sage grew beyond what he was in book one and part of that was through the on page dedication to his developing relationship with Eilana. I loved them connecting over their disabilities and joint disappointment in Bastian as they were two characters who were having similar experiences so seeing how they each dealt with and supported each other was a nice touch. With the events of the first book the relationship dynamic between these five characters was often uneasy and difficult but moments of camaraderie and the epilogue cemented the found family dynamic they had.

Then there was Aleksei and Brandon, the two villains of this book, whose impact on the book’s events were larger than in book one. They remained interesting for the danger that they brought to the book but I could have done without Brandon’s re-appearance. Aleksei’s role and characterisation in this book made sense as he was the source of the conflict and his appearances aided in further developing Bastian and Sage and the book’s plot and it had some interesting and unexpected emotional moments. Brandon however felt like he was thrown into the plot for the sake of it. I didn’t enjoy the revealed connection between Aleksei and Brandon because it felt like it was a way to wrap up the domestic and separation violence storyline that Yasmin was experiencing at his hands without properly addressing it. His actions and the storyline’s resolution was swept up into the naturally exaggerated (in comparison) Mafia storyline, thus diminishing this storyline’s impact and making it feel like it was thrown in rather than be addressed with the importance the severity of the topic demands.

Overall Taste of the Light was an enjoyable book which kept my interest and gave Bastian, Eilana, and their family a satisfactory conclusion.

Favourite Quote(s):
"Anyone can die for someone, Bastian. Living for them? That's the hard part."

"I don't have a ring yet, and I'm in no hurry to pick it out, because once I do, you're going to be wearing it for the rest of your life, so it needs to be the right one. I'm a fucked-up man with a fucked-up past, Eliana. But it doesn't have to be a fucked-up future. If you'll have me in spite of everything, then I want you forever."

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one had a lot more action and suspense. Twists and turns until the end!

[Nour 🇵🇸🍉 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so disappointed by the conclusion of this duet.
I was so looking forward to it. Especially with how book 1 ended

With both Eliana and Yas on a run from Brandon (Yas’s psycho ex) and Bastian (who now became a murderer for his brother Aleksei to protect his restaurant and brother Sage)

Eliana becomes blind. The writing however, in some instances, i makes it feel like she could still see.

There is a scene from Eliana’s pov that said and don’t quote me exactly. “I looked at Yas, who looked at Sage, who looked at me”
Like girl, how did you know? And that happened in more than one scene. It was so confusing to read and needed a better editor.

Also, the pregnancy timeframe? She is 8 weeks along and can’t fit her clothes already? People can tell she is pregnant just by looking?? She is 8 weeks along?? How is that possible?

I hated how the ending didn’t wrap up everything.
Like what happened to Yas and Zeke?? They were both beat up by Brandon and Yas is pregnant? It didn’t say what happened with them. That was so disappointing.

Also, when they were facing off with Brandon, Eliana was doing all the fighting and knew his location from the sounds he was making. She was able to attach him with a broken mirror and to put it successfully in his thigh. She kept fighting and hit him with her cane.

Im sorry but how is she aiming perfectly? Lets not forget she recently became blind, there is no way she developed her other senses to compensate for her sight that fast.

Also, why didn’t Yas help while Brandon was distracted by Eliana? Yas could see and would have been able to help. Eliana is also pregnant so its not an excuse. The story didn’t even mention why Yas didn’t help. Sage was trying to help and he is in a wheelchair.

It was so unbelievable and disappointing.

Lets not forget that Bastian the hero “died” twice and Eliana mourned him twice. Aleksei told him to fake his death a third time and to travel far away and work for him. But he refused. I mean enough is enough.

And I really wanted to know what happened after with Zeke and Yas. I read the 20 years later epilogue on Nicole’s website. They are both alive and have a daughter. But it didn’t mention what happened to them and how were they able to survive.

[Lauren Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am absolutely furious at myself for finishing this book. I felt like I should have DNFed early on, but I genuinely enjoyed book one and kept waiting for everything to finally make sense. I wanted all the absolute nonsense to click into place and make me think, oh, that’s why. I was willing to suspend disbelief in the first book despite some weird inconsistencies because the story was fun and engaging. Unfortunately, Taste of the Light was just incoherent.

