Member Reviews

Another amazing book by Karina Halle. I love this authors suspense novels and she doesn’t disappoint. Each book in this series can be read as a stand alone. I loved Blaise and how much he loved Seraphine. The slow burn romance was nice and hot in a way only Karina knows how to accomplish. The second book gives more twist and turns, secrets revealed and family history ripped wide open. I am thrilled to read the 3rd book in the series.
Thank Netgalley for the ARC

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I loved Disarm!!! Between the forbidden romance (my favorite) and the suspense, I could NOT put it down. The chemistry between Seraphine and Blaise will make your heart pound. I'm curious to see how Karina will make me like Pascal, along with who will win his heart in Disavow. I'm also hoping a certain someone will get what's coming to them.

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While I loved the first book in the Dumont series, Discretion, I was left wanting more and feeling less after reading Disarm, especially considering I had high hopes for Seraphine's story.

We pick up where we left off in Discretion, but now Seraphine is isolated, alone, and struggling to deal with her evil, crazy relatives. Seraphine always seemed so strong and put together, but the loss of her father has left her weakened and with nowhere to turn. I really liked Seraphine and I learned so much about her sad past from her backstory. The connection between Seraphine and Blaise is less taboo than it may seem and is actually the more genuine part of this story.

I love suspense romances, but Disarm seemed to repeat the same patterns that I felt were the weak parts of Discretion. Seraphine and Blaise's passionate love story was the only thing that kept me interested.


3.5 stars

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DISARM (The Dumonts Book 2) by Karina Halle is the new contemporary romance set in the privileged and ultrarich French family dynasty of the Dumonts. This is the second book in the series, but it can easily read as a standalone.

Seraphine Dumont was adopted by the Dumonts at the age of eight from an English orphanage. Of Indian decent, Seraphine has beautiful exotic features and has grown up with the love of her parents and two brothers. She has worked hard to get to the top of the beauty department of the Dumont dynasty.
Everything changes with her father’s suspicious and sudden death at their annual masked ball.

Her uncle has taken over the company and placed his two sons in positions of power. Seraphine’s position is now tenuous at best because not only has she never gotten along with her uncle’s family, but she is working to prove that he was responsible for her father’s death.

Blaise Dumont is Seraphine’s cousin, but not by birth. He has always felt an outsider in his own family and been intrigued by Seraphine. As the two have matured, they find that they can no longer ignore the passion that is growing between them, but her quest to prove his father guilty of her father’s death has placed her in danger that even Blaise may not be able to save her from.

I enjoyed Seraphine and Blaise’s growing romance with the author’s flashbacks to how it evolved. Seraphine was a believable character with all the issues of an adoptive child. I liked Blaise and his continued avoidance of the dark side of his family’s business, but I found it difficult to believe he would stay celibate for years waiting for Seraphine. This was an enjoyable and easy-to-read romance with an easily solved mystery and dark, manipulative and secretive family members. For me, this was similar to reading/watching an episode of Dallas or Dynasty. (Yes, I know I just dated myself.)

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Disarm is the second book in Karina Halle’s Dumonts series, and if I’m honest I did not enjoy this one quite as much as I enjoyed the first. It certainly has me eager to see what the third book brings, but I was not as obsessed with it as I have been with other books from the author.

With Disarm, we continue the story first introduced to us in Discretion. I enjoyed digging deeper into the story, finding out more about what was going on and how much bigger certain elements of the story were than I expected.

Although I enjoyed seeing the overall story develop, I wasn’t crazy about the characters in this one. I was excited for their story, desperate to find out more, but I found I was never as invested in them as I had expected to be. Things between them felt rather lukewarm, rather than the scorching heat I had been anticipating.

All in all, this was not a favourite from the author, but I remain curious about the series.

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Disarm is the second in KHalle's Dumont series revolving around a famous French family. With family disloyalty and dysfunction, greed, money, power, and a forbidden romance, Disarm was a guilty pleasure of a read. ;)

Highlights:

*Characters
Seraphine and Blaise were the black sheep of their families. They're also cousins who saw something in each other early on that drew them to one another. Dealing with jealousy and treachery within in the family has taken its toll. KHalle crafted characters I invested in and connected with in Seraphine and Blaise. Her villains were delightfully evil in their desire for money and power and in their villainous actions.

