Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
Ruthless: Mob Boss Book One by Michelle St. James – A Book Review
Angelica Bondesan yearns for a different life.
Two years out of college, she wonders if the rest of her life will be filled with hours at the Muddy Cup as a barista. She knows that she needs direction in her life-she just has no idea which direction she wants to go in.
The only spot of brightness in her life was her brother David. With her mother gone and her father often absent in her life, he was all she had. She is constantly trying to bridge the gap between her brother and her father, but to no avail. Angelica hopes that something, anything, will change.
Then things do change when she is kidnapped. She’s thrown into a room and held captive for reasons unknown to her. However, the reasons almost cease to matter when she meets her captor: the dangerous and handsome Nico Vitale.
He’s the boss of New York City’s crime family. After his parents were murdered in an execution style killing, he took control. Nico wants answers and Angelica is the key to them. Angelica is prepared to resist Nico. What she doesn’t count on is his kindness, his strength or her growing attraction to him.
Then she learns a family secret that shatters her entire world. Her whole life is not what she thought it was. Angelica has only one option: help Nico learn the truth so that she can finally figure out if loving him is a valid option…
My meagre plot summary doesn’t do this book justice. It comes nowhere to capturing the rapid fire plot that seems to flip the pages almost turn themselves, nor does it capture characters so real, so vibrant, that they live beyond the page.
It also fails to capture the incredible passion and the amazing love scenes that set the pages on fire. I have read hundreds of romance novels, but none of them have come close to Ruthless by Michelle St. James.
Of course, Michelle St. James is the pseudonym of Michelle Zink. So I already know that she can tell a flat out fantastic amazing story. I also knew that Michelle could write passionate love scenes with aplomb-she showed that she could do so with her Shadowguard Trilogy of novellas. I was left breathless after those three short books and wondered what Zink could do with the space of a full length romance novel.
After reading Ruthless, I don’t have to wonder any longer. Ruthless is the work of a master of the romance genre.
Yes, the love scenes are incredibly hot, but it’s more than that. What I loved most about Ruthless was that it wasn’t just about the love scenes. Michelle has given us a novel that goes beyond the typical mob boss novel. She breaks stereotypes established by mob novels and instead of a man driven to kill for no reason and poses a woman, she’s created Nico Vitale.
I love the twist she’s given the book in Nico. He doesn’t kill if he doesn’t have to and he takes care of his own. More than that, despite the situation they are in and the attraction he has to Angelica, he wants her to want him and will only take her completely when she does.
He’s a man with depth, with heart and with honour. Despite the unkindness done to him, he knows there is a right way to do things and a wrong way.
Zink has given us everything we could want and more in Ruthless. I can’t wait until Mob Boss Book Two: Fearless comes out in September! I can’t wait to read Ruthless all over again!
Stone and Fog – A Poem
I look out
at the world
from inside of
a brain fog.
It is a
storm that casts
its shadow on
everything I see.
I try to
speak but my
tongue doesn’t move
the right way.
Words are like
stones that fall
from my mouth,
uncoordinated and heavy.
I try to
gather them as
they fall and
arrange them in
some semblance of
order. I look
down into my
hands to see
the stones that
have fallen but
the fog is
heavy and they
don’t make sense:
I an many than me symposium. I an younger than I knew.
I let more
words fall from
my mouth and
catch them. I
can feel their
warmth and they
pulse with unsaid
meaning. I try
to arrange them
in some order:
I an many than me symptoms. I am younger than I know.
The right words
pulse in different
colours inside my
mind, shining through
the fog. I
merely have to
get my lips
to say the
right ones. I
try once more,
pronouncing my words
slowly, trying to
speak past the fog.
It takes all
of my effort
to do so:
I am more than my symptoms. I am stronger than I know.
When the right
words are uttered,
they act like
a spell that
chases away the
fog. It dissipates
with a wooshing
sound that leaves
me breathless for
a moment. The
fog will be
back, I know
this. However, I
will be ready.
Reaching for the Sun – A Poem
Two years ago, 
there was only
darkness. My body
had rebelled against
me, shifting its
shape into something
new and, at
the time, utterly
terrifying. It was
the unknown of
how my life
would become that
I found most
frightening of all.
I hid inside
my hovel of
an apartment, the
forest growing ever
closer, the trees
growing larger by
the day. In
the space of
a couple of
weeks, I could
smell only the
trees and soil.
I gave up
and lay down
on the forest
floor, letting the
earth overtake me.
In a matter
of moments, there
was only darkness,
sweet, blissful and
cool. I relaxed
to the inevitable,
what my life
was now. Slowly,
though, something started
to happen. There
was a tingling
sensation that started
in my legs
and began to
work its way
up my body.
I felt something
in my skin
escape my body
and it began
to twist and
turn into the
soil. I could
hear it whispering
as it found
its way. I
began to see
light, finding its
way through chinks
and holes in
the dirt. The light
was brighter than
the darkness and
began to chase
away the shadows.
As I watched,
the holes became
wider as if
the ground were
moving. I realized,
when I felt
the pull on
my legs from
whatever had found its
way into the dirt,
that I was
the one in
movement, rising toward
the surface. In
an instant, I
broke free, staring
at the sun
and taking in
my first breath
of real air.
I marvelled at
Its beauty, at
the warmth and
heat of the
sun, how nourishing
it was after
so long in
the shadowy dark.
I looked down
at my feet
and realized what
the sensation had
been. I had
grown roots and
had been planted
in the very
earth itself. At
the time, I
didn’t know what
would be coming,
but I did
know that there
was really only
one option left
to me. I had
only to grow.
I had only
to reach for
the sun and
beyond, no matter
what came. I
was not who
I had been
but had grown
into something more.
I had only
to reach for
the sun and
continue growing to
find out what
I had become.
I Love You Because… – A Poem
I love you because
you truly know me,
every inch and breath
of who I am and you
just love me more.
I love you because
you helped me grow
beyond who I thought I was
and into who I truly am,
who I was meant to be.
I love you because
you make my soul so joyous
that it is filled with laughter
and music that only we can hear.
I love you because
you don’t just speak to me
with your voice, but with
you’re entire soul
with every word and every touch.
I love you because
you fill my world with a light
that shines so brilliantly,
so brightly, that others
can’t help but notice it.
I love you because
you complete me
and continue to leave me breathless
with wanting you.
You Are Missing From Me – A Poem
When you are away,
I don’t merely miss you.
I yearn for you,
for everything you
bring to my life
and the life that we
build together. I am
restless when you’re gone,
unsure of what to do
with myself, I feel adrift
in a world which I used
to see one way, but you
have given me a new way to
see it, a different way
to experience it,
to actually live life.
When you are away,
I don’t merely miss you.
I ache for you,
for your hand in mine,
to hear your voice in my ear,
the sound of your laughter
or the feel of your lips against mine.
Since we’ve met,
I’ve found the other half of me
that was missing for so long,
the other piece of me
shining bright like the jewel
that you are.
My life is so much brighter
with you in it and you’ve
taught me to truly shine.
When you are away,
you are missing from me
and my whole self,
all of who I am,
yearns for your return.
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Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 