J. M. Darhower

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarch had vastly different childhoods. Haven, a second-generation slave, grew up isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege, never having to answer for anything he did. Both now seventeen, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide, making them question everything they ever believed. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.

Sempre

Joana Duarte

Dnf at 54%
I give up, I’m bored. Not even the mystery surrounding Haven is enough to keep me interested.
For such a big book, the romance sure happened fast… Also, not a lot happens!?
It is a shame for I enjoyed the Scarlet Scars by her. Maybe I’ll try her other adult novels and stay away from YA…

More 

3,5⭐* Lo sentí un poco largo de lo que debía ser y me dio algo de cringe pero me encantó como no sólo se centró en la relación de los protas sino también en Vincent (el padre de Carmine),lo bien escrito que estaba el mundo de la mafia e el pasado y la evolución de Haven

"While Sempre is a work of fiction, the concept of modern-day slavery is not make-believe. There are an estimated twenty-seven million people in the world today who are coerced and forced into sexual or labor slavery. The majority of them are female, half being young girls. They're our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers. They're our friends,our lovers, our neighbors, our kids. They're us. It could happen to anyone, even you.
Become an abolitionist. If we don't fight for them, who will?"- J.M Darhower

This is a story about sacrifice... death... love... freedom. This is a story about forever.Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco had vastly different childhoods. Haven, a second-generation slave, grew up isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege, never having to answer for anything he did.Both now seventeen, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide, making them question everything they ever believed. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.In a world full of chaos, where money and power rule, Haven and Carmine yearn to break free, but a string of events that started before either were born threatens to destroy them instead. Murder and betrayal are a way of life, and nothing comes without a price-- especially not freedom. How much will they have to sacrifice? Can they escape their pasts? And, most of all, what does it mean to be free? Not everything is as it seems, and no one can possibly come out unscathed, but maybe, just maybe, it'll be worth it in the end.

Forever

Kinsey

5+ PERFECT STARS!!!




  
    "―Hummingbird?―Yeah, hummingbird. Colibri. You kinda remind me of one. ―Why? ―I don‘t know. They‘re these little birds that flutter around and hum. And you know, you‘re kinda the same way."
  


This book was absolutely amazing!Sempre, can almost be interpreted as a messed up version of Cinderella..if Cinderella was in the mafia business. We have the mistreated female servant who falls in love with the wealthy and very handsome prince.. except in this story the prince is dropping the f#$%! bomb every 3 sentences. Darhower does an amazing job of making you fall just as in love with this story as the ever classic, Cinderella. *sigh*

  
    "Ti amo, mia bella ragazza. Per sempre." "Sempre?" She asked. Cracking a smile, he brushed his finger softly across her lips. "Always and forever"
  


CARMEN FREAKING DEMARCO will you please marry me right now? Like right now! I have to have you for myself. Carmen is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends. He's jsut one of those love able bad boys that we can't resist!




  
    “Grabbing her hand, he pressed it gently to his chest. His skin was warm to the touch, and she could slightly feel his pulse pounding against her palm. “Do you feel that? I’m not going anywhere, Haven. This is yours."
  


At over 500+ pages, I thought for sure this book would lose my attention but it never did. It was consistently captivating from start to finish. The characters were so fantastically well written that you fall in love with all of them. Carmine & Haven grew and matured over the book, and I fell in love with the supporting cast as well.


  
    "They were two broken kids, desperate to be whole again, struggling to find balance in a world out of their control."
  


Sempre is now officially going to be classified as one of my all-time favorites. Besides the heartbreaking realization of Haven's slavery filled world and the disheartening circumstances that surrounded Carmine & Haven's love for one another, there was also a comedic feel to this book that kept it from becoming too dark or disturbing. Seriously, Darhower is a freaking genius and I can't wait for book 2.


  
    "Despite everything, he was still her world, her one and only. Part of her may have felt dead, but there was still another part of her that lived for Carmine DeMarco."
  


This book had it all, an epic love that made my heart clench; sadness and gut wrenching moments that will make you cry. The entire time I was reading this I was nervous for I knew that something horrible was just going to happen...


  
    "Carmine‘s heart felt like it was being ripped apart, his voice an agonized whisper. ―Why did they have to take my hummingbird?"
  


If you are considering reading this you absolutely should. This book has something in it for everyone. Seriously, go pick it up right now. Right now. It sat on my TBR list forever.. and I hate hate hate that I missed out and waited so long to read it. 




  “How about we just be Haven and Carmine?” she suggested. “We don’t know the ending, but we can always hope for the best.” “I like that,” he said. “Besides, there’s a reason we don’t know how the story ends.” “Why?” “Because it doesn't.”


LISTEN TO THE SONG THAT CARMINE SINGS TO HAVEN!

Gabriela Roxana 

Me and Sempre, we're not gonna happen. I guess when you read a book by 54% and you stall it for almost an year you must be true to yourself and admit it : you won't ever go back to this book. 
This book was written by the author who wrote my favorite series ever so I love her and her writing style, so much. This book just didn't work for me. I'm sorry.