*Romance
Although Seraphine and Blaise's romance could be considered taboo, they weren't actually blood-related. Their romance is seen as forbidden due to the fact that Blaise's father looks down on Seraphine for being from India. But despite that, a romance blossomed. I liked how KHalle doled out the history of their romance which made the present more realistic. There were a few details that seemed far-fetched but in the end, I was rooting for their HEA.

*Suspense
Seraphine and Blaise became involved because Seraphine is looking into her father's death. She believes it was an inside job - murder - and Blaise agrees. This, of course, puts them both in danger. There wasn't really any question in my mind about the validity of Seraphine's theories but I was biting my nails wondering what would happen as she got closer to the truth.

Overall, I enjoyed Disarm . There were some areas where the flow of the action was choppy but I'm immersed in the Dumont's world now. And I'm eager to see how KHalle will have a certain character redeem himself. ;)

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Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“It didn’t matter. I saw you and I knew we were alike. I knew you were like me. Alone in this world. Unmoored. Looking for something. Family.”

Psst…I have a confession. First of all, before I confess, you need to know something. I love Karina Halle. Seriously. I love her story-telling, her heroes and heroines, and the way in which she tugs at my heartstrings. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t much that she CAN’T write from rom-com to contemporary to romantic suspense.

Also, I’m not a fashionista. I have a basic working knowledge of the fashion world, and I definitely don’t ascribe to the latest trends. Instead, I do me. I like what I like, and I buy it. Period. End of story. When she announced that she was writing a series of standalones centered in the world of fashion, I was open to it, but I didn’t think I could connect with her characters. Yet, that’s fiction, right? We don’t always run into billionaires in our life. But whatever…

So here’s my confession. I liked her first book in this series, Discretion. Notice I said “liked.” Olivier and Sadie were fiery tempests of bedroom canoodling, and the overarching story of the Dumonts kept me reading it. But, unlike her other books, I wasn’t in love with it. I said so in my review of that book. There was some Karina Halle magic missing, and her acknowledgments for that book indicated why. Yet, after meeting her at Book Bonanza, I became excited about this next book, Disarm, and DEFINITELY for the third book, Disavow. Why? Because Halle undertook to make us, her devout readers, fall in love with some characters that seem unlikeable. I was colored excited.

When Disarm hit my Kindle I was engaged in reading other ARCs, but I saw it sitting there with its hot cover model, and I was dying to read it. How could Halle make me fall in love with Blaise, the son of the villain of the story? Well, she does it beautifully by handing us his soul in this book. It is clear from the first page that this story fell out of Halle’s heart. Seraphine and Blaise’s journey in this book will pull at your soul and place you squarely in her “edge-of-your-seat” storytelling.

Disarm offers us the story of Seraphine and Blaise, cousins with no blood relation. Blaise feels like an outsider in his family. He is invisible and decides at some point that living under his family rule won’t help him, so he undertakes to live life on his own terms. At least for a while. Seraphine is adopted, and her adoptive parents provide her with a life of her dreams. On the death of her father, Seraphine is suspicious that her father was murdered by her uncle, Blaise’s father. Undertaking to investigate this, she enlists the help of people who undermine and put her life in danger.

From their youth, Seraphine and Blaise have been attracted to each other. Seemingly forbidden, both fight their attraction. Giving into it one night, they are almost found out, and Blaise hides behind his mask to push Seraphine away for her protection. However, life eventually puts them together, and Blaise can no longer keep his distance. When her life becomes endangered, will Blaise stand with his family, or will he accept his love for Seraphine and protect her?

One of the issues I had with Discretion was its lack of depth of character. I struggled with understanding Olivier’s motivation and intense attraction to Sadie. On a surface level, it made sense, but I never felt connected to them. In Disarm, this is NOT the case. From the outset of the story, your heart bleeds for Seraphine and Blaise. Both of them seemingly don’t belong. It’s the tie that binds them, but it also makes your heart hurt that, surrounded by family, they feel like outsiders. As they age, their connection grows stronger, and they can see that alienation in each other. It’s in that connection where you find the beauty of this story. I love Blaise and Seraphine more than Olivier and Sadie because their pairing makes sense even though it has a forbidden nature.

Halle’s Disarm has a story that pulls you forward. When I finally sat down to read her romance, I could NOT put it down. From its beginning to its end, your heart is pounding out of worry for Seraphine and Blaise’s safety because Gautier is dastardly. Between Pascal and Gautier, there is no sense of rightness. From one page to the next, you never know who Blaise can trust to keep Seraphine safe from the evil of his family. The care that Halle takes in crafting the suspense of this romance makes you turn the page, hoping they will find their happy ending. I loved the suspense of this book. At its end, it’s unclear how the Dumont label will survive.

