ARC Review: Ravage by Tillie Cole

16 Aug 2016

Book Title: Ravage
Author: Tillie Cole
Series: Scarred Souls #3
Release Date: August 16th, 2016
Genres: Dark Romance
Taken by the Jakhua Clan as a teen, 194 was stripped of his name, his identity, and his freewill, meticulously honed to be a ruthless, soulless killing machine, trained solely to spill blood and stop hearts. This is a role he resents with every fiber of his being, but one he embraces to gain back the precious leverage the Georgians wield as their weapon of control: his younger sister, 152.

Mzia Kostava is in shock. After fleeing her mafia family's massacre in Georgia as a child, Mzia lives in secret, hiding from her enemies in the dark shadows of Manhattan. At age twenty-five, believing all her family is dead, word reaches Mzia that her brother Zaal is very much alive... and living with their family's greatest enemy: the Volkov Bratva in Brooklyn.

Yearning to be reunited with her beloved Zaal, Mzia risks her safety and anonymity for the brother she had mourned since childhood. But just as she reaches Zaal's apartment, Mzia is seized and taken captive by a strange man, who is strong, dark, and brutal... Unyielding, he demands her utter obedience as he locks her away in darkness. He is highly skilled in torture and inflicting pain, and demands to know everything about her brother Zaal and everything about her. He is a man that'll do anything to get what he wants.

Sometimes love requires the sacrifice and betrayal of those held most dear. But is finding one's true love worth committing the greatest sacrifice of all?






Well, we got ourselves another Beauty and the Beast themed book here, boys and girls! Though I really enjoyed this book, I have to say all three books thus far have felt almost the same. We've got our beautiful heroine. We have our tortured, monster, killer hero. Repeat. It all just seemed fairly repetitive to Zaal/Talia's story and even Luka/Kisa's. And I won't go into the insta-love connection between the captor and his captive.... We have it here but it's all very... fantastical.

"My beautiful monster."

All that jazz being said, I still enjoy the theme of a tortured, crazed hero being tamed by the touch of a beautiful woman. It all seems to be the most romantic of romances. If that's your cuppa, the story of Zoya and Valentin (number 194) should deliver.

“We are different. Me weak and you strong. Me a Georgian and you Russian, but our broken hearts are tired and old. Our spirits are low, though not broken. But our souls, though thoroughly tested and hardened through pain, are resilient.” Her lips twitched, and she added, “They are the same.”

What added the extra dose of angst to Ravage was the sibling connection. Zoya is Zaal's younger sister and he's never quite overcome the loss of her. Also, Valentin was taken from his younger sister when abducted by the Wraith and has lived his life in captivity as a drugged assassin just for the day to see and rescue his sister Inessa. Both characters having weathered huge losses of family yet never giving up on the day to see them again... or what's left of their family.

This series focuses fairly heavily on Russian mobs and Georgian mafia. I do admit to getting fairly confused as the depth of the their organizations and complex histories between them is complex. But all in all, another enjoyable installment in the Scarred Souls series. And I must say, I cannot wait for the next book about Number 152...



Advanced copy received by author in exchange for my honest review.



Tillie Cole is a Northern girl through and through. She originates from a place called Teesside on that little but awesomely sunny (okay I exaggerate) Isle called Great Britain. She was brought up surrounded by her English rose mother — a farmers daughter, her crazy Scottish father, a savagely sarcastic sister and a multitude of rescue animals and horses.

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