Liam and his childhood best friend Rebecca were raised in a small town. Now living in the city, as roommates, they encounter more challenges than the average college student.
When faced with the reality of having to quit school and move back home, Liam and Rebecca get an odd invitation to move into a mansion with a group of extremely wealthy guys from the college. Liam knows it’s all too good to be true, but he gives into Rebecca’s pleas to take the offer until they get back on their feet.
Weeks turn into months, and as Liam discovers the truth of what happens within those walls and Rebecca finds herself in the middle of a dangerous game between lust and envy, their lives quickly spiral out of control.
Daniele Lanzarotta is the author of young adult and new adult paranormal/fantasy/contemporary novels, including the Imprinted Souls Series, Academy of the Fallen Series, Sudden Hope, and A Mermaid's Curse Trilogy.
Daniele is also a filmmaker. She has recently worked on Virginia based short films as the 2nd Assistant Director and Still Photographer. Daniele is currently working on the development stage for the adaptation of her novel, Sudden Hope, which she also plans to film in VA.
She enjoys watching hockey, playing Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and spending time with her husband, two daughters, and the family dog.
Check out more information about Daniele and her novels at:
This book took me totally by surprise! I was not familiar with Daniele Lanzarotta and when I started the story, I wasn't quite sure where it was going to go. Liam and Rebecca are friends from school. Now attending college, they find themselves in a financial predicament and may have to alter their housing. They are offered free board at a house where 3 other wealthy students live, and though an unusual offer, the two move in. These three, Tucker, Justin and Caden all carry secrets and their behavior is off. What have Liam and Rebecca gotten themselves into? I really became invested in this first installment of the series. It's written so well with only crumbs being dropped that I was not going to stop listening til I had the answers! High suspense and the unknown just kept me intrigued and the outcome a complete surprise. I can't wait to see what Lanzarotta has in store for the second story.
The narration is incredible and totally enhanced this story. Jason Clarke just works these characters so well. He adds some innocence and morality in with his inflections when Liam, but then as Caden we can hear the good, bad boy sound. Rebecca is a little complex, and Cindy Kay finds all of her attributes, giving her emotions and strength. It's a fantastic performance by both and I hope they continue the series.
This simply wasn't very good. To be fair, part of my disappointment is that the last paragraph of the book's description made me think it would be erotica and it's 100% not. All the sex is fade to black and there's not even that much. Nor is it a romance. Being as Rebecca's role seems to be limited to the girl the boys sleep with, but she bounces from one to the other. The whole thing is basically unbearable though because it's so full of red flags that no one (not even someone in dire straights) would put themselves in the position. That goes for moving into the house, falling for the first guy and then the second, and then the decision she makes at the end. None of it is believable for a girl who is shown to be pretty savvy in general.
Then there's the consideration that, in order for the events to happen as they did, several characters had to have complete personality shifts and act out of character. Plus, Rebecca is mysteriously special, such that someone's curse doesn't work as it's supposed to. It all just reeks of the often-cited and hated "she's so special without actually being special in any way" trope. (And yes, I know I used special 3 times, but I emphatically hate the "she's so special for no reason" trope.)
I might have given it three stars though, if not for the end. For most of the book, I couldn't tell you for 100% certainty who the main character is (which makes a book hard to connect with). But what happened at the very end really was too much. It may have clarified who the main character was meant to be, but it made the whole plot feel pointless to me. I disliked it in the extreme.
(audiobook) I went in blind. Though I knew the narrators, the author was new to me and I had read the blurb months ago. I didn’t expect anything, but I was pleasantly surprised.
I’m not into paranormal and occult usually, but the way it was woven with a college romance and a love triangle was interesting. There are hints right from the beginning–that prologue! But even at the end of the book, you don’t have all the answers. That’s why I won’t give a lot more details. The surprise is half the pleasure.
I had a bit of trouble connecting with some of the characters, but a couple of them were really compelling. At least, they all have a fascinating backstory that’ll be developped in future books.
It was all in all a great first installment and introduction to an interesting world.
As for the narration, it was okay. Maybe both narrators had difficulties creating a really suspenseful atmosphere, but they were good at telling the story. I can’t wait to listen to the next book.
Quickie
- Series: The sinners #1 (not exactly ends on a cliffhanger, but lots of questions are left unanswered) - Hashtags: #paranormal romance #college romance #love triangle #magic - Triggers: child abuse, manipulation - Main couple: Rebecca & ? (I won’t tell) - Hotness: 1/5 (behind closed doors) - Romance: 2/5 - + unexpected story and mythology - – still too many mysteries by the end
Wow! This was my first Daniele Lanzarotta's book, and won't be my last! This is the first book in The Sinners, a great start to this Series. The cover is beautiful. The characters are great and intriguing: Two friends, Liam and Rebecca, and three mysterious men Tucker, Justin and Caden. The storyline has mystery, secrets, suspense, and intrigue, filled with twists and turns. This story is well written, original, and has a great pace that kept my attention from start to finish. Impossible to stop listening! Looking forward to listen to the next book in the Series. Jason Clarke and Cindy Kay did a great job with the narration.
there are several characters in this... it was well written and kept me interested.. the characters didnt leave me confused.. i enjoyed the story and it was a lot of fun to read. and the ending was wow.. sooo... i cant wait for book 2
. I thought the story was very well written and flowed well. The story kept me glued to the pages to see how everything would turn out. I loved the characters and had this read in one sitting.
