Salvatore

Miami Mafia Family #1

by Ava Summers

Salvatore Faugno is the sexiest man I’ve ever met.

He’s also a cold-blooded killer.

When I took a last-minute waitressing gig, I never expected to get caught in the middle of a mafia war. Now I’m angry as well as exhausted. Thanks to some testosterone-fueled idiots, I’ve lost all my tips as well as my phone. I just want to go home, drink a bottle of wine, and sleep for 12 hours.

It seems fate has other plans.

Salvatore isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He kills a man to save us both but ends up badly injured. My apartment is the last place his enemies will look for him. Any sensible woman would be terrified of this tattooed and dangerous killer, but all I want to do is peel his bloody clothes off and…bandage his wounds.

At the end of three days, it’s I’ve succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome. Salvatore is rich, possessive, and controlling, and he pushes all my buttons. He says he’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe.

The passion between us is off the scale, but I’d be a fool to trust a man this sexy and sinful.

After all, I’m a loose end tying him to a crime scene…

And his family wants me dead.

------

Salvatore is a dark mafia romance short read with a HEA. It contains strong language, spicy scenes, and some violence. The FMC is badass and more than capable of holding her own.

Salvatore is the first in a series of three interconnected short reads with an overlapping timeline featuring related characters. It can be read as a standalone.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Forced Proximity

80 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 14, 2024

About the author

Ava Summers is a dark romance author who loves reading about feisty females and morally gray alpha males. She prefers books with a healthy dose of spice. If the heroine doesn't have to choose between her guys, even better! When Ava's not reading and writing, she likes to paint and occasionally run 10ks. She also spends way too much time keeping her rescue cat entertained.

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The start of the Miami Mafia Family series make sure to double check that you are buckled up, dangerous men, alpha’s personified, possessive, oh, gorgeous, brooding all the makings of a story consisting with three D’s (dark, delicious, and dirty) 😊. There will be suspense, betrayal, death, darkness, secrets reveled, violence, hope, forgiveness, and maybe even love along the way. Thalia goes to work at her temp job as a waitress to help her make ends meet never expecting to hiding from gunfire in the kitchen…I mean come on she is a waitress for goodness sake yet she is hiding in the kitchen while a shootout goes on in the dining room and so far she is safe until a man comes into the kitchen after being shot needing help. Agreeing to take him home with her to get him out of there putting herself in more danger than she could imagine. Salvator sexy as all get out mafia dangerous every day with a reputation proceeding him, ruthless most days, deadly every day, so when a meeting is set between him and the Irish he knew something was off but he didn’t listen to himself walking right into a trap never realizing he would find a beautiful who would help him changing him. The magnetic pull between the two of them can’t be ignored yet he knows the danger he is putting her in but he isn’t planning on leaving her either so despite the age gap they are stuck with one another but will he take care of his enemies before they figure out she has him, will they make it work despite him being older, will he continue to protect her, and can they find their place together?

[maggies_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review
3/5 stars
2.5/5 spice

This is a super fast pace, insta-love, mafia romance book. This is a great read for when you want something quick, spicy, with little angst.

I liked both characters for the little background information we had on them. The banter was quick-witted and funny between them. For a short book, the characters had amazing chemistry, which made me enjoy their relationship. Thalia is a badass FMC who doesn't take shit from anyone, including the mafia man she saved. Salvatore is a hot mafia man who will kill anyone who needs to be killed. One night, letting Thalia take care of him, he is down bad for her.

If this were a full-length novel, I would have rated this higher because I wanted so much more, but I still enjoyed it. I recommend this to anyone who wants a quick read before bed and loves hot mafia men.

Tropes:
- Italian Mafia romance
- Opposites attract
- Age gap
- Forced proximity

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced mafia romance. This book would have been awesome as a full length novel but as it stands I am left wanting a bit more.

Mafia
Age gap
Insta love.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debra Johnson]

Prch Amz June 7, 2024

[Lolita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot introduction!

[KY Book Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Thalia takes a temp job as a waitress, she doesn't expect to find herself hiding in the kitchen as she hears gunfire being exchanged in the dining room. Or for the most handsome man she has ever seen to stagger into the kitchen needing help after being shot. After helping him kill another man who she fears would kill them both, she agrees to help him and offers to take him home with her.  She has no idea the danger she is putting herself in. 

Salvatore knew something felt off when he agreed to meet one of his Irish rivals. But, he had no idea he had walked into a trap until it was too late. Injured himself, he finally makes his way into the kitchen, where he finds a beautiful woman hiding. He knows he needs to get out, but he needs to get her to safety as well. She surprises him with how fearless she is and how she offers to help him. Together, they take care of the remaining enemy,  and she offers to take him home, putting herself in incredible danger.

