What do you think?
Rate this book
Killer of Kings #1
Taking Her Innocence
Viper has always been a bastard, a nightmare, death for hire. He's known for his swift kills, so he isn't surprised when he's offered seven figures for a new hit. It’s supposed to be a quick find and eliminate. When his mark turns out to be an innocent twenty-year old with big blue eyes, he shouldn’t care one way or another—but he does. Viper wants to keep her for himself.
Pepper’s step-father killed her mother, and she’s been on the run ever since. When a hitman shows up on her doorstep, covered in ink, and strapped with heat, she expects to be his next victim. But she’s wrong. Viper keeps her safe from the mercenaries hoping to cash in on the world-wide contract on her head. He’s everything she’s not, but she still finds herself falling hard for her captor.
With the odds against them, and death waiting around every corner, can they find true love in each other? Or is Viper only interested in taking her innocence?
Pepper’s step-father killed her mother, and she’s been on the run ever since. When a hitman shows up on her doorstep, covered in ink, and strapped with heat, she expects to be his next victim. But she’s wrong. Viper keeps her safe from the mercenaries hoping to cash in on the world-wide contract on her head. He’s everything she’s not, but she still finds herself falling hard for her captor.
With the odds against them, and death waiting around every corner, can they find true love in each other? Or is Viper only interested in taking her innocence?
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 14, 2017
522 people are currently reading
959 people want to read
About the author
Sam Crescent
547 books5,493 followersSam Crescent is passionate about fiction. She loves a good erotic romance and so it only made sense for her to spread her wings and start writing. She began writing in 2009 and finally got that first acceptance in 2011 by Total-E-Bound.
She loved creating new characters and delving into the worlds that she creates. When she’s not panicking about a story or arguing with a character, she can be found in her kitchen creating all kinds of havoc. Like her stories the creations in the kitchen can be just as dubious but sometimes things turn out great.
She loved creating new characters and delving into the worlds that she creates. When she’s not panicking about a story or arguing with a character, she can be found in her kitchen creating all kinds of havoc. Like her stories the creations in the kitchen can be just as dubious but sometimes things turn out great.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
May 23, 2017
4/5
Dark, hot, fast , safe read
-Insta connection> great build up to Love
-OTT alpha male
-Great characters
-h breaks down H's walls pretty fast
-H "Not a saint" but didn't come across as a man whore
-H never had any connection with anyone or women
-H never kissed anyone before h
-virgin h
-action packed
-strong love connection by the end
-No OW Drama from women he slept with, there was this one paragraph where some woman with in his organization tried to flirt with him in front of h, but he was not having it. He's never slept with this OW.
-mild push or pull but it all works its self out
-HEA
(Beginning of my rant)
NO epilogue!! WTF! I very much enjoyed this book!!!
But I wanted an epilogue! Does Viper learn how to read? Did his boss really just let him go? HELLO they are basically the richest people in the world now, what happens to their company? Do they actually get married? Kids!??
I wanted answer to all these questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why why why why why?!? Why do authors not create epilogues?!?!? Makes me so mad sometimes! Even more so when I very much enjoyed they book!!!
(Rant over)
Dark, hot, fast , safe read
-Insta connection> great build up to Love
-OTT alpha male
-Great characters
-h breaks down H's walls pretty fast
-H "Not a saint" but didn't come across as a man whore
-H never had any connection with anyone or women
-H never kissed anyone before h
-virgin h
-action packed
-strong love connection by the end
-No OW Drama from women he slept with, there was this one paragraph where some woman with in his organization tried to flirt with him in front of h, but he was not having it. He's never slept with this OW.
-mild push or pull but it all works its self out
-HEA
(Beginning of my rant)
NO epilogue!! WTF! I very much enjoyed this book!!!
But I wanted an epilogue! Does Viper learn how to read? Did his boss really just let him go? HELLO they are basically the richest people in the world now, what happens to their company? Do they actually get married? Kids!??
I wanted answer to all these questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why why why why why?!? Why do authors not create epilogues?!?!? Makes me so mad sometimes! Even more so when I very much enjoyed they book!!!
(Rant over)
May 29, 2017
4.5stars...
Hitman hired to kill innocent billionaire heiress but once he takes a gander at her,all bets are off.Fast love, fast sex,fast hea in their seaside cottage.Some interesting assassin would be heros for future books...Bain and Boss for sure.Good start to a promising series.
Hitman hired to kill innocent billionaire heiress but once he takes a gander at her,all bets are off.Fast love, fast sex,fast hea in their seaside cottage.Some interesting assassin would be heros for future books...Bain and Boss for sure.Good start to a promising series.
April 29, 2022
This is a fast paced, high octane read with lots of steam, and some serious bad guys who might actually be good.
The heroine is larger than most and this fact is brought up several times throughout the book. The usual pitfalls of such occur and I did find it taking me out of the story a time or two. She’s obviously innocent but she shines with strength before the end of the book.
Viper is an assassin and while the inevitable happens, he doesn’t instantly go soft and gooey towards his mark. There were a time or two that he was a bit rough in how he spoke to her. He does show some great protective instincts and when you add in his dirty talking style, he was pretty hot.
Overall, a quick read that will give you an hour or two of a steamy getaway.
Dual POV
Safe
Triggers
Steam
The heroine is larger than most and this fact is brought up several times throughout the book. The usual pitfalls of such occur and I did find it taking me out of the story a time or two. She’s obviously innocent but she shines with strength before the end of the book.
Viper is an assassin and while the inevitable happens, he doesn’t instantly go soft and gooey towards his mark. There were a time or two that he was a bit rough in how he spoke to her. He does show some great protective instincts and when you add in his dirty talking style, he was pretty hot.
Overall, a quick read that will give you an hour or two of a steamy getaway.
Dual POV
Safe
Triggers
Steam
June 5, 2017
I thought this book had so much potential. Unfortunately, I just felt that there was no consistency to the characters, or the story. It was also way too fast paced. One minute the hero was this stand off guy; who was hired to kill the heroine...and the next page he was ready to take her to bed and she was "his". Just too fast for my liking. I had a hard time becoming engaged in the story because of the inconsistencies.
I really enjoy Sam Crescents biker series..but as far as this one goes...I would have rather gave it a pass.
I really enjoy Sam Crescents biker series..but as far as this one goes...I would have rather gave it a pass.
October 15, 2018
Stone cold killer Viper has a new mission, to kill a young girl name Pepper. He doesn't know why but his gut been twisted up inside why this girl? What has she done to have a hit on her?
Pepper on the run hiding from her evil stepfather.. knowing he killed her mother she has to stay hidden.. if he gets his hands on her he gets the whole fortune her family has.. she gets attacked in her hotel room but is saves by Viper not because he cares.. oh no he has a contract he is going to kill her or try lol But Pepper is smart she offers up another deal with Viper and his group..
Keep her alive.. and she'll hand them alot of money.. can Pepper keep her life and heart? Can Viper give In and try to be human?
