A review by _onemorechapter_
The Emperor by RuNyx

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

𝑻.𝑾: Human Trafficking, Rape (past, recounted), Panic Attacks, Suicide and Suicidal Ideation, Blood Depiction, Death of a Parent (on and off page), Death of a Sibling (mentioned), Murder and Attempted Murder (including children), Torture, Gun Violence, Explosion, Kidnapping (mentioned).
Head for the Triggers in the author's note before proceeding with the book!
 
“People weren’t black and white, and sadly, neither were emotions.”

💭 This book takes us back in time where we see and get to know little Amara and little Dante, and we get to know their story right from their first interaction. The book is split up into three parts. It’s not really a time jump from chapter to chapter as we start right from scratch, and then slowly move on from that, along with Dante and Amara themselves.
It’s also pretty clear that the author’s writing really improved here. This one was darker than the previous two, but still so emotional and so raw! This one is also written in the third pov but has dual pov of both Dante and Amara. 

I love Tristan. I really do, that man doesn’t talk much, but he knows how to make you love him. Now, I was surprised by how much I freakin loved Dante here. I mean I liked him before. But here? He just owned my heart without even trying. Let’s talk a little about how protective considerate loving and caring Dante is....

Dante Maroni - Son of a Mobster but he’s actually a “golden retriever” with a dirty mouth, for his woman. Voice like Chocolate, Smoke and Twisted Sheets. His character is well-mannered, he doesn’t curse around ladies. He is as emotionally healthy as a mobster can be. Acts like an adult. A man who can freakin communicate(I never thought I would see someone who uses communication to fix things. I thought those are rare species). Can admit to his own mistakes and doesn’t shy away from his feelings. He loves Harry Potter and listens to book audio in the early mornings while he sculpts 🫠. He also wears reading glasses(SEXY NERD VIBES). He didn't hesitate to express his emotions and dealt with bad circumstances easily. 
He dealt with a big loss at a very young age but managed to thrive on it. I loved that despite facing a bad childhood, he wasn't the typical cold, rude and closed-off man. In fact, he was open, honest, strong, and soft when it came to Amara. 
This man is actually perfect - Here I have said that and I am not taking it back.
He was the standard for every man out there. He will make you swoon, blush, gush, cry and laugh. He's the whole package but what I loved was the lengths he went to be with Amara. How much he cared for her and how much he was willing to risk for her. They are literally soulmates and you can't tell me otherwise.
“I will kiss you and brand myself upon your heart, Amara.” - The confidence in this line 🤭

Amara Rossi- Soft, Forgiving, Protective and had a Spine of Steel. She’s a freakin hero. I loved her sweet side. Her broken side. Her strong fighting side. She was so amazing. A true queen.
She is an ordinary girl whose mother worked as a housekeeper in Dante's father's compound. She had always harboured a crush on Dante but never in her wildest dreams she thought that she would actually have a chance with him. I really liked her strength and how she dealt with her trauma. It was refreshing to see her grow throughout the street and that's on good character development.

DanteAmara
The romance, I loved how this one was so different. How it progressed into something and blossomed eventually with time. They are soulmates, even when divided, thought and longed for each other and found their way back together. Amara's love for Dante can be seen through every chapter and the way she looks at him. How she admires him and thinks about little things that might affect him and Dante absolutely killed it with the way he took care of Amara when she went through the torture. He looked after her and listened. What mattered the most was they were there for each other. 
Amara fell in love with Dante when she was just a ten-year-old girl. She thought that it was just a crush and that it would just pass. But nope, her whole life she only loved and longed for only one man. Dante Maroni. It was so cute all those stolen glances and Amara giving cookies to Dante and the sweetness of their relationship. Amara went through a lot when she was just a fifteen year old but Dante was there for her at every step of her recovery. Dante was her anchor.
It was just beautiful to watch him help Amara heal and all the while falling for her. Their friendship was so adorable.
Their relationship was just so sweet, So strong, So real and those two were just so perfect together but their story was painful, beautiful, and very heartwarming for me to read.
Their journey from childhood to adulthood was worth reading. They never truly gave up on each other. Their struggle to get together was a tough one yet so satisfying in the end. 
Other than that oh boy this was smutty and the good kinda smutty. Dante and his dirty mouth will quite literally be the death of me. I was fanning myself.
Special Mention -The scene where Dante explains what his back tattoo is UFF  just touches my heart! 
And when  he bought her Heels!

Furthermore, The sheer beauty of coping with the trauma inflicted on Amara, Damien and unfortunately Nerea was a ride. While we see two of them deal with it healthily, one of them goes down in a way I didn't see coming and although I felt hurt and emotional, it was surely a journey to read.
The plot twists were chef's kiss 🤌 I can't wait to see how the Dark Verse unfolds in the next few books. I got my hopes high.
One thing that kinda irked me was we see Vin and Amara be the best of friends in their childhood and adolescent years but once Amara came back, I longed for their interactions. They didn't really talk? That bothered me a bit. But anyway... I would love to see more of Vin, and am guessing I will.

