Break Me Like a Promise (Once Upon a Crime Family Series #2)

by Tiffany Schmidt

Overview

Magnolia Vickers' fairy tale happiness was ruined five months ago when her boyfriend, Carter Landlow, was killed. Now she's stuck watching as Penny Landlow and Char Zhu, the heirs of the other two black market organ crime families, come out in favor of H.R. 197 (The Organ Act) which would legalize a private industry of organ and transplant trade . . . and destroy the Families' business.

All Maggie's ever wanted was Carter, and to follow in her father's footsteps and head up the Vickers Family. Then she messes up big time: she accidentally downloads a virus onto her father's computer, allowing freelance IT guy, Alex, to make a copy of confidential Family information when she sneaks the computer off-estate for him to fix. He'll only return it in exchange for a kidney transplant, which he desperately needs. Finding a match takes longer than Maggie expects, and as Alex's health declines, she's surprised to find herself falling for him. Like it or not, Maggie must accept that her first love and the Business as she knew it are gone forever. She's not going to be handed a happily ever after. If she wants to save Alex's life and carve out a place for herself in the business of legalized organ trade, she's going to have to fight for it.

With searing romance, thrilling tension, and mystery perfect for fans of Holly Black and Kimberly Derting, this second book in the stunning Once Upon a Crime Family series will hold readers spellbound.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619639836
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/07/2016
Series:	Once Upon a Crime Family Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

TIFFANY SCHMIDT is the author of Hold Me Like a Breath, Send Me a Sign, and Bright Before Sunrise. She's found her happily ever after in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles.
www.TiffanySchmidt.com
@TiffanySchmidt
TIFFANY SCHMIDT is the author of Hold Me Like a Breath, Send Me a Sign, and Bright Before Sunrise. She's a former teacher who's found her happily ever after in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles. Visit Tiffany online at www.TiffanySchmidt.com and on Twitter @TiffanySchmidt.

Editorial Reviews

"Business-minded Maggie, academically gifted Lupe, and family-focused Patricia represent diverse and resilient female characters who engage the reader’s interest." - VOYA

"Deeply emotional . . . works well for readers who like their sweet romance mixed with spicy suspense." -BCCB

"Just like her first Once Upon a Crime Family novel, Schmidt’s well-written second installment delivers just as many raw, emotional moments and risky, suspenseful situations. Getting to know Maggie is a real gift. If you need a break from dystopian YA but are in the mood for something just as thrilling, start this series immediately." - RT Book Reviews

"Riveting." - Kirkus Reviews

"A satisfying sequel that continues black market organ drama with liberal doses of romance, angst, and suspense." - School Library Journal

"[An] outstanding second romantic suspense novel in the Once upon a Crime Family series." - Booklist

"Ambitious and original, Hold Me Like a Breath captured my attention before I even turned the first page. It's a thriller in every sense of the word." - Michelle Hodkin, New York Times bestselling author of the Mara Dyer trilogy on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH

"The tightly coiled suspense and superb romance had me holding my breath!" - Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of DON'T LOOK BACK on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH

"A gripping modern thriller for readers who still love fairy tales and people who think they've outgrown them. This is an offer you can't refuse!" - E. C. Myers, author of THE SILENCE OF SIX and FAIR COIN on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH

"Hold Me Like a Breath is heartfelt and haunting. Penny is a heroine to root for, a princess who creates her own ever-after." - Jessica Spotswood, author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH

"The romance at the heart of the book is a sweet one . . . A decent girl-power twist on an old fairy tale for thriller lovers." - Kirkus Reviews on HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH

From the Publisher

Strong-minded Magnolia “Maggie” Vickers is home from college, struggling to recover from the brutal murder of the love of her life, Carter Landlow. The only child of a crime family that profits from illegal organ transplants, she is recklessly determined to take over the family business. A series of events, including a dangerous computer virus, national legislation redefining organ donation, and a young man in desperate need of a new kidney, alter Maggie’s world and forecast an unexpected but hopeful future. The author does an amiable job of interweaving Maggie’s complicated backstory into her current family interactions and personal struggles, which makes reading the first book in the series unnecessary in order to enjoy this one. While the book is much longer than it needs to be, the author’s business-minded Maggie, academically gifted Lupe, and family-focused Patricia represent diverse and resilient female characters who engage the reader’s interest. The male characters tend to be shallow and predictable, especially Alejandro “Alex” Cooper, who is often too courageous, smart, and thoughtful. It is the urgency of Alex’s failing kidneys, however, that propels the plot. The insights and information concerning renal disease, dialysis, and organ donation are interesting without turning into “information dumps.” Like its predecessor, this title’s plot is based on a fairy tale, with Maggie playing the privileged princess to Alex’s unfortunate frog. Reviewer: Lynn Farrell Stover; Ages 15 to 18.

