⇒ Download Hidden Worthiness The Pagano Brothers Book 2 edition by Susan Fanetti Literature Fiction eBooks

Hidden Worthiness The Pagano Brothers Book 2 edition by Susan Fanetti Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : Hidden Worthiness The Pagano Brothers Book 2 edition by Susan Fanetti Literature Fiction eBooks

Hidden Worthiness The Pagano Brothers Book 2 edition by Susan Fanetti Literature Fiction eBooks

Wow! I have been waiting for Donnie's story since he appeared as a secondary character in Nick's story in the Pagano family series, and this book DID NOT disappoint. This is the story of Donnie, Nick's underboss, who was severely disfigured while he was guarding Beverly, Nick's wife. Donnie was just a soldier when this happened, but Nick never forgot Donnie's sacrifice, and he quickly rose up in the ranks as Nick's second and one of the two men (Angie being the other one) who are part of Nick's inner circle.
Because he is so badly disfigured, Donnie doesn't do relationships; he has "arrangements". He either has one night stands or he sees a woman for a few months. He makes it clear to them from the beginning that he doesn't do love and he will cut them off if they even hint that they are falling for him, he doesn't think it's possible because he is so disfigured. He also doesn't allow any kissing or anyone touching his face.
But... then he meets Ari, a principal dancer with the local ballet. She is very attracted to Donnie and after a night of passionate sex, Donnie asks Ari to be his mistress, with the same conditions he has asked us his previous mistresses. But Ari is shocked and insulted by his "arrangements" and is deeply hurt that Donnie is treating her like a high-priced whore.
After not seeing each other but missing each other for a month, Donnie reluctantly agrees to try to be in a relationship with Ari. Proving that love can conquer all, Ari eventually wins over Donnie and they fall deeply in love, because Ari shows Donnie and big ways and small that he is lovable, just the way he is.
So, this book is really different than some of Susan's other books in that there isn't a really quirky heroine this time - compared to Lara from the first book in this series, Ari is pretty normal. This book is also emotionally intense but not as dark. There are a few bad things that happen, but there aren't any gruesome scenes in this book, which I was thankful for - I felt like Donnie has seen all the gruesomeness he needs to experience in his lifetime.
What I loved about this book was watching Donnie fall in love with Ari; he really didn't want to do it but watching her love tear down his walls; there are several scenes where she tries to convey to him how she loves him, you just need to keep a box of tissue close by. I loved the fact that Ari refused to give up on Donnie and she really understood why he was so closed off to love. She was really patient with him but it was her persistence that won him over.
We also get to visit with Nick (my second favorite hero in the Pagano family series after Luca) and unfortunately, get to see that the Pagano Brothers are preparing for a war with the Russian mob. This means that future books are probably gonna be darker than this book, so you need to steel yourself! We also get to see the intricacies of the balance in the relationships between these men who can be so ruthless and their families, whom they love and protect with the fierceness of a lion. The way loyalty is tested among the mob men is such a delicate balance! At one point, a situation that should have been a straight forward retaliation against an enemy goes terribly awry, and Nick blames Donnie and Angie, even though there was no way they could foresee the problem that came up. Yet, Nick nearly froze the two of them out - which I thought was really unfair. It shows you that in this world, you're only as good as your last good deed/job - one mistake can cost you your relationships with the men in the mob family and could even cost you your life.

As always, Susan does impeccable research, this time, in the ballet world. Whenever I read her books I always end up looking up stuff and reading articles. This time I read articles about the ballets mentioned in the book - I've seen the Nutcracker Suite several times but had new insights into the ballet because she talked about it from the perspective of the dancers. We also get to see how cruel and emotionally abusive the directors and choreographer's of the ballet company can be. I always marvel at how Susan can churn out so many books in one year and still maintain the superb quality in her writing but she has yet to write the book that I don't fall in love with.