Instalove/lust
Cold blooded rough tough asshole guy
Stubborn lonely curvy virgin gal
Drama
Abuse
No cheating
Anal play/sex
Sex
Push/Pull
Hea
Pepper on the run hiding from her evil stepfather.. knowing he killed her mother she has to stay hidden.. if he gets his hands on her he gets the whole fortune her family has.. she gets attacked in her hotel room but is saves by Viper not because he cares.. oh no he has a contract he is going to kill her or try lol But Pepper is smart she offers up another deal with Viper and his group..
Keep her alive.. and she'll hand them alot of money.. can Pepper keep her life and heart? Can Viper give In and try to be human?
Instalove/lust
Cold blooded rough tough asshole guy
Stubborn lonely curvy virgin gal
Drama
Abuse
No cheating
Anal play/sex
Sex
Push/Pull
Hea
May 23, 2017
"Taking her Innocence" tells the story of Viper and Pepper.
Viper is a soulless contract killer who is hired to slay Pepper the heiress by her stepdad.
Instead when he sees the curvy innocent lady, he gives her a chance after which she hires him to protect her.
I honestly loved the plot but the execution was stale for me. Despite trying, I couldn't feel their chemistry even when they were screwing like rabbits- but I appreciate the anal love.
Ps. Love the name Viper and the cover.
Safe
2.5/5
Viper is a soulless contract killer who is hired to slay Pepper the heiress by her stepdad.
Instead when he sees the curvy innocent lady, he gives her a chance after which she hires him to protect her.
I honestly loved the plot but the execution was stale for me. Despite trying, I couldn't feel their chemistry even when they were screwing like rabbits- but I appreciate the anal love.
Ps. Love the name Viper and the cover.
Safe
2.5/5
May 18, 2017
I Voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book
I loved this book. What's not to like! A hardcore killer falling for his target. Awesome.
Viper was hired to kill Pepper by her stepfather. So he was going in and getting out. But something went wrong and now he was stuck babysitting her. But also getting to know who she was.
Pepper's step-father killer her mother and all that's standing in his way to riches is his step-daughter. So when this massive sexy guy shows up sort of saving her and then telling her his there to kill her what is she going to do. Especially as she's attracted to Viper. And how sick is that being attracted to the man that is going to kill you.
But as Viper keeps her safe from the other people trying to kill her, they start developing feelings for each other. But how are they going to stop everyone from getting to her and dealing with her step-father. And how will this work, he's not a good man and she is everything that he's not, pure and innocent.
I loved how Viper didn't want to be attracted to Pepper, but he also didn't hide from his attraction to her either.
This was definitely a story that I was hooked from the beginning to the end.
I can't wait for more ladies... So maybe Baine????
I loved this book. What's not to like! A hardcore killer falling for his target. Awesome.
Viper was hired to kill Pepper by her stepfather. So he was going in and getting out. But something went wrong and now he was stuck babysitting her. But also getting to know who she was.
Pepper's step-father killer her mother and all that's standing in his way to riches is his step-daughter. So when this massive sexy guy shows up sort of saving her and then telling her his there to kill her what is she going to do. Especially as she's attracted to Viper. And how sick is that being attracted to the man that is going to kill you.
But as Viper keeps her safe from the other people trying to kill her, they start developing feelings for each other. But how are they going to stop everyone from getting to her and dealing with her step-father. And how will this work, he's not a good man and she is everything that he's not, pure and innocent.
I loved how Viper didn't want to be attracted to Pepper, but he also didn't hide from his attraction to her either.
This was definitely a story that I was hooked from the beginning to the end.
I can't wait for more ladies... So maybe Baine????
April 25, 2022
This is a book that has all sorts of tropes I can get behind- curvy virgin heroine, danger and suspense, soapy drama, plot twists, and hello steam! And there’s a lot of cleverness to the plot, a great concept bolstered by interesting character archetypes. A anti-hero that finds heroism in the face of his love for the heroine, those yummy super protective dominant traits. A heroine resilient in the face of (ludicrous) circumstances, traumatized but finds her self-assuredness and courage in the arms of her protector who was once her primary threat. Sounds delicious.
And certainly there is a lot to be entertained by here- unfortunately the promise of familiar and salacious tropes didn’t quite hit home in a satisfying way for me personally. In part because I just felt like I needed more- more time, more substance, more relational scaffolding. Viper transforms a bit too quickly- we don’t get to wallow in his own tension, the conflict he feels between the life he’s lead and the one he could live with Pepper. And after everything she’s been through, she’s quick to put her life, heart, and body in the hands of her once assassin. The action circumvents that progression, and without that emotional underpinning, it makes the plot look even more redonkulous, particularly thanks to a few clear plot contrivances that don’t feel quite in character. Given the whole set up, I knew it would be fast-paced and soapey, just wanted a bit more meat. But it's certainly fun, uber sexy, and quick read- so great entertainment overall.
And certainly there is a lot to be entertained by here- unfortunately the promise of familiar and salacious tropes didn’t quite hit home in a satisfying way for me personally. In part because I just felt like I needed more- more time, more substance, more relational scaffolding. Viper transforms a bit too quickly- we don’t get to wallow in his own tension, the conflict he feels between the life he’s lead and the one he could live with Pepper. And after everything she’s been through, she’s quick to put her life, heart, and body in the hands of her once assassin. The action circumvents that progression, and without that emotional underpinning, it makes the plot look even more redonkulous, particularly thanks to a few clear plot contrivances that don’t feel quite in character. Given the whole set up, I knew it would be fast-paced and soapey, just wanted a bit more meat. But it's certainly fun, uber sexy, and quick read- so great entertainment overall.
May 24, 2017
Buena novela! Tiene los toques perfectos para pasar un buen rato: un chico malo, uno chica virgen, acción, suspenso y un final feliz. Lo que no me gustó fue que la historia tenía mucho más por desarrollar y me hubiera gustado que se incluyera un epílogo en donde se pudiera leer un poco de cómo seguía la relación de los protagonistas.
August 20, 2017
Viper was a scary guy and the reader will begin wondering how could Viper and Pepper ever make this work. The author pulls the reader in and invites them along for a fight to the death or life. Viper’s story is truly insane and the fact he can truly feel anything for anyone is amazing. Pepper and Viper’s story is an amazing adventure from death to salvation no one should miss. If you love a bad boy, then Viper is for you, even if he is a work in progress for Miss Pepper.
Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review @ Coffee Time Romance & More
Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
Full Review @ Coffee Time Romance & More
June 1, 2017
I love the plot, it’s a romantic suspense burst. It’s splattered with sex scenes that had me very nearly drooling over my ereader. Seriously. Fans self.
FULL REVIEW - http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/...
FULL REVIEW - http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/...
July 3, 2024
»Pepper, don't start something you can't finish. I've already told you that you belong to me, so I can only hold back for so long.«
★ ★ ★ ★
❥ 𝑷𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓
She was cute and at the same time kinda badass. Pepper got a lot of issues with her body it was hard to read - poor girl. I liked her.
❥ 𝑽𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒓
He is big, bad and a hitman. Red flag? No, but super hot.
✥ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌
This was an enjoyable and thrilling short romance story with dark romance aspects.
The writing style was fluent and the whole book well written.
Pepper and Viper have great tension and I liked them together. While Pepper is shy and cute, Viper is grumpy and a little socially awkward. They are the perfect match for each other and I loved how he worships her body and got rid of her insecurities.
