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After finishing Blindsided, I was kind of in a little bit of a funk and was debating what to read next. I ended up deciding I need a change of pace a little bit. I had wanted to read at least the first book in Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars series, Ruthless Stranger, by the end of the month. She's going to be doing a interview with Jenn (The Book Refuge) on July 31st. I was also able to apply this read to the Summer of Swoon prompt bearded hero on cover for board 2. And can I just say, thank goodness I chose this book.
Our hero is Maksim, a Russian with ties to the bratva. He's not a member but his mother created ties when they were suffering after his father's death. Maksim in is Las Vegas for his brother's bachelor party. Also in Las Vegas is Aspen who was surprised by the trip as a girl's day celebration for her divorce. There are conversations about getting back in the saddle that Maksim overhears and they end up having a scorching couple nights. One of the conditions however is that Aspen is blindfolded. They both leave Vegas feeling such a strong connection to each other, but not knowing who each other are. As things happen in romancelandia, they end up finding each other since Maksim is having property issues he bought from the city and Aspen is the employee set to help them. They immediately recognize each based on their voice and scent.
I absolutely loved this. First off, Maksim is in his 40s and Aspen in in her late 30s. It was nice reading a romance about older couples once again. There was a little bit of misunderstanding between them, but it came from some split-second assumptions and didn't last very long (thankfully). Outside of that, they really pushed for honesty and communication between them. Yes it broke down a little at times, but they both put in the work to try to keep themselves open and honest with each other. While I didn't like where the miscommunication led, I also understood how it was setting up things to come in the overall plot of the series. I also really liked Aspen's friends, although Skylar was a little bit over the top for my tastes. She was just at 110% all the time and I would've like to see more intimate moments between the four of them.
Another thing I absolutely loved was Maksim being all in for Aspen. He was so protective and caring towards her and I fell for him along with Aspen. When she pushed back against so many gifts, especially the expensive ones, he described why he wanted to give her the best so eloquently. Sometimes with the super rich or mafia heroes it can come across a little manipulative but not here. I really loved this and am intrigued to read more in the series. I felt a connection more towards Hailee in her friend group and am hoping that she gets a book as well. There are a couple relationships set up and teased in this book, so I can't wait to get to them.
I'm a little sad I wasn't able to get to Ruthless Stranger during the Mafia Romance Readathon. I don't know why I waited so long to get to it, but maybe now was the right time. I feel like I could've gone in a book slump but this helped me not do so. Hopefully I can get to a couple more before the live show later this month!
Have you read Ruthless Stranger?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Ruthless Stranger, Maggie Cole, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 398 pages, published in 2021
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