Review by tomeaftertome - One Dark Kiss: Deluxe Special Edition

tomeaftertome 's review for:

One Dark Kiss: Deluxe Special Edition by Rebecca Zanetti

4.0

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What do you get when you slam a tech billionaire romance into a Bratva mafia fever dream, then hand the whole mess over to a sharp-tongued, high-powered lawyer FMC who doesn’t know the meaning of “back down”? Oh, and did I mention their meet-cute happens in prison—and by cute, I mean full-on, eye-lock, claim-you-on-sight, ruin-you-in-every-way-that-counts kinda energy? You get this fucking book. 🔥

This was my first time hearing this narrator duo, and let me tell you—they delivered. The female narrator? She was the FMC. I’m talking attitude, cadence, every spicy internal monologue laced with so much damn realism I kept yelling, “BABE, I WAS THINKING THAT TOO” while kicking my little feet like a lovesick criminal in solitary. 👏

The male narrator? Sexy. Gritty. Dangerous. Mostly consistent with the accent (though I clocked a few slips—could be my misophonia acting up, so your mileage may vary). But let’s be real: the man could’ve read off Russian mob tax returns and I still would’ve been swooning.

And can we talk production? RBmedia and Tantor did not play. Clean, crisp, flawless sound from start to finish. No skips, no muffles—just pure mafia madness in surround sound, baby.

Now onto the plot—because whew. This isn’t your cookie-cutter mafia romance, no sir. Zanetti throws some bold-ass twists into this thing and spices it like a five-alarm fire. The MMC? Possessive to the point of obliteration. The FMC? Firecracker wrapped in stilettos and sarcasm. Their chemistry? Violent. Unrelenting. Obscene in the best way.

I had so much fun with this listen. And if you like your billionaires a little unhinged, your mafia boys morally gray and deadly, and your heroines armed with sharp wit and sharper legal comebacks? Run, don’t walk.

Huge thanks to the author, RBmedia, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for the complimentary audiobook. Y’all… I was not ready, but I’m so damn glad I went to prison with these two.

Content Warnings