Virgin Heat

Mafia princess Angelina Amaro has only ever loved one man and that lone affair was never consummated. Why not? Because her would-be lover, Sal Martucci, fled into the Witness Protection Program after ratting out Angelina's father. When Sal is discovered working as a bartender in Key West, the wildly dysfunctional Amaro clan heads southone member with love on her mind, the others with murder in their hearts. “Nearly impossible to put down,” wrote The Cleveland Plain Dealer . “[The book's] laugh-out-loud wit recall[s] the best of Carl Hiaasen [and] its quirky characters and tough-mindedness are like Elmore Leonard's.” Amazon.com Review Meet Angelina Amaro, the star-crossed daughter of Mafia capo Paul Amaro. For ten long years virginal Angelina has been carrying a secret torch for the stool pigeon who betrayed her father to the cops in exchange for a spot in the Witness Protection Program. When she recognizes her beloved's hands mixing drinks in a relative's Key West vacation video, Angelina stops pining and starts planning her escape from her family and reunion with her man Sal, who now goes by the name of Ziggy Maxx. Naturally, the course of true love never did run smoothly, and it isn't long before Papa is on her trail with hilarious results. Playing the Mafia for laughs is a novel idea, and it works quite well in Laurence Shames' fifth book, Virgin Heat. In Angelina, Mr. Shames has found a sympathetic heroine, and in his collection of undercover cops, cross-dressing mafiosi, vengeful hit men, and long-suffering wives, he has created a memorable cast of supporting characters. From Booklist Sal Martucci was an up-and-comer in Paul Amaro's New York City Mob. He was even in love with Amaro's 17-year-old daughter, Angelina. But then he got busted, finked on the elder Amaro, and entered the witness-protection program. Now he tends bar at various Key West hangouts and picks up a little extra cash as a bagman for a local loan shark. When Angelina sees a friend's Florida vacation video and catches a glimpse of the bartender in the background, she takes an unannounced trip to the Keys, where, with the help of Michael, a young gay man also looking for love, she trolls the bars looking for her long-ago Mr. Right. Daddy Amaro, recently out of prison, is frantic. Also in the mix are two deftly handled subplots involving a shipment of contraband destined for Cuba and Angelina's heretofore disregarded Uncle Louie and his newly discovered self-respect. Though the players all have connections to the criminal life, this is not a crime novel; it's a love story in which Angelina discovers the difference between the idea of love and the reality, and Sal realizes that he gave up a lot more than his identity when he turned the Feds on to Paul Amaro's Mob activities. This extraordinary novel clearly puts Shames in the company of Leonard and Hiaasen as a chronicler of southern Florida life. Wes Lukowsky Genre : Mystery.Humor Formats : EPUB, MOBI The natural sucessor to Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen joins Orion with a hilarious tale of love and the Mafia in Key West. For ten years Angelina has kept a secret so deep, so personal, that she couldn'tshare it with anyone. She is in love. In love with Ziggy Marxx the man who betrayed her father, Mafia capo Paul Amaro. Ziggy is living a new life as a bartender in Key West but when Angelina spots his oh-so familiar hands making a cocktail in a holiday video taken by her uncle she leaves New York to seek him out. Paul Amaro, just out of prison, is dismayed by her disappearance. He's more dismayed when it's suggested that Angelina may have gone in search of her lost love.