Member Reviews
Thank you to Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
When I began this novel a short time ago I believed that I hadn't read it when it was first released because it was a 'I want to save it for last' type thing. You know like when you're eating dinner and you save your favorite food for last eating all the OK stuff first. You want to savor it so you leave it for last. Well that's what I believed I had done until I reached about half way through and some of the scenes seemed really familiar. Don't get me wrong I love this series of books but they are all quite similar to the last book in the series. Then I realized that I had read probably to about 60% of the book at an earlier time and put it down trying to savor the book because we are 6 or 7 books into this series and if there are any more additions to this series it will probably only be one more. So that being said I thoroughly enjoyed this latest book in the Cain Casey saga. The brilliance of this series is not actually the action parts, although those are great, it is actually the characters particularly Cain and Emma. Emma is just so wholesome and kind but don't mistake that for weakness because she can hold her own. Now Cain, I love, love, love this character. The author is quite talented because Cain will often come across as an almost hero type character and it's easy to forget that she is a criminal and she is a murderer. Her loyalty to her family and those she cares about is so strong. She is a killer but those that she kills are bad people that have caused harm or death to people she cares about so it's not hard to forgive her her sins. I should be tired of the sweetness, almost Hallmark movie type sugary cavity lovey-dovey sweetness that with those kind of movies I only can handle in small doses, that I will definitely roll my eyes at and pretend to gag over but with Cain and Emma I embrace that sweetness and keep coming back for more. I definitely recommend this book. It can be read as a stand alone book but I suggest starting with this novel and reading the entire series to get the full scope of these characters and the Cain Casey series. I give this book a 4 ½ stars.
Jump back to the beginning of Cain and Emma’s romance and we have a ‘fill-in’ to the wonderful Cain Casey Series. A full blown romance that also give us a more detailed view of the Casey family and the build up to extra Special Agent Kyles obsession with Cain.
Well done, with a host of details linked to the rest of the books and a complex early reveal of so many characters we get to know. It’s great to spend more time with Billy, Marie and Therese, although rather heart rending if you know the rest of their stories. The only problem now if which order to read the series in!
This is the story of how it all began. Emma Verde and Cain Casey’s back story has been alluded to in early books in the series, but this book fleshes out the story of Dalton Casey’s killing, Cain Casey’s subsequent taking over the reins of the family firm and how the hayseed from Wisconcin showed her that life still had more purpose than just revenge. A good addition to the series.
When I thought I couldn't fall more in love with Cain Casey than I already am, I was proven wrong. This story gave me so much more than just background into Emma and Cain's slow burning romance. This wonderful story gave me so much insight into the psyche of the fictional character that I love so much! This author never disappoints, she always delivers a great plot with captivating and vibrant characters!
Love the entire series, this prelude was no different and added valuable context to the Emma/Cain dynamic. I was absorbed and charmed throughout.
I love the Cain Casey series. I Never want it to end. Now that I have read this part, I want to go back and read the series from the start. I am looking forward to the next chapter of this series.
First of all I need to say that O absolutely love this series. Reading this book set me off to read the whole series again. It just never gets boring.
This book is the prequel. It's about how Emma and Cain met. It's about how Emma changed Cain. It also tells you how miscommunication can seriously damage anything including your relationship. If you are reading this series for the first time then I guess you should read this one as it explains how it all started.
Cain is a serious baddass and she is totally committed to her family and close friends. Emma is like a country bumpkin with no clue what the city has to offer or the way of the world. Emma has been sheltered on a farm all her life. Cain represents everything forbidden in Emma's life.
This is an awesome series and this prequel is equally as good. Enjoy!
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2082581262
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3HWVI4WAWVEZM/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
Well, Cain Casey the badass mobster, she's just the dogs bollocks and there's just no doubt about it, this is the fourth book of the series I've read and compared to the rest I'd say it's a lot less violent but still as good, I wonder if they'll be another follow on from this to show them having their first child!
I can't really fault this book, its well written as per usual with Ali Vali, but i will say i would have liked more passion between them, this would have given the book top marks from me but reguardless this deserves a 4.5 from me....
So, I've had a run of lesbian fiction books where I was supposed to like the main characters and instead I hated them, and then I get to this book where I should probably not like the main character, Cain Casey, she's a mob boss and a 'bad guy' and yet, Ali Vali somehow takes this woman who I should be rooting against and totally flips it during the story so that I'm rooting for her and Emma. The epitome of a good and fictional story.
