Nico

Oh, Nico! Wow. Wow! This book was fantastic! My husband is a Sopranos junkie; I could never get into it, but if they had guys like Nico on that show, I might become its biggest fan! Mia was a heroine unlike any I have read. She is the antithesis of the typical "romance novel heroine" or "damsel in distress" with her grunge/Goth style and "go F yourself" attitude. I, personally, didn't find her obnoxious, just severely independent. Enter Nico. He also has his personality quirks; very Type A and alpha, yet hiding a side of him that no one knows about. I loved reading about the connection he and Mia have, both from their history together and at their reunion (which was nothing short of hot and hilarious). Speaking of hot, HOLY SMOKES. I mean, the love scenes were nothing less than 5-alarm hotness, but also laced with sincere emotion, not just base need. I had a few "OH MY GOSH!!!!" moments, especially with one of the minor characters in the book. Sarah is so good that I could feel the character's fear, and I was about to throw my Kindle at the injustice of what was about to happen to him. No spoilers :) I am THRILLED that this is part of a series (a standalone, for sure), because I met some characters who I can't wait to read more about! I LOVED this book!!!! (I received a copy of this book in consideration of an honest review)

Absolutely loved this story! Every single page of it. If this is how the entire series will be we are in for a fantastic ride! The series is set in Vegas with factions within families warring for control as well as families warring against each other. Revenge is at the core of this story but when Nico Toscani falls for Mia Cordano, the daughter of his enemy, who Nico is seeking revenge against is distorted and the need not as powerful as his need for Mia. Mia is a strong, independent woman who has been struggling to remove herself from her controlling and very powerful father. She never played the role of Mafia princess well so falling for a top ranking Capo definitely wasn't in her plan. Put this one on the must read list, it's fantastic! I highly recommend it.

This is a great start to a new series! This is the first time I have read this author’s work and I will definitely continue with this series. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It was gritty, raw, explicit, and at times jaw dropping. There were tender moments that touched my heart and moments that made my heart hurt for all involved. Mia Cordano is everything you want in a heroine! She is strong, fierce, smart, independent and dresses as a punk rocker! She is a “white hat” computer hacker (helps with cybersecurity for businesses). She owns her own business, much to the distain of her father, the Don of the Cordano family. She wants no part of the mob life and does not comply with her father’s wishes and has the scars to prove it. He would beat her or her mother when he was displeased. She protected her younger sister Kat by taking punishment for her. According to her father, daughters are not important in the mafia life except to be used to broker deals between families, i.e. through marriage. They are groomed from birth to be good mafia wives and take care of the home and family, while he is out having affairs and doing the underworld business. Mia wanted no part of that life anymore. Nico Toscani is as Italian macho as you can get. He is handsome, powerful and he was next in line to take over the family business when his father was murdered 10 years ago (by a Cordano family member), but his uncle had other ideas, that his bastard nephew (Nico) was not good enough to take the reins of the family business and took over himself and was grooming his crazy son to take his place. His uncle was tearing apart everything that his father had built and putting the family on a path to destruction. Nico had plans! This story takes you on a wild ride of intrigue, obligation, mafia life and a tale of an impossible lust and love. A love that is so passionate and raw. The chemistry is unbelievable! The characters were bound together from a chance encounter 10 years prior and they still felt that connection. This story had me in its grips from beginning to end and I couldn’t put it down. Believe me, I know I am repeating myself, but it’s worth repeating. The secondary characters were well developed and were woven so well into the story. I didn’t want the story to end and I look forward to the next book in the series!

This is what I would call a true Mafia romance. It isn't a pretty package and our heroine suffers some major injustices, some from the Hero. I spent a lot of this book wanting to rage for Mia. No matter what she did, she just couldn't win. She was a true Mafia princess with a fire no one could put out. I admired Mia from beginning to end. If you can admire a mob boss, Nico earned it. He was a true Mafia man but with honor. He wasn't clean but he wasn't dirty, walking a fine line in between. The author did a great job of drawing the reader into this world, leaving us wanting more. I look forward to Luca's story next. ARC provided by NetGalley.