I’m the right-hand man of the mafia king. She’s a girl with a past she’s desperate to hide. But I need something from her. And I know she won’t help me. Not willingly.She’ll need some persuading. Lucky for her, I can do that. Something about this girl makes me curious, though, and it’s more than the scars that line her back. She’s on the edge of something. Something bad. She’s like a perfect, … Something bad. She’s like a perfect, beautiful doll coming apart at the seams. And the last string is about to snap.
She thinks I’ll hurt her. Break her. But thing is, she’s already broken. And she and I, we’re two peas in a pod. She’s my match, the perfect opponent. She’ll fight me to the finish, but I’ll win. I always do.
Because I’m a man used to getting what I want. And what I want is her.
Author’s Note: Giovanni is a STANDALONE dark mafia romance set in the Benedetti Brothers Mafia World. It’s an emotionally gripping enemies-to-lovers romance with a hard-earned HEA.
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Oh how I love me some Giovanni… He was such a strong character. Everything that he did there was a reason behind it. Giovanni never sugar coated how he felt concening his business, personal relationships with family, and of course Emilia.
The secrets which the main characters held were rough… They had to learn to trust. I loved how Killian Black and Hugo Drake made an appearance. It made me remember good and bad moments from Captive Beauty.
There is only one word that can really describe this book and it was DIRTY, oh so dirty in a good way!!
This is an enemies to lovers romance with a lot of ugly/dirty undertones.
Giovanni needs to finds one man and he knows to do that he will go through the guys sister. However, he was not expecting Em (Emelia). Giovanni is ruthless and unforgiving in all things he does and that even includes invading Emelia’s life.
Em is trying to start her life over because of what was done to her. She is now always on high alert because she no longer trusts anyone and knows it is the only way she can survive. When Giovanni invades her life will she be able to trust again or will her life be over?
Giovanni and Emelia do not have the most logical relationship because he tends to take what he wants when he wants it. He also do not like when people do not listen to him when he tells them to listen to him. What will happen when almost every time Emelia is told to listen she does the complete opposite?
I loved this dark Mafia romance and can’t wait to see what comes out next.
Another Steamy Natasha Knight Mafia Romance!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Audio/Narration:
Romance:
Heat/Steam:
Story/Plot:
World building:
Character development:
The setting: New York City
The Hero(s): Giovanni – Mob boss who is looking for a Cartel Boss that reneged on a deal they made. The Cartel leader, Alessandro Estrella has gone into hiding.
The heroine: Emilia (Em) – sister to Alessandro Estrella, Emilia Estrella had changed her name to Em Larrea. She is out of the Cartel and is now working as a hotel manager in a small boutique hotel and she lives on her own in a nice apartment in the city.
The Love Story: Giovanni finds Em while looking for her brother Alessandro and plans to use her to find her brother. Em says she has no idea where Alessandro is or how to find him but Giovanni doesn’t believe her.
The narration on this one was just as good as Killian, the book I just read prior to this. I liked both the female and the male narrators and this book was every bit as steamy as Killian. I am really enjoying Natasha Knight’s work and plan to read more at some point. I like the Mafia stories as well. The book was as much, if not more about the relationship between Giovanni and Em than about his search for Alessandro. Though both storylines are great.
I always enjoy a great mafia read and Giovanni more than fits the bill. Giovanni Santa Maria is my favorite kind of alpha. Dark, intense and commanding he knows how to get what he wants. As the right hand man to the head of the mafia he is used to getting the job done by whatever means is necessary. The one thing he never saw coming was Emilia. The ex-Cartel princess took his world by storm and knocked it on its axis. Emilia is one strong, determined and courageous woman who intrigues Giovanni. Like recognizes like and these two broken characters take you on an angsty and emotional journey. I found myself captivated and glued to my Kindle torn between wanting to know how their story ended and trying to prolong it as much as I could. If action-packed and suspenseful mafia reads full of fiercely loyal and protective characters sounds like your kind of read then Giovanni is a must read.
Once again Natasha Knight proves why she is the queen of the dark, mafia romance.
Giovanni Santa Maria is ruthless and unapologetic, I loved the fact that his personality was larger than life and he did what needed to be done without hesitation or indecision. Meeting Emilia was more a means to an end, a way to achieve a goal. Theirs is not an insta-love story, theirs is a distrustful, slow-burn want, that grows into a fierce inferno of protection, hard earned trust and love, yes…love. Their world is dark and full of family betrayal, but as I finished the epilogue, I couldn’t help but marvel at the authenticity of these characters, damaged and broken, but their love was accepting and redefining;
“I don’t want to fix you. I’ll take you exactly as you are. All the broken pieces of you.”
The author advertises this story as a standalone, but I felt a little cheated, I really wanted a front row seat to Emilia’s brother getting what was coming to him, and Giovanni’s father was due a little ‘punishment’ in my opinion, as well. I’m hoping the author may reconsider and give us more.
The story is very intense,filled with pain, sorrow, betrayal.
I couldn’t put the book down till I finished it!
