Thank God it is Friday! I have the pleasure of hosting Contemporary Romance Author of The Arrangement, Bethany-Kris. Her exciting book tour and giveaway runs till April 30th 2014. Please join the fun.
Bethany is guest blogging on a hot topic - Mafia Romance, and why she wrote about the men behind organized crime.
WHY I WROTE ABOUT MAFIA ROMANCE
A lot of people have asked me since I began the project that is now The Arrangement, why the mafia?
Interestingly enough, I’ve had a healthy interest in all things mafia for a long time. Since The Godfather and Goodfellas, and the curiosity never really went away.
There’s something about a lifestyle and a group of people, men usually in this case, that are so secretive and private that makes you wonder. What kind of people are they? What really makes them tick? Behind those facades they use, the masks they wear, and the bad things they do, is there more to their person?
It fascinated me.
Organized crime is by no means something to joke about. It’s a serious topic. And it’s something that in the real world, it’s taken very seriously. After all, there are entire taskforces dedicated to dealing with organized crime and keeping control of it … or at least trying to.
But, for me, it wasn’t about that. I wanted to write about the men behind the organized crime families and the life they led behind the scenes. Why they were the way they were and who they would drop anything and everything for. The business, or crime, they dabble in, and why they chose that route above others.
The mafia is dark. It’s edgy and gritty. It gives a reader something to chew on, to consider. Suddenly instead of cheering for a regular hero, they’re cheering for a man that by society’s standards, would be a criminal.
In the mafia, there’s blood, women, guns and drugs. It’s all about loyalty and trust. It’s a never-ending battle. Like I said, fascinating.
If nothing else, I knew it would make for a great story. When I mixed in a bit of Russian to the plot to go with the Cosa Nostra that was already spinning around, it was the light bulb went off.
I worried a publisher wouldn’t want to take it because of the nature and some of the subjects discussed in the novel, but I went with my gut and continued, determined to see it finished and somehow, out there for others to see, too.
I’m so glad I did.
The
Arrangement by Bethany Kris
Genre:
Erotic, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
When a Cosa
Nostra girl and a Bratva boy meet...
Nothing will stop the Bratva mob boss from taking back what’s his, and once he has her, he’ll do anything to keep her…
Viviana “Vine” Carducci’s and Anton Avdonin’s marriage was decided more than two decades ago. The deal between leading mafia families has more on the line than anyone knew, even if the Bratva and Cosa Nostra shouldn’t mix. When Vine’s family is murdered and she’s left with nothing more than her grief to survive the mob world alone, she believes the arrangement won’t see the light of day.
Anton can’t allow the one woman he was supposed to love get away. At the possibility of her death, he steps in to save her with guns blazing, knowing exactly what it might cost him: everything. But it’s been nearly a decade since their last meeting, and he can’t help but wonder if the woman he took back is the same girl he fell for all those years before.
Protected and loved, Vine is unable to forget their shared moments a lifetime ago, or the future she knows they’re owed. When an old flame of Anton’s shows up to rip the veil off the carefully constructed secrets he’d been hiding, she learns that nothing about her life is as it seems. But, that’s nothing compared to the bomb about to blow. Can Vine see beyond the pain and blood to take what she always wanted? And just how far will the mob prince go to keep her safe?
In a world where violence, deceit, and greed reign, your life is not your own, and sometimes, love has to be arranged.
“Why all the safety precautions if you’re expecting me to
live openly here?” she asked. “Doesn’t that defeat the
purpose?”
Anton cocked a brow. “I’m hoping your uncle will be a lot
less brazen if I’m not keeping you hidden.” He still hadn’t
let go of her
sides, those teasing thumbs of his rolling gently against
the undersides of her
breasts in tender motions. “Deny that you want this, too,
Vine. You’ve always
wanted me. You want this life because you were meant for it,
and I have waited
more than long enough to get you here living it with
me.”
