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No Mercy #1
Kiss a Villain
Once upon a time, I saved a boy from certain death.
Fell for him so hard that I’d follow him straight to the gates of Hell, and say thank you for it.
But the problem with being hopelessly in love with Kirill Volkov is that he won’t ever love me back.
On paper, we shouldn’t even be friends. He’s the grump to my sunshine, he hates to be touched while I’m touch-starved. Most of all, I’m the prince to a mafia kingdom and he’s one of my father’s soldiers.
And everyone knows that the Russian Bratva is a graveyard where all good things go to die.
Day by day, the Kirill I love slips further and further away. Now, when I look in his midnight-black eyes, only a stone-cold killer stares back.
That’s okay, though. There isn’t anything I won’t do to make him mine…
Even if it means that I’ll need to kiss a villain.
KISS A VILLAIN is a childhood friends to enemies to lovers Mafia MM Romance. Buckle up because the ride is angsty, twisted, and filled with so much longing.
IMPORTANT: This is Book 1 in the No Mercy Duet. Yarik & Kirill's story concludes in Kiss of Death, which will release February 21st, 2025. Please see the Author's Note or visit Mia's website for TWs & Content Information.
The Vibes
🥀 Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers
🥀 Amnesia
🥀 Forced Proximity
🥀 Coming of Age
🥀 Unrequited Love + Pining
🥀 Bi-Awakening
🥀 Possessive Morally Grey Heroes
🥀 Mafia Romance
Fell for him so hard that I’d follow him straight to the gates of Hell, and say thank you for it.
But the problem with being hopelessly in love with Kirill Volkov is that he won’t ever love me back.
On paper, we shouldn’t even be friends. He’s the grump to my sunshine, he hates to be touched while I’m touch-starved. Most of all, I’m the prince to a mafia kingdom and he’s one of my father’s soldiers.
And everyone knows that the Russian Bratva is a graveyard where all good things go to die.
Day by day, the Kirill I love slips further and further away. Now, when I look in his midnight-black eyes, only a stone-cold killer stares back.
That’s okay, though. There isn’t anything I won’t do to make him mine…
Even if it means that I’ll need to kiss a villain.
KISS A VILLAIN is a childhood friends to enemies to lovers Mafia MM Romance. Buckle up because the ride is angsty, twisted, and filled with so much longing.
IMPORTANT: This is Book 1 in the No Mercy Duet. Yarik & Kirill's story concludes in Kiss of Death, which will release February 21st, 2025. Please see the Author's Note or visit Mia's website for TWs & Content Information.
The Vibes
🥀 Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers
🥀 Amnesia
🥀 Forced Proximity
🥀 Coming of Age
🥀 Unrequited Love + Pining
🥀 Bi-Awakening
🥀 Possessive Morally Grey Heroes
🥀 Mafia Romance
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 28, 2024
818 people are currently reading
6217 people want to read
About the author
Mia Darling
4 books288 followersMia Darling lives in a ruined castle and spends her days surrounded by morally grey men vying for her attention…Just kidding.
She lives with her husband and two rambunctious pups who run her life. She loves dragons, things that go bump in the night, and vulnerable anti-heroes who fall in love.
Her M/M Romances are dirty, dangerous, and always end in an HEA. Enemies-to-lovers is her jam, but so is mutual pining. Either way, hold on tight because shit’s about to get wild.
She lives with her husband and two rambunctious pups who run her life. She loves dragons, things that go bump in the night, and vulnerable anti-heroes who fall in love.
Her M/M Romances are dirty, dangerous, and always end in an HEA. Enemies-to-lovers is her jam, but so is mutual pining. Either way, hold on tight because shit’s about to get wild.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 736 reviews
January 30, 2025
I knew I would love this book. The raw emotions it evoked made me sob uncontrollably at times. this is my second MM romance, and it was absolutely heart-wrenching in the best way. I'm completely in love with the characters!
before starting, just look at these beautiful specimens
I just want to
😭
Yaroslav Volkov or Yarik — found a boy on his property who he initially thought was dead. however, he saved his life and brought him home, fully aware of the consequences. the boy suffered from severe amnesia, remembering nothing—not even his name—except for Yarik saving him.
the whole book doesn’t have romantic scenes, but rather it was filled with longing, emotional and heartbreaking moments, and how both boys went on with life hiding their feelings. Yarik is the heir of the Russian Empire, and Kirill Volkov (renamed), became a foot soldier.
it's told that both the boys are best friends, but this whole book spans 11 years, and they had a lot fewer interactions with each other. but the fact they were each other's only friends made sense.
the way it's written, i'm seriously in love with the author's writing. she has a knack for evolving the story in such a way that nothing seems amiss.
Yarik has always looked up to Kirill and was just so love-sick for him. always following him around, doing anything and everything for his attention, and while Kirill wanted nothing more than to be with Yarik, he was just forced to hate him. and that never worked.
“I narrowed my eyes. Then, because I knew he’d let me get away with it—he let me get away with almost everything, honestly—I grabbed a pair of rolled-up socks and chucked them at the back of his head.”
the thing is, kirill was the protective one and always protected Yarik his whole life. while Yarik knew that Kirill was forced to hate and ignore him, he couldn't help but follow him always. Yarik was the sunshine one, who was just so broken but always saw good in his life. i swear i cried a lot while reading his pov and how his father belittled him from time to time. how he was separated from kirill and isolated in Russia.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to tell me who hurt you”
it was just clear both of them were ready to sacrifice themselves for each other. the connection they both always had despite being separated for the majority of those eleven years.
“Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trust me, as if he didn’t even like me, when all I saw in him was safety."
“And there was no denying it, not anymore—I loved Kirill Volkov. Not the way you loved a best mate or a brother. I loved him the way you did a soulmate."
“After all that shit you spouted about refusing to let me go, you went and treated me no better than my father ever has.” Unfathomably dark eyes glittered up at me. “Take that back.”
there was a scene when Kirill was forced to whip Yarik and FOR RUCK’S SAKE THAT WAS JUST SO CRUEL 😭 this whole book is seriously a trauma dump of sorts. each n every pov was making me sob. Kirill's whole “Better alive and miserable than happy and dead.” thoughts in that scene and how it killed him to even do that. and if that betrayal wasn’t enough, he was just sent away for 9 months with no contact with Yarik.
tbvh after 80% all the things went downhill, and it was just one heartbreak after another. the letters Kirill wrote to him (i just realized that in the fanart ^, the letters are in the book), the texts they both never sent 😭 i just found this book v deep jabsjwja and i'm dying rn to read book 2. i knew i’d just couldn’t stop thinking about them without their hea yet i still started it. my fault ffs.
finally, the last chapters when Yarik confessed everything, and they just kissed AND IT JUST ENDED THERE. like LITERALLY WHEN THEIR LIPS TOUCHED 😭 this author is a sadist ffs. Book 2 will be equally gut-wrenching, but i hope they kill that mf father and finally reunite. btw, they met when they were 10-12, currently 21-23.
before starting, just look at these beautiful specimens
I just want to
😭
Yaroslav Volkov or Yarik — found a boy on his property who he initially thought was dead. however, he saved his life and brought him home, fully aware of the consequences. the boy suffered from severe amnesia, remembering nothing—not even his name—except for Yarik saving him.
the whole book doesn’t have romantic scenes, but rather it was filled with longing, emotional and heartbreaking moments, and how both boys went on with life hiding their feelings. Yarik is the heir of the Russian Empire, and Kirill Volkov (renamed), became a foot soldier.
it's told that both the boys are best friends, but this whole book spans 11 years, and they had a lot fewer interactions with each other. but the fact they were each other's only friends made sense.
the way it's written, i'm seriously in love with the author's writing. she has a knack for evolving the story in such a way that nothing seems amiss.
