American Heroin is the second instalment by this author and it was engrossing and a delightful read.

In this novel, we find Lola in charge of her drug empire and she will stop at nothing to protect it from others. Her gang is larger than she ever imagined, and money is pouring in in throbs. However, no one stays on top for long and soon we see how she attracts the attention of a dangerous new cartel who sees her as their greatest obstacle to dominance. Soon Lola finds herself sucked into a deadly all-out drug war that threatens to destroy everything she's built. The worst part is the danger she faces from her own brother.

A great thriller with well-crafted characters you can't help but fall in love with and some you will definitely hate.

A must read!!

I read Lola, and was blown away. What happened? This book was a let down. It just did not grab me as the first read. I am not saying the book is terrible, but it just left something to be desired it felt like the author was going a totally different direction this time.. Ok read. Thanks to Netgalley the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review,

Second in a series about a woman gang leader in the LA area. Lola inherits leadership in a drug cartel after the death of her fiance. She works to rebuild her community in a Robin Hood fashion, while she raises a young girl and works through personal trauma triggered by her mother's history of drug abuse and trafficking Lola to support her habit. I hope this series continues!

Second book in a series I never finished the first one in. The first one seemed contrived and very unbelievable didn't get very far into it and DNF'd it a few chapters in.

Due to my very low rating, no review will be posted to goodreads, amazon, or my youtube channel.
Thank you to the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and gritty book about this tough and current topic in America today. I appreciated the content and writing but have not yet read the previous book which would have helped with my understanding of the plot and characters from the beginning. I look forward to other work from this author.

#AmericanHeroin #NetGalley

Published by Crown on February 19, 2019

American Heroin is a sequel to Lola. You might want to read Lola because it’s a good book, and you should definitely read it before American Heroin to give context to some offhand comments that Lola Vazquez makes about her eventful past.

Lola is something of a criminal feminist, fighting to hold power as a gang leader in a profession that is dominated by men. To do that, she must be as tough and merciless as male gang leaders. Yet she brings a certain sensitivity to her work, an affinity for abused women and children, a conscience that does not let her live easily with the consequences of her violence.

Lola lives in Huntington Park in Los Angeles County, where she controls the heroin trade on certain street corners in partnership with a Machiavellian prosecutor named Andrea. Their partnership is uneasy, and Lola is not quite sure whether Andrea ever acts in anyone’s interest but her own. Lola, at least, takes care of her gang and her neighborhood, which she rules over like a benevolent but ruthless queen.

In the novel’s early stages, Lola is tricked into ordering the killing of man she doesn’t know. She also learns that a new cartel is taking the place of the one she helped bring down in Lola. Those two events turn out to be related in a way that puts Lola’s career and life at risk. What Lola does not immediately realize is that she has started a war that will also put her younger brother’s life at risk.

American Heroin introduces Louisa Mae, another victim of a violent childhood, a girl who learned in desperation to resort to violence herself. A cartel wants her dead because she is her father’s daughter. Louisa Mae’s story is interspersed with Lola’s. The reader eventually learns how those lives are connected. The connection is surprising.

Lola inhabits a world where, unlike white middle-class neighbors not far from hers, a child might catch a stray bullet at any moment. Lola’s adopted (sort of) daughter Lucy accepts the normalcy of that life, but Lola is adjusting to parental fears. The story’s best dramatic moments come not from Lola’s role as a gang leader, but from her insecurities as a mother. Multiple family dramas unfold as American Heroin steams to its conclusion.

Lola is a victim of her circumstances but she has learned to control those circumstances to the extent that control is possible. As Lola ponders the possibility of making a different kind of life, one in a safe neighborhood that isn’t associated with crime and violence, she wonders whether she would have a chance of being accepted in a white, upper-middle-class world, and whether she would want to be. A trip to Texas highlights the subtle racism that Latinas encounter in white-dominated environments.

Lola has more substance than a typical action hero, but when the time comes to fight, Lola can bring it. Like the last novel, this one includes a kick-in-the-gut moment that proves Lola’s ability to make tough decisions, substituting the ethics of a gang leader for the heart of a family leader. That Lola is a balance of good and evil may put off readers who always want to cheer for a protagonist, but I always prefer novels that recognize the war that so often rages in even the kindest hearts.

My most significant gripe about this series is that much of Lola’s substance is revealed through redundant monologues about what Lola is thinking or remembering. There are only so many times that Melissa Scrivner Love needs to tell the same story about Lola’s past or to share Lola’s present anxieties and doubts. There were times when I wanted to say “move on, we know this” except saying it would have been futile since Love wasn’t here to listen to my complaint. I also tend to be annoyed with novels that are written in the present tense (“Lola sets out to find Andrea”), but that might just be a personal quirk that won’t bother other readers.

As a thoughtful but fast-moving thriller with an unusual protagonist, American Heroin stands out from conventional crime novels. Lola might be an anti-hero, but she’s a hero to those who depend on her, just as Don Corleone was valued by those to whom he granted favors — until he came to collect a favor in return. I have enjoyed the character development in the two Lola books and I hope there are more on the horizon.

RECOMMENDED

3.5

Lola is the head of south central LA drug empire. She now has significant money at her disposal which has allowed her to improve the lives of her family and those who live in her neighborhood. On one hand she is compassionate, but she also demands loyalty from her cartel and her neighbors. Everything is at risk when a new cartel want to overthrow her.

It feels strange to say I really liked Lola since she and her soldiers deal drugs. I think the reason I can say that is not much of the story is about actual drug deals. It is more about Lola learning to navigate this new world she lives in that money provides. She is caring towards her neighbors and works to share her wealth. And while she does not expect monetary repayment for her good deeds, she does expect to be able to one day come back and ask for a favor. She is very street smart and people wise. Does all of this make her career ok? I know I should say no, but somehow I can't.

I did not read the first book in the series, Lola. While this worked fine as a stand alone, I don't think it would be a bad idea for me to go back and read book #1 to give more perspective on Lola, who is a very complex character.

My thanks to Crown Publishing and Netgalley.

“American Heroin” by Melissa Scrivner Love is the second book in the “Lola Vasquez” series. This book does stand on its own, but it would be an advantage to have read the first book, “Lola” to have a better understanding of the background and the characters. Readers are immediately immersed in Lola’s vicious and intense world of drugs, violence, and deception. She is the boss, and she is determined to remain the boss no matter who is in her way.
Love paints Lola as a gritty and yet somehow strong and compelling cartel boss. The pace is fast, the action is uncompromising, and the results are brutal. The language matches her position -- graphic, violent, and explicit. It is not a book for the casual reader or for feel-good entertainment.
Love also contrasts Lola’s fearsome presence with the local geography.
Malibu, this far north of the Santa Monica Pier and the littering tourists that swarm it, the sand is as clean and white as the caps that top the waves crashing and pulling back, crashing and pulling back. Lola wants to get her feet wet, but she knows the water will be too cold.
I include a caution for graphic language and violence, but it is certainly within the scope of what could be expected from the characters. The story is wild, harsh, and at times very complex, but once readers start, they will be compelled to finish. I was given a review copy of “American Heroin” by Melissa Scrivner Love, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley.

American Heroin by Melissa Scrivner Love is an interesting and fast read. The protagonist, Lola, is a drug empress with a big heart and a mind for business. Her brother is loyal to a fault but also weak. Her mother is a former heroin addict. Her daughter, Lucy, is the center of her universe.

Lola's partner in crime is not what she seems and has a personal war to wage that endangers everything Lola holds dear.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown for the free e-ARC.

A satisfying sequel that lets us get to know the characters better. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down! I will be reading more of this author! This novel will please anyone who loves a good thriller. The story was very exciting with non-stop action. The action was very explicit and frightful. There was foul language, but I feel it was used to make a point. This book illustrates the lives of people who live in a world of drugs, anxiety and deceit. I think that this novel is an accurate depiction of what goes on in our cities. I will recommend this book to my friends and anyone else who will listen to me.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of this book.

