Review ~ If The Sea Catches Fire by LA Witt

Book Description:

Sergei Andronikov was a child when the Mafia wiped out his family, leaving him with nothing but a hunger for revenge. Years later, through ruthless strategy and tireless patience, he’s a contract killer working for the three families ruling Cape Swan… and he’s nearly in position to bring them all down from the inside.

Domenico “Dom” Maisano is Mafia royalty, a made man… and a hitman. He’s caught up in a violent life he can’t escape, struggling to maintain an image he doesn’t want, and suppressing desires he can’t have.

A chance encounter throws the killers into each other’s paths. Though Dom knows he’s playing a dangerous game, he’s intrigued and keeps coming back. Sergei can’t resist him either—Dom is everything he set out to destroy, but he’s also everything he’s ever ached for in a man.

Then Sergei gets the contract he’s been waiting for—the hit that promises to bring the town’s Mafia to its knees.

But when a capo makes an unexpected move, Sergei must choose between dropping the hammer on the families he vowed to annihilate, and protecting the man he swore he wouldn’t love.

And the wrong choice—or even the right one—will destroy them both.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.to/29DG2ot

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/29HjuXx

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4.5 stars

“Let’s have tonight. Because this is all we have left.”

Mafia M/M…count me in!!! This is my first read by LA Witt and it definitely won’t be the last. This was a fairly long book, was a slow burn but action packed. While the slow pace in the beginning may be off putting to some, for me this only added to the intensity of the impending climax that scene by scene the author painstakingly makes you anticipate.

Being gay in the Mafia is a no no, being a gay Made man has only one ending…death. Domenico Maisano was the latter and now in his mid-thirties keeping this a secret was becoming harder and harder. While he had always kept his sexual preferences to himself and his dick in his pants Domenico’s self-restraint is about to be tested to its limits when a selfless stranger comes to his rescue in his time of need.

“He wanted out of this life. Out of his own skin. But short of death, there was no escaping this. He was, and forever would be, a straight Mafioso.”

Dom was Mafioso royalty in a life he never wanted to be a part of. His father had disgraced the family and as such had met his maker. Adopted by his Uncle, Dom was treated as a son and because of this was a Made man as his Uncle Corrado was the boss of the Maisano’s. Now in his mid-thirties his Uncle was pushing for an arranged marriage that would bring two huge Mafia families together, an alliance, a match made in hell, especially for Dom.

“When he needed someone the most, that was when promises came up empty.”

Sergei was not the man that Dom thought he was. Their first meeting was Sergei saving Dom’s ass from a hideous beating in an alley behind the strip club that Sergei works at. To Dom he was just a gay stripper, to the underworld he was “The Georgian.” The Georgian was a hitman that worked for both sides, no matter what Mafia family hired family. The Georgian’s sole aim was to bring down the Mafia once and for all and the more internal fighting he could incite the better, the less heads he had to kill. Sergei’s family was ripped apart by the Mafia and now, revenge is his only aim…destroy them that destroyed him. The trouble was Domenico Maisano. Sergei never banked on Domenico Maisano.

“They spoke three languages between them, and there weren’t enough words to convey what they’d take to the grave, what they’d had a chance to taste before fate inevitably closed in.”

This book was intense, it had a great plot and it was even emotional in places. Dom is in an untenable position and his fight between literal life or love was heart destroying at times. The chemistry between Dom and Sergei was palpable. Kindle melting between the sheets, but most of all I loved them getting to know each other, to fall in love, even though it was the furthest thing from each other’s minds. This was the heart calling on both sides even if their heads told them to run in the other direction.

“You were right about this life. It’s a fucking viper, and anyone who picks it up is bound to get bitten.”

The Mafia drama surrounding their relationship was intense and graphic at times, this was a true Mafia book that pulled a lot of punches. While Dom and Sergei are always at the forefront of your mind it is the Mafia story surrounding them that really has you frantically page turning. From alliances to allegiances, to back stabbing, to cold blooded murders, to drug running to human trafficking this book covers it all and at the top of the chain is Dom’s mission to stay alive.

“Tell me you fuck as good as you dance.”

As the author says in the synopsis “Sergei must choose between dropping the hammer on the families he vowed to annihilate, and protecting the man he swore he wouldn’t love. And the wrong choice—or even the right one—will destroy them both.” An outstanding read, totally loved it.