Blog Tour; Il Padrone

Book Title: Il Padrone (Vendetta Book 1)

Author: Leigh Kenzie

Cover Artist: Temptation Creations

Release Date: August 18, 2020

Genre/s: Dark MM

Trope/s: Dark MM Mafia, Stockholm Syndrome, Age gap

Themes: Mafia, Dub-con, Captive/Captor, Forced Submission

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length: Approx. 44 500 words/ 190 pages

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Now that I own him, there’s no escape

Blurb

Allesandro

I’m Il Padrone, the Master of this Family, and Emilio will learn his place. I’ll bathe in his tears and watch as he humiliates himself. It’s all for my pleasure. I own it all and he’s just another addition to my collection.

Emilio

Il Padrone calls me his toy. His property. He says I can earn the right to be higher in his organization if only I submit. If only I change who I am. I may be younger, but he hasn’t seen the likes of me before.

Just how twisted can a tale of vengeance become?

Trigger Warnings: This is a dark MM Mafia with graphic violence and extreme sexual situations.

Book 1 of the Vendetta Series ends on a cliffhanger. Book 2 releases September 2020!

Guest Post written by Leigh Kenzie

Thank you Real Talk Book Talk for allowing me to do a guest post. It’s an honor to be featured. I’ve always loved reading guest posts, but never expected to be doing one myself.

I’m a debut dark M/M romance author. With the Vendetta series, the romance aspect grows as the series progresses so you won’t see much romance in book one. The characters and naughty plot monkeys do what they want. I just write what they tell me to and hope I do their story justice.

Calling a book dark is always interesting. It really is a continuum in my opinion. There are books that will be too dark for some, but not dark enough for others. I love that though. I read across the entire spectrum and I love how the genre pushes boundaries. It can be a scary genre at times to publish in because there is no hard and fast rule with dark.

In many ways, the genre helps me relax. It’s probably weird to say that. Reading something that keeps me on the edge of my seat and makes me cry doesn’t sound like the best way to relax I’m sure. Yet, the fact it can pull those emotions from me lets me process my own emotions. I love books that can elicit all the emotional responses from me. While I don’t read only dark, I do look for books that will kill me emotionally whenever possible.

One of the aspects I look for the most in a dark romance is the anti-hero. I want one who is strong, arrogant, and unapologetic in his darkness. While I like to see the movement and development of the character over time, I don’t want it to be too much of a change. For the romantic interest, I need a character that will stand up for himself, one who isn’t afraid to fight back, even if I cringe at what happens to the character when that happens. I love seeing the duality in a relationship. I’m a fan of opposites attract and making that a relationship. It’s that essence of a journey. I need to feel that. I want to feel the hatred in enemies-to-lovers giving away to something more complex.

As for the storyline itself in dark romance, I’m more than happy to go along with whatever the author wants to throw at me. I am partial to a good Stockholm Syndrome plot, but as long as the story is engaging that’s what matters to me. Even though it’s a dark genre, I do like HEAs in general. I don’t require them but I definitely prefer them. I always have a good time debating topics with one of my close friends and we determined that a HEA is very subjective. In many cases I want the two main characters to end up together. Yet, if it were real life I’d be trying to rescue the victim and kicking the anti-hero. My friend and I decided that dark romance creates a non-traditional HEA. I believe that sums up the genre perfectly: non-traditional.

With the Vendetta series, I tend to be non-traditional in general. My characters happily do what they want regardless of my intentions. That sometimes makes for interesting plot choices or relationships. There have been several times where even I have been surprised by what happens. I’m not a fan of sticking to a set formula so I bend what may be normal in the genre a bit. I even use cliffhangers. With that in mind, I’m choosing to rapid release so readers don’t have to wait a long time to find out what happens.

The series also fluctuates with the darkness level. Books 3 & 4 are significantly darker than books 1 & 2. While I strive to always provide certain elements in each book, mainly keeping readers on the edge of their seats, each book has its own distinct feel to it.

As a debut author, this journey has been a crazy ride. The fact so many people have supported me within the indie author community is humbling. I’m honored that bloggers such as you have chosen to highlight my work and take a chance on me, that readers are willing to pick up my words, and so many have helped me on my way. I hope you enjoy my words. It’s a twisted journey for my characters. Most of all, my goal as an author is that I can take people out of their day-to-day life and entertain them. It’s what I look for with any book and it’s my aim to give the same to my readers.

Excerpt (Allesandro POV):

I watch my servants scurry around to complete my orders as I get ready for my guest. I laugh mentally because he's definitely not going to feel like a guest. I'd care if I had a heart, but as most accuse me of, I don't. I'm greedy, and I know it.

The bedroom is two doors down from mine. It's a basic bedroom, freshly painted white. There's a bed in the middle and a closet with built-in hangers. A small bathroom is joined to the room, but there's no door. The toilet, sink, and cramped shower is barely enough to stave off claustrophobia. I'm sure he'll complain about the door—or the lack thereof—but really, I'm being nice considering the size. Most of the comforts my previous boy enjoyed have been removed. It takes time to earn those luxuries. I like to leave some rewards in the room like blankets, pillows, and even a limited amount of clothing. It's not out of kindness, really. It serves my purpose to give him things I can take away when he rebels as he learns his new role in life—and he will rebel.

I'm pleased with how everything is coming together. The room between us has already been fixed to my specifications—it's a place for me to play with my new acquisition. It's the one room that I wouldn't let the servants touch. It didn't need much anyway, but the cell is ready for any significant disobedience. I can't stop my evil grin because no matter how well I explain someone's new life to them, they always end up there. Thankfully, I have cameras in all three of the rooms, so I'll get to enjoy the show as he breaks, and as I mold him into my perfect boy.

As the servants leave, Luca walks in holding a file.

"I have all the information you requested," he notifies me with a disapproving look, barely able to meet my eyes.

"Give me the highlights."

"Name is Emilio, but he goes by Lio typically. Mother is deceased, father unknown. Interestingly, Cliff isn't his full brother, although I'm not sure if they're aware of that. It came from the blood work when the mother was in the hospital, and of course, I accessed Emilio's medical file. We already have Cliff's. Different fathers," he states tiredly. I'm sure he didn't sleep much as he worked to find out everything there possibly was to know about Emilio for me.

He pauses for a moment. I'm not sure why he's scowling now, but it could be due to my gleeful expression. Knowledge is power, and that's a good find I can use against Emilio. I try out Lio mentally, but I'm not sure how I feel about the nickname. It's not like he'll retain his name anyway, so I dismiss it.

"What else have you found?" I question, gesturing for him to finish.

"He's...different. Much different than your normal choices. He's a junior in college. Very young. He's only nineteen. Extremely intelligent. Everyone in the mathematics department I was able to speak to had glowing recommendations. He'll be the type to be missed. Aside from his high IQ, which testing shows is among the top percentile, he's rather oblivious about life. He's never dated, and nobody can figure out if he's gay, straight, or other. He's had both sexes flirt with him, but he didn’t respond. The professors can't decide if he's legitimately clueless about being flirted with or simply uninterested in sex," Luca stops briefly and shifts uncomfortably. "He's so young, with his whole life ahead of him and his disappearance won’t go unnoticed. After the last boy…”

Luca abruptly halts when he sees the fury on my face. He knows this is not his decision to make. I’m in charge, and it seems like my friend needs a reminder who is Il Padrone here.

“Everything you said increases my interest. I’ll enjoy making him my best boy ever. At least you’d better hope for that outcome. Because once he’s here, you’re going to be the one to cover his disappearance. Oh, and instead of giving him a life to go back to, I want you to completely ruin him. There will be nothing but ashes left when you’re done, correct? Because I know you’re worried about what I want and don’t really care about my new toy, right?” I end the last question with a deadly quiet voice that reinforces my position. I see his face go grey, and I’m satisfied I’ve made my point.

It’s too bad I had to do that, but it’s necessary. At least this means Lio is going nowhere, and when I’m bored, I’ll simply find a solution to take care of the problem. With a quick wave, I dismiss Luca and decide to recheck all three rooms. After all, I need it all perfect for the new property I’ve acquired. This time, I can’t stop the laugh from escaping. Really, I don’t even try. This is going to be perfect.

About the Author

Leigh is a dark M/M romance author from Texas with two needy terrors of terriers and a chaotic family. She considers coffee a major food group and her family fears broken coffeemakers. She writes in her spare time, forced to the keyboard by characters entirely too vocal in her opinion and often falls victim to plot monkeys. In between creating mayhem with her characters and friends, her hope is to transport readers to fictional places and provide darkness with a twist.

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