Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
Which is more powerful: romance or revenge? Mafia princess Angelina Amaro has only ever loved one man -- and even that lone affair was never consummated. Why not? Because her would-be lover, Sal Martucci, fled into the Witness Protection Program after ratting out Big Paul, Angelina's father.

Not a great way to begin life with the in-laws... But when Sal is discovered, a decade later, working as a bartender in Key West, the wildly dysfunctional Amaro clan heads south -- one member with love on her mind, the others with murder in their hearts. With an improbable team of allies -- Aunt Rose and Uncle Louie and the relentlessly romantic and flamboyant Michael -- Angelina sets out to quench her passion before Daddy quenches Sal. And before you can say Romeo and Juliet, the Southernmost City becomes the setting for a touching and hilarious tale of love, the Mob, underdogs rising, bad guys redeemed, and, oh, some incidental cross-dressing.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. CreateSpace Independent Publ., ISBN: 9781508432029 (February, 2015), 282 p., $12.99, eBook $2.99.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (USA 2007)

From the Publisher:
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 south one 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.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. A Novel. iUniverse, ISBN: 0595469132 (January, 2007), 274 p., $16.95.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (UK 1998)

From the Publisher:
Ziggy Maxx is living with a new name and a new face, running a bar and several scams in Key West, Florida. He hasn't thought about Angelina Amaro in years, when suddenly she pitches up one night at the bar, having recognised his hands - the two things the police surgeons couldn't disguise - in a holiday video.

Ziggy should be safe behind the mask of his new identity, but Angelina's passion is such that she will keep hunting till she finds the face that owns her lover's hands. And where Angelina goes, Mr Amaro - recently released from a ten year stretch - is sure to follow. Not good news for Ziggy Maxx, who sent him down.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. The mafia on his tail and a wild woman on his hands. Orion Books, ISBN: 075281561X (May, 1998), 374 p., £5.99.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (USA 1998)

From the Publisher:
Virgin Heat - There's a first time for everyone....
"Nearly impossible to put down. Its Key West setting and laugh-out-loud wit recall the best of Carl Hiaasen. Its quirky characters and tough-mindedness are like Elmore Leonard's... It's art and entertainment at the same time." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

For years, Angie Amaro has pined for the last love of Sal Martucci the man who made her feel whole, the man she dreamed of, and the man who ratted out her father, capo Paulie Amaro, and had him sent to prison for ten years.

"Mr. Shames is at once literate and accessible, often hilarious and always on the mark." -- Washington Times

Now Sal is Ziggy Maxx, living with a new name and a new face dodging cameras and cops, running scams in Key West. But fate always intervenes when true love is involved: when Angelina discovers his whereabouts, and sets her sights on mile marker one, it doesn't take long for her father, and his troops, to figure out where she's gone and why.

"This extraordinary novel clearly puts Shames in the company of Leonard and Hiaasen as a chronicler of southern Florida life." -- Booklist

Virgin Heat is a page turner of a novel that firmly establishes Laurence Shames among the best crime writers working today. It is a touching but hilarious tale of love, the mob, revenge, redemption, and some minor cross-dressing.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. Hyperion, ISBN: 0786889276 (February, 1998), 374 p., $5.99.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (UK 1997)

From the Publisher:
For ten years now Angelina Amaro has kept a secret so deep, so personal, that she couldn't share it with anyone. She is in love. In love with Sal Martucci, the man who betrayed her father, Mafia Capo Paul Amaro, and had him sent to prison. All these years she has pined for Sal, knowing that the intense - though chaste - love they shared would someday bring him back to her.

But Sal is now Ziggy Max, living with a new name and a new face, dodging cameras and cops, tending bar and running scams in Florida's Key West. He hasn't thought about Angelina for years (she never even put out, after all) - but he's sure thought about her father: a man who wants nothing more than to see Ziggy dead. If only he could find him.

And then fate plays its hand. Uncle Louie comes back from his Florida vacation, and at the party to celebrate Paul Amaro's release from jail plays his holiday video. And on that video Angelina sees, in glorious close-up, the hands of Sal Martucci mixing a cocktail. The very same hands that took her (some of the way) to ecstasy. And so she catches the next plane South. Leaving Paul Amaro to wonder where she has gone and, eventually, to put two and two together...

Virgin Heat is a tale of love, the mob, revenge, redemption and some minor cross dressing.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. Orion Books, ISBN: 0752812025 (July, 1997), 262 p., £16.99.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
For ten years now, Angelina Amaro has kept a secret so deep, so personal, that she couldn't share it with anyone, not even her closest relative. She is in love. In love with the man who betrayed her father, Mafia capo Paul Amaro, and sent him away to prison. All these years she has pined for Sal Martucci, knowing that the intense - though chaste - love they shared would, someday, bring him back to her.

But Sal is now Ziggy Maxx, living with a new name and a new face, dodging cameras and cops, tending bar and running scams in Key West. He hasn't thought about Angelina for years (she never even put out, after all), but he sure has thought about her father: a man who wants nothing more than to see Ziggy dead. And has the power to get it done.

But fate always intervenes where true love is involved, and when Angelina sees a pair of hands mixing a drink in a relative's Florida vacation video, she recognizes something that only the obsessed and lovesick ever could. So she packs her bags and heads to Mile Marker One - knowing that somehow, she would find her Sal.

While there, she pals up with a young gay man who has his own romantic dreams of what he might find in the sun. But what Angelina doesn't realize is that her father is on to her whereabouts; and Sal's sleazy cronies are on to the value having a capo's daughter in their midst.

Before you can say "Romeo and Juliet," Key West becomes the setting for a touching and hilarious tale of love, the mob, revenge, redemption, and some minor cross-dressing.

Laurence Shames: Virgin Heat. Hyperion, ISBN: 0786862033 (March, 1997), 274 p., $21.95.