I don't have access to the book anymore. I have been using a new email for kindle for the last year. I will focus on new books instead of digging for the old files. I apologize for the inconvenience. It's not my intention to not review like this.

Izzy and Luca are classmates and childhood friends and each others first kiss when Izzy was ten. But Izzy is about herself and her family. Their families were enemies and stopped Izzy and Luca from being friends and she didn’t see him anymore. Izzy wanted it all: the money, the power and the position of CEO of her grandfather’s company- which was a multi million dollar business. Izzy wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted. Izzy and Luca ran into each other at college and after the first time they seemed to run into each other a lot. Luca had been a playboy- and the bad boy on campus his father is a powerful mob boss in Philadelphia- until he seen Izzy again as he had never forgot her or her him. Luca is determined to show Izzy he isn’t that bad. Izzy really tried not to get involved with Luca but Izzy could deny she wanted or cared about Luca but she knew she was wrong. Izzy felt trapped by: rules, her grandfather, her legacy, and her last name. Luca wants to break free of his father and become a lawyer. Then the FBI approached Izzy and wants her to give information so they can put her grandfather and Luca in prison. Both know their families won’t approve of them being together but they can’t seem to help what they feel and want to be together. Luca does have a sweet and tender side that comes out whenever he is with Izzy. Luca also stands up for Izzy as a man should do for the woman he is involved with.
I liked this story a lot it was a very good read. The only thing I didn’t like Izzy a lot she came across as a spoiled rich brat and Izzy looked down on people and I didn’t like that at all but she did change or I wouldn’t have liked this very much at all. Also it did drag a little at the beginning but picked up after awhile. I was very happy this wasn’t an insta lust/ love story. Izzy had known each other since they were kids even if their families did tear them apart it was through no fault of their own. I loved the Mafia aspect of the story. You don’t read many stories with this aspect in it. I was rooting for Izzy and Luca once they let their feelings free. I loved the plot also. There were twists and turns but I had no problem keeping my attention on this story at all from beginning to end. I also loved the ending. I really liked the characters of this story and recommend it. I wish i could give this a 4.5 or even 4.7.

I enjoyed this book overall but did have some issues with it. It seemed a little disjointed- explaining a situation that hadn't happened while it was currently happening. I don't know if that makes sense but that's the best way I can describe it.

New adult usually isn't my go to genre but this book wasn't bad. I especially liked the 2nd half of the book when Izzy & Luca left college behind them. I did like that Izzy became the "head" of her family- new twist

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Izzi and Luca are not the usual kind of couple common in romance tropes. Unlike most romance stories, the two have a bit of a similar personality. They are both strong characters from strong, affluent families. However, their chemistry is strong right from the start. Through the chapters, we get to witness them trying to work out their connection while handling other responsibilities with their families and businesses.

What I liked most about this book is the characterization. Izzy was such a strong, young woman that I found myself in admiration of her. I wasn’t so sure that I would like Luca but I got to see a different side of him as the story progressed and in the end, I found myself rooting for the couple.

The uniqueness of the story-line with the mafia ties made this an interesting read and I especially loved the final chapters. I recommend this book to fans of new adult romance.

This book is okay but very typical, I believe there is more work to be done before I can pick up another book by this author. The beginning wasn't well executed and instead of pulling me in, I found myself struggling, to like the characters and understand why they were behaving the way they were and going further into the book, I couldn't connect with the characters at all, so the book fell flat for me and I really wanted to love it.

I love me a hot mafia type book and this one is a bit different than all of the others I have read. For one, the main characters are younger and still in college so it has a bit of the YA theme running though. Secondly, you have a young girl in charge of a crime family, so the situations are definitely reversed.

But along with this also comes the underlying YA theme. While not overrun with angst, yay, this story does have a lot of the YA flavor. Isabella is young and hard core. A bit mean and definitely suspect of everyone who crosses her path. She has one friend and a huge crush on Luca, the campus bad boy she has known since childhood.