Even more, Blaise’s journey towards Seraphine offer some of the most sentimental, heart-wrenching parts of the story. In the first book, we get a sense that Blaise is different from his brother, Pascal. However, Seraphine and her brothers cannot trust in him. In Disarm, Blaise’s true nature shows us his sensitivity and his love. He really is “disarming” in this story, upending his narrative in the context of his family’s story. He is believable as a romantic hero, and Halle’s genius in this book is making us fall in love with him.

As I stated at the outset of this review, I didn’t know what to think about The Dumonts. What I’ve come to find, especially through Karina Halle’s newest book, Disarm, is a story of second chances. We should all deign to withhold our judgment of others because, as this book suggests, love can prevail. It can change our hearts and push us to be better people. One thing I can guarantee about Disarm: you will fall in love with Seraphine and Blaise, and you’ll look forward to Halle’s rendering of Pascal’s story in Disavow.

“It was this. It was a future. It was love. It was creating a life and sharing a life of love. And I found it with this man.”

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4.25 stars--DISARM is the second instalment in Karina Halle’s contemporary , adult THE DUMONTS erotic, romance series focusing on the wealthy Dumont family of France. This is twenty-nine year old Blaise Dumont, and twenty-six year old Seraphine Dumont’s story line. DISARM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: Several months earlier Ludovic Dumont, of the Dumont fashion dynasty died under mysterious circumstances, and in the aftermath his brother Gautier has all but removed any trace of Ludovic’s heirs from the family business.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Blaise and Seraphine) using present day and memories from numerous timelines in the past, DISARM follows the forbidden relationship between cousins twenty-nine year old Blaise Dumont, and twenty-six year old Seraphine Dumont. Adopted at nine year’s old Seraphine was welcomed into her new family but felt like an outcast when it really mattered. Over the course of several years and several face to face confrontations, Seraphine would discover that her cousin Blaise was the only member of their extended family who accepted Seraphine for who she was, until the day her pushed Seraphine out of his life. Fast forward to present day wherein, Seraphine, the only member of her immediate family still employed by the Dumont Fashion House of France, begins a search for the people she believes killed her father, and betrayed the family. Enter Blaise Dumont, the man with whom Seraphine will fall in love. What ensues is the search for the truth, and the potential fall-out as Serpahine has caught the attention of everyone involved.

The Dumont Fashion House of France hides many secrets behind the illustrious parties and fashion line debuts. From illicit affairs to murder the Dumonts are no strangers to controversy but Seraphine Dumont is front and center when secrets and lies force our heroine to take matters into her hands. Blaise Dumont has loved Seraphine Dumont since the day his aunt and uncle brought her into the family. A forbidden love that forced Blaise to step away when his secret is discovered by the brother whose own actions and allegiance is questionable and wrong.

The relationship between Blaise and Seraphine struggles in the face of the forbidden. With her brothers now living in America, and her parents dead under mysterious circumstances, Seraphine feels abandoned when she needs them the most. Several attempts on her life including threats from an unlikely source find Blaise protector and guardian of his cousin Seraphine, a young woman who stole his heart, years before. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to Seraphine’s ruthless uncle Gauthier, and arrogant cousin Pascal. Her brothers Olivier (Discretion#1), and Renaud are more or less absent from the ongoing story line. Pascal’s story line is next in Disavow.

DISARM is a story of family, betrayal, secrets and lies; of vengeance and murder; power and control. The premise is engaging and captivating; the characters are energetic and colorful ; the romance is seductive. DISARM is story of dysfunctional family dynamics in the face of public perception, and private h*ll.


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Sweet Baby Jesus.... if I would want to find one perfect blind date.... It would be my first meeting with this author !

Disarm is the very first book from Mrs Halle and I'm in shock that I haven't give her a chance earlier. OBVIOUSLY I saw her name here and there, but I thought (ALWAYS) - OK maybe another time.... WELLL, stupid, stupid Girl I was. I decided to read this book because one friend of mine was telling me akl the time - read this author, You won't be dissapionted - AND IT IS SO TRURE !!! Bookish friends are the best and giving the best recomendation - always!

