Nero
Made Men #1
By: Sarah Brianne
Released June 27th, 2014
Blurb
Nero is the king of
Legacy Prep, living a life of power.
Elle is the school’s punching bag, living a life of fear.
The only good girls Nero knows jump in his bed when he tells them to.
The closest Elle has come to a bad boy like him is in the cafeteria line.
The mob boss gave him orders to find out what she knows.
Her mouth is sealed.
I just want to be a fucking made man.
I’m just a fucking waitress.
4 Star Review by Lisa Kane
Elle lives
in terror at Legacy Prep High in Kansas City. Along with her friend Chloe, they
decide what lunch to order based on which lines are the shortest so they can
sit down and get out of the line of fire, they hide when the popular kids come
down the hall. They aren’t just bullied; they are physically abused, to the
point of scars and bruises. They are starting their second semester of their
senior year. They just want to get out alive. Elle defends Chloe, to the point
where she makes herself a target to deflect any harm coming to her. Chloe had
an incident a while ago, that she won’t discuss. She lets everyone think it was
a car accident, but only Elle knows the truth. Elle suffered a horrible assault
that was covered up. Elle never admits to her parents the hell high school is
for her; her father had a forklift accident and is confined to a wheelchair.
They are barely making ends meet. Most of her tuition is paid for by a
scholarship due to her high grades.
Elle works at
a diner, not in the best part of town in order to cover what her scholarship
doesn’t; things like school lunches and spending money. It’s obvious in a
school full of snotty kids who enjoy haute couture, Elle’s clothes are bought
at the local Goodwill store. In every way she sticks out like a sore thumb. But
for some reason, she has always been under the radar for Nero Caruso- the
school’s heartthrob, the panty melting
son of the town’s reining head of the mob. He has never noticed her before. His
interest lies in the endless supply of girls that throw themselves at him-and
he has no problem catching each and every one. And then throwing them back,
although he keeps Cassandra, Elle’s number one public enemy close by for his
booty calls. She enjoys tormenting Elle and calling her a waitress, while
making her clean up the “accidental” spills she drops in front of Elle in the
cafeteria.
“I have been looking for you all day.
I have a little mess and I needed the waitress to clean up for me.” Cassandra
took Elle’s plate and pushed it off the table. Then the high pitched screech of
her voice started back again. “Go on, clean it up, waitress.”
One night
while working her shift at the dinner, Elle goes out back by the dumpster to
throw out the trash. She sees a group of guys roughing up some poor soul. She
hides and sees the guy killed. Fearing she’s been seen, she gets away, but
knows there is a big chance there will be repercussions for her.
Nero’s
father finds out about Elle and what she witnessed, he tells his son to make sure
to get close to Elle. His father won’t kill a minor (he has morals right?) but
once Elle turns 18, she’s to be taken care of and shut up permanently. Nero
follows orders and makes sure he sets up an encounter with her. The two meet up
a few times and Elle thinks Nero really likes her, not sure why but she thinks
maybe he does. Nero finds himself falling for her innocence and warmth. Things
that have no place in his life. She reminds him of his mother who was murdered
by a rival gang. It becomes harder for Nero to keep his feelings from his
family, and he can not let Elle know the truth. He is overprotective and
jealous of anyone else who looks at her.
“I don’t want to see you ever touch
another guy again. You can kiss and hug your father and brother, but if I find
out you’ve touched another guy-I don’t give a shit who it is-they won’t live to
let it happen again.”
All the
while, Elle is still being tormented at school. Nero sets out to make the
guilty ones pay. Nero spoke in her ear.
“I will find out who hurt you today, and I will fucking enjoy them screaming in
pain. I will find out every single thing anyone and everyone has done to you,
and I will enjoy watching them all scream in pain.”
But when
certain truths come out, he may find his own heart will be one of the ones that
is broken. How can love survive in such a dark, violent world?
“You were forced to be with me, and
it was so bad for you, you fucked Stacy the first night.” Elle squeezed her
eyes shut. “In the same bed you fucked every other girl and you fucked me. I
gave you something I can never get back.” Elle opened her eyes to look Nero in
the face so he could witness what he did. “Then you made me fall in love with you,
and that’s why I hate you the most.”
At times
Nero seemed much older than a high school senior. He accepts and welcomes his
place in the mafia. He is dominant, and sexy and arrogant. But he does love
Elle as he demonstrates over and over again. I have yet to figure out why Elle
is so protective of Chloe. Chloe has never stood up for herself or Elle, and
has thrown Elle under the bus more times than I can count. With friends like
her, who needs enemies? Maybe in one of the subsequent books something will
change my mind. Nero’s family (namely his brother Lucca) and his friends
(Vincent, Amo and Leo) are all colorful, interesting characters. They have a
brand of their own loyalty and once they take Elle under their protection, they
will literally kill to defend her. There may have been some moments as to how
realistic some parts of the storyline were, but I enjoyed this one and look
forward to the next in the series.
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Author Bio
Hey! My name is Sarah
Brianne and after living for twenty-two years the characters in my head told me
enough was enough and I have finally put pen to paper (or is it finger to
keyboard?) to tell their stories. Since I was a little girl I have watched
every chick flick I could get my hands on, then when I became older I
discovered a whole new world of romance novels. To me there is nothing better
then a tale of true love and those are the stories that have inspired me to
write. Like everything else in my life I have put my own spin on two lovers
destined to be together.
Next to my books my
prized possession are my two beautiful fur babies, Kalypso and Khaleesi. I know
what you’re thinking, do you pack them in your purse? Yep, right next to my
kindle.
Please feel free to
message me here,
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