Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Irreparable Damage by Sam Mariano


Despite being the illegitimate daughter of a Chicago Mafioso, Willow Kensington hasn’t exactly lived the life of a gangster’s progeny—she hardly ever speaks to her father. Instead, she leads a nice, quiet existence at home with her family, surrounded by friends and a steady boyfriend. Her biggest problem is having to pick which college to attend.

Until the day after her 18th birthday, when Willow is abducted by a group of sex-traffickers.

Private investigator Ethan Wilde has too many responsibilities to put his life on the line for a paycheck, but when his latest job has him infiltrating a sex-trafficking ring to rescue a missing girl, he ends up doing just that. Before he can safely extract himself from the violent band of criminals, his loyalties are put to the test, and Ethan ends up getting in much deeper than he ever intended.

Despite the heinous acts he’s witnessed and partaken in, Ethan knows their only means of escape is playing out his original scenario—even if a pair of accusing gray eyes might be haunting him for the rest of his life. Even if he’s not so sure he’s one of the good guys anymore. Even if she makes sure everyone knows he isn’t.

Her salvation could be his downfall.

He’s determined to save her anyway.

**This is a DARKER ROMANCE, intended for readers 18+ due to possible triggers and mature/sensitive themes and content. Please see sample for details.**

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Book 1
Buy Links

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary☆☆☆
I give this story 3.5 stars because I really enjoyed the story and it was well written. I had a hard time with Willow, but I can see where she was trying to turn a bad memory into a good one, but she was falling for a married man in the process. She seemed wishy washy at times because she wanted to be grown up and then childish, as though she couldn't make up her mind.

The day after Willow's 18th birthday, she is kidnapped by a group of sex-traffickers. They know who her father is but don't seem to care. Her father is the head of the Chicago Mafia. She is in a room with several other girls, but no one has touched her yet.

Ethan Wilde is a private investigator and he is undercover, acting as one of the sex-traffickers. He is there to rescue one of the girls until he notices Willow. He has recently seen her in an email. He knows he must save her too. When he is forced to do the unspeakable or be killed, the guilt just might eat him alive. But he must do it and rescue both girls, or as many as he can. Then he can go home to his wife and kids. And he will face whatever Willow sees fit to tell the cops.

Willow is only gone a few days, but when she has a chance to tell the cops everything, she leaves out the major detail about Ethan because she feels that he really didn't want to hurt her, he had no choice. Now she is trying to make new memories to take away the bad by spending more time with Ethan and he is letting her and feeling more guilt because he is liking the attention of an 18-year-old. Although he does think about his family, it doesn't seem to bother him because he feels it is two different worlds and the lines don't cross. That is, until Willow and Ethan cross that line and he knows it is wrong but he can't help himself. So when he comes home one day and finds strangers in his living room and his wife and daughter tied to chairs and tape over their mouths, he knows that the truth has been exposed and Willow's father is one of the men in the room.

Will her father kill him and his family, or just him for what happened to Willow? Will Willow ever be somewhat normal again? Will Ethan be able to explain to his wife what happened and her not leave? Will Willow's mother find out what really happened?

As I said, I enjoyed this story and can't wait for the next book to see what happens. I will say this, if you don't like a darker read, then stay away from this one. If you make it past the first two chapters, then you should be okay with the rest of it.


Rachael☆☆☆☆☆
4.5 Stars
I have to say that I was surprised by this book...in a pleasant way. While I know that many people are probably going to have issues with the taboo relationship, I actually enjoyed the way it was written. It felt real, it felt like something that made sense to both characters. It wasn't an easy decision or something taken lightly.

While I normally don't quote books, I feel like this was absolutely the most perfect line in the whole book.

I like that you know you're not a good guy and you're not a bad guy, because that's how most people are, they just don't have the guts to admit it.


This wasn't particularly a dark story, not really anyway. It definitely has some dark points and scenarios, but as a whole I wouldn't say it was dark.

I will say that there was a chunk of the story that I felt dragged. It was after the kidnapping and before we start to really move on from that. While understand why it was included in the story, I didn't care for it because the story wasn't really moving forward.

Also, although I might stand alone in this, I didn't care for the ending. I didn't feel like I got closure, or maybe it was more that it wasn't the closure I wanted.

But overall, it was a very well written story about something that really could happen to just about any girl (or boy) out there and what it is like after such a traumatic thing happens...and then there is how the character handles it, which I thought was unique and interesting.



Sam Mariano has been writing stories since before she could actually write (she just used Barbies back then). She lives in Ohio and has a wonderful little daughter.

Her earlier books are Because of You (#1), a coming-of-age story about the power of first love, and Beautiful Mistakes (standalone), a contemporary romance about a Chicago nanny who makes some mistakes, but manages to find her way…maybe! You’ll have to read it to find out. ;)

Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers! You can also sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects—she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)

Connect with Sam

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Irreparable Damage (Irreparable #1) by Sam Mariano to read and review.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you ladies SO much for the wonderful reviews! :)

    ReplyDelete

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