This was my first book by this author.  It was a short mafia story that was well written.  Although  I enjoyed both main characters. As a couple, they seemed mismatched, and it was hard to visualize their attraction at times. With him, a powerful mafia heir and her being a Disney t-shirt wearing FMC with a somewhat childish personality. However, I still liked them both and overall enjoyed the book 


ARC was provided by Booksprout, and this is my honest review. 

[Veronika Popovska · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Great book, I really enjoyed.
 ti amo, tesoro, e ti amerò per sempre! /Обичам те, скъпа, и винаги ще те обичам/
Very good book! The writer can definitely write very well, but unfortunately she decided that the first book was terribly short. It should have been at least 20 chapters, not 14. Nice story, well drawn characters, a brief mention of the other boys from the next books. I give 4 stars because of the short chapters, the few chapters and the rush to the action, as it wanted to be a short novel. If only she had expanded the story a bit and delved into the father and the future woman that Salvatore was supposed to marry I would definitely give 5. I also missed the translation of the awesome Italian words!I'm starting Cristiano now!
Много добра книга! Определено писателката може да пише много хубаво , но за съжеление е решила първата книга да е ужасно къса.Трябваше да е поне 20 глави ,а не14. Хубава истовия , добре обрисувани герои , кратко споменаване за останалите момчета от следвашите книги.Давам 4 звезди заради кратките глави, малкото на брой глави и прибързването за действие , тъй като е искала да е къс роман.Ако беше разгърнала малко историята и задълбочила в бащата и бъдещата жена за която трябваше Салваторе да се ожени щях да дам 5 определено. Липсваха ми и превода на страхортните италиански думи!Почвам Кристияно сега!

[Grinning Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

MMC/FMC- Salvatore and Thalia
POV- 1st person dual
Genre- Mafia Romance
Heat- 🌋🌋🌋☄️ (1🌋=2☄️) with lots of filthy talk in Italian.
Series? ?
Safety? Y + HEA
Triggers- Graphic Violence, Language in Two Languages, Explicit Erotic Content
Tropes- Dude in Distress, Instalove, Shootout at the OK Corral (Mafia Edition), Forced Proximity, Do-Si-Do with the Mafioso, Smart Blonde, It Sounds Better in Italian, Badsass Heroine (some review sites have a surprising definition of what constitutes profanity).
Mewsings
What I liked- that she was so unflappable in times of danger and downright formidable, but adored Disney. I like that she rescued him. That no matter what he said in Italian, and I used the Translate function on my Kindle, the way he said it was hot. Speaking of Hot- Hooray for Fanservice Shirtlessness!
What I didn’t like- he wore a shirt for a good portion of the book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sophia Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

🔥❤❤Salvatore!! Yummy!! What a Mafia man!!!

Salvatore is a sexy Mafia man who is absolutely gorgeous!! He gets shot at by the Irish Mafia who he was meeting with at a restaurant. Salvatore saves the life of a waitress who witnessed hearing the altercation and what happened in the kitchen. Thalia the waitress helps him up to her apartment and hides him there. Soon they discover they have attractive feelings for one another. The realization of not seeing her again and the strong feeling he has towards her leaves one choice. He decides to take her with him to his house . The Irish Mafia Declan is still looking for him and his new love interest Thalia. I won't give the ending away but it's incredible!!! Book worthy for sure!!!❤❤❤🔥🔥👏👏💓💓😍😍
It was brilliantly written and I can't wait to read more from Author Ava Summers❤❤❤I bought the complete series❤🔥I loved reading Salvatore so much!! That I just had to buy the complete series!!❤❤💓💓

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

When Salvatore finds himself in an ambush, he has no choice but to shoot his way out. He makes his way to Thalia who was also looking for a way out. The two find themselves teaming up to save their lives that leads them to her apartment. From their it begins their path. Salvatore can't believe the calm Thalia demonstrates and the time in her presence finds him falling for her. His father isn't too happy about it and when he tells him to get rid of her Thalia takes it upon herself to leave. In doing so somethings come to light and Salvatore finds even more reasons to stay with her. Will their union lead them along the path to happiness. This story kept me glued to the pages from start to finish.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[sheine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars ⭐️ short story and insta love. i can’t rate it higher just bc it’s def a vvv quick read with just 70 pages

got the book for free from Stuff Your Kindle so i decided to read it

Salvatore and Thalia — both were good characters, but since this is just a short book, i wasn’t really able to learn more about them nor connect to them as much

but i guess if you’re looking for a quick mafia romance, this is fine. i’ll try to finish the rest of the books in the series since it’s just extremely short

[Yarlene ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salvatore Faugno found himself in a difficult situation when he was ambushed by the rival mafia which ended up in a gun war where he got wounded. Thalia was working there when everything went down and she helped him out and to recovery.