I was a fan of Lola, which was original and fresh (if also dark and disturbing). This sequel, however, didn't have the same ooomph to me- some of it felt trite. That said, Lola remains a unique character in fiction, a female cartel leader. While she struggled to get ahead, she had no idea that staying on top would be so hard. The lesson here is that (almost) no one is immune to the lure of money. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a fast read.

American Heroine is my first read. I did not read Lola, but I probably should have for better background information. This is a tough one. I liked the story because I entered a world I knew nothing about and felt immersed in it. The writing and world building are good. Lola is a get it done no matter what kind of girl. She's a boss. I like the strength she shows. I also disliked the story because it's graphic and violent and disturbing. I don't ever read books with these attributes, yet I read this one cringing. It's an intriguing and engaging story. It pulled me in, and I had to read it all. If you can get past the violence, it's a good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Just had some issues with this book not particularly portraying drug addiction too accurately. A lot of the drug use was based on cliche ideas of what addicts do. Just no. This book didn't quite work for me.

I found the book to be a fast read, the chapters went by quickly and there were some interesting parts to the story. Lola is an interesting character and I was looking forward to the action-packed parts. Don’t get me wrong though, this book had a lot of issues.

There were occasionally parts of the book that made me wince at the writing. Some parts were either juvenile attempts at being literary, or silly metaphors, usually not making sense. Some things mentioned I found to be plain unbelievable... which ruined the book for me. Let me give some examples...

First, there was a statement about shooting heroin in between your toes when the other veins failed. That’s such an overused drug addiction reference but also a very silly misconception about iv drug use. I would assume the author of American Heroin would know more about heroin use or do some research. ??

Another detail I found unbelievable was when Lola visited her brother, Hector in prison, she had her cell phone with her. While I’ve never visited anyone in prison, I’m pretty sure you would not be allowed to bring your phone with you past security? *sigh*

The author also described Lola’s sexual relationship with a man, where Lola always frantically gets up and cleans after they sleep together, and her thoughts when she reflected on the relationship, her thoughts state, “Is that why she keeps going back to him? To increase her productivity?” Um... I mean WHAT!!?? Is this a joke? Last but not least, do you really expect a heroin addict to pay $25 a month for AOL? I mean c’mon!

This book just wasn’t what I expected. I found too many silly statements and thoughts throughout the story that was enough for me to rate it 1 maybe 2 star. Thank you #NetGalley and Crown Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced e-book version in exchange for an honest review.

I was a big fan of Lola but this sequel didn't quite work for me. It didn't seem well structured and the characters seemed a bit aimless..

Lola is such a bad ass and I seriously love the different parts of her from being a boss, to a mom, to a whole different person when she has to interact with others outside of her circle. The action in this story really kept me on my toes.
If I didn't get bored at some parts which I blame school for that I probably would have given this a 4 star but a 3.5 star is going to have to do for now.

I read Melissa Scrivner Love’s book Lola and was excited when I saw American Heroin on Netgalley. Now Lola and American Heroin are not easy reads but wow they are brilliant. The women Melissa writes are unlike anything I have read before.

American Heroin was a non-stop book that I read in a day (didn’t adult that day at all…the mountain of laundry is always a sure sign how good a book is). This book is gritty and raw which might be hard for some to read but I feel Melissa painted a very realistic picture of the world filled drugs.

America Heroin is a MUST read! It will be tough and gritty but brilliant and thrilling!

I completely fell for Melissa Scriver Love's earlier novel, Lola, published in March 2017. The hard-core, fast-paced cartel drama hooked me quickly. Naturally, I was excited to pick up American Heroin, the second novel featuring Lola, the eponymous character from the earlier novel. This series has you picking sides between bad guys in the drug peddling underworld of LA. This second book in the series takes the characters from the first but the plot is completely original.