The plot was entertaining and well build for such a short book.
𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?
Yes, if you want to read a short dark romance.
𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓
plot: 4/5
spice: 2/5
humor: 3/5
couple/tension: 5/5
world building: 5/5
happy end?: yes
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
enemies to lovers, instant connection, darkromance, hitman x rich heiress, bodyguard, he falls first and harder, forced proximity, alpha male, grumpy x sunshine, rich x rich
★ ★ ★ ★
❥ 𝑷𝒆𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓
She was cute and at the same time kinda badass. Pepper got a lot of issues with her body it was hard to read - poor girl. I liked her.
❥ 𝑽𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒓
He is big, bad and a hitman. Red flag? No, but super hot.
✥ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌
This was an enjoyable and thrilling short romance story with dark romance aspects.
The writing style was fluent and the whole book well written.
Pepper and Viper have great tension and I liked them together. While Pepper is shy and cute, Viper is grumpy and a little socially awkward. They are the perfect match for each other and I loved how he worships her body and got rid of her insecurities.
The plot was entertaining and well build for such a short book.
𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?
Yes, if you want to read a short dark romance.
𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓
plot: 4/5
spice: 2/5
humor: 3/5
couple/tension: 5/5
world building: 5/5
happy end?: yes
𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
enemies to lovers, instant connection, darkromance, hitman x rich heiress, bodyguard, he falls first and harder, forced proximity, alpha male, grumpy x sunshine, rich x rich
December 31, 2021
There is a serious lack of perspective in this book and I’m only at 27%. Lol. The FMC is more worried about her unappealingness then the fact that her evil stepdad has set a world wide hit out on her. Lmbo!
As ridiculous as this book turned out to be I did like the characters and I liked how it ended. All the rest was borderline absurd. There was a ton of errors too, and these two authors couldn’t get their sh!t together because they basically wrote contradictory repeated versions of the same parts more then once throughout the book. This publisher needs a new editing department. Smdh.
Good luck.
As ridiculous as this book turned out to be I did like the characters and I liked how it ended. All the rest was borderline absurd. There was a ton of errors too, and these two authors couldn’t get their sh!t together because they basically wrote contradictory repeated versions of the same parts more then once throughout the book. This publisher needs a new editing department. Smdh.
Good luck.
May 21, 2017
Taking Her Innocence is a fast, easy, and sexy read. It's a dark erotic romance/thriller where the hitman falls for his target. The story starts with a punch. The worldwide bounty for Pepper's head has hitmen coming at her from all angles, the best and meanest of them all is Viper.
He never hesitates when breaking someone's neck, but Pepper is a game changer for him. She makes him feel things he's been taught from a young age to ignore, and he just doesn't know how to deal.
The story is action-packed from the start and the sex scenes are hot. Taking Her Innocence reminds me of Tom in The Blacklist (one of my fave shows).
Stacey Espino and Sam Crescent do a fantastic job of merging their writing talent in this new series. I'm looking forward to book # 2 in this series as I'm curious whom they'll redeem next. Bain or Boss, or who knows, someone new!
He never hesitates when breaking someone's neck, but Pepper is a game changer for him. She makes him feel things he's been taught from a young age to ignore, and he just doesn't know how to deal.
The story is action-packed from the start and the sex scenes are hot. Taking Her Innocence reminds me of Tom in The Blacklist (one of my fave shows).
Stacey Espino and Sam Crescent do a fantastic job of merging their writing talent in this new series. I'm looking forward to book # 2 in this series as I'm curious whom they'll redeem next. Bain or Boss, or who knows, someone new!
on-kindle-to-read
July 9, 20177/8/17 Ammy sale .99
February 27, 2023
Fast-passed, somewhat boring story... I wasn't a big fan of Viper and Pepper got on my nerves... It had potential, but it wasn't for me.
August 4, 2021
A little while back, I wrote a research paper on fan fiction for my academic writing course. I am an avid fan and supporter of fan fiction and, in this research, I advocated for it from a (hopefully) impartial perspective, discussing both its pros and cons, meditating on its legality or lack thereof and pointing out the hypocrisy its detractors frequently fall back on when advocating against it. It’ll still need to go through a few revisions and I’ll still need to polish it some more with the help of my professor but, if all goes well, it should hopefully get published soon in one academic journal or another.
Why do I keep droning on and on about fan fiction in a review of an original work of fiction? Trust me, there’s a reason I prefaced it with that little intro. It’s going to be relevant later on.
Viper is a professional hit man working for a company called Killer of Kings. He’s led a rough life and has been trained since early childhood to not feel and to remain as cold and calculated in emotionally-charged situations as it is possible for a human being. He’s also been trained in the art of being deadly. His grooming has rendered him lethal and efficient, but also damaged. He can’t handle human interaction well, isn’t good with messes, germs and enclosed spaces. He needs air and plenty of room to breathe. He’s paranoid, constantly on edge, always on his guard.
Viper’s next target is a rich, barely legal girl called Pepper. Her stepfather is a gold-digger who wormed his way into her wealthy family, married her mother, beat Pepper, killed her mother and is now looking to get rid of Pepper as well in order to inherit everything. Pepper is on to him, which is why she has been on the run for the past several months.
It doesn’t take Viper long to locate her in a small coastal town. The rest is supposed to be easy, but complications arise once he figures out Pepper’s stepfather, Sutherland, has hired numerous hit men to secure the young girl’s demise. Viper isn’t too happy about that, swiftly disposes of the men and then angrily calls back his boss, apparently named, umm, Boss. Until they find out what’s going on, Viper is ordered to keep Pepper alive.
They’re holed up in her hotel room which enables them to get to know one another a bit better. Pepper can see both Viper and his boss are tense and quickly deduces it’s because they’re receiving neither return calls nor payment from her avaricious stepfather. So, in order to live and fight back against the man who robbed her of her mother and made her life hell, Pepper decides to make the men a counteroffer. She explains to Viper the money isn’t coming through because Sutherland doesn’t possess the knowledge required to access the funds. She does. After a brief discussion and Pepper wiring over the money herself, the plan changes. Viper’s job now becomes making sure Pepper lives.
He drives her to the only safe location he knows of – his condo. The drive there is laced with sexual innuendoes. Viper is an assassin and a man fifteen years Pepper’s senior, but she doesn’t seem to care. She’s insanely drawn to him and he confesses several times he wants her, but Pepper has one too many body-image issues to believe that so easily. She’s been called fat more times than she can count and never really fit in anywhere. Viper, on the other hand, doesn’t see chubbiness when he looks at her, but enticing curves, something he makes painfully clear to her when he pins her against a car and rubs himself against her.
When they arrive at his place, Viper’s priority is to assess the injuries another assassin left Pepper with. Her face is black and blue, her ribs are bruised and her ankle is sprained. They continue talking about sex, mostly Viper though, as he undresses them both and places Pepper in his shower. He proclaims she’s his, that her body now belongs to him and that he’ll be the one to take her virginity. He doesn’t do it yet though, and instead fingers Pepper in the shower while simultaneously getting himself off. They come within seconds of each other and then go have dinner.
