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torixreads's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn’t awful or anything i am just getting really tired authors who just sprinkle rape and sex trafficking like it’s nothing! Nina who experienced a life long experience of indescribable trauma sure did find it easy to settle into a healthy loving relationship.
I think Rick Sanders is such an unsexy name and it’s been bugging me since the first Santiago book.
I think Rick Sanders is such an unsexy name and it’s been bugging me since the first Santiago book.
caitybell's review against another edition
2.0
The male MC just wasn’t it for me. There were some good moments in this one but the pacing was rushed and all over the place. I was told it was a standalone but there were so many character cameo info dumps from her other books that I was simply frustrated the entire time. I need to go and read more books in this world and maybe I’ll connect with this one more. I have read Black Skies Rivera and wasn’t ever lost in that standalone, but who knows!
pattyfgd's review against another edition
5.0
Devils & Dust
Santiago World Book 6
By: Catherine Wiltcher
Narrated by: Jeffrey Holz, Sarah Puckett
It's always good to get back in the Santiago World. Seeing Dante with his kids is a pleasure. But is it really? He is still as dark as ever! But he isn't our focus this time. It's Rick and Nina and their plight is just as dark and dangerous. Nina is on a mission to save her sister. Her brutal father is farming her out and using her to do his bidding with her sister's life on the line. She will do whatever it takes. Infiltrating Rick's empire should be a piece of cake! There is an immediate attraction between the two, but Rick is sharp. Can he trust her? Well, he knows he has never had the feelings with another he has with her. Both are keeping secrets, and it's only a matter of time to find out their hands, what they will do and how it will end! It's twists and turns with passion and fear. It's another fantastic show of the inside of Catherine Wiltcher's mind, and I love to visit!
Jeffrey Holz and Sarah Puckett are our storytellers and together they paint a picture of a dark and dangerous world! Rick is complex, and has an air of danger in his personality, and Holz grabs on to that and keeps it in the forefront. He plays with his conflicting feelings so it's easy to feel his uneasiness and passion. Puckett comes in as Nina, broken, scared, strong and smart. Her ability to delve into the mind of Nina and pull out all her traits is amazing. Together they gave a fantastic performance!
Santiago World Book 6
By: Catherine Wiltcher
Narrated by: Jeffrey Holz, Sarah Puckett
It's always good to get back in the Santiago World. Seeing Dante with his kids is a pleasure. But is it really? He is still as dark as ever! But he isn't our focus this time. It's Rick and Nina and their plight is just as dark and dangerous. Nina is on a mission to save her sister. Her brutal father is farming her out and using her to do his bidding with her sister's life on the line. She will do whatever it takes. Infiltrating Rick's empire should be a piece of cake! There is an immediate attraction between the two, but Rick is sharp. Can he trust her? Well, he knows he has never had the feelings with another he has with her. Both are keeping secrets, and it's only a matter of time to find out their hands, what they will do and how it will end! It's twists and turns with passion and fear. It's another fantastic show of the inside of Catherine Wiltcher's mind, and I love to visit!
Jeffrey Holz and Sarah Puckett are our storytellers and together they paint a picture of a dark and dangerous world! Rick is complex, and has an air of danger in his personality, and Holz grabs on to that and keeps it in the forefront. He plays with his conflicting feelings so it's easy to feel his uneasiness and passion. Puckett comes in as Nina, broken, scared, strong and smart. Her ability to delve into the mind of Nina and pull out all her traits is amazing. Together they gave a fantastic performance!
pisola's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebookplatypus91's review against another edition
5.0
RTC.
I couldn’t put it down. Read it so damn fast. Freaking amazing!
Nina and Rick. Oh my god! You meet Rick Sanders in the Santiago Trilogy and I was so happy to see he got his own story.
“I’m going to make the hurt go away, princess,” he murmurs.
“I’ll exorcise all your demons if you’ll let me.”
You already do.”.....
Nina Costin is on a desperate mission to save herself and her sister from a sinister man, their father. Her father wants Nina to get intel from Rick under any means necessary, or else he’ll start cutting body parts off her sister.
It’s a grueling mission to catch the eye of a man who doesn’t bat his eyes twice at the same woman.
Somehow, Nina does. Getting assaulted by her boss at a club Rick owns, Rick becomes her savior by finding them and saving her from anymore non consented man handling.
