I'm sorry I was not a fan of this book. It just wasn't what I expected it to be. I' hope that it goes better for others.

I expected something different from reading the blurb, when I started reading I kind of lost interest as the story went on.

More like 3.5 stars.
I'm really, really torn about this one. There were aspects that I loved and ones that grated on my nerves.

Let's start with the positives, though:
• The cover: the most obvious first... Just look at it! Certainly part of the reason why I read this book in the first place, since I'm usually not too big on Mafia romance stuff. I'm such a manipulable cover victim.
• The suspense part: I absolutely loved the action and confrontation scenes. Skyla Murphy sure knows how to keep a reader on his toes and turning page after page after page. While there have been several stretches where the action actually died down a little, I never felt the slightest bit bored.
• The hero: while he wasn't perfect (see below for more), all in all Hunter was an amazing character. The struggles he fought felt real, the different personas he would wear around different people seemed so at odds with each other, yet still so genuine. The cold-hearted mafioso, the protective big brother, the struggling lover/boyfriend. He keeps trying to do the right thing, but his demons keep getting in the way.
• The villain: Grimsaw is one hell of an antagonist. I love my villains to be sadistic, heartless bastards and Grimsaw fits the bill perfectly.

Now on to the negatives:
• Unfortunately, the heroine: while I really appreciated her snark in the beginning, it became tedious the longer I had to endure it. The way she keeps mouthing off in the most unfortunate of situations and stays silent in moments I so need her to talk back made me nuts.
• The push-and-pull romance: while all in all, I liked the romance part of this book, there were times I just couldn't help but roll my eyes at Hunter's constant back and forth. Yeah, I know he's damaged goods, he doesn't want to drag Shayla into his dark world, but he was just so inconsistent and inconsequent about it. One minute he's all "Nothing will ever come of us", and the next he mulls over how he can convince her, his soulmate, to stay with him.
• The paranormal aspects: for the most part, Hunter's strange ability seemed to be there just for convenience's sake and didn't actually add anything substantial to the story (like, Hey, need the code to a safe in order to cut the scene short? Just ask Hunter, he can pull it out of the guy's mind!). And then, there was this abrupt introduction of even more supernatural elements that just came out of nowhere, probably solely to set up the next installment, and didn't even make any sense... Eh. I seriously could've done without all of that, and I would've been totally happy with a contemporary romantic suspense novel.

This is a dark, twisted and suspenseful Mafia romance that contains a few possible triggers (SPOILER alert: descriptive violence/ gore, implied rape and sex trafficking).

While not perfect, the flaws are totally forgivable, especially considering that this is the author's debut.
I'm eager to read the sequel.

Strange book. I found it a bit confusing at the beginning and I found myself skimming pages to get to the good buts. Unfortunately for me there were none. Hopefully someone will enjoy the storyline because the author writes really well. I just didn't like the story.

3.5*

I'm not even sure how to review this, it's a mix of gritty real life and fantasy but stick with me and I'll try my best.

Firstly I have to say the cover is spot on, one look and you know this isn't the usual run of the mill Mafia romance. Not that there's anything wrong with that I'm a huge fan of Mafia romances in all their forms.

As the cover suggests this is a dark read and I wondered on several occasions if it was just too dark for me. The only thing that kept me reading a couple of times was simply because this was in the romance section.

So a few pages in and it's really obvious this isn't a light Mafia romance. Hunter Garciez has sold his soul to the devil or rather himself to the Mafia, he needed a favour and they helped him out and now they own him.
He has to do some unthinkable jobs.

"Skin and disjoin their bodies. Separate their bones from flesh. Grind their teeth into powder. There better not be a drop of DNA left after you two are done cleaning this herd up. I won’t be happy if I gotta send in somebody else to fix up your failures. Do you little monkeys understand me?”

“Sounds like I left you a few squealers,” Grimsaw laughed, evil shading the brown in his eyes. “I enjoy the act of punishing, but I don’t care to see if their pulses are still kicking when I’m done with them. That’s what I got you maggots for. Don’t let me down, Garciez.”