Pepper feels safe and comfortable in Viper’s presence and wants to know more about him. Viper isn’t too keen on divulging his past and is saved by a phone call from Boss. Boss informs them that Sutherland has put out a worldwide bounty on her head. Pepper’s initial desire was to see him thrown in jail for his crimes, but she now realises she’ll have to kill him if she ever wants to be truly safe.
They hole up in his condo for a few days. Pepper is exasperated with his refusals to talk about his past, until she finally gets him to open up about the scar on his face and how he killed the men who had trained him to become so proficient at taking life. It’s not his entire story, but it’s enough of a start. Pepper’s done waiting and tells Viper she wants him. They have sex and Pepper, for the first time ever, starts to feel comfortable in her own body thanks to Viper’s reaction to it. Even though she loves the act, there’s this fear present, the fear that it might not mean anything to him, that he’ll discard her later on just as quickly and easily as he did countless other women. Pepper’s fears are somewhat assuaged by the fact Viper agrees to kiss her, something he has never done before because it felt too intimate.
You know what I really, really, really dislike? Authors deliberately having characters make dumb decisions so as to move the plot, that’s what. You want examples? You’ll get examples. Viper decides to go out to get them a post-coital pizza. On his way out of the room, he receives a text which very overtly and blatantly does not make him happy. What does he do? Take the phone with him so he can a) receive more information, b) prevent Pepper from finding out something he does not want her to find out and c) have a means to contact people whilst outside the house? Of course not. What Viper, this clever, street-smart, cautious and efficient man does instead is leave his mobile on the dresser so a) he has no means of receiving more info, b) no means of contacting anyone and c) no means of preventing Pepper from answering his calls or reading texts addressed to him if she’s quick enough.
In a similarly brilliant move, Pepper, having read a text from one of Viper’s associates warning him that a crime family is out to get him for having previously murdered an assassin of theirs, leaves his heavily fortified home so as to go looking for him to warn him. Her, a wanted twenty-year-old whose life is in danger and whose idea of hiding from her stepfather boils down to checking in a hotel under her real name, goes out searching for a thirty-four-year-old extremely capable hit man, certain that her warning is the only thing that could possibly save him from a premature death. Pepper only realises the error of her ways once she’s already outside and spots two conspicuous SUVs. I commend you both, my dear little Einsteins, your combined intelligence is enough for you two to take over the multiverse. Woe to the rest of us…
Viper notices a man trailing him after he leaves the pizzeria. He quickly manages to gain the upper hand and extract a name from the man – Bianchi, the family whose man he killed. And then Viper kills him. Approaching his home, he spots Pepper running to him. Viper quickly takes care of the situation, then angrily berates Pepper for leaving the safety of his condo. She tosses him his phone, the one with the text. We saw Viper earlier insisting on calls only and going off like a grenade at anyone who dared send him a text. He also mentioned never having read a single book. It has been foreshadowed, but now it’s confirmed – Viper’s greatest shame, his illiteracy.
Pepper connects the dots and figures out he was never taught to read. Viper doesn’t confirm it, but the shitty attitude he gives her says enough. Pepper is hurt by the cold shoulder he’s giving her and retreats to his room. Viper’s pissed his biggest secret is now exposed, but then gets a call from Boss informing him the Bianchis are out to get him and offers him to come stay at his house. Viper doesn’t like the idea, but Boss assures him he’s too valuable an employee to murder.
Pepper and Viper make up while driving to Boss’s place. Realising Sutherland can only profit from her death if it’s from seemingly natural causes, Pepper realises she’d be safer back under his nose. She lets Viper and Boss in on her plan – she and Viper can say they’re married when they return so she can reclaim her company and inheritance. This would not only allow Viper easier access to Sutherland and, thus, an easier chance to dispose of him, but the greater exposure in the public eye would also afford him greater safety from the Bianchis. Not bad, Pepper, not bad, but there are like a million ways this plan could fail. I’m not a trained assassin or anything, but even I can see that. Boss likes the plan, but Viper isn’t entirely sold on it.
His fear and insecurities keep mounting and mounting, finally exploding on the car ride to Pepper’s. He confesses he has nothing to give her and that he doesn’t want her settling for an illiterate, unstable man such as him. Pepper assures him she wants him. Viper pulls over and they have sex on the trunk of the Mustang. As she reaches her peak, Pepper tells him she loves him. Viper ignores the confession, unwilling to let himself believe anyone could love him.
When they arrive at her mansion, they immediately realise something’s off. The news crew Pepper called to wait for them so they could announce their marriage isn’t there and the entire place is eerily quiet. Viper concludes Sutherland must’ve had them killed. So, Pepper’s plan has failed. The smart thing to do now would be to double back and come up with a new one. Instead, the two of them enter this house where every single person wants them dead.
I guess Viper doesn’t want to go back now that he’s as close to Sutherland as he’s ever likely to get, but it is still an incredibly stupid plan, especially with Pepper there too. She isn’t trained herself. She screams every time she sees a weapon, alerting more people to their location and making Viper’s job that much harder. One of the men manages to catch him off guard. They seem evenly matched, wrestling, punching and shooting at each other. Viper finally manages to knock him out, confessing to Pepper that he couldn’t bring himself to kill him. He’s Bain, his only friend from their hellish childhood.
Back at the motel they’re hiding in, Viper receives another call from Boss. It’s either Pepper or Sutherland, he tells Viper. One of them has to die if this is all to stop. Boss can tell Viper doesn’t have it in him to kill her and tells him he’d prefer her to live as well and be the one to take over the company, because Sutherland “is evil”. Umm, don’t you run a freaking assassination organisation? My Gods, such ethical mercenaries. Anyway, the two have a plan and they’ll execute it the next day. All Viper wants at the moment is a night with her.
He tells Pepper he loves her and wants to marry her for real. They proceed to have sex. Oral, vaginal, anal, the works. He even tells her a bit more about his past and why he couldn’t bring himself to kill Bain. While Pepper is still asleep, Viper arms himself and heads out. In the morning, Pepper realises he’s gone, a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach intensifying. She tries to get to him, but two guys who work with Viper stop her, ordering her to go back to the suite. That is, until they get a call from Boss to come over. Pepper climbs into the SUV with them and then one of the men buries a syringe in her thigh, depriving her of her consciousness.
Boss calls Viper at Pepper’s mansion. The deal was to inject Pepper with some kind of Romeo-and-Juliet drug that made her appear lifeless, bring her to Sutherland and use her as bait to get rid of him. Viper, naturally, didn’t agree to that and instead decided to go it alone, righteous-suicide-redemption-style. Boss saw right through him and had his men drug Pepper anyway. He wants Viper to go through with the original plan, otherwise – he kills Pepper himself.
Just then Bain appears, quiet as a ghost. The two talk about the old times a bit and Viper tries to get through to the boy inside, but he’s long been indoctrinated and is so far gone Viper knows he doesn’t have much choice. Boss then pulls up to the house. He shows them Pepper’s lifeless body and demands to take it to Sutherland himself. Bain refuses, but then Boss aims a gun at her head. If she’s assassinated, the clause in the will guarantees the money will go to charity. Not a cent for Sutherland, not a cent for Bain. Bain calls his bluff. Boss shoots Pepper in the leg and she doesn’t even flinch. Bain realises he’s been cornered and agrees to lead them in.