I loved Giovanni amd Emilia’s story very much.
Giovanni is sexy,dominant, dangerous and he’s one hundred percent male alpha!
I felt soo much pain, suffer from poor Emilia. She’s strong,she’s brave,she’s loyal and and despite everything that happened to her, she never lost her spirit.
When cartel princess and Mafia king meet, who can expect some mindblowing story, which will leave you speachless, in lots of tears and it’s all worth it!
Every tear, every horrible truth is worth the journey of Giovanni and Emilia, when at the end they could overcome everything and got their HEA..
Giovanni is a great book
I love all of Natasha’s mafia men. Each and everyone of them have their own special attributes, but this man and this story, will hold you victim to their charms. Giovanni is a delicious mafia delight!
Giovanni Santa Maria is the elitist of Knight’s organized crime family. This dude has some serious mafialphaness swag going on. He exudes so much animalistic manliness that I envision women’s ovaries imploding as he walks down the street. But I digress, enough of my obsession of this powerful dominating man, let’s get back to the story.
I loved Emilia’s character, she always put on a strong front and never wanted to show her weakness, her brokenness. A mafia princess that has been exiled from her title and takes every precaution to stay away from that world. Until him. Giovanni bulldozes himself into her life looking for her twin; her brother that betrayed and hurt her. She is drawn back in, reliving memories she wanted to stay buried. Giovanni swears he will keep her safe, but can he put the pieces of her and her secrets together before it’s too late?
Natasha Knight has given us a revered read with an intensity and ferocity that seizes you from the very first page. An enigmatic enemies to lovers romance set inside a cruel mafia world. In my opinion this is Natasha Knight’s best book to date, and Giovanni has taken his seat as my current BBF!!!
I loved this book!! I’m highly recommend this book to all mafia romance lovers!
This book was fantastic. There are no other words needed. You have got to read this. It was a beautiful story that was told perfectly
4.5 Stars
Review by Amy W.
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
“Just shut the fuck up and let me fuck you.”
If you are looking for a dark, hot mafia romance look no further. Giovanni by Natasha Knight is just what you need.
“I hate you.”
“Nah, you don’t hate me. You want me.”
Emilia and Giovanni have one thing in common, Alessandro. Giovanni wants to find him and Emilia wants to stay far away from him. Emilia is the only one that will be able to draw Alessandro out of hiding forcing Giovanni to use her with or without her consent.
“I don’t want to fix you. I’ll take you exactly as you are. All the broken pieces of you.”
I have to admit, I thought this started out a bit slow and I almost stopped reading. But then it got really good and picked up speed, flowing quickly to a perfect for now ending for Emilia and Giovanni.
Sunshine. That’s what he calls me.
I’m anything but, though.
I was a bit annoyed with Emilia at the beginning before I learned her story. Then, way she constantly pushed Giovanni, equal parts scared and attracted made perfect sense, and completely changed my opinion.
I’m not a good man. I know who I am, and I don’t pretend to be anyone else.
Giovanni, I have no complaints about him, well except that he should have killed a certain someone a long time ago, but that is neither here nor there. He was the perfect complement to Emilia, the only man that could handle her demons, in my opinion.
As with every book I’ve read by Natasha, I was enthralled. I didn’t want the story to end. I loved that we get to see characters from past books and how they all interact and help to make the story better. I cannot wait to see what Natasha gives us next.
Natasha Knight has outdone herself again in Giovanni. A love story of two tortured soul who deserved their happiness & who never saw it coming, very intense story, filled with pain, sorrow, anguish, & betrayal for Emilia & Giovanni. This book had me gripped from the first two sentences all the way to the end.
Fantastic!!! Action packed, suspenseful, sad and hopeful. The characters are strong, fierce, protective and loyal. The story grips you from the first page and doesnt let go untul the last page.
I loved Giovanni immediately!
The way Emilia describes him when first seeing him had me like hell yeah I want one of him!
He’s sexy, built, dominant, dangerous and he’s one hundred percent pure male alpha!
Giovanni is intrigued by Emilia and he’s determined to learn all about her.
Emilia thinks she broken but that’s so far from the truth, she’s strong, brave, loyal and her spirit is vibrant. This girl has been through hell and back and she’s still standing tall!
Something about Giovanni has gotten to her. Even though she’s wary of him, she responds to him ,which she’s not to happy about.
This is a dark, scary and thrilling read!
It’s how the mafia handle their business & how they deal with their enemies.
The story had me holding my breath at moments and smiling at incredible tender moments, had me crying at times and fanning myself at the passionate scenes.
There were points in the book that were so freaking tough to read but it’s the journey and life of Giovanni and Emilia and all that they had to endure, to overcome and triumph.
I want to know what became of that MF Alessandro? I wanted to claw his & Giovanni’s father’s hearts out.