Luca is a dreamboat but a naughty boy too. He is hot for Izzie and is determined to win her over. She is one of them and made just for him. He is possessive and determined to win her. Super hot scenes and some sexy romance make this story! I love being corrupted and Luca is the one to do it! YUM!

This is a sweet story overall, but there are a few areas that have issues for me. Some threads of the story are glazed over with no direct conclusion. Others are somewhat assumed and not fully developed. I love the romance aspect of the book but the underlying crime/mafia portion seems disjointed and could have been developed better.

A great first addition to this new series. I am looking forward to more from this author.

This book was such a fun book to read; so deliciously sexy. Every once in a while, a character comes along that I would love to become. Izzie is one of those characters. She comes from an extremely prominent and powerful family in Philadelphia, is beautiful, smart, and has a bad-ass attitude that is superb! To top all of that, she has the most desireable man on campus trying to win her affections. In addition to all of this, she is also a very likeable.

The chemistry between Izzie and Luca is undeniable as they fight their feelings for each other. Although Izzie feels extreme attraction she has for Luca every time he comes near here, she knows they can never have a future because of their family's history. Luca, known as the womanizer on campus, steps out of his comfort zone to win Izzie's heart. Their cat and mouse game was so fun!

Although I loved the romance aspect and the connection between Izzie and Luca, the other element I found myself thoroughly enjoying was the mob storyline. It had a mystery element and I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

This book is so well-rounded. Besides the romance and mob features, it focuses on the important bonds of family and friendship. I loved the interactions with Luca and his family (especially his mom), as well as the friendship with Izzie her best friend, Silvia.

This is the first in the series of the Philly Corruption Series, and it is an excellent first book. I can't wait to read the rest of this series!

Let’s start with the title: Corrupt Me

Intriguing.

Then, the blurb…

SOLD IT. Star-crossed lovers mix with a bit of Mafia? Oh yeah! I just wanted to sit down and absorb the pages.

But then I started reading and… no.

I felt disconnected from the story and from the characters throughout the whole book. The writing was a little rushed which didn't help the story at all.

The execution of the plot and the lack of emotional connection between the main couple made the story even harder to read.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a winner for me. But remember this is my opinion and that doesn’t mean you won’t like it.

4.5 of 5

Adult Romance/Mafia Romance

ARC provided for an honest review through NetGalley.

Isabella "Izzie" Rinaldi is the heir to her family's empire. With only one year left in college, she is so close to graduating and heading off to law school. She plans to take over her family's business but there is one problem. Luca. Luca is the campus bad boy and president of a local fraternity. Izzie must do everything possible to steer clear from Luca, he causes nothing but trouble and he sets her desires on fire.

Luca and Izzie have a past but a future together could end in a disaster and ultimately heartbreak. Izzie is well aware but she isn't aware that Luca is linked to the criminal underworld.

I am so surprised with this book! I totally expected a quick and hot romance but this book delivered so much more! This book does have the super hot chemistry with a storyline that will take you for a ride. There are twists and turns and such a detailed plot that makes this book a great read. I really enjoyed it!

Like I said, I was really surprised with the detailed and captivating content in this book. It's one of those stories that consumes you and immerses you into a whole other world/perspective and I LOVED that! I was really satisfied with the length of the story and felt that it wasn't rushed and covered everything I wanted to know. Besides the plot and content, I really enjoyed the well-developed main characters, Izzie and Luca. I just couldn't get enough of their interactions. Izzie is smart and fiery and Luca is sexy and mischievous. Together they create chemistry that is HOT and some really fun and awkward banter that will keep you wanting MORE.

I found a new "mafia"/"criminal underworld"/romance author to follow - YASSSS! I can't wait to read more in series (assuming there will be more).

This book has already released on paperback and will be available for kindle TOMORROW (Jan 17). Preorder HERE on Amazon.

This is my second stop on the Corrupt Me Blog Tour and I’m so excited to share my review of the book with you all!