Yarik has always looked up to Kirill and was just so love-sick for him. always following him around, doing anything and everything for his attention, and while Kirill wanted nothing more than to be with Yarik, he was just forced to hate him. and that never worked.
“I narrowed my eyes. Then, because I knew he’d let me get away with it—he let me get away with almost everything, honestly—I grabbed a pair of rolled-up socks and chucked them at the back of his head.”
the thing is, kirill was the protective one and always protected Yarik his whole life. while Yarik knew that Kirill was forced to hate and ignore him, he couldn't help but follow him always. Yarik was the sunshine one, who was just so broken but always saw good in his life. i swear i cried a lot while reading his pov and how his father belittled him from time to time. how he was separated from kirill and isolated in Russia.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to tell me who hurt you”
it was just clear both of them were ready to sacrifice themselves for each other. the connection they both always had despite being separated for the majority of those eleven years.
“Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trust me, as if he didn’t even like me, when all I saw in him was safety."
“And there was no denying it, not anymore—I loved Kirill Volkov. Not the way you loved a best mate or a brother. I loved him the way you did a soulmate."
“After all that shit you spouted about refusing to let me go, you went and treated me no better than my father ever has.” Unfathomably dark eyes glittered up at me. “Take that back.”
there was a scene when Kirill was forced to whip Yarik and FOR RUCK’S SAKE THAT WAS JUST SO CRUEL 😭 this whole book is seriously a trauma dump of sorts. each n every pov was making me sob. Kirill's whole “Better alive and miserable than happy and dead.” thoughts in that scene and how it killed him to even do that. and if that betrayal wasn’t enough, he was just sent away for 9 months with no contact with Yarik.
tbvh after 80% all the things went downhill, and it was just one heartbreak after another. the letters Kirill wrote to him (i just realized that in the fanart ^, the letters are in the book), the texts they both never sent 😭 i just found this book v deep jabsjwja and i'm dying rn to read book 2. i knew i’d just couldn’t stop thinking about them without their hea yet i still started it. my fault ffs.
finally, the last chapters when Yarik confessed everything, and they just kissed AND IT JUST ENDED THERE. like LITERALLY WHEN THEIR LIPS TOUCHED 😭 this author is a sadist ffs. Book 2 will be equally gut-wrenching, but i hope they kill that mf father and finally reunite. btw, they met when they were 10-12, currently 21-23.
January 4, 2026
5 ⭐️ ( ALSOOO MY FIRST FIVE-STAR READ OF THE YEAR—THIS COULDN’T GET ANY MORE SPECIAL!!!!!THIS IS TOOOOO MUCH)
THE DAMAGE THIS BOOK DID TO MY SOUL IS PERMANENTTTTT, AND NOWW THIS STORY OWNS A PART OF ME....... COMPLETELY UNDER ITS SPELL.AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF FIGHTING IT.....
💔😭I was weak for him, and it didn’t seem to matter what wrongs he committed against me—there was still nothing I loved more than existing in his orbit.😭😭😭😭💔
WHO TF GAVE ME THIS QUOTE AND EXPECTS ME TO HEAL?!IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE DAMAGE THIS BOOK DID TO MY SOUL IS PERMANENTTTTT, AND NOWW THIS STORY OWNS A PART OF ME....... COMPLETELY UNDER ITS SPELL.AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF FIGHTING IT.....
💔😭I was weak for him, and it didn’t seem to matter what wrongs he committed against me—there was still nothing I loved more than existing in his orbit.😭😭😭😭💔
WHO TF GAVE ME THIS QUOTE AND EXPECTS ME TO HEAL?!IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 31, 2024
⭐️ 5 stars ⭐️
I need book two immediately. The pining and angst was absolutely painful. I feel incomplete. Mia Darling, you evil angel. Take all the fucking stars.
— { possible spoilers } —
I loved seeing the characters grow, how the cruel mafia world shaped them, how they had to hide their true selves, how even when they were supposed to hate each other they couldn’t stay apart.
The unrequited love, the pining, the unsent texts — it was all beautifully painful and extremely well done. Those texts broke me. Even through all the pain, the fight for survival, you can still feel how they care for each other, how in a different world they might be able to love each other.
The last chapter simultaneously gave me everything I wanted and not fucking enough.
I can’t wait to see their HEA, because I NEED it.
[thankfully, the author promised me it will all be worth it… after a wee bit more pain. “What’s love if not a little pain?” Looking forward to it. ]
I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.
CW and tropes (spoilers):
- Mafia
- Violence
- References of SH
- Homophobia
- Emotional manipulation
- Child abuse (physical and emotional)
- MC w/ touch aversion
- The mother of all slow burns
- Pining
- Voyeurism
- On page sex not between MCs (before MCs get together, one scene)
- Cliffhanger
˚₊‧꒰ა Two ruined souls. ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
I need book two immediately. The pining and angst was absolutely painful. I feel incomplete. Mia Darling, you evil angel. Take all the fucking stars.
— { possible spoilers } —
“Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.” “Even in Hell?”
“Yes,” I admitted roughly, “even in Hell.”
I loved seeing the characters grow, how the cruel mafia world shaped them, how they had to hide their true selves, how even when they were supposed to hate each other they couldn’t stay apart.
« I want you, I almost whispered. Please tell me you want me, too. »
The unrequited love, the pining, the unsent texts — it was all beautifully painful and extremely well done. Those texts broke me. Even through all the pain, the fight for survival, you can still feel how they care for each other, how in a different world they might be able to love each other.
The last chapter simultaneously gave me everything I wanted and not fucking enough.
I can’t wait to see their HEA, because I NEED it.
[thankfully, the author promised me it will all be worth it… after a wee bit more pain. “What’s love if not a little pain?” Looking forward to it. ]
“Let me taste you, Kiryusha.”
I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review.
CW and tropes (spoilers):
- Mafia
- Violence
- References of SH
- Homophobia
- Emotional manipulation
- Child abuse (physical and emotional)
- MC w/ touch aversion
- The mother of all slow burns
- Pining
- Voyeurism
- On page sex not between MCs (before MCs get together, one scene)
- Cliffhanger
dnf-nope
February 25, 2025Dnf @ 39% because I CAN’T HANDLE THIS😭
It’s such a beautiful story and amazingly written but like usual, my pesky safety issues get in the way. I knew going in to this that it would have an MFM scene before the MMCs got together. I thought to myself “okay, I’m not looking forward to that but these tropes sound good. There’s not a ton of MM bratva books so let me try this and tough out that one scene.”
😬
hey.. so um I stayed up reading this book to the 39% mark, anxiously anticipating the MFM scene to come. I thought once it was over I could relax and enjoy the story. HAHAHA!
My stomach = turning. How do I feel? Nauseous as heck.
I already started to get an attachment to the characters when I had to find out that one of them is a virgin. The other one is not. What makes it worse? They are childhood best friends and grow up together on page. What makes this even worse? The virgin MMC wishes that they would lose their virginities together. What makes this worse? When the virgin MMC learns the non-virgin MMC has already had his first kiss, he thinks “I wish you hadn’t had your first kiss already.” and to drive the knife in deeper, it’s because he wants their first kiss to be together. The virgin MMC can’t even kiss anyone else/ feel attraction to anyone. OH! But what makes it worse? the non-virgin MMC is the touch repulsed one..😐 sir? You won’t even let the MMC touch you but you can fuck other women in alleyways and kiss others?😖 To top all of this off, the MFM scene is in fact at almost the END of the book. I understand this is a series or at least a duet but gah damn, so much yearning just for the virgin MMC to watch the other MMC f another woman?😔
(To give a little more detail, the MMC who is sleeping with other women has a body cam sort of thing on. The virgin MMC sees the tapes of the other MMC with women and watches. Not sure how many times he watches it happen but it happened at least once on page.)
