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Desert Isle Keeper

The Hitman

Katrina Jackson

Buy This Book

A romantic comedy with a hitman hero definitely doesn’t follow the norm of mafia romances, which tend to be of the ‘dark romance’ variety. Yet author Katrina Jackson has done a delightful job of combining a lot of humor, sexy scenes, and yes, action too, in The Hitman, the second book in The Family series.

Zahra has just discovered that her husband-to-be, an A-list actor, cheated on her with a stripper and her maid of honor on the night before their wedding, all gleefully exposed via hotel cameras on entertainment reality TV. Furious, embarrassed and hurt, she decides to go to their Italian honeymoon destination solo in order to lick her wounds, courtesy of her now ex’s credit card (stolen by her faithful cousin, Shae.) She’s got a beautiful penthouse suite in a villa in the mountains outside of Milan where she alternately drinks and cries as she tries to pull herself together.

Her junior suite neighbor is Giulio, a hitman for ‘the family’. He’s finally on vacation (though ticked off that the large penthouse suite isn’t available) and hearing his neighbor wailing nightly is getting on his nerves. All he really wants is a warm woman in his bed and some peace and quiet. And the beautiful curvy Black woman he sees lounging outside the pool is a prime target – even if she looks at him with disdain. He’ll have to use his charms if he is to succeed in his mission to fill up on sex before going back to work.

Zahra couldn’t be less interested in the Italian gigolo with the slicked back hair and the tiny speedo and brushes him off. But after a few more encounters, and the realization that they are suite neighbors, Giulio’s lustful appreciation of her turns out to be a balm to her psyche. And yes, a fling with an Italian hottie is just the ticket to get over her ex. But when a date to a local vineyard ends up with a shooting and a murdered man, Zahra realizes she’s getting more than she bargained for. Is it to be a quick return home, or can her romance with Giulio survive the truth?

The ‘jilted bride goes on her honeymoon and meets someone’ trope is one I enjoy, which was why I decided to pick this book up. The addition of a playboy Italian mafia hitman who loves women of all shapes and sizes and wants to help Zahra get over her ex (whom he would gladly ‘take care of’ if Zahra wanted him to) makes for a really fun and enjoyable story, that had me laughing out loud constantly. It’s a very sex positive story, with Zahra getting over her initial first impression of Giulio quickly when he makes it clear that he lusts over her exactly as she is, and there are several steamy scenes that cement their growing friendship. Of course Zahra’s initial plan is to go home at the end of her designated vacation time but then she gets caught up in Giulio’s business when a rival associate tracks Giulio down. And Giulio sums up his job for her thusly:

“I’m a bad man, who works for bad men, and when necessary I kill bad men.”

Giulio wants her to leave Italy immediately, but Zahra believes she’ll be safer if she sticks with Giulio in case someone tracks her down as a witness to the murder. So instead of doing what she should, she ends up on an adventure that takes her across Italy (train sex anyone?) and along the way, she and Giulio deepen their connection. Sharing their life stories bonds them – and that’s how you get an insta-love story between an American public relations expert and a mafia hitman. Giulio wants to be a good man and that means sending Zahra home before she gets any more involved with him but Zahra is ready to choose her own destiny.

There are some other connections between characters, as the first story in the series is a short novella (with an unfinished story) that details an encounter between Zahra’s cousin Shae and Giulio’s boss Salvatore, and I definitely plan to read their eventual HEA. Plus Zahra’s sister Zoe (who had warned Zahra about her ex in the first place) is planning a trip to Italy to find her sister so clearly there is something in the works there. The Hitman is a wholly enjoyable laugh-out-loud romance with two really interesting characters, lots of hot sex, plenty of action, and an Italian setting perfect for an armchair adventure.

Buy it at: Amazon 

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Book Details

Reviewer: Maria Rose
Review Date: August 29, 2020
Publication Date: 08/2020
Grade: A-
Sensuality Hot
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Review Tags: AoC | Italy | mafia | Plus size heroine | PoC | The Family series

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Carrie G
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Carrie G
08/31/2020 12:17 pm

This entire thread has been fascinating and informative. Whether or not the book is worth reading, the discussion it has sparked has been great. This is what I love about community. Thanks.

