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Red Star #1
Alliance
The criminal underworld is balanced on a knife-edge, weighted by respect, fear, and greed. For years an alliance has held true between the different factions that compete for control of New York, but the suspicious death of the founding father of that coalition throws the underworld into chaos.
The Italian mob has been gutted by continued RICO persecution since the Seventies, but although their power has been diminished, their time is not yet over. The Yakuza and the Triads arrived with the first immigrants from Japan and China, but they've always had to compete with the home-grown factions. The Mexican and Latin cartels have been extending their reach from the West Coast since the drugs trade exploded, as have the Caribbean gangs from the south, but the biggest players are the Russians. Once criminal enterprises born of resistance to the corruption and persecution of government- now bolstered and legitimized by the corruption of the oligarchs – they are now a mafiya that has the implicit backing of their country to do whatever they like.
Alessia Dioli is the granddaughter of Don Tosetti. In the way of the legitimate world, her marriage is one of politics and power. Her grandfather founded the alliance. Her husband is the don of one of the families that makes up the jigsaw of peace and profit. Her life has been molded around the dangerous activities of the men who control it.
Nikolai Volkov is pakhan of his family, their leader, although not their figurehead; that honor belongs to his grandmother, and he would have it no other way. Irina Volkov rose from the collapse of the Soviet Union like a phoenix and spread her wings to fly to America, bringing the remnants of her family with her. Having paid in blood during the wars between the Vory and the Suki, she found a place where her children and grandchildren could grow strong, where her family could become again what it had been. Under her rule, under Nikolai's leadership, the Volkovs have flourished.
As the puzzle pieces scatter and the players fight for dominance once more, the city burns. People die loved ones are lost, and new alliances are forged. Alessia and Nikolai must fight to survive, to protect their own. Ultimately, they have to decide if the trust they instinctively hold for each other is true, if they can be stronger together.
The Italian mob has been gutted by continued RICO persecution since the Seventies, but although their power has been diminished, their time is not yet over. The Yakuza and the Triads arrived with the first immigrants from Japan and China, but they've always had to compete with the home-grown factions. The Mexican and Latin cartels have been extending their reach from the West Coast since the drugs trade exploded, as have the Caribbean gangs from the south, but the biggest players are the Russians. Once criminal enterprises born of resistance to the corruption and persecution of government- now bolstered and legitimized by the corruption of the oligarchs – they are now a mafiya that has the implicit backing of their country to do whatever they like.
Alessia Dioli is the granddaughter of Don Tosetti. In the way of the legitimate world, her marriage is one of politics and power. Her grandfather founded the alliance. Her husband is the don of one of the families that makes up the jigsaw of peace and profit. Her life has been molded around the dangerous activities of the men who control it.
Nikolai Volkov is pakhan of his family, their leader, although not their figurehead; that honor belongs to his grandmother, and he would have it no other way. Irina Volkov rose from the collapse of the Soviet Union like a phoenix and spread her wings to fly to America, bringing the remnants of her family with her. Having paid in blood during the wars between the Vory and the Suki, she found a place where her children and grandchildren could grow strong, where her family could become again what it had been. Under her rule, under Nikolai's leadership, the Volkovs have flourished.
As the puzzle pieces scatter and the players fight for dominance once more, the city burns. People die loved ones are lost, and new alliances are forged. Alessia and Nikolai must fight to survive, to protect their own. Ultimately, they have to decide if the trust they instinctively hold for each other is true, if they can be stronger together.
- GenresRomanceMafia Romance
377 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2018
12 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Johnson
17 books153 followersI am an incredibly average person with an overactive imagination.
I was the kid in class who was always being called out for daydreaming. I live in the north of England, in the foothills of the Pennines, one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution. There’s a lot of history here, and with the derelict mills, bleak moors and lush river valleys, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found.
I’m a wife, mother and spinner of plates. Writing is my passion, inbetween raising the rug rats, keeping house and working. It’s my escape. I have no particular genre that I prefer. I go wherever my mental wanderings take me.
I discovered Fan Fiction in September 2012 and started writing for it in October 2012 thanks to a house move that meant most of my books spent a couple of months packed up in someone else's garage. Fan Fiction gave me a place to practice, a place to learn and the inclination to try writing original fiction. Then I signed up for National Novel Writing Month 2013. The result was Powerless, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I’m privileged to be part of a group of women who as well as being my friends, are inspirational, motivating and supportive writers. We are the Freak Circle Press and you can find more information at our blog: tfcpress.wordpress.com and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/freakcirclepress
I was the kid in class who was always being called out for daydreaming. I live in the north of England, in the foothills of the Pennines, one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution. There’s a lot of history here, and with the derelict mills, bleak moors and lush river valleys, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found.
