TWISTED PRIDE
Series: The Camorra Chronicles #3
Genre: Dark Romance, Mafia
Author: Cora Reilly
Release Date: April 16, 2019
Remo Falcone is beyond redemption.
As Capo of the Camorra he rules with a brutal hand over his territory – a territory the Chicago Outfit breached.
Now Remo is out for retribution.
A wedding is sacred, stealing a bride sacrilegious.
Serafina is the niece of the Boss of the Outfit, and her hand has been promised in marriage for years, but kidnapped in her wedding dress on her way to church by Remo, Serafina quickly realizes that she can’t hope for saving. Yet, even in the hands of the cruelest man she knows, she is determined to cling to her pride, and Remo soon understands that the woman at his mercy might not be as easy to break as he thought.
A ruthless man on a quest to destroy the Outfit by breaking someone they are supposed to protect.
A woman intent on bringing a monster to his knees.
Two families that will never be the same.
Pride was the only weapon I had, and I would hold on to it until the very end.
Mafia romance is my jam. The darker, the better. And when I first saw the blurb to this story, I knew this had to be my first Cora Reilly book.
After finishing, I’ll admit I have very conflicting emotions about how I feel about it. On the one hand, I struggled to connect to the heroine and the way she was painted to be so naive and complacent in the beginning. On the other hand, the more I read, the more connected I felt to the story.
What begins as a twisted game of revenge soon begins to turn into something more. Remo and Serafina both come from the same world but they live on opposite sides of it. Where Serafina has been sheltered, Remo has seem the depths of human depravity and violence. So much so, that it’s twisted and tainted him into the Capo that he is today. The dynamic between them was a delicious one, however. I loved the push and pull of their unwanted attraction. Serbian should be a means to an end to a man like Remo. He doesn’t care about anything but his family. But there’s something about her that reaches into the hidden depths of him. It’s not instant. It’s a slow burn of realization as he discovers that Serafina isn’t the sheltered and soft beauty that she seems. That she’s got a core of strength and a pride beneath that delicate exterior. That he yearns to break her in all ways possible.
Now here is also where I struggled with the book; the characterization. It soon became apparent that I did myself a great disservice by reading this book without reading the others. There’s clearly a continuing story arc that follows the brothers, and even though the author attempts to give the reader bits and pieces, it still felt like I was missing huge chunks of their backstory. The incredible amount of redundant descriptions of Remo were a huge irritant for me. I lost count of the amount of times that I read about his cruel smile, cold voice and brutal acts. I’m not even kidding. The word cruel is used over 60 times in the book to describe either his smile, his eyes, or his general being. And yes, I counted.
Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoyed Remo’s dark depravity. But I also got tired of constantly being reminded of it. It felt like being slapped in the face with his personality. I get it! He’s cruel and brutal. Let his actions and behavior be the reminder. Not his description.
Aside from that, I really did enjoy the story. It was action-packed, gritty, and after the 30% mark, a complete page turner for me. And while I struggled with some parts, I still liked it enough to know I want to read the rest of this series. I definitely need Adamo’s story soon! That was a secondary character that I couldn’t get enough of.
BECAUSE YOU’RE MINE
When I saw that one of my favorite authors will be writing a mafia romance, I was all over it like white on rice. I didn’t even bother reading the blurb before adding it. And then when I saw the cover? I was basically frothing at the mouth to get my grabby little hands on it. Admittedly, it’s not often where a book can live up to a ridiculously hot cover for me. But not only did this book do it, it exceeded them!
Because You’re Mine was a page turner from beginning to finish. It was a sizzling, aciton-packed thrill ride full of twists and turns. I was immediately enraptured with these characters and their story.
Lorenzo oozes danger from every pore and screams heartbreak waiting to happen. But there’s something about him that draws her like a moth to a flame, and it’s not long before the fiery passion between them begins to consume them both. But they each hide dangerous secrets from each other, and it doesn’t take long before Cat’s past catches up to her in the most deadly of ways.
THIEF
Tanaka has only ever known duty and dreams. Her dream to become a ballerina, her dream to be the best one she can, it’s all within reach now. But her duty to her Italian roots and her father’s debt to another mafia syndicate soon costs her more than she knows.
A. Zavarelli definitely has a gift for writing one addicting and gritty mafia romance. She doesn’t shy away from the gory details or getting her readers way outside of their comfort zone. Nikolai is not perfect, and he makes it no secret. If you’re expecting a sweet hero in a bad circumstance that wields a gun while making googly eyes at the heroine, you’d best read another book. My one quibble with the story is the somewhat incorrect use of Russian terminology, slang, and nicknames. However, the author also clearly did her research on the Bratva and there wasn’t much Russian used here that brought out my nitpicking like it typically would.
A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author.
There is a giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card
ROCCO
REAPER
Holy.
Cross the MacKenna syndicate, and you’ll find yourself in front of The Reaper. He’s the man that handles all of the delicate and painful jobs. When someone needs eliminating, they find themselves in Ronan’s basement, their screams forever becoming a part of the cement walls. A brutal upbringing that knew only pain, Ronan doesn’t function like any other man. He’s numb. Unfeeling. He only feels rage and breathes punishment. There’s only one person that ever stirred a different reaction in him, but she’s forever off limits to a man like him.
Sasha hasn’t had an easy life herself. Taking care of her ailing mother and protecting her younger sister put her in the crosshairs of a man that changed her life irreparably. Forced into a life she never wanted and doing whatever she can to survive, she’s tired. All she wants is to leave, move to a different place where no one knows her or her past. There’s just one problem with that; Ronan is not about to let her go.
I loved this gritty and sexy dark mafia romance. The story was completely unputdownable and the characters vivid and unforgettable.
CROW
FREAKING. LOVED. Where has this series been all my life?! Or rather, where have I been living that I’m only discovering it now?!
Mackenzie “Mack” grew up hard. After losing her underground boxer father to a brutal murder by the Russian mafia, she was left with nothing but her best friend Talia. The girls became everything to each other, sisters in everything but blood. So when Talia goes missing, Mack is determined to find her. She doesn’t buy the story that she simply left with her boyfriend. And when the cops and FBI won’t listed to her, she’s determined to do it herself…by going undercover at the strip club owned by one of the most ruthless mobs in Southie. This is what lands her in the crosshairs of Lachlan Crow.
The story is downright addicting. It’s full of twists and turns and with a depraved sort of grit that kept me glued to the pages. It was violent, unapologetic, and spared no detail. And this girl? SALIVATING.
ENRAGE
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
LUCA
I was instantly sucked into the world of 
TORRID
If it’s dark, depraved, and with a splash of kinky…this girl is ALL over it. What? Why are you looking at me like that? It just so happens that I have a serious reader hard-on for the fucked up ones. And prince of the Serbian mafia, Vasilije Markovic? Oh he’s every single kind of fucked up. *pervy shudder*
Pretending to be the pawn in the game of a devil is a dangerous game, but it’s exactly where circumstances find Oksana. Hiding a secret that can cost her her life and on a mission that just as may save it, she’s playing with a man that shouldn’t be toyed with. Vasilije is cold, ruthless, and for some depraved reason in the very dark part of her mind, draws her in. There’s nothing between them but power play and kinky sex, until something more begins to develop. But can either of them survive when all the secrets finally get revealed?
BLACK SHEEP
If I said that I was an insta-fan of this author after I finished 
Each book in the Dark Desires series is a standalone in an interconnecting world. So if you’ve read the first book, you’ll appreciate Quinn’s cameo in this one 🙂
