Skulls & Stitches by N.J. Weeks ARC Review
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Skulls & Stitches by N.J. Weeks
Disclaimer -This is a Dark Suspense Romance novel. Please make sure to be mindful of your triggers.
Triggers - Explicit language, explicit sexual descriptions and scenes, violence, gore, blood, religious trauma, grief, death, and mentions of abuse.
Summary
Sienna
Death, heartbreak and destruction follow me, much like the enemies my bloodline has given me. Halloween is around the corner, it's only a matter of time before tragedy strikes again. When Carmine Moretti, a tattooed devil in disguise summons me on Halloween back to the city where my parents were murdered, I should know better. I should run the other way. Except I can't. He is hiding something. Since I have nothing to lose I will die trying to find out if he holds the answers I need or the fate, I fear. This Halloween I might as well dance with the devil, maybe he will be the one to stitch my broken pieces.
Carmine
I am dead inside. Haunted by visions of pain and carnage that have turned me into a shell of the man I once was. I have been many things, liar, thief, murderer, but never hers. How could I be hers when I only exist in the distant shadows of her nightmares. I need to make my presence known, I have to bring her into my reality. The daughter of the enemy, the one I crave with every fiber of my wicked being. Revenge is near, war is on the horizon. This Halloween I will bring my rag doll home where she belongs, with me. Together we will rule amongst the dead and it will be such a fright.
Skulls & Stitches, the debut novel by N.J. Weeks, was actually my first mafiaesque romance and I will absolutely be back for more. The fact that it had spooky vibes + some suspense and mystery without being terrifying was everything I needed.
Our FMC, Sienna has overcome so much in her life and is strong, knows what she wants, and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. She is sassy with a smart mouth and I appreciate her always speaking up for herself and never taking anyones shit.
I do hate that she let her grief and losses consume her for several years after the heartbreak she went through when she was younger. But that’s also life sometimes. Eventually she had the strength to stop simply existing and finally move past the pain and start living her life again. Unfortunately, her deciding to take control of her life, was also the same time as Carmine entering her life and in a sense preventing her from fully escaping the life of a drug lords daughter. But I equally love and despise Carmine at times, and his audacity in the beginning of the book left me speechless in moments and I think Sienna was seriously looking for trouble with the way she was drawn to him. But the heart (and body in Sienna and Carmine's case) wants what it wants, and eventually Sienna stopped trying to fight the pull she had to Carmine. And even if others saw it as reckless and dangerous, following her heart eventually led her to the answers to the questions she had been asking herself, and ultimately helped Sienna stitch herself back together.
Skulls & Stitches is a Nightmare Before Christmas retelling with mafiaesque vibes, suspense, and spice. S&S was beautifully written, the spice was🔥, and the plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat. Certain things I did see coming, but definitely not in the way I was expecting.
Fave Quotes (There were so many amazing quotes throughout this book, I struggled to pick my top four, so you get six instead)
“I can still grieve my losses without losing anymore of myself in the process. Today, I am finally giving myself permission to move on.”
“To me, however, a lady is to be whatever the fck she wants to be. She can fck whoever she wants to f*ck and shouldn’t care about the opinions of others.”
“But I would rather push through that pain and fix myself than let it break or ruin me.”
“But if monsters look like him, the only thing I should be afraid of is how much my demons want to come out and play with his.”
“If there is a dream in your heart, if there is something you feel you are destined to do or be, love yourself enough to follow that path.”
“It may not be the popular path and chances are it won’t be easy but it will be worth it. Life is too short to be anything but your true self. Believe in yourself, believe that you deserve to write your own happy ending and fight like hell to make it happen.”
If you’re looking for
✔️ A mouthy FMC, that doesn’t take shit from anyone
✔️A sexy, tattoo covered, NYC drug lord (that also happens to be the FMC’s new boss)
✔️Slow-burn romance
✔️A serious revenge plot
Be sure to check out Skulls & Stitches on Amazon and head to N.J.'s website to learn more about her, and keep up with what she has coming out next!
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ /5
Read 12/21/22 - 12/26/22
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