This was a fun, easy, spicy, fast paced Italian mafia novella. It kind of gave me the ick with how Thalia talked about Disney but it give what it needed to give 🤷🏻‍♀️

🔥 age gap (it wasn’t mentioned?)
🔥 forced proximity
🔥 instalove
🔥 Italian family/mafia
🔥 interconnected novellas

[Wendy Livingstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a series and this is ruthless, cold blooded, killer Salvatore and waitress Thalia’s story.
This is a quick read which has suspense, danger, intrigue, passion, emotions, trust, revelations, violence, chemistry, and love, which leads to an enjoyable and steamy dark mafia romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, quick read that will have you turning the pages to learn the fate of Thalia since she watched Salvatore kill someone right in front of her. This is a dark mafia read and may contain triggers for some readers.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nicole Deanne Veracruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Salvatore was caught in an ambush in a restaurant and injured he ends up saving himself and a temp waitress Thalia. He suffering from blood loss so she takes him home. And what follows is a hot bath steamy Romance.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Soph Tunbridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genre - Contemporary Romance
Rating - ⭐️⭐️.5/5
Spice - 🌶️/5
Dual POV
MF

Main Characters
> Thalia - Waitress Temp
> Salvatore Faugno (35) - Mafia Heir

Thalia takes a temp job as a waitress to help pay off her student dept. What was suppose to be a normal night ends up as a mafia rival shoot out. Whiles in hiding, one of the men stumbles into the kitchen injured. He kills a man to save them both and she offers her place as a hide out for him to lay low. In doing so she unknowingly puts herself in danger with not only his enemies... but his family as well.

I liked the characters individually but I would never have paired them as a couple. If Thalia wasn't obsessed with Disney then maybe yes??? Some moments she acted like someone in their 20's then the next she had a personality of a child. She tried to act like a hard nut on some occasions which gave me the ick 🥴 they only let it pass because they were afraid of Salvatore not her.

The ending was very rushed. The problem with his family not accepting her as she's a witness/outsider and the situation with Salvatore's family rival got sorted out in an instant so it was kind of pointless in adding it to the story in the first place. I would have preferred the problems to have been dragged out a bit longer.

This story ends with a very rushed HEA

Epilogue - 1 Year Later
It's Thalia's and Salvatore's wedding day. They got engaged 6 months prior. Some people in the mafia still haven't excepted Salvatore marrying an outsider. They assumed he would marry someone for political union and not for love. Thalia still tries to act like a hard nut 🥴

Triggers/Tropes
▫️Birth Control (FMC Has The Implant)
▫️Insta-Attraction
▫️Mafia Elements
▫️Murder (On Page)
▫️No Condoms
▫️No OW/OM Drama
▫️Praise
▫️Rich Guy/Poor Girl
▫️Violence (On Page)

[Áine Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this cute mafia romance, both main characters, Thalia and Salvatore, are likeable and have great chemistry. This is a short book, so if you want a quick read, you could do worse than pick this one.

[Frani Zumwalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Salvatore and Thalia. He gets shot she saves him, and they wind up in her apartment
They go to his apartment where she thinks his father wants her dead.
Wait till you read what happens next

[Jeletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Read!

Short and steamy if you can look past the fact they are criminals. I enjoyed the leads since this is a fantasy, but not my favorite read. I will read more of the series though!

[EVELYN ANN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Killa Insta-HEA

It's such a fast read I don't really know why it took me so long to finish it. #LifeHappens It's fun, it's exciting, and it's sexy/steamy. Will definitely read the rest of the series. On to the next! #HappyReading 💖

[judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

romance

What a sweet mafia style romance story. It starts with a shooting at a restaurant. This is the beginning on Salvatore and Thalia love story. She is a force to be reckoned with. The perfect wife for Salvatore.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thalia didnt think a temp waitress job would end with a shoot out and her taking Salvator to saftey, only being with Salvator is anything but safe when hes mafia! well written stemy faced paced age gap and more

[MoeTC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Whenever I'm bored, novellas were always such a fun read. And like pretty much every short story there is, this is insta-love/lust. And normally I wouldn't have liked that a lot, but hey, it's a short story.. that was literally what I came for lol 🤭 readable, I liked it.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really in the mood for a novella that got straight to the point and without filler before bed. I honestly really liked this one - it had some elements that were unique. The only reason why I cannot bring myself to give it 5 stars is literally so petty - Disney adults. I literally cannot.

[Ms Ella J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read. Would have preferred a full length novel for the characters to fully develop.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bang

A relationship that starts with a bang. Gun shots, blood, and steamy sex make an interesting, but a quick read.

[Winter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the FMC. She was calm and pretty bad ass in the face of danger. Did this move at the speed of light? Yes but I liked it anyways.

[Mrs.Kriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of violence and spice packed into 77 pages.

[Juanita Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read

This was a pretty decent book. It was one of the fastest reads I've had, but not bad!! I wouldn't suggest not reading it

[sheryl blaszczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story

This was amazing. I loved Thalia she had me in hysterics. They were great together. I’m still laughing. It was a quick but packed read. You’ll love it