Darkest Vice

by Lauren Marcie

Maid and boss. Informant and criminal. Traitor and target.

I only came to his house to be his maid.
I was just a college dropout with debts to pay. I was supposed to be invisible.
But then I overheard one too many secrets. Suddenly, I know the truth about my new boss...

Salvo Favari. The cold-blooded mafia assassin and illegitimate heir to the underworld’s throne.
Now I know he could be the killer who’s haunted my dreams for the last year.
Now I’m not just his family’s maid.
Now I’m the spy in his house who’s going to take him down.

Even if it means sacrificing my heart along the way.
Because he’s the one thing I shouldn’t want.
And now he’s obsessed with claiming my soul.
And the closer I get, the harder it is to resist the brutal, terrifying temptation of him .
My darkest vice.

Darkest Vice is an ENEMIES TO LOVERS, BOSS-EMPLOYEE, DARK MAFIA ROMANCE. It is the first book in the Vice series. This book contains explicit scenes and is meant for mature audiences.

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 12, 2023

About the author

Lauren Marcie is a dark romance author who’s fallen utterly in love with all things morally grey. She’s obsessed with villains, plot twists, badass heroines, and the anti-heroes who can’t resist them. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her planning her Halloween costume way too early or staging impromptu photoshoots of her cat.

You can find her here!

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Reviews

[Sue Miz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.5 stars

I really wanted to love this book because the Story was there
the writing was good (could be better)
It had such a promising potential

but it lacked with the characters

Delia finds herself working as a maid for a Mafia family to pay off her dad's debts and to mend her broken heart after the killing of her college best friend.
There, she meets the bastard son of the deceased don, Salvo, who is a notorious assassin came back to reclaim his place as the acting Don.
of course the two immediately are attracted to each other
but outside circumstances forces Delia to spy on Salvo for retribution and revenge
she finds her self slowly questioning her motives as she cannot fight her attraction anymore.

during the reading, you are wisked into a contemplative thinking because the writer had such a surprising beautiful way with words considering its a dark romance
It's strange how the sound of other people having a good time can be the lonliest sound inthe world

"any heroes that were here became villians long ago"

it also had one of the best "meet-cute" , well "bloody meet-cute"

and of course, it had some the tropes that readers simpl for
- touch her and you're dead
- forced proximity
- undercover identity
- enemeies to lovers (on her part mostly)

but There were two issues for me with this book
1- the first one was that it was mostly (almost 90%) from Delia's POV and once we get Salvo's its always him monologuing about her and her effect on him. So in a way, I got the Romance but not the Mafia as much

2- the second problems, and this was major, were the characters themselves. Delia was supposedly written to come off as this badass, smart female lead. but all i got is studpidity and rudeness
she wanted to spy on him, but the three times she did that she was caught, doing the same thing. She goes into a room to look, he comes back early, catches her, "What are you doing?"... "Nothing"
couldn't there be something inventive, like put a bug in a vase or something. obviously the house isn't monitored (and what kind of a Mafia house that doesn't have surveilance or guirds!!!)
the only smart one to think of this was Rico the bad guy.

Salvo was supposed to be this intimidating mafia don. and he probably is. but because we get little of his POV or what he does with the family, we do not see his role. He is so week towards Delia that he ignors all the red flags she's putting.
I never read a more weak Mafia Don.

I think this book would have become a great Mafia Dark Romance with some editing and rewriting. and considering it's by an upcoming indie author, and because I liked the premise of the story and the writing I will give it a solid 3.5

[tee · Rating 3 out of 5]

About 40% into the book, I was unsure of whether I liked it or not. Most of the beginning to mid was spent in Delia’s head/deep thoughts. The action/excitement doesn’t really start until halfway through. I’m glad I pushed myself to keep reading cause thats when I couldn’t put the book down! I did find Delia a bit annoying the way her character is. She mostly acted recklessly on her emotions rather then brain. I was interested in picking up this book because the story’s plot was intriguing and the writing was good but I felt like it could be better. It earns a solid 3.5 star from me! From my expectation of a mafia book, I wanted a little more darkness when it came to Salvo being a mafia don. I felt like his character was weak compared to other mafia-don books I’ve read. It’s definitely a slow burn romance with a lot of tension between the two mc’s. The tension between both was very intense & I really enjoyed the spice! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! I do not recall reading anything like this in the mafia trope. Delia was a tough cookie. Stubborn to a fault and headstrong. This always led to dangerous situations that somehow she was able to slip away unscathed. It was like she could not help herself in the pursuit of what she felt was justice. Salvo was a man of few words. But when he had something to say Delia always listened. Somehow Delia's personality intrigued Salvo to the point of his dedication to her. I think Salvo was surprised that he still had the capacity to love and be loved. He had been living his life as a lone wolf and did not see that ever changing. Until Delia and she had never been in love either before Salvo. This book is not your typical romance. No arranged marriage, no kidnapping none of that. This is about fate bringing two people together despite the odd and circumstances. An excellent read. I highly recommend it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Haunting
Page-turner
Realistic
Scary
Twisted
Unpredictable
Wonderful characters

[Stormy Shadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I’d like to thank BookSirens for this ARC.