Viper picks up Pepper’s body, gawking at her bleeding leg. The only thing keeping him grounded is the image of her, alive, happy, with their future children. They make it up to Sutherland’s office and we finally get to meet the guy.
He’s almost comically evil, in a moustache-twirling way. Viper’s had enough. He puts Pepper on a nearby sofa and then starts shooting at everything that moves. Pepper slowly comes to in the middle of all this and sees men all around her late father’s office fighting and killing each other. She notices a neglected gun, aims it at her odious stepfather and takes him out with one shot.
The murder stops all action. Most men flee the scene, with Bain realising he has no paycheque left to fight for. Viper’s thankful to Bain for helping him out in the preceding scuffle and allows him to leave. Boss, on the other hand… Viper knows what he’d love to do to the man, but realises he has to play it smart. If he kills him, he and Pepper will be hounded by his men for the rest of their lives. If he pays up and seeks no revenge, Boss will take care of the cleanup, make sure the Bianchi family drops the vendetta and destroy all evidence pointing to Pepper as the murderer. Boss then calls a doctor for Pepper and leaves.
Once they’re alone in the office, Viper turns his attention to Pepper, assessing the damage. He’s afraid to look at her, afraid of her disappointment, her judgement, torn between taking Boss’s offer and killing everyone who wronged Pepper, consequences be damned. She, however, doesn’t hold a grudge against him, forgiving him on the spot. Two weeks later, Viper drives them out to a beach house in the quaint coastal town where they met. He tells Pepper he bought it for them and wants to settle down and start a family with her. Pepper is up for that, accepting this unconventional husband with open arms.
Now, this book managed to pleasantly surprise me. There are certain tropes one expects to come across when reading romance and erotica so, when these trite elements get subverted, it’s always a welcome change. This book seems to rely on as many clichés as it avoids and rejects. The heroine has… Some personality, not really enough to distinguish her too much, but enough. I also love the whole lovers on the lam thing.
Viper too gets a pass. Typical male romantic leads are infallible gods of confidence, arrogance and a no-nonsense attitude. This one, conversely, is jumpy, paranoid, fearful of unfamiliar situations and spends the better part of the narrative nervously pacing rooms and pulling on his hair in frustration. I’m not saying I necessarily find that attractive, I’m saying it fits given the life he’s led and that I welcome any breath of fresh air in a genre rife with stale tropes. There appear to be just as many clichés in this story as there are unexpected and unconventional twists, too many examples of both kinds for me to be able to list all of them, really.
What I’d now like to do is take a step back and examine the biggest issue I had with the narrative and, to do that, I have to point an accusatory finger at the publishing industry as a whole. Google acceptable, publishable word counts for different genres. I’d wager that, no matter which result you click on, your findings will largely be the same. I randomly clicked on three results on the first page.
Science fiction and fantasy are predominantly given most leeway. Historical fiction too typically enjoys a higher word count. Now look at romance. Typically, books within this genre should not be longer than 100,000 words. There’s no mention of erotica. It warrants a separate Google search. This search yields the 58,000 word count. All of this confirms what I’ve suspected for some time now – within the industry, romance and erotica are considered a joke.
Now, just to be clear, industry standards are, to a certain degree, guided by audience expectations. To make another thing very clear, this isn’t something endemic to this particular book exclusively. I’m discussing it in relation to it solely because it exemplifies this problem.
The premise is good. The premise is more than good and is, on paper, extremely promising. A cold, calculated mercenary in search of his humanity, subconsciously looking for a different kind of life. A frightened, albeit brave, young woman fighting for her life. The lovers on the lam element. The ruthlessness of organisations and individuals alike. The redemptive power of love. Yeah, this is an extremely promising premise, yet it never quite manages to realise its potential. And that’s because it all happened too damn quickly. Our romantic hero, Viper in this particular case, makes a complete one-eighty after having spent all of several days with the heroine. Similarly, our heroine falls for him too quickly, her insecurities and body-image issues gone after he calls her beautiful twice. It all happens extremely quickly, rendering it unrealistic, laughable even.
Now, I know women don’t usually approach romance and erotica fiction looking for realism. They’re looking for escapism, an idealised, embellished narrative that will make them sigh and swoon and get horny for a few hours, the average length of time it takes to read books of this ilk, before going back to their ordinary lives and their less-than-ideal partners. Still though, I’d argue this genre can offer both realism and escapism, if done right, if approached seriously.
What this narrative desperately needed was room to breathe and that brings me back to fan fiction. During my research, I was lucky enough to get in touch with fan fiction authors who rejected the publishing industry precisely because it treated them and...
Read the entire review on my blog >>> https://waywardchildblog.wordpress.co...
Why do I keep droning on and on about fan fiction in a review of an original work of fiction? Trust me, there’s a reason I prefaced it with that little intro. It’s going to be relevant later on.
Viper is a professional hit man working for a company called Killer of Kings. He’s led a rough life and has been trained since early childhood to not feel and to remain as cold and calculated in emotionally-charged situations as it is possible for a human being. He’s also been trained in the art of being deadly. His grooming has rendered him lethal and efficient, but also damaged. He can’t handle human interaction well, isn’t good with messes, germs and enclosed spaces. He needs air and plenty of room to breathe. He’s paranoid, constantly on edge, always on his guard.
Viper’s next target is a rich, barely legal girl called Pepper. Her stepfather is a gold-digger who wormed his way into her wealthy family, married her mother, beat Pepper, killed her mother and is now looking to get rid of Pepper as well in order to inherit everything. Pepper is on to him, which is why she has been on the run for the past several months.
It doesn’t take Viper long to locate her in a small coastal town. The rest is supposed to be easy, but complications arise once he figures out Pepper’s stepfather, Sutherland, has hired numerous hit men to secure the young girl’s demise. Viper isn’t too happy about that, swiftly disposes of the men and then angrily calls back his boss, apparently named, umm, Boss. Until they find out what’s going on, Viper is ordered to keep Pepper alive.
They’re holed up in her hotel room which enables them to get to know one another a bit better. Pepper can see both Viper and his boss are tense and quickly deduces it’s because they’re receiving neither return calls nor payment from her avaricious stepfather. So, in order to live and fight back against the man who robbed her of her mother and made her life hell, Pepper decides to make the men a counteroffer. She explains to Viper the money isn’t coming through because Sutherland doesn’t possess the knowledge required to access the funds. She does. After a brief discussion and Pepper wiring over the money herself, the plan changes. Viper’s job now becomes making sure Pepper lives.
He drives her to the only safe location he knows of – his condo. The drive there is laced with sexual innuendoes. Viper is an assassin and a man fifteen years Pepper’s senior, but she doesn’t seem to care. She’s insanely drawn to him and he confesses several times he wants her, but Pepper has one too many body-image issues to believe that so easily. She’s been called fat more times than she can count and never really fit in anywhere. Viper, on the other hand, doesn’t see chubbiness when he looks at her, but enticing curves, something he makes painfully clear to her when he pins her against a car and rubs himself against her.
