RECENSIONE HOUSE OF BANE AND BLOOD DI ALEXIS L. MENARD

House of Bane and Blood

Titolo: House of Bane and Blood
Serie: Order and Chaos #1
Autrice: Alexis L. Menard
Editore: Self Publishing
Genere: Fantasy
Data di uscita: 18 Ottobre 2023
Prezzo ebook: 4,59 € (disponibile per Kindle Unlimited) | Link acquisto Amazon
Prezzo cartaceo: 25,45 € | Link acquisto Amazon

In a city split into two opposing sides, power comes in many bloodlines, money, love, and—most importantly—secrets.

An heiress in the most notorious family in Lynchaven, Camilla Marchese is doing all she can to keep her family’s syndicate, the Iron Saint Railway, from slipping into bankruptcy. When the gorgeous and depraved Nicolai Attano, the leader of a rival family, offers to pay off the Inspector in exchange for her hand, she has no choice but to give up not only her throne—but her name.

Nico has his own motivations for their union beyond maintaining peace with her family. A serial kidnapper known as The Collector has been ravaging the streets of Remnant Row, stirring up mistrust between natives and descendants. If Milla can help restore safety to his streets, he’ll have no need for her or her family’s company. Find the Collector, prevent a war between their sides of the city, and pay off the family debt before she turns twenty-one. If Milla can fulfill her end of the bargain, she’ll walk away with more freedom than she’s ever had before.

But this deal plunges Milla into the city’s dark underbelly where remnant magic and arcane science compete in a deadly game of depravity. When forbidden feelings rise for her new husband and dark family secrets come to light, Milla must discover the truth about her past before it gets them both killed or worse—collected.

serie

La serie 'Order and Chaos' è così composta:

1. House of Bane and Blood;

2. City of Mirth and Malice (inedito, disponibile dal 1° Maggio 2024).

autrice

Hi, I’m Alexis. I’m an indie author and a registered nurse from the South. I know, I know. Those things couldn’t be more opposite. But I love taking care of people and going home to a good book and a glass of wine. I have two dogs, two kids, and a husband who tolerates my addiction to physical books I’ll never read (but remain on my TBR list nonetheless.) I love long walks through the rennaissance fair, reading smutty romance in the dark hours of the night, and wine night with my “Finer Things Club.” My favorite show is The Office, I can recite every line in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I have a dream to be an author full time. Thanks for being here and helping those dreams come true!

recensione

Anche in questo caso mi sono fatta influenzare dalle mie bookblogger influencers che stanno pubblicando questo romanzo più e più volte. Eccomi qui con il primo volume della nuova serie di Alexis L. Menard, ambientato in un’atmosfera che ricorda tantissimo Peaky Blinders. Infatti, a malincuore devo ammettere che per tutto il tempo ho immaginato il mio amatissimo Nicolai Attano con il viso di Cillian Murphy.

“I don’t see a ring.”
“That’s because it’s around my throat.” Attached to the proverbial leash my brother pulled me around with.
Without warning, he reached for my neck. Leather-clad fingers pressed against my skin and traced a line across the column of my throat. My breath hitched when they lingered a few seconds too long. “I don’t see a collar. You look like you’re still free to me.”
“Not all cages are built with bars.” Some, like mine, were made from the shackles of duty and the chains of domestic obligations.
Those gloved fingertips slipped beneath my jaw, turned my chin to face him with a whisper of pressure. “This marriage was arranged, wasn’t it? You don’t want to marry this person.” It wasn’t a question exactly, but an observation. A keen one on his part.
“No,” I finally admitted out loud, “but I have to.”
He shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “No one’s holding a gun to your head. You could always run away.”
I laughed at the idea. “I wish, but unfortunately, my family needs this marriage, and I need it to take care of them.”
His attention remained inquisitive. “Would you like to run away, just for tonight, then?”

Sembrerà molto strano, ma ho notato che ultimamente mi piacciono moltissimo queste trame dove ci sono questi matrimoni combinati che alla fine portano sempre al vero amore. Dove i protagonisti si conoscono man mano che la storia evolve.

Anche in questo caso, dunque, ci sarà il matrimonio tra due clan che si odiano ormai da tantissimi anni. Dal momento in cui il Clan di lui ha ucciso il padre di Lei.

“You need protection, Milla,” he said, his voice the steadiest it had been this entire time, a wall of sureness. “We might have been rivals in our past, but we are together now. You are mine, and long as you are bound to me, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
His. Like I was his property because he had paid a wealthy sum to stamp his name behind my own. I scoffed, brushing off the way his admission made my heart skip. “You must really need my help if you care that much.”
He stared at me, his mask that rendered him unreadable now fitted back into place. “I do.”

