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mnwakeford's review
3.0
Starts off well but loses steam
I loved the first half of this story, but didn't particularly enjoy the second half, hence the 3 stars rating. Reasons why as follows:
After the two main characters get married, the story runs out of steam. There are no major obstacles to overcome in their romance, so it lacked dramatic tension.
While the MMC's depiction as rough with a marshmallow centre worked well in the early parts of the story, towards the end he came across as a slightly dim lapdog playing second fiddle to his woman - more a beta than an alpha.
The female characters (there is a get together with heroines from previous books in this series) acted like WAGs, obsessing over expensive jewellery and designer clothing, which I found off-putting.
And the MMC buying a 20 million dollar engagement ring was just a little too OTT for me.
I loved the first half of this story, but didn't particularly enjoy the second half, hence the 3 stars rating. Reasons why as follows:
After the two main characters get married, the story runs out of steam. There are no major obstacles to overcome in their romance, so it lacked dramatic tension.
While the MMC's depiction as rough with a marshmallow centre worked well in the early parts of the story, towards the end he came across as a slightly dim lapdog playing second fiddle to his woman - more a beta than an alpha.
The female characters (there is a get together with heroines from previous books in this series) acted like WAGs, obsessing over expensive jewellery and designer clothing, which I found off-putting.
And the MMC buying a 20 million dollar engagement ring was just a little too OTT for me.
inkdrinkermal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
4.0
The first 75% was so fun and full of delicious tension, but the ending was so trite and fluffy, it didn't match the tone at all. While I'm happy to see the cast settled, it just felt too froufrou.
corcoranjanie's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
These series was so good! Spider has always been one of my favs, so I’m glad he got his happy ending. And Reyna truly was a queen! Very badass
marita_ls's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
4.0
shebookmarks's review
3.0
They had sum musty ass sex in the same room for a week or so
Their love was too insta for me but haha they were rlly funny and Homer was so obsessed and in love and was so cute and pure and agaahsiahakab
Also female capo????? Sign me up
Their love was too insta for me but haha they were rlly funny and Homer was so obsessed and in love and was so cute and pure and agaahsiahakab
Also female capo????? Sign me up
sweetmonte's review
5.0
This book is tied for my favorite book for this year. Absolutely incredible. I love mafia books and this entire series was 5 stars. Spider is so dreamy. Who doesn’t love a tattooed mafia man? And Reyna? ICONIC like I aspire to be as badass as this woman. Absolutely love this book and this series. It’s written really well and easy to follow considering there are quite a few characters to keep up with but it’s not confusing. This is Italian and Irish mafia coming together. Some great twists, some predictable moments but overall I loved this book.
kzimm2024's review
4.0
4.25. Had the makings of a 5 but several things bothered me.
On one hand I greatly enjoyed the banter between Spider and Kieran- that was so good. All that Irish slang and camaraderie. But on the other hand, Spider didn't sound or act like the man I had come to know in the previous books. He was giving me whiplash with the hot and cold with Reyna and was not endearing me to him. And he goes sullen, angry and mute, then forces her to talk when he has been giving her the silent treatment? Inconsistencies abound for me...
Spoilers:
And Reyna- I liked the "wee viper" and the banter between her and the "arachnid" but she was content living at home and cooking for her family? At 33? All the while being a massive multi-millionaire from her husbands estate?
The sex was hot but he decided to do anal dry (no lube or prep mentioned) and in one go? And wondered if he was hurting her???????????? WTF? BAD SPIDER.
And when she and Spider are together, she decides she wants 5 kids. That's great. But then she becomes the Capo, in charge of the Italian families? Too much. Its like the elements of this story just got more and more fantastical.
Also, we get these 4 women with these powerful men wrapped around their fingers. What do they do to make the world a better place? Reyna sounded like she was making changes but it was a girls trip for Fashion Week in Paris. How many carats in their jewelry. Competition with their men and having babies, twins for 1 of them.
Sure this is a fantasy, but they are spoiling rich on blood, drug, death money. No guilt? No charities to sponsor? Its like they are shrugging and "oh well" lets enjoy our massively wealthy lives. At the end Reyna suggests cutting off certain Mob factions unless they stop human trafficking but they are being supported financially from it in the mean time!
And what is up with popping Killian Black and the whole "13" thing in the end of every story???
Ok, those were my rants, now to the delightful highlights that tore me up about this book:
A promising beginning:
I say, “Too late, woman. I’ve already seen the swamp witch you’re trying to hide under that human skin suit you’re wearing.”
