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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I’ve heard mixed reviews about this book, but I enjoyed it more than I expected… it’s my least favorite of this series but I loved it and I loved how it’s different from the rest. Mila and Ronan’s relationship is so complex and weird. But their tension and dark humor are strangely welcoming. I loved them together… also glimpses of Christian and Gianna as parents were cute…. This series became one of my fav
dark
slow-paced
I honestly have no clue what went wrong with this book. The beginning actually showed potential. Moscow had this gloomy, hostile atmosphere; everyone despised Mila and her mother, and the mere mention of the D’yavol was supposed to inspire fear. But that darkness evaporated almost immediately. Ronan never came across as scary or powerful, and nobody really cared about Mila at all. Instead, the story turned into the same repetitive cycle:
Mila’s a “captive”
Ronan orders her to dinner
She refuses
The maid drags her there anyway
Cue awkward staring / arguing / half-hearted sexual tension
Mila gives in, gets mad, storms off
Rinse and repeat the next day
It got boring fast.
And then there’s the heroine… whew. She drove me up the wall. Every time she showed a hint of growth, she immediately backslid into being naive, immature, and downright humiliating to read. She arrives in a foreign country, nearly gets assaulted within minutes, and then decides to throw herself at the first man who offers her shelter no questions asked. She trusts him blindly, believes everything he says, and the way she constantly degraded herself around him gave me the worst secondhand embarrassment.
On top of that, she cried about everything. I’m all for an emotional FMC, but this wasn’t moving or cathartic, it just made her look childish. The relationship with Ronan didn’t help either. He treated her terribly, yet she fell for him at lightning speed, clinging to scraps of “proof” that he cared. Their connection was shallow and purely physical (and the smut wasn’t even good). There was zero chemistry, and watching them together felt awkward instead of romantic.
I gave up halfway through. No way was I wasting any more time on this.
Mila’s a “captive”
Ronan orders her to dinner
She refuses
The maid drags her there anyway
Cue awkward staring / arguing / half-hearted sexual tension
Mila gives in, gets mad, storms off
Rinse and repeat the next day
It got boring fast.
And then there’s the heroine… whew. She drove me up the wall. Every time she showed a hint of growth, she immediately backslid into being naive, immature, and downright humiliating to read. She arrives in a foreign country, nearly gets assaulted within minutes, and then decides to throw herself at the first man who offers her shelter no questions asked. She trusts him blindly, believes everything he says, and the way she constantly degraded herself around him gave me the worst secondhand embarrassment.
On top of that, she cried about everything. I’m all for an emotional FMC, but this wasn’t moving or cathartic, it just made her look childish. The relationship with Ronan didn’t help either. He treated her terribly, yet she fell for him at lightning speed, clinging to scraps of “proof” that he cared. Their connection was shallow and purely physical (and the smut wasn’t even good). There was zero chemistry, and watching them together felt awkward instead of romantic.
I gave up halfway through. No way was I wasting any more time on this.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well this one was unexpected, I kind of don’t know how to feel about it. Like I really enjoyed and loved parts. But this one left my brain in a tizzy. I adored Mila, while extremely naive it wasn’t completely her fault. Her character had a lot of growth throughout the story, while still holding on to some of that naivety and sunshine. She had 1 million percent had Stockholm’s but the end, though before she realized she was a captive she was already dazzled with Ronan. So I felt she held out as long as she did, just to prove she could and honestly good on you girl.
Ronan I wanted to love and while he grew on me, he also rubbed me the wrong way. Filming her and sending it to her father was an absolute ICK for me. I get the whole revenge plot, but these mafia men always protect their women. Even when they hate them. The scene when he gives her oral like 30% in and it’s made clear she says no… absolutely NO. That’s not cnc or dub that’s just SA. I really didn’t like that. Then when he took her V card and he didn’t believe her. Then when he did realize his reaction was garbage. I also didn’t like that he called her a whore *derogatively*.
I get it’s mafia, but everything he did to her until they developed a relationship was malicious. I know in mafia most of them start that way or the men “pretend”. But it took most of the book for him to grow on me. I did really enjoy this story, I just wish Ronan’s character would have been written better I guess. I was really hoping he’d be my favorite of the series.
Read: Audible 🎧
MMC: Ronan Markov
FMC: Mila Mikhailov
Spice: 3🌶️
Tropes: Mafia, Captive, Grumpy+Sunshine, Forced Proximity, Virgin
Ronan I wanted to love and while he grew on me, he also rubbed me the wrong way. Filming her and sending it to her father was an absolute ICK for me. I get the whole revenge plot, but these mafia men always protect their women. Even when they hate them. The scene when he gives her oral like 30% in and it’s made clear she says no… absolutely NO. That’s not cnc or dub that’s just SA. I really didn’t like that. Then when he took her V card and he didn’t believe her. Then when he did realize his reaction was garbage. I also didn’t like that he called her a whore *derogatively*.
I get it’s mafia, but everything he did to her until they developed a relationship was malicious. I know in mafia most of them start that way or the men “pretend”. But it took most of the book for him to grow on me. I did really enjoy this story, I just wish Ronan’s character would have been written better I guess. I was really hoping he’d be my favorite of the series.
Read: Audible 🎧
MMC: Ronan Markov
FMC: Mila Mikhailov
Spice: 3🌶️
Tropes: Mafia, Captive, Grumpy+Sunshine, Forced Proximity, Virgin
I INHALED this! Ok he may have kidnapped her and used her to get to her dad but…I loved him. Ronan could kidnap me and I’d say thank you. Mila was my favorite MMC in this series. She had the best heart and then falls for a Russian mobster?! There were some parts that were just so funny to me and the banter was so good. I loved this book and this whole series! I am now obsessed with mafia romance.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
Idc about the people on tik tok saying Ronan is toxic or whatever. That man protected Mila from day 1. Not just physically but her emotions too by keeping her in the dark about the extent of her parents’ discrepancies. He gave her space when she needed to go be her own person and he gave her Khaos!!! Lowkey might make me toxic but #needthat
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the best mafia romances that I’ve read.
The relationship between Mila and Ronan keep me hooked, I couldn’t put it down.
The relationship between Mila and Ronan keep me hooked, I couldn’t put it down.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
wheres MY mean sexy russian bratva man to kidnap me and kill my father?!
[EDIT 22/11: upped one star bc i was being stingy when i first learned my abcs on goodreads and this is honestly a book i could re-read every month mean men are so hot]
[EDIT 22/11: upped one star bc i was being stingy when i first learned my abcs on goodreads and this is honestly a book i could re-read every month mean men are so hot]