When they arrive at his place, Viper’s priority is to assess the injuries another assassin left Pepper with. Her face is black and blue, her ribs are bruised and her ankle is sprained. They continue talking about sex, mostly Viper though, as he undresses them both and places Pepper in his shower. He proclaims she’s his, that her body now belongs to him and that he’ll be the one to take her virginity. He doesn’t do it yet though, and instead fingers Pepper in the shower while simultaneously getting himself off. They come within seconds of each other and then go have dinner.
Pepper feels safe and comfortable in Viper’s presence and wants to know more about him. Viper isn’t too keen on divulging his past and is saved by a phone call from Boss. Boss informs them that Sutherland has put out a worldwide bounty on her head. Pepper’s initial desire was to see him thrown in jail for his crimes, but she now realises she’ll have to kill him if she ever wants to be truly safe.
They hole up in his condo for a few days. Pepper is exasperated with his refusals to talk about his past, until she finally gets him to open up about the scar on his face and how he killed the men who had trained him to become so proficient at taking life. It’s not his entire story, but it’s enough of a start. Pepper’s done waiting and tells Viper she wants him. They have sex and Pepper, for the first time ever, starts to feel comfortable in her own body thanks to Viper’s reaction to it. Even though she loves the act, there’s this fear present, the fear that it might not mean anything to him, that he’ll discard her later on just as quickly and easily as he did countless other women. Pepper’s fears are somewhat assuaged by the fact Viper agrees to kiss her, something he has never done before because it felt too intimate.
You know what I really, really, really dislike? Authors deliberately having characters make dumb decisions so as to move the plot, that’s what. You want examples? You’ll get examples. Viper decides to go out to get them a post-coital pizza. On his way out of the room, he receives a text which very overtly and blatantly does not make him happy. What does he do? Take the phone with him so he can a) receive more information, b) prevent Pepper from finding out something he does not want her to find out and c) have a means to contact people whilst outside the house? Of course not. What Viper, this clever, street-smart, cautious and efficient man does instead is leave his mobile on the dresser so a) he has no means of receiving more info, b) no means of contacting anyone and c) no means of preventing Pepper from answering his calls or reading texts addressed to him if she’s quick enough.
In a similarly brilliant move, Pepper, having read a text from one of Viper’s associates warning him that a crime family is out to get him for having previously murdered an assassin of theirs, leaves his heavily fortified home so as to go looking for him to warn him. Her, a wanted twenty-year-old whose life is in danger and whose idea of hiding from her stepfather boils down to checking in a hotel under her real name, goes out searching for a thirty-four-year-old extremely capable hit man, certain that her warning is the only thing that could possibly save him from a premature death. Pepper only realises the error of her ways once she’s already outside and spots two conspicuous SUVs. I commend you both, my dear little Einsteins, your combined intelligence is enough for you two to take over the multiverse. Woe to the rest of us…
Viper notices a man trailing him after he leaves the pizzeria. He quickly manages to gain the upper hand and extract a name from the man – Bianchi, the family whose man he killed. And then Viper kills him. Approaching his home, he spots Pepper running to him. Viper quickly takes care of the situation, then angrily berates Pepper for leaving the safety of his condo. She tosses him his phone, the one with the text. We saw Viper earlier insisting on calls only and going off like a grenade at anyone who dared send him a text. He also mentioned never having read a single book. It has been foreshadowed, but now it’s confirmed – Viper’s greatest shame, his illiteracy.
Pepper connects the dots and figures out he was never taught to read. Viper doesn’t confirm it, but the shitty attitude he gives her says enough. Pepper is hurt by the cold shoulder he’s giving her and retreats to his room. Viper’s pissed his biggest secret is now exposed, but then gets a call from Boss informing him the Bianchis are out to get him and offers him to come stay at his house. Viper doesn’t like the idea, but Boss assures him he’s too valuable an employee to murder.
Pepper and Viper make up while driving to Boss’s place. Realising Sutherland can only profit from her death if it’s from seemingly natural causes, Pepper realises she’d be safer back under his nose. She lets Viper and Boss in on her plan – she and Viper can say they’re married when they return so she can reclaim her company and inheritance. This would not only allow Viper easier access to Sutherland and, thus, an easier chance to dispose of him, but the greater exposure in the public eye would also afford him greater safety from the Bianchis. Not bad, Pepper, not bad, but there are like a million ways this plan could fail. I’m not a trained assassin or anything, but even I can see that. Boss likes the plan, but Viper isn’t entirely sold on it.
His fear and insecurities keep mounting and mounting, finally exploding on the car ride to Pepper’s. He confesses he has nothing to give her and that he doesn’t want her settling for an illiterate, unstable man such as him. Pepper assures him she wants him. Viper pulls over and they have sex on the trunk of the Mustang. As she reaches her peak, Pepper tells him she loves him. Viper ignores the confession, unwilling to let himself believe anyone could love him.
When they arrive at her mansion, they immediately realise something’s off. The news crew Pepper called to wait for them so they could announce their marriage isn’t there and the entire place is eerily quiet. Viper concludes Sutherland must’ve had them killed. So, Pepper’s plan has failed. The smart thing to do now would be to double back and come up with a new one. Instead, the two of them enter this house where every single person wants them dead.
I guess Viper doesn’t want to go back now that he’s as close to Sutherland as he’s ever likely to get, but it is still an incredibly stupid plan, especially with Pepper there too. She isn’t trained herself. She screams every time she sees a weapon, alerting more people to their location and making Viper’s job that much harder. One of the men manages to catch him off guard. They seem evenly matched, wrestling, punching and shooting at each other. Viper finally manages to knock him out, confessing to Pepper that he couldn’t bring himself to kill him. He’s Bain, his only friend from their hellish childhood.
Back at the motel they’re hiding in, Viper receives another call from Boss. It’s either Pepper or Sutherland, he tells Viper. One of them has to die if this is all to stop. Boss can tell Viper doesn’t have it in him to kill her and tells him he’d prefer her to live as well and be the one to take over the company, because Sutherland “is evil”. Umm, don’t you run a freaking assassination organisation? My Gods, such ethical mercenaries. Anyway, the two have a plan and they’ll execute it the next day. All Viper wants at the moment is a night with her.
He tells Pepper he loves her and wants to marry her for real. They proceed to have sex. Oral, vaginal, anal, the works. He even tells her a bit more about his past and why he couldn’t bring himself to kill Bain. While Pepper is still asleep, Viper arms himself and heads out. In the morning, Pepper realises he’s gone, a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach intensifying. She tries to get to him, but two guys who work with Viper stop her, ordering her to go back to the suite. That is, until they get a call from Boss to come over. Pepper climbs into the SUV with them and then one of the men buries a syringe in her thigh, depriving her of her consciousness.
Boss calls Viper at Pepper’s mansion. The deal was to inject Pepper with some kind of Romeo-and-Juliet drug that made her appear lifeless, bring her to Sutherland and use her as bait to get rid of him. Viper, naturally, didn’t agree to that and instead decided to go it alone, righteous-suicide-redemption-style. Boss saw right through him and had his men drug Pepper anyway. He wants Viper to go through with the original plan, otherwise – he kills Pepper himself.