As you can see from my rating above, I really loved the story of Izzie and Luca! I loved it so much that I’m constantly bothering Jill about her next books because I just need more!

The story is told in alternative views, switching between Isabella Rinaldi and Luca Marchese. I really loved being able to get inside of Luca’s head. I don’t know what it is about getting inside the head of male, but I’m always won over with this!

When we first meet Izzie, we get to see just how much of a hot head she is and I LOVE IT! I enjoyed Izzie’s character from the very beginning, but she completely won me over when she proved she was willing to do whatever it took to protect her family (Luca). The most ironic thing about the story is that Izzie is so worried about dating a made man, but she turns out to be more of one than some of the made men she knows.

At first Luca was a MAJOR PRICK and I really didn’t like him too much, but he grew on me so quick! When he stood up for Izzie and was protecting her, I was completely swooning for him. As if I wasn’t already completely entranced with him, watching this smooth talking sexy man turn into a complete moron when he’s around Izzie was so freaking cute! Luca was a completely different person when he was with Izzie and I LOVED IT! I also really enojyed the fact that Luca was actively trying not to follow in his father’s footsteps and was wanting to do his own thing.

Now for Izzie and Luca’s relationship, I was totally rooting for it the whole entire book. When we first got inside of Luca’s head, we learned that he had a thing for Izzie since that were really young but for some reason Izzie ended up completely heartbroken by him. All I kept thinking was WELL GET OVER IT ALREADY! I was really curious as to what made their families severe ties, but that gets a little muddle in the story. Which works because of the mafia aspect of the book.

To be honest, I was a worrying wreck when it came to their relationship because Izzie was so adamant about them not getting serious and calling it quits when it did. I couldn’t deal with her resisting so much, IT WAS KILLING ME! To me, their families severing ties shouldn’t have held them back from pursuing each other but it did. It was super annoying to read and I desperately wanted them to be their own people and make their own decisions regardless of what their FAMILY NAMES were. When you have a love like that, I don’t see any reason to give it up.

As I watched Izzie and Luca grow, I was saddened by some of the decisions they made and enthralled with others. When they started lying and keep secrets from each other, I just knew they were doomed.

The story definitely has a Romeo and Juliet vibe with the forbidden love due to family issues, etc. Which definitely works, no matter how frustrating it actually was.

I fell in love with how the story played out! And the time jump was EVERYTHING I needed! I couldn’t help but smile like a big old goof ball at the ending

This book felt like it was two different books. The first half was more about the chase. Luca has never forgotten Isabella after his family cut ties with hers when they were young. They meet up again in college. Isabella realized right away that Luca was a playboy and avoided him. A literal run in with him in their senior year sparks Luca into actively pursuing her.

For the first half of the book, this what you get. Luca chased and Isabella waivering back and forth. I didn't particularly like this part of the book. It was very in your face with the college man/boy behavior. Lots of really brash talk about the college girls and said girls having no self respect. This was what kept Izzie from giving in with Luca and I can't say that I blame her. It was very unappealing and immature behavior that I have no doubt is realistic, just not something I care to read about.

Then the second half began. It took an FBI agent approaching Izzie trying to get her to turn Luca in that started the change to the story and really is what redeemed this book for me. From this point on, the college antics faded away and we got to see the grownup side of these two. Both are from corrupt families and trying to make their own mark in the world. What I really loved about this book was Izzie turned out to be the one to lead the head of her family, not Luca. Usually it's the other way around and it surprisingly worked for me. The epilogue was great and almost made up for the first half of the book for me. ARC provided by NetGalley.

I don’t read a lot of NA, and I’m also really picky when it comes to Contemporary Romance’s. I decided to read Corrupt Me because I was intrigued by both main character’s mafia connections. For all the NA and CR I have read, I haven’t picked up a book about the mob and that was what hooked me.