Y’all, I can’t even right now. I’m shaking with nausea because this whole situation genuinely made me sick. Why does the virgin MMC have to watch the touch repulsed MMC have sex with another woman (yes, the full act) and think about how he wishes they lost their virginities together. My heart literally cracked. I don’t think I could ever forgive the touch repulsed MMC.
I truly am jealous of those of you who are strong enough to read things like this. I wish I had the stomach to handle reading on page OP sex (especially when it’s childhood friends to lovers), but I just can’t. I wasn’t built that strong.
It’s such a beautiful story and amazingly written but like usual, my pesky safety issues get in the way. I knew going in to this that it would have an MFM scene before the MMCs got together. I thought to myself “okay, I’m not looking forward to that but these tropes sound good. There’s not a ton of MM bratva books so let me try this and tough out that one scene.”
😬
hey.. so um I stayed up reading this book to the 39% mark, anxiously anticipating the MFM scene to come. I thought once it was over I could relax and enjoy the story. HAHAHA!
My stomach = turning. How do I feel? Nauseous as heck.
I already started to get an attachment to the characters when I had to find out that one of them is a virgin. The other one is not. What makes it worse? They are childhood best friends and grow up together on page. What makes this even worse? The virgin MMC wishes that they would lose their virginities together. What makes this worse? When the virgin MMC learns the non-virgin MMC has already had his first kiss, he thinks “I wish you hadn’t had your first kiss already.” and to drive the knife in deeper, it’s because he wants their first kiss to be together. The virgin MMC can’t even kiss anyone else/ feel attraction to anyone. OH! But what makes it worse? the non-virgin MMC is the touch repulsed one..😐 sir? You won’t even let the MMC touch you but you can fuck other women in alleyways and kiss others?😖 To top all of this off, the MFM scene is in fact at almost the END of the book. I understand this is a series or at least a duet but gah damn, so much yearning just for the virgin MMC to watch the other MMC f another woman?😔
(To give a little more detail, the MMC who is sleeping with other women has a body cam sort of thing on. The virgin MMC sees the tapes of the other MMC with women and watches. Not sure how many times he watches it happen but it happened at least once on page.)
Y’all, I can’t even right now. I’m shaking with nausea because this whole situation genuinely made me sick. Why does the virgin MMC have to watch the touch repulsed MMC have sex with another woman (yes, the full act) and think about how he wishes they lost their virginities together. My heart literally cracked. I don’t think I could ever forgive the touch repulsed MMC.
I truly am jealous of those of you who are strong enough to read things like this. I wish I had the stomach to handle reading on page OP sex (especially when it’s childhood friends to lovers), but I just can’t. I wasn’t built that strong.
August 1, 2024
I love me some tragic, morally grey, traumatized sad boys.
This was such a great slow-burn, morally grey read. I think some people might find this book a little slow but for me I feel like this is one of those cases where the right book really just fits the vibe I’ve been searching for and I suspect a lot of it is scene setting for things to pop off in book 2. I’ve been on the lookout for a mafia romance that works for me for a long time and had appalling luck so far but this is really the first one that’s kind of clicked for me and I enjoyed.
The MC Yarik, a Bratva mafia prince, as a child encounters what he thinks is a corpse on the bank of the River Thames but is actually another child on deaths door with a serious case of amnesia. The child is taken into the Bratva family, given the name Kirill, and forced to become a mafia enforcer himself and the book follows their codependent and toxic relationship as they grow up from children to young adults being exposed to all the horrors that come with the Bratva.
lol I don’t think I have ever come so close to throwing my kindle across the room as I did at the end of this book. There was that little something special that stopped the being a 5 star read for me, but this is a fantastic effort, especially considering this is a debut and I truly can’t wait for book 2.
Thank you to GRR for the opportunity to read and review this eARC
This was such a great slow-burn, morally grey read. I think some people might find this book a little slow but for me I feel like this is one of those cases where the right book really just fits the vibe I’ve been searching for and I suspect a lot of it is scene setting for things to pop off in book 2. I’ve been on the lookout for a mafia romance that works for me for a long time and had appalling luck so far but this is really the first one that’s kind of clicked for me and I enjoyed.
The MC Yarik, a Bratva mafia prince, as a child encounters what he thinks is a corpse on the bank of the River Thames but is actually another child on deaths door with a serious case of amnesia. The child is taken into the Bratva family, given the name Kirill, and forced to become a mafia enforcer himself and the book follows their codependent and toxic relationship as they grow up from children to young adults being exposed to all the horrors that come with the Bratva.
lol I don’t think I have ever come so close to throwing my kindle across the room as I did at the end of this book. There was that little something special that stopped the being a 5 star read for me, but this is a fantastic effort, especially considering this is a debut and I truly can’t wait for book 2.
Thank you to GRR for the opportunity to read and review this eARC
September 25, 2024
⊹ ⁺ ₊ ✧
Kiss a Villain
┊
5 stars
✧ ₊ ⁺ ⊹
☆₊⋆ → thoughts┊This book… it was so angsty and addicting!! I couldn’t put it down. I just want to give them both a big hug :( I need that 2nd book right now😭
౨ৎ happy reading ౨ৎ
☆₊⋆ → thoughts┊This book… it was so angsty and addicting!! I couldn’t put it down. I just want to give them both a big hug :( I need that 2nd book right now😭
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄☆⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
౨ৎ happy reading ౨ৎ
October 13, 2024
Nothing makes me feral like a slowburn. I read this in two sittings, just screaming at my phone for them to kiss. It was pathetic. I loved it.
THE PREMISE: a mafia prince finds a boy on the brink of death, saves him, then proceeds to love him desperately for eleven years.
TROPES & VIBES:
- Yearning. Just. All the yearning
- MM dark mafia romance
- Super slowburn
- I need book two: immediately
- Vicious sad boy x dark sunshine
- He smells like home
- *Letters I didn’t send*
- Books that made me cry
- BEAUTIFUL writing
4.5⭐️ 1🌶️ (voyeur situation)
THE PREMISE: a mafia prince finds a boy on the brink of death, saves him, then proceeds to love him desperately for eleven years.
TROPES & VIBES:
- Yearning. Just. All the yearning
- MM dark mafia romance
- Super slowburn
- I need book two: immediately
- Vicious sad boy x dark sunshine
- He smells like home
- *Letters I didn’t send*
- Books that made me cry
- BEAUTIFUL writing
4.5⭐️ 1🌶️ (voyeur situation)
March 17, 2025
Reread:
The little snippets I found while reading this book again have me feral. Their connection goes so deep and it’s absolutely crazy to think about the sacrifices Kirill had to make in order to keep Yarik in his life in some capacity. These two just make my heart hurt when I think of them and I can’t wait to see them happy. They both deserve the world!😭
“From this day forward, this moment would always exist between us, and our lives would be forever rewritten. There was Before. There was After. My heart lay shattered somewhere in between.”
Original Review:
Okay…I finished this about 10 minuets ago and had to have serious words with Mia before being able to gather my thoughts.🤣
I’ll start with the niceties…because I’m nice.
This is a debut…a very very good debut. The writing was captivating and the plot was so interesting that I ignored Alice and Sam (that never happens). The workings of the bratva and specifically the Russian way of things was very well portrayed.
