Beautiful Carnage

RONAN SMIRNOV

As the ruthless head of the Russian mafia in the South, I know the good I've done in the world doesn't outweigh the bad. The thing I was most proud of was my three-decade love affair with the mother of my four girls. When she and one of my daughters are taken from me, the only thing I want is to destroy Antonio Medici and anyone else who stands in my way of revenge. The weight of their retribution weighs heavily on me, and even the strongest man in the world sometimes needs a soft place to lay his head and his burdens.

My soft place is Stella Jones, a beautiful doctor who's far too young and too good for me. Stella has a smart mouth and a deviant spirit that makes me forget my pain. There's no question that I need her in more ways than I can count, but is it fair to bring her into my world when everyone I care about is nothing more than collateral damage to the madman hunting me? Can I ask Stella to stand with me when I know I must remain a savage beast or watch everyone I love die at the hands of a man who's not afraid to be one?

What will remain of the man beneath the brutal boss Stella has come to know after the bloodbath is uncertain, and will she be strong enough to pick up the pieces and put me back together again?

STELLA JONES
I moved to Charleston, South Carolina, for a better life, and just a few days after settling in, my new life took an unexpected turn when I witnessed a chilling murder at the hands of the enigmatic Russian mob boss, Ronan Smirnov. Though I fear him, I'm inexplicably drawn to Ronan's magnetic charm, and his striking resemblance to the father figure I lost at nine.

When Ronan asks for my help in orchestrating the murder of Antonio Medici, the Italian mob boss who shattered his family, I desperately want to help him. Still, I struggle to accept my need to help a man like him. Was my yearning for a connection blinding me to the truth, and if so, what was the truth? Is Ronan a man capable of redemption, or merely a ruthless criminal masked by moments of unexpected kindness?

In a whirlwind of passion, danger, and haunting memories, I'm forced to confront my deepest fears. Is there beauty beneath the beast, or am I playing a grown man's game that could cost me my heart and my life? When the lines between right and wrong blur, the only thing I can trust is my heart.