I’m a wife, mother and spinner of plates. Writing is my passion, inbetween raising the rug rats, keeping house and working. It’s my escape. I have no particular genre that I prefer. I go wherever my mental wanderings take me.
I discovered Fan Fiction in September 2012 and started writing for it in October 2012 thanks to a house move that meant most of my books spent a couple of months packed up in someone else's garage. Fan Fiction gave me a place to practice, a place to learn and the inclination to try writing original fiction. Then I signed up for National Novel Writing Month 2013. The result was Powerless, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I’m privileged to be part of a group of women who as well as being my friends, are inspirational, motivating and supportive writers. We are the Freak Circle Press and you can find more information at our blog: tfcpress.wordpress.com and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/freakcirclepress
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 23, 2018
Great mafia romance with some plot weaknesses
This is the first book in the Red Star series, a mafia romance series set in New York. I was initially seduced by the opening chapters which were included in another book. It’s about a pampered and sheltered princess of the Cosa Nostra who happens to be unhappily married. She finds her circumstances suddenly altered and she gets unexpected help from the young boss/pakhan of the Russian bratva with which there exists an uneasy alliance. From this develops a sweet and passionate romance that’s beset by a host of difficulties like murder, a kidnapping and the fact that she is still married to somebody else. Throughout it all, grandmother/babushka Irina steals everyone the show.
Although the story showed great promise and I see lots of potential for the series and though I really liked the writing and most of the characters and the love story I also thought it contained some glaring problems in terms of internal coherence. I do love strong female characters, but Alessia's (the pampered mafia princess) metamorphosis seemed quite unbelievable to me and to come out of left field. There she is married to a moron (and we never learn why she married him in the first place, except for some nebulous allusions that it was to align their families) and she is happy to languish as a trophy wife for nine! bloody years, not being involved in the family business at all and not knowing much about it into the bargain. All she seems to have been doing in those nine years is some charity work and going to luncheons. She doesn’t work, has not interests, no hobbies, and no friends. Then, in the space of weeks she goes from this to becoming the "Donna" of her family... this just seemed so very unbelievable to me, even with the traumatic experiences as triggers. And it seems even more pronounced as it is contrasted with Nikolai who we see being groomed for the position he is to assume from an early age.
Also, there was a point when Alessia (the heroine) really ventured into TSTL (too stupid to live) territory: when she went to confront her (estranged) husband and knowing what he had done and what he had tried to have done to her, she doesn't take the gun she got from her lover with her, no, she leaves the gun in some potted plant and plans to confront her dick of a husband unarmed: hello, how stupid can you get?! In that moment I felt she would have deserved to get killed for her monumental stupidity (although I would have felt very bad for Nikolai). So a solid 4+ stars from me as I want to read more about Irina, Nikolai’s cousins, Enohor and how the various alliances work out.
This is the first book in the Red Star series, a mafia romance series set in New York. I was initially seduced by the opening chapters which were included in another book. It’s about a pampered and sheltered princess of the Cosa Nostra who happens to be unhappily married. She finds her circumstances suddenly altered and she gets unexpected help from the young boss/pakhan of the Russian bratva with which there exists an uneasy alliance. From this develops a sweet and passionate romance that’s beset by a host of difficulties like murder, a kidnapping and the fact that she is still married to somebody else. Throughout it all, grandmother/babushka Irina steals everyone the show.
Although the story showed great promise and I see lots of potential for the series and though I really liked the writing and most of the characters and the love story I also thought it contained some glaring problems in terms of internal coherence. I do love strong female characters, but Alessia's (the pampered mafia princess) metamorphosis seemed quite unbelievable to me and to come out of left field. There she is married to a moron (and we never learn why she married him in the first place, except for some nebulous allusions that it was to align their families) and she is happy to languish as a trophy wife for nine! bloody years, not being involved in the family business at all and not knowing much about it into the bargain. All she seems to have been doing in those nine years is some charity work and going to luncheons. She doesn’t work, has not interests, no hobbies, and no friends. Then, in the space of weeks she goes from this to becoming the "Donna" of her family... this just seemed so very unbelievable to me, even with the traumatic experiences as triggers. And it seems even more pronounced as it is contrasted with Nikolai who we see being groomed for the position he is to assume from an early age.
Also, there was a point when Alessia (the heroine) really ventured into TSTL (too stupid to live) territory: when she went to confront her (estranged) husband and knowing what he had done and what he had tried to have done to her, she doesn't take the gun she got from her lover with her, no, she leaves the gun in some potted plant and plans to confront her dick of a husband unarmed: hello, how stupid can you get?! In that moment I felt she would have deserved to get killed for her monumental stupidity (although I would have felt very bad for Nikolai). So a solid 4+ stars from me as I want to read more about Irina, Nikolai’s cousins, Enohor and how the various alliances work out.
