BLACK SKIES RIVIERA
Series: Cristo Sinners #1
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Author: Catherine Wiltcher
Release Date: April 19, 2020
An arranged marriage mafia romance where love is a debt no sinner can pay…
Issa Dubova is the queen of cloudy diamonds:
A Bratva princess.
My reluctant new wife.
A pretty bargain in exchange for the names of the men who killed my father.
I’m a black suit of spades:
Determined to bury both her and my demons.
I never asked to see the shape of her heart.
I never asked for her to fill the blank spaces of mine.
But the mafia wants her secrets.
I’m not the first she betrayed.
And Issa? Sweet, not-so-innocent Issa?
She’s now a debt no sinner can pay.
Black Skies Riviera is a heart-stopping, enemies to lovers romance with NO cliff-hanger and a guaranteed HEA. For mature readers only.
Mine.” He groans it into the kiss, and I swallow down every drop of his possession like it’s my favorite poison.
This book has been on my TBR since release. I’ve been itching to read it but also putting it off. I tend to stay away from books with Russian speaking characters because if I get one more dose of google translate, I may lose it. I’m nitpicky, ok? And it’s a rare occurrence when a foreign language is done correct and not half assed in an indie published book. Le sigh. Let’s just say I have PTSD when it comes to this. But I digress. After a week of struggling through indecisive readerdosis (that’s the medical diagnosis for can’t pick a fucking book to save my life”), I settled on this one. And was immediately hooked!
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my absolute favorite stories. So any book with a nod to it will immediately hold my attention.
Fourteen years of anger and revenge driven planning. An arranged marriage of power and deception. A seemingly innocent Bratva princess and the fixer for the mob who picks no side but the one that brings him money. Yes please and thank you.
This was a story that was full of twists and turns, and while the ending was a touch predictable, it still had me at the edge of my seat.
Aiden is a ruthless business man with ties to everyone and no one. He’s given fourteen years of his life to man who helped solidify him into the brilliant criminal his is today for the promise of revenge. Two names. Two names that have kept him going and are now just one grasp away…but come with a new caveat. A marriage he doesn’t want to a woman he doesn’t know.
Issa has grown up in glass cage and had it shared when she finds out the man her father really is; the brutal head of the Bratva and a cold blooded killer. But she’ll do anything to protect her sister and her secret, even if it means paying the price of her sister’s disappearance with a marriage to a man she never saw coming.
I was immediately sucked into the story, though I did feel in times the pacing was a touch off. It was ether too quick or too slow and descriptive. But the story telling itself was gripping and well written, so it didn’t bother me much. The romance was deliciously wicked and I loved seeing the layers peeled back on both Aiden and Issa. There’s some secondary characters mentioned who I will be immediately grabbing the books for The Santiago Trilogy and A London Villain.
Sadly for the little Russian there was here, it was incorrect, though in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t bother me much because at least it was close enough. I’m just being nitpicky and it won’t even faze most readers.
If you like deliciously layered dark mafia romance, you need to read this one. I for one will be immediately grabbing the majority of this author’s backlist.
