A review by theladysparks
Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

4.0

 

Doctor Kal Anderson believes he once had a heart, but he can't pinpoint when – perhaps before witnessing his mother's battle with cancer or before being taken in by Boston's most notorious criminal family. Now, at thirty-two, he views his heart as merely a mechanical organ. His detached demeanor serves him well as a fixer and in-house doctor for the Mafia, providing unbiased and swift decisions. Everything changes when Elena Ricci, his boss's twenty-year-old daughter, enters the scene. Elena, brave and accustomed to violence, becomes a growing temptation for Kal. After a night of passion, Elena evolves from a temptation to a necessity for Kal. Despite crashing her wedding, making her his wife, and taking her to his corrupt island, Elena starts to melt Kal's icy exterior. However, the revelations that follow may not justify the newfound warmth and darkness of her new husband, altering lives forever.

“How I’d drag her to the depths of Hell but convince her she’d gone to Heaven, using my tongue to write wordless poetry on her sensitive, swollen flesh.”

Mafia romance is not my go-to genre when I'm looking for romance, but this one? Absolutely iconic and I cannot recommend it enough. I picked this up because Faecrate did a special edition set of them and because I have FOMO, I snatched them up and hoped for the best. Once they came in, I immediately downloaded the audiobook for the first book and it did not disappoint. Sav R. Miller writes in such a gorgeous way that made it impossible for me to put it down.

Elena was a lovely FMC. What made her super relatable was essentially how it was implied that she did a lot of people pleasing and that she tried to do things (like get into fights and stuff) to win her father's approval. The dynamic between Elena and her mother hit me where it hurt from start to end. I loved that Elena didn't shy away from that bit of darkness she had inside of her.

Kal was great, I think my favorite aspect is that he provided Elena with room to grow into herself and once she did, she blossomed. Their dynamic and the back and forth was sooooo good. A lot of tension and banter. And I absolutely LOVED the epilogue for this one.

I'm super excited to continue with the Monsters & Muses series!

- dark mafia romance
- hades / persephone vibes
- forced marriage
- blood play
- soft for only her
- age gap
- forced proximity
- touch her and die