Review: Crooked Heart by Candace Wondrak

Crooked Heart by Candace Wondrak

Series: A Death So Sweet #2

Publication date: March 1st, 2021

Pages: 308

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

Blood. Death. Control. A girl with a crooked, vengeful heart like me wasn't made for a happy ending.

It's me again. Lola Harding, the Night Slayer, the girl who fucked up and killed a crime lord's son. The Lucianos are using me however they like, and that's fine. It's kind of fun to never know when you're going to breathe your last breath.

But... now they know the truth. My truth. My past and how ugly it is. The things that turn girls into their worst nightmares. I've seen the devil and smiled.

I'm not afraid. Not of the DeLucas, the blood enemies of the Lucianos. Not of the scheming or the plotting. Put me on a stage and tell me to sing, and I'll give you the best damn show you've ever seen.

I do not fear death. I've been waiting for it my entire life. But Maddox, Sylvester, and Viper make my heart feel things it never has before. Cliched? You fucking bet, but life has a way of laughing at you, giving you the things you never knew you wanted before stealing the rug out from under you.

We're all on the same wild ride here, and we're heading towards disaster.

And this time? This time it'll be my fault.

**Crooked Heart is the second in a planned trilogy. It is an RH/Why Choose series meaning there are multiple love interests, steamy scenes, and some things you might find triggering: violence, mentions of abuse, etc.**

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Review:

Lola finally reveals to the Lucianos every dirty detail of her past in all it's glory and none of them feel anything but rage towards the family who let such terrible things happen to her under their roof. Her telling them about her past has caused a plethora of conflicted emotions to spring up within the Lucianos' family ranks, but it explains a lot about Lola's need for retribution against men who take advantage of women when they are vulnerable.

While they wage war with their emotions the Luciano boys put Lola to work scouting out one of the new bars the DeLuca family have just opened. Putting her in for audition once they hear her voice and know their enemies would be foolish to not make her their singer. While singing only conjures up images of the life Lola left behind she's willing to do what she can for the men she has come to develop feelings for. Even if that something is slipping something in the drink of the leader of their enemy. Little did Lola know that that one simple act was going to be a catalyst for her newfound family's downfall in the midst of a traitor. 

Add to that the fact that man of Lola's nightmares, her abuser and little brother, show up in town determined to bring her back into the fold and home to their macabre and twisted existence. Aiden is the one man who can make Lola feel like the scared little girl she once was rather than the predator of predators that she has become. Can she find a way to stop a war between the Lucianos and DeLucas as well as navigate her feelings for her men while having her abuser breathing down her neck? No pressure.

I liked that in this book we didn't just get to see the crazy side of Lola. We got to see the why of it. Why she is the way she is and why she took up the mission to kill predatory men. It was a deep dive into the woman's psyche and I found myself nodding along with her when she gave explanations for the reason she did the thing she did. I could understand it. Sometimes things happen that simply break a person irreparable. Lola isn't crazy, she's broken. And I watched as piece by piece the men in her life shoved her back together the best way they could: through acceptance.

The traitor to the Luciano family was so obvious to me. I pegged him as a snake from the moment he first graced the pages of the first book. There had to be a reason that Maddox reacted so strongly to him where he didn't with any of the others. Maybe even Maddox had a feeling something was off about the guy but had no way of knowing how right he was. I really hate that Lola got blamed for following the traitor's directive when she had not been told nor given any reason to doubt him. I really hope he gets what is coming to him though. 

This book was the great middle bit to a great trilogy. The first story was all fire, heat, and excitement and this one got to the heart of the matter by making the characters focus on more than their hatred for Marco's killer and the sex they can't seem to stop themselves from engaging in. They got to know Lola and she them and they were able to form the bonds they would need for the story to truly be one to sink your teeth into and make you hungry for more.