This is the prequel to the already existing (six books and a short story or so I think? Perhaps 7?) Cain Casey series, but, I haven't read the rest of the series yet, so, I'm quite looking forward to more with Emma, Cain, and the other characters that we were introduced to in this book.
Cain is the head of a powerful crime family in New Orleans. She gets doused in her own bar by Emma, a new waitress with a semi-hard luck backstory. From there starts a slow burn romance interspersed with the suspense laden story about multiple threats from multiple sides to said family (and then to Emma).
It was a really interesting suspense story with twists and turns I didn't always see coming (and some I did). I liked the romance for the most part too, although the 'problem' in the relationship was a teeny bit thin in places.
Then there were the characters. Because it was a prequel to an established series I have no doubt these characters are scattered throughout the other books. But even with all of them, from Merrick to Lou, to Marie and Muriel, and Ramon, and more being all introduced to me in this one book, even so I never got messed up or confused because they're all so unique. And I can't wait to read more about them in the rest of the series. Awesome.
I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.
I really loved this book! I’ve read all of Ali Vali’s books in this series (Cain Casey Series) and all of them are smash hits! This book is no exception. It is a romantic novel with a devil’s twist.
The two main characters are Cain Casey, the head of a crime family in New Orleans, and Emma Verde, a naïve Tulane student from Wisconsin. They meet by accident and from there the sparks fly. The hot, slow-burn romancing of Emma by Cain is central to this book, but be ready to learn more about the devastation that the Casey family goes through after the death of Dalton Casey. Although Casey has been preparing to run the family’s business one day, the death of her father leads to a premature entry into this important role. The story about how Casey and his brother, Billy, methodically approach the solving of the mystery as to who was responsible for the death of Dalton is interesting. We are also introduced to FBI Special Agent Kyle who is obsessed in catching Casey in an illegal act.
The story line is a bit unusual in that this is a prequel to the series. For those who have read all the books in this series, one might wonder why the author did this. I can only guess that anyone who reads the Cain Casey series loves the romance between Cain Casey and Emma Verde want more information about the two lovebirds. The story provides readers with an in-depth narrative of how Cain and Emma meet and start that wonderful romance.
Character development is fantastic! If one has not read any of the books in the Cain Casey Series, this book would certainly create a craving for more. Fortunately, Ms. Vali has already written 7 books in the series.
I highly recommend this book and the others in the series. Treat yourself and read this one today. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.
Heart of the Devil - Ali Vali
I really adore the Cain Casey series, so reading the story of how it all began, the relationship growing and the roles of Emma and Cain being defined from the very start is wonderful. It’s easy to see the love and dedication to each other develop and the trust and belief in each other that will see them through the series as a whole.
At the end the only thing left to do is pick up the next book and read the whole series again.
Fantastic. I love the Cain Casey series. I was a bit worried about this prequel given that we already know the fate of some of the key characters, but that proved needless as Ms Vali delivers yet another cracking story. The writing is so good, and everyone in the book is richly portrayed. I really enjoyed understanding more about Emma’s motivation and why she fell in love with Cain. Five stars isn’t enough for any of the books in this series, I really really rate them. Please keep them coming.
Stevie‘s review of Heart of the Devil (Cain Casey, Book 0) by Ali Vali
Contemporary Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 16 Jan 18
I’ve been intrigued by the concept of this series about a lesbian crime boss, her partner, and her family for quite a while now, but I’ve always been deterred by how much catching up I’d have to do if I started at book one and tried to read my way through all the existing novels before the next one came out. The release of a prequel gave me just the way in I was looking for: something hopefully fresh and new without too much confusion over backstory. And while I don’t read a lot of series where the protagonists are out-and-out bad guys, I do have a lot of affection for antiheroes. So I suppose I was hoping to see the lesbian equivalent of Jake Arnott’s Harry Starks with a bit more romance thrown in for good measure.
