Romance book reviews. Reviews of books that make my heart race, have a beautiful love story, and a happy ending.

Romance book reviews. Reviews of books that make my heart race, have a beautiful love story, and a happy ending.

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REVIEW & EXCERPT — Killing Sarai (In The Company of Killers #1) by JA Redmerski

REVIEW & EXCERPT — Killing Sarai (In The Company of Killers #1) by JA Redmerski

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“All that I’m sure of is that I’m alive because of Victor… Cold-blooded murderer-for-hire or not, he saved my life.”

OK. Yeah. I fell for the bad guy.

From the first few pages, Killing Sarai had my undivided attention. Unputdownable!

This book shot straight to the top of my to-read pile because it was written by the author of one of my favorite books, The Edge of Never. 

The story here is that of an American girl, Sarai, who was handed off to a Mexican drug dealer at the age of fourteen by her own mother. Her life since then has been one filled with drugs, brutality, murder and slavery. She knows escape is futile – it would be suicide. Out there in the middle of Mexico, there is literally no where she can go. So when an American hit man comes to the compound on business, she sees her way out and takes it.

All she wants is to get home. But running away has it’s consequences. Victor is a cold-blooded, hard man – trained from an early age to be a killer… and now, he’s her only hope for survival.

“I need you to help me… I’ve been a prisoner of Javier’s since I was fourteen years old.”
“And you assume I’m going to help because I am also American,” he said simple.
I hesitate before I answer, “I-I… well why wouldn’t you?”
“It is not my business to interfere.”
“Then what IS your business? I ask with a trace of distaste. “To murder people in cold blood?”
“Yes.”

“You know I’m in a lot of danger,” I say.
“Yes, but that still does not make you my problem.”
“Are you HUMAN?” I hate him more every time he speaks. “What kind of man would not want to help a defenseless young woman especially when she has escaped her captors and is directly pleading for your help?”
He doesn’t answer.

I felt myself drawn to Victor’s character. He was so intriguing! Always in control, always one step ahead. Smart, calculating, efficient, seemingly ruthless on the outside but I sensed a spark of something… deeper maybe?

I couldn’t tell what his end game was at first but that made sense because I don’t think even he knew his end game. He was torn between what he was trained to do, what made sense to do given the world he lived in, but also what his conscience (however far buried it was) was telling him. And something about Sarai was slowly unraveling him.

“In the end, you can only trust yourself. I am not your hero. I am not the other half of your soul who could never let anything bad ever happen to you. Trust your instincts first always, and me, if you choose, last.”

Sarai has really had the worst of life handed to her but yet she’d remained quite strong and I was pleasantly surprised to watch her discover her inner badass.

The world was brutal but the descriptions were never too graphic. It told you just enough to keep you connected and ‘in the moment’ but never enough to make your stomach turn. Remember, this is a New Adult story so there is some steam, but it’s not too detailed. I did wish there was a little bit more steam though — hopefully we’ll see that in the sequel. I’d love to see them develop their relationship further.

That being said, I loved seeing them slowly give into what they were feeling. It was more of a leap for Victor than Sarai because for him relationships were not only forbidden but simply did not belong in his dangerous lifestyle.

“Despite my growing fear, I still want to be right where I am, trapped in the merciless arms of a killer.”

The plot was unpredictable and I loved that. It kept me wondering what would happen next and kept surprising me. That being said, it didn’t really put my heart in my throat either, but it did keep my attention at all times.

This is the kind of story that makes you just have to keep flipping the pages. The pacing is fast, the writing is fluid, the story is engaging and the characters are intriguing. All in all, it’s a fabulous read if you’re looking for something totally ‘different’. I really enjoyed it!

The ending… ho boy! It leaves you desperately wanting more but at the same time, I got the feeling that it would all be okay in the end. Basically, there is a slight cliffhanger. It wasn’t a ‘holy shit’ kind of ending, but rather just one that clearly left a lot more to the story. And there is a note at the end that says that Victor and Sarai’s story will continue in the sequel which is to be released later in 2013. I can’t wait!

4 – 4.5 stars (closer to 4.5)

EXCERPT

The flash of a silver blade catches my eye. I panic when I glimpse the knife in his hand and start to twist my body awkwardly. But he holds me down, putting the weight of his hand on the small of my back, the hand with the knife wrestling with my left shoulder.

“What are you going to do?!” I shriek.

“I have to cut it out.”

“Victor, no!”

I thrash around more violently, trying to roll over onto my back so that I can get up. Suddenly he’s lying fully on top of me, and his closeness, the warmth of his breath on the side of my neck, takes my breath away. My entire frame solidifies beneath him and then begins to relax, melting into his body as his voice dances along the shell of my ear.

