Review: Safe-keeping by Victor
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 5, 2014
Clean Slate (The New Mafia Trilogy #2)By: E.J. Fechenda4/5 starsAt the end of book 1, The Beautiful People, Natalie had just packed all her belongings and wrote letter of goodbye to her mom, her brother Grant and boyfriend Dom, then fled across country. Because of the threats that Uncle Marco Grabano made against both her and Grant, and the threat of repercussion from when she took out a Genovese soldier when both her and Dom were shot; she tells no one where she is going and that she will contact them again when it’s safe.She shows up in L.A. hoping that her currently estranged, life-long best friend, Chelsea, will take her in and provide her refuge. Luckily, Chelsea doesn’t throw her out because she is curious when Natalie said that she’d explain everything. And Natalie does and Chelsea is blown away. Chelsea welcomes Natalie into her home and they pick-up their friendship where it left off.Chelsea is dating Derek & his roommate Jason provides a welcome distraction and friendship for Natalie. As her body heals, her mind & heart are still sore and bleeding. She is still in love with Dom, but the thoughts of why she ran from Philly still cause nightmares and panic attacks.However, she is eventually found by Grant & Dom, which sends her into a panic attack and has them nervous about how to protect her. Because if they could find her, so could the NYC mafia families. Grant & Dom have to work around how to protect her while she is in California when they return to Philly to take care of business.I feel for Dom in this book, because is so lonely & heartsick without Natalie, his love for her never fails and he will do anything to have her return home with him. But there is just too much in Philly for Natalie to be able to handle mentally & emotionally. So she does her best to try to move on from Dom, even though she still loves him. Even though Dom knows about a new relationship, he still takes steps to give Natalie what she wants most in life.I really did have a soft-spot for Victor in this book, and could definitely fall for him if the author chooses to do a spin-off from this series after she finishes writing the 3rd book. Hint, hint, dear author!!  He is an excellent friend and confidant & would make a great lover, boyfriend or husband instead of being the lone wolf in his pack.I’m pretty excited for the final book. I’m curious to see how Dom will win her back and how hard he may have to work for it. Then hopefully a spin-off series for Victor & Jimmy!!