“Excuse me?”
-----
“I doubt you’re capable of pleasantries, wee viper.”
-----
And Spider is ever the charmer, he is so clueless with women:
I raise my brows and stare at him. “Excuse me…Queen Devil Bitch?”
“Aye,” he says without missing beat. “No, wait. That’s not it—it’s Queen Devil Bitch of All Existence.”
I’m horrified. “That’s what they call me? How awful!”
He chuckles. “No, that’s what I call you. God only knows what the other lads call you, but whatever it is, I’m damn sure they’d never say it to your face.”
-----
Ahh, Kieran:
From Declan’s other side, Kieran leans in and whispers, “Ye do look a wee bit frightful, lad. Like maybe there’s ants in yer pants, nibblin’ on yer willy.”
“Thank you. Arsehole.”
------
And lol from the Priest:
I still haven’t caught my breath when the priest says to me in a heavy Irish accent, “What’s your name, lass?”
“Reyna.”
“Lovely. Best of luck to you.”
-----
In a strangled voice, I say, “I want to give you a compliment, but I don’t want it to go to your head.”
He furrows his brows, waiting.
“I’ve downgraded the intense dislike I feel for you to a generalized mild loathing. Now hurry up and fuck me again before your ego gets too big and smothers me.”
“That’s your idea of a compliment?”
“Oh, shut up, Quinn.”
-----
A thousand knives carve her name into my heart. Bleeding, barely able to breathe, I say gruffly, “Goddammit. Stop being sweet. I can’t handle it when you’re sweet.”
“Yes, you can, you wuss. C’mon, we’ll practice.”
She lifts up to an elbow and smiles down at me. “Hi, Homer. I’m Reyna. It’s nice to meet you. You look like an orphan’s idea of Christmas morning.”
-----
After she’s gone, Kieran looks at me in the rear view mirror. “I really like her.”
“That’s because you’ve got the common sense of a carrot.”
“Just because ye don’t know how to handle her doesn’t mean I can’t like her!”
“I know how to handle her perfectly bloody well!”
He smiles. “Sure ye do. Let me get back to ye when my eardrums have healed, and we’ll have a lovely chat all about it.”
-----
They do have brutal honesty:
When he doesn’t offer any explanation, I say crossly, “I see you’ve hit the mute button again. I wish I had access to that when you won’t shut the hell up.”
“Let me have this moment of happiness before you destroy my will to live, please.”
-----
Declan saves me from what could be a rogue attack from Mr. Handsy sitting next to me by asking, “What’s your favorite thing to make?”
-----
and probably my favorite:
“Look who’s talking. You’ve got so many ancient hell witch costumes, I can’t keep up with them all.”
I pull away, frame his face in my hands, and gently kiss him on the lips. Looking deep into his eyes, I say, “They’re not costumes.”
After a beat, we both start laughing.
On one hand I greatly enjoyed the banter between Spider and Kieran- that was so good. All that Irish slang and camaraderie. But on the other hand, Spider didn't sound or act like the man I had come to know in the previous books. He was giving me whiplash with the hot and cold with Reyna and was not endearing me to him. And he goes sullen, angry and mute, then forces her to talk when he has been giving her the silent treatment? Inconsistencies abound for me...
Spoilers:
And Reyna- I liked the "wee viper" and the banter between her and the "arachnid" but she was content living at home and cooking for her family? At 33? All the while being a massive multi-millionaire from her husbands estate?
The sex was hot but he decided to do anal dry (no lube or prep mentioned) and in one go? And wondered if he was hurting her???????????? WTF? BAD SPIDER.
And when she and Spider are together, she decides she wants 5 kids. That's great. But then she becomes the Capo, in charge of the Italian families? Too much. Its like the elements of this story just got more and more fantastical.
Also, we get these 4 women with these powerful men wrapped around their fingers. What do they do to make the world a better place? Reyna sounded like she was making changes but it was a girls trip for Fashion Week in Paris. How many carats in their jewelry. Competition with their men and having babies, twins for 1 of them.
Sure this is a fantasy, but they are spoiling rich on blood, drug, death money. No guilt? No charities to sponsor? Its like they are shrugging and "oh well" lets enjoy our massively wealthy lives. At the end Reyna suggests cutting off certain Mob factions unless they stop human trafficking but they are being supported financially from it in the mean time!
And what is up with popping Killian Black and the whole "13" thing in the end of every story???
