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aurorareed's review against another edition
5.0
This book had the holy trifecta of what makes the perfect romance in my eyes:
- a strong, interesting fmc who doesn't fold like a deck of cards (as I would if I were in her place lol)
- an mmc who is down so fucking bad it's almost embarrassing
- a deliciously, agonisingly slow burn (to scratch the masochistic itch I have for writers to withhold satisfaction from me)
- a strong, interesting fmc who doesn't fold like a deck of cards (as I would if I were in her place lol)
- an mmc who is down so fucking bad it's almost embarrassing
- a deliciously, agonisingly slow burn (to scratch the masochistic itch I have for writers to withhold satisfaction from me)
ohheyitsmel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.75
embelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was my book club’s pick this month…Though it wasn’t my favorite book of this genre, I was intrigued enough to pick up the second book in the duology. The book was fast paced and I was wanting to know what happened next, even if many of the characters themselves were not the best. Be prepared for almost every possible trigger warning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Car accident, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Stalking
secondhandbookshelves's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a buddy read and I waffled the entire time between liking and hating the two main characters.
This probably isn't a spoiler, but hey, let's mark it like one anyway since it talks about how the characters change during the story. (I refuse to say character development)
at first I adored Elena, strong, unflappable, smart lady that she is, and was annoyed with the buffoon who got such marvelous advice as "I say, have fun with the girl. Hell, make her cry, get her to quit, whatever you want." who then proceeded to announce (frequently) how much he would like to break her, corrupt her, destroy her, and f*ck with her. Also, this quote from his point of view: "I knew with the right training and a patient master, she would be glorious."
And immediately after that he talks for half a page about how he will force her to be his.
Big no from me 🚩🚩
Then around the halfway mark Elena had turned into a simp who could only think about being with HIM and actively goes about destroying the life shes been working for and building since age 11.....
And he suddenly was a poet who desires nothing more than her to be safe and loved and healed from her past.
In conclusion, they're both idiots and may they be happy in book two which I will not read 👍🏻
This probably isn't a spoiler, but hey, let's mark it like one anyway since it talks about how the characters change during the story. (I refuse to say character development)
And immediately after that he talks for half a page about how he will force her to be his.
Big no from me 🚩🚩
Then around the halfway mark Elena had turned into a simp who could only think about being with HIM and actively goes about destroying the life shes been working for and building since age 11.....
And he suddenly was a poet who desires nothing more than her to be safe and loved and healed from her past.
In conclusion, they're both idiots and may they be happy in book two which I will not read 👍🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Medical trauma
Minor: Slavery, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Car accident, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury
winnowiris's review against another edition
3.0
this book follows Elena, a very talented lawyer, and Dante a mafioso who in trial for murder, Elena now has to work on his case after her sister asks her to help him, Elena absolutely loathes everything Dante represents, but he's the biggest charmer in the world so their relationship dynamic is so fun to read.
Dante was different from the typical mafioso man, he actually has hobbies and a personality outside of the mafia and he's not thinking about how ruthless and bad he is all the time(very different from what I'm used to seeing in mafia), he's really smart, charismatic and a good person regardless of his "job".
Elena was definitely my favorite character, she's so mature, smart, and cold, she's been through a lot, but she knows how to handle things and the way her mind works is wow, I mean her evolution of someone who always tries to do good things to prove herself to accept that maybe she can be an antihero is phenomenal, she's now one of my favorite characters in a mafia book.
this was my first book by Giana Darling and it won't be the last, I fell in love with her writing and her characters and this world I'm excited to read the conclusion to their story and read more about the side characters :heart:
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need their happy ending in book 2
RTC
Dante was different from the typical mafioso man, he actually has hobbies and a personality outside of the mafia and he's not thinking about how ruthless and bad he is all the time(very different from what I'm used to seeing in mafia), he's really smart, charismatic and a good person regardless of his "job".
Elena was definitely my favorite character, she's so mature, smart, and cold, she's been through a lot, but she knows how to handle things and the way her mind works is wow, I mean her evolution of someone who always tries to do good things to prove herself to accept that maybe she can be an antihero is phenomenal, she's now one of my favorite characters in a mafia book.
this was my first book by Giana Darling and it won't be the last, I fell in love with her writing and her characters and this world I'm excited to read the conclusion to their story and read more about the side characters :heart:
--------------------------------------------
need their happy ending in book 2
RTC
arobis_the_bookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Is this book an interconnected series with Cosima’s book?
bambinochance's review against another edition
3.0
I'm pretty peeved I started with this duet as I really don't think it should count as a standalone. These books follow characters from two other series. The first portion of the book was a lot of exposition dumping and it was hard to follow. I think I understood the gist of the plot but I would have gotten a lot more out of it if I read the other series.
christaandersen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
simrooon's review against another edition
5.0
Tbh I was tired of indulging in mafia setups and stopped reading them for awhile but thank goodness picked this up. Demn this was so good!!
Can’t seem to find out any particular excerpts that made the book so enjoyable for me but I was so invested.
DANTE has literally destroyed my bias list and is now the only dude imma simpin for. Onto the next one wohoooo….
Can’t seem to find out any particular excerpts that made the book so enjoyable for me but I was so invested.
DANTE has literally destroyed my bias list and is now the only dude imma simpin for. Onto the next one wohoooo….
krystal_learn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Elena is a lawyer on Dante’s case, she’s straight and narrow and he’s the mafia boss. Forced proximity, enemies to lovers. It was good but nothing I would rave about and didn’t keep me completely hooked.