Friday, September 10, 2021

REVIEW - BEAUTIFUL SAVAGES by J Capulet



NEWS UPDATE: One of the Savage heirs is involved in a murder at the Wedding of the Year!!!  

NEWS UPDATE:  A handgun has been found!  

NEWS UPDATE:  A Savage has been shot!

We will keep you updated as the story unfolds!

Cedrik Hugo is a fashion photographer and he is determined to get the perfect shot for this shoot of the Savage siblings for the cover of the trendiest magazine in publication.  If he could just get them to cooperate.  He needs Apollo to take OFF those sunglasses so he can get a shot of those gorgeous turquoise eyes that match the ocean in the background.

The Savage heirs are the most glamourous and gorgeous people he has ever seen and this photograph will put a red ribbon on his already outstanding resume.  He is even impressed with himself as he gazes upon the siblings that he has garbed in a modern version of the Greek gods and goddesses they are named for.

As he waited for them to get in a perfect position, he ran over the siblings in his mind.  Ares, Apollo, Athena, Eros and Artemis.  

Ares was the oldest and heir to the Savage Empire.  With his black hair, steel-gray eyes, and billionaire status, he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the world.  At the age of 27, he was a hedge fund manager, internet entrepreneur, real estate mogul, and Hollywood studio executive.

Apollo the rock star.  His shows sold out hours after going on the market.  With his dark hair, tattoos, and turquoise eyes, he was just as gorgeous as the god he was named for.

Athena was a bestselling novelist of books full of sex and fantasy.  She also wrote a column for the paper about her life as an heiress.  Her honey gold hair and green eyes were enchanting.

Eros had blonde curls and was the most beautiful human being that Cedrik had ever laid eyes on and being a fashion photographer that was saying something.  He was also one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood.

Artemis with her raven black hair and green eyes was a supermodel and artist.

Everything these Savage siblings touched turned to gold.  It was dubbed "The Savage Effect".  Everyone wanted to be them and he was no different.  But, he would settle for sleeping with one of them and he wasn't particular whether it was a male or female sibling, he was happy to swing either way.

Both of their parents, Jack and Cassie, were deceased leaving five huge homes, but even though each of the homes was large enough to house not only the siblings but any family they were to have they all drifted to their favorite home and made it their own.  But the doors were always open for any sibling who happened to be in the area.

Ares took the Park Avenue penthouse, Apollo the Nashville mansion, Athena the cottage in the Hamptons where we were doing this photoshoot, Eros the Malibu estate, and Artemis the Telluride ranch in Colorado.  




Eros was on the beach with two girls trying to outdo the other for his attention.  He had needed a breath of fresh air away from all the photographing and was more than happy to let them please him.  Double the pleasure.  

Women literally begged to sleep with him, but Eros wanted something more.  He knew he should be more grateful.  After all, women found him irresistible and he had everything he could ever ask for.  But, he wanted more than being seen as a pretty boy and good lay.  He wanted to be taken seriously.

Hopefully, the movie that he was auditioning for would give him the recognition he was craving.  He had just returned from a shoot where he played a hitman for a few days for millions of dollars.  He was more than aware that part of that was his name and not his acting ability, but being an actor was his passion.

One of the girls, Neve? was trying to get him to agree to a no-strings arrangement, but when he told her that he wasn't much into dating and turned to rejoin his brothers and sisters, he left behind two very angry women - whose names were actually Barbara and Jolene.

Ares lived for the hustle of New York and rarely left the city except when he was needed in LA at the film studio he co-owned.  He had just returned to the city at 3 a.m. and was not in any mood to be going into the office to deal with a disaster.  His CFO was found with a prostitute.  The underaged prostitute had been found tied to the bed screaming.

His thoughts of how much he had enjoyed the weekend in the company of his siblings left his mind as he entered the boardroom.  It had been over a year since they had all gotten together.  He had to make sure they spent more time together regardless of everyone's busy schedules.

As he was leaving the boardroom after firing his CFO and telling the girl's lawyer that he would give her 2 million dollars to keep this from going to court and traumatizing the girl any further, her attorney followed him from this room.  Wanting to know if she could sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss the details.  Details he reminded her that had already been taken care of.

