In this thrilling and sexy follow-up to Sempre, two young lovers struggle to keep their relationship intact after they become deeply enmeshed in the dangerous mafia-run crime ring they once tried to overthrow.
Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco have been through a lot. Haven was taken in by Carmine’s father, and with his family’s help, she escaped a gruesome fate.
However, saving Haven from the dark intentions of a mafia family cost Carmine a steep price: he was forced to swear loyalty to them.
Now, still passionately in love, Carmine and Haven must face the fall-out of Carmine’s forced service, as Haven discovers terrifying secrets about the family that enslaved both her and her mother—and why she matters so much in this intricate web of lies.
I read Sempre about a 2 months ago and I was so impressed. I fell in love with the story and the writing. I was excited and could not wait to delve into Sempre: Redemption. I was not let down at all. This story is about love, sacrifice, letting go, learning to grow and learning that you are stronger than your past.
This book picks up where the first left off. Carmine has pledged his loyalty to the mob. He has to sacrifice and learn to be loyal to an organization he never wanted to be a part of. Letting go of certain things to make this happen. Though it killed him, he felt he had no other choice and saw no other way out.
Now that Carmine has made his choices, they affect Haven as a result. Like it or not she now has to make a choice herself. Either she learns to grow and spread her wings or let her past define her. This story is beautifully written, I watched as the two main characters live with choices they make. How they deal with it and what they each sacrifice and learn as they do so. It was not an easy read, I found myself crying multiple times. In shock or awe of the people and situations around them. Other times, I was upset and grief stricken as I watched the after math of situations thrown at the characters.
Watching the story unfold and reading the cause and effect of things that happened long ago. I watched as this methodically, calculating and unforgiving world was slowly built up around me. While some of the parts are cryptic, in the end I understood it all. I loved how this world sucked me in and had my emotions everywhere. I understood why Carmine did what he did, I felt how much he loves Haven and the lengths he would go through to protect her. Nobody ever said love is easy. Sometimes we must travel a hard path in order to appreciate what is set before us. I applaud the author for not giving me a conventional couple. They do have a struggle and they do have to each discover things on their own in order to come together to know what makes them stronger. It is not your run of the mill romance.
I loved the secondary characters as well. The author wrote a very well rounded cast of characters, that held my hand and each told their story as I read. Each of them an intricate part, each a building block of the events that were formed. I absolutely recommend these books.
I gave this book
5/5 hearts
Carmine sat in his usual chair in the library, casually strumming his guitar. A sliver of light filtered in from the large window, illuminating his somber expression in the darkness. She called his name but he remained still, continuing to pluck at the strings almost as if he hadn’t heard her. She took a step toward him and was about to say his
name again when he let out a long, deep sigh. “I had a dream.”
“Another nightmare?” she asked, walking over to him. He glanced up at her as his fingers stilled, the music stopping, but Haven barely noticed. She couldn’t focus on
anything but the green eyes boring into her. Once so alive with passion, she saw nothing but deep sadness marring the bright color.
Carmine set the guitar aside and moved his legs to make room, motioning for her to join him. She climbed into his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.
“Not a nightmare this time,” he said. “It was a good dream.”
“What was it about?”
“You,” he said quietly. “You made a painting—some abstract shit, I don’t know—but it was so good they hung it in a museum and raved about how talented you were. It was like you were the next fucking Picasso, tesoro.”
She laughed. “I don’t even know how to paint, Carmine.”
“You could learn,” he said. “Would you want to?”
“Maybe, but I don’t know how good I’d be.”
“Oh, you’d be good,” he said confidently. “You shouldn’t doubt yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to.”
“Except for play the piano,” she said playfully. “Or the guitar.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, for the sake of everyone’s ears, we ought to leave music to me, but the rest is all you. You can probably do all of that, you know. Draw, paint, sculpt
shit into weird shapes and tell people it’s something it doesn’t look anything like. That takes talent.”
She smiled. “And you think I have that kind of talent?”
“Of course,” he said. “There’s gonna be no stopping you once you get started.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, a swell of emotion surging through her at his words.
“It means a lot that you believe in me.”
“I’d be an idiot not to,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
JM Darhower is the author of countless stories and poems, most of which only she has ever read. She lives in a tiny town in rural North Carolina, where she churns out more words than will ever see the light of day. She has a deep passion for politics and speaking out against human trafficking, and when she isn't writing (or
fangirling about books) she's usually ranting about those things.
Chronic crimper with a vulgar mouth, she admits to having a Twitter addiction. You can usually always find her there.
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