“You’re not giving me a choice. I’ve spent the last three
years thinking that this arrangement was over, and then you
come in with guns
blazing and a house on lockdown, Anton. That’s … It’s not
fair. You signed my
death warrant doing this.”
Immediately, his hands left her skin. She wanted them back,
but her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit that fact. “It was
already signed.”
“What?”
Placing his hands to his knees, Anton shook his head and
muttered,
“He was already getting ready to put out a hit on you. That
guard of yours was
probably going to be the one to do it to get his in with the
family. I was
hoping to see you back in the states before I approached you
myself, but Sonny
didn’t give me the chance."
No one likes to off a woman, Vine.
She couldn’t help but remember Sam saying that. Would he
have done it?
“You can’t possibly know that for sure.”
The look he gave turned her stomach with fear. “I can and I
do, Vine. There are men in that organization who are less
trustworthy than a
snake. Even their eyes and ears can be
bought. I stepped in now
because I needed to, not because I thought you were ready,
or that you wanted
me to.”
An ache settled in her chest. How was she supposed to trust
him?
“Sonny wouldn’t kill me simply because I wanted to marry
you, Anton. I’m not worth a damn thing to him alive, nothing
more than a
nuisance he has to look after.” Frustrated by his lack of
expression, her
bitterness rose. “Dead I’m worth even less though,
right?”
“Dead you’re worth nothing,” Anton admitted, hurting Viviana
a little more. “That is exactly what your uncle wants to
achieve. For secrets
to remain hidden from his family and for his power to remain
intact.”
That only left her more disturbed, emotions rolling from one
thing to the next without ever landing on just one feeling.
“Our families won’t
merge now, regardless if we’re married or not. So you lied
to me earlier when
you said that’s what this was about. A marriage is only
going to cause more
issues. I’m worthless to the Bratva; you practically said so
yourself.”
“No, you’re worth a great deal, especially if you’re married
to me.”
But, why?
“You’re hiding something from me,” she realized, hurt that
he was lying again, even if it was by omission. Viviana
couldn’t decide which
stung worse—that he didn’t trust her, or that he thought she
didn’t deserve to
know whatever it was. “What aren’t you saying?”
Anton looked stricken, fingers drumming a quick beat on his
thighs. “I gave them my word. It was supposed to be them
explaining this to you
if they desired to—all the reasons and things that happened
years ago. It’s not
my story to tell, and I promised. My word is all I’m worth
if you consider the
way I live; without it, I have nothing.”
Reaching out, he cupped a hand over her knee and ran it
along the inside of her jittery leg. With his fingers moving
so softly against
her inner thigh, he pressed his fingertips close enough to
her center to make
Viviana throb with need. Murmuring, he said, “Can’t you try
to trust me?
Viviana, you know me … you do.”
She ignored his plea. “Who, Anton?” His fingers pressed
harder at her words, grip tightening when Viviana refused to
react to his
motions. What she really wanted was more. So much more of
his hands on her
body, but she didn’t dare speak that out loud. “Was it my
father, or
Nicoli? Who?”
“I can’t answer that right now.” With that, he stood and
held out a hand for her to take. “Come, I’ll get you back in
bed for the
evening. Let you rest and get the last of that sedative out
of your system. I
promise you’ll feel better in the morning.”
Too exhausted to argue, her palm met his. Anton’s lips
touched down to Viviana’s fingers in a flutter of movement.
She wouldn’t have
noticed the quick kiss had she not felt the heat of his
mouth brushing along
her sensitive skin. She might as well have been sixteen and
falling for him all
over again.
Viviana couldn’t figure out if she was willing enough to let
him do it. It didn’t help that she wasn’t all too sure if
she knew this man
anymore. Was he the same one she wanted all those years ago?
Had his feelings
remained the same nearly a decade later … was that even
possible? Could someone
want another that much?
What was even more frightening was that with his blue eyes
watching, and his hand connected with hers, waiting, Anton
still felt like
hers.
Just like he always had.
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