No one will ever convince me that a millionaire restaurateur with mob ties doesn’t have an excellent legal team on retainer, or that he wouldn’t have called them the second things started going sideways to negotiate an incredible plea deal with the feds. There is genuinely no logical reason for anything in this book to unfold the way it does. None.

And then, as if that wasn’t enough, we get not one, but two surprise pregnancies. Eliana’s pregnancy, in particular, felt like it was written by someone who has never heard of - or researched - human pregnancy or babies. Eight weeks pregnant and her center of gravity is off? Barely twelve weeks and a stranger clocks her as eighteen, while the doctor insists everything is tracking perfectly normally? What was the point of giving her a supposedly monster-sized baby (which also does not happen like that) if it was never going to be explained in any meaningful way?

And then there’s surprise pregnancy number two (I maintain, completely unnecessary) paired with a traumatic beating, and the book just… ends. We don’t even know if Yas and Zeke survive. Really?

I wanted so badly to love this sequel, but instead it completely unraveled what worked in the first book and left me frustrated, confused, and honestly pretty annoyed that I stuck it out to the end.

[ZoeyHart♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Im having a very hard time finishing this book. the first one was cute and loved the premise of a blind fmc. book 2 feels like they switched authors and they didnt tell author 2 what happened in the first one and they just ran with it. (some spoilers below)

1.) the author clearly has no idea of pregnancy and what weeks correlate with what. because aint no way she had a big ol bump at 10 weeks(ish) that her clothes aint fitting that way (unless shes carrying quads or something)
2.) fmc is sooooooooo unlikeable now. She was sassy and fiery and cute in the 1st book and shes a bore and hateful thing now. I cant stand her.
3) the author keeps forgetting the fmc is blind and has her say and do things only someone with sight can do. (because how thr fuck was she able to map out a building by touching a piece of paper once! and only being blind a few weeks/months. dont even get me started on the pharmacy/drug store scene.. no mames.
4.) im halfway through the book and the MMC restaurant and his whole life hasn't been talked about or referenced and im like...WHO THE HELL IS RUNNING HIS EMPIRE?? while doing bad man shit....also why did he become a dumbass and ask his pregnant baby mama to help him with something so dangerous? like wtf?!?!?
5.) why the hell did nobody let the pregnant woman take a bedroom in the house and have her sleeping on the couch????



I could go on and on and im only halfway through the book. the plot is getting more far-fetched as im reading and im struggling (hard) to continue. ima try to trudge along but until I do, im keeping my 1 star.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book one was decent but book two was … something else (in my opinion). I had a bunch of issues with this one…

- did anyone else get a bait and switch vibe from the two MCs? Like suddenly Bastien is an unbeatable killing mafia machine - even after 16 years away? Goneentirely is the character from book 1. The super smart Eliana is dumber than a brick wall and stubborn as all get out, even though she’s newly blind and in situations she has zero comprehension about?
- how after 8-12 weeks of being newly blind, Our FMC has near perfect ability to go about in a city she has never been to.
- the rescue of Sage. Ummm why would Bastien ask her for assistance? Not only is she pregnant and BLIND, she has zero experience in this. And yet… and yet! She runs out of the getaway car, into a building she’s never been on (but knows because Bas drew it on her palm?) runs up to the second floor and knocks the bad guy with her cane. How…?
- is Bastien superhuman?? He gets shot and just walks away to his future MILs house because you know, she has so much medical experience? And he does it again at the end after intense torture AND takes out every bratva guy he comes across??
- the beatings of Yas and Zeke. Seemed excessive and they weren’t even mentioned later - did they die? Go underground? Who knows.


This one just didn’t hit the mark for me.

[HelloCutePanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok - so Eliana ran away and is in hiding from Bastian because he killed someone. But she gets mad at him for staying away and faking his death.

And he could find her at any time.

And she isn’t scared for her life when he show up.

I think the author forgets that she made Eliana blind. Like Eliana picking out a pregnancy test from a sea of boxes in aisle 7. Telling Bastian to take the next exit.

Just shit in general didn’t make sense. Why would you need a blind woman to rescue your brother. “They have never seen Eliana. Just a regular blind woman hanging around shady apartment buildings.

Bastian is a multimillionaire. He doesn’t have the resources to protect him and his brother. Can’t provide security for his project. The whole shit being pulled apart that will take weeks to fix at Olympus gets fixed in under 2 hours? And before a gala that is going to be held there?

