I can’t be held accountable for the mistakes of my father, that wouldn’t be fair. But after his passing, demons of his past come to the surface to seek me out.
Nikolai King doesn’t care about what I think is right and wrong. Unfair, fair it’s all the same in his book. With only a few words, he’s taken away my everything and shaken it until all that floats around me are fiery ruins.
I loathe … ruins.
I loathe him. And I won’t be afraid to show it. While his sinister smirk may charm everyone else, I’m determined to hold my resolve. I see the way his eyes linger on me, like a lion licking his lips, that’ll be his downfall. I will use his greatest desires against him until he crumbles.
He will not break me down. He will not take away my fight. By the time he’s through with me, I’ll have him begging for my forgiveness.
I will not show weakness.
I will stand tall.
I will not show mercy.
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Be Mine, King by Chelsea McDonald is the first in her new mafia romance series. I think she has some great talent and I see the amazing potential in her writing style. I liked our two main characters, Nikolai and Anastasia, and I enjoyed the glimpses of a growing relationship that we got to see. And I couldn’t get enough of Achilles, the big fluffy teddy bear of a guard dog.
All that being said, I did have some issues with Be Mine, King.
The first one isn’t really a negative per say, but for a mafia romance I found this story to be incredibly gentle and almost romantic in a way. I was expecting raw, gritty, and dark. Yes there were a few moments where this does happen but it wasn’t anywhere near what I was expecting. I’m not exactly sure if that’s my fault for having these expectations or what, but take it how you want to.
The pacing was very weird for me. We would see small bursts of action or something tragic would happen and then a whole lot of nothing. Anastasia spent way too much time thinking in her room or being alone, and it became monotonous and quite simply boring. The beginning and the end were fantastic and had me hooked, but the middle was lackluster for me.
Now let’s talk about Nikolai and Anastasia. Remember when I said I enjoyed seeing the glimpses of a growing relationship? Yeah because that’s all we get. These two barely interact with each other, and considering they are the main couple it was an issue for me. What we got to see was great but I wanted so much more. From reading the blurb, I was expecting this amazing push and pull, this huge continuous fight between captive and Alpha a-hole, until something happens and they give in to passion. What I got was a five minute argument and then nothing. I thought Anastasia was going to be this boss bitch who pushed Nikolai at every turn and unfortunately I didn’t get that at all. Nikolai also wasn’t Alpha at all! Sure he will do whatever it takes to protect those he loves, including Ana, but he’s a big softy! We never got to see him be the badass we hear so much about.
With all that being said, I am invested and I want to see what happens because we are left with a huge cliffhanger. I’m really hoping to see more action, more character development, and more development between our couple. I want to see the fighter in Ana because I know she’s got it in her.
Read this if you like books with:
-mafia (but not hardcore mafia)
-slow burn romance
-captive heroine
Overall rating: 3 stars
Steaminess: 2 stars
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
You ever want to fight an author because of the cliffhanger they left you with? Well Chelsea has left this book with a bottomless cliffhanger! No clues! Only the anticipation of needing book two!
Be Mine, King is a dark mafia romance. Nikolai has wanted Ana since the night of her 16th birthday. He bid his time til her father was out of his way so he could have. Being a mafia guy he kidnaps her. There’s a few wait seriously… that just happened moments, where you realize this author is evil and you just want to take the characters from her. I’m so happy she decided to break this story into 2 books because theres so much to tell and so much more drama to witness. I cant wait for the next book!
I recieved an ARC in exchange for a honest review
Be Mine, King hooked me from page one! Nikolai and Anastasia’s story is full of murder, kidnapping, mafia goodness, romance and steam.
The moment Nikolai laid eyes on Anastasia he knew she was different, that she was meant to be his, even though she was only 16. Flash forward five years and he has the chance to finally make her his, but will everything work out as he planned?
I LOVED this book. Nikolai King is the oldest of four brothers. He is the muscle of his family. He is determined and when he finds something he wants he will do anything to get it and once he has it protect it, especially when it is Anastasia. I love his brothers, too. Though at times one is kind of jerk. I loved their family game nights. Anastasia has seen a lot in her life, she has been through a lot. She is strong, a fighter. I felt for her with everything she went through in such a short amount of time, though.
The chemistry between Nik and Ana is there from the beginning. She knows she should be afraid of him, she shouldn’t trust him, but you can’t deny the attraction. The more time they spend together it only grows and things can only be denied for so long. I loved how much they both cared for each other and wanted to be there for each other.
There were many things throughout this story that I wasn’t expecting and the ending had me wanting to through my kindle across the room! I can’t wait for the continuation of Nikolai and Ana’s story in Be My Queen! This one is a MUST READ!
