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Beneath the Mask #1
Distance
Keller From a poor, underground street fighter, I rose to fame as the world heavyweight boxing champion.
No one knew I was also a monster who hunted in the shadows.
Trapped in the mafia until my debts were paid.
A simple deal held my freedom- unify my belts.
It seemed simple until an enchanting British firecracker landed on my lap, knocking me sideways.
Wanting her was dangerous for us both, but I took her anyway.
Leaving me with the choice, fight for my freedom or hers.
When the truth is unmasked, could she still love me?
Would love be enough to battle our demons and come out on top? Sienna Newly single and focusing on building my life in New York, I’ve sworn off men for the foreseeable.
No one had ever stuck around long enough to let me believe in fairytales anyway.
That was until him.
He tried to hide himself from me but I couldn’t stay away.
When the mask shattered and the truth was revealed, could I still stay?
Even if it meant my life was at stake.
Could we get past our fear of love and fight for our Happily Ever After?
Distance is book 1 in the Beneath The Mask Series, a series of standalone dark mafia romances. Distance is a mafia cross sports romance, full of spice and suspense.
No one knew I was also a monster who hunted in the shadows.
Trapped in the mafia until my debts were paid.
A simple deal held my freedom- unify my belts.
It seemed simple until an enchanting British firecracker landed on my lap, knocking me sideways.
Wanting her was dangerous for us both, but I took her anyway.
Leaving me with the choice, fight for my freedom or hers.
When the truth is unmasked, could she still love me?
Would love be enough to battle our demons and come out on top? Sienna Newly single and focusing on building my life in New York, I’ve sworn off men for the foreseeable.
No one had ever stuck around long enough to let me believe in fairytales anyway.
That was until him.
He tried to hide himself from me but I couldn’t stay away.
When the mask shattered and the truth was revealed, could I still stay?
Even if it meant my life was at stake.
Could we get past our fear of love and fight for our Happily Ever After?
Distance is book 1 in the Beneath The Mask Series, a series of standalone dark mafia romances. Distance is a mafia cross sports romance, full of spice and suspense.
428 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2023
10467 people are currently reading
66172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,702 reviews
March 8, 2023
wdym by “distance”
March 24, 2024
dnf at 68%
about 60% of these 68% was this man talking about how hard his dick was. this man could get a hard-on just by bird-watching at this point. it was insufferable.
about 60% of these 68% was this man talking about how hard his dick was. this man could get a hard-on just by bird-watching at this point. it was insufferable.
April 8, 2023
Well I downloaded this book after reading a snippet on booktok. I can't really be mad but I still am.
The story is dragging mindlessly. Writing style is nothing worth writing home about. Characters though easy to like are yet so unrealistic you feel like you are watching Disney barbie show. And I have watched some good barbie shows in my childhood. It was so out of realms for me I felt like I was entertaining some nonsense and waiting for it to return to reality but writer won't stop.
You can find every cliche out there just to make story crawl forward. She saw pictures of him with another woman and runs away. He grovels. She some thing again and runs away and he begs again. Same thing again and again...
If you read smut then there is nothing in this one to talk about. I skipped multiple pages because there was no progress in story but boring sex explained for multiple pages ....
I feel like people write good sex scenes and then see how can we turn into story. That's what porn is for. 😮💨🙄🙄
The story is dragging mindlessly. Writing style is nothing worth writing home about. Characters though easy to like are yet so unrealistic you feel like you are watching Disney barbie show. And I have watched some good barbie shows in my childhood. It was so out of realms for me I felt like I was entertaining some nonsense and waiting for it to return to reality but writer won't stop.
You can find every cliche out there just to make story crawl forward. She saw pictures of him with another woman and runs away. He grovels. She some thing again and runs away and he begs again. Same thing again and again...
If you read smut then there is nothing in this one to talk about. I skipped multiple pages because there was no progress in story but boring sex explained for multiple pages ....
I feel like people write good sex scenes and then see how can we turn into story. That's what porn is for. 😮💨🙄🙄
February 20, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (ARC review)
''I am the monster people kneel before''
Safety warnings:
- No cheating
- No OW drama
- OM drama
- Violence/torture/d*ath
- Drug/alcohols abuse
- Physical abuse
- Child neglect
- HEA
The book starts off with our FMC Sienna walking in on her fiancé cheating on her. Thankfully she walks away from that view and from him for good but of course he wants to weasel his way back to her. We find out some pretty disturbing things about him and it makes you wonder for a while why he is acting the way he is and also why he refuses to give up when it is clearly over. Especially as there is NO love left between these two and the reveal is an eye opener.
