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sami_leigh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
“I’ll make an example of any of his men who even thinks of breathing the same air you do.”
“I would have razed the earth to clean a path to you and make you mine.”
🖤 First person dual POV
🖤 First in a series that can be read as stand alone
🖤 Mafia billionaire / Hacker on the run
🖤 Forced marriage (of convenience)
🖤 Controlling MMC / Strong-willed FMC
🖤 Possessive/ protective MMC
🖤 ‘Touch her and you 💀’ vibes
🖤 Spicey 🔥 — dom/sub, pleasure/pain, explicitly taking away consent — fits the genre, not my cup of ☕️
🖤 He falls first, HARD
🖤 Well established secondary characters: Aleksandr (Book 2), Nikko (Book 3), Viktor (Book 4), Lev (Book 5), Polina, Ekaterina.
🖤 Epilogue
⚠️ Violence (explicit), death (explicit), kidnapping (explicit), pregnancy (explicit), torture (explicit), toxic relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
culzean's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
madlereads's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.75
🔫 Bratva romance
💒 forced/marriage of convenience
🪢 he kidnaps her
👩💻 hacker FMC
Really fun and fairly lighthearted for a mafia book. He does kidnap her and is overbearing, but the book was more fluffy/cheesy to me than dark. (Keep in mind it still is a mafia romance so they will do dark things outside of the main relationship)
Aria is a skilled hacker and finds herself in deep shit (oh no Mikhail, I cursed 😏) when she ventures a little too far and unearths some deep dark secrets of criminal orgs and the organization that are supposedly the "good guys". She goes on the run but her best option is to get protection from an even badder guy, the Pakhan of the Romanov family. Perfect timing too since Mikhail Romanov, the new Pakhan, needs a wife to officially succeed the family empire.
I had a lot of fun with this one! Aria is a fun witty heroine who can't keep to stay still and best of all, has a rebellious streak. That clashes with Mikhail's need for absolute obedience from everyone in his family. 🤭 there were a few unhingedly funny moments too that'll stick with melike their bloody wedding day that Mikhail found super romantic 🤣 also Mikhail's overprotective streak was hilarious yet also really sweet. 🥺
Though I had my fun with this book, I wouldn't say it'll stick out to me. There were a few things missing that would've made it better.
💒 forced/marriage of convenience
🪢 he kidnaps her
👩💻 hacker FMC
Really fun and fairly lighthearted for a mafia book. He does kidnap her and is overbearing, but the book was more fluffy/cheesy to me than dark. (Keep in mind it still is a mafia romance so they will do dark things outside of the main relationship)
Aria is a skilled hacker and finds herself in deep shit (oh no Mikhail, I cursed 😏) when she ventures a little too far and unearths some deep dark secrets of criminal orgs and the organization that are supposedly the "good guys". She goes on the run but her best option is to get protection from an even badder guy, the Pakhan of the Romanov family. Perfect timing too since Mikhail Romanov, the new Pakhan, needs a wife to officially succeed the family empire.
I had a lot of fun with this one! Aria is a fun witty heroine who can't keep to stay still and best of all, has a rebellious streak. That clashes with Mikhail's need for absolute obedience from everyone in his family. 🤭 there were a few unhingedly funny moments too that'll stick with me
Though I had my fun with this book, I wouldn't say it'll stick out to me. There were a few things missing that would've made it better.
- Emotional connection: I think we were missing getting to experience Mikhail and Aria build their love on page. We were mostly told after the first part. So I wasn't quite convinced they were in love. They're cute though but I needed more depth to their romance.
- The final boss/climax conclusion of the story was a bit of a letdown despite all the crazy action the characters went through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Kinks: impact play, bondage, toy usage, orgasm denial, forced orgasmtlea's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have a bit of a love/hate thing with mafia romance and it's no longer a definite read for me. However, I've read this author for years and wanted to check out her new story. With the number of characters in the story it's obvious that this is book 1 in a new series, but this is a standalone, HEA novel.
I loved this book! Yes, they're mafia, and not some 'light' version. There are multiple violent deaths at the hands of the Romanov family, but in true mafia romance fashion the only dead are the enemies of our hero family. Aria is delightful - she's skilled, intelligent, fast witted, smart and delightfully quirky. Mikhail is also wonderful - as the family head he's everything you'd expect but is also absolutely committed to Aria in a way that made me mushy everytime he said something sweet. He's a hard man absolutely loyal to his loved ones and family. Together they're like couples goals.
If you like you're mafia guys to be hard through and through and a**holes to everyone, Mikhail may not be your favourite, but I absolutely loved this story.
I loved this book! Yes, they're mafia, and not some 'light' version. There are multiple violent deaths at the hands of the Romanov family, but in true mafia romance fashion the only dead are the enemies of our hero family. Aria is delightful - she's skilled, intelligent, fast witted, smart and delightfully quirky. Mikhail is also wonderful - as the family head he's everything you'd expect but is also absolutely committed to Aria in a way that made me mushy everytime he said something sweet. He's a hard man absolutely loyal to his loved ones and family. Together they're like couples goals.
If you like you're mafia guys to be hard through and through and a**holes to everyone, Mikhail may not be your favourite, but I absolutely loved this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Dementia