I’ve never read book written by Chelsea McDonald, so „Be Mine, King” was my first meeting with this author.
And I must say that this was really good first met.
Anastasia (I love this name!) first met Nikolai (I love this name too) when she had sixteen years old. She saw him, when he was talking with her father. Nothing special, right?
Maybe, but a few years later, when Ana grown up, she visited her father and saw him dead in his own home.
Ana was kidnapped from her father’s house and she met Nikolai King the second time, but she didn’t remember him.
Nikolai remembered and he wanna catch his breath finally, because their first met took it away from him.
Is any chance than this both will have a HEA?
Wow, wow, wow! I was in this book from the first page! „Be Mine, King” started very delicate, shy, but more pages we read, more dangerous things we meet.
As I write I love the names of the heroes in this story. When I met them and read about them I loved them more and more. Anastasia is like a lost princess, but she has a devil’s horns. She is such a strong woman!
Nikolai… ah. He is so perfect. But! He has brothers! I have a little hope that Chelsea McDonald will write their stories someday too.
„Be Mine, King” is a curious book. I can’t wait to read the next book in this duet (June where are you?). The last chapters are like a mystery box. We can’t even think what we will have next. And this end? Pfff… GIVE ME NEXT BOOK!
h: Anastasia
H: Nikolai
(Dual POVs)
Anastasia is met by a few men who take her to a limousine after her father’s funeral. Nikolai is inside the limousine and doesn’t give her much of a choice except to come and live with him.
This book was okay. I thought it was pretty tame for a mafia romance. I like that Anastasia was sassy but I feel like that sizzled out the further you got into the book. Nikolai seemed very sweet and caring. He always put Anastasia’s needs first, taking care of her and making sure she was comfortable and safe.
Nikolai has had feelings for Anastasia for years and you can sense how much he cares for her. But I feel a little lost on when Ana started to reciprocate those feelings. I felt that one minute, she was snarky toward Nik and refused to play his game. Then the next minute she was desperate to be with him. I feel like I could’ve used more interaction between Nik and Ana but it seems she was either shutting herself away in her room or Nik was away at work. But I’m definitely intrigued to see how things play out in ‘Be My Queen’ after that major cliffhanger!
Favorite quotes:
Well, I had to be thankful she was seated on the chair and not hurling it at me. -Nikolai
”Probably out digging his grave. There’s been rumor of a crazy lady planning his murder.” -Nikolai
Mafia romances have never been a trope I’ve been able to get into, there are select few authors who have been able to write a Mafia romance I enjoy, and Chelsea McDonald was one of them! I was never able to connect with the characters, they always just seemed to have no connection to a personality for me. Be Mine, King was definitely the opposite. I truly enjoyed the characters and story line that I was pleasantly surprised! I will definitely be diving into more from this author and I can’t wait to read book 2!
4.5
This is the first book that I have read by this author and the first book in this series The Crown Duet #1. I didn’t really know what to expect as this is my first mafia romance I couldn’t wait to see how the story played out.
This book is a mafia romance series and has a lot going on and this is Anastasia and Nikolai’s story from the beginning. There are secrets and lies and twists and turns and I feel like this author written it great and her style of writing was awesome too.
Anastasia is a strong woman that spends quite a lot of time on her own and is a very innocent woman that has seen and also been through a lot in her life. Her father is horrible and he is very controlling of her and she knows that her father is a shady guy and when she meets Nikolai she is very wary of him to and is totally unsure if weather she should trust him or not.
Nikolai King is a man that has four brothers and he is the boss, the mafia boss and he is a very tough guy that knows what he wants and what he wants is her Ana. He sees her at 16 when collecting and he cant get her out of his mind. When some time passes and they see each other again everything is different so much stuff has and is going on. Fate has brought them back together in different under circumstances.
He is the mafia man who is actually very sweet deep down and he wants Anastasia to see that, he is very protective and also very patient with her and is willing to do what ever it takes. He knows that she is different from the moment he sees her and even though everyone sees the bad in him he wants her to see the good he has inside of him.
I feel like this author has written this story that will hold your attention that has suspense, secrets, lies and ups and downs and a totally roller coaster ride. This book has absolutely fantastic characters and the story line that this author written was so good that it holds your attention and leaves you gasping for more. The journey that theses characters go on is filled with a lot of dark moments and the chemistry that they feel between them both is so hot and there connection is strong. These characters were quite softly written to and not as dark as I first thought and this book will leave you with questions at the end to and the twists were good too. Thank you to the author for allowing me to read a copy of this book.
This is a slow burn romance book with a huge cliffhanger at the end that will leave you desperately wanting book #2 in the series NNOOOWWWW!!! LOL!
This book is out now.