coffee addict books: Review: Raze (Scarred Souls #1) by Tillie Cole

Title: Raze
Author: Tillie Cole
Series: Scarred Souls #1
Genre: contemporary romance, dark, crime

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.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

FLO'S REVIEW

Raze by Tillie Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 **star-crossed** STARS

“You're a part of me, remember? God put a piece of you within me so when we were born, everyone would know we matched.”

All I have to say is...what took me so long? I’m way late to the party and there are no excuses. This book was fantastic from start to finish. Just my kind of book. A revenge and mob story, about two soul mates and the cruelty they had to endure until they could find each other . Beautiful, heartbreaking, gripping and spellbinding. Perfect. Like it was written with my taste in mind.

“I’m closing my eyes so I can feel being inside you.” He placed his hand over his heart and rasped out, “I’ve seen too many bad things with these eyes. This, I will feel in my heart.”

818, also called Raze has escaped hell, the gulag where he had been prisoner since he was a boy. Trained to be a fighter, tortured, abused and brainwashed. A monster with only one directive...kill. He knows nothing of who he was before he got there, only one name, address and the word revenge carved into his cell. So this is what he sets out to do, find the man and get revenge. Because it is the only thing he has left.

Raze is such a Tillie Cole character. If you have read the Hades Hangmen series you probably know what I'm talking about. He is a one man army, brutal and damaged. Broken beyond recognition, but in no way a bad person. Ms. Cole has a way of writing these complex and vulnerable heroes who have a rough exterior, pain in their hearts and yet turn out to be the most genuine and gentle souls. Someone you have to feel deeply for and eventually fall in love with.

Kisa Volkova is the daughter of Kirill Volkov, the boss of New York's Russian Bratva. She is sheltered and protected, but her life is more like being trapped in a deathly golden cage than anything else. Her fiancé being one of the most dangerous things in her life, and all that takes a turn for the worst and the best at the same time, the night she meets Raze. Once their paths cross nothing will ever be the same again.

Kisa is the epitome of strength. You can tell she is russian and groomed to be a mafia wife. There is very little that faces her on the outside. She has coping mechanisms most people would kill for. But really the most interesting thing happens when Kisa and Raze connect. It's beautiful and tragic and raw. Really a once in a lifetime love story.

“You can have me, solnyshko. You can have all of me. You always have, and you always will.”

What else can I say? I love Tillie Cole and her dark and gritty books never cease to capture me. Her writing sucks you in, makes you feel all the feels, sends your emotions on a rollercoaster ride, makes you hide in fear and in the end ments your heart with beautiful love. Can you tell I loved this book?

Well here is the thing. This is the kind of genre and set up that gets my blood flowing. Revenge, copious amounts of violence, raw chemistry that quite literally jumps off the page, wonderfully damaged characters, with a little mystery and danger sprinkled on top. My kind of book. No two ways about it.

And FYI, since I'm so hooked and obsessed with this right now, I already started Reap, book 2 in the Scarred Souls series...good news, Kisa and Raze's story gets some page time next to the main couple.

That's all. Thank you for your time. ;)