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Raze (Scarred Souls #1) by Tillie Cole

This book is going to go on my favorites list for 2021. I know the year has not ended yet but it doesn't matter. It is what it is. AmAzInG ReAd!

Blurb:

To take back life, one must first face death...

One man stripped of his freedom, his morals...his life.

Conditioned in captivity to maim, to kill and to slaughter, prisoner 818 becomes an unremorseful, unrivaled and unstoppable fighter in the ring. Violence is all he knows. Death and brutality are the masters of his fate.

After years of incarceration in an underground hell, only one thought occupies his mind: revenge...bloody, slow and violent revenge.

Revenge on the man who lied.

Revenge on the man who wronged him.

Revenge on the man who condemned him and turned him into this: a rage-fueled killing machine. A monster void of humanity; a monster filled with hate.

And no one will stand in the way of getting what he wants.

One woman stripped of her freedom, her morals...her life.

Kisa Volkova is the only daughter of Kirill ‘The Silencer’ Volkov, head of the infamous ‘Triad’ bosses of New York's Russian Bratva. Her life is protected. In reality, it’s a virtual prison. Her father’s savage treatment of his rivals and his lucrative and coveted underground gambling ring—The Dungeon—ensures too many enemies lurk at their door.

She dreams to be set free.

Kisa has known only cruelty and loss in her short life. As manager of her father’s death match enterprise, only grief and pain fill her days. Her mafia boss father, in her world, rules absolute. And her fiancé, Alik Durov, is no better; the Dungeon’s five-time champion, a stone-cold killer, the treasured son of her father’s best friend, and her very own—and much resented—personal guard. Unrivaled in both strength and social standing, Alik controls every facet of Kisa’s life, dominates her every move; keeps her subdued and dead inside...then one night changes everything.

While working for her church—the only reprieve in her constant surveillance—Kisa stumbles across a tattooed, scarred, but stunningly beautiful homeless man on the streets. Something about him stirs feelings deep within her; familiar yet impossibly forbidden desires. He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t communicate with anyone. He’s a man beyond saving, and a man she must quickly forget...for both their sakes.

But when weeks later, out of the blue and to her complete surprise, he’s announced as the replacement fighter in The Dungeon, Kisa knows she’s in a whole lot of trouble. He’s built, ripped and lethally unforgiving to his opponents, leaving fear in his wake and the look of death in his eyes.

Kisa becomes obsessed with him. Yearns for him. Craves his touch. Needs to possess this mysterious man...this man they call Raze.

Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, excessive violence, disturbingly sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and mature topics. Recommended for age 18 years and up.

Raze had me at the edge of my seat throughout. I just needed to know what would happen next. 

Raze, the only name given to him besides his number, 818, was a character just impossible not to feel for. He was tortured in all the ways imaginable and trained to be nothing more than a killer. An animal. To kill or be killed. He was taken as a kid and by the time he escapes as an adult all he remembers is how to kill and to seek revenge on the one responsible for him ending up captive. 

He is a killer, but he is also more. The boy he was before slowly comes back to the surface, and that boy was kind, brave, sweet, loving... Everything the man Kisa is with is not, and everything the boy she loved as a child was. Once her path crosses with 818 she wants him, physically yes, but also emotionally. There is more to the big scary Raze than meets the eye, and once their eyes do meet... Oh there is so much in that sentence to unpack, so much that I cannot tell you but that you must read to find out.

If you are comfortable reading dark romance, you must give this one a shot. 5 billion stars! 

Find this book at: GoodReads

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