Disarm sucked me in from the first chapter, I just couldn't put this book down. From one paige to another one my heart just loved this story more and more. It's book with great story line and amazing characters. Aut

I liked how author tell us history between Blaise and Seraphine.... and because Mrs Hale described so petfectly that true love between people can makes us sacrifice lot of things around, because love is the only thing that matter.

I'm sure I will come back for this author because I just need more.

Must Read book !!!

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4 ‘My chaos. My Blaise’ Stars!
ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a freaking rollercoaster! This series just keeps getting more suspenseful and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I confess I had a bit of a hard time with the first book in the series and it took me a bit to connect with the story and characters. In this case though, I am happy to say, this book was definitely so much better for me. Especially in regards of the storyline and how the romance was developed.

Disarm is the second installment The Dumonts series and it keeps getting inside of the wealthy and scandalous Dummont family. Now Seraphine (Olivier’s adopted sister) is alone in the family business and she is not in a good place after her father’s death. She suspects there is a lot more behind it and that her vicious uncle is involved. She is getting too close when Pascal (one of her cousins) asks Blaise (her other cousin) to follow Seraphine. That is the start of a love story full of action, secrets, angst and a whole lot of tension.

Just the sight of her makes something inside me unravel.
I can’t let that happen.
I have to stay intact. I have to avoid her.

Wow, this series just keeps getting more dramatic with every installment! Disarm is more packed with suspense and action than Discretion was and I really liked it. This family and the secrets around them, everything is just insane! Of course, this is also a romance and I have to say Karina did a great job with this one and these two characters. I loved Seraphine and Blaise, they are both kick ass protagonists and their story (past and present) keep me hooked from start to finish.

I just want to trust him.
I want to let him in.
I want to lose myself to him, go up in the heat and flames, and somehow manage to not get burned in the process.

Yes, these two are family but not by blood! Actually, Blaise and Seraphine had feelings for each other much earlier than I expected and it made the story even better for me. Blaise is so protective of her and I loved him for it. He loves her so much and he will do anything for her. And when she realizes that and she accepts her feelings too, their chemistry is burning hot! It was a slow burn romance (maybe it took a bit too much for my taste) but it was definitely worth it in the end.

He will remind me that it happened.
And he will remind me of who we are in the midst of chaos.
This is my chaos.
This is my Blaise.

Therefore, my rating for Disarm is 4 STARS because it was a good continuation of the Dummont family story. I enjoyed this dramatic and kind of taboo love story and seeing how the whole storyline with the death of Seraphine’s father was developed. The romance was a bit slow but smoking hot and the chemistry between these two was on point! Now I am surely curious to know how everything concludes and I am even more curious to know about Pascal’s story. Is he as bad as he seems? I guess we will find out in the next installment!

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Angsty, drama filled, and the perfect amount of mystery and suspense.

The Dumont family is more complicated than most. I highly recommend reading book one, Discretion, before diving into this one. Seraphine was adopted into the family when she was just nine years old. When her father died, her world fell apart. Her brothers live in another country and she’s all alone with her evil uncle and her cousins. She is filled with questions and the determination to get answers.

Blaise was so amazing in this book. He loved Seraphine with a fierceness I loved. No matter what happened, once he came to terms with his feelings, he refused to give up on her. He was protective and always put her first. Blaise is Seraphine’s perfect match. She is strong, fierce, and knows when she is right. They compliment each other wonderfully.

Some may see this as a taboo story as they are cousins but they are not blood related. I was a little worried at first, as to how I would feel about it but I ended up really enjoying the story. The slow burn of their romance was perfect for the situation and I enjoyed watching them deal with everything thrown at them.

I’m looking forward to reading the third book, Disavow, which is Pascal’s book when it comes out early next year. I’m still a bit surprised that it is not about Renaud. I’m very interested to see how the author can turn Pascal around and if he can be redeemed.

Grateful to have received a complimentary ARC copy to honestly review.

