• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • 2022 Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo
    • Completed Challenges
      • Pondathon II
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: The Russian – Renee Rose

January 2, 2018 Comment : 1

Review: The Russian – Renee RoseThe Russian
by Renee Rose
Publisher: Burning Desires
Publication Date: December 18, 2017
Genres: Romance
Pages: 94
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating: One StarOne StarOne Star

MY PRISONER. MY OBSESSION. MY SUNSHINE.

I can't stay away from her.
I don't care if I get whacked by the mob. Or fired from the FBI.
There's no way I'm letting her get hurt.
Hell, if any of them touch her, I'll blow my cover in a second.
She's my solnishko.
Her brother's a scumbag. He owes the don money.
The don sends me to collect my pound of flesh, but I want more than a pound.
I want her.

Amazon

Goodreads

3 stars icon contemporary icon romance icon


“It’s true, I couldn’t see how you’d fit. But then I found out my life doesn’t fit me anymore. Not without you.”

This is a quick but sexy novella.  Because of the length, I think, I never really formed a connection with Lucy, the heroine, though I definitely felt that she and Yuri had a connection.  I felt like we got a good sense of Yuri, how he’s spent a good part of his life trying to make the best out of a bunch of bad situations, and why he’s latched on to Lucy. I liked the little bit we got of Lucy, and I admired that she was committed to her career choices (DJ and yoga teacher), even though everyone else, including her idiot night club owner and drug addict brother, wanted her to get a “real job.”  The sex scenes were definitely quite steamy, but I had some issues with consent. Part of the way Yuri protects her is by spanking her (non-consensual) and then making the other mobsters think he’s raping her (which she agrees to), but I think, for the most part, it’s handled well.

The plot for about the first half of the story was fine, with Yuri managing to protect Lucy as well as possible from the other mobsters, but during the last half there were several events that seriously strained the bounds of credulity, which unfortunately took me out of the story.  I think the stakes were set a bit too high for this short of a story and it would have worked a lot better if there had been more time to develop the characters and plot.

Overall, most of the flaws can be attributed to the length of the story, but as long as you can suspend disbelief for a while, the rest is quite fun and sexy.  I’ll definitely search out a longer work by Ms. Rose.

Related Posts

  • Same Genre
Hot as Hades
Review: Hot as Hades – Alisha Rai
Breath of Dust & Dawn
Review: Breath of Dust & Dawn – L. Penelope
Tempting Fate
Review: Tempting Fate – Stacy Finz
An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler
Review: An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler – Vanessa Riley

You might also enjoy

Baker and the GeekReview: Baker and the Geek – Chelsea Millen
In the Bedroom of MedusaReview: In the Bedroom of Medusa – Magen Cubed
Doodled DogsReview: Doodled Dogs – Gemma Correll
Previous:
Review: The Ones Who Got Away – Roni Loren
Next:
Down the TBR Hole #1

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me


READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

June Reviews

Oaths of Legacy  by Emily SkrutskieThe Dawnhounds by Sascha StronachSweet Berries by C.M. NascostaDead Draw by Layla ReynePartners in Crime by Rachel BowdlerThe Merciless Ones by Namina FornaAll Signs Point to Yes by Cam Montgomery, Adrianne White, g. haron davis, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Mark Oshiro, Eric Smith, Emery Lee, Byron Graves, Karuna Riazi, Roselle Lim, Alexandra Villasante, Lily Anderson, Kiana Nguyen

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Lauren has
read 7 books toward
her goal of
250 books.
hide

7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo 2022

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
June 1 - August 31

hide
3 of 25 (12%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Currently Reading

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in