Bark at the Ghouls

Mafia stories aren’t really my thing. What I know about the mafia was picked up from the Godfather movies that my husband made me watch as payback for forcing him to sit through Hellraiser and The Exorcist for the first (and last) time. I still think he got the better end of that deal. I wanted to get that out of the way and admit that I was fully expecting to find this story to be, well, not exactly to my taste and as striking and seriously gorgeous as the cover was, I put off reading it until now for that reason. I’m pretty open minded but today have learned to never to judge a book by its blurb and/or premise in the future because Dark Soul wasn’t anything like I had concocted in my head!

Stefano Marino is a young mob boss, married to a beautiful woman whom he adores. When the story opens Stefano and many powerful mob bosses are sitting around the death bed of one their elder bosses awaiting their share of his business interests. It’s here that he has his first run-in with Silvio Spadaro. At first glance, Stefano mistakes the lithe, leather clad new arrival with the sexy ass for a woman. When he realizes his mistake he continues to admire the man’s beautiful bod. He’s striking and Stefano can’t look away. Silvio notices and after a strange run-in Stefano is left slightly aroused and confused. In those few brief moments Silvio has managed to awaken a deep longing within Stefano that he has been pushing down and resisting his entire life.

Later that evening Silvio, who may be slightly crazy, forces Stefano into a situation that leaves them both a bit breathless. I’m not going to spoil it but be warned it includes gun play, power plays and some dubious con sex play in a scene that drips with danger and sexual intensity and someone’s body fluids . . . Stefano is left shaken by the incident and expecting repercussions for his actions. Silvio, you see, belongs to another mob boss who Stefano must later ask for assistance to help him deal with the Russian mob. Oh my, what a sticky mess! Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

I won’t give away more of the plot because I don’t enjoy reading spoilers and I’m sure you guys don’t either and really this book is only 77 pages so just read it already. Silvio is all kinds of sexy. Truly I don’t think I’ve read a character able to ooze sex off the pages like this guy does. About halfway through the book the author gives us a glimpse into Silvio’s past that really helps explain why he has become the person he is. Everything clicks into place and at that moment he became a person instead of a fantasy sex object for me and more importantly for Stefano. I really loved this attention to character detail which I was not expecting. No excuses are made for its two leads. They are who they are, go after what they want and they own it. I cannot wait to see what happens to these two in the follow up books because I just know things are going to get very complicated.

Dark Soul is a dangerously addictive and fascinating look into an intense and sexually heated connection between two men with a lot to lose but it is not a book for everyone. It’s not overly dark and angsty but the sex goes places most books wouldn’t dare touch. There’s the previously mentioned gun play and there’s bondage, voyeurism and a general roughness to it all. If you don’t mind visiting some darker appetites take a look-see and I bet you’ll be left wanting more.