So, I should admit here that I don’t have a lot of experience with mob stories, but I thought the tie between the Marchese family and the Rinaldi family was interesting. We all know you can be legitimate and still straddle that line, especially when your friend is the don. I’ve never seen The Godfather, but I think that the tone in Corrupt Me felt right, which I imagine is a hard thing to accomplish.

There were a couple plot twists that I wasn’t sure I believed, but to get into it would be to talk spoilers and I refuse to go there. Instead, let’s talk about the romance.

The relationship between the two main characters felt more aggressive than any love story I’d read previously. Izzie was bold and brash, attacking life voraciously. She was an intimidating kind of girl, but at the same time I admire her for taking the world by the pants and getting what she wants. Izzie doesn’t accept what life hands her, she makes life give in to her demands.

Luka was built similarly. He was the top dog of his frat, the school, and his friends. The only person who made an attempt at dominating him (not so much in that way) was Izzie. When it came to cajones, Luka and Izzie were evenly matched. They both gave as good as they got, particularly to each other, and both of them loved how dynamic the other was. Their characters were well suited, and it led to super hot sexy times in the bedroom.

My only character critique was that I found very little I could relate to. I’m the kind of reader who likes to see little hints of myself in the characters, a way to understand their motivation. I couldn’t, but at the same time I’m not surprised. I’m a shy quiet girl that was raised by a family of hippies and not a mafia princess with a buttload of money.

Finally, I can’t possibly end this review without talking about food. This is the kind of book that will make your mouth water with cravings. I can’t even eat tomato sauce and I wanted every single meal prepared in Corrupt Me. I’ll tell you what, the next time we try to decide where to eat out I know where my vote is going. Authentic Italian!

Yummy yummy.

Luca Marchese and Isabella Rinaldi were each other's first kiss, they were young and their families were friends and that first kiss had such a profound effect on both of them, both knowing they wanted the other.
Soon after the families severed ties and Izzie always kind of blamed Luca for his absence, I mean she knows it wasn't his fault any more than it was hers but she missed him.
Years later and at the start of this book their lives literally collide again when Izzie runs into Luca and the attraction and the want are still there but....
Izzie is a Rinaldi and she knows she can't get involved with Luca plus the years have turned him into a huge manwhore and while she can't deny she desperately wants him and has wanted him for as long as she can remember but she has no intention of becoming just a notch on his bedpost.
Luca wants Izzie like he's never wanted anything else, she's different, she's his future he knows it but he also knows he'll have to work hard to convince her.
The first half of the book is the push and pull between these two as they fight, well to be precise Izzie fights the growing attraction she feels. Luca pursues Izzie for all he's worth determined to make her his.
This book turned out to be more than I expected, not only do we have the attraction and romance but these two families have a long often unpleasant history between them and on top of this the FBI are closing in and Izzie's not sure how she feels about some of the deals she's being asked to put through at work, things just aren't adding up.
Being totally honest I struggled with parts of this book particularly early on and I'm not sure I would have continued if it hadn't been a book I'd requested. My problems were mainly Izzie, now I understand her reluctance her attraction and family obligations and it made for interesting reading part of the time but this is an intelligent woman who's been raised to take over a multinational company one where not all the deals are aboveboard yet at times early on she comes across as hotheaded and a bit crazy. I mean seriously, okay so she throws a soda can at a car that nearly runs over her foot, seems a bit dramatic but okay but then later she throws her full coffee at a car that's shouting at her and I know she's feisty and has a temper but this along with all the hoops she pulled Luca through was getting a bit much for me.
Personally if I could change the book in any way I'd cut some the first half and add to the second because the second half is the part I couldn't put down, I needed to know what was going on and I would have liked more. While I was reading my eyes were constantly drawn to the progress bar checking how much was left and wondering how it was all going to fit and hoping it did.
I'm a picky reader I can't help it and trust me I wish I wasn't but I am so I have to mention that it bothered me that Izzie who is irreplaceable the only heir to the Rinaldi empire, a position she's been groomed for her entire life wanders around, getting drunk and basically being a normal college girl which is great everyone should have that but surely her grandfather would have security covering her.
Too picky?
Yes probably
I read several reviews before starting this and they were mixed but one stood out:

'Of course, again we have a manwhore, why do all authors insist on this, I do not get it. For some reason they think we woman like this, personally we do not, most self respecting woman do not.'