Unknown to him, Tiffany Chamberlain (aka Dawn-Marie Davidson) was no longer an attorney having been disbarred for fraud.  She had been planning this for months and paid the girl well for her performance.  No, Tiffany had plans for Ares.  She was determined to have him and would do anything to make that happen.

Athena had a standing appointment for the first Thursday of each month with the senior editors of the City newspaper.  Tamar Takahashi, the editor-in-chief, dressed exclusively in animal prints and had no problem mixing patterns and accessorizing to the hilt.

These meetings always revolved around what they wanted her column to be about for the month.  She was an intensely private person and was having a harder and harder time accepting the demands for more personal information to be shared with the public.  Little did Athena know that her column accounted for a 40% increase in readership.

But, now they have blindsided her with the fact that they signed her up for the Matchmaker Charity Auction.  To be auctioned off for a weekend getaway with the highest bidder.  To top that off they want her to write a column about the complete experience.  She tried to make a donation instead of actively participated.  She had already anonymously donated half her net worth to a major charity she personally funded.  But, Tamar knew her weakness for children and dug in deep to get her way.

Athena is being fussed over backstage with people applying makeup and doing her hair.  The dress that Tamar has put her in is way past her comfort zone, but she is just ready to get this night over with.  As she circulates before the auction begins she meets a young tech genius who goes on and on about how much he loves her books, most especially the sex scenes.  

She tells him how much she appreciates his praise and decides to end the conversation that was getting way too creepy considering the age of this boy.  When she turns around she bumps into a wall spilling her drink all down the front of him.  

This man has hair the color of a mink and blue eyes with very dense lashes.  He introduces himself as Wyatt Boone.  This mountain of a man with a Texan accent is in your face beefcake masculinity.  Maybe she could control the tech genius if he won the bid because this man had alpha hole written all over him and he would definitely be the one in control.

$4 MILLION DOLLARS!

Athena is still in shock that Wyatt Boone spent $4 million dollars to spend a few days with her.  Sure, it went to charity, but really?

Percy Mercy was THE director in Hollywood and Eros wanted to be in his next film.  Being in one of his films would give him the recognition he needed, but he was shocked that he had to audition.  His name and previous acting should negate auditioning, but he would gear down and do what needed to be done to nail down this part.

After reading his lines, the director and his assistant huddled for a discussion and asked if he could stay and read lines with the female lead.  He was sure SHE didn't have to audition since she was the sister of the director.

When Marlowe Mercy entered the room his jaw hit the floor.  Her deep green eyes and skin the color of butterscotch were mesmerizing.  Her hair was styled in the 70s afro look, but the ringlet curls were gold-tipped.  She looked like a modern-day Medusa.  But, she ignored him as if he was an everyday Joe and didn't impress her.

No one had ever treated Eros in such a manner and he was beyond enchanted and intrigued.  When he offered her a ride to her next appointment she flat out refused and walked away.  But when Athena mentions that Marlowe will be participating in the Matchmaker Charity Auction, he knows that he will be the winning bidder for Marlowe Mercy.

Artemis painted abstract interpretative portraits of rich people and celebrities.  Some reviewers called her the voice of her generation, while one of the more serious reviewers hammered her with bad reviews, but for some reason, this woman hated women artists and gave rave reviews to men, so she didn't take it too much to heart.

She is dressed in the most unglamorous outfit imaginable and is happier in her 501s and a paint-splattered t-shirt than any high fashion gown.  When her assistant Arlo calls to remind her that the architect who built this home was coming to show his work to prospective clients she rushed to change realizing they should be here any second.

When she opens the door to Cooper Salazgar she is speechless.  She has always been a fan and loved this home in the Colorado mountains that he designed with her parents.  But, she didn't expect the gorgeous charismatic man standing in front of her.

Artemis invited Arlo to attend her brother Apollo's closing concert with her that night.  She had talked Apollo into spending a few days with her to decompress after his tour.  She was so worried about him.  He had been going on a downward spiral for the last two years.  Ever since he found their mother floating in the pool of their home in the Hamptons.

He spent the whole weekend in the Hamptons during their photoshoot either stoned from popping pills or snorting coke or being the drunken life of the party.  He had more scandals surrounding him than they could count.