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

Wow. What a book. I honestly had no idea how intense and dark and gritty Sempre was until I started reading, and immediately I was hooked. Haven and Carmine live in a harsh, cruel world, where death is a constant, and you never know who you can trust. Carmine lives on the privileged side, but he is still part of the Mafia family, where absolute loyalty is a must, or else you die. Haven is born as a slave, living with cruel owners. In the prologue of the book, when Haven is just a young girl, her master forces her to watch as he kills another young girl. What an opening, right?

J.M. Darhower writes the dark world they live in so well that I was immersed in Haven and Carmine’s story, all the while disgusted at the cruelty and desperately hoping for their Happily Ever After. Haven and Carmine meet when Carmine’s father, Vincent, buys Haven from her cruel owner. This is not to say that Vincent is a good man; far from it actually. Vincent is part of the Italian mafia and has done unspeakable things for his ‘family’. It’s a mystery then, why Vincent takes Haven away from her bad owners, though we slowly find out his reasons later in the book.

The instant Haven and Carmine meet, they feel something for each other, though neither of them know what it means. Haven has no clue, being the isolated girl that she is, but she sees something in Carmine no one else does. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Carmine is incredibly handsome ;) . For Carmine, he has a better idea of what he’s feeling, but he pushes those feelings away. He’s never cared about anything or anyone but himself after his mother’s death, and he takes things for granted: his money, his car, and especially the girls. He’s the wham, bam, thank-you-ma’am kind of guy, so why would he ever feel more than the usual for a girl? But slowly, as they spend more time together, Carmine realizes the depth of his feelings. He sees how kind and compassionate Haven is, despite the fact that she has every right to hate everyone and the world for the way she was treated. And this changes Carmine. He wants to be someone who deserves to love Haven, someone who deserves her love.

They fall in love, even though they shouldn’t. They’re star-crossed lovers *dreamy sigh*. They start to imagine themselves having a future together, with blank slates, and Carmine vows to find a way to make this a reality.

“Nothing’s more important to me than you, tesoro. I’d give my life for you.”

Tesoro = treasure. Swoon!

Vincent, Carmine’s father, has a big part of the story as well. His wife meant the world to him, and when she was killed, he lost his heart. My heart went out to Vincent and his story, even though he does act cold and harsh sometimes. But we know that despite his actions towards Haven and Carmine, his number one priority is keeping his children safe, which means keeping them away from the Mafia. He knows that once Carmine goes down that dark path, he can never come out of it.

I liked Carmine and Haven, and yet I felt kind of distanced from them. I couldn’t really connect, but it weirdly didn’t affect much on how I enjoyed the book. It might have been because Sempre is written in the third POV, but the story and narrations were good enough that I didn’t care that I was distanced from the characters.

There are so many secrets and hidden pasts that I nearly couldn’t keep up! The book moved at a slow pace (it’s a bit long), but there was never a dull moment. This was one of the few times where I actually enjoyed reading at a slower pace. I loved that Carmine and Haven didn’t rush their love, and let it run its course naturally. The Mafia was intriguing to read about. We mostly know about them through Vincent’s eyes, and they are bad and dangerous, and utterly fascinating. They live by their own rules, and people die all the time.

I don’t know if it was just me, but every time there were Italian words with no explanation of what they meant in the book, I looked them up online. And (I’m such a sucker) I totally swooned every time Carmine spoke loving words in Italian to Haven. GAH! My heart.

This quote perfectly describes Haven and Carmine, and their situation:

"They were two broken kids, desperate to be whole again, struggling to find balance in a world out of their control. What’s black and white and red all over? Carmine was, Haven thought. A soul savagely ripped in half, bleeding out for all to see. The yin and yang, the good and evil, the love and pain all at odds with each other. Two sides, two vastly different worlds, but someday, they would merge as one. They had to."

Plus, another quote that shows how much Haven has changed from a scared, innocent, lonely girl to one who has determination, courage, and strength. Haven finally feels happy, because she has a place in the world, with Carmine.

"Home. She got it now. For the first time in her life, something felt like home. It was a place they had come together. It was where they had found love. She finally knew what that world meant."

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book. I couldn’t stop reading, and the plot was so exciting and suspenseful. This is a darker read than a normal contemporary romance, so just beware! There will be violence and death, but if you don’t mind reading about these, then you should definitely go for Sempre!

If you don’t mind reading about whether the book has a cliffhanger/HEA or not, then keep reading! . . . The ending doesn’t have a cliffhanger, but it’s a hugely open ending. I honestly would NOT have been happy if J.M. Darhower wasn’t writing a sequel, but thank god, she is! I can’t wait to read Sempre: Redemption! As for the HEA… I’m a bit worried. They’re still together at the end of Sempre, but I have no idea what will go down in the sequel. *bites nails*

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1AH9zJi
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1ATU3Z7

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Sempre

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