Forced Union

Twisted Arrangements #2

by Cassia Quinn

She’s a prim and proper mafia princess. He’s a dirty-talking Bratva boss. To seal their union, he tattoos his name on her ring finger.

Dimitri Kozlov
Her family broke their promise, now I’ll take what’s owed: Her.

No one makes me look weak.
I’ll show everyone there are consequences for crossing my family.
Arianna Pontrelli is mine.

I forge her signature on the marriage contract.
And stake my claim on this cold, aloof woman.
Then show the entire world that she belongs to me.

Her hatred shines so brightly in her eyes,
I know there’s passion hidden beneath her prim and proper facade.
She’s my wife, and I’ll own all of her.
But first, I’m going to make this woman burn for me.


Arianna Pontrelli
I hoped to marry for love.

My dream is crushed when my stalker drugs and drags me to the altar.
Dimitri Kozlov is all tattooed skin, foul-mouthed, and completely uncouth.
Everything I despise in a man.

I had plans to escape this dangerous world.
Now I’m trapped. I’m legally his wife.
But he’ll never have my body.

No matter how many times he praises me in Russian.
Or how delicious his strong hands feel on my skin.
If I give him a sliver of my heart, I’ll be betraying myself.

I’ll never give him what he really wants, his obsession. Me.




Forced Union is book two in the Twisted Arrangements series and can be read as a standalone.

Genres: Dark Romance, Mafia Romance, Dark, Forced Proximity, Enemies To Lovers, Stalker, Romance

390 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 4, 2024

About the author

Cassia Quinn writes dark romance, about red flag book boyfriends and the women who bring them to their knees. Expect spice, plot twists, and yummy anti-heroes. Some series are M/F while others are Reverse Harem.

When she's not tormenting characters while dangling a HEA in front of them, Cassia's usually reading, preparing for her next book signing event, or enjoying the Pacific Northwest's gloomy weather.

Rep: Katie at Beck Literary Agency

Reviews

[Nelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah what a book..... first book I read from this author ... & will not be the last<3. I loved Dima and Arianna omg I ate this book .Honestly it is my first mafia book I read in a while. It was addictive <3 somewhat fast pace was laughing , thrilled , the banter was good .... (sad trauma and some sensitive scenes ) Plot twist after plot twist... but over all great happy ending .
( first 5 star of the year )

[Mairi Swan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very good and kept you on your toes. And quite emotional in the end.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mafia book! I love when the big bad mafia boss falls hard for his wife. And Dimitri fell hard and fast for Arianna. This book was intense, it had me on the edge of my seats through the twists and turns. Once I started it I couldn’t put it down, I had to know how it ended! I love the side characters in these books as well, I can’t wait until the next book!!

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 in this series and wow I absolutely loved it, from stalker to obsessive, to touch her and die bratva boss Dimitri may have massive abandonment issues but he definitely fell fast and hard for his Italian mafia princess Arianna.

When Arianna finds out she has a stalker, she hides it from her family in fear of them being hurt/killed for a few weeks until she is caught at her sister's wedding when she receives a message from her stalker.

Dimitri was a stand in groom same as Arianna was a stand in bride in an arranged marriage until everything changed in book 1, now with Arianna and her sisters now being allowed to marry for love instead of an arranged marriage, Dimitri decides to take Arianna when she's on a date with another man, he drugs her, forges her signature on their marriage certificate making her his wife and tattoos "property of Dimitri Kozlov" on her ring finger.

I absolutely devowed this book and can't wait for the next one 😊

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get it here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

[Amberly Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mafia/ forced marriage story!
This is the second book to the Twisted Arrangement. Dimitri is 🔥🤤🫠🥵 and Arianna was an excellent FMC! This story started good and ended good! Cassia Quinn sure knows how to write a great story and I can’t wait for the next!

[Harim · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this one. immensely
although some developments and situations were just kinda ridiculous and unnecessary for the plot and it did drag on a tad towards the end, it was still a very engaging read. there were moments where the heroine was just a weird bratty, ignorant snob but maybe i read too much into shit.

this was good.

