Book: Bastiano Romano by Parker S Huntington

Genre: Romance/New Adult/Mafia

Content Warning: language, sexual situations, adult content

Summary:

…and so the cruel prince fell in love with the liar.

I love my boss.

I love a man some call a monster.

I love a man more accustomed to cruelty than kindness.

But we both have our duties.

We both have our laws.

We both have our worlds.

Two worlds never meant to touch.

Two destinies meant to fail.

Two people never meant to fall in love.

A mafia prince.

And the undercover agent sent to ruin him.

My Thoughts:

Fate: the development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. It also happens to be something this book reader believes makes love stories epic.

And boy was this love story epic.

The Story:

Tale as old as time. Two unlikely people meet in an unusual way. They aren’t meant to work. They can’t work. But they do. Somehow, against the odds, they do. Lies, truths, heartache, and bliss fill the pages of this book. A mafia story that goes beyond the cliches and the stereotypes of that genre. It’s just so much… more.

The Relationship:

“He tasted like demons. Ours. Intertwined. Mated in something we couldn’t control.”

Bstiano and Ari are one of the few book couples that I found myself smiling in the familiarity of their relationship— the way they’re friendship blossomed into something more, the lust that started with a spark and ended with a fire, every smirk and snarky comment paving the way to their happily ever after.

They stole my heart as I read and their story came to life before my very eyes.

There’s something special in the way Parker S Huntington could create such an authentic and believable couple in such a contrasting setting. Most mafia romances are drastic, dramatic, full of flare. But this relationship reminded me of my own. I could relate to their story as if they were just another couple walking down the street. I love that. It takes someone who knows their art to successfully write in such a way. Clearly, Parker S Huntington has studied and practiced her craft until she came to this point.

The Characters:

BASTIANO ROMANO:

“She was either severely allergic to me or obsessed with me.” — Chapter Six

“You’re the on’y good thing about my day.” — Chapter Twenty Two

Oh, Bastian. You wonderfully terrible jerk, you. Like many of you know, I like my dudes a little on the… well, jerky side (Come on, y’all. You know I gotta keep it G here). He’s alpha in a way that will have your face flushing, broken in a way that will make you want to pick up his pieces and glue them back together (while throwing a certain ex of his off the Empire State Building), and romantic in a way that will have you swooning like one of those chicks in bodice-ripper romances. He’s just enough devil to question your sanity, and just enough angel to remind you that you’re perfectly sane.

Plus he’s hilarious. Like truly, hilarious. The amount of weird looks I got from reading this book around people is a testament to the fact that I laughed out loud… A LOT.

ARIANA DE LUCA:

“I was no one and everyone at once.

A lair.

A con.

A traitor.

A Distraction.

A savior.

His.”

She’s so relatable. So stinking relatable. She’s just a young woman who is trying to figure out who she is in this crazy thing we call life. I mean, it doesn’t help that she’s an undercover agent where “self-discovery” is a little hard to do. But just because she’s trying to find herself, she doesn’t let it stop her from being a total BA heroine. She’ll kick butt and take names without bashing her beautiful eyelashes. She’s sexy and driven and can keep up with her boss turned friend turned lover’s quips. She’s what every good heroine needs to be— especially when she’s standing next to a mega-alpha Hero. She’s not timid or shy or bashful. She looks Bastian in the eye and with a quirk of her eyebrow can bring our bad boy to his knees.

She’s kind of my hero. Like can I be Ariana?

Over-All Reading Experience:

It’s a swoony, mafia slow-burn that will steal your time, mind, and heart. It’s one of those books that you’ll flip to the beginning and say, “Let’s do that again.”

AUDIOBOOK:

Parker S. Huntington has audio for all of her books. Check out Audible!

AUTHOR LINKS:

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