Cain Casey is the oldest, and most business minded, of her crime boss father’s offspring, so she’s been running his empire in the year since his untimely death, all the while trying to track down his killers and bring them to justice (by her standards) before her impetuous younger brother finds them and does something rash to assuage his own grief. Most of the family’s income comes from bootlegging booze and from semi-legitimate pubs and clubs, and they have a healthy relationship with the owners of the totally above-board small businesses in the area. None of that, of course, keeps their operation from being targeted by both other criminal gangs and by local and national law enforcement officers, but Cain thinks she has a good grip on the situation. She is, however, aware that new operations – of both varieties – have recently moved into her patch and is keen to clamp down on them before any one causes her additional trouble.
Emma Verde, by contrast, is a hardworking and honest student, whose family of fundamentalists have all but disowned her after she left the family farm for a university education in the big city. Her new semester gets off to a bad start when she finds herself leveraged out of her campus job to make way for the spoiled son of a local senator. Needing a new source of income – one that she can fit in around her studies – and quickly, Emma enquires about working in a bar and soon finds herself hired by one of Cain’s businesses.
The two women quite literally bump into each other on Emma’s first night of her new employment, and while Emma fears for her job after spilling beer over the boss, Cain is instantly smitten. And so begins a slow-burning, year-long courtship.
While I was quite taken with the non-criminal women of Cain’s family, I found most of the other characters, including our two heroines, very difficult to like. Cain was lacking that spark of humour that I like to see in my bad guys, and most of her enemies were not only dour, but also not very bright – as well as downright misogynistic for the most part. I’d have preferred to see a proper battle of wits between two or three lots of mostly fun characters of different moral stance, and equally, I’d have liked Emma to show more of the courage she has early on in the story in her developing relationship with Cain. At least I now don’t have to worry about keeping up with the series proper.
Grade: C
This book is part of a series of books and I hadn’t read any of the others, so did wonder if the book would stand alone. Yes it did and it encourages you to go get the others to read more from this author. Excellent easy writing style, which absorbs the reader and leaves feeling a wee bit bereft when the book has ended, missing the characters and the story. You really can’t ask for more than that.
I feel like I've been waiting for this book for a long time, as I"m sure many fans of the Devil series have been. Ever since the first book I wanted to see the beginning of Emma and Cain's relationship and it was just as great as I thought it would be. The author did a wonderful job piecing parts of their relationship that we've already heard about or had glimpses of into a believable prequel. When an event that was mentioned in one of the other books came up, I had tiny fan girl moments that I'm sure others will have.
It was especially nice to meet members of Cain's family who are all unfortunately gone in the main series. I was both excited to "see" Marie for example, but it also made it that much sadder when you know what's in store for her. BUT, it still made me want to go back and re-read them all again.
Great writing of these characters and setting as always. Everyone who is a fan of this series needs to read this.
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35504374-heart-of-the-devil" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Heart of the Devil (Cain Casey, #0)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498245332m/35504374.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35504374-heart-of-the-devil">Heart of the Devil</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12884.Ali_Vali">Ali Vali</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2243431947">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books for an honest review. <br />Having read "The Devil's Due" (the last in the series) I was compelled to read how everything started in this book. This is a wonderful prequel and clarifies Cain's and Emma's mindsets, their romance and how Cain grows into her position as head of the family. I am now hooked into reading the whole series.<br />Thank you Ms. Vali. 4 stars
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>
I actually have't read any books in the Cain Casey series so book #0 was actually the perfect place to start! I love the way Ali Vali writes, her books are masterfully crafted. I look forward to going back to read, or rather going forwards, with the rest of the series.
This is the story of how Cain and Emma meet. But more than that it's the story of Cain landing on her feet and discovering who she is without her father and how to rule the kingdom he left to her when he died.
So much happens in this book! The pacing and the action is brilliantly done, its so intense and so darn good. Woven around the action and violence of Casey's day to day job, is the fact that family is most important above all, and loyalty among friends reigns in a close second. And love. The moments of sweetness made the raw violence all the more shocking and the love all the most heart wrenchingly wonderful.
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Although the basis of the series takes some getting use to, I like the main characters therefore, I like the series. This read is less intense then the other reads but that is okay because it sets the stage for why Cain Casey and Emma Verde are who they are.
An honest review thanks to NetGalley. As a fan of the Cain Casey series, I was excited when I saw that Ali Vali was writing the prologue. It was great to see how Cain and Emma met and what was happening in their family before. I especially liked experiencing Billy and Marie. If you are a fan of the Casey Clan, then you will love this book.