Nina has never in life been shown kindness from a man. She’s never felt the way she does with Rick.
Rick makes her feel. Rick makes her change the game.
So conflicted, does she screw over the one guy she’s falling for and let save her sister? Or screw over her family to finally be free and happy?
“Somehow she has the ability to make me feel like a God, not a devil.”
There’s feelings growing on both sides of this relationship. And even bigger secrets hiding behind both Rick and Nina.
This isn’t a typical story that’s predictable. I genuinely didn’t see the twists the author threw in and it shocked me.
Catherine Wiltcher doesn’t keep innocent characters alive to appease readers.
People will die. Not everyone can be saved. As I read her backlist, I’ve come to an understanding that she’s a phenomenal writer and doesn’t allow her books to become predictable mafia/cartel romance books.
““We come from the ground, remember that,” I tell her, forcing the words out before I lose consciousness, “and we go back to the ground when we’re done… It’s what we do in between that counts.””
With all the dark elements and themes, this is a love story.
We see other characters in the Santiago Trilogy. And romance is there. Rick is everything. He really is. He’s a good man. I had a hard time seeing any good in Dante but Rick is literally the best.
Such a great book.
5/5
I couldn’t put it down. Read it so damn fast. Freaking amazing!
Nina and Rick. Oh my god! You meet Rick Sanders in the Santiago Trilogy and I was so happy to see he got his own story.
“I’m going to make the hurt go away, princess,” he murmurs.
“I’ll exorcise all your demons if you’ll let me.”
You already do.”.....
Nina Costin is on a desperate mission to save herself and her sister from a sinister man, their father. Her father wants Nina to get intel from Rick under any means necessary, or else he’ll start cutting body parts off her sister.
It’s a grueling mission to catch the eye of a man who doesn’t bat his eyes twice at the same woman.
Somehow, Nina does. Getting assaulted by her boss at a club Rick owns, Rick becomes her savior by finding them and saving her from anymore non consented man handling.
Nina has never in life been shown kindness from a man. She’s never felt the way she does with Rick.
Rick makes her feel. Rick makes her change the game.
So conflicted, does she screw over the one guy she’s falling for and let save her sister? Or screw over her family to finally be free and happy?
“Somehow she has the ability to make me feel like a God, not a devil.”
There’s feelings growing on both sides of this relationship. And even bigger secrets hiding behind both Rick and Nina.
This isn’t a typical story that’s predictable. I genuinely didn’t see the twists the author threw in and it shocked me.
Catherine Wiltcher doesn’t keep innocent characters alive to appease readers.
People will die. Not everyone can be saved. As I read her backlist, I’ve come to an understanding that she’s a phenomenal writer and doesn’t allow her books to become predictable mafia/cartel romance books.
““We come from the ground, remember that,” I tell her, forcing the words out before I lose consciousness, “and we go back to the ground when we’re done… It’s what we do in between that counts.””
With all the dark elements and themes, this is a love story.
We see other characters in the Santiago Trilogy. And romance is there. Rick is everything. He really is. He’s a good man. I had a hard time seeing any good in Dante but Rick is literally the best.
Such a great book.
5/5
bookgramsaga_'s review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (reread)
''Sad and fierce''
Safety warnings:
- H 33 / h 22
- No cheating (between MCs)
- No OW/OM drama
- Child s*xual assault/abuse
- R*pe/human trafficking
- Violence/torture/d*ath
- Loss of loved ones
- Su*cide
- HEA
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
Rick Sanders in the original Santiago Trilogy and the Grayson duet came off as a massive asshole and playboy and now that we get his book, those two things were still true but there were massive layers to it.
The book opens with a 17-year-old Rick meeting a 6-year-old Nina at a park, he has been beaten up and is bleeding badly. These two share a conversation that imprints on them both for years to come.
Another part to mention is Rick's fake ass marriage and that whole situation. Rick married his ''wife'' because she got pregnant and he believed the child was his, they both were never faithful in their marriage, and it was never real but kept only for pretense for their kid Sam. Three years later he finds out the child is not his and divorces her. Though he first steps away from Sam to keep his distance from the son he believed was his, he later in the end takes him as his own and we know Sam grows up with Rick has his only father figure...his book is ''Born Sinners'' part of the Corrupt Gods duet and next gen books.
