Review by enchantingreads_rosyreviews - Dom

enchantingreads_rosyreviews 's review for:

Dom by S.J. Tilly

4.5

dark emotional funny 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

Dedication: Relatives are the people we’re born with. Family are the people we chose to keep around.
Shorty, lemme tell you, this book is fantastic. It’s a mafia book, so yes, there’s a big manly man, growling possessively over his lady & he has some red flag behavior. But this is a book, so let’s just be entertained by it, yeah? I know I sure as hell was.

“Did you fucking drug me?” I snap.
Dom stares back at me. “Yes.” Then his mouth cracks into a smile. “Will you throw the ring out a window?”
“Yes.” I bite my teeth together to keep from screaming.
The man just admitted to drugging me like it’s nothing.
“Alright, then.”

I mean, don’t we all secretly want a giant, tattooed, handsome man who does some morally grey things & will confront anyone who did you harm?

I start to say more, but then my eyes flick up to the tall man beside me, and my ability to form words vanishes.
Holy fuck-me eyes.
I blink.
Scratch that. Holy fuck-me everything.
His piercing blue irises are only the beginning.
A man in a suit, with closely buzzed dark hair, a matching trimmed beard, and shoulders wide enough to sit on, is smiling down at me like he’s truly happy to be inconvenienced by crashing into me.

And this story tugs at your heartstrings as the FMC, Val, just wants a family who loves her while the MMC, Dom, tries to protect those closest to him as his heart cracks open to feel the consequences of his actions. As a curvy lady myself, I love that Val’s curvy too (which is an SJ Tilly staple, apparently).

He lowers his face.
Is he going to kiss me?
My eyes start to close before they snap back open.
He’s not going to kiss me. This isn’t a Hallmark movie. Or a porno.
He keeps lowering, though, bending down, and my eyes drop to the floor.
Oh, right, my backpack.
And my cookie.
My face heats even more.
Seriously, my brain cannot pick a lane...
Another wave of embarrassment flushes through me. Oh my god, he’s going to replace my cookie...
“Nonsense.” Dom blows off my comment as we stop behind the one other person in line. “Every flight should start with a cookie.”
I mean, I agree. Which is why I bought one for myself. But he doesn’t exactly look like the type of person who indulges in desserts...
“Make me happy, Angel.” I glance back up, finding his blue eyes locked on mine. “Let me feed you. Eat your treat.”...
Don’t go there, Val.
Tentatively, I take a bite of my cookie. When I do, I can feel his hum of appreciation where my body is pressed against his.
I think I hear him say something. Something like that’s my girl, but that can’t be right.

And the humor? Oh my gosh, it’s so funny, especially when Val nervously babbles in texts to Dom because, girl, same. Haha. Plus some of the unhinged, possessive behavior from Dom is straight up hilarious.

She looks at Rob, then back at me. “At least you got me someone hot to look at.”
I think my mouth might drop open.
Did she just call Rob hot?
My traitor of a second coughs to cover his laugh. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Please.” Val walks toward Rob. “Call me Mistress.”
This time Rob does laugh.
“The fuck he will,” I snap, moving toward the kitchen. “If anyone calls you that, I’ll slice out their tongues.”
Val pauses at the island to slip her laptop into her backpack, then rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” I repeat.

I had so much fun reading this one & I’m already excited to read more from this world!

A friend of mine told me about this book she listened to & my interest was piqued. Fast forward a few weeks (thanks to a longer-than-expected Libby hold) & I understand her excitement. She was not wrong, this audio performance is incredible! It's dual narrated, but the majority of the book is told from the FMC's POV, so Chloe did the bulk of the heavy lifting on this one (probably 85%). Jack's voice in the Dom chapters was good, but Chloe totally blew it out of the water. The comedic voice & timing? Hilarious.

“You like me covered in your baggy clothes?”
“I like you covered in my alma mater.”
My eyes widen, and I look back down at the sweatshirt. “You went to Yale?”
He stalks around the bed toward me. “Yeah, all the good schools were full.”
“I figured you stole it.” I shuffle a step back. “I didn’t know Ivy League offered gangster studies.”

The emotion as our FMC goes through her feels? Brilliant.

“I’ve done bad things, Valentine... But I’ll always be good to you.”

And her male voice? Glorious. I mean, I'm not saying I melted... but I'm not *not* saying that either.🤭

“Is there any chance you’ll let me sleep in another room?”
“No.” His answer is swift...
“Then please turn off the ceiling lights and shut the fuck up so I can sleep.” ...
“There’s a button here. Press it once to turn them on and off. Hold it down to adjust the brightness. There’s also a gun in this drawer.” I hear him tap the wood. “But you need my palm to unlock it. Because this used to be my side of the bed.” Used to be. “And I’ll shut the fuck up in a moment. But understand that you’re the only person who can get away with talking to me like that. And only in private.” He crouches before me, his chest completely bare. “I’m not sure what I’d do as punishment if you did it in public. But I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t enjoy it.”

Her performance really brought this book to life in such an entertaining way & made me like the book even more. I'm definitely a Chloe fan now.

“What else do you need?” I ask Dominic as I pick up the tray with our empty breakfast dishes off the nightstand.
He pats his palm against his bare chest while reclined on the bed. “I need you to finally do as you’re told and sit on my face.”
I don’t smile.
I won’t.
I can’t encourage this behavior. “Dominic Gonzalez, you aren’t even supposed to be home.
It’s only been three days since you almost died.”
...
“Angel, I’m not asking you to suffocate me all the way to death. I just need to taste what’s mine.” He starts to sit up. “Or you can just lay back and let me fuck you.”
I point a finger at him. “You are impossible.”
“Impossible to resist.”
Snorting, I turn away from him and walk out the door. “Watch me.”
“Always a pleasure,” he calls after me.

Let me also say, I have chronic bookish fomo, so I'm not one to pick up a book in the middle of a series. But when your girl gets excited for you to read it too, then you just dive right on in. Obviously, I don't know all of the potential jokes I could've missed, but SJ's writing never left me feeling like I missed information or was confused about one character's relationship to our main couple. It did, however, make me like the other couples from books 1 & 2, so I will definitely be reading those soon. And the ending, which leads us into book 4? 😯 Dayum!!! I'm super excited to read that book too. This was my first SJ Tilly book, but definitely not my last.😉

Content Warnings