Reverie Reviews

review #33.S3: Scarlet Heart

Scarlet Heart

Author: _Nenny_
Reviewer: -sylver

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SYNOPSIS

When Dola Everhart reaches a dead-end, she must marry a vicious mafia boss while surrounded by the city's most powerful and sinister figures to save her daughter's life. But can she adapt to the extremities of always living on the edge? Because, in a world where loyalty to a crown matters most, an unexpected alliance puts Dola at the mercy of a forbidden passion.

She's the only reason Ace Warnecki is violating rule number two of the Irish Mafia's code of conduct.

'Never look at the wives of friends.'

This time, it's the boss' woman.

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TITLE

Review: Honestly for me the title has nothing to do with the story from the chapter's I've read. I get that Ace and Dola have a small flame for one another that might grow into a whole bonfire, but your plot goes beyond the romance aspect. At least I don't think the plot revolves around romance unless you were to correctly emphasize that everything Dola is doing is for her daughter, and falling for Ace is just a plus. To me Emma, the daughter, just seems to be a throwaway character or an excuse for certain plot points to continue and I'll explain further why in the other sections of this review why I feel that way. Overall I think a better title could be thought up, or you could symbolize the words "Scarlet Heart" in your story in a better way to when readers read the story and then look at the title they're like "oh that makes sense, that's so accurate to these characters." Right now it's not super accurate, but it's getting there.

COVER

Review: I have mixed feelings about the cover. The cover is indeed very beautiful. It has the standard dark romance look to it, and I'd definitely pick it up to read the summary if I had come across it in the bookstore. The only thing I'm wondering is if Dola should be blonde or brunette on the cover since she's pretending to be Natasha. I'm very specific when it comes to covers accurately depicting a character and a certain scene. Pretend your book was a movie. During the wedding scene, Dola would be blonde so it'd make sense for her to be blonde on the cover. But overall a very pretty cover.

SUMMARY

Review: Reading the summary I did instantly fall in love with your story. I'm a sucker for dark-themed stories, and I love all types of mafia stories. I don't have any issues with the summary other than the word count.  Maybe try to make it slightly longer, 100-200 words. I'm more concerned about the accuracy. Your summary is great and promises a lot involving mafia politics but it doesn't deliver it in the story. For me, the hierarchy and roles aren't really depicted.

PLOT

Review: Generally I enjoyed the plot and liked the concept of everything. What I disliked was that the realism seemed to be lacking.

In Chapter One it's when Ace has Natasha captured and he's waiting to bring her into Cian Kavanagh. What I didn't like about the scene was the fact that he had a sniper on him and he didn't get shot. It makes no sense for the Italian Mafia to keep him alive honestly. They would've gotten to Natasha easily by eliminating him before he realized the red dot was on him. Also, Ace apparently choked her out but she was still conscious because she " doesn't break easily?" Not realistic. In addition, Ace had her in the motel for over an hour and apparently took out anyone who could've gotten between him and Natasha before then. What was he waiting for? Why didn't he get in and get out? I'm not a huge fan of how Natasha died, but dying from blunt-force trauma makes sense. Even though Erica has a realistic reaction I still don't like her. She felt indecisive because I'd have honestly ratted Ace out if I was in their line of work, especially because it didn't seem like they were close. None of that seems worth the drama.