Now the characters…
Yurik was beautiful. He was the odd one. The one that didn’t fit in into the life he was born into (not that anyone tries to include him in anything🙄). Anyway…no matter how hard he tried he always remained on the outside of things. The pain that he went through was so palpable. That boy deserves the world.
Now Kirill…amazing, protective Kirill. The boy with no choice. He was absolutely everything. Despite having to be a puppet, he tries his absolute hardest to protect Yurik. I could feel the way he showed his love…all the little gestures.
I love these boys so so much🥹 and I can’t wait until they get to have it all.
Now onto the not niceties…because I’m raging.
The time spent reading this book summed up was, in no particular order…cute (maybe like 3% of the book), rage, pain, misery, 5 stages of grief, more rage, longing, visceral heartbreak, tears, sobs…you get the gist. And normally I’d deal just fine but then just as I got to the 0.5% cuteness part I seen the words “The End”. 🙂
In all honesty though it was all worth it because this is a beautiful story of young, true love in the darkest of places and I can’t wait to see it prevail.
The little snippets I found while reading this book again have me feral. Their connection goes so deep and it’s absolutely crazy to think about the sacrifices Kirill had to make in order to keep Yarik in his life in some capacity. These two just make my heart hurt when I think of them and I can’t wait to see them happy. They both deserve the world!😭
“From this day forward, this moment would always exist between us, and our lives would be forever rewritten. There was Before. There was After. My heart lay shattered somewhere in between.”
Original Review:
Okay…I finished this about 10 minuets ago and had to have serious words with Mia before being able to gather my thoughts.🤣
I’ll start with the niceties…because I’m nice.
This is a debut…a very very good debut. The writing was captivating and the plot was so interesting that I ignored Alice and Sam (that never happens). The workings of the bratva and specifically the Russian way of things was very well portrayed.
Now the characters…
Yurik was beautiful. He was the odd one. The one that didn’t fit in into the life he was born into (not that anyone tries to include him in anything🙄). Anyway…no matter how hard he tried he always remained on the outside of things. The pain that he went through was so palpable. That boy deserves the world.
Now Kirill…amazing, protective Kirill. The boy with no choice. He was absolutely everything. Despite having to be a puppet, he tries his absolute hardest to protect Yurik. I could feel the way he showed his love…all the little gestures.
I love these boys so so much🥹 and I can’t wait until they get to have it all.
Now onto the not niceties…because I’m raging.
The time spent reading this book summed up was, in no particular order…cute (maybe like 3% of the book), rage, pain, misery, 5 stages of grief, more rage, longing, visceral heartbreak, tears, sobs…you get the gist. And normally I’d deal just fine but then just as I got to the 0.5% cuteness part I seen the words “The End”. 🙂
In all honesty though it was all worth it because this is a beautiful story of young, true love in the darkest of places and I can’t wait to see it prevail.
February 24, 2025
4.5
I'm normally wary of mafia stories where the characters are young, but this completely changed my opinion.
Seeing the struggles that both Kirill and Yarik go through in their childhood, teens and early twenties gave me so much heartache. I detest Petr soooo much, wtf is that guys problem??
I did think Kirill was an absolute dickhead for most of the book and had the emotional abilities of a plank of wood - I feel bad for the plank of wood in this comparison... I'm firmly on team Yarik, but I could also understand the reasoning behind Kirill's actions too which made him hard to hate.
The side character Beck though completely stole the show for me 😂
Very excited to see how this duet concludes!
*****
I received an ARC of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review
I'm normally wary of mafia stories where the characters are young, but this completely changed my opinion.
Seeing the struggles that both Kirill and Yarik go through in their childhood, teens and early twenties gave me so much heartache. I detest Petr soooo much, wtf is that guys problem??
I did think Kirill was an absolute dickhead for most of the book and had the emotional abilities of a plank of wood - I feel bad for the plank of wood in this comparison... I'm firmly on team Yarik, but I could also understand the reasoning behind Kirill's actions too which made him hard to hate.
The side character Beck though completely stole the show for me 😂
Very excited to see how this duet concludes!
*****
I received an ARC of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review
February 22, 2025
Kiss a Villain is full of slow burn angst. It's pure yearning.
The romance takes a backseat in this book, focusing on establishing their history for romance to kick in in book 2. It builds up Yarik and Kirill relationship, from when they first meet and then become friends. They're both stuck in a dangerous mafia world and are not just trying to survive, but to protect the other in anyway they think best.
__
For some reason I though book 2 was out at the end of Feb, but it's release date is 23rd of March 🙃 I need it now!
The romance takes a backseat in this book, focusing on establishing their history for romance to kick in in book 2. It builds up Yarik and Kirill relationship, from when they first meet and then become friends. They're both stuck in a dangerous mafia world and are not just trying to survive, but to protect the other in anyway they think best.
__
For some reason I though book 2 was out at the end of Feb, but it's release date is 23rd of March 🙃 I need it now!
September 30, 2024
RTC but slay
Also unpopular opinion but i fuckin love a cliffhanger
Also unpopular opinion but i fuckin love a cliffhanger
December 21, 2024
This is not just a book. It’s heartache, angst and unrequited love bleeding as ink on paper.
Stages of emotions i went through this book in a nutshell:
Grief » Grief 2.0 » some aww moments(yeah I’m talking about text chats) » Angst » More Grief » Hein? Dude what are you doing? » Grief XD » Some Laughter(cr. Daniel & Eren) » Grief Again » Angst » More Angst » The End(wait end? they just kissed for god sake)
OVERALL THE BOOK, THE CHARACTERS, THE EMOTIONS, THE WRITING, EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT WAS EVERYTHING. I was craving a sad read and I did get. I sobbed, I screamed, I cried, I got hot and bothered. Omg how sadist of me!!
It is slowest of the slow burn but I have no complaints because obviously it was expected considering the first book was mainly about their emotional development and how mafia life shaped them. Tbh the lack of sex actually fits the vibe of the book.
bonus: the texts(mostly the deleted ones), the unsent letter and Russian pet names.
Lastly, “Thus with a kiss I end.” Mia darling, don’t leave me hanging. I need the second book now.
P.s. don't read this book if you are looking for a cute nothing mm romance, it's a sad book, romance & spice is barely 10%
____________
I am craving a sad read. Lets go!!
Stages of emotions i went through this book in a nutshell:
Grief » Grief 2.0 » some aww moments(yeah I’m talking about text chats) » Angst » More Grief » Hein? Dude what are you doing? » Grief XD » Some Laughter(cr. Daniel & Eren) » Grief Again » Angst » More Angst » The End(wait end? they just kissed for god sake)
“I would withstand a thousand lashes from you. If that’s what you needed to survive this world, to save face with my father, I’d hand you the belt, Kiryusha, and I’d let you bleed me dry.”
OVERALL THE BOOK, THE CHARACTERS, THE EMOTIONS, THE WRITING, EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT WAS EVERYTHING. I was craving a sad read and I did get. I sobbed, I screamed, I cried, I got hot and bothered. Omg how sadist of me!!
“Every page of my life has you written between the lines. You could walk away right now, and that still wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”
It is slowest of the slow burn but I have no complaints because obviously it was expected considering the first book was mainly about their emotional development and how mafia life shaped them. Tbh the lack of sex actually fits the vibe of the book.
“Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.”
“Even in Hell?”
“Yes,” I admitted roughly, “even in Hell.”
bonus: the texts(mostly the deleted ones), the unsent letter and Russian pet names.
