Vince Morelli.The closest I ever wanted to get to him was several rows away in English class. We’d never spoken, but of course I heard the stories about his family. I know they’re dangerous. I know he’s dangerous. Vince never had a reason to notice me, anyway—until I inadvertently witnessed his first mob hit.His family doesn’t believe in leaving witnesses alive, but Vince seems different. He … Vince seems different. He knows the best thing he can do for me is stay away, but something keeps drawing us together. Despite knowing the risks of getting mixed up with him, I can’t resist. Only problem is, Vince is a package deal—you don’t get him without getting swept up in his family’s dark games.
Now entangled with a notorious Chicago crime family, will my life ever be mine again?
Note: This is NOT NA romance.
Obligatory trigger warning: While not wholly dark, this is at its core a DARK ROMANCE. There are no knights in shining armor to be found here.
Sensitive content not recommended for those under 18, or those who loathe the dark romance genre.
This is not a series of standalones; the characters introduced in this book are involved in the continuing story.
more
“I wish we could stay like this forever. I know we can’t, but looking into his eyes, I vow to enjoy every second I can. Maybe it won’t be normal, but whatever it is, it’ll be ours. Right now, that seems like enough.”
I thought I knew what I was getting into….seemed pretty simple…at first. Mia accidentally sees something, insert Vince, from a mafia family and an unlikely relationship ensues. Not even close to your everyday read, nope. The mind twist that comes next had me re-thinking my sanity and falling in love with this series. Vince gave me the warm, fluttery feels, even with his connection to darker things. Mateo? He was the darker thing, and I fell head over heels with his evil manipulation and tornado-like charisma. This isn’t a bad boy, this might be THE bad boy. The Author wasn’t lying about the dark content, and I ate it up with a spoon. Still trying to understand how the Author caused me to root for the monster, to want him to win, and I’ll tell you why. Mateo is just that hot, wrong, forbidden, and just his pull is something you can’t fight, even as a reader. I will not miss a word of this series, and you shouldn’t either. I thank my lucky stars the Author allowed me to voluntarily review, although this whole series will be bought and hoarded.
~~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
REVIEW OF THE STORY:
Unlike any of the many organized crime/mafia romances I’ve read, this one is about a teenage member who is born into the family. He tries to keep his mob family separate from the girl he’s interested, primarily because he knows his cousin, Mateo, can make both of their lives miserable. Or worse. However, there’s a $hit ton of chemistry between the two teens which inevitably leads to a super exciting, steamy, unpredictable story!
I was on the edge of my seat while reading this entire book, the suspense starting literally from page 1!! In the very first chapter, Mia accidentally witnesses a crime, explaining the title and kicking off a story filled with adrenaline!!! I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
The story was very well edited, well written and flowed seamlessly. However, this book would have been even better if it was proofread (again?). For details on the proofreading issues, continue reading below. Otherwise, this is where my review ends!!!
REVIEW OF EDITING/PROOFREADING:
There were typos spellchecker would never catch such as always using INTO although it should’ve been IN TO, ONTO instead of ON TO, MIGHT although it should’ve been MAY, THAT instead of WHO, IN when it should’ve been ON, HORN instead of HOME, and AND although it should’ve been TO.
There were several sentences with extra words (for example, “…probably especially because…”), sentences that didn’t make sense (for example, “When he does speak, however, he says, “That’s a good point.”), and sentences with the wrong word (for example, “If he couldn’t have tricked her into docility, he would have hurt her.”).
Ellipses we’re not spaced as dictated by the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) which says that there should be a space on BOTH sides of the ellipses. Not only was this not done, but… Four space two different ways (for example, “hear…whatever” and, “but… well”). Semicolons were not always used to separate two COMPLETE sentences like they are supposed to, and the FANBOYS comma rule was omitted.
Unfortunately, there were quite a few commas that were not grammatically needed and did not appear to be placed where The author wanted there to be a pause (for example, “Why, oh why, oh why” AND, “He turns to me, but doesn’t speak.”). On the other hand, there were also several commas missing that should’ve been there according to the the Chicago Manual of Style. Coordinating conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence always had a comma following them even though they shouldn’t have, and rules regarding commas and the word OH we’re not observed (for example, “Oh good” should’ve been, “Oh, good). When THOUGH was the last word in the sentence, it only occasionally had a comma before it, although a comma should have been inserted every time or never. Same with TOO. Also, the words OF COURSE and THOUGH we’re not surrounded by commas when in the middle of a sentence.
I was very excited after the reading the blurb. Mateo Morelli was a very manipulative man. Vince and Mia were young and still had no clue what they want..The storyline were going everywhere with no direction. It has a promise possibilities. This book just wasnt enough hype for me.