E sarà proprio Lei, Camilla Marchese, la parte dolce di questo romanzo. La parte che ti conquista per la sua triste storia. In cui viene vista solo come merce di scambio dalla sua famiglia. Famiglia che pensa solo ai soldi, o almeno questo è quello che appare…

Camilla, anche nota come Milla, farebbe di tutto per la propria famiglia. Anche sacrificare la sua intera esistenza. Tutto quello che Camilla però vuole fin dalla sua nascita sarà avere un posto a cui appartenere in cui sentirsi a casa.

“You have a face that looks constantly pissed off, making you fundamentally unapproachable, and it's highly arousing to me. When you sat at the bar and Dom didn’t serve you, I thought you might’ve burned down my pub with your glare. The only thing more beautiful than your smile is that look. The one you’re giving me. Right now.”
How was I looking at him? And why did he have to describe it as arousing? It made that coil twirl tighter, beg to be unraveled. “Is that all? You like my face?”
A slow smile wandered across his lips. “I like how your hair curls more when it’s damp outside. I like how your hips look in a silk dress. I particularly like the way you say my name when you’re frustrated, as it gives me a hint of how you’d say it in my bed.”
“Nicolai!”
“That’s right. Keep practicing.” His grin was enigmatic now. Was he messing with me? Couldn’t be, not with the Veritas in his system.

E dove si sentirà così? Proprio nella casa del nemico. Dove incontrerà una famiglia che vive per i propri componenti. Dove tutti sacrificherebbero la propria vita per gli altri.

I shouted after him. “Are you a demon? A true demon from Oblivion?”
He paused for a moment. A voice slid into my head, washed a cool feeling down my spine, between my legs. “Demons were once angels until they feared us. Don’t let them turn you into a monster as well, daughter.”
“Daughter?” I mumbled, suddenly feeling very tired. Smoke layered itself in thick sheets until I was wrapped in a net of night.
Order hates what it can’t control.

Sarà una storia molto intensa, in cui molteplici saranno i colpi di scena e molteplici saranno le volte in cui vorrete uccidere Nico. Un romanzo in cui tutti sono pronti a sacrificarsi per l’amore. Che poi in fondo è quello che smuove tutto.

“What about your wife?” she asked, pulling the edges of my coat tighter around her body. My hand went for her throat, the only section of bare skin available, and slid around the curve of her neck to thread my fingers into her hair. With a gentle pull, I canted her chin, made those hazel eyes focus where I wanted them.
“I think I’ve slept a whole three hours since she took the title of Mrs. Attano. Chaos every damn day, almost started another war with the queen of bleeders, has nearly died under my protection twice.”
Milla rolled her eyes. “At least I’m not afraid of a box.”
I smiled, continuing. “Yet she has managed to charm my evil grandmother, befriend those who were once her enemy, wear the color of my family with the grace of a princess.” My fingers squeezed her neck gently, sucking a gasp from her parted lips. Her pulse was a feathery stroke across my thumb. “They are not all you have, Milla. You have me, and there is no time limit for my friendship. No contract to negotiate those terms. It is freely given for as long as you’ll take it.”
“Nico,” she breathed. Never had my name sounded so sensual. I wanted to kiss her again just to know what it would taste like.
“I see you, Milla. I see all of you. The good, the better, and the best because there is no bad in you. You are enough. Stop letting those Marcheses make you think you need to do something to earn their approval. There is a house full of Attanos who think you’re wonderful, just the way you are.”
Her eyes squeezed shut, severing that connection between our gazes. I almost didn’t hear her over the sounds of the train when she said, “I wish I could stay.”
She looked to me for agreement, but I couldn’t give her that false assurance. Hating myself for it. “Get some rest, Milla. You need to go see your brothers as soon as we get back to the city.”
Lie to her, lie to myself, that’s all I had to do to keep the both of us in check, to soften the crash of this fall. Forcing myself to let her go, I reclused to a corner of the car, fighting her pull one step at a time until I was far enough it felt more bearable to withstand.

Ho amato tantissimo sia Milla che Nico. Entrambi meritano una vita migliore, entrambi meritano quell’amore dolce che sboccerà tra i due, e soprattutto, questo matrimonio che li porterà ad essere davvero marito e moglie.

Spero tanto che questo romanzo venga considerato dalle case editrici italiane perché merita di essere letto e scoperto anche qui. Quindi se vi capita leggetelo e fatemi sapere cosa ne pensate.

La mia valutazione finale è una principessa:

RECENSIONE HOUSE OF BANE AND BLOOD DI ALEXIS L. MENARD

RECENSIONE HOUSE OF BANE AND BLOOD DI ALEXIS L MENARD

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