Keller was everything, he was massive and tattooed. Our mafia enforcer who is also a really famous boxer. They instantly have chemistry, and the spice starts off pretty early so this is by no means a slow burn romance. He already feels protective of her and does everything he can to keep her safe, not only from her ex but from the mafia ties he is connected to.
This book was the perfect combination of spice and plot. I don’t want to give too much away as everyone who decides to read this should try to go in blind.
The only thing I have to say is that the book could of been shorter but that's really it.
I'm looking forward to reading the second book about two very intriguing side characters.
''I am the monster people kneel before''
Safety warnings:
- No cheating
- No OW drama
- OM drama
- Violence/torture/d*ath
- Drug/alcohols abuse
- Physical abuse
- Child neglect
- HEA
The book starts off with our FMC Sienna walking in on her fiancé cheating on her. Thankfully she walks away from that view and from him for good but of course he wants to weasel his way back to her. We find out some pretty disturbing things about him and it makes you wonder for a while why he is acting the way he is and also why he refuses to give up when it is clearly over. Especially as there is NO love left between these two and the reveal is an eye opener.
Keller was everything, he was massive and tattooed. Our mafia enforcer who is also a really famous boxer. They instantly have chemistry, and the spice starts off pretty early so this is by no means a slow burn romance. He already feels protective of her and does everything he can to keep her safe, not only from her ex but from the mafia ties he is connected to.
This book was the perfect combination of spice and plot. I don’t want to give too much away as everyone who decides to read this should try to go in blind.
The only thing I have to say is that the book could of been shorter but that's really it.
I'm looking forward to reading the second book about two very intriguing side characters.
April 24, 2023
DNF @ 12%
I'm sorry, I know this is a debut novel but I was barely able to read these first 50 pages due to the grammatical errors and cringy dialogue/monologue. So many missing commas and spelling errors (Salvatore as in Damon and Stefan Salvatore is spelled wrong on PAGE 1!), combined with simple prose and unrealistic plot points (solid gold tables at a club, FMC taking 6 shots back to back and still drinking afterwards, her ex showing up at the club harassing her and literally no one except for the MMC stands up to him - she literally thinks "where is Madison?" AKA the girl she was literally just dancing with!). I saw this on TT and was super intrigued but holy shit, this needed some HEAVY editing. Again, it's a debut novel and I have a certain threshold I can tolerate for editing errors but these were so distracting I couldn't go any further.
I'm sorry, I know this is a debut novel but I was barely able to read these first 50 pages due to the grammatical errors and cringy dialogue/monologue. So many missing commas and spelling errors (Salvatore as in Damon and Stefan Salvatore is spelled wrong on PAGE 1!), combined with simple prose and unrealistic plot points (solid gold tables at a club, FMC taking 6 shots back to back and still drinking afterwards, her ex showing up at the club harassing her and literally no one except for the MMC stands up to him - she literally thinks "where is Madison?" AKA the girl she was literally just dancing with!). I saw this on TT and was super intrigued but holy shit, this needed some HEAVY editing. Again, it's a debut novel and I have a certain threshold I can tolerate for editing errors but these were so distracting I couldn't go any further.
February 21, 2024
You know when u eat something and it leaves the most disgusting taste in your mouth and you can't get rid of it? This books is that for me.
Top cringy things : their messages to each other was so bad I wanted to throw myself off a cliff.
Insta lust and the plot was so disappointing not even that could keep me interested. I'm not gonna even talk about it, I refuse to talk about this 😭
The audiobook made it WORSE. I don't want to hear or see this again .
Top cringy things : their messages to each other was so bad I wanted to throw myself off a cliff.
Insta lust and the plot was so disappointing not even that could keep me interested. I'm not gonna even talk about it, I refuse to talk about this 😭
The audiobook made it WORSE. I don't want to hear or see this again .
April 5, 2023
I’m so…Disappointed? Annoyed?
This plot had so much potential. Sports AND mafia. I mean cmon, bread and butter. It could have been so good.
1. THE GRAMMAR. I COULDN’T GET PAST IT. I almost DNF’d because the grammar was so bad. It went beyond missing commas and misspellings. I’m talking about straight up using words that didn’t make sense in the context they were being used. There were moments I found myself thinking, “was this book originally written in a different language?”
2. The NICKNAMES. Oh don’t even get me started on the nicknames!! Champ? Goddess? Queen? 🤮
3. The LACK of “darkness” despite the characters talking about how much darkness there is. There were literally 3 scenes the entire book where the MMC did anything mafia/criminal related.
4. The characters and the subplots just didn’t make sense. I have so many questions:
Why did Keller have to win the fight to get his freedom from the mafia?
