Craving Love & Death by Haven Cage

Oh boy, where to start... I took on this book because I've read and loved her "Faltering" books. She did warn me this one was nothing like that series. I had no idea how true this statement would turn out to be.

That our female lead, Vivienne, is troubled and survived a traumatic past is obvious immediately. You open the book and she's drowning a man she just had sex with. As a waitress and sometimes nightclub singer, her sultry voice and beauty ensure men flock to her. Those she is attracted to enough to want to take to bed also have her wanting to fight that attraction because she knows the craving to kill him is inextricably interwoven with sexual desire.

Her killings haven't gone unnoticed by the Russian mob either. She has become hunted and is on the run with the man assigned to kill her for them. Unfortunately for him, she's also very attracted to him. Where it goes from here is for you to read.

This is a dark story, much darker than I generally read as it's not really my preference. I struggled with this book for this very reason. Cage is an excellent author. Her narrative is concise without being abrupt. Her characters have depth to them necessary for a quality read. This book could have been drawn from life. Everything felt quite real as I was reading, disturbingly real for my imagination. There's twists and turns aplenty to keep you riveted to the story.

It's obvious that the author has honed her craft. The editing left nothing at all to complain about. I found absolutely no errors in my reading. For these reasons alone this book deserves 5 stars. Did I like it? No. As I said, it's far too dark for me. I struggled to finish the book. For that, I would only give her 3 stars, which would not at all be fair for all the work she put into this story. I will ignore my posted rating scale by giving her 4 stars. Why? I believe there IS a market out there for this story. As I stated previously, the book is well-written and well-edited. So yes, in spite of not enjoying this book, I must in all fairness, give her 4 stars.

This book is currently only available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.