[˚₊‧꒰ა vruxreads ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5 ⭐)

The hero was no where eligible to be the mafia boss of the whole crime syndicate. Everything was so fast, one second he wanted revenge and the next he was obsessed with her. He was so confused and couldn't make a decision. The side characters were rather interesting.

- no cheating, a lil ow/om drama, heroine is a virgin as always 🙄

[Kayalvizhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ate it. Absolutely love Dimitri’s obsession over Arianna 😍

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG OMG OMG OMG
I DEVOURED IT AND LOVED IT! Miss Quinn has done it again. I loved the take on this couple. It’s not something I see very often in books and I loved it. I loved that we got both aggression and softness from both characters and it didn’t go away, instead it was heightened when around each other and only each other. I loved seeing that this type of stalker kidnapper relationship wasn’t dark and only dark. There were dark aspect but Dimitri wanted her to fall in love even if he didn’t want to admit it himself because he couldn’t admit he was head over heels in love.
I am loving this series and I can’t wait to read the next book. ❤️❤️

[Saz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 ⭐️
I thoroughly enjoyed this! It’s a perfect mafia-coded book with revenge plots and rival families.

You meet Dimitri who is an obsessed Russian bratva leader who literally stalks and kidnaps the FMC, Arianna, and forces her to marry him. He is literally her guardian angel however and has an ulterior motive behind his actions 🥰

I loved bother characters, Arianna really did hate Dimitri but he was on a mission to make her fall for him. The found family and background story of Dimitri was so warming. I swear these dangerous mafia men are some of the romantic MMCs you will read about and this was done perfectly.

🖤 Mafia families
🖤 Forced marriage
🖤 He falls first & hard
🖤 “My wife” 🥵
🖤 Found family
🖤 Tortured/obsessed MMC

[Tamarra Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve read the previous book by this author, then you know what to expect. If you have not, hold on because you are in for a thrilling ride.

If you love a good mafia book, with an MMC like Dimitri who is a big bad mafia boss that falls head over heels and hard for the FMC Arianna who is also his wife then this book is for you.

There story is intense, it will have you sitting on the edge of your seat through those twists and turns, because once you start there story, you won’t be able to stop right until the very last word.

If you love a possessive/ jealous hero, age-gap, kinks including impact play, dubious consent, and dark themes that will make your heart race, then please go no further.

Highly recommend both the author and the book.

I received an ARC. Therefore, I am submitting a voluntary review.

[Belle (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

I liked that he was obsessed with her, but I didn't realise he was experienced and she wasn't - still finished though cause I enjoy married trope (although I've either read this before ages ago when it was only released in April 2024, or I had massive deja vu the entire time)

Check triggers with this one!

– Dual pov
– Celibate H (2 years, since he first saw h)/virgin h
– Bratva boss/mafia princess + arranged marriage
– No cheating or OW/slight OM drama (there's a guy that h goes on date with, and he causes trouble near the end)
– HEA ending + epilogue

[Vic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book ATE

[Sakshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 perfect star⭐

[michesoyojaaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.75
Only for you Dimitri🥺

[Bookslover09 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!

Second book in the series, and I'm in love! Dimitri and Arianna's chemistry was so intense that the moment she got on her knees, it was explosive, but in the end, he was the one begging 😏🔥🔥🔥

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🌶🌶🌶

[Dolls ♥︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Russian roulette isn’t the same without a gun 😮‍💨

I know this song don’t belong to them, but my god, forget Italians, forget the “principesa”, fuck it all, I want Russian, I want Malyshka 😫

This man is everything, he falls first, he falls harder, he’s dangerous, he’s dark haired, he’s all, and he is the moment 🫦

I love how I wasn’t expecting anything from this book and couple, I wasn’t excited, but they serve, they ate, they’re THE moment 🥵

[InkOnMySoul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m officially in LOVE with this book. Someone please—find me a Dmitri 😭💍

When the story started with Dmitri kidnapping and force-marrying Ariana, I braced myself for the usual mafia romance formula: controlling MMC who treats the FMC like trash but yells “I’m obsessed with you” every 5 pages—and a doormat heroine who forgives him just because he’s hot. BUT BOY WAS I WRONG.