Why does Maddie not care that she is constantly picking her best friend up off the floor? Their relationship seems very one sided
Why was Keller’s hoodie full of blood?
What happened to the guy he never finished torturing?
Just…ugh. 2.5 stars is the best I can give here. I was really excited for the boxing/mafia twist.
This plot had so much potential. Sports AND mafia. I mean cmon, bread and butter. It could have been so good.
1. THE GRAMMAR. I COULDN’T GET PAST IT. I almost DNF’d because the grammar was so bad. It went beyond missing commas and misspellings. I’m talking about straight up using words that didn’t make sense in the context they were being used. There were moments I found myself thinking, “was this book originally written in a different language?”
2. The NICKNAMES. Oh don’t even get me started on the nicknames!! Champ? Goddess? Queen? 🤮
3. The LACK of “darkness” despite the characters talking about how much darkness there is. There were literally 3 scenes the entire book where the MMC did anything mafia/criminal related.
4. The characters and the subplots just didn’t make sense. I have so many questions:
Why did Keller have to win the fight to get his freedom from the mafia?
Why does Maddie not care that she is constantly picking her best friend up off the floor? Their relationship seems very one sided
Why was Keller’s hoodie full of blood?
What happened to the guy he never finished torturing?
Just…ugh. 2.5 stars is the best I can give here. I was really excited for the boxing/mafia twist.
August 10, 2023
DNF
I couldn’t make it past the 30% mark (and I only read till there cause I forced myself to make sure).
The writing was beyond cliche, beyond bad. The characters were like caricatures and so so cringe in their thoughts, dialogue and actions.
I don’t have one good thing to say about this.
I couldn’t make it past the 30% mark (and I only read till there cause I forced myself to make sure).
The writing was beyond cliche, beyond bad. The characters were like caricatures and so so cringe in their thoughts, dialogue and actions.
I don’t have one good thing to say about this.
August 15, 2023
The reason the book is called distance is cause you need to distance yourself from this book and not pick it up 😁👍🏻
May 3, 2023
Distance? 👀
Well… keine Ahnung warum ich das Buch überhaupt beendet habe. Es war alles so klischeehaft, die Dialoge waren schlecht, cringe und unglaubwürdig.
Besonders die zwischen den „Brüdern“. Jeder Satz wurde mit „Brother“ beendet und es war so… repetitiv.
Keller: Hallo Brother, wie geht’s dir Brother?
Luca: Mir geht’s gut Brother, kannst du ein paar Leute für mich killen Brother.
Keller: Ja, klar. Ich denke aber ich muss mich von ihr trennen, weil ich so böse bin Brother.
Luca: Oh nein, Brother! Du bist voll der Gute Mensch nur der Umstand hat dich zu einem Hitman gemacht. Chill mal Brother.
Der Start der Geschichte war eigentlich echt ganz lustig aber es hat immer stärker abgenommen.
Well… keine Ahnung warum ich das Buch überhaupt beendet habe. Es war alles so klischeehaft, die Dialoge waren schlecht, cringe und unglaubwürdig.
Besonders die zwischen den „Brüdern“. Jeder Satz wurde mit „Brother“ beendet und es war so… repetitiv.
Keller: Hallo Brother, wie geht’s dir Brother?
Luca: Mir geht’s gut Brother, kannst du ein paar Leute für mich killen Brother.
Keller: Ja, klar. Ich denke aber ich muss mich von ihr trennen, weil ich so böse bin Brother.
Luca: Oh nein, Brother! Du bist voll der Gute Mensch nur der Umstand hat dich zu einem Hitman gemacht. Chill mal Brother.
Der Start der Geschichte war eigentlich echt ganz lustig aber es hat immer stärker abgenommen.
March 22, 2023
I’m not sure if the book I read was different than everyone else’s considering the reviews but this book was so cringy. There was nothing dark about it. The word I would use to describe this book would be dull not dark. I never Dnf a book but this was torture to read through. I wouldn’t even consider this book morally grey. Both characters were annoying and the book is suppose to be about this heartless alpha that sleeps with women and throws them away but the first chapter he’s completely obsessed and different then the rest. She was Meek and he was just so cringe.
November 2, 2025
30% of the way through i wanted a gun to just do the job myself and you know what it didn’t get better from there
February 2, 2024
DNF al 52%
Questo libro rientra nella narrativa erotica, che è ok se è quello che state cercando, ma non è proprio il mio. Trama inesistente e instant love che non sarebbe credibile nemmeno in un fantasy.
Ogni capitolo è strutturato al fine di portare i protagonisti ad incontrarsi e avere un rapporto sessuale; al terzo "fortuito caso" ho cominciato a ridere. Davvero tutto molto surreale.
