His weapon is seduction, the battlefield between his sheets, and cruel betrayal the blade he plunges deep. My mother raised me on knights in shining armor and happily-ever-afters. She groomed me to be the perfect mafia princess. It was only natural that I’d believe in fairy tales. Only, I didn’t fall for the prince. I fell in love with my father’s enemy. I’ve never deluded myself about the man Dante is. Powerful. Cold. Ruthless. Brutal. Bad doesn’t come close to describing him. But when he held me in his arms in a rented room, he showed me that he could be good. Just for me. He always chained the monster when I was pinned beneath him, at my most vulnerable and exposed, in the most dangerous place I could be. The darkness I glimpsed in him is embedded in his soul, coloring his heart and world black. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I lost myself to a callous man. I just couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that his seduction was only part of a cruel strategy and that I was nothing but the pawn he used for his revenge. Callous Desire is the first book in the Callous Duet and ends on a cliffhanger. Tatiana and Dante's story concludes in Callous Love. The duet is part of the New York Underworld series (Books 4 & 5). You don't have to read the other books in the series to follow this duet.
Author
Charmaine Pauls was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She obtained a degree in Communication at the University of Potchestroom, and followed a diverse career path in journalism, public relations, advertising, communication, and brand marketing. Her writing has always been an integral part of her professions. After relocating to Chile with her French husband, she fulfilled her passion to write full-time. Charmaine has published several novels and short stories since 2011. Two of her short stories have been selected by the International Literary Society for an anthology from across the African continent. When she is not writing, she likes to travel and read. Charmaine currently lives in France with her husband and children. Their household is a linguistic mélange of Afrikaans, English, French and Spanish.