Dmitri is a straight-up CUTIEPIE in a gun holster. 🥹🔫
Yes, the marriage was forced—but after that? He did everything to make Ariana feel safe, seen, and loved. He noticed every tiny detail about her, cared for her so gently (especially when she had cramps 💗), and never once mistreated her—even when she did things that would test anyone's patience.

The way he was so gone for her??? UGH. The man literally sent his men to find Ariana’s long-lost friend who was sold off by her own father. That scene?? TEARS. 😭

The emotional connection between them was gorgeous—full of trust, open communication, and NO unnecessary miscommunication or drama. 🙌 The slight slow burn? So satisfying. Even though the book wasn’t long, it still gave us depth. It didn’t follow the tired old "enemies to lovers but let’s have sex first and feelings later" route. Nope. These two built something real.

Dmitri, baby, you raised the bar to the sky.
He tried so hard to be a better man for Ariana. Not to win her over through dominance or manipulation, but by earning her love.

Rating: 5/5 — Mafia romance done RIGHT. Dmitri supremacy forever. 😮‍💨🫶🏽

[Kayla W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a decent read overall. The story had its moments, even if it didn’t fully leave a lasting impact.

[Melissa Reid-Ciferri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! Arianna Pontrelli is an Italian Mafia Princess who is fiery, stubborn, & driven. All she wants is to escape the Mafia life & marry for love. Fat chance sister! 🤦‍♀️ Dimitri Kozlov, the handsome, hard exterior, cinnamon roll Russian Mafia Bratva Pakhan has been secretly stalking & waiting for Arianna for 2 whole years & will stop at nothing to have her. So, when she decides to go on a date with a rich, handsome billionaire, being the possessive & obsessive man he is, makes his move & kidnaps her, forges her signature on the marriage contract, & tattoos "Property of Dimitri Kozlov " on her ring finger. With no where to run, Arianna decides she is more than willing to give her husband a run for his money. Holy hell! 🙀

This book tells both MC's backstories & the banter between these two is hilarious. You find out that two years ago, Arianna was almost raped, & who is her Knight in shining armour that came to her rescue & saved her? Yep, you guessed it, none other than the sexy, dominering Dimitri Kozlov. His backstory completely broke my heart. He truly does love her, wants to protect her, & desperately wants to be loved himself. 😭 Omg, strap into your seatbelt cause this book had a lot of twists & turns from every corner, even had me wanting to strangle Arianna a few times. It's an action-packed wild ride with these two, including the side characters. And oh the spice 🥵🔥 Who doesn't love an enemies to lovers dark romance?!

FAV QUOTES/SCENES:
I can’t wait to have her in my house, in my bed, belonging to me and only me. “Soon,” I whisper to her slumbering form. “Soon you’ll be all mine.” I snap a picture of her before I leave. A keepsake of this moment.

If Dimitri Kozlov wants to back me into a corner, then he’ll get what’s coming to him.

“I’ll never hurt you,” he murmurs, slipping his thumb from my mouth and swiping it across my lower lip. “I’ll taste you. I’ll make you mine in every way possible. I’ll torment you until you’re wet and begging for my cock. And I’ll punish you if you’re a bad girl, but I’ll never hurt you.”

She has no idea how deep my obsession for her actually goes. I didn’t know it for sure until I vowed to take her as my wife. Those two words—I do—set the beast inside of me free. The possessive creature that laid claim to this woman long before I wanted to admit it to myself. I stalked her, forced this union between us, but ultimately she won. She owns me, through and through, and she doesn’t even realize it.

“I just believe a woman should be able to wear whatever she wants without it being used as an excuse for another person to take advantage of her. Actually, I believe the same applies to men. I think everyone should take responsibility for their own actions.” ...“I take full responsibility. I know exactly what I’ve done to you and why I’ve done it.” He threads his fingers through my hair, gripping it at the roots. “You’re not just some pretty girl in a short dress to me, Arianna. You’re so much more than that. I make no excuses for myself and I won’t apologize either.”