Questo libro rientra nella narrativa erotica, che è ok se è quello che state cercando, ma non è proprio il mio. Trama inesistente e instant love che non sarebbe credibile nemmeno in un fantasy.
Ogni capitolo è strutturato al fine di portare i protagonisti ad incontrarsi e avere un rapporto sessuale; al terzo "fortuito caso" ho cominciato a ridere. Davvero tutto molto surreale.
April 14, 2023
This took me four days to finish… the writing wasn’t my style & it seemed all too unrealistic. Hoping the second book is better.
February 21, 2024
430 pages but only 50 pages of plot. (And that's me being generous.)
Like, ehem, wasn't this supposed to be a mafia romance? Where's the mafia?
Oh and don't get me started on the timeline. Timeline: 3 weeks before Christmas. Sienna: I love Christmas. Timeline: One month later. 🙃🙃🙃 This happened so many times.
Also... what distance? They were like stage five clingers in 30 seconds. Like a dog with peanut butter on its tongue stuck. There ain't no distance.
Also also... I don't wanna see the words "juices" and "lapping" for a while. That was excessive.
Also also also... these folks are supposed to be 26 & 29 and their maturity = what I'd envision is the size of a snail's brain (if they even have one). Utterly ridiculous. Like I'm here for the fun, whatever smutty reads. But this was cringe.
LASTLYYYYYY... my three least favorite tropes presented themselves.
I mean, at least their names were hot: Keller, Sienna, Luca, Grayson, Madison.
Like, ehem, wasn't this supposed to be a mafia romance? Where's the mafia?
Oh and don't get me started on the timeline. Timeline: 3 weeks before Christmas. Sienna: I love Christmas. Timeline: One month later. 🙃🙃🙃 This happened so many times.
Also... what distance? They were like stage five clingers in 30 seconds. Like a dog with peanut butter on its tongue stuck. There ain't no distance.
Also also... I don't wanna see the words "juices" and "lapping" for a while. That was excessive.
Also also also... these folks are supposed to be 26 & 29 and their maturity = what I'd envision is the size of a snail's brain (if they even have one). Utterly ridiculous. Like I'm here for the fun, whatever smutty reads. But this was cringe.
LASTLYYYYYY... my three least favorite tropes presented themselves.
I mean, at least their names were hot: Keller, Sienna, Luca, Grayson, Madison.
June 18, 2023
ARC REVIEW
“This isn’t just a fuck, Sienna. I want to worship your body. I want to show you how crazy I am for you, how much I love you.”
Insta-lust? Check.
Smutty bookish fmc? Check.
Full body tattooed mmc? Check.
A magnetic chemistry? Check.
Drama, drama and more DRAMA? Triple check.
I wish it was already release day so I could tell y’all to run over to ku and read it. I need more people to talk to about Keller fucking Russo! This big rock of a man, is a big ‘ole softie underneath it all, and I want nothing more than to be his Princess.
Keller and Sienna have a magnetic energy, and try as hard they might, nothing can keep them apart. When I was reading, my focus was solely on the words in this book. I had tunnel vision and only stopped reading because I was already falling asleep, or because I had to (unfortunately) work. I can’t wait to read book two - Luna Mason has found a fan in me!
“This isn’t just a fuck, Sienna. I want to worship your body. I want to show you how crazy I am for you, how much I love you.”
Insta-lust? Check.
Smutty bookish fmc? Check.
Full body tattooed mmc? Check.
A magnetic chemistry? Check.
Drama, drama and more DRAMA? Triple check.
I wish it was already release day so I could tell y’all to run over to ku and read it. I need more people to talk to about Keller fucking Russo! This big rock of a man, is a big ‘ole softie underneath it all, and I want nothing more than to be his Princess.
Keller and Sienna have a magnetic energy, and try as hard they might, nothing can keep them apart. When I was reading, my focus was solely on the words in this book. I had tunnel vision and only stopped reading because I was already falling asleep, or because I had to (unfortunately) work. I can’t wait to read book two - Luna Mason has found a fan in me!
April 1, 2023
Was written in a very juvenile way and was very inta-love/
Insta-lust and at times it was too cringy
Skimmed a lot and it was still predictable.
The PROPERTY OF SIENNA tattoo did it for me 💀
Insta-lust and at times it was too cringy
Skimmed a lot and it was still predictable.
The PROPERTY OF SIENNA tattoo did it for me 💀
Read
April 9, 202340% Dnf
Grammar mistakes and wayyyyy tooo insta love for me bye
Grammar mistakes and wayyyyy tooo insta love for me bye
November 1, 2023
I've read better books written by 15yr olds on Wattpad.
♥️
At first I wanted to describe this book as Wattpad but then remembered how good Wattpad is.
