Belladonna
by Fiona Paul
Pages: 352
Publishing: 7.16.13

In the second in the stunning Secrets of the Eternal Rose series, Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he’s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass’s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose—the only evidence that will prove he’s innocent. So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of vampirism, secret soirees and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who is working for the Order’s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself. Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time? Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

First, please understand I majorly heart this book and there WILL be rantings and lots of Caps. Please also understand I read this book like 6 months ago, and so I may be forgetting things. But the gist remains, because the following is essentially the whole of my review...

Oh look...I died.

Yeah. Pretty much. Venom was totally awesome. It fulfilled every dream that my Historical loving heart could desire. But this book. AAAH. Fiona picks up Bella from the well built setting she established in Venom and proceeds to pull at your feels...and then your heartstrings and then RIP YOUR HEART OUT ALL TOGETHER. 

Okay..not that much. *calm down Inky* 

But seriously. I think this book impacted me so much more because of the fact that she'd already established who-what-where. It was just amazing. I loved it all. The mystery, the creepy lady mentioned in the title, the new Italian setting, the romance, the EVERYTHING.
The intrigue in these stories is very dark, and scientifically curiousifying! I hereby declare that is a legal word. I've never read anything like it before! In this book, we travel down to Florence, where we yet again get a beautiful Italian setting, and learn so much more about the Order that you're only hinted at in book one. You learn dark secrets and it's all so marvelously intriguing. And Belladonna herself was just awesome in a creepy but good villainous kinda way. Yum. But yahda yah. Now let's talk romance. We all know that is an amazing aspect of these books holy cow! THERE IS SOME YUMMY ROMANCE. This whole book is just YUM.

First things first though, Luca. The dear boy is not that prominent in Venom. Falco is the important one in that book. However, after that ending of Venom, we pick up Bella with Luca being a lot more involved. You get a better look at his character and I'M KINDA MAD THAT I STARTED TO DOUBT MY FEELINGS FOR FALCO. I wavered. It scared me. No. I Love Falco. Not Luca. So while I will probably always be Team Falco, I'm going to admit that I have a special fondness for the dear boy. He has his own secrets, but he's genuine and sweet and I can see why Cass loves him, in his own way.

Which brings me to her OTHER love...Falco. You've heard the name whispered all over. And already seen me squeal, that's for sure. But it is true. In this book he lives up to his stunningness of Venom, and more. He's kinda a jerk in some parts if I remember correctly, but he's also amazingly sweet and swoon-worthy and just EEEE. So because I really can't SAY anything more...I'm gonna SHOW YOU



And with that, there is only one last point to address: the ending. OH MY THE ENDING MADE ME GO BANANAS. I'm all: "LUCA!!!" and then "NOOOO FALCOOOO" and, "CASS YOU CRAZY PERSON WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!" ****insert intense wailing and moaning****