Calisto and Emma are back! <3
WARNING: The first two books in the Donati Bloodlines Trilogy end on a cliffhanger, and are not considered safe romance.
Calisto DonatiCalisto had never been a fan of pain, but he found it provided a certain relief.
It was a high that couldn’t compete with anything else he experienced. That was why he fought bare-knuckled, why he drove fast, despite knowing he might crash, and why he still enjoyed looking at Emma Donati—no matter her current status.
Pain felt good.
He might have been a fool for doing so, but as long as he got what he wanted from it, he didn’t really care.
When he fought, he was given release. When he drove, he was given freedom. When he looked at Emma, he was given memories.
All of them brought a certain level of pain. All three might kill him someday.
Calisto glanced at Emma, taking her in again when she didn’t know he was looking.
He realized then that only one might actually be worth dying for.
Emma Donati
Emma kept her gaze on the book in her lap, pretending like there wasn’t an argument going on across the room. She had become terribly good at acting like she didn’t hear.
Calisto watched her out of the corner of his eye while he argued on with Affonso.
She was too focused on Calisto to care about their fight.
His anger. The tightness of his jaw. Searing soul-black eyes.
The two men were not the same. They might have shared blood, but their hearts were entirely different. One man never let her out of his sight when he was nearby. The other acted like she didn’t exist.
This was what it was like, she realized, to be in love with someone she couldn’t have.
Calisto Donati would never be hers.
This wasn’t a fairy tale that would end happily.
They weren’t star-crossed. They were impossible.
*Generously received a copy from Indie Sage PR in exchange for an honest review*
Bloggers Note: It is July! I apologize for being a little MIA recently. June was not one of my greatest months in terms of reading and reviewing. I have been very busy with everything going on in my life (working, summer plans, keeping up with things around the house, "attempting" to keep a workout regiment, and everything else that the world throws at me) that I haven't even had a chance to spend any time reading, let alone writing reviews. But I hope that will change sometime soon. Reading and writing reviews bring a lot of joy and happiness to me personally. It is one of the few things that I do for myself and not for anyone else and I actually notice a correlation between how much I read and my level of happiness. Well, enough about me......ON TO THE REVIEW!
If you have not read Thin Lies, then I suggest that you wait to read my review. Thin Lines is the sequel to Thin Lies and cannot be read as a stand-alone.
Calisto and Emma are back!! After reading Thin Lies back in April, Bethany-Kris has finally graced us with her sequel to the book (If you have not had the chance to read my review for the first book, then you can find it here: *Review: Thin Lies by Bethany-Kris*). I was so excited to read this. My level of excitement and joy was soaring through the roof. And then I started to read it......
Now, if you read the first book, then you are fully aware of the cliff-hanger at the end of the book and how heart wrenching it was. Well, Thin Lines does not release your heart from the wrenching and gut-punching moments. If anything, I feel like Bethany-Kris beat us down into the ground and keeps throwing the punching to remind us to stay down and to never try to get up. The series does not have a warning about not being a safe romance for nothing. I feel like there is no hope in the world left for Calisto and Emma.
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| While I was reading Thin Lines. I blame you, Bethany-Kris! |
So, as I have established, Calisto and Emma's story was super depressing through Thin Lines. For the most part. I don't want to go into too much detail as to what actually occurs in the book. This book is still super amazing, even though I have said nothing, but how depressing it was to read. But the depressing and heart wrenching parts are what make-up the book and make it special.
Every other book has a beginning, end, and a moment of struggle in between, but the Donati Bloodlines trilogy has a depressing beginning, a depressing middle, and I am really rooting for a happy ending somewhere in there. I will honestly be really angry, annoyed, and betrayed if there is a depressing ending. I will seriously be screaming at the book and questioning everything that I am doing in life, if there is not a HEA.
I will also note that this book was great in terms of character development. Calisto and Emma both grew as characters, together and separately. The twists and turns in the story were not predictable and legitimately surprised me. Notice the "s" at the end of both words. This book does not string you along and then throw in a twist at the end to catch you off guard and wanting more. No, Bethany-Kris keeps you on the tip of your toes through the whole book and do not expect her to hold back and protect her two heros. No, if anything she feeds her two love birds to the dogs and leaves us asking why. Why does this keep happening to them? And when will they ever get there happily ever after? After finishing the second book, I don't know if they will have a HEA. I really don't. The last book is really going to be a up hill battle, because I don't expect Bethant-Kris and Alfonso to make it easy for them.
But until then, I will think back on the fond moments of Calisto and Emma, because they do have a few of them. Moments of joy and hope. I imagine doves flying in the air when I think of the happy times without Alfonso popping up and destroying everything and everyone in his path. <3