The blurb did describe him as a bad boy and king of the one night stands so it shouldn't have come as a huge shock but anyway I have to disagree I do like this I like that a man with an unlimited supply of women at his fingertips will give it all up once he's met the one. In this case Luca is incredibly handsome, charming, rich and a magnet for women and yes he makes full use of this but he knows Izzie is his future.

I know I'll be asked if there's any cheating in this book?
I guess it depends on how you view it Luca was her fist kiss and she's wanted him ever since, yes she acted like a bitch and acted like she hated him but that's all it was an act she's never stopped wanting him. So when she ignores his calls and rejects his flower deliveries everyday for three weeks she's hurting but still wants him.
While they've never actually had sex they were friends with benefits and it's easy for us as the reader, we know they'll end up together we know this is their book and for me they were a couple from the beginning but I can see that from where he was standing this wasn't the case so of course while I would have preferred him to remain alone pining away for her I accept he's going to revert to his previous revolving door policy because what has he got to lose he feels he's lost the love of his life anyway.
Or does he?
He did tell Hunter "No way. Izzie is done with me. This shit with my family is too deep for her to handle. Don’t let her fool you. She’s not some innocent girl not even close. Underneath it all, she’s just like her Grandfather, and she wouldn’t do anything that could hurt her company.”
So it depends on how you read this as to wether or not you feel there's cheating, I'll leave that decision to you.

Rating this book was more difficult I'm always careful with my ratings and rarely give 5* saving that for those exceptional reads that occasionally come along. So 4* seemed the next choice but again I don't give this that often and the beginning had annoyed me so is it a 3 to 3.5* or 3.5 to 4* I'm not sure, what I do know is I couldn't put it down towards the end and while it could have been better it kept me reading.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

I loved this book. Izzie and Luca knew each other as kids. Running into each other again in college Izzie wants nothing to do with him. He wants to make her his. He puts it all on the line.

This was an interesting story which captured me thanks to the Mafia storyline. Whilst also a YA/YA story it still manages to draw readers into a complicated story of business dealings under the scrutiny of the FBI.

Whilst overall I enjoyed this book I did find that it jumped around a lot. From slow and steady then fast forward, life with Izzie and Luca is anything but dull.

I enjoyed the connection between Izzie and Luca, despite his playboy ways but Izzie being a VP then CEO whilst still at college was all a bit too far fetched.

If, like me, you enjoy Mafia stories then I'd recommend that you give this book a try.

Ugh, OK I did not like this book. It bored me, and I just couldn't connect with it.

Izzy was a strong female character? I guess she was, but I am not sure that I like her though. She was kind of superficial, and went on and on and on about herself, and her family. Trust me, I can remember details once I read, no need to mention it a hundred times in the book. Her family was rich, and powerful.

I get it.

Do I need a remainder in every chapter? And do you really want me to have pity for her? She wanted it- the money, the power, the position as CEO (which I'm still hard pressed to believe), and suddenly acting all oh-so-fragile makes no sense. I'm probably just complaining because I just in general did not like her.

And Luca, he was a crybaby, and just couldn't man up till the very end of the book. I guess I'm just so used to these kind of books having a strong male character, that I had quite a high expectation from this book. He was a weak character. He wanted Izzy to see the "real" him? One that didn't care about the money, and the power? One that did not want to be associated with a crime family? Explain to me why he was the ringmaster of a gambling circuit? Why he wouldn't stop even after he was repeatedly warned by his father and Izzy?

The "real" him didn't exist. I was bored and pissed that the author tried to convince me that it did. He was just a spoilt idiot used to getting his way, and when he did not, he went and fucked random chicks to make himself feel better.

As the story progressed, it did nothing to improve my view on it.