Lastly, “Thus with a kiss I end.” Mia darling, don’t leave me hanging. I need the second book now.
P.s. don't read this book if you are looking for a cute nothing mm romance, it's a sad book, romance & spice is barely 10%
____________
I am craving a sad read. Lets go!!
May 29, 2025
i have absolutely NO WORDS for how much i loved this book y’all!! 😩😭🙌🏼🧡🧡 like… an MM MAFIA CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS?!?! i was strapped the FUCK IN and read this baby in one day.
i just loved every single part of this. the quotes were so beautiful and poetic i just had so many feelings throughout 🥹 the humour was there as well. now Mia… we needa talk about that ending because YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT 😭😭😭😭🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 i was so gagged i need the next one NOWWWWWW
5⭐️ and 1🌶️. enjoy my thoughts while reading:
- tropes: mafia, dark romance, childhood friends to lovers, mm, i saved you, grumpy x sunshine, slow burn
- aesthetic: mafia, london, bording school, letters, river
- omg he saved him as kids oh this is going to RUIN MEEEE
- this book is fucking beautiful oh my GOD 😭😭😭
- the banter is givingggggg
- the constellations texts 😩
- i can’t explain the serotonin i’m getting from this, like every second line is poetry and that banter is 🔥🔥
- HE WROTE HIM LETTERS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
- NO IT CAN NOT FUCKING END LIKE THAT ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS WHERE IS THE REST OF IT IM NOT PLAYING AROUND IM 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
i just loved every single part of this. the quotes were so beautiful and poetic i just had so many feelings throughout 🥹 the humour was there as well. now Mia… we needa talk about that ending because YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT 😭😭😭😭🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 i was so gagged i need the next one NOWWWWWW
5⭐️ and 1🌶️. enjoy my thoughts while reading:
- tropes: mafia, dark romance, childhood friends to lovers, mm, i saved you, grumpy x sunshine, slow burn
- aesthetic: mafia, london, bording school, letters, river
- omg he saved him as kids oh this is going to RUIN MEEEE
- this book is fucking beautiful oh my GOD 😭😭😭
- the banter is givingggggg
- the constellations texts 😩
- i can’t explain the serotonin i’m getting from this, like every second line is poetry and that banter is 🔥🔥
- HE WROTE HIM LETTERS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
- NO IT CAN NOT FUCKING END LIKE THAT ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS WHERE IS THE REST OF IT IM NOT PLAYING AROUND IM 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
September 28, 2024
4.5 ⭐️ hopping to round up after the next book.
Well that’s just cruel …To be continued in Kiss of Death 😭😭😭😭😭😭
Loved this, really did.the texting, the letters, the pining, the tension , the pet Russian names… and them 🤌🖤
Also this cover is… I’m in love 🥹
Well that’s just cruel …To be continued in Kiss of Death 😭😭😭😭😭😭
Loved this, really did.the texting, the letters, the pining, the tension , the pet Russian names… and them 🤌🖤
Also this cover is… I’m in love 🥹
December 28, 2024
To first loves— To the way they make us bleed. To the way they make us hurt. Most of all, to the way they fill us with nothing but hope…
I am broken. BROKEN.
I’m literally in tears. I’m not someone emotional, I very rarely cry, but I can’t control the tears this time. This was simultaneously beautiful, gut-wrenching and painful. I cannot tell you how many times my heart broke for Yarik and Kirill. I mean, it’s the Russian Bratva, so it’s obvious it wasn’t going to be all rainbows and butterflies. This wasn’t as gore, graphic or even dark in its essence as some other dark romance out there but because of how well the author wrote everything, it felt darker and more painful than it really was. It was beautifully executed. I’ve read plenty of similar plot lines with Romeo and Juliette vibes but this one is the best by far.
I didn’t understand the obsession with blue eyes when I couldn’t ever seem to stop thinking about a pair of black ones that glittered with distrust.
It is very easy to get attached to two characters if the authors makes you follow them since they’re children and with each new page you read, with each chapter you start you witness the way they age and, quite literally, break. You see the changes, you understand them, and it breaks you as if you were the one going through everything.
An errant tear slipped down my cheek. I saw the moment he noticed it. The light in his eyes flickered, then went out like the sight of me crying destroyed something vital within him. Then he lifted his hand, fingers already unfurled as if he actually thought to brush away the physical manifestation of my heartache.
The angst, the longing, the deep, profound and unwavering love they have for each other is the best and worst thing I’ve read recently… because it meant that despite rooting for them, I couldn’t help but hope they’d go their separate ways. It’s very obvious that they keep burning each other and book two is only going to get worse but at the same time… They can’t live without each other. Both of them are alive because the other is 🥺
“Sometimes I missed you.” You know, if “sometimes” was just a less pathetic way of saying, “I missed you every second of every day.” Which was true. I’d missed him every second of every day of every year that he’d been gone.
The writing is also very beautiful. Not exactly poetic but the author is very good at playing with your feelings, for sure.
In a voice like gravel, Kirill rasped, “I don’t want to lose you.” “You won’t,” I vowed. It was a lie.
I can’t wait for book two. I’ll definitely check more of this author work.
I am broken. BROKEN.
I’m literally in tears. I’m not someone emotional, I very rarely cry, but I can’t control the tears this time. This was simultaneously beautiful, gut-wrenching and painful. I cannot tell you how many times my heart broke for Yarik and Kirill. I mean, it’s the Russian Bratva, so it’s obvious it wasn’t going to be all rainbows and butterflies. This wasn’t as gore, graphic or even dark in its essence as some other dark romance out there but because of how well the author wrote everything, it felt darker and more painful than it really was. It was beautifully executed. I’ve read plenty of similar plot lines with Romeo and Juliette vibes but this one is the best by far.
I didn’t understand the obsession with blue eyes when I couldn’t ever seem to stop thinking about a pair of black ones that glittered with distrust.
It is very easy to get attached to two characters if the authors makes you follow them since they’re children and with each new page you read, with each chapter you start you witness the way they age and, quite literally, break. You see the changes, you understand them, and it breaks you as if you were the one going through everything.
An errant tear slipped down my cheek. I saw the moment he noticed it. The light in his eyes flickered, then went out like the sight of me crying destroyed something vital within him. Then he lifted his hand, fingers already unfurled as if he actually thought to brush away the physical manifestation of my heartache.
The angst, the longing, the deep, profound and unwavering love they have for each other is the best and worst thing I’ve read recently… because it meant that despite rooting for them, I couldn’t help but hope they’d go their separate ways. It’s very obvious that they keep burning each other and book two is only going to get worse but at the same time… They can’t live without each other. Both of them are alive because the other is 🥺
“Sometimes I missed you.” You know, if “sometimes” was just a less pathetic way of saying, “I missed you every second of every day.” Which was true. I’d missed him every second of every day of every year that he’d been gone.
The writing is also very beautiful. Not exactly poetic but the author is very good at playing with your feelings, for sure.
In a voice like gravel, Kirill rasped, “I don’t want to lose you.” “You won’t,” I vowed. It was a lie.
I can’t wait for book two. I’ll definitely check more of this author work.
