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.