Easter's Lilly by Judy Serrano ~ review and giveaway

BLURB

It was Easter Sunday; the day Lilly's life went from safe and comfortable to dangerously unfamiliar. Her transformation takes her from a small town girl having an affair with a low ranked gangster in the Montiago crime syndicate, to a woman of grace and fortitude married to the head of the organization. Easter's Lilly is an inspired journey from the idyllic to the darker side of self-discovery. Read as the over-privileged brothers embark on their journey that twists and turns down the road of unbridled passion in this first book of the series.

Book Title: Easter's Lilly

Author: Judy Serrano

Release Date: December 16, 2010

Genre: Thriller, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Romantic Thriller

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Presented by: As You Wish Tours

Banner Made by:  Camelia Miron Skiba

Purchase Links:

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EXCERPT

Jorge put his gun up to Max’s temple and cocked it. Max closed his eyes. I think he was giving up. Hector pulled his gun out so fast I didn’t see his hand move. “I swear to God if you kill him, I will drop you before he hits the ground!”

“Boys, put the guns away,” Diego ordered. But no one listened. I had to do something. I remembered that Max kept his gun in his waistband in the back of his pants. I wondered if Diego did the same. I reached in front of me and grabbed for Diego’s gun and that is exactly where it was. I held it up and pointed it at Diego. Hector and Jorge instantly lowered their weapons.

“If I had known that pointing a gun at the favorite brother would have such an effect, I would have done it a long time ago,” I said.

Then at the same time, Hector and Max both spouted, “He’s not my favorite brother.”

“This is not funny!” I screamed. “I am trapped in this house and I have no choices!”

“Lilly,” Max said. “Don’t shoot Diego, shoot Jorge.” I continued to point the gun at Diego. Although I had always found Max’s humor charming, right now, I was not laughing. Jorge hit Max in the back of the head when he said that and I shouted, “Don’t tempt me Jorge, I’d rather see you dead than anyone else here!”

“Max, get the gun,” Diego said calmly.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I continued. “I don’t want to have sex with my husband and make love with my lover anymore. I can’t do it!” My hands began to shake. “You can’t take him from me! I need him! You can’t take him from me!”

“Max,” Diego said, “do something.”

“I don’t want to live anymore,” I told them and I moved the gun from Diego and pointed it at my temple. I heard all four men gasp and say, “No, no, no…”

“Oh my God,” Hector gasped. “I think you two have pushed her as far as she can go. Max, get the gun.”

“Lilly…” Max walked over to me and had a very calm tone in his voice. “Remember, you might be pregnant. We’re talking about a baby.”

“I don’t want to have Diego’s baby!” I shouted. I started to feel overwhelmed and confused. I had been with Diego so many times over passed few days; I was feeling disoriented, trapped and desperate.

“Am I pregnant?” I asked him.

“Lilly, hand me the gun,” he said.

“Am I pregnant!” I began to lose control of my voice.

“Baby girl. If you hurt yourself, you could hurt the baby.” He took a step closer. “Now, don’t move and I’ll take the gun.”

“NO!” I screamed. “I want to die, Max.”

“Lilly please…” His eyes began to fill with water. “Please do what I say and give me the gun.”

“He’s making you leave me,” I reminded him. “You’ll have to move on with another woman and I’ll still be here, pregnant with Diego’s baby. I don’t know how you watch him touch me over and over again. I can’t watch you marry someone else.” I was losing control, I was aware of that. My emotional pain became physical.

“Max…” Hector was beginning to panic. “Max, what’s happening?”

“Lilly, there’s no one else. There will never be anyone else.”

“That’s what Johnny said,” I answered. “That’s just what he said.”

“Lilly, he will have to find someone else, he isn’t coming back,” Diego started and I cocked the gun.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Max shouted at Diego.

“Max!” Hector said in a desperate tone.

“I know,” Max replied, “I heard it.” He reached for the gun but I moved and he stopped. “Lilly, I’m not Johnny. You’re my everything.”

“No,” I said, “I can’t live like this anymore. You’re leaving me here and I’m pregnant with Diego’s baby. I can’t do this without you.” I put my finger on the trigger. “Its over Max.”

 

AUTHOR BIO

Judy Serrano graduated from Texas A&M University, Commerce with a BA in English. She is a substitute teacher at her children’s school district and teaches developmental writing at a local college. She is also a freelance writer for certain on-line periodicals. She is the author of The Easter’s Lilly Series, which falls under romantic suspense, and The Linked Series, which is paranormal romance. Although she is originally from New York, she currently resides in Texas with her husband, four children, (all boys) and five dogs. She is also a singer/songwriter in her spare time.

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My Thoughts:

Okay, let me start with the ending and go backwards. OMG! I need to read the next book!!!

The ending was Wow! I hope to get my hands on the other books in this series soon!

Now, that you know my feelings at the end of the book, let me tell you how I felt at the beginning.

I almost decided not to finish reading it. Lily, the heroine, was a tad hard to embrace at times. I just wanted to grab ahold of her and shake.  Especially at first.

She meets Johnny, a not so nice guy who has a reputation with the ladies (well I use that term loosely). It was a little sickening how quickly she "fell" for him even though everyone kept telling her that he was bad news. The two of them embark on a relationship of sorts and not long after that she is introduced to the Montiago family. If Johnny was bad news (and he was) the Montiagos are much much worse.

She ends up staying with Diego, one of the Montiago brothers. It was around this part of the book where I decided to keep reading. There were plenty of shifts in the storyline that kept me on my toes.

This book and it's mafia feel had me turning the pages to see what would become of Lily. Don't get me wrong, I did not do a complete turn around. There were still a few parts where I was like ~ seriously? Really? What is she or he thinking?. 

In Easter's Lily you'll find lots and lots of action, some hot spots, some romance, a strong mafia theme, a somewhat crazy heroine, many surprise revelations, and an ending that leaves you with an immense desire to read the next book.

I enjoyed Easter's Lily and I hope to read the rest of the series. I received an ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.


 

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