Oh my god, I love this book. This whole series. This author. I put it off because, and I know this is stupid, the cover came off more “suspense” than “dark romantic suspense” to me. I now see the error of my ways! What a great loss if I hadn’t taken the plunge! Now I read everything this author writes, “follow” (stalk) her on social media in pursuit of news or extra bits of content (which she gives in her Facebook group, by the way), and basically can’t get enough. And it all started with THIS BOOK.
The build up of the interactions between Vince and Mia is hot, and the suspense of “does he know” (yeah, he does), “does his family know?” (yeah, they do), and more kept me flying through the pages to see what happened next. The games his family plays are just… diabolical.
I love that this author really embraces the dark side. Some authors in this genre dip their toe into the dark pool. Sam Mariano goes running past those weenies and does a cannonball right into the deep end, jackknife leg and all.
If you are a fan of the dark romance/dark suspense genre like I am (“fan” is putting it mildly) then you will love this book. Also, make sure you have a LOT of free time so you can immediately move on to the remaining books in the series. Because you will. You’re welcome for the warning.
This book is the first of its kind that I’ve read and OMG! I couldn’t take it when it ended. So I moved on to book 2. Again! The deleted scene attached was like a knife twisted in my heart.
Such great characters. So much darkness.
I DEVOURED this book in ONE day. ONE DAY! It was unputdownable! There was no putting the breaks on this train once it started going and I plan on just trucking right along into the next book because I NEED to know where this story is going.
The book is quick right from the get-go and has your intrigue hooked. I am typically not a mafia storyline type of reader, but Sam pulled me right into The Morelli world from the first chapter. My feelings towards a certain character in this book were ALL OVER the place. One minute I was like this: *insert ANGRY WAVING HAIR BRUSH gif* and then I was like *insert I WANNA MAKE BABIES WITH YOU gif*. I am anticipating that this will be a typical reaction to him throughout this series and I can’t wait! I love characters that pull out those types of emotions from me.
Of course we end on a plot twist, so my craving to jump into book 2 is intense! I want to know more about this Morelli family and their twisted mafia ways.
5 stars
***Trigger warning. This book does have some darker moments in it that could be considered a trigger. We are dealing with the mafia afterall.
Mateo is one twisted crime boss! I really like this and look forward to reading more!
My thoughts on this book are conflicting. I really enjoyed it, but I had some major issues with it as well. This review will contain spoilers, please be aware.
First what I considered the positives of this story: the writing style and flow of this book was great. It was a seamless story that was easy to read and difficult to put down. I loved the the characters and the introduction if an anti-hero. I also liked that this was a complete story with the main couple but could easily folw into the next book in the series; that as a reader I could stop with this story and not feel like anything was missing.
Now the negatives (spoilers): I am completely uncomfortable with the way that rape was used and dealt with in this story. It was, in my opinion, a throw away issue and not taken seriously. It was used as a game in the story. Then the woman that was raped allowed the man to have sex with here again for a house, it was to be mutual this time. It just felt wrong and disrespectful to victims in real life.
I did enjoy this story and will read more from both this author and in this series. I would have liked more with the two main characters, because this story almost felt more like a set up to book 2, Mateo’s story rather then Vince and Mia’s story.
Go ahead I dare you…..I don’t know if I have the words to explain how riveting this series is….This is the first book which is where you should start( unlike me lol), Every book has an ending but it leads into one big wonderfully engrossing world of Mateo Morelli. Never read a series like this one. He is definitely the villian but I wanted him to get that one person who at least softens his edges a little. You will be amazed at how devious his mind is as you read through each book. Go ahead I dare you….Happy reading
This book was amazing. So twisted and original. Did not expect the plot twists. Can’t wait to read book 2!
This is my first book by Author Sam Mariano. One that I could not put down.
Mia is a high school student who spends her time going to school and babysitting her younger siblings. Being raised by a single mother who works and spends time with her boyfriend, rather than taking care of her children. One night Mia witnesses something that will change her life forever.
Vince is in the Morelli family, known for their relationship in the mafia. When Vince meets Mia, he tries so hard to keep Mia out of the ‘family’.
With a leader like Mateo, no one is safe. He is the master manipulator. Making you submit to doing things you never imagine doing. He truly believes that everyone is out to get him and will stop at nothing to test everyone.
Can’t wait to dive into the next book and read all about Mateo’s story!!
This is my personal view of the book. I’m sure that other people will love this book but it just wasn’t the story for me. I have read and loved other dark books but then the ‘bad’ guy was always the guy the heroine felt for, it was never his uncle. And the things that he did to her. It’s just not my cup of tea.
I think that part of the problem was that I started this book thinking that Vince would be the ‘bad’ guy but the more I read the nicer I found him! I was a little confused about that.
So I liked the first part of the story where Mia and Vince met and felt for each other but the moment that the uncle entered into the story , it totally changed. And so did my feelings for this book.
This story was just a little bit to twisted for me.
Loved the story and the characters . Writing was awesome.