January 30, 2025
“Every page of my life has you written between the lines. You could walk away right now, and that still wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎︎ ｡ ✧ ⋆ ★ ★ ★ ★ stars 🍓｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆
oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD?????
this book. this. freaking. book. i tried to pace myself and read this book slowly…yeah that didn’t work because i inhaled this whole thing. i was so wrapped up in the story and characters that i blinked and suddenly my kindle was showing i was 90%
i’m one to those people who eats up childhood friends to lovers. it is in fact a superior trope that constantly gets slept on. and kiss a villain? yeah kiss a villain twisted and ripped that trope apart in the best way possible.
childhood friends to lovers is good…but childhood friends to enemies. childhood friends to ‘he’s the other half of my wretched soul’…childhood friends to ‘i’ll make myself the monster under your bed. hate me. please hate me. you can, as long as you live’…oh my god???????
kirill and yarik are two deeply scarred souls who can’t help but gravitate toward each other which makes everything that happened to them so much more painful. kirill and yarik couldn’t catch a break. but they better in the next book 🙃
i really did enjoy this!!! the pacing and writing was confusing at times but that obviously didn’t impact me at all since i couldn’t put it down
also the blurb did not lie about the characters being touch starved…the amount of longing and yearning these characters felt…especially yarik???? he was so starved simply a hug??? for a touch that was gentle and not bruising??? and kirill wasn’t much better.
anyways. yeah. this book. i loved it. it scratched a very specific part of my brain. i need the second book in my hand asap
July 26, 2024
Watching these two grow up around each other was necessary to understand why they're so codependent on each other, even when they're not around and don't have eyes on each other every second. The watching. The unsent letters. The texts.
I fully enjoyed seeing Kirill and Yarik both become insanely jealous of who they were with/watching. I'm sorry, why was Kirill's eyes CLOSED during a certain scene? I also loved how he seemed to go crazy over Yarik watching a girl (IYKYK).
The pining was ugh. Everything. I loved how Yarik loved Kirill through it all, through EVERYTHING. Even after chapter 15. Even when he grew up to become the perfect mafia prince.
Now, this book is very much a slow burn and normally that's not my jam and even though there was a RUDE cliffhanger (MIA?!), it absolutely worked in this case. I cannot wait to see what happens in book two because I STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT THOSE LETTERS MEANT.
I fully enjoyed seeing Kirill and Yarik both become insanely jealous of who they were with/watching. I'm sorry, why was Kirill's eyes CLOSED during a certain scene? I also loved how he seemed to go crazy over Yarik watching a girl (IYKYK).
The pining was ugh. Everything. I loved how Yarik loved Kirill through it all, through EVERYTHING. Even after chapter 15. Even when he grew up to become the perfect mafia prince.
Now, this book is very much a slow burn and normally that's not my jam and even though there was a RUDE cliffhanger (MIA?!), it absolutely worked in this case. I cannot wait to see what happens in book two because I STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT THOSE LETTERS MEANT.
Read
January 18, 2026Kiss a villain… I’m sorry.. what kiss?!
I dropped it at 90% so they might kiss in the last 10% but you know what ? I. Don’t. Care.
Im out no rating and here’s why:
I am genuinely upset with myself for not doing proper research before picking this up, because this is exactly the kind of reading experience I try very hard to avoid.
Let me start by saying this: the first 20–30% of this book is strong. Really strong. That’s why I stayed. I was craving something intense and this book delivered in the beginning. Two abused children trapped under the control of a monstrous mafia patriarch, surviving day by day, forming a fragile bond they aren’t even allowed to acknowledge this was promising not their suffering but the promise of their HEA that will make up for all this pain. This was painful in a way that felt purposeful.
Yurik is introduced as a mafia prince in name only no privilege, no safety, just abuse because he refuses to submit. He’s defiant, keeps saying no, keeps rebelling, and keeps getting punished for it. Kirill, found half-dead and washed up in a river with no memory, no name, and no past, is saved only to be shoved into a system where survival itself is a curse. Their connection isn’t romance at first it’s survival, something human in an inhuman place and even that is forbidden. They can’t even be friends properly. Every moment together happens in fear, every interaction stolen while watching over their shoulders because discovery means brutal consequences.
And then the book just… never moves forward.
What follows is page after page of escalating misery with no emotional release, no development, and no payoff. Trauma. Fear. Power imbalance. Survival mode. Mafia danger. All of that makes sense on paper. But doesn’t make it fun to read . It started to get annoying and boring. No on page friendship nor romance is shown.
By 60%, nothing. By 80%, still nothing. By 90%, I was flipping pages like a maniac waiting for the story to start, only to realize this book is not the story it’s the prologue stretched to novel length.
And then, at around 90%, the first sexual content finally appears on the page… and it is Kirill getting oral from a woman in the bathroom instructing her to spit on his dick , while Yurik watches from the shadows and gets aroused, wanting to be her.
😑😑😑😑😑😑😑
I’m sorry, but absolutely not.
This is where I couldn’t go on any more and I dropped it.
No , I don’t think I want to stick around for more.
To add salt to the wound this is Book 1 of a duet, with no release date, no updates, and no reassurance that Book 2 is even coming.
This book is not meant to stand on its own it exists solely to prepare the ground for a sequel that may never arrive. That is not slow burn. That is emotional hostage-taking.
I don’t mind dark books. I don’t mind pain. I don’t even mind unfinished themes. But I absolutely mind investing this much emotional energy into a story that offers no resolution, no romantic foundation actually shown on the page, and no trust that the continuation will ever exist. Especially when the author appears to have gone silent.
I have no intention of continuing unless the duet is fully completed and confirmed. The premise had so much potential. The beginning proved the author can write something gripping. But execution matters, and this book chose prolonged suffering over storytelling.
I was hooked. Then confused. Then angry. And finally, done.
I dropped it at 90% so they might kiss in the last 10% but you know what ? I. Don’t. Care.
Im out no rating and here’s why:
I am genuinely upset with myself for not doing proper research before picking this up, because this is exactly the kind of reading experience I try very hard to avoid.
Let me start by saying this: the first 20–30% of this book is strong. Really strong. That’s why I stayed. I was craving something intense and this book delivered in the beginning. Two abused children trapped under the control of a monstrous mafia patriarch, surviving day by day, forming a fragile bond they aren’t even allowed to acknowledge this was promising not their suffering but the promise of their HEA that will make up for all this pain. This was painful in a way that felt purposeful.
Yurik is introduced as a mafia prince in name only no privilege, no safety, just abuse because he refuses to submit. He’s defiant, keeps saying no, keeps rebelling, and keeps getting punished for it. Kirill, found half-dead and washed up in a river with no memory, no name, and no past, is saved only to be shoved into a system where survival itself is a curse. Their connection isn’t romance at first it’s survival, something human in an inhuman place and even that is forbidden. They can’t even be friends properly. Every moment together happens in fear, every interaction stolen while watching over their shoulders because discovery means brutal consequences.
And then the book just… never moves forward.
What follows is page after page of escalating misery with no emotional release, no development, and no payoff. Trauma. Fear. Power imbalance. Survival mode. Mafia danger. All of that makes sense on paper. But doesn’t make it fun to read . It started to get annoying and boring. No on page friendship nor romance is shown.
By 60%, nothing. By 80%, still nothing. By 90%, I was flipping pages like a maniac waiting for the story to start, only to realize this book is not the story it’s the prologue stretched to novel length.
And then, at around 90%, the first sexual content finally appears on the page… and it is Kirill getting oral from a woman in the bathroom instructing her to spit on his dick , while Yurik watches from the shadows and gets aroused, wanting to be her.
😑😑😑😑😑😑😑
I’m sorry, but absolutely not.
This is where I couldn’t go on any more and I dropped it.
No , I don’t think I want to stick around for more.
To add salt to the wound this is Book 1 of a duet, with no release date, no updates, and no reassurance that Book 2 is even coming.
This book is not meant to stand on its own it exists solely to prepare the ground for a sequel that may never arrive. That is not slow burn. That is emotional hostage-taking.