I liked this but there was a few things that irked me. There are small spelling errors that’s the main one. Not so much romance as I would have liked. All the way even to the halfway point there wasn’t much going on expect one little thing. The characters seem very dry and not fleshed out very much. I did enjoy this book throughout though from it being mafia and there’s been things happening that was full of action. The FMC Delia kinda got on my nerves sometimes but she was bearable. I wanted more action to the point where I would be very into it but that didn’t happen as much as I would have liked. I was just hoping the romance to be more than it was even though there was a lot of steamy moments between the characters. To me, I wouldn’t consider this a dark romance. Maybe a “lighter” dark romance. The story picks up more on the second half so the pacing is kinda off, still entertaining though. 3.5 stars

[Marcy Sorenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(¯´•..•𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆•..•´¯)

𝒃𝒚 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒆

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
4/5

❗️I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily❗️


Lauren’s last name is what originally caught my eye, my first name is Marcy, but the story kept me reading.

This is the first book in the 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. Delia is working as a maid for a mafia family, where she meets Salvo Favari, the son of deceased Don.

Delia is forced to spy on Salvo for revenge. This book really gets going about halfway through, and once it did, I couldn’t put the book down.

Includes
- mafia romance
- Maid/employer
- Forced proximity
- Touch her and die
- Instalove
- Enemies to lovers
- Spicy
- HEA

[Nerea Cano Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was so good, I couldn't put it down, I love a mafia romance book, but this enemies to lovers, boss-employee book was CHEF KISS!!!

This is my first book from this author, and she did not disappoint, I cannot wait for the next on the series, I loved the writting, the setting, the connection, the plot it was all very well tied together and made sense.

Salvo is a "bad" man, a cold man, but DAMN if Salvo did not brood for Delia, the whole attraction, the tension between Delia and him, jesus it was HOT!
I loved that Delia was also a very strong/feisty FMC.
The spicy on this book was also on point! So good!

Can't wait for the next book!!!!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a while to read this just because I had a lot of other responsibilities, but once I was able to sit down and read this, it’s actually only took me two days. I have also left a review on BookSirens and Amazon review.

Trigger warning on some areas of the book. There was lots of suspense, intense moments . I was irritated at some points with the female main character, but kind of understood why. Definitely needed a little bit more spice for being a dark mafia book. It wasn’t bad. It was a very good book. Definitely recommend reading it

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Merry Jelks-Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enemies to lover's story drew me in and had me all caught up in it. When Delia takes a job as maid, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. When she overhears a conversation, she realizes that Salvo is more than she thought and to keep from being killed Salvo saves her by telling his peers that she is his wife. This story has some thrilling twists that keeps you guessing.
I am volunteering to leave a review for an ARC of this book.

[Julie Alma Tranholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much.

The slowest of slowburns with so much palpable tension between Delia and Salvo. I loved how they both found a balance and solace with each other from the intrigue and gore in their daily lives. The smut was top tier and gave way to some really tender moments, which were so precious.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am giving my honest review.

[Maz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Forbidden Love, Boss/Employee, Dark Mafia Romance and Enemies To Lovers Tropes.
I love Dark Mafia Romance and this author did not disappoint. My 1st by Lauren and I'm hooked. I want the whole series now.
Salvo and Delia may have issues but their chemistry was hot and both of them together just burns the pages.
Book had lots of suspense, drama, action, violence, betrayel, passion, emotions, love and so so much steam.
If dark Mafia is your thing then go get a copy.

[Happyscribe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing read that propels you through the story with exciting velocity. These two characters - what can I say - love love love me a strong resilient female, but also a quiet pillar of strength man to counterbalance her.

I love this trope because the passion between characters is always tempered by the challenging circumstances they endure. This steamy story and it stayed with me for a week - so be prepared to have Salvo in your head for awhile!

[Esmee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mwa het had beter gekund.

Was zo dom en gênant dat ze steeds betrapt werd op rondneuzen... Ze is echt een slechte spion.

Snapte niet dat hij haar zo leuk vond... Dat maidjurkje waarschijnlijk.

Ze was wel echt wispelturig ook. Soms echt dapper maar vaak ook echt dom bezig.. ze maakte geen slimme keuzes. Heb ene aantal keren secondhand embarrassment gehad.

Einde was afgeraffeld en meer happy for now imo

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Darkest Vice by new for me author Lauren Marcie

Mafia romance , enemies to lovers - this is Book 1

Well written storyline with great characters ! I hope to check out more of this authors work …

I would recommend this read !

[Emzy Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story. Lots of intensity. The characters are very large and in your face. The world is detailed and engaging. The FMC and the MMC are very intriguing and intense both apart and together.

[Bridget Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy....5 stars JUST because of Salvo. When he stabbed the guys hand for the FMC because he was disrespecting her...THAT'S what I want from my morally Grey men....damn that kind of possessive protection.... whooweeee hot damn.

[Rachel Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about a great book!! I couldn’t put it down once I started it! Mafia and smut come together perfectly for sure.

I received this book from BookSirens for my honest opinion.

[Sarah Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

dnf

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed darkest vice which was Delia and Salvo’s story. It was an entertaining and steamy read. I received a copy via HG. And am voluntarily leaving this review.