This book was crazy, still have a book hangover from this one! This author brings twisted and creative to a new level! What you expect will happen with this book, will probably not happen, Dornan isn't going to become a better man, though you will get to see some vulnerability in him but you really see how crazy he is in this book. This isn't a feel good happily ever after book, this is raw, dark and gritty and if you don't like that kind of subject you might want to pass on this. There are some really dark themes that some readers may not be able to handle in this book.

These books really leave me wanting more and I hate when they end. This was an amazing ending to the series, though it seems like the author made it so that she could add more onto this series. If you like dark and gutwrenching you will love this!!

OMW! I think I know really fully comprehend the term "clusterfu@k" !!!!

I've come to love some of these characters in a warped manner but I've also come to really hate some of them .

I was blown away by cruelty and heartlessness and on more than 1 ocassion I felt my heart shatter into pieces . I also learnt that monsters aren't born they're created .

Empire was an epic ending to a phenomenal read ! Lili St Germain has a talent for the dark , twisted and unconventional !

“I stopped what I was doing, meeting his gaze. ‘Of course I love you, you idiot,’ I replied. ‘You think I’d risk my head for somebody I just kind of thought was okay?’”


5+ emotional and dark stars!!! I’m a complete wreck… I’m sad it’s over, but what a ride it was!



I have been obsessed with this series the minute I started reading it. And while we all knew the direction Marianna and John’s story went, it didn’t make it any easier to read! I was sucked in and I went on the emotional roller coaster. I was a complete mess and totally distraught. I didn’t want to finish the book because I was hoping if I didn’t see the end then it didn’t happen. Lili knows how to write a series/book that sucks you in. You feel for each of these characters. You love to hate Dornan, your heart breaks for Marianna and John…. And don’t get me started on Jace and Julianna! I won’t lie… I will read anything LIli puts out and I make sure to recommend her to anyone looking for a book to read! Great wrap up to the series, but it doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye!!!

Violent. Brutal. Empire will take its toll on your mental well-being.

❝As if on cue, a tiny crab crawled out of a neat hole in Allie’s chest and darted along her collarbone before disappearing underneath her ragged red hair.❞

This is the third book in the Cartel series by Lili St. Germain. I had this marked on my calendar for release this past June. As they do, release dates get moved and in this case, it was moved so far from when I read Kingpin (Cartel, #2), I forgot major portions of the previous story. This created an issue for me as this book picked up where Kingpin left off and I was a little lost and confused.

Emilio continues to be the deranged lunatic we have seen in the first two books, and Dornan continues to unravel. Gone is the love she once held for Dornan, Mariana wants both dead. She longs to run away with John and aside from the danger that is involved in running away, she won’t leave without taking the kids and this as good as a death wish.

I don’t mind dark books. I have no problem reading with one eye open, or between the fingers which I’ve thrown over my eyes. But I struggled to turn the pages of this one. Lili St. Germain didn’t seem to hold back while writing this conclusion to the Cartel series. Though, I guess I am a glutton for punishment because St. Germain’s writing kept me intrigued and engaged to the end.

Not for the faint of heart, Empire ends the series with a BANG!

I just love this series. The author is once again giving us a rich story with beloved characters in her signature captivating and addictive writing style.

Review posted 1/12 at the enclosed link.

Empire is the epic conclusion to the dark and twisted story of Dornan Ross. It is the final book of the Cartel trilogy, the prequel to the fantastic Gypsy Brothers series. Author Lili St. Germain is a master at weaving a tale so disturbing and shocking, yet full of surprises. She created complex characters that crawled inside my head and messed with my psyche. I read the entire Gypsy Brothers series in a matter of days, and without spoiling anything for those who haven’t read it yet, I loathed Dornan. He was evil incarnate, until he wasn’t. I was so excited when Lili St. Germain announced that she would be writing a prequel to the series focusing on Dornan and Mariana. I needed to know how he became the monster he was and why. I needed to understand how she could ever have loved him. I devoured the first 2 books and have waited impatiently for this one. Empire. The beginning of the end. And it was worth the wait. Loved it.