Just then Bain appears, quiet as a ghost. The two talk about the old times a bit and Viper tries to get through to the boy inside, but he’s long been indoctrinated and is so far gone Viper knows he doesn’t have much choice. Boss then pulls up to the house. He shows them Pepper’s lifeless body and demands to take it to Sutherland himself. Bain refuses, but then Boss aims a gun at her head. If she’s assassinated, the clause in the will guarantees the money will go to charity. Not a cent for Sutherland, not a cent for Bain. Bain calls his bluff. Boss shoots Pepper in the leg and she doesn’t even flinch. Bain realises he’s been cornered and agrees to lead them in.
Viper picks up Pepper’s body, gawking at her bleeding leg. The only thing keeping him grounded is the image of her, alive, happy, with their future children. They make it up to Sutherland’s office and we finally get to meet the guy.
He’s almost comically evil, in a moustache-twirling way. Viper’s had enough. He puts Pepper on a nearby sofa and then starts shooting at everything that moves. Pepper slowly comes to in the middle of all this and sees men all around her late father’s office fighting and killing each other. She notices a neglected gun, aims it at her odious stepfather and takes him out with one shot.
The murder stops all action. Most men flee the scene, with Bain realising he has no paycheque left to fight for. Viper’s thankful to Bain for helping him out in the preceding scuffle and allows him to leave. Boss, on the other hand… Viper knows what he’d love to do to the man, but realises he has to play it smart. If he kills him, he and Pepper will be hounded by his men for the rest of their lives. If he pays up and seeks no revenge, Boss will take care of the cleanup, make sure the Bianchi family drops the vendetta and destroy all evidence pointing to Pepper as the murderer. Boss then calls a doctor for Pepper and leaves.
Once they’re alone in the office, Viper turns his attention to Pepper, assessing the damage. He’s afraid to look at her, afraid of her disappointment, her judgement, torn between taking Boss’s offer and killing everyone who wronged Pepper, consequences be damned. She, however, doesn’t hold a grudge against him, forgiving him on the spot. Two weeks later, Viper drives them out to a beach house in the quaint coastal town where they met. He tells Pepper he bought it for them and wants to settle down and start a family with her. Pepper is up for that, accepting this unconventional husband with open arms.
Now, this book managed to pleasantly surprise me. There are certain tropes one expects to come across when reading romance and erotica so, when these trite elements get subverted, it’s always a welcome change. This book seems to rely on as many clichés as it avoids and rejects. The heroine has… Some personality, not really enough to distinguish her too much, but enough. I also love the whole lovers on the lam thing.
Viper too gets a pass. Typical male romantic leads are infallible gods of confidence, arrogance and a no-nonsense attitude. This one, conversely, is jumpy, paranoid, fearful of unfamiliar situations and spends the better part of the narrative nervously pacing rooms and pulling on his hair in frustration. I’m not saying I necessarily find that attractive, I’m saying it fits given the life he’s led and that I welcome any breath of fresh air in a genre rife with stale tropes. There appear to be just as many clichés in this story as there are unexpected and unconventional twists, too many examples of both kinds for me to be able to list all of them, really.
What I’d now like to do is take a step back and examine the biggest issue I had with the narrative and, to do that, I have to point an accusatory finger at the publishing industry as a whole. Google acceptable, publishable word counts for different genres. I’d wager that, no matter which result you click on, your findings will largely be the same. I randomly clicked on three results on the first page.
Science fiction and fantasy are predominantly given most leeway. Historical fiction too typically enjoys a higher word count. Now look at romance. Typically, books within this genre should not be longer than 100,000 words. There’s no mention of erotica. It warrants a separate Google search. This search yields the 58,000 word count. All of this confirms what I’ve suspected for some time now – within the industry, romance and erotica are considered a joke.
Now, just to be clear, industry standards are, to a certain degree, guided by audience expectations. To make another thing very clear, this isn’t something endemic to this particular book exclusively. I’m discussing it in relation to it solely because it exemplifies this problem.
The premise is good. The premise is more than good and is, on paper, extremely promising. A cold, calculated mercenary in search of his humanity, subconsciously looking for a different kind of life. A frightened, albeit brave, young woman fighting for her life. The lovers on the lam element. The ruthlessness of organisations and individuals alike. The redemptive power of love. Yeah, this is an extremely promising premise, yet it never quite manages to realise its potential. And that’s because it all happened too damn quickly. Our romantic hero, Viper in this particular case, makes a complete one-eighty after having spent all of several days with the heroine. Similarly, our heroine falls for him too quickly, her insecurities and body-image issues gone after he calls her beautiful twice. It all happens extremely quickly, rendering it unrealistic, laughable even.
Now, I know women don’t usually approach romance and erotica fiction looking for realism. They’re looking for escapism, an idealised, embellished narrative that will make them sigh and swoon and get horny for a few hours, the average length of time it takes to read books of this ilk, before going back to their ordinary lives and their less-than-ideal partners. Still though, I’d argue this genre can offer both realism and escapism, if done right, if approached seriously.
What this narrative desperately needed was room to breathe and that brings me back to fan fiction. During my research, I was lucky enough to get in touch with fan fiction authors who rejected the publishing industry precisely because it treated them and...
Read the entire review on my blog >>> https://waywardchildblog.wordpress.co...
July 16, 2018
Absolutely wonderful story!!!!
Viper is a stone cold, heartless hitman and his next target is Pepper. Pepper is a twenty year old woman on the run from her abusive step-father. When Viper shows up at the hotel to kill Pepper another guy is there also looking to cash in on the contract to kill Pepper. After Viper kills the other guy, he learns from Pepper that her step-father has no way to pay the bounty in advance and if Viper kills her he definitely won't get paid. You definitely don't want to miss this awesome book. Read this intriguing story to find out if Viper kills Pepper or if Pepper will make him a better offer? I mean she is a virgin, but she's also the heiress to her family's business which happens to be worth millions, maybe even billions of dollars. This is a fast paced, exciting story with some very steamy scenes. Definitely recommend this book as a must read.
Viper is a stone cold, heartless hitman and his next target is Pepper. Pepper is a twenty year old woman on the run from her abusive step-father. When Viper shows up at the hotel to kill Pepper another guy is there also looking to cash in on the contract to kill Pepper. After Viper kills the other guy, he learns from Pepper that her step-father has no way to pay the bounty in advance and if Viper kills her he definitely won't get paid. You definitely don't want to miss this awesome book. Read this intriguing story to find out if Viper kills Pepper or if Pepper will make him a better offer? I mean she is a virgin, but she's also the heiress to her family's business which happens to be worth millions, maybe even billions of dollars. This is a fast paced, exciting story with some very steamy scenes. Definitely recommend this book as a must read.
May 20, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I liked how dark and dangerous Viper was.
Although I saw the chemistry and sparks between them, I didn’t feel a connection between them when they met. The only reason Viper kept Pepper alive was because she paid him too. Despite that, I was rooting for him and Pepper to finally get their happily ever after.