The story is so... fast paced and messy and all over the place.
The characters are chaotic in not a nice way. The book really felt very draft.
It was your classic old I found the girl in the club it's going to be a one night stand, the heroine's ex is a stalker and he gangs up with the enemies of the heroes to take her and the hero saves her.
Also my three quotes to tell yall about this book.
“What is it? Like thirty centimeters or something?” I ask, quickly trying to calculate how that would fit inside me if I am right.
“I don’t have a clue what that is, but mines eleven inches, Baby.”
eleven inches people. Eleven.
Dinner is by far one of the most incredible meals I’ve ever had in my mouth. Well, bar his cock, but that doesn’t count.
I can promise you a good meal is always better than having a dick in your mouth. And if you see me THAT down bad for a man I talk about his dick like that. I want y'all to shoot me.
Resting just above his cock, in a beautiful dark font reads “PROPERTY OF SIENNA”.
*sigh*
♥️
At first I wanted to describe this book as Wattpad but then remembered how good Wattpad is.
The story is so... fast paced and messy and all over the place.
The characters are chaotic in not a nice way. The book really felt very draft.
It was your classic old I found the girl in the club it's going to be a one night stand, the heroine's ex is a stalker and he gangs up with the enemies of the heroes to take her and the hero saves her.
Also my three quotes to tell yall about this book.
“What is it? Like thirty centimeters or something?” I ask, quickly trying to calculate how that would fit inside me if I am right.
“I don’t have a clue what that is, but mines eleven inches, Baby.”
eleven inches people. Eleven.
Dinner is by far one of the most incredible meals I’ve ever had in my mouth. Well, bar his cock, but that doesn’t count.
I can promise you a good meal is always better than having a dick in your mouth. And if you see me THAT down bad for a man I talk about his dick like that. I want y'all to shoot me.
Resting just above his cock, in a beautiful dark font reads “PROPERTY OF SIENNA”.
*sigh*
January 31, 2024
I loathed this book from the core of every miniscule particle inside me. Seriously what exactly was the purpose of it other than being a major disappointment. You guys, just believe me when I say that booktok is L.I.A.R.
April 11, 2023
I picked this up after seeing it on booktok because I needed a break from another book I was currently reading and wasn’t loving.
As my rating indicates, this wasn’t for me. It got 2 stars because I finished it and didn’t immediately rant to anyone about it being a complete waste of time.
There were a lot of issues with the book that pulled me out of the story. It needed more time in a editor’s hands. There were a lot of typos/missed words/issues with tense. She used the phrase “blood curling” to describe a scream. The phrase is “blood curdling”. Things like that drive me up a wall.
I understand that she’s a UK author, but if the book is set in America the characters should sound American, not English (Sienna is the obvious exception).
There was also a glaring continuity issue in chapter 8. Sienna is at a coffee shop getting a flat white. There’s a random sentence about her slipping out of David’s arm. At this point in the book, we haven’t been introduced to David yet. There’s no dialogue with him and no further mention of him until she gets to work. She arrives at work where David (we are now *actually* meeting for the first time) is waiting for her with a sickly sweet gingerbread coffee and she thinks to herself how desperately she needs the caffeine. WHERE DID HER FLAT WHITE GO? Did the coffee shop scene get a quick rewrite to remove David and Ms Mason forgot to take out the line about him having his arm around her?
The mafia aspect fell flat for me. I’ve read some great dark/mafia romances. The organization, violence, and conflict felt like an afterthought. Like she wanted to write a mafia book but couldn’t bring herself to be as dark as was needed for that kind of book. Keller’s “I’ll burn the world for you” vibe didn’t mesh well with his presence on the page the majority of the time. He was too whipped, way too fast.
At least 50% of the sex scenes could have been cut and there would have still been plenty of spice. They felt like filler to get to a word count and IMO all that space could have been used to flesh out other parts of the story.
With more time and editing the book has potential. I liked that the MCs had similar backgrounds. If that common ground was explored more, it could have added a lot of emotional depth to the book. All in all it was a miss for me. If you’re not picky about the book feeling “finished” (in regard to content and editing) and just looking for spice with bits of plot to move the story along to a HEA, this would be fine. If issues with the technical aspects of writing pull you out of a story, skip this one.
As my rating indicates, this wasn’t for me. It got 2 stars because I finished it and didn’t immediately rant to anyone about it being a complete waste of time.
There were a lot of issues with the book that pulled me out of the story. It needed more time in a editor’s hands. There were a lot of typos/missed words/issues with tense. She used the phrase “blood curling” to describe a scream. The phrase is “blood curdling”. Things like that drive me up a wall.
