Bad Beat: The Gamblers Book Two (Gamblers, #2)

by Sarah Curtis

• ISBN10: 169925348X
• ISBN13: 9781699253489
• Publish Date: 22 October 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Independently Published
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 308
• Language: English

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

It’s like a fairytale except Prince Charming holds a switchblade…

While reading Bad Beat, I had to keep reminding myself that Nico was a baddie. Nico is in the Mafia and his Dad is the Big Boss. We learn at the very beginning that it had been Nico's plan from the time he was a child, to work for his Dad. The family connection did not give him a free ride, he had to work and whack a few people to get to his position. But, at times, it was easy to forget that he had a switchblade in his pocket and a gun at his back. See, I forgot, because he was kind of sweet in a bossy, alpha, you are mine, kind of way.

Nico has learnt over the years that it’s better to not show emotion. Emotions and affection can make you weak. When Nico’s childhood mate, Alec needs his help, he doesn’t hesitate to use his connections. Unknown to Nico, this favour leads him on a path that brings him face to face with the one woman who can crack the barrier he hides his emotions behind.

Olivia's led a very sheltered life. My first thought when she was introduced was – how did a very sheltered 22-year-old end up dressed like a prostitute? Oh, it would be easy to assume she’s acting out in rebellion, running away or has been lead down the wrong path. Turned out I was totally wrong and wasn’t even close.

So, the very innocent Olivia happened to have caught the eye of two very influential Mafia guys…on opposing sides. They’re both bad, but one is just a wee bit ickier than the other. Lucky for her, the less icky one is Nico, and he wants to help her. Olivia’s mother is ill and she can’t afford all the medicine she needs to buy for her to get better. Nico offers to get her away from the icky mafia dude and look after her mother, in exchange for certain services (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Nico originally planned to wham, bam, thank you, ma’am Olivia, but those plans changed once he realised that he wanted to be the only wham bammer in her life. He manages to talk her into marrying him and they wham bam till their hearts were content.

Now, while all the wham bamming is going on, there are few highs and lows that Nico and Olivia have to face. There’s this psycho chick who wanted Nico, baddies who want to separate them, and baddies who want to use them. Nico does his Prince Charming act, with a switchblade and his gun, saves the day and carries his princess off to their castle.

I really enjoyed Bad Beat and struggled to put it down when I needed to go to work…and exercise…and help hubby celebrate his birthday today. I really must love my hubby, I stopped reading at 90% (when the baddies were being extra bad) to do the birthday thing.

There are a lot of sexy times in this story and you definitely get to see their connection with all the wham bamming going on. I did get a little frustrated with Nico and his drawn out determination to keep his heart locked away. Yeah, Nico, those heart flutters mean you FEEL something for Olivia, you dodo head. I also thought that sweet, little Olivia was a little too naïve and innocent. All good though and got my requisite heart flutters and goofy smiles by the end.

I definitely think Sarah Curtis’ talent has increased with every new release and this is her best work yet. I will be reading more of her stories in the future.

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.

[Eve1972]

This is an OK cover. Good use of graphics. Good representation of the story and hero. OK composition and interesting title work.

To start with I am going to admit that I am in a bit of a mood funk today. And I am guessing that played a big part in how nitpicky I was being while reading this one. Pushing that aside I will say that I did enjoy it overall.

The writing was good. The pace was excellent and I never felt the need to skim. There was some OW drama that was pointless (IMO) since it didn't cause any issues. I am SO over ridiculous cartoon villain like behavior from OW in these books. Especially in a case like this where it didn't cause a problem at all and was wrapped up with very little fanfare. There was a nice array of secondary characters as well. Although the mother felt a bit like an afterthought and I would have liked to have seen more involvement in the story from her character.



Olivia was a sweet heroine. I don't have a lot to say about her. I liked her personality. I do wish she would have shown more backbone at times instead of settling when it came to how she thought Nico felt about her. Nico, on the other hand, I had a love/hate relationship with. For the first 40% of the book his constant inner thoughts about using her and sending her back, not to mention his hot/cold routine grated on my nerves. The first couple times he had sex with the heroine felt cold to me. Especially the one in the dressing room. I did warm up to him as the book went on, but I still ended up being annoyed at his inability to admit he loved her right up until the book was almost finished. The whole Valentine Day thing pissed me off immensely, and I wanted Olivia to take a stand and decide she deserved more than a guy who couldn't love her.

But like I said, even with the things that annoyed me I still got sucked into the story and ended up enjoying it. So two thumbs up from yours truly.