The Sinners was an interesting look at a secret society of dark magic. I found the premise to the story intriguing. And that shocking ending left me dying for more!
Narrators Cindy Kay and Jason Clarke were excellent at bringing the story to life. The author Daniele Lanzarotta created a diverse and complicated cast of players. I have a love/hate relationship with them all. I didn't know what to expect going into the story but Lanzarotta definitely snagged herself a new fan!
This is my first time reading this author and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s interesting with plenty going on that grabbed my attention and turned this into a page turner as I wanted to know where the characters were going next. It’s the beginning of a series and if the rest of the series is like this book it is going to be a great read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
If you have read any of the amazing series by Daniele Lanzarotta you will truly enjoy this one for sure. I love how we find out about how different people are brought into the Dark Magic. For those who have read the other series #TheRightKindofWrong our sexy #Owen is a teenager in this series. His dad is just as awful as he has always been. We learn how Rebecca comes into the series. Tucker is a jerk/bad boy type, Justin is level headed, and Caden is a cross between sweet/bad boy. Liam and Rebecca have been friends since forever and were in college together. Liam has a 3 year old daughter that he loves with all his heart and works so he can help support her. John wants Liam to join the family, but he refuses which leads to a lot of major twists and turns as you read. The ending was a total shock just like Daniele loves to do to her readers. I can't wait for book 2 in the series LUST to come out. Grab your copy and get started for one wild edge of your seat advantage.
Talk about a twisted story. I never saw that coming. This story is easy to relate to, at first. Two college friends struggling to make ends meet. Desperate to have a place to stay to finish their studies, the take the offer in front of them for a free place to stay. This is only the beginning of the end. The twists and turns from here made me dizzy. I could not figure out who their new roommates were or what they were up to. But when all is revealed, the outcome is shocking! I cannot wait to see where Daniele Lanzarotta takes us next.
Cindy Kay really narrates Rebecca well. Rebecca is an intriguing character with many different aspects to her. Cindy was able to bring them all out through her narration. Jason Clarke has that swoon worthy voice that just makes you love his characters. Jason was able to bring out the best and worst of all the male characters and give them a unique style. It was easy to follow his narration of each character. I hope these two continue the series to keep it consistent.
Really???? That's how it ends??? Damn it! This book was one hella surprise ride full of me getting pissed and yelling at characters and then the author lol but after reading other books by Daniele i can't say i m shocked cause well she writes to torture us with her twists and cliffhangers.... And she did not disappoint with this one either! Loved loved every second of this amazing story and oh the suspense kept me on edge throughout. It is full of mystery, suspense and twists. I couldn't keep it down for even a second. I was fascinated and intrigued with the storyline and how it will all go down. And omg i wanna punch Tucker and Caden in the face atleast like dozen times and then there was that ending... BOOM! WHOA!!! I wasn't expecting that. Diving in Book 2 stat. I m dying to read what now???
This is a first time author for me and I wasn't sure what I was getting into.
This is short but a great page turner! I literally couldn't put it down and the phrase "be careful what you wish for" couldn't be more relevant to this story!
I would say this is more suspense than anything else, so if you are looking for smutty, this isn't for you. There is, however, an interesting love triangle and dark magic.
Rebecca and her best friend Liam are down on their luck when college mates suggest living with them, so what could go wrong living with four delicious room mates?
The pace is so good; and you are left on a cliffhanger, where you have no option but to find out what happens next.
Jason Clarke doesn't disappoint and Cindy Kay, a new narrator to me, does an excellent job.
The characters were fabulous!! My fiance and I loved getting to know each one and what they went through in the story.
The story-line was incredible. We were totally addicted to it. It kept us wanting to listen to more. There were many shocking scenes within the story that kept us needing to know more about the book and what was happening.
The narrators were phenomenal! They did a spectacular job with the voice overs and keeping us on the edge of our seats and we highly recommend this audiobook!!
I really enjoyed this book, it had a few twists especially at the end. I love Jason clarke as a narrator and that is why I wanted to listen to this. Cindy is good as well, but I find she lacks voice options so harder to distinguish the boys in this one. can't wait to get to the second one!
Wow! I knew I was going to like this one when I first started it. I was trying to figure out what was going to happen and I was wrong. So. Very. Wrong. It was a great read.
This book is brilliant. I really wasn’t expecting that massive twist. Both narrators give these characters so much depth it’s astounding. I can’t wait for the second book.
This book was great! So much intrigue. The audiobook was spot on. The story is original, the characters are loveable. Still not sure if it’s RH or what but I’m there for it. It’s been months since I read this book and still was wondering what would happen next. I just checked back and realized the 2nd book is out!! Hopefully the audiobook is also. I’ll be checking right away. The narrator was great. I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Very interesting story, well written. I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, so I'm disappointed that I won't be able to finish the story. I'm enjoying the characters enough to read the next book, and that says a lot. Audiobook has great narration although neither particularly fits a young adult voice.