Jacqueline's Reads: Giveaway + J.A. Redmerski Guest Post + Book Review

[BLURB]

Sarai was only fourteen when her mother uprooted her to live in Mexico with a notorious drug lord. Over time she forgot what it was like to live a normal life, but she never let go of her hope to escape the compound where she has been held for the past nine years.

Victor is a cold-blooded assassin who, like Sarai, has known only death and violence since he was a young boy. When Victor arrives at the compound to collect details and payment for a hit, Sarai sees him as her only opportunity for escape. But things don’t go as planned and instead of finding transport back to Tucson, she finds herself free from one dangerous man and caught in the clutches of another.

While on the run, Victor strays from his primal nature as he succumbs to his conscience and resolves to help Sarai. As they grow closer, he finds himself willing to risk everything to keep her alive; even his relationship with his devoted brother and liaison, Niklas, who now like everyone else wants Sarai dead.

As Victor and Sarai slowly build a trust, the differences between them seem to lessen, and an unlikely attraction intensifies. But Victor’s brutal skills and experience may not be enough in the end to save her, as the power she unknowingly holds over him may ultimately be what gets her killed.

This is their story…

[MY REVIEW]

6 Stars, no 15 Million STARS!!!

The very first thing I need to say is that I absolutely, with my whole heart and every fiber in my body LOVED LOVED … did I say LOVE? YES! LOVED Killing Sarai!!!

Yup, Killing Sarai is up there with Hopeless, Beautiful Disaster, Real and Tangled. I don’t have that many spots on my top favorites, but Killing Sarai landed a spot. Honestly, I loved The Edge of Never and yes I had expectations from J.A. Redmerski, but I had no idea my expectations were going to be met by tenfold!

[Cliff-notes version of my review]

I’m going to do a lot gushing, so, if you want something short and sweet, here it is…

Here is my version of Victor

Here is my version of Sarai

And there is my short version of review. I went into Killing Sarai without knowing anything and if you are like me, just do it BUT first, scroll down to the giveaway and enter your chance to win a copy. However if you need a review, then proceed.

[Summary]

Sarai was taken to Mexico when she was 14 years old. Her mom left her with a drug lord, Javier. Sarai is Javier’s favorite. Sarai is now 23 and over hears an American, Victor, the first time in 9 years she lands a perfect opporunity. She takes quick action and sneaks out of her compound also known as her prison and hides in the American’s car. Victor is a hitman, he’s highly professional and doesn’t let his emotions comprise his situation ever. Javier hired Victor to take out a hit, but on his way to his target, he soon finds his stowaway and doesn’t know what to do with her.

[Full Review]

…while peering into my eyes, though beyond them. I wonder what he’s looking for in their depths. Whatever it is, I hope he never finds it so that we can stay like this forever.

I absolutely loved Sarai and Victor. She was the perfect Heroine and Victor was the perfect Hero, also known as the future father of my child and a book boyfriend. You.feel.for.Sarai. Her innocence was taken from her and all she has ever known was to do what she had to do to survive yet she’s human and has inner conflicts. I understood Sarai completely. I felt like I was her, I felt like I was asking the same questions and I just wanted to help her!

There is a stark difference between fear and uncertainty, Sarai. You fear nothing but are uncertain of everything.

Then, there’s cold, calculating Victor who is just 100% lickable and edible. I don’t know how to describe him. There’s just something so sexy about a calm, confident, yet deadly man.

I am attracted to him. I do have a strange, unfamiliar feelings for him. And I hate it!

Let me just say, this read isn’t steamy, but oh you could cut the sexual tension with a knife and I love it! In the beginning Sarai is just trying to find her way back to America and Victor is well to me a huge blank. We don’t really understand what goes on until later and it’s just a perfect dance of giving me what I need instead of what I want. I like this and I love the tension.

I feel like a toy and Victor knows every button on me which to push, to touch, in order to make me do whatever he wants, feel whatever he wants me to feel. And I don’t mind.

My emotions throughout the read…

At 1% I’m like oh damn… from page one I was hooked

At 12% I felt like I was going to read something epic

At 32% my mind is blown away

At 74% I am just glued to my tablet and I don’t want the read to end

At 82% I have no f@cking clue to what’s going on, but I love it

At 100%.... I just had a book orgasm

What made me love Killing Sarai so much was the natural progression of Sarai and Victor’s relationship from beginning to end . I can’t tell you enough how I love character build-up and relationships forming from trust, understanding and sometimes self-sacrifice, instead of just pure lust. You will not know what happens from start to finish and it was perfect.

I don’t really want to recap the plot too much. I feel you should go into this read with little in mind. Just know while reading it, there will be a lot of tension, dramatic situations, shooting, chasing, dying and just mind f&cks throughout the way.

Oh and there is a cliff-hanger, kind of. I mean the ending opens to book 2, Reviving Izabel, but I was okay with it. It's an open cliff-hanger, but you are left very satisfied. I know, I hate cliffys too, but this one isn't bad. I promise!

I am grateful… for everything you’ve done for me. I guess in the end none of it will really matter, not saving my life or sparing it. But I’ll always be grateful to you.

RATING

6++++++ Stars!

GOODREADS

[GUEST POST]

J.A. REDMERSKI’S FAVORITE QUOTES IN KILLING SARAI (in no particular order)

1. “I am discipline. Sarai is rage. I am aware of my choices at all times. Sarai’s choices are more aware of her, lying in wait to decide for her based on the severity of her mood with no intention in leaving her any conscious control over it.” – Victor Faust in Killing Sarai
I chose this quote because it is when Victor finally realizes the severity of the damage that living in the compound for nine years has done to Sarai. It’s a moment in the novel when that line between them ultimately fades, revealing just how much alike they really are.

2. “…if she presses me further with those soft lips and sad, vulnerable eyes I’ll succumb to the moment and either fuck her or kill her.” – Victor Faust in Killing Sarai
I think this quote was chosen for obvious reasons!

3. “Like me, the nightmares of his experiences have long since vanished, leaving only a morbid sense of normality to which nightmares no longer deem fit to visit.” – Sarai Cohen in Killing Sarai
This quote is meaningful in the way that it’s when Sarai, like I explained above in Victor’s quote, sees how much alike they are.

4. “You are wealthy, though no one needs to know where your money comes from, only that you have enough of it to wipe your ass with one hundred dollar bills every time you take a shit.” – Victor Faust in Killing Sarai
I love this quote because it shows a ‘sort of’ lighter side to Victor. This is from a scene where Victor is gearing Sarai up for taking on the role of a ‘rich brat’ as they go on a mission together.

5. “I don’t think that this thing between us is love, or even lust. It’s something else, something powerful and unmistakable that neither of us have been able to ignore. But it doesn’t have a face.” – Sarai Cohen in Killing Sarai
This quote is the moment when Sarai questions their feelings for one another and it’s meaningful because neither of them have ever been in love before. They don’t know what it feels like so they may never be sure….

6. “We sit in stillness, both looking out ahead, both married to our thoughts. I wonder if hers are about me. I can’t help but for mine to be about her.” – Victor Faust in Killing Sarai

I like this quote because through all of Victor’s brooding, mysterious nature, I think it really shows that deep down he is so much more than what he perceives himself to be. And it also reveals his growing feelings for Sarai.

[ABOUT THE AUTHOR]

J.A. Redmerski, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of THE EDGE OF NEVER lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

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