Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Reckless Behavior

AUTHOR: J.J. Harper

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 257 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 16, 2018

BLURB:

Framed and imprisoned at eighteen, six years later Santiago ‘Santo’ Valentine is not the frightened teen he once was. Taught by Master Salvatore Moretti, and with walking papers in hand, Santo is determined to turn the family name around and distance it from the drugs and prostitution his father’s legacy is built on.

Santo seeks revenge on his father, the man who framed him, and the whereabouts of his younger brother, Luca.

When he finds him, in the worst place a child could ever be—a children’s home simply known as “The Pound”, where unwanted children disappear—Luca has a friend he refuses to leave behind.

At the first sight of Ezra’s brilliant, ice-blue eyes, something shifts in Santo and he knows he has to help this boy, too.

Ezra, dumped at The Pound when he was ten years old, takes one look at Santo and knows his heart is lost. He also knows he has no chance with him. He might be seventeen, but he’s nothing more than Santo’s little brother’s best friend.

After a massive error in judgment, Ezra runs, obliterating all trace of him.

Santo, sent to investigate a dancer for his club six years later, crosses paths with Ezra. Santo’s reckless behavior shocks them both and leaves them stumbling to trust their hearts.

REVIEW:

J.J. is always one of my go-to authors so I couldn’t wait for this new book! I literally couldn’t put it down and fell asleep with my iPad in hand at 6:30 in the morning…it was that good!

Santo Valentine was sent to prison when he was set up by his good-for-nothing crime boss dad! There he is befriended and taken under the wing by Salvatore Moretti, another powerful man that is was his father’s rival. Sal is in charge of everything inside and outside the prison walls. He guides and teaches young Santo how to harness his emotions and use them. He becomes Santo’s best friend and father. When Santo is released early from prison, six years later, he has two goals…take his father down and to find out what the worthless bastard did with his little brother Luca! With Sal’s support and connections on the outside he accomplishes his goals but is faced with a dilemma, a dilemma with the most beautiful ice blue eyes! The eyes of his little brother’s best and truly only friend in the god forsaken place he was dumped “The Pound”!

This book will put you through the ringer. The confrontation with Santo’s dad was brutal and bloody but entirely necessary. It sets the stage on how Santo becomes who he is and how much authority and power he wields. The inhuman conditions the boys at “The Pound” endure to afford the director his luxuries was deplorable. Unfortunately, it isn’t that hard to visualize. I did love that both Santo and Luca wanted their dad’s legacy destroyed and good to be erected to bury it once and for all, for everything to be legal and legit.

I loved how the author had Santo learn as a submissive with Master Salvador first so he would be in-tune with his own submissives when he became a Master. Watching him with Sebastian was treat. That he knew what the man not only wanted but what he didn’t know that he needed. I did expect that there might have been more “scenes” when I started the book because of it being a BDSM book. That is where I was mistaken. This book does has BDSM in it. After all Santo is the owner of a private, exclusive BDSM club. However I believe that this story is more of how a broken man found his heart. The way he made love to Ezra was a testament to that. He is a Master and Ezra is a natural submissive but Santo is extremely “vanilla” when they finally allow their hearts and desires to override their brains. I would have liked a couple more “scenes” between them but there simply wasn’t the time.

This book literally sucks you in and you can’t stop, so be prepared for that with the time necessary to devour it completely. All the characters were fully developed and you instantly knew and loved them. And not just the main characters but the supporting ones also. I became invested in them and now want their stories as well. I want to witness Sebastian getting his own HEA since Santo couldn’t provide it. And Luca! We all know that JJ is the master of triad relationships. It would be a travesty not to get his threesome story told. I can’t recommend this book enough and eagerly await the rest of the books in the series because I know in my heart that they will come.

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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