The first book was fantastic until about the 85% mark.

This book is an absolute shit show with no redeeming qualities.

[Marisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave the first book the benefit of the doubt but somehow this book is even worse. Don’t even get me started on the typos. There are entire words missing from sentences which means half the time they have to be read 2-3 times to understand what is (trying to be) said. It’s as if this book was written in one go on a cell phone, words are close but not correct as if texting and your phone autocorrecting wrong (which again means you have to reread the sentence to understand what is was supposed to say). And then no one went back to proofread, they just said good ‘nough and clicked publish.

Should we talk about how the blind girl is able to describe everything in minute detail even though SHE IS BLIND?! How do you walk into a room and describe the exact way a man is standing when YOU CANT SEE HIM??? Or describe the exact way a house looks like it was drawn in crayon BUT YOU CANT SEE IT?!?!? It’s not like “my friend described it to me and it sounds like xyz” no it’s literally all in her POV with nobody but her +/- the one other person who she is describing.

There’s also just really teeny irksome inconsistencies. Like how does she drop her cane “in the gutter” then her whole person is immediately scooped up by someone and carried off “while clutching her cane” when did she pick it up??? And without a whole scene of her on her hands and knees fumbling around trying to find it?? There were AT LEAST three separate scenes in which she dropped her cane and then it magically reappeared in her hands without anyone having picked it up.

I swear this entire book was just written as rage bait.

Edited to add:
How did I forget to mention the fact that everyone was in a bed in their own room EXCEPT THE PREGNANT WOMAN?! Nah she gets a lumpy couch, ur fine stop complaining. Or, what reeeeeeally made me mad, this girl doesn’t smoke but now that she’s pregnant she’d like to try it again after not having smoked since college or whatever? Do you WANT the baby to be more effed up than it’s already going to be with yall as parents?? Also she’s barely even pregnant but somehow the size of a whale. I haven’t finished the book yet but unless there’s a twist of her being pregnant with 13 babies this she has no business acting like her clothes actually don’t fit her at this point. I get a bigger belly when I bloat on my period (or eat too much pizza by myself) but she’s been pregnant for 30 seconds and is acting like she’s about to pop?!

Also explain to me how this blind pregnant chick was needed to rescue Sage? He could have done that sht on his own, but no he wanted to control her again. I am a diehard dark romance girlie and I love me a controlling mafia man, but this dude was just a straight up asshole. There was not one singular redeeming quality about this dude (even the orgasms can be got elsewhere, BOBs for the win (; ). The only reason I don’t feel the need to bash Bastian (lol) is because Eliana was just as awful. “We’re on the run from the law and the mafia and I’m blind so I better go out alone and rip the dick off of anyone who tries to tell me that I’m clearly a fcking moron”. That child ain’t gonna live very long with such a moron of a mother, let’s be real.

Also. I may not have ever run from the law before personally so maybe I’m wrong… but isn’t step 1 to ditch your cell phones and stuff? So how is she on the run but her mom was trying to call her (and Eliana knew this because she was screening the calls). Let’s say that she did get smart eventually and replace it with some cheap burner phone… do they have smart burner phones? Like I always picture some rinkydink flip phone, so how is she sending voice messages and stuff back and forth to Yas? And motel hopping makes sense to avoid the cops, but then they settle into an apartment and she gets set up with a coach person thing for her blindness? You don’t think some blind girl on the run isn’t going to stick out like a sore thumb??? There is absolutely no way they weren’t found by the cops yet unless they’re literally just watching them and letting them think they’re getting away with something because they feel a lil smidge of pity for them because how can someone possibly be THAT BAD at “disappearing”. It’s like playing hide-and-seek with a toddler and they’re giggling so hard that you have to actively pretend you don’t know precisely where they are. That’s the cops. “Do they really think we don’t see them?” while munching on donuts at the table next to them.

Also don’t have the blurb tell you straight up that he faked his death and then trying to spin that as a MAJOR TWIST that he’s shockingly not dead even though it says so right on the back of the book. It could have been worded differently, like here she is navigating life without the father of her unborn baby and then when you read it “oh no, he dead?! ):” and then a second later “oh no he NOT dead 😮”