Ok, those were my rants, now to the delightful highlights that tore me up about this book:
A promising beginning:
I say, “Too late, woman. I’ve already seen the swamp witch you’re trying to hide under that human skin suit you’re wearing.”
“Excuse me?”
-----
“I doubt you’re capable of pleasantries, wee viper.”
-----
And Spider is ever the charmer, he is so clueless with women:
I raise my brows and stare at him. “Excuse me…Queen Devil Bitch?”
“Aye,” he says without missing beat. “No, wait. That’s not it—it’s Queen Devil Bitch of All Existence.”
I’m horrified. “That’s what they call me? How awful!”
He chuckles. “No, that’s what I call you. God only knows what the other lads call you, but whatever it is, I’m damn sure they’d never say it to your face.”
-----
Ahh, Kieran:
From Declan’s other side, Kieran leans in and whispers, “Ye do look a wee bit frightful, lad. Like maybe there’s ants in yer pants, nibblin’ on yer willy.”
“Thank you. Arsehole.”
------
And lol from the Priest:
I still haven’t caught my breath when the priest says to me in a heavy Irish accent, “What’s your name, lass?”
“Reyna.”
“Lovely. Best of luck to you.”
-----
In a strangled voice, I say, “I want to give you a compliment, but I don’t want it to go to your head.”
He furrows his brows, waiting.
“I’ve downgraded the intense dislike I feel for you to a generalized mild loathing. Now hurry up and fuck me again before your ego gets too big and smothers me.”
“That’s your idea of a compliment?”
“Oh, shut up, Quinn.”
-----
A thousand knives carve her name into my heart. Bleeding, barely able to breathe, I say gruffly, “Goddammit. Stop being sweet. I can’t handle it when you’re sweet.”
“Yes, you can, you wuss. C’mon, we’ll practice.”
She lifts up to an elbow and smiles down at me. “Hi, Homer. I’m Reyna. It’s nice to meet you. You look like an orphan’s idea of Christmas morning.”
-----
After she’s gone, Kieran looks at me in the rear view mirror. “I really like her.”
“That’s because you’ve got the common sense of a carrot.”
“Just because ye don’t know how to handle her doesn’t mean I can’t like her!”
“I know how to handle her perfectly bloody well!”
He smiles. “Sure ye do. Let me get back to ye when my eardrums have healed, and we’ll have a lovely chat all about it.”
-----
They do have brutal honesty:
When he doesn’t offer any explanation, I say crossly, “I see you’ve hit the mute button again. I wish I had access to that when you won’t shut the hell up.”
“Let me have this moment of happiness before you destroy my will to live, please.”
-----
Declan saves me from what could be a rogue attack from Mr. Handsy sitting next to me by asking, “What’s your favorite thing to make?”
-----
and probably my favorite:
“Look who’s talking. You’ve got so many ancient hell witch costumes, I can’t keep up with them all.”
I pull away, frame his face in my hands, and gently kiss him on the lips. Looking deep into his eyes, I say, “They’re not costumes.”
After a beat, we both start laughing.
hannahgee's review against another edition
3.0
🌶️ Rating:2/5
Reyna is also known as the black widow. She infamously murdered her husband because he was abusive. She has sworn to never marry again. Then her niece Lili is betrothed to Spider. She is attracted to Spider but refuses to acknowledge this and goes forward with him marrying her niece which I thought was gross. Spider is also much older than Lili and because he’s a nice person has no intention of actually consummating their marriage. So the whole thing is a sham and unnecessary. They end up getting married anyway because Lili ends up being pregnant by the pool boy, who also turns out to be , part of a mafia family. I don’t know. I didn’t love this one and I was really disappointed because I really liked the character of Spider from the previous books, but I almost felt bad for him to end up with such a bitch like Reyna.
Reyna is also known as the black widow. She infamously murdered her husband because he was abusive. She has sworn to never marry again. Then her niece Lili is betrothed to Spider. She is attracted to Spider but refuses to acknowledge this and goes forward with him marrying her niece which I thought was gross. Spider is also much older than Lili and because he’s a nice person has no intention of actually consummating their marriage. So the whole thing is a sham and unnecessary. They end up getting married anyway because Lili ends up being pregnant by the pool boy, who also turns out to be , part of a mafia family. I don’t know. I didn’t love this one and I was really disappointed because I really liked the character of Spider from the previous books, but I almost felt bad for him to end up with such a bitch like Reyna.
kjayne_books's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0