Release Day Blitz & Review…El Diablo II by M. Robinson

Ummmmmm, yea – this was far from what I anticipated.

El Diablo II is to be a complete stand-alone (but I am not sure that new readers will see that). The premise for this book held so much promise. Did I like it? Yes. However, I felt what was given to us was not what I had expected. I felt that a lot was overlooked, parts were far too overly dramatic and the book wasn’t focused on Cruz and Sienna but other previous characters.

El Diablo II felt more like continuation to Alejandro’s story with an intro to what we can expect next in a spinoff series featuring his kids and what is come in with the five families coming together. I felt that Cruz and Sienna’s story was very overlooked. I personally do not feel that what we got, was Robinson at her best.

I have read almost all of Robinson’s books and I always know that I going to get a story with a deep and expanding plot and characters who are more than one dimensional. I did not get any of that with this book. I felt nothing between Cruz and Sienna til near the end and that felt too rushed for me. They spend no time together and then all of sudden near the end, they’re ready to rip each other’s clothes off. Ehhhh…no.

Cruz doesn’t come across as anything other than a pissed off boy (yes, boy) with the need for revenge. He does not see anywhere the dark and twisted person that Robinson tries to portray. He’s all talk and no bite.

Sienna came across as this bitch most of the book and only softened near the end when her life was at risk (yea, not sold on that turn around). And maybe that’s how all mafia princesses are but it made me not care for her.

The book dragged a lot; there was nothing exciting til about the last 15-20% of the book. The majority of Sienna and Cruz’s interactions were arguing and that got redundant quickly. I felt nothing between them but anger and animosity. This book was open to too many assumptions and things happened that had me scratching my head.

I am usually excited for other character’s books but this time, I am only excited for one – Cruz’s sister, Ari and Christiano and what happened to her during captivity (I truly hope when her books comes out, that part is not overlooked or hurried at all).

Overall – it just ok for me. The ending is what I remember most about this book and that’s because that was the most exciting parts. I remember more about Alejandro and Lexi – but I cannot remember much about Cruz and Sienna, except they argue a lot and he wants to get this sister back. That’s not what I was wanting to get from this book. People who have not read El Diablo, will have a lot of questions on things because he is in this book way too much for it to be a standalone.