We finally get the whole story of Nina Morozov. We met her during the Grayson Duet when Rick went against orders and brought her into the island where Dante lives. All we got were glimpses of a scared girl who is then revealed to being the daughter of the enemy and the man behind the human trafficking ring Dante and the group want to destroy.
The words ''Sad and fierce'' are going to be repeated a lot in this book and there is a big reason why and an even bigger reason as to where it comes from.
Rick meets Nina who is working as a waitress in his bar, and he immediately knows she does not belong in this place but allows it as he is intrigued by her. We find out Nina is being forced by her disgusting father to infiltrate Rick's place to get closer to him and get more info and coordinates to Dante's location in exchange for her older sister to be returned to her safely.
Nina describes her childhood somewhat normal until her mother’s dies at the age of 6. Right after that her father started sexually abusing her and her sister constantly and even going so far as selling them into the sex trafficking ring for years where they were forced to be with whoever her father wanted. They were abused and used and it's a massive hard pill to swallow realizing how much pain these two girls have.
Nina would do anything for her sister and risking her life is nothing new. However, the second she steps foot in Dante's island, tensions rise, and they know she is lying. Everyone constantly tells Rick she looks Russian despite her claims of being Romanian and our trusted FBI (corrupted) Agent makes the call letting them know she is Morozov's daughter.
Rick has gone through a major change in his demeanor and feels protective of Nina which leads him to ultimately choose her over Dante and risk years of friendship. They both leave the island and Rick starts losing everything he built back in New York; his empire is crumbling but he doesn't seem to care because his entire focus is Nina and getting her sister Tatiana safe.
We find out more and more about Rick's past and it's a big one. Rick is the reason Nina's mother died but not in the way you think. Flashback to the day in the park and Rick was first sent days before to kill Nina's mother and the two daughters after Sevastien (Petrov's evil brother) finds out about the families connections and when Rick arrives the mother knows immediately that it is to come to kill her but she instead makes the decision for him and jumps out the window but not before imparting wisdom and letting him know he would not be harming the girls because she sees his hesitation.
Nina finds out about their big past connection and of course this causes her to no longer believe a word he says.
Eventually we get big standoff with Morozov, and we find Tatiana on the verge of death after he brutalized her but that isn't the biggest shock to me, you feel her death coming after everything she was put through. The biggest shock comes when Morozov admits his wife was the mistress of Petrov aka Roman Peter's father aka the Pakhan who died whilst trying to destroy the sex trafficking ring. Both girls were his and that is why Morozov so easily did what he did to them.
Roman might of lost two of his sisters because of sex traffickers but he finally has one sister to take care of, one he had no idea existed and I am happy to see the silver lining for him.
Rick and Nina get their long-awaited HEA, she is pregnant in the epilogue, and we know in the next gen books about their kids.
-------------------------------------------------
Original review (Sept 1, 2021):
Can I just admire Catherine's writing and plot?
I loved this book and the way things unfolded.
I figured out one of the twists because I read Black Skies Riviera before reading the original trilogy and this book and I knew Nina was Roman's half-sister and she married Rick.
But everything else was great. Manda's death was sad, and I wish it was avoided but yeah, I can move on from it.
''Sad and fierce''
Safety warnings:
- H 33 / h 22
- No cheating (between MCs)
- No OW/OM drama
- Child s*xual assault/abuse
- R*pe/human trafficking
- Violence/torture/d*ath
- Loss of loved ones
- Su*cide
- HEA
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️
Rick Sanders in the original Santiago Trilogy and the Grayson duet came off as a massive asshole and playboy and now that we get his book, those two things were still true but there were massive layers to it.
The book opens with a 17-year-old Rick meeting a 6-year-old Nina at a park, he has been beaten up and is bleeding badly. These two share a conversation that imprints on them both for years to come.
Another part to mention is Rick's fake ass marriage and that whole situation. Rick married his ''wife'' because she got pregnant and he believed the child was his, they both were never faithful in their marriage, and it was never real but kept only for pretense for their kid Sam. Three years later he finds out the child is not his and divorces her. Though he first steps away from Sam to keep his distance from the son he believed was his, he later in the end takes him as his own and we know Sam grows up with Rick has his only father figure...his book is ''Born Sinners'' part of the Corrupt Gods duet and next gen books.