The characters are so different, yet, I found myself feeling for all of them. Except Emilio, because he truly is evil personified. Nothing redeeming about him in this series or the next. Even though I knew how it would end, or so I thought, as I had read the Gypsy Brothers and this is a prequel, author Lili St. Germain still managed to surprise me. What. A. Book. It was fast-paced, keep you on the edge of your seat, cannot put down filled with WTF and OMG moments.

I felt so many emotions at once reading this book. I even questioned my own moral compass. The love story, because as violent and disturbing as it was, it was a love story, between Dornan, Mariana, and John was engrossing, passionate, sick and beyond dysfunctional. To make me feel anything other than revulsion for a man such as Dornan takes creative talent. Lili St. Germain has this talent. If you are a fan of dark romance and the Gypsy Brothers, read this trilogy. It is fantastic.

4.5 stars
The epic conclusion to Mariana's story. This was heart-wrenching, brutal and not for the faint of heart.

I kind of knew going in how things would go in the end, but the journey to get there was captivating. I spend most of this book with my heart in my throat knowing that no matter the outcome things were not going to be sunshine and roses. Dornan who I struggled with as a character chooses his path. His love for Ana was terrifying and electric. He loves her in a way that others cannot comprehend and he even struggles with who he is and who he is becoming. John finally follows his heart but keeps so many secrets from his brothers. And then Mariana, stuck in a lose-lose situation, with her heart being torn in two and her life falling apart all around her.

These characters really had an incredible story to tell and it was painful and breathtaking. The prior two books let up to one hell of an ending and prepares readers for what is to come in Gypsy Brothers Series. I am really interested to see where that story goes (because yes I am of those who haven't read it yet). I just need time to recover first because I don't know if my heart can take more if this just yet.
~Jess

I'm going to take it back to the beginning before I review Empire. Cartel, book 1, drew me in completely. I was fascinated with Mariana & truth be told, Emilio too. Mariana straight away gets taken away by Emilio. He plans to kill her, then sell her, but his son, Dornan, makes him see she has other uses. Mariana basically falls for Dornan, as you would guess. They live crazy lives. She's part of a cartel & an MC; lives only you & I can dream of.. You guys already know this though! This is more to remind myself how freaking messed up these people are! Mariana is, in a word, nuts! In book 2, Kingpin, she's completely lost her marbles & ends up killing two people. I did, however, love her back & forth 'banter' with Murphy. Once he was no more, dare I say it, Mariana kind of bored me slightly. To me she lost her spark. Please don't go mental at me; I understand that after what she has been through, it's surprising she held onto her spark for so long! Now, I hate reading about love triangles, but the fact that Dornan & his best friend, John are two completely different people makes it more bearable. If Mariana was hooking up with two bad boys I really wouldn't understand her. I find her very hard to actually like & I'm not going to lie, I struggled a bit with Kingpin because of what/who she has turned into. I'm not blaming her; I think I need to check myself in after reading these books! Lili St. Germain is a fabulous writer so even though I began to dislike the characters & the storyline throughout Kingpin, there was no way I couldn't read the final instalment! That's where we are now.. book 3, Empire. Let's do this!! I'm going to start off with.. I was bored. I really hate to say it, but it's true. I felt like this story could've been told in maybe 2 books. It felt incredibly dragged on. The 'twists' & 'turns' I was able to see from a mile off & I hated that. Book 1 was the highlight for me. After that, I expected the people that died to die. Characters turned too weird or weak for me to handle. Things got repetitive. I'm so ashamed to admit, but I stopped at chapter 8 & found another book to read in between! I've never felt this way towards any of this authors books before & I'm more disappointed in myself than anything! Maybe I just wasn't in the mood? After everything I have said, I still think this series is worth a read, but if you're going into it hoping it'll have the same affect on you as the other books Lili has written - edge of your seat, panting, nail biting, stay up all night that you can't see straight the next day- I wouldn't hold your breath. Thank you for allowing me this early edition. 3/5*

Utterly mesmerizing from beginning to end, Empire is the wildly horrific yet completely engaging conclusion to the Empire trilogy. Lili St. Germain brings her A game with this one and I was literally holding my breath with each turn of the page.

