Menace

Scarlet Scars, Book 1

By: J. M. Darhower

Narrated by: Kasha Kensington, Iggy Toma

Once upon a time, there was a guy who got so fed up with life that he resorted to murder and mayhem just to feel alive.

Lorenzo Gambini is bored. So f--king bored. Most people either annoy him or avoid him, afraid to face him. Figuratively. Literally. With his face partially disfigured, scarred, he looks every bit the monster the stories make him out to be: the notorious Scar. They say he's a sociopath. Maybe he's a psychopath. Whatever path he's on, people tend to stay far away from it.

Until one day, a young woman bumps right into him - a woman just as fed up with life, but for much different reasons. With a scarlet letter inked on her wrist and secrets buried deep in her soul, Morgan Myers is running from something...or maybe somebody. Lorenzo isn't quite sure. You can bet your ass he's going to figure it out, though.

Contains mature themes.

©2017 Jessica Mae Darhower (P)2017 Tantor

As good in audio as it was in print!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😌😎🙃😮🤐

The heroine: Morgan (a.k.a. Scarlett) - She is a thief and a stripper and though she prostitutes herself to a cop who she wants help from, she is adamant that she is not a prostitute. She has an ‘S’ tattooed on her wrist which everyone wonders about and has some dark secrets. There are flashbacks of man from her childhood, known only as the tin man.

The Hero(es): Lorenzo Gambini (a.k.a. Scar) - Originally from Florida, he is the new mob boss in NYC and he took over the city pretty quickly in a bloody way by killing all the mob bosses in one fell swoop. Lorenzo is a sociopath and isn’t bothered with feelings or morals, there is only one person in the world he might love and that is his younger brother, who is intellectual and too soft for the life Lorenzo leads so he tries to make as normal of a home life as he can for his brother, while being in the mafia. He often doesn’t succeed in that.

The Story: Lorenzo is brutal and callous and utterly hilarious. One of my all time favorite Heroes. He has a long scar crossing his face and is blind in one eye from an injury given to him by his stepfather. When Morgan pickpockets him and steals his money, he is determined to find her and get back at her. He finds her and threatens her and is surprised when she fights back with all she can.

“They’re all wearing black, I realize, as I glance around the packed living room, except for Lorenzo, who dresses more like some hoodlum/model hybrid. It’s weird, right?”

I love Lorenzo. He is wisecracking, sarcastic and has no patience for other people. He is an insomniac, and a bit paranoid, but he has no fear and is so likable. You can’t help but love him. He was introduced in Target on our Backs the third book of the Monsters in his Eyes series, and he was awesome in that one.

I enjoyed the fact that Lorenzo sees past what Morgan does for a living and values her for the person she is. He sees that she has been through things in her life that led her to where she is and helps her to turn her life around (well as much around as working for the mob is).

The book was told in dual points of view with dual narration. Narrated by Kasha Kensington and Iggy Toma who both do a great job and have pleasant voices that are easy to listen to. I like duet narration better, where the male does all the male voices and female does all the female voices, but dual narration (alternating chapters) is fine.

Lorenzo & Scarlet!

Such a great duet; the writing, the characters, the story and the audiobook narration are all amazing. I was drawn to the flawed characters from the start, and couldn't believe the twist that happens towards the end, I was not expecting it and it actually got me, which doesn't happen very often. The Crazy and Emotions are real in this one, and there are triggers that need to be heeded if you have any, but I found it all fairly tame as far as what I normally read. It was a pretty soft cliffhanger to the storyline, but it was enough to make you want to immediately dive into book two, to see how things play out.

Unlikely chance for love

Enjoyed the story and the characters. Neither looking for or wanting anything serious. It's a physical relationship of mutual satisfaction, nothing more. Until it isn't.

Soooo GOOD!!

First off, I know I read this book when it first came out in print. It’s been quite a while so listening to the audio was like visiting an old friend with a new story. I thought I knew what was going on, what was going to happen, what was next, and I was entirely wrong. The surprise that hit me 3/4 through this Audio blew me away. I loved everything about this audio. The dual narration was spot on. Both narrators out did themselves. Especially Kasha Kensington, not only did she perform the feisty, witty, strong, no nonsense woman but the little girl voice was so convincing I thought there was a third narrator. This story was strong and passionate, full of twist and turns. An antihero that I fell in love with. Everything I could want in an Audio. Starting the follow up now.

Great story

Loved Lorenzo. He's just my kind of crazy. Really enjoyed his POV's. Scarlet's in some HUGE trouble, but I think Lorenzo is just the man that's going to pull her through this.

So good

I love the narrators for this book. They did just a great job with one of my favorite series.

oh my...

This is my first book by J.M. Darhower! How could I have missed this? But you definitely won't want to miss this story! It's so gritty and dark at times, but there is always hope! I'm so loving it! And the narration is top notch!

The perfect dark romance!

The perfect ratio of dark, snarky, spicy, interesting plot and fantastic morally gray characters you can’t help caring for!
Great narration too, couldn’t stop listening until I finished both books!

(If you have triggers google the TWs)

I will be revisiting this duology many times!

Not much suspense, but pleanty of humor

I really liked this series, but they are NOT suspenseful, they are funny. I laughed out loud numerous times. I wonder who is categorizing the books. I often find that they are in the wrong category.

Loved this!!!!

I knew I was going to regret starting this without having the second book 😖 I need it!! Mafia, bratva, sex trafficking, and the ballsy men who give 0 f*cks to anyone. My fave POV is Lorenzo's for all the pop culture references 😋 He and Morgan are freakin H🔥T together!!!!! 🥵💦❤️