I don’t mind dark books. I don’t mind pain. I don’t even mind unfinished themes. But I absolutely mind investing this much emotional energy into a story that offers no resolution, no romantic foundation actually shown on the page, and no trust that the continuation will ever exist. Especially when the author appears to have gone silent.
I have no intention of continuing unless the duet is fully completed and confirmed. The premise had so much potential. The beginning proved the author can write something gripping. But execution matters, and this book chose prolonged suffering over storytelling.
I was hooked. Then confused. Then angry. And finally, done.
February 8, 2025
࿐ “Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.” “Even in Hell?” “Yes,” I admitted roughly, “even in Hell.”
ᝰ.ᐟ 3.5 stars
That ending was criminal, that’s not the way to end a chapter 😭
This was so good 🤭 it's not your usual romance because the truth is there are no romantic scenes in it but there is so much tension and yearning 😫 it drove me crazy but I loved it!
The book is dual pov but it focuses more on Yarik, we get to know him better than Kirill, which makes sense because Kirill is not an open book. I hope he gets a more prominent role in the next book because his backstory is very mysterious and I want to know more about him. They're both sad, broken boys living in a very dark and ruthless world, forced to do things and play roles they don't want to. There were some scenes that made me feel so sad for them because they go through so much 😭
── .✦ I wondered if he ever laid in bed at night wishing for a hug. I did. No one ever hugged me, and I felt starved for it.
Kiss a Villain spans 11 years and follows the lives of Yarik and Kirill from the moment they meet, when Yarik saves Kirill from death. A lot happens in those years. As Yarik falls into the role of a mafia prince and Kirill becomes a ruthless soldier for Yarik's father, their friendship grows. They are each other's safe haven in a cruel world. But there are many moments of heartache. The unrequited love, the pining, all those unsent texts... it was heartbreaking 🥲 but one thing is clear, these boys would do anything for each other.
── .✦ My best friend. The other half of my wretched soul.
I'm not giving this a higher rating because it felt like an introductory book, there's a lot of room for improvement and to work on adding more depth to the characters, but it's a solid first book. I hope the next one is bigger, because if it's going to be the last, I'm expecting a lot!
────୨ৎ quotes ୨ৎ────
⟶ Contrary to what everyone thought of me, I’d grown to appreciate living in the shadows. It was the only time I ever felt free.
⟶ I simply existed, a broken boy who craved the shadows, where nothing and no one could hurt him.
⟶ “What are you doing?”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to tell me who hurt you.” 😭
⟶ I could read between the lines to all the things he never said out loud, to the pieces of his heart that he broke off in shards, never knowing how much they made me bleed.
⟶ “Did you really think that I wouldn’t come for you?” I stalked toward him with sure footsteps even as my flesh wept fresh agony. “That I wouldn’t tear the Earth apart with my own two fucking hands to find you?”
August 6, 2024
"Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trust me, as if he didn’t even like me, when all I saw in him was safety. A place to lay down my head and rest, knowing that he’d have my back while I slept."
Kiss a Villain is book 1 in the No Mercy duet by debut author Mia Darling, and what a totally fabulous debut this was! I was sucked in from the very first chapter and inhaled the entire book over one (sleepless!) night. I totally adored our gorgeously innocent despite the horror, pining mafia prince Yarik, but my heart is still with that beautifully broken lonely Bratva boy, Kirill. So much angst!
What To Expect:
🖤MM mafia romanace
🖤All the angst
🖤Slowest of slow burn
🖤All the pining
🖤A touch of voyeurism
🖤Violence/torture
🖤The mother of all cliffhangers
I can't recommend highly enough! And I literally can not wait for the second part of the duet Kiss of Death coming soon....
5 stars
Kiss a Villain is book 1 in the No Mercy duet by debut author Mia Darling, and what a totally fabulous debut this was! I was sucked in from the very first chapter and inhaled the entire book over one (sleepless!) night. I totally adored our gorgeously innocent despite the horror, pining mafia prince Yarik, but my heart is still with that beautifully broken lonely Bratva boy, Kirill. So much angst!
What To Expect:
🖤MM mafia romanace
🖤All the angst
🖤Slowest of slow burn
🖤All the pining
🖤A touch of voyeurism
🖤Violence/torture
🖤The mother of all cliffhangers
I can't recommend highly enough! And I literally can not wait for the second part of the duet Kiss of Death coming soon....
5 stars
July 28, 2024
The series is called No Mercy so you can't say you haven't been warned... Two boys exist in a cruel world that conspires to break them both. Yarik is the son of the leader of Russian bratva, and Kirill is a nobody, saved by Yarik when they were just children. Although the boys become friends of sorts, the merciless world they are trying to survive in is doesn't allow for simple things like friendship. The only solace and enjoyment they find is in each other, but it's rare that they're allowed to be together. For touch-starved Yarik and don't-touch-me Kirill, happiness seems impossible.
I am rating this a 3 for steam because even though you could call this a slow burn for spice, it's still steamy AF!!! 🔥🔥🔥 Mia Darling knocked it out of the park with sexual tension and pining and I absolutely loved it. These boys are gonna be put through the wringer but I know it's all going to work out in the end. I already can't wait until book 2 comes out!
Rating: 4
Angst: 4.5/5
Steam: 3/5
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.
I am rating this a 3 for steam because even though you could call this a slow burn for spice, it's still steamy AF!!! 🔥🔥🔥 Mia Darling knocked it out of the park with sexual tension and pining and I absolutely loved it. These boys are gonna be put through the wringer but I know it's all going to work out in the end. I already can't wait until book 2 comes out!
Rating: 4
Angst: 4.5/5
Steam: 3/5
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my honest review.
November 9, 2024
First and foremost I feel lied to because I didn’t cry at all, but I am still extremely impressed by the writing in this debut. I’m also always a sucker for an unsent letter/text trope. And the cliff hanger ahahaha girl-
I did really enjoy the writing and I thought the characters were interesting, but for some reason I wasn’t connecting. I started reading this and put it down for like 3 weeks before coming back and finishing it in a few hours. I think because it’s so short maybe it felt a little underdeveloped at times. I did enjoy the second half a lot more once I got into it.
I did really enjoy the writing and I thought the characters were interesting, but for some reason I wasn’t connecting. I started reading this and put it down for like 3 weeks before coming back and finishing it in a few hours. I think because it’s so short maybe it felt a little underdeveloped at times. I did enjoy the second half a lot more once I got into it.
September 9, 2024
OH MY GOD!!! This book was a train wreck of emotions for me. AND WHAT IN THE FREAKING GOD'S NAME DO YOU MEAN THAT I HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL FOR 6 MORE MONTHS??
Ok let's talk in detail. The book cover? Gorgeous. Plot? Epic. Yarik and Kirill? My whole fucking heart. “Because I’d drag you down to Hell with me before I ever let you go.”? Absolute wreckage. This book gutted me from the inside. I was LAMENTING, screaming into my pillow at freaking five in the morning. Whyyyy would you end it like that? Why not give me something more, ANYTHING sweet and happy for these two poor souls?
GIVE THESE BOYS A HAPPY ENDING! Because they deserve it the most.
Yarik, my poor little mafia prince who only wants to be acknowledged and loved and Kirill who becomes his father's soldier just to stick with Yarik. Their story, the angst, the pining, the forbidden aspect of the romance, the ABSOLUTE pain and suffering throughout this book, god, it was too much for my poor heart.
Mia Darling, darling whatever crack shit you poured with your entire soul into this book? Yup, I'm addicted to it now. So can you like PLEASE GIVE ME THE FREAKING SEQUEL RIGHT THE HELL NOW?!!
