Shattered Veil

Astoria Royals Standalone, Book 2

By: Deborah Garland

Narrated by: Desiree Ketchum, JF Harding

It started with a little white lie and ended with me being owned by a black-hearted mafia boss. And now... my baby daddy. Of all people to tease to live out a fantasy. I fell into bed with a hacker for the Irish mob: Balor O'Rourke. Who also happens to be my new lethally gorgeous boss with nerdy dark glasses, penetrating green eyes, and a body made for sin. He doesn't do relationships and I'm getting over an abusive ex. With that understanding, we shatter the rules, unleashing his unbridled desires and my carnal urges. But the enemy Balor is chasing turns out to be my father, and I have to choose sides. When my baby news wakes up a passion for marriage and fatherhood Balor didn't know he could feel, a brutal possessiveness takes hold. I may not have a choice now. He says I'm his. Forever.

Shattered Veil is a standalone Mafia Romance with mature themes, a possessive hacker, and a DV survivor. The story includes explicit content. It is recommended for mature listeners only. No cheating. HEA guaranteed.

©2023 Deborah Garland (P)2025 Deborah Garland

Deliciously Dirty Irish Mafia

Shattered Veil had me cracking up at the beginning at Ella's thoughts and then BAM, we get a dirty talking Balor like right off the bat and that mouth... Their initial chemistry was crazy hot and I was all in on their story. A few hiccups along the way, but whey they see each other again, their chemistry continues to be explosive. The mouth on that man was sexy AF, but I also really loved Ella who was just as sassy and dirty mouthed. Outside of their crazy hot passion though, a beautiful story and a very sweet romance evolved.

This book definitely had a lot of the mafia vibes you would expect which brought a bit of danger and intrigue to the story and kept me entertained and engaged throughout trying to figure out what was going to happen next. I loved how protective Balor was of Ella and how he vowed to make sure her abusive ex was dealt with. There were several things I never saw coming, but that ended up making this story so much better than expected.

The voice narration with JF Harding and Desiree Ketchum was excellent. Both narrators did a stellar job and I loved the Irish accent that really brought to life the Irish Mafia angle of the story. Their voice inflections were perfect and really added to the listening experience.

This is the audiobook you've been waiting for!

UPDATED FOR AUDIO: This is the audiobook you’ve been waiting for. Trust me, I’m right about this. Just close your eyes and imagine it: J. F. Harding with that voice, those subtle changes, those pauses, saying BABY . . . and with a perfect, sexy, Irish accent! He is Balor. All the initial sarcasm and then hunger and then fear and then the anger. What could be better? Nothing. So open your eyes and go buy this audiobook. Search the internet for BABY and you’ll find all my reviews for J. F. Harding, because he says BABY better than anyone, whatever the book or character it just makes me shiver every time. And Desiree Ketchum as Ella is right there with him. Every word, every syllable, every breath, every emotion. Her immediate attraction to Balor, first just physically but then the man himself, her courage and determination after all the abuse but with terror waiting just under the surface. Perfect pairing of narrators for an already perfect book.

Okay, I admit it. I am completely obsessed with and addicted to Deborah Garland’s Mafia romance books. They are just so entertaining: funny, sexy, scary, and most of all so romantic. Yes, these big, tough, handsome guys are the Irish Mafia, killers, criminals, hit men, an enforcer, an underboss, a king. But after a while Mafia-criminals-underboss just goes through your head like yada-yada-yada. These guys are sweet and so eager to please their women (even if they are bossy as heck) and babble when confused just like guys who work at the hardware store instead of guys who run a city.

And yes, they are kind of over the top. Maybe in our boring everyday lives we don’t want quite so much possessiveness or violence, but these stories are meant to draw you in, take you away from your everyday life and give you laughs and tears and shivers. And that is exactly what they do. And let’s get it out of the way right now that we love the O’Rourkes. Stunningly handsome, loyal, strong, and even their names are sexy: Kieran, Riordan, Lachlan, Cormac, Darragh, Eoghan, Balor, and they are the good guys.

In Shattered Veil all the brothers, sister Shea-Lynn, cousins, bodyguards and a lot of the actual bad guys from the Astoria Royals series and standalones are back, but this is Balor and Ella’s story. Balor is the youngest brother, the nerdy tech genius of the family, who witnessed as a child his father’s brutality towards his mother and vowed that “regular” women would never be for him. Too much risk, too much emotion involved. He’s watched his brothers become smitten (or a better word would be obsessed) one-by-one and has smugly smirked to himself with certainty that this will never, ever, ever happen to him. Famous last words, even for a billionaire mob boss.