In addition, I loved how the plot was balanced with the romance in this one as well. There was enough of both to satisfy you. Action sequences along with thrilling scenes and plot twists that surely I wasn't expecting at all. The development of the story and the path it's progressing in was really smooth and the execution was a 10/10.

Friends to Lovers? CHECK
Mafia Romance? CHECK
Forbidden Romance? CHECK
Possessive/Morally Grey MMC? CHECK
Strong FMC? CHECK   

𝐏.𝐒  I finished a book around 11 at night and knew my next read was "The Emperor" I was about to start the book the next day but thought of reading the preface and one or two chapters and that my friend was the biggest mistake as I was awake till 3 A.M. completing this book!! 
As I always say this type of book is too easy to read and very hard to stop!! I have never read back-to-back two books in a setting. There will be at least hours of gap between two books or even if I start the next read, I will only read a couple of chapters but this was insane and it was alone the reason for giving it a 4.5 stars rating, rest was the cherry on the cake!!

𝐏.𝐒.𝐒 If I ever come across Dante irl, I'm saying yes to everything!!

🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🔸𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 4.21 (35737)
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆:Mafia Romance  
🔸𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒚: 🔥🔥🔥
🔸𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔: Dark Verse (Book 3)
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Holy Moly Yes!!
🔸 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔

“You’re not going to walk through life, Amara,” he uttered roughly, each word a vow that cemented itself in her heart. “You’ll dance through it. And I’ll fucking remove anyone who tries to break your rhythm. I promise you.”

“You’re my magnum opus, Amara,” he told her, pressing his forehead against hers, a move that always brought the turmoil in him to a standstill. “And I am your humble servant.”
“No,” she whispered, her words falling against his lips. “You are my emperor.”

“You're the beat to my heart, Amara.”

“You're in my blood, beating in my fucking heart. The only way you go is when the heart stops.”

“We're not a love story. We're a tragedy in the making.”

“He didn’t think she knew how much he loved her voice. In his world of gunshots and screams, her voice was a gentle prayer, evidence that there was life after the endless noise.”

“She probably didn’t realize he had matched the structure of his back dragon tattoo to match her back scars, from one hip to one shoulder. If anyone looked at their naked backs together, they would see symmetry—a dragon breathing fire across her back in mirrored structure, side by side.”

“You remember what I told you about chess pieces? That I didn’t know what piece you were?” “Yes.” He turned his neck to put his eyes on hers. “You’re the queen on the board, Amara. You’re my most powerful piece, but my most vulnerable. They get you, they get me, and the game is over. So, I’ll do whatever I need to make sure they never get you.”

“We both fucked up, Amara,” he told her, his eyes blazing. “And we’re both going to own up to it. And we’re both going to talk about this and forgive and move on. I’m not giving you a choice here. I didn’t work my ass off all these years for something trivial as lack of communication to break us.”

“He and I, we are doomed to bleed from a wound that will never heal.”

“Give me your dreams and your nightmares, your pleasure and your pain, your fantasies and your fears. Give me everything. Be my queen outside, and my filthy girl inside,” he hammered his hips into hers, his words coming out rough, gritty, raw. “And make me fucking yours, so everyone who looks at my ring knows I have you finally. Say yes, Amara.”

“You're my most precious art, my little hell-raiser, my Dante.”

“Feeling Dante’s silent presence there emboldened the strength inside her. He had always done that, since the day beside her hospital bed to this precise moment when he was pissed at her – he made her stronger, made her feel safer, made her feel supported. He was one of the biggest reasons she was as sane as she was, that she had held onto life through the worst of her trauma, that she had healed. He called her his lighthouse but he had always been hers, standing tall through the worst of the stormy nights, lighting up the dark, letting her know that shore was close”

“If there was one thing his mother had taught him right at the beginning of his life, it was emotions and that feelings were powerful. And a man who denied them out of a misbegotten sense of societal norm was a fool. There was nothing more forceful than emotion,”

“You’re mine, Amara. Mine to cherish, mine to protect, mine to love. We may not be husband and wife to the world but I have been married to you in my heart for eight years. And no matter what comes at us, we will get through it together. We build our empire together. No more running. Promise me.”

“He'll be everything dark and you're afraid of the dark, remember?”

“Fate is always weaving its threads, Dante. We just don’t see them until our eyes open.”

“It’s not where we’re planted but where we bloom that defines us.”

“Don’t ever lose your heart, my baby.”

“Dante had never noticed like a man never noticed the light of the sun until he went blind.”