Enrage by Rachel Van Dyken- Review and Excerpt

Enrage, an all-new sexy standalone from #1 New York Times Bestseller Rachel Van Dyken is available NOW!!

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Author:  Rachel Van Dyken

Publication Date:  1 August, 2017

Publisher: Ever After Romance

Series:  Eagle Elite, book 8

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense, Mafia Based

Age Recommendation: 18 and Up

Rating: 4 Stars

Book Description:

Enrage is the next standalone in the international best selling mafia series, Eagle Elite.

Part of a world I loathe.

Part of a family who hates me more than I hate myself.

Living with a girl who reminds me of my darkness.

I'm. In. Hell.

Also known as the Cosa Nostra.

My life was over the minute I stepped off that plane.

Son to a murdered mob boss.

Heir to a throne of murder and lies.

My name is Dante Nicolasi.

And there will be blood.

My Review:

What have you done to me Rachel Van Dyken?  I know, you completely DESTROYED me.  The problem is that in destroying me you have made it almost impossible to talk about this book.  This has become one of those 'What happens at Eagle Elite, stays at Eagle Elite.' and I don't know how to tell people about Enrage because the last thing I want to do is spoil this book.  In fact what I want is for them to go in as blind as me and every other reader and to feel every emotion you gave me.  To feel the craving, to feel the love, to feel the hate, to feel the fear, the joy, the crushing blow, the despair, the hope...mostly to feel the life that seeps from this book and into our hearts.  

"This life it is hard, but we make up for it.  We laugh hard.  We drink hard.  We work hard.  We live hard, and in the ind, isn't that what every human wants?  An existence where they can close their eyes every night and know that if God took them -- they did life well."  -Frank

Yes Frank, YES!  I want that.  Rachel you have crushed me with this book but you have also made me want to live, but not just to live, to LIVE HARD!  

I loved the slow build up of the relationship between Dante and El.  I loved their chemistry, the desire and the fear.  My heart immediately went out to Dante.  He is such a brash and charismatic personality that he burst into life on the pages.  He is everything that Frank talks about in his quote to El.  Dante is life.  He is the embodiment of that quote and I love him the more for it.  

I loved El, this girl has been through so much.  You can't blame her for her fear and her timidity.  My only challenge is I wished I had seen more development with her.  There is no doubt that her character grows through out the story and I don't know if the reason we don't 'see it' happen in a more obvious was us because of the other things happening in the book drowning out her personal growth but I wish it had been there.  I would have liked to have had more introspection from her.  More eye opening moments of realizing that she is no longer trapped, that she no longer has to fear being abused by the people who are supposed to love her.  I think sadly that El in her timidity gets overshadowed in this book by Dante and other family members.  This book turned into a book about the family for me with a side of Dante and El.

While this book is about life it is also about death.  The death of the ways of the past, the death of youth for these characters, yes even through the past 7 books they have all held that air of youth about them, as they should because they are young and we can't forget that. In Enrage however I feel the loss of that youth.  They have been young men and women playing hard in an aged game but now they are leaving their youth to their children and becoming hardened.  I know you're saying "Malissa, stahp, these characters have been hard since day one."  I don't disagree. They have been hard, they have been callous, they have been ruthless, but they have not been hardened.  They have always had a light, they have always had hope.  I'm not saying that is completely gone, but I am saying that Rachel dims that light severely in Enrage.  She changes everything.  Have they always recognized what their life is about and how they needed to live it, yes, but it hasn't been until this book that their world has really stepped up and slapped them in the face.   These are still the same characters that we have grown to love like family over the last several years but their world is so much different now and I am both anxious and terrified to keep living it with them.  All Eagle Elite books have an edge, have a sadness, but only two have ever beaten me down, Elude and now Enrage.  They are the type of book that make it hard to get up the next morning, the kind of book that makes you almost too depressed to pick up the next one in the series but make it too hard to not because while you're heart has been utterly destroyed you know that the author, you hope that the author, will piece you back together.  When I picked up Enrage I never saw the end coming.  I picked up on the clues through the story and even when I knew what was happening I was still shocked that it all actually occurred.  I wanted to cry and rage and then cry a whole lot more.  I don't know how we come back from this I really don't but I have to have faith that Rachel will make our Eagle Elite world right again.  Please.  

~ HAPPY READING ~ 

( or maybe just happ-ish reading, eep)

Excerpt:

Dante slammed his hand into the tree, his jaw popped as he gritted his teeth together and then calm washed over him as he whispered near my ear, “Want me to kill him?” A few people walked by and stared at us, it looked like he was kissing my neck, like we were normal college students sharing a moment. Nope. Wrong story, kiddos. He just offered to kill someone for offending me, run along, nothing to see here. “After,” I said. “Kill him after he stops being useful to you, to the bosses.” I couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth, what I was agreeing to. “Yes.” Dante pulled back, his face broke out into a smile. “How messed up is it that I’m actually looking forward to that moment?” I gulped. “It’s in your blood.” “I wish it wasn’t,” he said gruffly. “I wish I didn’t crave it — dream about it — almost as much as I wish I didn’t feel guilt every day because of it.” I sighed and put my hands on his chest, then ran them up around his neck, he didn’t move, or flinch, so maybe we were having a moment as our mouths almost touched. “The only shame in life, is not being who you were truly born to be. If that means you kill the bad guys — kill the bad, guys Dante. Just don’t lose your soul in the process.” “And if it’s already gone?” He croaked his eyes darkening as he slowly leaned in until his forehead touched mine. Days ago I would have been terrified that his body was this close. Days ago, I would have shoved him away and run. Days ago, I would have shuddered that his bloodstained hands were running up and down my skin. But today. Today was different. Today I closed my eyes and drank in the wicked scent of Dante Nicolasi, the cologne mixed with soap. I inhaled. And opened my eyes again. Yesterday I was angry. I was afraid. Today. Against the tree. Pinned by Dante’s arms. I was safe. “I’ll help you find it,” I whispered. “Just don’t damn yourself in the process, El.” He cupped my face with his right hand, his eyes fell to my mouth, his half-lidded seductive look could stop a girl dead in her tracks. The wives always talked about how attractive his father was, even at an older age. Almost like he’d aged backward. Dante was no different. If it was possible for a human to get more attractive by the day — he’d be the one to prove you right. “Are you going to kiss me again?” I asked hopefully. “No.” He pulled away. My heart sank into my stomach. “Because I don’t want to start something I have no intention of stopping.” My head jerked, our eyes locked, and I saw it. The honesty. “Told you I’d never lie to you, El.” His voice had a warning edge to it, like I shouldn’t push him, push whatever invisible boundaries he’d mentally set up between us. His eyes never left mine. And I knew, this was what he looked like when he was telling the truth. His eyes pierced through my defenses in an unapologetic search for my heart, my soul. And I let them. “We should get to class.” I finally found my voice and started walking, he fell into step beside me. And I spent the rest of the day thinking about the non-kiss. And the promise that came with it.  

Blood in.. No Out...

Catch up with the rest of the Eagle Elite Series Here: http://bit.ly/RVDEagleElite

   

Meet the Author:

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!

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