Review: The Professional: Part 1 by Kresley Cole

The Professional: Part 1 - Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan and Natalie Porter

(The Game Maker #1.1)

Summary:

From Goodreads.com

He makes the rules . . .

Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr "The Siberian" Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Sevastyan will do anything to possess her as well—on his own wicked terms.

Rules are made to be broken . . .

PhD student Natalie Porter had barely recovered from her first sight of the breathtakingly gorgeous Sevastyan before the professional hit man whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. With every day she spends under his protection, she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

Are you ready to play?

Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Sevastyan spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-wealthy in Paris, the two lovers will discover that even their darkest—and most forbidden—fantasies can come true…

Review:

The Professional Part One by Kresley Cole was different than I expected. I’m not even sure what I expected but when I first heard of this series by my favorite author all I really remember is mafia hitman and former prize fighter (I never read the blurb beyond the original announcement) and I have to admit I was kinda… ehhhh we will have to see on this one, plus I wasn’t too thrilled it’s in installments. I am so mad at myself for even doubting Kresley Cole! I promise it will never happen again! I’m still not happy this series is in installments but that is because of course its cut off at a particularly good part and damnit I want to know what happens next and in typical fashion I don’t want to wait!

So I expected to not really to be too thrilled with the hitman part of this book, but I have to admit K. Cole did a really good job with Sevastyan. He’s all dark, brooding, loyal, mysterious and of course loves his control! He is extremely loyal to his boss who is more like a father and in extension to Natalie, but his attraction to Natalie while not forbidden holds some serious consequences. He is not one to act on impulse, but Natalie is a temptation he may not be able to deny, to hell with the consequences. Natalie was also a nice surprise; here we have another virgin alert… However, she is no blushing innocent. She has a great sense of humor (enter trademark K.C. humor here) an arsenal of “toys”, watches porn, drinks like the 20 something she is and her moral compass can be a bit flexible. She decides she wants Sevastyan and goes after him like a vet rather than the technical virgin she is. While she might not have “gone all the way” that never really stopped her from doing research. She was just waiting to feel an all-encompassing passion, which she has finally found with her father’s right hand man. She kind of reminds me of Sabine from the IAD series but not as brash.

When Natalie is swept from her boring existence in Nebraska into her father’s world in Russia she sees the shades of gray. I really expected Natalie to be much more appalled by her new fathers “business” but she really took it all in stride. I really think Cole did the right thing in setting this in another country. So basically all American Mafia preconceived notions get to be thrown out the window without any guilt. Well played Cole, well played… Natalie’s father turns out to be really enjoyable and likeable. Who knew!?

Since this is erotica, I feel like I would be remiss if I don’t even mention the steam factor in this book which is off the chain. The force of the pull between Sevastyan and Natalie is all consuming and as the reader you can definitely feel it. On the outside these two seem like complete opposites, the soft, sweet kind hearted virgin versus the hard, edgy, dangerous, experienced man. Both are seething in their attraction to each other, each feel an all-consuming need to be physical. Though Natalie has no problem going after Sevastyan, she doesn’t realize the consequences like Sevastyan does. She’s new to the feelings of lust and desire that Sevastyan brings about in her; she doesn’t particularly care what getting sexually involved with Sevastyan would mean for both her and him in this new found world she is in. She just knows she has never felt this way before and she wants to hand in her V-card and she wants to hand it to Sevastyan and is definitely not shy about trying to make that happen. Sevastyan understands what getting into a sexual relationship would mean, so he does his best to avoid the temptation that is Natalie, but it doesn’t go so well. First he attempts to scare her off with his sexuality, but that just backfired and ended up being one of the most intense moments he ever experienced. His dominance was supposed to scare her, but she just ended up loving it! It wasn’t supposed to be this way…

**review copy provided through NetGalley for an honest review, no other compensation was provided. This review also was originally on my wordpress blog but I lost it when I stopped paying for it, so if it looks familiar you might have seen it there.