Ella is a teacher, the daughter of a computer hacking genius and recently just escaped from an abusive partner. She yearns to be a “regular” woman again. Not looking for love but desperately needs to be able to find intimacy again without fear and loathing.

From their first encounter on a plane, which is sweet, sexy, and emotional because little things flicker under the surface to their surprise re-meeting a few weeks later to a job and relationship – strange as it is – through some truly unsettling events and peeks into the mob world, every minute spent with them is compelling. They are so attracted to each other but so unwilling to go further to risk something like their hearts. I loved Shattered Veil, can’t wait to see what’s next, and hope author Garland never runs out of brothers or cousins or someone because these books are a joy to read. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

It'sAlways the Quite Ones!!

JF Harding is absolute perfection as Balor! He nailed the hot AF cyber Alpha of the O'Rourke's!! Nothing hits better than a well done Irish brogue 🥵🥵

Desiree Ketchum narrates Ella flawlessly. She captures her strength and fierceness phenomenally.

The drama that D.Garland writes into her stories will keep you on the edge of your seat! These men will stop at nothing for their family and the women the love. I was hooked on Balor & Ella's story when I first read it, but hearing it next level!!

I had no idea that I NEEEDED Balor's story this badly!

D. Garland writes the best Alpha MCs and some of the strongest FMCs that I've ever read. i have been completely consumed with the world these series have created in Astoria. You can totally read this as a standalone, but trust me your gonna wanna get to know ALL of Astoria's Royals.

Now... For Shattered Veil...

Someone call 911 ... Balor & Ella are 🔥🔥🔥

With a pånty-drenching dirty mouth, Balor is topshelf Alpha Male material. Ella is the definition of strength, independence & sass.

These two have undeniable chemistry from the start. Right out the gate, phenomenal spice, that just keeps getting better throughout the story. Navigating their inevitable relationship through the suspensionful twists and turns of their story, Balor & Ella make it out the other side with their well deserved HEA.

It will never cease to amaze me, how well written D. Garland's books are. The balance of steamy dirty scenes and plots with drama, suspense & fantastically crafted characters that have real growth and development is unmatched! You're hooked in the first chapter, on the edge of your seat devouring each page while not so secretly clenching your thighs.

5/5 ⭐
5/5 🌶️
10/5 Thrills

The plane ride sets the mood

I love this book. I listen to it straight through twice back to back, but it ends with a cliffhanger. It says it’s a standalone but clearly there is a story of the sister and trace coming and it’s not available to listen to. That’s the only thing that takes this book down by a half of a point

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just so happen to buy this series. I initially started with book 1 but it wasn't a duet narration so I stopped it and started on book 2. This was a really good book. Well written, excellent narration by both narrators, which is rare for them both to be great. On to the next book. Keep them coming.

It was OK

It started right out spicy, which was fun. But this girl was so all over the place in her convictions I got annoyed pretty quickly.
And the female narrator took gasping breaths that were so distracting I almost returned the book. I decided to just finish it. The characters depth, especially the FMC, was just not there. Very surface. Not awful, just... not great.

Holy geeze⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So many stars for this book!!!! The writing is amazing! The storyline is phenomenal! The narrators did a fantastic job. I can’t say enough - I need more! The characters are so multidimensional and you’re just right there in the story! It’s so real! Just wow!!! You need this book!!

The master hacker & the one who defrosts his ♥️

BALOR O'ROURKE , irish mafia hacker extraordinaire ... he doesnt like women to touch him ...
ELLA REYES , the beautiful woman who he shared 1st class seats with on the flight back from Australia .

tropes
-------
irish mafia
DV survivor
ONS
hacker / teacher

" no one will judge, they know what it took for you to be here "

" luck , patience , trust and shattering the veil to Balor's heart "

Hot Nerdy Hacker

I always enjoy a mafia story and this one was a good one to listen to. J F. Heading and Desiree are two of my favorite.

Loved Every Moment!

This duet narration was fantastic OMG the way this story starts off! The flirting, the banter, top tier! Throughout this story had me so very in my feels! The spice, the swoon, the close family, and healing, I loved it all! I can’t wait to continue on in this series!