“The Kiss Thief” by L.J. Shen

“The Kiss Thief” embodies the sensuality and the dark side of all the romance novels. We are taught the difference made by persistence and desire. Political or romantic. For Francesca and Wolfe, love is a bet. They play their every card and the winner takes everything from the table.

It is not a bed time story. It’s true… it’s cruel… it’s on life and death. It is to choose between family and happiness. They are two total opposites who magnetize each other. The pride is the center of their Universe. I wonder how long ’till it collapses…

Title: “The Kiss Thief”

Author: L. J. Shen

Number of pages: 322

Genre: Romance

Trope: Arranged marriage

Recommended age: +16

Star Rating: 5/5 ⭐

Sneak peek

Francesca, the royal mafia girl, meets Wolfe, the playboy politician. The man focused on destroying her family. An arranged marriage which will change their lives forever. Francesca will find herself in the middle. Between her life long love and her duty in the family. Angelo and Wolfe.

Her first kiss was stolen and her family’ tradition broken. She is Nemesis, she’ll find a way. To unite three lives and two loves. She has to stop the destiny. Francesca must not lose control over her own life.

Can a marriage out of arrangement, hate and revenge give birth to a true love? Francesca and Wolfe will change each other. The morals will disappear and make place for the intense emotions. It’s a game and the winner will take everything. Whose turn is to show the cards?

Different worlds

Francesa and Wolfe come from different worlds. She is an Italian mafia princess, while he is a damned stubborn politician. Their relationship itself started due to his pride and political games. I think there are many other aspects which are worth being observed beside the relationship development itself.

I know, their relationship pretty sounds like any other “enemies to lovers”. What makes this book different is its mixture of details and descriptions. Francesca is a mafia royal, grown up to be an advantage for the man she stands by. She was designed to be soft on the outside and tough on the inside. Her character is impressive. Francesca proves that the games, in this book, are actually made by women. She is the power of female beauty. Her being the power behind his “throne” is the foundation of all the intrigues of this book.

Wolfe was, most of the time, focused on showing no emotion. He was wearing a mask for everyone. It didn’t encourage you to disprove him or treat him with lack of respect. He was a playboy, but imposing. Tough, but rational. He was pretty convinced in his desires and games. Wolfe was not easily impressed and neither the kind who lets go.

I really liked how he came that close to the “bad man with a soft spot for her” kind of guy. It is clearly that he is not going to treat her as all the other girls before. He firstly tried to torment her and all the story transformed into a game of cat-and-mouse. He eventually tried forgetting her, ignoring her by sleeping with other women. He definitely had a new obsession.

The love tradition

Wolfe was careful in his plan of marrying Francesca. Even against her will… The tradition is the most significant rule. It must be strictly followed and respected. He completed every tiny stage of it: the kiss and the wooden box. He was patient and convinced he would win.

His proposal was impossible and too risky to be rejected. He had in his possession crucial evidences against the girl’s father. Wolfe wanted revenge. Francesca had to protect her family, so she sacrificed her happiness.

Francesca’s pain broke my heart! She was not guilty for her father’s actions. She should’ve been free to make her own decisions. By the way, no one is going to mention the age gap? She was nineteen and he was in his thirties. It’s not only the age gap, but the circumstances. An arranged marriage between a teenager and a grown up man. This is truly messed up in here!

“𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜. 𝐍𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐝.”

“The Kiss Thief”, L. J. Shen

The kiss scene was mind-blowing. He was wearing the same mask as Angelo, Francesca’s crush. She thought Angelo was the one to complete the first task required. He didn’t even speak, just approached her. She felt foolish for falling in his trap. Nevertheless, Wolfe has been dreaming of putting in scene that trap. He aspired to use his jokers in this fight. He desired her and she was going to be his, one way or another.

Just before the previous scene, right at the party, he observed her. No other recognized her costume for the party. A Nemesis between mortals. She was unique and contrasting between all that basicness. He knew right then she will be the perfect revenge on her father. He thought poorly about the girl stuck in her own bubbly life. Wolfe would find out later she was a golden soul. Even so, she would shortly become a thorn in his side.

He started calling her Nemesis. More than that, HIS Nemesis! This is the element which resonates with her importance in his life. She is assimilated with a goddess. Beautiful, lethal and fearless. His nickname for her is a little gesture. A thing to be kept between them.

“𝐈𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐥𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥.”

“The Kiss Thief”, L. J. Shen

Angelo had been her crush since childhood. They had been friends for a long time and their dads’ partners. She thought they were meant to be. Francesca loved him with all her heart. Wolfe succeeded fooling her for this exact reason. She wanted Angelo to be there. To kiss her, follow the tradition and marry her. Wolfe has some competitions:)

The second task of the tradition was the wooden box. The supposed love of her life would offer her the thing which was written on the note inside. He was supposed to guess and play with the destiny. She and her mother believed so hardly in those traditions! Wolfe was accused of destroying everything important to her.

He has stolen the box and read the note. Wolfe cheated the destiny. But oh my God, how hard he tried! It was so cute! Wolfe wanted her in his life, so he made sure her traditions stopped her from refusing him. Her beliefs became his best way of reaching the final goal. I know we are initially told that he made her marry him out of revenge. Even so, I think somewhere deep in his soul, he started getting emotional about her right then. So, my guess is that the revenge was only an excuse. Not for the others, but for himself. He needed to continue believing no one would make him truly feel any human emotions.

“𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞”

“The Kiss Thief”, L. J. Shen

Prove it

There is one special sequence that I consider unforgettable. When Francesca and Wolfe go to her parents’ house, she meets Angelo. The circumstances get messed up when they seem to get out of the same room. Wolfe assumes she cheated on him, but he is very wrong! He continues to be paranoid and jealous on Angelo. Francesca has just started falling for him and seeing his qualities. It was out of context to believe she would act in this way. It was under her dignity.

Francesca provokes him back home. She pushes him on the edge of seeing by himself if she was lying or not. The tension gets higher and there are said and done regrettable words and actions. He realizes in the morning how a terrible mistake he made. Wolfe finds out how it is to feel loss and inside hurt. He tries to take care of her. In the end, he wanted to compensate his mistake, but it was far too late.

“𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫.”

“The Kiss Thief”, L. J. Shen

More about “The Kiss Thief”

I recommend this book for at least +16 years old persons. It presents developed sexual activity and several emotional hurting sequences. This was a story, a standalone, that I truly enjoyed. I very recommend it! “The Kiss Thief” is the perfect book for a cozy autumn weekend!

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