We finally get the whole story of Nina Morozov. We met her during the Grayson Duet when Rick went against orders and brought her into the island where Dante lives. All we got were glimpses of a scared girl who is then revealed to being the daughter of the enemy and the man behind the human trafficking ring Dante and the group want to destroy.
The words ''Sad and fierce'' are going to be repeated a lot in this book and there is a big reason why and an even bigger reason as to where it comes from.
Rick meets Nina who is working as a waitress in his bar, and he immediately knows she does not belong in this place but allows it as he is intrigued by her. We find out Nina is being forced by her disgusting father to infiltrate Rick's place to get closer to him and get more info and coordinates to Dante's location in exchange for her older sister to be returned to her safely.
Nina describes her childhood somewhat normal until her mother’s dies at the age of 6. Right after that her father started sexually abusing her and her sister constantly and even going so far as selling them into the sex trafficking ring for years where they were forced to be with whoever her father wanted. They were abused and used and it's a massive hard pill to swallow realizing how much pain these two girls have.
Nina would do anything for her sister and risking her life is nothing new. However, the second she steps foot in Dante's island, tensions rise, and they know she is lying. Everyone constantly tells Rick she looks Russian despite her claims of being Romanian and our trusted FBI (corrupted) Agent makes the call letting them know she is Morozov's daughter.
Rick has gone through a major change in his demeanor and feels protective of Nina which leads him to ultimately choose her over Dante and risk years of friendship. They both leave the island and Rick starts losing everything he built back in New York; his empire is crumbling but he doesn't seem to care because his entire focus is Nina and getting her sister Tatiana safe.
We find out more and more about Rick's past and it's a big one. Rick is the reason Nina's mother died but not in the way you think. Flashback to the day in the park and Rick was first sent days before to kill Nina's mother and the two daughters after Sevastien (Petrov's evil brother) finds out about the families connections and when Rick arrives the mother knows immediately that it is to come to kill her but she instead makes the decision for him and jumps out the window but not before imparting wisdom and letting him know he would not be harming the girls because she sees his hesitation.
Nina finds out about their big past connection and of course this causes her to no longer believe a word he says.
Eventually we get big standoff with Morozov, and we find Tatiana on the verge of death after he brutalized her but that isn't the biggest shock to me, you feel her death coming after everything she was put through. The biggest shock comes when Morozov admits his wife was the mistress of Petrov aka Roman Peter's father aka the Pakhan who died whilst trying to destroy the sex trafficking ring. Both girls were his and that is why Morozov so easily did what he did to them.
Roman might of lost two of his sisters because of sex traffickers but he finally has one sister to take care of, one he had no idea existed and I am happy to see the silver lining for him.
Rick and Nina get their long-awaited HEA, she is pregnant in the epilogue, and we know in the next gen books about their kids.
-------------------------------------------------
Original review (Sept 1, 2021):
Can I just admire Catherine's writing and plot?
I loved this book and the way things unfolded.
I figured out one of the twists because I read Black Skies Riviera before reading the original trilogy and this book and I knew Nina was Roman's half-sister and she married Rick.
But everything else was great. Manda's death was sad, and I wish it was avoided but yeah, I can move on from it.
katrina_8505's review against another edition
5.0
Love love love Rick and Nina story. I always thought Rick was a pain in the you know what until I read this book.. It was such a page turner. Must read
klahrfamily5's review against another edition
2.0
DNF
DNF around 15% in.... I’m sure some will love it, just not my cup of tea. The characterizations felt forced.
DNF around 15% in.... I’m sure some will love it, just not my cup of tea. The characterizations felt forced.
naughtybookaffair's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved Devils and Dust. It was an emotional, suspenseful sexy story line with unforgettable characters. The plot was freaking amazing from beginning to end. It was nonstop incredible storytelling. I was given a story that thrilled me and captivated me until the very end. Both Rick and Nina have painful upbringings that changed them into the people that they are now. But something ties them together. I absolutely loved their chemistry, full of passion and emotions. But there is also tension between them that was off the charts and you could constantly see and feel it with these characters. Catherine gave me a book that I absolutely feel in love with and wanted more from. I highly recommend reading this one and cant wait to read the next one.