Three years later aged only twenty-one Garciez is addicted to painkillers it's the only thing getting him through the hell that is his life. He's done things no one should ever have to do and he's sick of it all.

Hunter is special, he has a rare gift the same gift his father had and it makes him invaluable and this is the fantasy part of the book.

Then we meet Shayla Stone she's been kidnapped, drugged, tattooed and sold by Grimsaw. At first we assume she was the right girl in the wrong place but it turns out she's more than that, much more.

Shayla has attitude and mouth and I liked her verbal sparring with Hunter (well everyone really) and she made an interesting character.

I felt the 'you're too good for me, I'm evil' part was just done to death and it got to the point towards the end where I started skimming while rolling my eyes.

There's a lot here to like and while it's darker than I like and the romance certainly isn't as prevalent as I prefer it kept me reading.
Before I started I skimmed the reviews and with one exception they were all 4 and 5* the exception was a 3* review consisting of two words 'disappointing ending' and while I don't consider two words a review they had a point.
Maybe I should have known better, the cover, the darker read none of it screamed HEA but I held on and while I wasn't happy with the ending I can appreciate (grudgingly) that it fits the book but that doesn't mean I like it.

#### SPOILERS ####

Hunter has a gift.

Me, I was born a different case. I didn’t need to touch anything. My abilities didn’t rest in my hands. To see someone’s personal information, all I had to do was stare into their pupils. One deep glimpse was all it took for me to rob an identity.


I had a couple of issues.

Firstly they return to San Francisco and put themselves in danger because Shayla needs a passport but then they end up flying without one.

And while I accepted Hunters gift along with the cure for all cancers existing I draw the line at bringing back the dead especially someone who's been shot right in the centre of their forehead.
And...
Every mafia member our family has been sad to see die will live to fight for us again.

Seriously!
We're going with resurrecting the dead

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours.

<b>“When a man harms Juliet, he coincidingly crosses Romeo too.”</b>


Enjoyed this star-crossed lovers mafia romance. Hunter is mixed up with the Mexican mafia. He's indebted to them for certain reasons, and so he's been doing awful things for the past three years.

Shayla is just a pretty girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or so she thinks at first. Once her captors let her in on some secrets that could get her killed and then throw her into the mix with Hunter as her delivery boy to her new owner, things get a little tense.

The banter in this gives off a Kill Bill vibe. Maybe a Crank vibe since there was a TINY bit of a supernatural side to everything! I think that this read will be an acquired taste and solely because the characters have a dry sense of humor with each other. I actually enjoyed it though. They are crass and stubborn. They are attracted to each other when they really shouldn't be.

There are a few things that could be considered triggers, but the author keeps things vague in ways. This is not a romance heavy book, but there is tension for sure. I would say this is more of a mafia low action suspense story. If you're into those, I'd check it out!

Hell Will Rise is like Romeo and Juliet on some new club drug, and if you get the right hit you'll be addicted!

Liked the story and loved the chemistry between Hunter and Shayla. I thought they had great chemistry. I did not like the ending at all. I could buy into the whole cure for cancer thing but not the resurection. That's when she lost me.

While I really liked the creativity in this book and finished it within a day, I ultimately don't feel I would recommend it to my blog readers. The main reason is that I think it depicted a very toxic relationship that had way too many things wrong to be considered romantic. I didn't feel the connection between the two main characters, and I thought the Romeo and Juliet references were a bit of a reach. Hunter repeatedly treated Shayla like a yo-yo, being an abusive ass in one instant and then a thoughtful protector in the next. He literally grabbed her and almost choked her in several scenes, and he tried to guilt trip her several times, like it was her fault she was kidnapped. The added element of his psychometry seemed out of place and random. They end up living together, even though Hunter tells Shayla that he wants to kill her father. I didn't see why they fell in love, it seemed forced to fit the romance of the story.