Tears Like Acid by Charmaine Pauls

Tears Like Acid is the third book in the Corsican Crime Lord series and it continues the tragic love story of Sabella Edwards and Angelo Russo. It is a testament to Charmaine Pauls' writing and ability to evoke such visceral reactions and emotions from both her characters and readers. This series continues to stun me in the best of ways because the fault of the matter lies in the characters themselves. Angelo hates and loves Sabella in equal measures and cannot forgive her even though he knows that she did nothing wrong. His pride and ego prevents him from forgiving her, which tortures him in return. My heart breaks for Sabella because she has given so much of herself for Angelo but he continues to hurt her at every turn. Their love is tragic in the sense that it can never go back to the way it once was simply because he is unwilling to believe in her. His attempt to control and entrap her will only end in tragedy for the both of them.

“I’ll give him obedience. I’ll give him my body. I’ll pay that price. But I’ll never give him my heart or a child. And for as long as I live, I’ll never speak his name again.”

In the end, I devoured this book and the wait for Kisses Like Rain is going to kill me because we're left with another brutal cliffhanger. Angelo has done some terrible things to Sabella but this might be the worst. He loves her and yet, the fact that he believes she will betray him is contradictory. He knows that he has been a monster to Sabella and yet he keeps hurting her all the same. This leads to me believe that Angelo's concept or notion of love is broken. How can he possibly love Sabella when he was the one who destroyed everything? On the other hand, Sabella has experienced tremendous growth and I am rooting for her happy ending—whether it be with or without Angelo. I can only hope Angelo will realize what a treasure Sabella is before it's too late. I expect the ultimate grovel scene because she deserves nothing less. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a heartbreaking and tragic love story between a tortured and broken anti-hero who hates and loves his sweet and resilient heroine.

*This ARC was generously provided by the author/publisher for an honest review*

Rating: ★★★★★