VOYA, June 2016 (Vol. 39, No. 2) - Lynn Farrell Stover

The “Once Upon a Crime” fractured fairy tale series continues, but. there seems to be a piece missing in the second installment. Readers are greeted by a familiar character Magnolia Vickers, who is a member of an organized crime family. After Maggie (Magnolia) accidentally downloads a virus on to her computer she seeks assistance and meets a technology whiz, Alex, who discovers that Maggie’s family is part of the illegal organ trade and strikes a bargain with her. He will keep her family’s secret in exchange for a kidney. The Vickers family needs to keep Alex in sight and he moves on to their estate. The family is a close unit and use reason and authority rather than blackmail to get what they want. There is friction between Alex Maggie when she is assigned as his keeper; but they soon develop a friendship, and Maggie’s concern grows as Alex’s health declines. The Vickers are affected by the legalization of the organ trade. Maggie starts to realize her concern about Alex and his health is greater than she ever imagined. Schmidt creates a world that is easy to become immersed in. The characters are developed and feel as though they could step out of the book. There is romance that is in the background, behind the suspense and intrigue. Reviewer: Laura Winstead; Ages 14 up.

Children's Literature - Laura Winstead

04/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—In this engaging follow-up to Hold Me Like a Breath, the saga of the black market organ business and the three families who control it is revisited. Action picks up seamlessly from the previous novel, although the narration has switched to Magnolia Vickers. Maggie spends her days in her bed, moping around the house in her pajamas and mourning Carter Landlow's murder. On the fast track to becoming her dad's successor to their organ empire before Carter's death, she realizes she must get past her grief. The government is about to pass a bill that will make organ buying legal, and her dad has given Maggie the task of ensuring that the family business is still viable. Carelessly, Maggie infects her dad's computer with a virus. She takes the infected computer to a local computer shop, where a young man named Alex Cooper is able to clean up the computer but not before he discovers her family's secrets. A sick Alex blackmails Maggie into getting him a kidney. Once Maggie's dad discovers what she did, he requires Maggie to take Alex into their mansion and serve as an escort for him. Maggie and Alex form a deep bond while she accompanies him to daily dialysis treatments. The action is fast-paced, romance is inevitable, and the illegal organ trade business makes for a unique catalyst. Unlike Penny, the narrator in the previous volume, Maggie is hearty and less fragile, yet she still must learn to trust herself and grow up. VERDICT A satisfying sequel that continues black market organ drama with liberal doses of romance, angst, and suspense. Purchase where the author's previous books are popular.—Julie Shatterly, W.A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC

School Library Journal

2016-03-30
Magnolia Grace has to decide whom she's going to be loyal to in a time of intense transition—her family, her family's business, or herself.After her boyfriend is killed by traitors to the family's illegal organ-donation business, white Texas debutante Maggie spends several weeks in bed, losing much of the clout she'd struggled to achieve with her father and his colleagues. When she realizes that her father is about to make a policy shift that will change the business and their lives forever, she manages to rouse herself to fight his decisions. However, she's distracted by the presence of Alex, a young Latino man who is in desperate need of a kidney. Alex shows her that the fight she's joined might not be in the best interest of the hundreds of thousands of sick people who need new organs and that her motives are selfish, even as she's trying to save his life. The second book in the Once Upon a Crime Family series about an extended family of criminals portrays a strong young woman at a point in her life when everything she thought she knew turns out to be wrong, supplying readers with a riveting (if contrived) storyline. However, Maggie's moral education about what it means to be privileged feels overstated and forced.A passably successful story about a woman who needs to let go of her past to accept her future. (Thriller. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews