Lev (Shot Callers, #1) by Belle Aurora Series: Shot Callers #1
Published by Self-Published on October 10th 2015
Pages: 404
Amazon
From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman's club, he can't take his eyes off of her. For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can't process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.
When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn't hers, she falls apart. She's tired, lonely and hasn't eaten in days.
Lev offers her an ultimatum... A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.
Mina takes her chances with Lev. After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.
This was kind of meh for me. I didn’t love it; I didn’t hate it. The plot is strong, and I found the first half really intriguing. I got sucked in by Mina’s hardships and Lev becoming her guardian angel. A lot of wonderful conflicts are set up, and I was looking forward to everything coming to a boil. I’m not a fan of manufactured drama, but I was disappointed that nothing really explosive happens. In the second half, major issues between characters get resolved too easily and perfectly. It’s rather anticlimactic. Even Lev and Mina’s relationship sails by without any hiccups.
Which brings me to Mina. She’s super sweet – but almost in a saccharine, artificial way. She has no flaws at all, so although she’s likable, she’s an unrealistic character. Lev is really the highlight of the story, in my opinion. I love tortured heroes, and he fits the role to a T. He’s a good man who can’t process or express emotions well, but seeing him with Mina and Lidiya melted my heart.
On the whole, I enjoyed this story about two damaged people saving each other. It has the ability to be more than average, though, and I was disappointed that it falls short.
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