I stare at her, speechless. She’s a fucking psycho! Dark satisfaction unfurls in my chest. This woman, my fucking wife, just might be as crazy as I am. Crazier, judging from her calm demeanor as she literally sets fire to anything and everything around her. She’s a goddess of Hell and I’d happily burn with her—just not today.

If only she could understand that, for me, this is about so much more than sex. I’m not sure how to make the clear without coming off as insane. My obsession with her engulfs all of who she is, including her body, her mind, and her very soul. I want her hopes and dreams, her fears, and her secrets. Most of all I want to be the man she turns to for anything and everything.

Deep down, I’m just a fighter. Always have been, always will be. I let my knuckles do the talking. This goddess beside me deserves more than that. She should be with a man who’s her equal in every way, and for the first time, I’m beginning to doubt that man is me.

Eyes on me, kisa. Keep your eyes on me.

The power she has over me scares me, because even though I can force her to stay with me forever, I want her to choose me for herself. Could a woman like her ever choose a man like me?

He’s the type of man who would kill for me, but I had no idea until that moment that he’d also die for me.

At this point, I don’t know how to be anything other than the villain in her story. She keeps painting me as one, and I’m afraid there’s no going back. She’ll never trust me. Not really. And I have only myself to blame.

I glance at her beautiful face and I’m hit in the chest with a feeling I often have—unworthiness. She’s too fucking good for me and we both know it.

I face Mrs. Pontrelli. “I love your daughter.” Her eyes twinkle with delight. “I know.”...But she doesn’t say those three little words back to me. In fact, she doesn’t say anything at all.

“I won’t let you do this. You were right all along, being with me puts your life in danger. I’m not willing to do this to you anymore. You’re free. Go. Now.”

“I never meant to hurt you, kisa.” My voice is barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry.” Her gaze snaps up to meet mine. I’m sorry. Those are words I should have said to her a long time before tonight. But I refused to admit I’d done anything wrong. I’d been too arrogant to see that I was hurting the woman I love. Now it’s all quite clear. Those two words, I’m sorry, have come too late. Backing away from her, I rub at my chest where it aches. We’re done. I can’t, and won’t, force her to be mine anymore. All I ever wanted was a chance with her and she gave me that. It’s my own damn fault that I royally fucked it up. I held onto her too tightly, so determined to make her love me. I put her life in danger, manifested her worst fears, and broke her beautiful soul. I’ve done enough damage to last a lifetime.

“You have all of me. I’ve always been, and always will be, yours.”

[(*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈) · Rating 1 out of 5]

arianna was a pos & i would’ve liked dimitri if he didn’t call her kitten 🤢

[Ivy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dropped at page 151, no character development.
It felt bland to read this book.
Cannot force myself to read further.

[Brittany (Brit.tea.reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dima!! This psycho was my favorite 😍 lol

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I pushed myself to make it to the halfway mark. I am curious as to how the avg rating is above 4.

[Kerti · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'D this books drove me nuts I picked it up twice and twice I was in a books slump after I could'nt pick up another for days ..!! Not for me .

[Adele Heathcote · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read A LOT of mafia romance over the years and if I’m being completely honest, most of them end up blurring together after a while. Same tropes, same possessive men, same kidnapping plots, same family drama.

This one though?

This one stood out.

I genuinely just had a really good time reading it.

The biggest thing for me was that I actually cared about both the MMC and FMC. I felt like there was solid character development throughout and the banter between them was so well done. Not overly in your face but enough to make me constantly smile whilst reading.

And can we talk about the slow burn?

Because when I say slow burn, I mean SLOW burn.

As a reader I felt like I was put to work and made to earn every little crumb of progress between these two and honestly? It paid off. The tension kept building and building and by the time things started happening I was completely invested.

We’re talking stalking.

We’re talking touch her and 💀.

We’re talking possession.

We’re talking obsession.

Basically all the reasons I pick up a mafia romance in the first place.

There were so many moments that had me kicking my feet.

“Stop trying to murder me.”

Sir 😂

And Dimitri handcuffing her to a table and acting like it was the most logical solution to the problem? Absolutely unhinged behaviour.

