okay this might be one of my new favorites of this series!! I love when the villains are just misunderstood morally grey baddies 😌 and venesa was NO exception! 

and y’all know how much I enjoy a mafia romance, so the west side story-esque set up between enzo (prince of the NY mafia) and venesa (princess of the southern mob) was done so so well! emily mcintere NEVER lets me down when it comes to forbidden romances 😮‍💨😮‍💨

what worked so well for me was the clear development of the side and background characters! between aria, bastian, fisher, and gio, I wanted spin offs of them all! I want to see how they all grew up together and where they go from here!!

and of course, it wouldn’t be a classic never after story without betrayals and crazy plot twists! I devoured this one and am greedily demanding the next one pls 

also, complete side note, but emily writing this masterpiece while undergoing chemo for stage 4 cancer and beating its ass? she’s the true icon and badass & we love her for it 🩷

READ THIS SERIES THANK YEW 

rating: 5 stars
wine pairing: virginia rosé