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No Saint by Rita Wilde
-PLOT-
This story starts with a murder, a secret baby, a harried single mom, and a mafia don out for revenge. From there, we move on to forced marriage and an unexpected and violent turn of events (not between the MCs) where an outside foe is trying to subvert the power of the Saint family. As the relationship between the MCs starts to heat up, the hits keep on coming - and Gabriel Saint must do all he can to protect his fiery wife and young nephew from harm.
-CHARACTERS-
Amelia Doyle: a down on her luck single mom, who also happens to have a son that’s the heir to the Saint mafia family. She is the fiercest mama bear and never backs down from Gabriel, even in the face of death.
Gabriel Saint: powerful, possessive, and positively enthralled with his forced bride to be. He’s a bad dude, there’s no doubt about it. But he’ll also set the world on fire to keep his wife and nephew safe.
-CHEMISTRY-
When the spice hits…it hits! There’s something about a mafiosi that not only respects consent in regards to sex, but demands it, that just hits so gooooooood. These two fight a lot, and I enjoyed how Gabriel loved that Amelia did not back down from him. When Gabriel goes all in, he’s in deep. Expect all the possessive MY WIFE declarations to make you feral.
-SUMMARY-
If Jill Ramsower is mafia 101, I’m thinking Ria Wilde is 300 level…upperclassman but not a quite grad school course (and just a tiny bit bonkers). As always with mafia romances, check the TW and CW.
RECOMMEND
No Saint by Rita Wilde
-PLOT-
This story starts with a murder, a secret baby, a harried single mom, and a mafia don out for revenge. From there, we move on to forced marriage and an unexpected and violent turn of events (not between the MCs) where an outside foe is trying to subvert the power of the Saint family. As the relationship between the MCs starts to heat up, the hits keep on coming - and Gabriel Saint must do all he can to protect his fiery wife and young nephew from harm.
-CHARACTERS-
Amelia Doyle: a down on her luck single mom, who also happens to have a son that’s the heir to the Saint mafia family. She is the fiercest mama bear and never backs down from Gabriel, even in the face of death.
Gabriel Saint: powerful, possessive, and positively enthralled with his forced bride to be. He’s a bad dude, there’s no doubt about it. But he’ll also set the world on fire to keep his wife and nephew safe.
-CHEMISTRY-
When the spice hits…it hits! There’s something about a mafiosi that not only respects consent in regards to sex, but demands it, that just hits so gooooooood. These two fight a lot, and I enjoyed how Gabriel loved that Amelia did not back down from him. When Gabriel goes all in, he’s in deep. Expect all the possessive MY WIFE declarations to make you feral.
-SUMMARY-
If Jill Ramsower is mafia 101, I’m thinking Ria Wilde is 300 level…upperclassman but not a quite grad school course (and just a tiny bit bonkers). As always with mafia romances, check the TW and CW.
RECOMMEND
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
It started out nice, but then towards the end it felt rushed to me..
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the story of Gabriel and Amelia. Amelia is a single mom. She had a one night stand with Gabriel’s older brother, Lucas. Now Lucas is presumed dead and with Gabriel’s investigation into his brothers past, he realizes that he has a son that no one knew about. Gabriel is determined to take the little boy, kill the mother and raise him to be the heir of the mafia family but once Gabriel’s eyes land on Amelia, he can’t do it so he decides to take her and make her his.
Tropes: Mafia, captive, forced marriage, forced proximity, mystery, danger, single mom
Tropes: Mafia, captive, forced marriage, forced proximity, mystery, danger, single mom
I really liked this book! The plot, the character development, the suspense. It all came together and sucked me into the story. Everyone needs to read Gabriel and Amelia’s story! It’s a dark romance, mafia, forced marriage story. Please read trigger warnings.
The twist and turns will keep you guessing and the WHO behind it all with SHOCK you.
The twist and turns will keep you guessing and the WHO behind it all with SHOCK you.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF’ing at 7%. I don’t plan to rate the book. Ria seems like a very kind person and I don’t want to bring her ratings down at all. Ultimately, the writing style and lack of editing really distracted me from being able to appreciate this story. Things moved from present to past tense in the same paragraph. Many sentences were too long and ran-on needlessly, and overall, these are things that really distract me from enjoying a book. For those that can see past these things, the book might be really great! I didn’t get far enough to be able to review that aspect of it.
(I received an ARC for this book)
Trigger Warnings include:
This is a dark mafia romance following a forced marriage theme and contains content some readers may find triggering. This includes a captor/captive romance, graphic sexual content, forced marriage, previous childhood abuse, violence and gore, mentions of alcohol and drug use, attempted SA, anxiety and panic attacks.
She was soft and warm and so damn inviting, the complete opposite to everything and all that I am. Where I was violence, she was calm. The sunshine after a storm.
