Manic-ure: Shattered Vows by Kira Cole and Pretty Little Valentine by Lily & Fox

First of all, the book was good but it’s elevated into greatness by the audio duet narration. Absolutely brilliant. Heather Firth’s voice is perfect for Ciara, very real and accessible. I could relate to a person with that voice. And James Cassidy’s voice is pure sex. When he growls, my ovaries start to keen, and I have been forced to search out more of his backlist. Together they are just extraordinary.

The story is the forced/arranged mafia marriage between Ronan Sullivan and Ciara McCarthy. His father has just been unalived with a firearm, and one of da’s last comments was that a union with the McCarthys would be excellent for the family. Ciara’s father committed the ultimate self-harm a while ago, and she and her brother are struggling amid the wreckage of their family, so the offer from the Sullivan is a lifeline. At least, that’s what Ciara’s brother believes, and he strongly guilts and pushes her into the marriage.

It’s been awhile since I did anything with my nails, and Valentines Day is almost upon us, so I picked Pretty Little Valentine by Lily & Fox because I was feeling fabulously festive. And it has red glitter, which is catnip to me.

There’s a lot of drama between the couple. Much of it manufactured. Ciara is determined to strongly dislike Ronan (she blames the Sullivan for her father’s demise), and Ronan is afraid of ceding control, so both have crazily high walls up. Ciara is very tense and Ronan… I don’t normally like alphaholes, but Ronan has that certain Je ne sais quoi that has me melting while asking myself what the quoi.

So many secrets, and Ronan and Ciara start to unwrap them and that makes the story especially interesting. I’m not crazy about wangst, so some of the marriage stuff did make me roll my eyes, but the mystery had me absolutely riveted.

Alas, it ends in a cliffhanger because the story is a duet, with part two coming soon. Duet narration of a duet story- very meta, yet very rewarding.

Cat’s Stats

No cheating or SA.

Does not pass the Bechdel test.

Heat is explicit and consensual.

Triggers include references to self Unaliving, references to trafficking, violence, language, and light bondage.

Tropes include forced/arranged marriage, when Irish eyes are smiling, simply mad about the mob, dysfunctional family FTW, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and family secrets.