Reviewed by Shaz

No Preorder available.

Release date TBA.

From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman’s club, he can’t take his eyes off of her.
For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can’t process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.

When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn’t hers, she falls apart. She’s tired, lonely and hasn’t eaten in days.

Lev offers her an ultimatum… A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.

Mina takes her chances with Lev.
After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.

***This book enters the world of the extended Leokov family which are introduced in Friend-Zoned, however, is unrelated…***

I kindly received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lev, plain and simple and I think I might have a girl crush on Mina too. I can’t tell you how much I loved this book. I sometimes feel bad when I leave 4 stars for a book I really liked but this is the reason I do it. For books like this, books that make me go “OMFG you have to read this”. Books that have me sitting up at 2am desperate for sleep but unable to part with the characters that the writer has made me fall in love with.
Lev is a beautiful flawed man. I don’t want to give too much away but I promise he will steal your heart.
“Love,” he advised gently, “is a doing word. And sometimes the people who least deserve it are the ones who need it the most.”

And Mina needs it.

Lev struggles to give himself over to her but her irrevocable love for him and the way she see’s him is a delight. She never falters or pushes him away and her journey into his heart is a pleasure to be part of.
‘Lev was a clink in my armour, a crack in my wall, and I just knew that if he really tried, I would open myself up to him completely in the hopes that he would do the same. I would do that for him. I would do that, because he was worthy’.

Her inner monolgue at times was also hilarious and not out of place or over used.
‘Where’s my damned kiss, Leokov?’

As always with Belle’s work the supporting characters are just as strong and she sets it up perfectly for what’s to come.

This is definitely a contender for my favourite book of the year and I can’t wait for the next installment from the Leokov Family.

Well Done Belle Aurora and thanks for the sleepless night. If you ever read this. Please can I be Lev’s penguin!!!!