SILENT SCHEMES/ DIRTY GAME (Broken Blood prequel & 1) by Elizabeth Knox and Haven Snow
SILENT SCHEMES
Broken Blood prequel
by Elizabeth Knox and Haven Snow
Genre: adult, contemporary, dark, Mafia, romance
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 3, 2025
I was sent to kill him. I gave him an heir instead.
Sienna
My father raised me to be a weapon. Cold. Calculating. Lethal.
Varrick Bane was supposed to be just another target. Another king to topple. Another body to leave bleeding on concrete while I collected my father’s approval like coins.But the Bastard King of Vancouver doesn’t die easy.
He saw through my seduction before I even walked through his door. Knew I came to kill him. And instead of putting a bullet in my head, he kept me close—too close—until the lines between predator and prey blurred beyond recognition.
Now I’m carrying his child. My father is demanding blood. My sister’s life hangs in the balance. And Varrick? He’s turned me from a weapon into something far moreA woman with something to lose.
In this city, love is a death sentence and betrayal is currency. I have three weeks to kill the only man who’s ever seen me as more than a killer. Three weeks before my father kills everything I love.
The game was always rigged. But when you play with kings, even winning means losing everything.
•••••
REVIEW: SILENT SCHEMES is the first instalment and prequel in the contemporary, adult, BROKEN BLOOD dark, erotic, crime world romance series co-authored by Elizabeth Knox and Snow Haven. This is Varrick Bane, and Sienna Cross’s story line.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Varrick and Sienna) SILENT SCHEMES follows the building relationship between Varrick Bane, and Sienna Cross, a relationship predicted upon a lie but a relationship meant to end in death of our story line hero. Sienna Cross is a weapon, honed by her father and his men, a weapon meant to destroy anyone standing in their way. Varrick Bane has been keeping tabs on the woman sent to kill but a woman with whom he will fall in love.
The world building follow Sienna as she struggles in the wake of falling for a man she was sent to kill. There is a war on the horizon, and our couple are about to caught in the middle.
The relationship between Varrick and Sienna is based on a lie. Sienna has been trained as an assassin, and Varrick is her next target. Varrick is wholly aware that Sienna has been sent to kill but our hero has fallen for the woman who will take a part of him he may never get back. The $ex scenes are limited but intense.
The secondary and supporting characters are charismatic yet questionable. We are introduced to Varrick’s half brothers Korrin and Cyrus; Varrick’s mentor Will Romano; Sienna’s sixteen year old sister Maya, and their father Theodore Cross, crime lord Bastian Cross; Sienna’s aggressive handler Vincent Carlisle.
SILENT SCHEMES is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, family and relationships, love and loss. The character driven premise is dark and edgy; the romance is virtually non-existent; the characters are energetic and determined. SILENT SCHEMES ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.
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DIRTY GAME
(Broken Blood 1)
by Elizabeth Knox and Haven Snow
Genre: adult, contemporary, dark, Mafia, romance
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 27, 2025
Rosalynn
I should have stayed away. Hell, I knew he was bad news the first moment I saw him. But, I’d always been drawn to bad men, and he was no different. Only, there was something different about him.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would throw me against a wall and beat me until I couldn’t see straight. Varrick was a monster and I had no doubt about it. Yet, in time he became my monster, lurking in every shadow, willing to kill for me.
The world was against us, but we could survive it all.
•••••
REVIEW: DIRTY GAME is the second instalment in the contemporary, adult BROKEN BLOOD dark, erotic, crime world romance series co-authored by Elizabeth Knox and Haven Snow. This is forensic accountant Rosalynn Lombardi, and crime lord Varrick ‘King’ Bane’s story line. DIRTY GAME can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the prequel SILENT SCHEMES for background and cohesion.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there WILL BE triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Varrick and Rosalynn) DIRTY GAME focuses on the building relationship between our story line couple. Rosalynn Lombardi and Varrick Bane. Rosalynn has been sold to Varrick Bane as payment for a debt, a debt incurred by her family, a family that has used and abused our storyline heroine. As a forensic accountant, Rosalynn will become a beneficial to Varrick Bane, as she digs deeps and navigates a book keeping system that hides the numerous sins and betrayals by the people Varrick one trusted. As Rosalynn slowly begins to trust the man who could destroy her heart, Varrick’s past demands retribution, everything and more.
The world building focuses on betrayal and vengeance as Rosalynn must come to terms with the proverbial ‘frying pan into the fire’ but a fire that will become guardian and protector in the face of corruption and mistreatment. As Rosalynn begins to uncover a trail of exploitation and theft, the past returns demanding everything and more.
The relationship between Varrick and Rosalynn begins as a transaction, a payment for debt but quickly turns into something more. Varrick will become aware of the tragedy and abuse that has befallen our heroine, and in doing so, promises to love and cherish the woman that will call to his heart. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive.
The secondary and supporting characters are energetic, and powerful. We are introduced to Varrick’s half-brothers Korrin and Cyrus; Rosalynn’s brother Marco, and their uncle Enzo, and Varrick’s housekeeper Maria. The requisite evil has many faces.
DIRTY GAME is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, greed and madness, dysfunctional family dynamics, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is dark, dramatic and gritty; the romance is edgy and provocative; the characters are desperate, determined and struggling to heal.
Copies supplied for review
Reviews by Sandy