Thanks for giving us Donnie's story - so sweet and so glad to see Donnie get his HEA. PS: Please don't kill him off in a future story! :)


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Hidden Worthiness The Pagano Brothers Book 2 edition by Susan Fanetti Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

I live in Texas but for the past few days, I was transported to Quite Cove, Rhode Island. The visual clarity of this author’s words have those powers. I was there when Donnie “The Face” Goretti met his beautiful ballerina, Arianna Luciano, for the first time. These two reminded me of Beauty and the Beast and oh what a glorious and emotional story it was.

This is my second Susan Fanetti book and her writing is exquisite. She tells a tale in a very soothing and tranquil way. The emotions are deep and heavy and the feelings you feel will penetrate your heart. Quite Cove is where the Pagano Brothers run their shipping empire as well as their mafia underworld. Nick Pagano is the Dom and Donnie is his underboss and best friend. Donnie has had a hard life. His face is permanently scarred and his heart shares those scars. He definitely isn’t prepared for the chassé Arianna does on him. This amazing ballerina sees the real Donnie, not the scarred Donnie. But when the hearts has walls all around it, can Arianna do the impossible and show Donnie that he too can still find love?

Beside being a romance story, this story also envelopes the mafia world. There are dangers and threats and actions. It is brutal and cutthroat and there is a russian bratva that is like a sore festering on the Pagano Brothers back. It adds suspense and drama to this emotional and awakening love story.

Donnie and Arianna’s story, along with the ballet and the mafia, was woven into a beautiful tapestry filled with passion, danger, hope and love. I look forward to my next visit to Quiet Cove.
Wow, I am so in love with this beautiful story. I love all of Susan Fanetti’s books, but this one is extra special I feel that every aspect of it is perfect. In a perverse way this makes it so much more difficult to review since it is easier to write about stuff you want to criticize. Also, I want to avoid gushing (not sure whether I will succeed).

First things first, though. This is a mafia romance and contains some strong violence, although not quite as bad as in some of Fanetti’s other books. It is book #2 of the Pagano Brothers (which sort of marks Nick’s reign of the famiglia) and book #8 of the Pagano Family series overall. That is important because Donnie Goretti played a supporting but nevertheless important role in Nick’s story, Deep. During an attack by a rivalling crime family he was tortured and horribly burned, by having the right side of his face held to a hot grill. At the time he was a simple foot soldier, but now he is Nick’s underboss and the #2 in the organization. Ever since he has been disfigured the only contact with women he has allowed himself has been in form of an arrangement, where he provides all the amenities of a luxurious life (travel, eating in expensive restaurants, visits to the opera, presents) in return for companionship, but only ever on his terms, because he feels that no woman could love him the way he is. At the first hint of feelings (which aren’t real anyway, in his view), he ditches his companion. Until his latest “mistress” tells him that not the scars on his face are the problem, but the scars on his heart. That’s when he meets Ari and everything changes. The opera is one of the pleasures Donnie indulges in and Ari is a dancer with the local Long Island Ballet. They meet at a masked ball the ballet company is putting on for the premiere of their performance of The Phantom of the Opera and Ari is instantly fascinated by Donnie, so she invites him to dinner and more, even knowing who and what he is…

As you might have guessed by now I had very high expectations for Donnie’s story and I was not disappointed, it’s a beautiful, deeply emotional and even hopeful love story. One of the things I admire most about Fanetti’s writing is that every one of her protagonists is unique in their personality, their history, past and quirks and the dynamic between each couple is always different and fresh. Quite a few romance authors fall into the trap of repetition and their protagonists and stories become formulaic, but not so Fanetti, even after dozens and dozens of books.

Another thing that stands out is the attention to detail she puts into the development of her characters, and although I suspect quite lot of research goes into it, it is always done with a light hand. But you really believe Ari is a ballerina, as you follow her everyday struggles and disappointments that as an audience of a performance we never see, as it is meant to appear effortless. It makes her protagnosts immensely relatable, like the glimpse Donnie’s hidden geekiness.