Again told from multiple POV's it's a race against time to see who will still be standing when everything from the past 10 years threatens to end Mariana's dream of finally being free from Emilio, Dornan and all the filthy dealings they engage in. I was once again impressed by Mariana's sheer will to survive, even throwing in some sarcastic inner thoughts that actually had me chuckling during all the insanity that is her life. She is a true heroine, desperately trying to fight her love for Dornan, while her heart wanted another man in John, hoping against hope that she'd see her little boy again. It's a wonder she could actually function day to day. I looked at her with awe that she so wanted to right all the wrongs she had committed yet even admitted to herself at times that she was only human and could do just so much.

This prequel to the Gypsy Brothers saga had everything I crave from a story line such as this one. Everything is done with desperation and a passion so severe, you just know that there has to be a dire incidents to create some semblance of a happy ending. My heart hurt throughout most of Empire and I gasped more than once at how so much had gone so wrong in just a matter of days.

Hold on tight, this is one ride you won't want to miss. It packs a punch but overall I was completely satisfied even when I felt as loathsome as these characters did, mired deep in their journeys. Well worth every emotion.

5 huge stars!

Empire is the third book in the author's Cartel trilogy and it was shocking, but full of so much suspense, angst, feelings of love and betrayal and an ending you will not believe.

Dornan has gone off the rails and has done a few really crazy things in this book, and you will wonder how anyone could act like this, and with Mariana how her love can go to love/hate/and loathing.

On top of all of this John goes through some heavy things and toward the end Dornan does something to John that will cause only one outcome.

Who will live? Who will die? What happens with the cartel when the FBI finally finds the proof they need-or so they think. It is amazing what money can do. This book is one heck of a read and one heck of an ending and I loved it so much!

I gave this book 5***** outstanding stars and now am going to read the Gypsy Brother series!

Jason was sixteen and Jason had found his mother who had been murdered by his father, John;s daughter -Juliette was with John, Mariana, and Jason. Jason and Juliette were in the first stages of love. Mariana was now secretly in love with John. Jason hadn’t even known Dornan until a few months ago. John also loves Mariana and wants to run away but Mariana won’t leave Jason behind. Mariana had been Dornan’s lover for ten years. Dornan had stopped his father from selling Mariana as a sex slave. John had been Dornan’s best friend for about twenty years. Normally Mariana would be working at making sure Emilio”s hefty cartel profits were funneled into all the right places. But it was Emilio”s birthday with a big family celebration. Jason wasn’t taken as Dornan was sure how Jason would react around the people who murdered his mother. Mariana was sleeping with two men - one she loved and one she was terrified of. Mariana had once loved Dornan but now she hated him. Mariana knew she had to leave or she would be dead. Dornan had killed Stephanie- Jason’s mom- because she had run away from him but was also pregnant by Dornan. When Mariana questioned Dornan about Stephanie and had kept asking and the disbelief that Dornan could do that, he beat Mariana and she had miscarried their child she had not told Dornan about yet. Mariana had to deal with the fact the man she once loved no longer existed.
I am not sure how I feel about this final installment for this series . But i do now I cried in places while reading this story. I was sad that John never received the happiness he deserved. I did really like how Mariana found a way to play Marcus and Emilio. There was a lot in this story: love turned to hatred, more bloodshed, rape, corruption, murder, family, corruption, drama, plan for freedom. lies, federal involvement, betrayal and pain, and so much more. Maybe again a little too dark for me but I am sure there is people who will love this I was just tore. I did like the plot a lot, I liked the characters also and most of the ins and outs just not one of my favorite stories. However I still felt this was also a cliffhanger and didn’t like that even though there is The Gypsy Brothers MC series but I don’t plan on reading that. I would give this a 3.5 if i could. I don’t plan on reading anymore dark stories if i Can help it at least not this dark.