Apollo woke up to blinding light and for a minute wondered where he was, but when his sister entered the room with coffee he remembered.  The concert his fans were singing so loud it covered up the fact that he was stoned out of his head.

After dinner with Artemis, he decided to take a walk and clear his head.  When he passed by Arlo's car that was full of groceries that he had bought to stock Artemis' fridge he grabbed the two bottles of champagne and headed for the river.

After downing both bottles and realizing how late it was getting he headed back up to the house where he saw his father's Harley XL 1200.  What would it hurt to take a little ride?  The next thing he knows the wheels of the motorcycle are clear of the road and the trees are beneath him.  He's not a religious man, but he promised God that he really didn't want to die and he would get clean as long as he survived.

Apollo wakes up to white walls and is hooked up to machines.  As he starts grabbing to remove them he is stopped by a nurse who looks like an angel.  Did he die after all?  Daisy Sullivan has light red hair and amber eyes and he is thankful when she injects the meds in his IV line that puts him back to sleep and takes away the pain.

He is going mad!  His siblings didn't check him into a hospital where you get released after your injuries have healed.  No!  His sadist siblings checked him into a rehab facility.  And not just any rehab facility...a "research rehabilitation facility" as they keep reminding him.  

Ares was tired and not looking forward to returning to his penthouse and have to deal with Tiffany.  He couldn't wait to get through another week to see if his moment of madness in his limo had gotten her pregnant.

As he enters the door to his building he is stopped by the doorman to let him know that a woman has been sitting in the lobby all day to speak with him.  The woman is tall with dark hair and striking dark eyes.  If she wasn't a model she needed to be.

She asked to speak with him and Tiffany.  Not wanting to deal with Tiffany right now, he decided to speak with the woman first and led her to a bistro down the street.  He should be shocked, but was more angry than shocked at the story Jazmin Diaz was telling him.

Jazmin and her sibling took a small boat out of Cuba and snuck into the United States.  One of her brothers had been caught and returned to Cuba and her other brother got involved in drugs and was now in prison.  So she and her younger sister made their way to New York.  Jazmin had always been told New York had streets of gold and she was hoping they could start a new life there.

So she got a job waitressing and looked for an immigration lawyer so that she and her sister could get their green card.  Tiffany had promised her and her sister $4,000 dollars to scam the bookkeeper so they could pay for the green card process, but when Jazmin went looking for Tiffany to get their documents and money, she found that Tiffany and moved her office and couldn't be found.

Then Jazmin saw the magazine with the Savage family on the cover and photos of Ares and Tiffany exiting his building together.  So she took the only option she had and chased him down.

Their parents had that rare, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love that all the siblings were scared they would never have.  None of the siblings had ever had a meaningful relationship because they wouldn't settle for anything less than love like their parents shared.

Senior Detective Statham was taking statements about the shooting at the Wedding of the Year.  "When did you hear the shooting?" he asked over and over...

This is Julie's best book yet!  Not only do we have 5 romances in this book and a murder mystery, but there are also so many secondary characters to keep up with.  And Julie does just that!  This book is so well written and you would think that with so much going on that it wouldn't be as fully developed and in-depth as it is.

This book is action-packed from page one.  We have tragedy, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends, stalkers, spurned lovers.  We have gorgeous, arrogant, surly, charismatic, alpha men.  We have beautiful, insecure, talented women.  And they are all damaged in some way from their past.

The individual love stories are smoking hot and have their own hurdles to get through and amazingly Julie doesn't lose sight of each of their personalities and voices.  All of these characters are complex and Julie brought them all to life for me.

LOVED the Detective interview blurbs throughout the book.  Hilarious comments from those being interviewed after the shooting death and having the comments woven through the story kept all the suspects lurking in the back of my mind to see if I could figure out the mystery.

This is a new genre of writing for Julie Capulet, but you would never know it.  The plot and storyline kept my attention from page one.  The romances and mystery were pulled together perfectly.

I loved all the characters (even the ones you hate were artfully written).  I am absolutely in love with Rosie and am so glad how her story played out.

I highly recommend this book!!!  I fell in love with Julie Capulet's writing with Rafe and have read all of her books, but this is by far the best that Julie has written. 


Get BEAUTIFUL SAVAGES today!
Available in Kindle Unlimited!

Check out all my interviews/reviews for Julie Capulet!

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