I understand that she’s a UK author, but if the book is set in America the characters should sound American, not English (Sienna is the obvious exception).
There was also a glaring continuity issue in chapter 8. Sienna is at a coffee shop getting a flat white. There’s a random sentence about her slipping out of David’s arm. At this point in the book, we haven’t been introduced to David yet. There’s no dialogue with him and no further mention of him until she gets to work. She arrives at work where David (we are now *actually* meeting for the first time) is waiting for her with a sickly sweet gingerbread coffee and she thinks to herself how desperately she needs the caffeine. WHERE DID HER FLAT WHITE GO? Did the coffee shop scene get a quick rewrite to remove David and Ms Mason forgot to take out the line about him having his arm around her?
The mafia aspect fell flat for me. I’ve read some great dark/mafia romances. The organization, violence, and conflict felt like an afterthought. Like she wanted to write a mafia book but couldn’t bring herself to be as dark as was needed for that kind of book. Keller’s “I’ll burn the world for you” vibe didn’t mesh well with his presence on the page the majority of the time. He was too whipped, way too fast.
At least 50% of the sex scenes could have been cut and there would have still been plenty of spice. They felt like filler to get to a word count and IMO all that space could have been used to flesh out other parts of the story.
With more time and editing the book has potential. I liked that the MCs had similar backgrounds. If that common ground was explored more, it could have added a lot of emotional depth to the book. All in all it was a miss for me. If you’re not picky about the book feeling “finished” (in regard to content and editing) and just looking for spice with bits of plot to move the story along to a HEA, this would be fine. If issues with the technical aspects of writing pull you out of a story, skip this one.
Read
May 24, 2023DNF
Sadly this just didn't work for me. The characterization and plot was all over the place
Sadly this just didn't work for me. The characterization and plot was all over the place
February 2, 2024
This book was an easy & enjoyable read!
I loved how protective the mmc was of the fmc & I loved the spice. I enjoyed the overall storyline & it was a great book to open you up to the beneath the mask series universe.
The tension between the mmc & fmc was really great at times!! I also love that the fmc worked with kids & the mmc went out of his way to help the fmc teach the kids. Also them with max🥹
There were parts where it seemed like having sex etc is the thing that would solve their arguments etc instead of talking them out which was slightly annoying.
This book made me cringe at times. Mostly it was the insta lust/love & the constant soppiness between the mmc & fmc. There were times where it was too much. Like they would be calling each other “champ”, “queen”, “goddess” etc at nearly every interaction.
Overall, I enjoyed this book & would read it again. It’s a great introduction to this universe but I would’ve preferred less soppiness/nicknames between the main characters. This is my least favourite in the series but I would definitely still read again.
I loved how protective the mmc was of the fmc & I loved the spice. I enjoyed the overall storyline & it was a great book to open you up to the beneath the mask series universe.
The tension between the mmc & fmc was really great at times!! I also love that the fmc worked with kids & the mmc went out of his way to help the fmc teach the kids. Also them with max🥹
There were parts where it seemed like having sex etc is the thing that would solve their arguments etc instead of talking them out which was slightly annoying.
This book made me cringe at times. Mostly it was the insta lust/love & the constant soppiness between the mmc & fmc. There were times where it was too much. Like they would be calling each other “champ”, “queen”, “goddess” etc at nearly every interaction.
Overall, I enjoyed this book & would read it again. It’s a great introduction to this universe but I would’ve preferred less soppiness/nicknames between the main characters. This is my least favourite in the series but I would definitely still read again.
March 9, 2023
Sienna isn't looking for anything serious, she just wants to go out with her friends, have fun and forget all about her cheating ex-fiance.
Keller is a professional boxer by day and mafia enforcer by night, he cannot afford any distractions. He doesn't feel as if he deserves Sienna, his life is too dangerous, that he's too much of a monster. He had hoped one night with her would have been enough to get her out his head for good, but he's already in too deep.
He will soon realize Sienna is in danger with or without him in her life.
I devoured this book. I could not get enough of Keller Russo's filthy mouth, their undeniable chemistry together, the side characters, the drama, the groveling, the SPICE…everything.
This is the authors debut novel and she hit it out of the park!
I loved it and I cannot wait for Grayson and Maddie's book to come out in May!
Keller is a professional boxer by day and mafia enforcer by night, he cannot afford any distractions. He doesn't feel as if he deserves Sienna, his life is too dangerous, that he's too much of a monster. He had hoped one night with her would have been enough to get her out his head for good, but he's already in too deep.
He will soon realize Sienna is in danger with or without him in her life.
I devoured this book. I could not get enough of Keller Russo's filthy mouth, their undeniable chemistry together, the side characters, the drama, the groveling, the SPICE…everything.
