.@melissa_keir~ Review: The Hardest Love by Liza O'Connor

Don’t Mess with the DeCannons

You’ve been warned

Meet Theo DeCannon and his demented daughter Coco. He ran NYC’s mafia until --

Pay attention, this is a complicated tangle:

DeCannon told Trent Lancaster he had to marry his precious Coco or he’d destroy everything in Trent’s life, starting with Carrie Hanson. 

Trent, realizing he’d be killed the moment they had control of his billions, gave all his money to Sam and Mars, nothing to Carrie, in hopes they would believe she had never meant anything to him, then he got a new identity/face via plastic surgery and became Trevor Campbell. Channeling Carrie, his new town loved him so much they made him mayor.

To discover all the changes required to alter his face check out this former blog

http://www.scifiromance.info/2014/05/liza-oconnor-climbing-out-of-hell.html

He became best friends with Sam, who thought him the nicest guy he’d ever met.

But Sam hated the rest of the town so he left and got himself some prison time. But that actually turns out to be a really good thing, since the DeCannon’s show up shortly after Sam left.

They must have tracked him down and intended to personally torture him for his 20+ billion dollars. Fortunately, he was safely tucked in a work camp in a different state, so their plan against Sam were thwarted, but they had other people to go after as well.

Coco hired several assassins to kill Carrie, even when they were being monitored by the feds, but now hidden in Denton Iowa, Theo hires a deadly gang to take out Carrie. Why?

Because his precious daughter intensely hates Carrie. If he doesn’t take care of the matter, his only child will continue to hire incompetent hitmen and get herself in trouble.

In the Mafia, you never insult a Don, and never, ever, insult his beloved daughter.

The Hardest Love

A Long Road to Love Series

By Liza O’Connor

BLURB

THE HARDEST LOVE IS TO LOVE YOURSELF.

Sam has a new theory as to why his relationships with women never work. The problem is he’s constantly falling in love with women that he rescues from serious situations. He reasonably believes saving one from great harm should result not only in good sex afterwards, but never ending gratitude.
 But it hasn’t been working out that way.
 Sam’s conclusion: damsels in distress are incredibly ungrateful. So he decides the next woman he gets involved with will not require rescue. She will be strong and self-reliant.         
Only problem: he’s never met a woman like that.

They do exist Sam. They really do. And just maybe, she’ll just rescue you instead.



EXCERPT

Gun fire exploded nearby. Not again! Carrie dove to the floor and burrowed into the trash, curling into a tight ball. For once, she was very glad she was only 4’ 6” and 80 pounds so she could fit in small places that no normal human could.

Glass shattered above her as bullet after bullet slammed into the ‘oh so not bullet proof’ car. Dear God, she must be caught in a gang fight!

This was it. She was going to die, just when her life had turned out so well. Dan, her beloved husband, and Destiny, his adorable daughter, would be broken-hearted. No, she had to get help. Extracting the phone, her first instinct was to call 911, but that never went well for her.

Who should she call? She couldn’t call Dan and get him killed. She needed someone who had experience rescuing civilians caught in a gang war. A smile tugged at her quivering lips. Joey the cop! He was the only one who actually listened to her and didn’t accuse her of being a terrorist in her prior ‘not a bomb’ fiasco.

She needed to speed dial him, but she couldn’t remember if he was 41 or 42? She tried 42, just as more bullets exploded into the trunk of the car.

“What?” an angry voice demanded.

“Joey, sorry to bother you, but I need help. I seem to be caught in the middle of a gang war,” she whispered.

“Carrie?” A familiar, but not Joey’s voice replied.

“Sam? I thought you left town?”

More bullets pounded into the car.

“Where are you?”

She almost replied ‘in the floor board’ but realized he probably wanted an address. Carrie gave him the crossroads and added the junky green car was parked by the coffee shop. Then Sam hung up without a ‘goodbye’ or better yet, ‘I’ll save you’.

Still as rude as ever!
 

BUY LINKS

Released May 5, 2015

A Long Road to Love
The Hardest Love

Amazon
Book Five  

 
Other books in the A Long Road to Love series

Book One
Worst Week Ever

Amazon
“Love this book and couldn't stop laughing from beginning to end.” 5 stars – Alves - Amazon

 

Book Two
Oh Stupid Heart

Amazon
“Be warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situations that you would think...NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more.” 5 stars - Brian’s Mom – Amazon

 

Book Three
Coming to Reason

Amazon
Once again, Ms. O’Connor has written a brilliant book about the complexities of relationships, good and bad. Again, to me, the book is the best break up book EVER and it left my heart singing in the end. Best.Book.Ever…



Book Four
Climbing out of Hell

Amazon
 “In typical @Liza0Connor fashion, crazy things happen which make you laugh outloud.”



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liza O’Connor

Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT 
LIZA O'CONNOR & UPCOMING BOOKS:
Liza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

Sam  has been a part of Ms. O'Connor's series from book one. I've always found this character to be intriguing as more and more was uncovered about his life. He seemed like a hero from the get-go and I'm glad we finally got a chance to read his story.


Sam's anger issues get in his way. He can't seem to have lasting relationships with anyone but Mars, his former military captain. He falls for Carrie but she was with his brother at the time. Then he falls for another woman that he'd rescued from a bully. Unfortunately, she fell for someone else. Now Sam has returned to New York and the only person he can count on, Mars. But mysteries surround The Sanctuary, a rehabilitation center for injured vets.


Sam learns more about himself and begins to truly let go of his pain while at The Sanctuary but learning to love yourself is a challenge. Ms. O'Connor reunites all the characters from the earlier books and so while you can read The Hardest Love as a stand alone, it is more meaningful read in order (even though that wasn't what I did). 


As you can expect from a Liza O'Connor story, there's hilarity and amazing coincidences as well as factual knowledge like about Vermont's gun laws and prison work crews. I believe this to be the most touching of all of her books and really enjoyed getting to know Sam better. No that wasn't tears in my eyes, just a touch of allergies (and if you believe that....). A must read! I give it 5 stars!