I will admit that although I liked Pepper, her constant insecurities and put-downs irritated me. She knew Viper was attracted to her but even after learning that, she still went on with herself.
I was happy that Pepper took control and took down the man that made her life hell.
All of the danger in this story kept me on the edge of my seat and hooked me in from the start. I read this book in one sitting and hope Bain gets his story told.
The storyline for this book is easy to follow and an enjoyable read.
Although I saw the chemistry and sparks between them, I didn’t feel a connection between them when they met. The only reason Viper kept Pepper alive was because she paid him too. Despite that, I was rooting for him and Pepper to finally get their happily ever after.
I will admit that although I liked Pepper, her constant insecurities and put-downs irritated me. She knew Viper was attracted to her but even after learning that, she still went on with herself.
I was happy that Pepper took control and took down the man that made her life hell.
All of the danger in this story kept me on the edge of my seat and hooked me in from the start. I read this book in one sitting and hope Bain gets his story told.
The storyline for this book is easy to follow and an enjoyable read.
September 25, 2017
4 Stars
Taking Her Innocence is an wild ride with a hitman turned body guard and a virgin billionaire running for her life. Viper is the male lead he is a dark alpha with head to toe tats and is know for his ruthless work. Pepper the leading lady is his next job but the assignment will take a different turn which takes their relationship to a whole new level. This story has it all sexy time that will leave you breathless, action scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat and an HEA. So if you haven't read Taking Her Innocence then I highly recommend you giving it a go. This is a dark romance and I loved it!!! Happy Reading!!!
Taking Her Innocence is an wild ride with a hitman turned body guard and a virgin billionaire running for her life. Viper is the male lead he is a dark alpha with head to toe tats and is know for his ruthless work. Pepper the leading lady is his next job but the assignment will take a different turn which takes their relationship to a whole new level. This story has it all sexy time that will leave you breathless, action scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat and an HEA. So if you haven't read Taking Her Innocence then I highly recommend you giving it a go. This is a dark romance and I loved it!!! Happy Reading!!!
May 22, 2017
Quick hot sexy read. Viper is a killer for hire and his newest job is to kill Pepper. Yet one look at her and he's hooked. Pepper has never met a man like Viper and he's now her only hope of survival from the bounty on her head. There's plenty of action, passion, angst, and wet panties to keep the reader entertained. Sam Crescent is a automatic 1-click for me and now that she's teamed up with Stacey Espino I'm looking forward to more from them both.
March 7, 2018
Action!
This novel is non-stop action! Viper is a professional mercenary and one of the best. He works for Killer Of Kings. Boss gives him an assignment and of he goes. Viper doesn't expect to fall for his assignment but something about Pepper peaks his interest. This is a fast paced no so that will definitely keep the reader's attention with a well developed plot and characters. 💘 a HEA. This is the first novel in the series and can be read as a standalone.
This novel is non-stop action! Viper is a professional mercenary and one of the best. He works for Killer Of Kings. Boss gives him an assignment and of he goes. Viper doesn't expect to fall for his assignment but something about Pepper peaks his interest. This is a fast paced no so that will definitely keep the reader's attention with a well developed plot and characters. 💘 a HEA. This is the first novel in the series and can be read as a standalone.
September 11, 2022
The good girl and the bad boy
Do you like your book boyfriends to be rough and tough gorgeous alpha males? Then Viper is the perfect bad boy for you. Of course this over the top alpha is already Pepper’s willing slave, but you are going to love his take charge attitude as he works to bring them both to their perfect HEA. These two authors work so well as a writing duo and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Do you like your book boyfriends to be rough and tough gorgeous alpha males? Then Viper is the perfect bad boy for you. Of course this over the top alpha is already Pepper’s willing slave, but you are going to love his take charge attitude as he works to bring them both to their perfect HEA. These two authors work so well as a writing duo and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
May 17, 2017
I am really surprised by how much I loved this. Honestly, I think it was one of my favorites by sam and it was oh so different than her usual! Viper and Pepper are in an unlikely situation and they fall for one another under those circumstances. With the dirty sexy times and romance, this couple was definitely one of my favorites by sam.
June 1, 2017
A MUST READ
I couldn't put this one down. It has a lot of action both in and out of the bedroom. All of it very hot and exciting. Viper is as dark as Pepper is to light . Together they heal each other's hearts and souls. Perfect for each other. A fabulous book written by two fabulous women . Thank you Sam Crescent and STACEY Espino !!
I couldn't put this one down. It has a lot of action both in and out of the bedroom. All of it very hot and exciting. Viper is as dark as Pepper is to light . Together they heal each other's hearts and souls. Perfect for each other. A fabulous book written by two fabulous women . Thank you Sam Crescent and STACEY Espino !!
July 4, 2018
Dramatic Emotional Rollercoaster!
Just wow! This story took me for a dramatic, emotional rollercoaster ride. Very well written, very detail oriented, and although there was a lot of violence, it was easy to follow the very specific storyline. Loved the unexpected ending. A very good book!
Just wow! This story took me for a dramatic, emotional rollercoaster ride. Very well written, very detail oriented, and although there was a lot of violence, it was easy to follow the very specific storyline. Loved the unexpected ending. A very good book!
August 3, 2018
Improved depth and passion
Viper and Pepper were great together. I liked the emotional levels they reached together. The heat definitely kicked up a notch here. It made me want to read about Bain. This should be a series set since its too short be 3.99 per book when it's little more than 100+ pages.
Viper and Pepper were great together. I liked the emotional levels they reached together. The heat definitely kicked up a notch here. It made me want to read about Bain. This should be a series set since its too short be 3.99 per book when it's little more than 100+ pages.
January 25, 2019
Fantastic read
Wow what can I say. This story is absolutely amazing. Viper and Pepper are a couple you won't forget. He is so swoon worthy and she is just adorable. Their journey together is adventurous. The writing and flow of this book is top notch.I absolutely recommend this book.
Wow what can I say. This story is absolutely amazing. Viper and Pepper are a couple you won't forget. He is so swoon worthy and she is just adorable. Their journey together is adventurous. The writing and flow of this book is top notch.I absolutely recommend this book.
April 20, 2019
Great book
Murder, mayhem, action, intrigue, violence, romance and more, you get it all in this book, a hit man with a conscience, a heiress on the run, a stepfather bent on murder, what more could you ask for in a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and their story, I can't wait to read the next installment of this series. This is definitely worth the time to read.
Murder, mayhem, action, intrigue, violence, romance and more, you get it all in this book, a hit man with a conscience, a heiress on the run, a stepfather bent on murder, what more could you ask for in a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and their story, I can't wait to read the next installment of this series. This is definitely worth the time to read.
May 16, 2019
Hot
This was so action packed that it didn’t lack for anything. Viper is an amazing character and I couldn’t get enough of him. I liked how he took charge. I would definitely recommend this story. The intricacies of the company and the boss was impressive. I didn’t feel anything lacking within this story.
This was so action packed that it didn’t lack for anything. Viper is an amazing character and I couldn’t get enough of him. I liked how he took charge. I would definitely recommend this story. The intricacies of the company and the boss was impressive. I didn’t feel anything lacking within this story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews