No one is surprised when I have another K Webster book on here anymore, are they? If you are, you must not have been following me long. I’ve reviewed several of her last releases, and blog gods willing, I’ll review many, many more. This one is a doozy though. When I finished, I just looked at my husband and was like damn, that was good. It was just so satisfying.
Before I get started on reviewing El Malo, I just have to mention the cover. The woman on the cover is super hot, and it’s a great cover. OK, on to the book.
Rosa was born in Texas and adored by her mother. She talked her mother into taking her to her favorite restaurant in Cuidad Juarez, where some bad guys raided at the exact wrong time. Rosa’s mom covered her and ended up bleeding to death on the floor of the kitchen of that restaurant. Rosa was filled with righteous anger and was determined to bring down all mafia and gangsters in Mexico. For the past 4 years, she’s been working undercover for the CIA, working as a maid in Javier Estrada’s house.
Javier is the head of El Malo, a cartel that is running their section of Mexico. Javier is determined to ruin Acapulco, where he lives, so that he can send all the business to his father in Puerto Vallarta. His dad owns a huge chunk of the hotels in that area, so they are going to make serious bank on the deal. Javier is really good at it. He and his boys own the town, and work their way through everything and everyone. Rosa is there to get all the information she can, and then once a week, she goes to her handler and gives him her information.
Javier has only noticed Rosa in the context of her job as the head maid of his house. She’s very good at her job. He knows better than to fuck the staff, but when she comes home one Saturday injured because she was attacked on her way home, all of a sudden, he really sees her. Not just that, he knows that she’s his.
Now, while I was reading this, there was one sentence that popped up that really stuck with me. El es el malo. He is the bad guy. El es El Malo. He is El Malo, as in a member of the organization. There’s just something really powerful about that sentence, either way that it’s written. It just struck me hard and made me think. I mean, we’re supposed to know that Javier is bad, after all, he is a Narco. He tortures and kills people. He’s not necessarily a nice guy. But, is he really the bad guy? After reading the book, I’m pretty sure that I know the answer. Rosa has to keep reminding herself of that, because frankly, Javier makes it really hard to remember sometimes. Other times, it’s not so hard.
Javier is an anti-hero. He’s smooth, handsome, well-spoken, and charming. He’s forceful, passionate, and magnetic. Rosa is a very strong woman. I mean, you would have to be to be in deep cover for 4 years. Four years of having to be someone you aren’t all day every day? That has to be exhausting, and yet she manages to do it. She’s brave, resourceful, and caring. Together, the two of them are explosive. Their love story is so all-consuming, it jumps off the page. I was sucked into it and just couldn’t out of it. But there isn’t just the love story, there’s also a lot of suspense going on too. Really, this was just such a helluva ride. I mean, I just couldn’t put it down when I was reading it. My family had to just deal with it, and my cats got shoved out of the way when they tried blocking my Kindle. Poor Chainsaw and Jaguar. They pouted. I almost felt bad about that, but nahhhh. Javier and Rosa helped me over that. Calling it a roller coaster would be putting mildly.
I never trusted Michael. He was scummy to begin with and just yuck. I mean, the way that he treated Rosa was just shitty and then got worse. Poor Rosa. I felt so sad for her because he was the only person who knew the “real” Rosa. Too bad he was so nasty.
I like Marco Antonio. He doesn’t really trust Rosa in the beginning, but I have a feeling that he only trusts Javier. But, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take care of Rosa. He knows that she is important to Javier and that he trusts her. They both know that she’s lying about something that she’s keeping secret, but Javier knows that he will get it out of her.
Angel, what a fuck he was. But everyone handled that well. I loved it. Of course, I was really scared when it was happening, but I should’ve trusted Javier more. It was great though.
I loved Javier’s dad. He was super sweet, if you can call an old gangster sweet. But the bits with him and Tania and Emiliano are just awesome.
OK, that’s all I have to say about this one today. It’s on KU and I can’t recommend this one enough. Go forth and read. Happy reading!