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Disarm
By: Karina Halle

📚💕⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💕📚

In the second book in the The Dumonts we meet Blaise and Seraphine and they could not have taken me on a better journey. I really enjoyed this book and it kept me engrossed throughout. I really loved the characters and the way they interacted with each other. This is a fun, hot, romantic must read book and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Authors Blurb:Seraphine Dumont seems to have it all: she’s gorgeous, brilliant, and part of one of France’s most illustrious dynasties. But underneath the facade, Seraphine struggles to hold it all together. Besides grieving her adoptive father’s suspicious and sudden death, she also shares a tenuous role in the family business with Blaise, her in-name-only cousin. As tumultuous as their history is, he may be the only member of the deceptive Dumont family she can trust.
Seraphine is a temptation Blaise can’t resist. The torch he’s carried for years still burns. It’s his secret a quiet obsession just out of reach. Until his brother demands that he spy on the increasingly cagey Seraphine, whom their father considers a dispensable Dumont outlier. But the more Blaise watches her and the closer he gets, the more he sees Seraphine may have every right to be suspicious. And she could be the next one in danger from his own family.
As blood runs hot and hearts give in, Seraphine and Blaise have only each other. But can their love survive the secrets they’re about to uncover?

This book has everything I love in a book. Then you add that it's beautifully written and believable. It is easily a five star read. Written in dual POV my personal favorite this story flows so incredibly well that the next thing you know your 80% into the book and loving every second of it. The believable way the characters interact is perfect. Run, Hop, Jump or use your (1 click) finger to do whatever you have to do and get this amazing book. It'll break your heart, you'll want to scream with frustration and it'll let you discover that love just might conquer all. The chemistry is steamy and sweet and oh so romantic.

Thanks Netgally for letting me read and review.📚💕

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Karina has a special way with words. She hooks you right away. This book was no different. Forbidden (taboo type forbidden) love and family secrets has you turning the page until the end.

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This is the 2nd book of the Dumonts, Seraphina story. The pages travel back to the past to reveal vulnerabilities and forbidden love. The present looks to rectify but revenge isn’t a quality. Money always helps but it isn’t the end all.
Seraphine and Blaise actions of patience in the midst of turmoil greatly serve to influence the future.

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I'm gonna talk about the cover for a quick second. I'm pretty easy when it comes to covers but this cover has turned me off since I saw it a while back. I really don't know what it is that turns me off... if I had to guess, I think it's because it gives me a 80s Fabio feel. Gahhhh, I'll give it to you real, I nearly didn't read the book. Just because the cover was off-putting, for me anyway. What can I say? I'm seriously a cover wh@re and this one is just not for me. I obsessed over Discretion's cover and just saw Disavow's cover and it's sexy AF!! I don't know what happened here.

Saying that though I really don't feel the exterior matches the interior. Disarm was high action with a fast-paced suspense. I loved the suspense. I loved the high action. Blaise and Seraphine were just adorable and fierce together. Blaise was the best of the best! He was totally head over feet for Seraphine and would have moved Heaven and Earth for that woman. His live was strong. That is what stuck with me here. I was so smitten with Blaise. He was charming and when he loved, he loved with every fiber of his being. It's admirable. Seraphine was reckless. She just didn't seem to think until he acted. Thank the Lords for Blaise!!

I am enamored with the Dumont family and with this series. Disarm is actually my favorite of the two books thus far in this series but we still have Pascal's story and I'm already vibrating for it. Karina Halle writes on the edge of taboo for some. Technically Blaise and Seraphine are cousins. Only through marriage since Seraphine is actually adopted and there is no shared blood. But, there are some people who would squeak over that. Considering some states allow marriage between first and second cousins I'm not too worried about non-blood related cousins. Halle really give us an impossible story to put down with its fast pace and sexy times with love oozing from the cracks!

I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that... my opinions.

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I loved "Disarm" and highly recommend it for both new and existing readers of Karina Halle's work. Even though it is the second book in a series, it stands fairly well on its own. That said, in my opinion readers would benefit from reading the series in order to fully understand the Dumont family and all of their dynamics. (Besides that, the first book, "Discretion," is a really good story and totally worth a read on its own merits!)

I adored Seraphine, the female lead character of "Disarm." Despite her rough start in life, she managed to become a strong, confident, independent, tenacious, and brave woman who I really admired. The book's male lead, Blaise, was an incredibly complex and mysterious character, and when he was introduced in the first book of this series, I wasn't sure I liked him very much. It wasn't clear that he could be trusted because it seemed as if he was part of whatever schemes his father and brother had cooked up. However, after getting to know Blaise better in this book, I think I might be in love with him myself! He's far from perfect and has made his share of mistakes, but he seemed to genuinely care about Seraphine and did everything possible to protect her.

I also adored the slow burn of Blaise and Seraphine's relationship growth. Even though they've known each other since childhood, their romance takes quite a bit of time to develop. The chemistry between them is scorching from the very beginning, however, and I was waiting on the edge of my seat for their feelings to finally take over. Combined with the suspenseful plot as Seraphine pursued an ill-advised investigation into her adoptive father's death, it kept me turning the pages well into the early hours of the morning.