“Sure, I wish she’d been good so I didn’t have to handcuff her to the table. But what else was I supposed to do?”

The fact he genuinely sees no issue with this had me laughing.

I also loved that Arianna wasn’t afraid to give as good as she got. The knife, the biting, the constant attempts to make his life difficult… she was committed to the cause and I respected it.

I didn’t read the first book in the series because the reviews put me off. After reading this one though I can honestly say I’m tempted to go back because I really enjoyed the author’s writing style.

Although… I already know all the plot points so realistically I probably won’t lol.

Overall this was one of those books that reminded me why I enjoy mafia romance in the first place. It had the tension, the obsession, the chemistry and enough character development to keep me invested from start to finish.

A very enjoyable read for me.

Xoxo

[Danielle Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely devoured this book; I loved it so much!
 
When Roman stole Sophia in the first book in the series, it had a knock-on effect, and now Dimitri has claimed Sophia's little sister Arianna as his bride. At first, he makes out like he's forced marriage on her because her family owes him a debt and it's what they originally agreed, but deep down, he's absolutely besotted with her and so desperate to have her that he goes slightly unhinged—it was amazing. Arianna didn't make it easy for him at all though, constantly fighting him in the beginning, and it made me laugh so much—she maced him, stabbed him, and at one point she set his home on fire, and his first thoughts were, 'This girl is crazy, she's perfect' and it made him want her more. She was such an awesome FMC, and I really enjoyed watching her duke it out with Dimitri and slowly fall for him as he showed her there was more to him than the rough and violent pakhan that everyone else sees; he's so caring and sweet, and he showed some humbling vulnerability too.
 
There were some fantastic twists and turns in this story, and there was plenty of drama. I love how the author focuses on the main couple of the story but also adds snippets of sideline characters' stories alongside Maks and his love interests, glimpses of Sophia and Roman, and even Ginny's rather disastrous love life.
 
Such a great read with an amazing story, fantastic characters, and a whole myriad of emotions.

[Simply Adventures · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf'd at 9%. I started this book because I saw a social media ad and the social media ad didn't really match what happened in the scene. So it's a standalone and I guess the fmc's sister was supposed to marry the mmc's uncle but he died in the first book where the FMC sister ended up marrying another person. Well part of the contract that the FMC sister had with the mmc's uncle states that if they didn't get married or if the uncle died before the marriage that the FMC would marry the MMC but apparently everyone is going back and forth on what's going on and they just assume that it's not going to happen but the FMC is getting unknown number stalker messages and photos. She finally shows her sisters the messages at the sister's wedding. Then the book jumps like two or three months. To where the FMC is now trying to be an event planner because she likes it and wants to get out of the mafia lifestyle but again there's no development about the fact that this deal is on the table with her marrying Dimitri. So she's talking about how she met some guy named Connor who's a billionaire and they're going to go out on a date and she thinks she's going to live you know the happiest life outside of the mafia world or something I don't know. But that whole situation puts her in a weird spot because he tells Connor a certain personal details that she really shouldn't be telling him. The FMC comes off too stupid to live.

[Luney toons]

OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCHHHH. I read it in one sitting and god, was it worth it! I am a fan of dark romance, the tropes are limited, sometimes it feels like the same story over and over again but believe me, this is genuinely of the best mafia romance books I've read. I absolutely LOVEDDD Dimitri and how obsessed he was with Arianna, yet he was such a green flag. I was so glad that there wasn't a single scene where he's being a jackass to her like a manchild. He was just grateful to exist in the same plane as her😭😭 why is he so adorable. I loved how the story has such a great emotional arc, not just smut. It felt like the natural result of the emotional angst when the smut came. And also, I love the FMC for standing her ground. I love that she was written as a strong, determined woman who stands by her beliefs, she doesn't go boy crazy over the MMC, doesn't have "body betrayal syndrome" and lose her mind the moment he touches her, she holds the reins in her hands. She's in control. Of him. AND I FUCKING LOVE IT. I loved reading the MMC just desperately in love with her, he didn't want anything but to make her happy. And reading this book made my heart happy.
I loved that he gets the matching tattoo in the end, I want a man like that where can I find him😭