I’d like to thank the author for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: January 17th, 2017
231 Pages
Synopsis: Izzie Rinaldi has everything going for her. All she has to do is make it through her senior year of college, and then she’ll be off to law school, one step closer to assuming her position at the head of her family’s empire. After a chance encounter with the campus bad boy, Izzie can’t get him out of her head.
Luca Marchese, the smooth-talking son of the most notorious man in Philadelphia, is used to getting what he wants. He hasn’t forgotten the girl he knew as a child, and now that he has Izzie’s attention, Luca will stop at nothing to have her.
Luca’s defiance of the law turns Izzie on more than she cares to admit. She wants Luca to corrupt her in every way possible, despite his reputation as the king of one-night stands. Their attraction is undeniable, but their desire for one another isn’t enough for Izzie to overlook visits from federal agents and the potential ruin of her family.
Linked to Luca and the criminal underworld, Izzie discovers she’s more like him than she thought. But a future with Luca could mean swapping her diamond bracelets for a pair of handcuffs.
I have to make a confession before I start this review. Corrupt Me is a book that I ordinarily would never have picked up. I don’t usually read NA contemporary romance and I’ve never been a fan of mob-related fiction. I am however a fan of Jillian and her blog http://rantandraveaboutbooks.com so when she contacted me about her new book, I immediately said yes, and I’m so glad I did. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Izzie or Luca. The story is told in the first person and the chapters alternate between the two of them which allows you to get a real sense of who they are as people. To say that Izzie has an explosive temper is putting it mildly. While I appreciated her feistiness and strong personality, I thought at first she came across as too stubbornly-aggressive and overconfident, but that impression didn’t last long. Because of Izzie’s family background and the high expectations and responsibilities hanging over her, she has a vulnerability which ultimately tones down the somewhat negative aspects of her personality. Her loyalty to the people she cares about also adds to her relatability. Luca, I had a more difficult time with. For the majority of the book he’s basically your stereotypical womanizing frat boy, even when he’s professing his love for Izzie. Up until the latter half of the story, I thought she was way too good for him, especially when he does something that not only threatens to land him in prison, but to drag Izzie down with him. In the end though, he does redeem himself and proves his loyalty and devotion to her. The chemistry between them is sizzling hot, and the sex scenes steamy, with Izzie being just as equal to Luca in the bedroom as she is everywhere else. There are only a couple of complaints I have regarding the plot. Both the Rinaldi’s and the Marchese’s have known and done business with each other for years, yet one of the central themes of the story is the “forbidden romance” of Izzie and Luca. I’m not sure if it was ever clearly explained why they shouldn’t be together. And if it was such an issue, then it was resolved awfully quickly and conveniently in the end. The second issue I had was with the lack of development in the secondary characters. But I think that was probably due to the shortness of the book. Jillian really brings Philadelphia and it’s Italian community to life, but with all the mouth-watering food dishes described here, it left me absolutely starving, which was unfortunate as I stayed up reading this until after midnight! Overall, I really enjoyed Corrupt Me, and I recommend it to anyone who likes their romance with lots of kick. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series as well as her other future works.
Jillian Quinn was born and raised in Philadelphia and currently lives in Cape Coral, Florida where she still pretends it’s okay to drink hot chocolate and curl up on the couch with a good book, even when it’s ninety degrees outside. From an early age, writing and storytelling have been her passion. In her spare time she loves creating fictional worlds and living inside the minds of her characters, as well as reading, blogging, and watching basketball and hockey.
Jillian is also a successful book blogger, dubbed by her followers as the Queen of Rants, after making her blog Rant and Rave About Books, a popular destination in the bookish community because of her honesty and passion for books.
Corrupt Me is her first novel, with other new adult and young adult romance titles to follow.
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