3
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Dabney Grinnan
Editor
Dabney Grinnan
08/31/2020 1:28 pm
Reply to  Carrie G

I agree. I learn so much at AAR from others. <3

3
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Nan De Plume
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Nan De Plume
08/31/2020 1:35 pm
Reply to  Carrie G

Me too. AAR is great about allowing stimulating relevant discussion and debate as long as we treat each other with respect (which we should do anyway). :)

2
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Chrisreader
Guest
Chrisreader
08/31/2020 6:47 pm
Reply to  Carrie G

Agreed! I will often read the comments under a book I haven’t read or don’t plan to read because the discussions are so interesting.

2
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Nan De Plume
Guest
Nan De Plume
08/31/2020 7:36 pm
Reply to  Chrisreader

Definitely!

0
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Marian Perera
Guest
Marian Perera
08/30/2020 8:26 pm

For me, a realistic hired killer is like Bronn in A Song of Ice and Fire. His employer says, “tell me, Bronn, if I ordered you to kill an infant, a baby girl in her mother’s arms, would you do it without question?”

“Without question? No.” Bronn rubs his thumb and forefinger together. “I’d ask how much.”

No excuses or justifications that the only people he kills are bad people (and who gets to define badness?). He has a job, so as long as the reward outweighs the risk, he does his job. Of course, even in the gritty world of ASoIaF, people recognize him as an amoral murderer. But I prefer him to a contract killer who I’m supposed to find heroic.

3
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Dabney Grinnan
Editor
Dabney Grinnan
08/31/2020 8:03 am
Reply to  Marian Perera

Here’s a thing about Bronn–he was able to be developed over thousands of pages. I find morally iffy characters much more interesting that one note villains. (I’m currently watching A Place to Call Home and the villain on that show, Regina, is so cartoonishly and often inexplicably evil that it’s dull.) But I like to understand those gray zone characters and usually, do that, I need to be able to spend time with them. Most romances are just too short for me to be able to develop empathy for those who do very bad things.

1
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Susan/DC
Guest
Susan/DC
08/31/2020 7:03 pm
Reply to  Dabney Grinnan

Keep watching. Regina becomes more nuanced as the show goes on, although Sir Richard remains a one-note villain (although maybe not so unrealistic when I think of the way powerful men in Real Life view themselves as entitled). Despite flaws such as this, I thought “A Place to Call Home” was one of the best miniseries I’d seen in a long time.

0
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Dabney Grinnan
Editor
Dabney Grinnan
08/31/2020 8:39 pm
Reply to  Susan/DC

We will. We just watched a very depressing episode where Regina and George marry. I really do loathe her and Sir Richard. But we love the show.

0
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Chrisreader
Guest
Chrisreader
08/31/2020 6:52 pm
Reply to  Marian Perera

Bronn is a great character and GRRM has a way of making a reader examine uncomfortable ideas. For instance, why is it OK for the “great knights” to ruthlessly kill on behalf of their houses (ultimately to gain wealth and power) but Bronn, who is largely self made is looked down on for “killing for money” and is seen as without honor.

GRRM’s best work is delving into all those grey areas. Jaime Lannister for instance.

2
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Lynda X
Guest
Lynda X
08/29/2020 7:22 pm

Those of you who point out the questionable–at best–values that endorsed sexism, racism, and prejudice and the conformity of so many past movies are so right. However, when I watch TV and movies, I am struck by our violence and our vulgarity. Might is a cheap answer too often. Of course, no culture is just one thing, and our culture and beliefs are hardly unified. I love old movies for lots of reasons, among which is a humanity in the best of them that I find missing in our big hits.
 
I used to have no problem in romances with men of violence. As a matter of fact, I attempted to reread a novel I liked a lot four years ago. The hero strangles the pickpocket who knocked the heroine off her feet and in real life, would have given her a concussion. Interestingly, the author tossed off the hero’s murder in one sentence. Its brevity showed its lack of importance to her. I stopped rereading.
 
Maybe my change in tastes just reflects my getting older, but I think it’s bigger than that.
 

5
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Nan De Plume
Guest
Nan De Plume
08/29/2020 8:20 pm
Reply to  Lynda X

“However, when I watch TV and movies, I am struck by our violence and our vulgarity…Of course, no culture is just one thing, and our culture and beliefs are hardly