November 19, 2018
Alliance is set in the same world as Susan Fanetti's biker series and Catherine Johnson is part of the Freak Circle Press. Big shoes to fill indeed as Ms Fanetti is a fantastic writer balancing emotion and heart with the violence which is such a part of this world.
This series explores the organised crime of mainly European families that have spread their tentacles across the world settling in the USA and which were touched upon in Fanetti's Brazen Bulls series but a generation on. For a first book in a series it shows potential although parts of the storyline push the boundaries of belief at times and it could do with a little more editing to keep the momentum on point. But the set up is good as are the myriad of characters she introduces including the dastardly FBI agent who is going to be a thorn in the side of the criminal alliance I'm guessing throughout the series. Hopefully she will refine and tighten some of the issues in the plot line as this first book has all the making of a great and addictive story.
3.5 stars
This series explores the organised crime of mainly European families that have spread their tentacles across the world settling in the USA and which were touched upon in Fanetti's Brazen Bulls series but a generation on. For a first book in a series it shows potential although parts of the storyline push the boundaries of belief at times and it could do with a little more editing to keep the momentum on point. But the set up is good as are the myriad of characters she introduces including the dastardly FBI agent who is going to be a thorn in the side of the criminal alliance I'm guessing throughout the series. Hopefully she will refine and tighten some of the issues in the plot line as this first book has all the making of a great and addictive story.
3.5 stars
September 18, 2018
Power
Power is the base of this story. Who has it. How it is used. How to find it strength through loyalty. Nicko!ai and Aessia demonstrate how circa be found in competition. So Rushmore than a mafia romance.
Power is the base of this story. Who has it. How it is used. How to find it strength through loyalty. Nicko!ai and Aessia demonstrate how circa be found in competition. So Rushmore than a mafia romance.
September 19, 2018
I want more!!
Nikolai Volkov is a Russian Bratva king in New York City. Raised to takeover the family business from the time he was young by his grandmother, Irina, the boss.
Alessia Tosetti Dioli, principesa of one Italian mafia family, queen to the Don of another Italian family. Raised to be a beautiful arm piece for her future husband.
But life happens and changes with a natural ebb & flow and sometimes is forcefully pushed off course. Decisions are made, that have seemingly never been made before and not only with they have to contend with their families’ misgivings, but they have a war brewing in NYC and they must make their lives stable & safe in order to sustain during the upcoming onslaught.
I want more & hope the author is writing like crazy, because I’m hooked!
Nikolai Volkov is a Russian Bratva king in New York City. Raised to takeover the family business from the time he was young by his grandmother, Irina, the boss.
Alessia Tosetti Dioli, principesa of one Italian mafia family, queen to the Don of another Italian family. Raised to be a beautiful arm piece for her future husband.
But life happens and changes with a natural ebb & flow and sometimes is forcefully pushed off course. Decisions are made, that have seemingly never been made before and not only with they have to contend with their families’ misgivings, but they have a war brewing in NYC and they must make their lives stable & safe in order to sustain during the upcoming onslaught.
I want more & hope the author is writing like crazy, because I’m hooked!
September 29, 2018
I was introduced to the Volkovs from reading Susan Fanetti’s Brazen Bulls MC series. I was intrigued to learn more. Alliance was a decent story. Nikolai, his cousins, and Irina were the best part. I felt like Alessia’s story had too many holes. I hope to learn more about Alessia and the Tossetti Family in future books.
September 20, 2018
3.5 Stars
Good start to a new series. Brilliant beginning that hooked me right in.
Warming to Irina as quick as I did took me by surprise and thoroughly enjoyed every moment she appeared in the story.
Good start to a new series. Brilliant beginning that hooked me right in.
Warming to Irina as quick as I did took me by surprise and thoroughly enjoyed every moment she appeared in the story.
October 1, 2018
4 stars.
Very good story that delves into the NYC Russian mafia I was introduced to in the Brazen Bulls MC series by Susan Fanetti.
There were a few typos that threw me off reading tempo.
I eagerly await the next book.
Very good story that delves into the NYC Russian mafia I was introduced to in the Brazen Bulls MC series by Susan Fanetti.
There were a few typos that threw me off reading tempo.
I eagerly await the next book.
September 15, 2018
Great read ! Perfect for fans of Susan Fanetti's Brazen Bulls serie.
October 7, 2018
Good read
Really lost myself in this book,good story and characters but the Freak Circle ladies are known for releasing great book's,looking forward to the next in the series
Really lost myself in this book,good story and characters but the Freak Circle ladies are known for releasing great book's,looking forward to the next in the series
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews