Because You're Mine

My Rating 5/5My Thoughts: This book was so good from start to finish. Claire Contreras does an excellent job with a spicy suspenseful romance book. Catalina is a principal ballet dancer, who's forced to take her sister’s place at the university while her sister is away. She reluctantly agrees and meets Loren. Lorenzo is domineering, swoon-worthy, and blunt with Cat from the very beginning. There is so much chemistry and tension between these two at first sight. Once again, Cat finds herself involved in crime and her family's history despite her attempts to stay away, as she reluctantly agrees to meet Lorenzo. As the story unfolds, the reader gradually learns about secrets and betrayals. Cat and Loren must decide if what they have is worth fighting for or if the past trumps everything they have together. I thought the ending was perfect for these two and once again loved how persistent Loren was. This is a standalone mafia romance book set in a series of other characters. It’s filled with some extra spicy scenes, violence, and twists. I really enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to continue reading the other’s stories.

I always love a mafia story and am also a fan of Claire Contreras so I was excited to dive into the Sins & Deceit series. I loved how the story unfolded and though it’s not a dark romance, it has steam and grit. There were so many delightful twists and turns to this story that even after the characters got their HEA, I wanted more from this mafia world. This opposites attract, age-gap, and forbidden romance sucked me in and surprised me several times as the story unfolded. In audio, Scarlet Chase and Stephen Dexter were enjoyable for these roles making the story hard to put down.Cat had no idea what she was getting into when her sister asked her to sit in a course while she goes out of town for work. She never counted on a jaw-droppingly hot professor who tests her patience at every turn. Lorenzo is irresistible and infuriating and their chemistry is absolutely undeniable. Not knowing he’s from a mafia family who is looking for the sisters, she finds herself bumping into him outside of class more and more. Loren knows he shouldn’t fall for her with the secrets he hides, but one kiss leaves them both only wanting more.Loren and Cat had amazing banter and their story is full of surprises and plot twists that made me binge all the way to the end. I loved how Cat was a fairly straight laced ballet dancer and Loren was a very gray character bad boy. As she falls for him, we see their worlds collide and Cat begins to realize that she wasn’t as far from the mafia world as she thought. The ending was a fantastic, fast paced ride all the way to the last page. I dove right into book 2 of the series.

Did not have a ton of character development. The spicy scenes were good! The plot and overall story was good and intriguing. Good for a short read and still planning to read the next

Because You’re Mine introduces me to a whole new side of Claire Contreras. Her writing in this story is phenomenal, as always. But there was something about this book. Each chapter pulled me in a little bit more, until I got so deeply immersed in this world that I never wanted to leave.This book is a Romantic Suspense set in New York, involving the Italian Mob. Now, I for one have always been intrigued and slightly obsessed with Mob stories. I’m not sure if it’s my distant Italian roots or just my love of The Godfather books and movies, but I will never turn away a great mafia story. Claire gives me, not only a great mafia story but sexy, romance as well.Catalina is strong, sassy and a trained ballerina. Lorenzo is a sexy, mysterious lawyer. They meet, and instantly have off the charts chemistry! But of course, they are both keeping secrets hidden.I completely devoured this book. I couldn’t put it down, at all! The twists I never saw coming kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. And Lorenzo and Cat together were H-O-T!!!Five starts doesn’t seem like enough. I feel like this is Claire’s best work to date and hands down my favorite she’s written. It’s completely different from anything else that I’ve read from her so far. Loved, loved, loved it!!!We get a little hint, that this is only the first book from this world, and I’m crossing my fingers for so many more. There is so much more I need! LOL I need Giovanni’s book. Like yesterday! Claire always writes the most intriguing secondary characters!! #GioisMine

I felt like this was an interesting read. Personally, I think I would have liked to have seen it go a little darker. There was tons of opportunity 🤷🏼‍♀️ that being said, I will read the next book because there was sooooo many open ended plot twists that I want to witness wrap up!Good story lineGood plot twistsInteresting take on the situationEnjoy!

This has a very compelling plot with marvelous characters and just a touch of spice. You will definitely want to read the whole series; each character is too intriguing to walk away after one book.

Considering that I dnf'ed the wildly popular "Until I get you" by the same author, I really had no expectations for this book. Maybe that,s the perfect starting point because it was awesome. Fast paced with lots of action, angst and hot chemistry, this book takes you on a rollercoaster ride.The story is a bit messy to begin with and I found myself flipping back and forth to figure out who was who, but the book quickly grips you and you honestly forget all about it.I want to be entertained when reading and I definitely was!

Es un libro bastante bueno tiene una historia interesante y que no esperas vale la pena leerlo. No es el primero que leo de esta autora y es bastante buena.

A touching story with a little twist that you don’t see coming. Always love Claire Contreras’ stories and can’t wait to read the next one in the series.

Catalina is from a mob family but after her mother disappeared she stayed well away from her father and took her mothers maiden name. Lorenzo is a mob lawyer who has been looking for her and her sister. When they meet its a battle of wills and there is no doubt an attraction is there. Cat is a prima ballerina and she tries to stay well away from the very handsome, very alpha male. The story is fast paced with lots of twists and danger with Lorenzo falling for Cat. He is going to protect the woman he considers his at all costs.

This was a great read, and an example of a small world. What started as revenge soon turned to the greatest love.Narration was awesome.

Because You’re Mine was at the top of my highly anticipated releases for this summer! I love Claire Contreras’ writing and this novel mixing the mafia and ballet worlds sounded amazing! As I expected, I loved this story so much! The sizzling chemistry between Catalina and Lorenzo mixed with the thrilling twists made this read so entertaining!Lorenzo Costello is one broody, sexy, commanding alpha! I loved him so much! He’s dark and you feel the secrets and mystery enveloping him! When he’s in the same spaces as Cat, it’s simply explosive! The banters between them are bursting with a sexual attraction that’s searing hot! While he acts with arrogance, this attitude is what brings sassy repartees from the usually reserved Catalina.Catalina can’t resist Loren's charm for long and when they embark on a relationship, they only get hotter! Claire Contreras brings the heat to a high level with these two! The fact they both try to deny what have is more than sex is silly, because it’s clear as day from the sweet way Loren is with Cat that their hearts are invested in this! The longing gazes, the small touches, the sweet kisses, every one of those moments share between them are just perfect!While their relationship is a great enjoyment of this story, the suspense is also very addictive! There’s some secrets I just couldn’t wait to uncover! The aura of mystery made the guessing exhilarating. The supporting characters are so interesting and I was very invested in learning more about them too.Because You’re Mine is an exciting romance that gripped me from start to finish with the power the main couple exudes and the excitement procured from the mobster business! I can’t wait to read more about this obscure world!

I do like Claire Contreras as an author, I've read a lot of her books and I like her style of writing. However, what this book lacked in my opinion was the back story, in that there was none! So I had to keep re-reading some parts to make sense of it all!. Oh she still does the romance, the all consuming love and passion really well, but if you are going to delve into the mob like she did, then you need to back it up.What she did was to role the story on snippets of information from the outset so you there is no background history and little or no character development on the supporting key characters; e.g. Vinny, Lorenzo, Frankie, Emma etc. Although you are able to tie up the loose ends as the story progresses, some parts of it just felt a little too abstract and too vague for my liking. It just needed so much more in terms of the back story and character development, which would have made it an epic read in my view.Having said all of that, Claire Contreras has a way of drawing you in to her main characters that will keep you hooked! The story is told mainly from Catalina's point of view with some chapters from Lorenzo's, and this just keeps you entertained throughout. So all in all it is still a good read.