This is the authors debut novel and she hit it out of the park!
I loved it and I cannot wait for Grayson and Maddie's book to come out in May!
September 16, 2023
2 ✨
Jfc this book was the cringiest book I have read in months.
The InstaLove was done so poorly it was just completely cringe, idk if you’ve ever seen those tiktoks where it’s like “POV: you stand behind that weird couple” and then it’s someone Re enacting the cringiest shit possible? That’s what these characters were doing the entire book.
The female mc called the male mc champ constantly which was unfortunate as well.
In addition this there’s a “3rd act breakup” resulting in the mcs breaking up for months longer than they were even together before randomly just deciding to get back together.
That’s not a happy ending lol. If you break up longer than you were together, you were never in love.
Jfc this book was the cringiest book I have read in months.
The InstaLove was done so poorly it was just completely cringe, idk if you’ve ever seen those tiktoks where it’s like “POV: you stand behind that weird couple” and then it’s someone Re enacting the cringiest shit possible? That’s what these characters were doing the entire book.
The female mc called the male mc champ constantly which was unfortunate as well.
In addition this there’s a “3rd act breakup” resulting in the mcs breaking up for months longer than they were even together before randomly just deciding to get back together.
That’s not a happy ending lol. If you break up longer than you were together, you were never in love.
Read
March 6, 2023This book definitely had potential and as I believe it’s this authors first release(?) I really think the author has a great baseline for a series. I’m not going to rate it star wise because honestly my feelings are all over the place but I wanted to at least add what I liked and didn’t like.
So obviously Keller had major potential. The tattooed broody enforcer is really sweet when he wants to be. He would’ve been perfect if he didn’t have the wishy washy moments of ghosting her for weeks, and then literally leaving her in the end when she was in the hospital. That was gross and honestly considering the vibe was “touch her and die” and “secret golden retriever” I would’ve expected him to do the opposite of what he did. I’ve also read that before in several books so it wasn’t anything new.
It was VERY instant love. While I liked Sienna’s personality and admired how she had always taken care of herself, she also had potential, what we really needed to see was her being stronger. After being cheated on and stalked, she should’ve had Keller do WAAAAAAAAAY more groveling especially at the end. I’m talking Alex Volkov type grovel. Iykyk. If you’re going to have a hero do something so disgusting then you better make the grovel worth it and to me it was super sub par. Sienna really needed to show that strength and make him work for it.
The spice was a great addition, I liked the elements of mafia mixed with boxing, I also loved that there really wasn’t cheating or like severe OW drama like a lot of these types of books. Again it was a good first book for a series and had potential for sure. If you’re into spicy dark insta love books I’d definitely try this one. I can’t wait to see what this author does next!
So obviously Keller had major potential. The tattooed broody enforcer is really sweet when he wants to be. He would’ve been perfect if he didn’t have the wishy washy moments of ghosting her for weeks, and then literally leaving her in the end when she was in the hospital. That was gross and honestly considering the vibe was “touch her and die” and “secret golden retriever” I would’ve expected him to do the opposite of what he did. I’ve also read that before in several books so it wasn’t anything new.
It was VERY instant love. While I liked Sienna’s personality and admired how she had always taken care of herself, she also had potential, what we really needed to see was her being stronger. After being cheated on and stalked, she should’ve had Keller do WAAAAAAAAAY more groveling especially at the end. I’m talking Alex Volkov type grovel. Iykyk. If you’re going to have a hero do something so disgusting then you better make the grovel worth it and to me it was super sub par. Sienna really needed to show that strength and make him work for it.
The spice was a great addition, I liked the elements of mafia mixed with boxing, I also loved that there really wasn’t cheating or like severe OW drama like a lot of these types of books. Again it was a good first book for a series and had potential for sure. If you’re into spicy dark insta love books I’d definitely try this one. I can’t wait to see what this author does next!
December 28, 2023
booktok is a trap
May 16, 2025
I am pretty sure I checked off get into mafia romances on my 2025 bingo card! 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 was everything I could want it to be! There was action, tons of spice, feuding mafia families, crazy stalker ex boyfriend, and the MMC is a loaded pro boxer! Sienna and Keller meet in the most unlikely and embarrassing of ways at his new nightclub and it’s lust at first sight! There is so much more than just the mafia world and spice, both MCs come from rough childhoods and are strive to help out underprivileged children. Keller is very lethal and extremely dirty, the mouth on this man! 😮💨 He is morally black but fades to gray for only Sienna and finds himself extremely possessive of her and her safety. With tension increasing daily from a feuding mafia family and her ex constantly just showing up, Keller is determined to keep Sienna safe and win the heavyweight championship, but has he bit off more than he can chew and risked Sienna’s safety for his own selfish needs?!