4.5 Stars
Lord have mercy!! This book gripped me from the start and didn’t let go until I finished!! And let’s just say for the first book I’ve ever read by Natasha she’s made a very good impression! I loved the mystery of the book and trying to figure out what happened to Emilia. And I loved trying to figure out exactly what was up with Giovanni and his dad and all of that mess. And it was hot, I mean set your panties on fire hot!! I like how Emilia starts out fiery and strong and try’s to fight Giovanni at every turn but the farther into the book it seems she gets weaker and weaker and I didn’t care for that. I understand that they were getting closer but there’s a difference between letting go and being weak and I felt the latter to much and even though she has every right to break down ( read the book to find out) I think she could have held on to a little more of her strength. And that’s the only reason this isn’t a 5 Star review. But this book still rocks!!! And I highly recommend it!!! And I’m so going to be reading more of her books!!! – By Tina
If you are familiar with Natasha Knight’s Benedetti Brothers books, then you’ve probably run across Giovanni before. Now he has his own book. This book is a spinoff of that series, but you don’t have to have read that series to read this book, since it’s a standalone and any Benedettis you see are side characters.
Em has spent the past 4 years hiding. After her father died, she disappeared, but then she came back with a new name. Now her twin brother is running the cartel their father used to run, but she stays well away from it. She stays so far away from it that she even changed her name to avoid any kind of connection with her brother and the cartel.
Giovanni made a deal with Emilia’s twin brother Alessandro, who promptly turned around and screwed Giovanni over. Now he wants what he’s due. Giovanni managed to find Em and he tells her that she has one week to either tell him where her brother is or to get Alessandro to him. When Emilia tells him that she doesn’t have anything to do with him, Giovanni doesn’t believe her.
I didn’t necessarily care for Giovanni all the time in this book. There were times when I thought that Emilia should’ve just given him a dope slap with a 2×4. I get that he is an alpha type of guy, but I think that he might’ve wanted to listen to Em a little more. However, I pretty much always loved Em. I thought that she was strong and a fighter, no matter what. Yeah, there were times when she learned to accept what was going on, but she would sit and bide her time until it was time to fight, which is really smart. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and Em was able to pull me into the book.
Ladies, if you are looking for a hot as hell, mafia book boyfriend, then look no further. Giovanni is just that. He is so damn dominate, dangerous, and sexy as hell. He is the kind of alpha male that you know that you should stay away from, but you are just so drawn into him that you just can’t.
I am just so in love with this whole story. I think I fell head over heels in love with this book from the very beginning.
Giovanni is searching for revenge when he seeks out Emilia and Emilia is just trying to live a normal life away from her cartel family. Both have tortured souls which makes for such a heartbreaking story of their past. I cried for them both, felt their pain, and rooted for them to overcome their demons together. Their journey is not an easy one, but one that is so rewarding in the end.
Natasha Knight gives her readers one hell of a story with this one. She always makes me fall in love with her bad ass boys. Giovanni has got to be my favorite of all of them though. This is so worth the read and one that will make you sad to see their story end.
Happy Reading Everyone!!!
DNF. Oh man. I was almost embarrassed by the writing in this book and I didn’t even write it. Like, everything you’re ever taught when you take a creative writing class, this lady gave all those rules the finger… and not in a good way. The characters were caricatures, their dialogue bad, just so so bad. And you’re reading a non-con scene and she’s talking about how she likes it rough. I just couldn’t continue. I don’t mind dubious consent, but what I don’t like is when there has to be something “wrong” the the person who likes it.
Also, I listened to the audiobook for this book. The female narrator wasn’t bad, but the guy? Oh my gosh. If I was reading some of the stuff he had to read, I would never have gotten through it. Kudos to that guy.
I sometimes enjoy a dark romance or two and this one was a pretty decent escape from reality. It wasn’t spectacular, but I’m definitely going to try more from this author.
An intensely dark, gritty, and raw story. Giovanni is deliciously ruthless, dangerous, and dominating but when it comes to Emilia his protective nature comes into play. Emilia is strong and loyal but tortured by her past. They are two people with demons who find a common ground amongst them. They have a beautiful intensity that is exquisitely captivating. I enjoyed every single thrilling second of this story.
This is a dark and dangerous mafia romance.
This is the story of Giovanni & Emilia. This story is riveting. These two characters will floor you. It is such an intense story and keeps your eyes glued to the pages until you’re done. Such powerful characters. Such steamy scenes. Such grueling action. It is superbly written. You feel every emotion and every action. If you’re into this kind of romance, this book is definitely for you. Kudos Natasha Knight for such a surreal book. I’m looking forward to anything Natasha writes going forward.
I accepted to listen to Giovanni in exchange for an honest review from a Facebook Audiobook group. It does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I am a sucker for a mafia book. But I am one of those readers that needs to read series in order even if they are loosely connected. Drives me absolutely crazy. It wasn’t until I went to mark on Goodreads that I was reading it, that I noticed it was book 4 in this series. Had no idea. But I’m sooo happy that this was a true standalone. At least to me it didn’t spoil anything from the previous 3.
Overall, this book was amazing! I couldn’t stop listening especially the second half of the book. I kept wondering what would happen next and I couldn’t press the pause button.
Now to rewind and read the previous 3! Can’t wait to read more of Natasha’s work!!