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jmrie 's review for:
Sinners Condemned
by Somme Sketcher
Call me unrealistic and a hypocrite but the perfect male MC in mafia romances are those that exhibit dominance and control without a single word in a room filled with people. Men who are successful because they know how to work their way around a manipulative and exploitive world. Men who are at the top of the pyramid, who are feared by everyone for a reason. They must be all these but there’s a catch. Despite all the grandeur and power laid on their feet, they must have a weakness, and it must be her. The world must kneel to him and he must kneel to her. Somme Sketchers scratched that particular itch and marked all the boxes when she wrote this book and its characters.
Sinners Condemned is the second installment in the Sinners Anonymous Series which revolves around Raphael Visconti, King of Casinos and Hotels and the man who technically owns Vegas, and Penelope Price, an estranged woman who has lived the better half of her life swindling from men with deep pockets who like to stick their hands on women who are definitely not their wives. The story begins strong as Sketcher lays out the premise of the story: Raphael can only have success or love and never both. From the start, we are thrusted into the narrative that Raphael can never find love but the price of his success is a doom that comes in the form of a red-haired lady (Penelope).
Like the prior book, Sketcher took her time crafting her characters and making them as fleshed-out as possible to avoid the pit that most mafia romance writers fall into which is simply putting on names in a certain character tropes. Penelope is strong-willed (except when Raphael starts to show skin because then, she’ll start to notice how big his biceps are and then, she isn’t so strong-willed anymore but who can blame her?), stubborn, believer, persistent, determined, cunning, and not the type of woman that can be pushed around. She is distinct and has certain hobbies, mannerisms, and likes which makes her unique. Her adoration to read For Dummies books is something that a woman like her will read which is adorable. Raphael on the other hand is logical, practical, calm, and level-headed. In a room filled with hot-tempered armed alpha males, he is the voice of reason who has not even punched a single man and who rarely uses his personal gun. He’s calculated and thus, not easily swayed by his emotions. However, her presence shifts his focus and everything he believes in, and the slow process of denying and accepting her affect on him is both frustrating and satisfying at the same time. Sketcher served.
The story is the least spiciest with 0.5/5. All it offers is sexual tension, some foreplay, and nothing more.
The best part in this book is Raphael’s descent to the bottom of the pit. He was the reason of their external conflict, why he does not wish to be with her (disregarding the other reasons why they are enemies). Sketcher expertly executed the angst and conflict of losing his precise control, his beliefs, and everything he built up for the majority of his life, all because of one woman. It takes to swallow one’s pride to accept that you are infallible except for one and Raphael certainly realized that part during the end.
Although there is an external plot, it is not given enough exposure to be considered significant. The book mainly revolves around Raphael and Penelope and their back and forth relationship and their inner struggles, until they eventually find themselves trapped in each other’s orbit. Do I complain? Why will I and when I also found myself trapped in their orbit? Why will I and when I found myself downloading the next book and immediately reading with a giddy smile in my face?
Sinners Condemned is the second installment in the Sinners Anonymous Series which revolves around Raphael Visconti, King of Casinos and Hotels and the man who technically owns Vegas, and Penelope Price, an estranged woman who has lived the better half of her life swindling from men with deep pockets who like to stick their hands on women who are definitely not their wives. The story begins strong as Sketcher lays out the premise of the story: Raphael can only have success or love and never both. From the start, we are thrusted into the narrative that Raphael can never find love but the price of his success is a doom that comes in the form of a red-haired lady (Penelope).
Like the prior book, Sketcher took her time crafting her characters and making them as fleshed-out as possible to avoid the pit that most mafia romance writers fall into which is simply putting on names in a certain character tropes. Penelope is strong-willed (except when Raphael starts to show skin because then, she’ll start to notice how big his biceps are and then, she isn’t so strong-willed anymore but who can blame her?), stubborn, believer, persistent, determined, cunning, and not the type of woman that can be pushed around. She is distinct and has certain hobbies, mannerisms, and likes which makes her unique. Her adoration to read For Dummies books is something that a woman like her will read which is adorable. Raphael on the other hand is logical, practical, calm, and level-headed. In a room filled with hot-tempered armed alpha males, he is the voice of reason who has not even punched a single man and who rarely uses his personal gun. He’s calculated and thus, not easily swayed by his emotions. However, her presence shifts his focus and everything he believes in, and the slow process of denying and accepting her affect on him is both frustrating and satisfying at the same time. Sketcher served.
The story is the least spiciest with 0.5/5. All it offers is sexual tension, some foreplay, and nothing more.
The best part in this book is Raphael’s descent to the bottom of the pit. He was the reason of their external conflict, why he does not wish to be with her (disregarding the other reasons why they are enemies). Sketcher expertly executed the angst and conflict of losing his precise control, his beliefs, and everything he built up for the majority of his life, all because of one woman. It takes to swallow one’s pride to accept that you are infallible except for one and Raphael certainly realized that part during the end.
Although there is an external plot, it is not given enough exposure to be considered significant. The book mainly revolves around Raphael and Penelope and their back and forth relationship and their inner struggles, until they eventually find themselves trapped in each other’s orbit. Do I complain? Why will I and when I also found myself trapped in their orbit? Why will I and when I found myself downloading the next book and immediately reading with a giddy smile in my face?