I can't wait to see what happens next with the Dumont family in book #3 of this series, especially because Blaise's brother, Pascal, will be the main character. It will be incredibly interesting to see how Ms. Halle manages to redeem him since he has come off as such a villain in the first two books. If anyone can do it, it's her!

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

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4.5 stars!

Book 2 in Dumonts Series is about Seraphine and Blaise. We have met them in Discretion and I wanted immediately to know them better. While I liked first book, I enjoyed this one even more.
We learn about their past and how everything started between these two. If you are looking for protective and devoted hero, Blaise is your man.
It's a forbidden love story with suspense and lots of secrets. Slow burn with many emotions and sexual tension.
If you like Halle"s book, this story should not disappointed you.

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I'm still in love with gay Paris!! Karina Halle's got me hooked on these Dumonts. From the suspense and intrigue to the romance and family, I was beyond interested. I think the taboo feel of what lay between Blaise and Seraphine was the biggest draw for this story. It was sweet and forbidden and although they weren't blood related, the idea of their coupledom would have its own share of problems. It was what kept holding them back, at least for her. And every time they came close to having everything they wanted, the 'bad' Dumonts stood in their way. I couldn't get enough of the flashbacks to their youth and the many ways that their love was inevitable.

Can I just reiterate how much of a monster Gautier is? He doesn't deserve a bit of kindness and I want to know what screw is loose to make him the way he is. Why does family mean nothing? Why does loyalty mean nothing? Why does nothing but money and power mean anything to him? I also want to know why the author took the path she did when it came to 'uncle Luddie'. Why tarnish his good name? After everything he and his family had been through, after his children now have to navigate life without him, dealing with the pain of his sudden loss, why sully him? Maybe this will all become clear in the next book. Pascal is next and I have absolutely no clue how the author will redeem his character. She did a little bit to finally humanize him in this book, but I just can't picture him as a hero. I'm looking forward to her forcing my change of heart.

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Seraphine and Blaise Dumont…. Forbidden, but destined.

For Seraphine and Blaise, things aren’t always what they seem. Seraphine seemed to have the ultimate “Rags-to-Riches” story being adopted by Ludvic and Eloise Dumont into the Dumont family, but she’s always struggled to feel like she truly belonged; and now with her brothers living on the other side of the world Seraphine struggles to deal with the recent loss of their father, especially since she’s convinced that his death was at the hands of his own brother. The only person who seems to believe her is her cousin, Blaise Dumont; but her relationship with Blaise is complicated to say the least. While his relationship with his father and brother has always been strained she has to wonder where his loyalties lie and then there is the attraction the two have for each other.

Blaise Dumont has always been a black sheep. His father is ruthless and dangerous, and his brother has very easily and willingly followed in his footsteps. When Blaise is asked to prove his loyalty to his family he starts to realize just how dangerous his father really is and how much danger Seraphine has placed herself in. Loving her from afar is no longer acceptable for him, but he has to convince her that together they can make it.

Working side by side to discover the truth puts the two in a position where it’s nearly impossible to ignore the attraction. While they may not be blood cousins, they are still seen as cousins to the rest of Paris sees them as family. We first met Seraphine and Blaise in Discretion, Sadie and Olivier’s story. I have to be honest, I truly struggled through Discretion but there was something about Sadie and Blaise that intrigued me and had me hoping and anxiously waiting for their story. I was a little afraid to read it for fear that it would have the same effect that Discretion had, but Karina Halle knocked this one right out of the park. The chemistry between these two was amazing and the storyline never lost me once.

This wasn’t just a romance/love story. There was murder, mystery, and suspense. Since this is book two in a series, I’m assuming or at least hoping the next book is about Blaise’s older brother Pascal. While he’s been a complete ass in both books, I can’t help but to think (or at least hope) that he has some redeemable qualities.

Definitely add to your TBR list.

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This is the second book in this series and I really enjoyed it as much as I did with the first book!I really liked the mystsery in this story!The characters were well developed and the storyline very good!

“You have me,” I say emphatically, holding her head in place, searching deep in her eyes, looking for a sign that she understands. “Even if you don’t want me, you have me.”

There is action and the romance was fantastic!Seraphine and Blaise have a great dynamic!

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