Lev (Shot Callers #1) by Belle Aurora

Title: Lev
Series: Shot Callers #1
Author: Belle Aurora
Source: eARC directly from the author
Rating:

From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman's club, he can't take his eyes off of her.
For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can't process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.

When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn't hers, she falls apart. She's tired, lonely and hasn't eaten in days.

Lev offers her an ultimatum... A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.

Mina takes her chances with Lev.
After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.

 

  First and foremost I'd like to thank the author, Belle Aurora very much for an advance readers copy of this book.
I will admit I haven't been that updated with my Belle Aurora book but I've been a fan of hers ever since I started the Friend Zoned series and of course we cannot forget RAW but I digress, we're here to discuss this new book of hers, LEV- so let's do this!

I started this book knowing nothing about it. I didn't even read the blurb. It was like new Belle Aurora book. Check. MUST. READ. Check.

We start this book with Mina Harris a young girl who is basically at the lowest of low in her life. She is a runaway orphan who is living off the street struggling to even get her next meal. She becomes so desperate because of her hunger that she ends up at a local strip club where she decides to do something drastic. Something so out of character for her- to steal. Now she is basically no inexperienced at this that she doesn't notice the guy across the bar watching her captivated by her secret beauty. So, she nabs the wallet thinking she's invisible and that's when she goes head to head with our hottie hero Mr. Lev Leokov.

Yups ladies and gents. Lev Leokov. He is the hottie dark hero of this story. Ever since he was young Lev understood that he was different anyone who knew him knew there was just something different about him. He was a recluse, unemotional, and silent boy. His sister and brother always kept an eye on him and helped him adjust to societal norms being his guardian angels. He is immediately drawn to this shy, quiet and damaged girl. From that first meeting on things unravel and we see the true Lev Leokov the sweet, possessive and adorably protective man. He thinks he doesn't show emotion and cannot care for anyone else but throughout the story we see a different man come to pass.

His eyes roamed my fresh face. "You can't hude behind make-up. You can try, but you won't succeed. Not with me." He paused then said "I see you" 

He crossed his arms over a broad chest. "Masks don't suit a person with your face." 
"My face?" I asked. 
"A face like yours makes men stumble over themselves." He titled his head to look at me through a new angle. "Faces like yours are carved into statues, immortalized in stone for the world to see over the ages." He let in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "You...are art." 

 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me in a lot of instances of the first book of Friend Zoned series. Not to mention that this is sort of a spin-off of of that series. (You'll understand in the ending) It was intriguing, steamy and you easily fall in love with the characters. I was especially intrigued with the supporting characters and their hopefully future stories. But there were parts of the book where I felt like the writing was rushed but at the beginning of the book there came a point where I felt it a bit dragging specially the first few chapters and some in the middle. But overall I loved it. It was so sweet. I loved getting into Lev's psyche so I was really into the parts where it was Lev's POV.


I totally recommend this book to everyone who enjoy reading contemporary romances or those fond of realistic fiction books. :)
Anyway, til the next review. Peace!
xoxo
Carrie