March 20, 2025
I enjoyed this book lots! I love the possessive obsessive man who can’t get enough of the girl they love!!
December 6, 2024
There's gonna be a rant. Possibly a major rant. I've struggled with this thing that has the AUDACITY to be called a dark Mafia Romance. I have NO idea why this has such high reviews.
Let's just say this was definitely not for me.
Where to start.. the first 20% was alright. Had a decent plot, the story had potential then where tf did it go?
This one chick needs saving 3 times in a single night.. incredibly unlucky.
Has a stalker ex that's terrifying.
A heavyweight boxer that's also the hitman to the Mafia who his brother is Boss of.
Keller finds out that the ex is stalker her and being an overall creeptastic human. What does this big bad, enormous dude do? Threatens him with words, not once, not twice but THREE times! This guy who kills people. If he just killed the dude alot of shit could have been prevented. Just saying.
They break up with each other THREE times and for what?! No logical reason.
She has more conversations with her roommate than she ever did with Keller.
There's no growth development for either character, both were downright useless and unlikable.
This would have been better described as a boxing romance than Mafia since there was 2.5 scenes in the whole novel that was Mafia related.
Sienna was overall a cliche damsel in distress that is extremely useless and pathetic.
The final conflict was a chapter long which was disappointing. He found her way to quickly to make sense.
Keller begged on his hands and knees twice with tears in his eyes for forgiveness and Sienna turned him down until omg.. a trip to VEGAS! [INSERT EYEROLL HERE]
The pet names? Cringy and overused. Plus there's nothing sexy about CHAMP. It reminds me of something you'd say to your 10yr old son, not an almost 30yr old man who's plowing you.
Why was it necessary to have a sex scene one to two times a chapter? There's only so much you can write a sex scene and not make it repetitive. I actually skimmed most of it. I looked it up and cock was mentioned over 100 times. 0.0
There was no communication, the plot was lost and this was just full on porn.
There was sentence structural errors and grammatical errors that was just annoying. I had zero connection to any of the characters. So couldn't care less about them.
Also, a seriously unnecessary pregnancy trope. She didn't even tell him about it. They were all stupid and I hated it.
I could go on and on about how much I hated this with my entire being, this was an absolute waste of my time and would not recommend this book to anyone, ever.
For those who liked this, I'm super glad you had an amazing time with it. This was sadly not for me.
I seriously hope Luna Mason continues to grow as an author, but I will not continue the series.
Let's just say this was definitely not for me.
Where to start.. the first 20% was alright. Had a decent plot, the story had potential then where tf did it go?
This one chick needs saving 3 times in a single night.. incredibly unlucky.
Has a stalker ex that's terrifying.
A heavyweight boxer that's also the hitman to the Mafia who his brother is Boss of.
Keller finds out that the ex is stalker her and being an overall creeptastic human. What does this big bad, enormous dude do? Threatens him with words, not once, not twice but THREE times! This guy who kills people. If he just killed the dude alot of shit could have been prevented. Just saying.
They break up with each other THREE times and for what?! No logical reason.
She has more conversations with her roommate than she ever did with Keller.
There's no growth development for either character, both were downright useless and unlikable.
This would have been better described as a boxing romance than Mafia since there was 2.5 scenes in the whole novel that was Mafia related.
Sienna was overall a cliche damsel in distress that is extremely useless and pathetic.
The final conflict was a chapter long which was disappointing. He found her way to quickly to make sense.
Keller begged on his hands and knees twice with tears in his eyes for forgiveness and Sienna turned him down until omg.. a trip to VEGAS! [INSERT EYEROLL HERE]
The pet names? Cringy and overused. Plus there's nothing sexy about CHAMP. It reminds me of something you'd say to your 10yr old son, not an almost 30yr old man who's plowing you.
Why was it necessary to have a sex scene one to two times a chapter? There's only so much you can write a sex scene and not make it repetitive. I actually skimmed most of it. I looked it up and cock was mentioned over 100 times. 0.0
There was no communication, the plot was lost and this was just full on porn.
There was sentence structural errors and grammatical errors that was just annoying. I had zero connection to any of the characters. So couldn't care less about them.
Also, a seriously unnecessary pregnancy trope. She didn't even tell him about it. They were all stupid and I hated it.
I could go on and on about how much I hated this with my entire being, this was an absolute waste of my time and would not recommend this book to anyone, ever.
For those who liked this, I'm super glad you had an amazing time with it. This was sadly not for me.
I seriously hope Luna Mason continues to grow as an author, but I will not continue the series.
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