This became an instant dark mafia romance favorite! Gabriel Saint is the epitome of the morally grey, antihero we aren’t supposed to love. And yet, I loved him instantly. For all his dark and dirty, I knew his heart wasn’t as black and cold as he thought it was. When he discovers his brother fathered a child, he hunts him and his mother down. He had bad intentions, and yet, he was anything but bad for Amelia and Lincoln. She knew her old life would come knocking, but she couldn’t have been prepared for Gabriel breaking down her door. And she definitely wasn’t prepared for ANYTHING that followed. Hell, Gabriel wasn’t prepared either! Gabriel is drawn to Amelia like a moth to the brightest light. She is feisty, willing to do whatever it takes to protect her son. Amelia is one of the few who won’t cower from the family, something Gabriel isn’t used to. But unlike the others, she lives to do it all over again day after day. Her defiance makes Gabriel giddy (me too). I was so curious to see who would eat who alive, and I mean that literally. Making Gabriel out to be the monster was easy, and it was safe. But after (something) happens, her weakened mental state allows her heart to move before her brain. She becomes at war with herself over want and need, right and wrong. She tortures herself to put distance between them, and in turn, it tortures Gabriel too. The moment we all knew was coming finally did, in more ways than one. Then it was Gabriel’s turn to self-destruct. I knew by 50% this was going to be five stars. By 65% I knew for sure.
Leonessa: 50
My Favorite Quotes:
• “Your strength amazes me.”
• “Don or not, you don’t own me.”
• “Give yourself to me. Let me have you.”
• “Tell me I can. I need to hear your yes.”
• “You taste exactly as I imagined, Il mia.”
• “I’m yours. Your wife.”
• “It’s me here, not God. Your husband.”
• “I will always have you.”
• “I thought I lost you before I even had you.”
• “As intoxicating as any drug, mondo mia, but twice as addictive. There is not a part of you I do not crave.”
• “Every atom of you is mine.”
• “You’re going to sit on my face. You’re going to take what you want.”
• “With you, too much is not enough.”
• “I love you, dio, I’d burn the f!cking world for you!”
10/10 Dirty Birdy
9/10 Arranged (forced) Marriage
9/10 Dark Romance
5/10 Enemies to Lovers
6/10 Forced Proximity
9/10 Mafia Romance
8/10 Single Parent
9/10 Series
This is my review for All The Broken Pieces
This is my review for Pretty Reckless
Trigger Warnings include:
This is a dark mafia romance following a forced marriage theme and contains content some readers may find triggering. This includes a captor/captive romance, graphic sexual content, forced marriage, previous childhood abuse, violence and gore, mentions of alcohol and drug use, attempted SA, anxiety and panic attacks.
She was soft and warm and so damn inviting, the complete opposite to everything and all that I am. Where I was violence, she was calm. The sunshine after a storm.
This became an instant dark mafia romance favorite! Gabriel Saint is the epitome of the morally grey, antihero we aren’t supposed to love. And yet, I loved him instantly. For all his dark and dirty, I knew his heart wasn’t as black and cold as he thought it was. When he discovers his brother fathered a child, he hunts him and his mother down. He had bad intentions, and yet, he was anything but bad for Amelia and Lincoln. She knew her old life would come knocking, but she couldn’t have been prepared for Gabriel breaking down her door. And she definitely wasn’t prepared for ANYTHING that followed. Hell, Gabriel wasn’t prepared either! Gabriel is drawn to Amelia like a moth to the brightest light. She is feisty, willing to do whatever it takes to protect her son. Amelia is one of the few who won’t cower from the family, something Gabriel isn’t used to. But unlike the others, she lives to do it all over again day after day. Her defiance makes Gabriel giddy (me too). I was so curious to see who would eat who alive, and I mean that literally. Making Gabriel out to be the monster was easy, and it was safe. But after (something) happens, her weakened mental state allows her heart to move before her brain. She becomes at war with herself over want and need, right and wrong. She tortures herself to put distance between them, and in turn, it tortures Gabriel too. The moment we all knew was coming finally did, in more ways than one. Then it was Gabriel’s turn to self-destruct. I knew by 50% this was going to be five stars. By 65% I knew for sure.
Leonessa: 50
My Favorite Quotes:
• “Your strength amazes me.”
• “Don or not, you don’t own me.”
• “Give yourself to me. Let me have you.”
• “Tell me I can. I need to hear your yes.”
• “You taste exactly as I imagined, Il mia.”
• “I’m yours. Your wife.”
• “It’s me here, not God. Your husband.”
• “I will always have you.”
• “I thought I lost you before I even had you.”
• “As intoxicating as any drug, mondo mia, but twice as addictive. There is not a part of you I do not crave.”
• “Every atom of you is mine.”
• “You’re going to sit on my face. You’re going to take what you want.”
• “With you, too much is not enough.”
• “I love you, dio, I’d burn the f!cking world for you!”
10/10 Dirty Birdy
9/10 Arranged (forced) Marriage
9/10 Dark Romance
5/10 Enemies to Lovers
6/10 Forced Proximity
9/10 Mafia Romance
8/10 Single Parent
9/10 Series
This is my review for All The Broken Pieces
This is my review for Pretty Reckless
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder
Minor: Sexual violence