Although I quite like the trope of the tragic, disfigured hero, who feels he is unworthy to be loved, Phantom of the Opera (In all it’s incarnations), is not my favorite realization of that trope, and neither is it Fanetti’s in the book she describes Erik as an creepy, abusive stalker and marvels why women feel so drawn to him, considering the way he treats Christine. So she sets out to transform the story, so that he Phantom is no longer monstrous (in his treatment of the heroine), but considerate and passionate and ends up not dead, but happy for now. I really liked the virtuosity of how the story of The Phantom of the Opera was interwoven with Donnie and Ari’s story and how she plays Christine on the stage as well as in real life, but with a different Erik and a different outcome.

5+ stars for this amazing retelling of a tragic tale of unrequited obsession. I wish I could read it for the first time again!
Wow! I have been waiting for Donnie's story since he appeared as a secondary character in Nick's story in the Pagano family series, and this book DID NOT disappoint. This is the story of Donnie, Nick's underboss, who was severely disfigured while he was guarding Beverly, Nick's wife. Donnie was just a soldier when this happened, but Nick never forgot Donnie's sacrifice, and he quickly rose up in the ranks as Nick's second and one of the two men (Angie being the other one) who are part of Nick's inner circle.
Because he is so badly disfigured, Donnie doesn't do relationships; he has "arrangements". He either has one night stands or he sees a woman for a few months. He makes it clear to them from the beginning that he doesn't do love and he will cut them off if they even hint that they are falling for him, he doesn't think it's possible because he is so disfigured. He also doesn't allow any kissing or anyone touching his face.
But... then he meets Ari, a principal dancer with the local ballet. She is very attracted to Donnie and after a night of passionate sex, Donnie asks Ari to be his mistress, with the same conditions he has asked us his previous mistresses. But Ari is shocked and insulted by his "arrangements" and is deeply hurt that Donnie is treating her like a high-priced whore.
After not seeing each other but missing each other for a month, Donnie reluctantly agrees to try to be in a relationship with Ari. Proving that love can conquer all, Ari eventually wins over Donnie and they fall deeply in love, because Ari shows Donnie and big ways and small that he is lovable, just the way he is.
So, this book is really different than some of Susan's other books in that there isn't a really quirky heroine this time - compared to Lara from the first book in this series, Ari is pretty normal. This book is also emotionally intense but not as dark. There are a few bad things that happen, but there aren't any gruesome scenes in this book, which I was thankful for - I felt like Donnie has seen all the gruesomeness he needs to experience in his lifetime.
What I loved about this book was watching Donnie fall in love with Ari; he really didn't want to do it but watching her love tear down his walls; there are several scenes where she tries to convey to him how she loves him, you just need to keep a box of tissue close by. I loved the fact that Ari refused to give up on Donnie and she really understood why he was so closed off to love. She was really patient with him but it was her persistence that won him over.
We also get to visit with Nick (my second favorite hero in the Pagano family series after Luca) and unfortunately, get to see that the Pagano Brothers are preparing for a war with the Russian mob. This means that future books are probably gonna be darker than this book, so you need to steel yourself! We also get to see the intricacies of the balance in the relationships between these men who can be so ruthless and their families, whom they love and protect with the fierceness of a lion. The way loyalty is tested among the mob men is such a delicate balance! At one point, a situation that should have been a straight forward retaliation against an enemy goes terribly awry, and Nick blames Donnie and Angie, even though there was no way they could foresee the problem that came up. Yet, Nick nearly froze the two of them out - which I thought was really unfair. It shows you that in this world, you're only as good as your last good deed/job - one mistake can cost you your relationships with the men in the mob family and could even cost you your life.

As always, Susan does impeccable research, this time, in the ballet world. Whenever I read her books I always end up looking up stuff and reading articles. This time I read articles about the ballets mentioned in the book - I've seen the Nutcracker Suite several times but had new insights into the ballet because she talked about it from the perspective of the dancers. We also get to see how cruel and emotionally abusive the directors and choreographer's of the ballet company can be. I always marvel at how Susan can churn out so many books in one year and still maintain the superb quality in her writing but she has yet to write the book that I don't fall in love with.

Thanks for giving us Donnie's story - so sweet and so glad to see Donnie get his HEA. PS Please don't kill him off in a future story! )