“I will be gentle,” he whispers and my skin shivers from my ear down the full length of my spine.

He presses himself into me from behind, his hardness obvious behind the thin layer of his pants that separates us.

“I promise,” he says onto my ear. “But it has to come out. Do you understand? Do you trust me?” He presses his hips toward me again and I feel me moving against him involuntarily. I shut my eyes when the tingling sensation between my legs moves through my back and into my eyelids.

“Yes,” I whisper. “I trust you.”

“Good,” he says softly and slowly raises himself off of me.

I remain very still, thinking so much more about Victor and what he just did to me than the more imperative threat. A part of me doesn’t even care about what he’s going to do, that he’s about to cut into me with a knife, that it’s going to hurt like hell. And perhaps that’s the only reason he did what he did, knowing somehow that he could control my mood, my emotions, with the hope that he might touch me more than he already has. I feel like a toy and Victor knows every button on me which to push, to touch, in order to make me do whatever he wants, feel whatever he wants me to feel. And I don’t mind. I don’t know how he did it, but I don’t mind at all.

“Bite down on the pillow if you have to,” he says.

I reach up and grab the nearest pillow towards me, crushing it against my chest. I squeeze my eyes shut tight.

The blade goes in and I yell out in pain before burying my face within the pillow, my entire body hardening like a block of cement.

(Romantic Suspense | 93,000 words | 400 pages)

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Comments

  3. I’m super excited for another book from J.A.! Hopefully it will tide us all over until we get The Edge of Always 🙂

    Reply

  17. Aestas, the new blog design looks great! Thanks for hosting the giveaway. I fell in love with J.A. Redmerksi after The Edge of Never, so I cannot wait to read anything new she writes.

    Reply

  20. Yes!! Absolutely adored The Edge of Never. Can’t wait to read more from her! 🙂
    PS. the new blog design looks amazing!

    Reply

  50. This book looks amazing I like the fact that its different it isn’t you typical boy meets girl books and I NEED to read it

    Reply

  87. Sounds really interesting. Makes me think of another book I read. Stories that feel like their coming together, despite the couple seeming to be extremely unlikely are very appealing to me.

    Reply

  98. Thank you so much for this great giveaway!! I really love reading romantic suspense and this one looks very intriguing! The excerpt just makes me want to read it more!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!! 😉

    Reply

  108. I’d love to see more of everything in adult romantic suspense….maybe not as much of vampires, etc since everyone seems to be writing about them now. Some are very well done and some aren’t. This book looks fantastic and I can’t wait to dig in!

    Reply

  112. The edge of never was one if the best books I read last year! Can’t wait to read this. If I had an x man power it would b to read faster!! (Or freeze time whatevs)

    Reply

  114. I’m super excited for another book from J.A.! Hopefully this will keep me company until “The Edge Of Always” comes out =)

    Reply

  115. Super excited to begin reading this book! This story sounds so interesting! thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply

  120. The blurb is so intriguing! Thank you for having this giveaway! Especially internationally (: Bound to be an excellent read, I’m sure.

    Reply

  131. I loved the Edge of Never and am so looking forward to the Edge of Always. I would love to read this one by the same author! It looks so good!

    Reply

  141. I hope i win! I think that’s impossible but i really want this book. The cover look amazing!! And also it’s signed by author. 🙂

    Reply

  149. Another JA Redmerski masterpiece! Can’t wait to read it and have it. ❤
    i love it when it’s a internationally giveaway!
    All the way from the Philippines! Mabuhay! 🙂

    Reply

  167. I LOVED “The Edge of Never” and I cannot wait for this one! J.A. Redmerski rocks!
    Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply

  175. Just started this book and I am already in love. No surprise from the author of one of my favorite books!

    Reply

  177. I bought this one the other day. Aestas is it wrong of me to want to fix your typos. Great review though, can’t wait to read it.

    Reply

    • Where’s the typo? I had to type this review on my husband’s netbook instead of my computer so the screen was tiny. I might have missed something…?

      Reply

  178. All she wants is to get home. But running away has it’s consequences. Victor is a cold-blooded, hard man – trailed from an early age to be a killer… and now, he’s her only hope for survival.

    Did you mean to type trained from an early age?

    Reply

  179. I only noticed those 2. It’s a curse, I find stuff like that in every book I read… It drives me mad. I’m always wondering what happened to the proofreader. My local newspaper is plagued with errors. On my kindle I want to be able to do edits as I go. I think this is a very bothersome illness and I require professional help. So sorry, I’m really not trying to be an A-hole.

    Reply

  180. Just finished this last night and WOW what a book! I haven’t read something like this in a real long time. It also moved up myTBR list because of the author, and it did NOT disappoint!

    Reply

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