Bad Deeds A Dirty Money Novel

Lisa Renee Jones — 2017

Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Bad Deeds, the smoldering, scorching next novel in the explosively sexy Dirty Money series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones. Would you bleed for the one you love? To save his family empire from the grip of the drug cartel, Shane is pushed to the edge of darkness, forced to make choices he might never make. His father is dying. His brother is desperate to rule the empire and this means war and all gloves are off. His brother only thought he knew what dirty meant. Shane is about to give it new meaning. There is another war brewing though, and that one, is inside him, his battle between right and wrong, light and dark, and in the heat of the night, it is Emily he turns to for escape. Driving her to new limits, pushing her to accept a part of him that even he cannot. In every one of Shane's seductive demands, Emily can taste and feel, his torment, his struggle to save his family and not lose himself. But he is losing himself, and that is a problem just as dangerous as her secret, that still lurk in the shadows, a threat to the Brandon Family waiting to erupt. No matter where she and Shane have traveled, or will travel in the future, she can't just sit back and watch him become everything he hates, everything he never wanted to become, everything she tried to save him from when she tried to run. It could be their undoing, the end. His end. This is war, blood will spill, and someone in the heart of the Brandon family will not survive.... Wall Street meets the Sons of Anarchy in Damage Control, the smoldering, scorching next novel in the explosively sexy Dirty Money series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones. The only thing more dangerous than a dark secret is a damaged heart... Shane Brandon has been pushed to the brink, torn between his corrupt family and his explosive, all-consuming desire for Emily Stevens, who he now knows is not who, and what, she seems. Has he trusted the wrong person? Will she, not his brother Derek, be the ultimate destruction of his family Empire. Emily tries to run from Shane, but he will stop her, confront her, force her to reveal all – one hot touch and kiss, at a time, under every intimate detail of who this woman is, and what she wants, is exposed. But as he tears away the dangers of the unknowns with the woman in his bed, and in his heart, The Martina Cartel, has set their sites on his company, his family, and the one piece of leverage they believe he won’t gamble with: Emily. This is book THREE of FOUR in Shane and Emily's story.

Reviews

Lover of Romance @addictedtoromance

Jun 10, 2024

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.25

First Impressions
Bad Deeds is the third installment in the "Dirty Money" series and I knew going into this one we would go down a bit darker of a road than what we have seen so far. And yes it does get a little bit edgy in this one, the hero becomes more morally gray in this book and there is a WILD cliffhanger. So you want to make sure you have the final book ready to read. I also really enjoyed the way in which this story developed. We really see how our hero is battling a war within himself just like he is trying to battle the drug lord and his family secrets. I was curious to see where the author would take it and it doesn't get too dark but it definitely goes borderline on that spectrum. But you definitely see a story that will satisfy you until the end there.

First Line
"You could always sacrifice your queen and let her die a royal death. Would it--would she---be worth it to win?"

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Shane
The Heroine: Emily

Summary
The story sets off with starting off where the second book ended, where Emily is threatened with death by Derek (Shane's brother) and runs outside. Shane goes out after it, and Emily is reasonably shaken after that dangerous threat. But all this does is solidify Shane's protectiveness towards Emily. He knows he won't be easy to keep her safe from his family machinations. There are mysteries that are revealed about his family involvement with the drug lord and different key players coming on the board of this dangerous chess game that could cost them their lives? But Will Shane lose who he is in the playing these dark games with these players who will destroy everything that he holds dear? Will he and Emily rise above the upcoming challenges? Or will they lose everything they hold dear?

What I Loved
Whew! This book was edgy and thrilling and kept me so fascinated all the way through. The author really takes the hero "Shane" especially on a self journey. He is having to compromise some values in order to play games with the drug cartel, and we see how that affects him and it affects his relationship more than he realizes with Emily. We also see how this also affects them in the bedroom. It was interesting to see some elements of BDSM that was showcased in this one here. Its not heavy or strong, but there are some scenes of it here that makes sense with what is happening with our characters in the story. It really flows together here. We really see how Shane is willing to do whatever it takes to win in the end but it will come at a terrible cost in the end. We also see more happening with the family politics.

What I Struggled With
The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of plot dealing with the heroine. We get plenty of build up on it in the first two books and then it just falls flat and I was hoping we would see some of that. So I do feel like there could have been more build up on the plot with the heroine and her brother that felt so intense in books 1 and 2. But also feel like there is more happening with the parents that weren't revealed quite yet.

Narration
FANTASTIC! Its a narration that has me not wanting to put this one down at all! This pairing is so well done on it.

Overall View
Bad Deeds is a book that will dig deeper into the human elements of the conflict that develops when fighting evil, its filled with edge, morally grey moments and stunning unity that comes to our pair! SUPERB IN SO MANY WAYS!

Favorite Quote(s)

She is the sunshine that was never supposed to exist in this storm I'm living.

"A blade in your hand now. A blade in your heart, or back, later."

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Character Types: Alpha Male, Morally Grey Hero, Spirited Heroine
Themes: Danger/Suspense, Couple Together Early On, Power Couple
Tropes: Epic Love

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Plot Conflict

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
J. Kenner
Katy Evans
Meghan March

Song This Book Inspires
You're the One That I Want by Lo-Fang

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes. I highly recommend reading in order

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Narrators:
Jeremy York, Grace Grant

Chantale@canadianbookaddict

Sep 15, 2021

You probably noticed that I have read a lot of Lisa Renee Jones' books and you know what? I will be reading and review much more in the future because I am a huge fan of hers. Bad Deeds is book number 3 in the Dirty Money series and you must read the previous books in order to fully understand this book. This book (and previous ones in the series) is very well written and it got me hooked from the very beginning. I do highly recommend this . I give Bad Deeds are 5 out of 5.

Cat Imb@thereadingcat

Sep 13, 2021

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Lisa Renee Jones! I need to start with the end. Holy moly guacamole, Jones knows how to leave us hanging by a thread! That cliffy was utter evil, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Some of you may say I'm crazy, but I really enjoy cliffhangers. They get me super excited for the next book, and even though I can't read that sequel right away, my brain will keep thinking about it sporadically until I can read it. I love how well plotted this is. It's very calculated and precise. Jones will make you think her characters are in impossible situations, and she will provide solutions where you are just sitting there saying: "Well of course that's the answer". Yet, she has us so well controlled that we can't figure out her endgame until it happens. A lot happens in this book, making it extremely exciting and thrilling. We see sides of characters we didn't know existed, and some of our previous questions get answered. I cannot wait for the final book!