“We were already ruined, Kiryusha.”
“No, we’re —”
“Two ruined souls. Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.”
“Even in Hell?”
“Yes, even in Hell.”
Ok let's talk in detail. The book cover? Gorgeous. Plot? Epic. Yarik and Kirill? My whole fucking heart. “Because I’d drag you down to Hell with me before I ever let you go.”? Absolute wreckage. This book gutted me from the inside. I was LAMENTING, screaming into my pillow at freaking five in the morning. Whyyyy would you end it like that? Why not give me something more, ANYTHING sweet and happy for these two poor souls?
GIVE THESE BOYS A HAPPY ENDING! Because they deserve it the most.
Yarik, my poor little mafia prince who only wants to be acknowledged and loved and Kirill who becomes his father's soldier just to stick with Yarik. Their story, the angst, the pining, the forbidden aspect of the romance, the ABSOLUTE pain and suffering throughout this book, god, it was too much for my poor heart.
Mia Darling, darling whatever crack shit you poured with your entire soul into this book? Yup, I'm addicted to it now. So can you like PLEASE GIVE ME THE FREAKING SEQUEL RIGHT THE HELL NOW?!!
“We were already ruined, Kiryusha.”
“No, we’re —”
“Two ruined souls. Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.”
“Even in Hell?”
“Yes, even in Hell.”
July 24, 2024
That cliffhanger?! After near-lethal levels of pining?!?!!! I AM NOT WELL.
Once upon a time, young Yarik saves a boy who nearly drowned and then begs his mafia daddy to spare him. These two acts of seeming kindness have catastrophic consequences for both boys.
The story is told in parts that span years starting around when Yarik is 10. Their friendship that is actively discouraged is in itself a slow burn. Kirill might not have any memories of his real name or past life but he’s quick to pick up on what Volkov’s kindness really means. Nothing comes without a price and no one is safe from betrayal.
I loved their texts especially seeing what each of them wanted to say but ultimately deleted. This is part of a duet so a lot of book 1 is focused on their friendship rather than anything romantic and even when it does shift it’s to hardcore one-sided pining. It’s so well paced though. I blasted through this at light speed. Absolutely cannot wait for book 2!
**ARC review - this is my honest opinion.
Once upon a time, young Yarik saves a boy who nearly drowned and then begs his mafia daddy to spare him. These two acts of seeming kindness have catastrophic consequences for both boys.
The story is told in parts that span years starting around when Yarik is 10. Their friendship that is actively discouraged is in itself a slow burn. Kirill might not have any memories of his real name or past life but he’s quick to pick up on what Volkov’s kindness really means. Nothing comes without a price and no one is safe from betrayal.
I loved their texts especially seeing what each of them wanted to say but ultimately deleted. This is part of a duet so a lot of book 1 is focused on their friendship rather than anything romantic and even when it does shift it’s to hardcore one-sided pining. It’s so well paced though. I blasted through this at light speed. Absolutely cannot wait for book 2!
**ARC review - this is my honest opinion.
November 11, 2024
5 stars ✨ I am begging on my hands and knees for book two 🥹
August 4, 2024
This was a book I wish had kept going on because it was in no way enough. I need moreee.
Who ends the book like that😭😭
After so much pining, it ends on a cliffhanger
I hate myself for reading this before the next book is released
The way this trope has me in a chokehold (you wrote letters but didn't send them)
*I had thought him dead, and I had thought him an arsehole, but most of all, I’d begged him to write me back.
And he had. Pages and pages worth of letters, so many that it would take me hours just to read them all.
I’d accused Kirill of forgetting me.
He hadn’t.
The boy I loved hadn’t forgotten me at all.*
Who ends the book like that😭😭
After so much pining, it ends on a cliffhanger
I hate myself for reading this before the next book is released
The way this trope has me in a chokehold (you wrote letters but didn't send them)
*I had thought him dead, and I had thought him an arsehole, but most of all, I’d begged him to write me back.
And he had. Pages and pages worth of letters, so many that it would take me hours just to read them all.
I’d accused Kirill of forgetting me.
He hadn’t.
The boy I loved hadn’t forgotten me at all.*
August 8, 2024
DNF @ 79%.
So, the first 50% of this book is from Yarik being ages 10, 12, 14 (don’t worry, there isn’t even so much as a kiss while he is undeage). And those POVs don’t really read like the age. At 50% he celebrates his 18th birthday. Honestly, there’s nothing in that first 50% that couldn’t have been condensed down to a prologue. It didn’t really do anything to show me any kind of bond between Yarik & Kirill. We are told that it’s there, and most of their time in that 50%… or really the entire book up til 79%, is apart.
But that’s fine, I was enjoying it well enough, regardless.
But at 79%, we get 10 pages of letters. And these letters are in a font I personally find hard to read and that you don’t seem to be able to change. I’m simply just not going to read 10 pages of that. The text messages were bad enough. I set my font to a font that is easy for me to read.
This is definitely a slowburn. Very slow, not even a puff of smoke to be seen yet, the author is still is the process of finding the matchbox. But, did this need to be a duology? Probably not. I’d put up with the letter maybe, if I didn’t have to read half the book to even get to where the book should have started.
So, the first 50% of this book is from Yarik being ages 10, 12, 14 (don’t worry, there isn’t even so much as a kiss while he is undeage). And those POVs don’t really read like the age. At 50% he celebrates his 18th birthday. Honestly, there’s nothing in that first 50% that couldn’t have been condensed down to a prologue. It didn’t really do anything to show me any kind of bond between Yarik & Kirill. We are told that it’s there, and most of their time in that 50%… or really the entire book up til 79%, is apart.
But that’s fine, I was enjoying it well enough, regardless.
But at 79%, we get 10 pages of letters. And these letters are in a font I personally find hard to read and that you don’t seem to be able to change. I’m simply just not going to read 10 pages of that. The text messages were bad enough. I set my font to a font that is easy for me to read.
This is definitely a slowburn. Very slow, not even a puff of smoke to be seen yet, the author is still is the process of finding the matchbox. But, did this need to be a duology? Probably not. I’d put up with the letter maybe, if I didn’t have to read half the book to even get to where the book should have started.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2024
Somthing about this just hits right
“In a voice like gravel, Kirill rasped,
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” I vowed.
It was a lie.
We were already lost.”
“In a voice like gravel, Kirill rasped,
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” I vowed.
It was a lie.
We were already lost.”
November 21, 2024
I........don't know if I want these two together. I mean, I get why Kirill is the way he is, and why he does the things he does, but I can't help wanting more for Yarik.
But also. I get why Yarik keeps holding on. Because for every one shitty thing Kirill says....
'Better alive and miserable than happy and dead.' (And we know he means this shit because his actions confirm it)
There's three cute things waiting in the wings to numb the pain and resurrect the hope. He doesn't intend it, but Kirill can be the cutest.
*Yarik: Well, you know everything about me.
*Deleted Kirill Text:
That’s because you never stop talking. You don’t even give me a chance to breathe before your brain’s flitting off to another topic. I could list off a thousand things that I know about you and there’d still be another thousand that I could mention.
IS THIS NOT THE CUTEST?! 🥰 Because Kirill wouldn't endure it if he didn't totally absolutely like it.
'I only ever laughed like this with him. It burned my chest. Heartburn. A medical condition without a cure, and even if it had one, I still wouldn’t choose to numb the pain. It felt too good.'
See? Cute.
'It didn’t matter that we hadn’t breathed the same air in close to three years. We were bound, the two of us, and if I had to chase him down, just to keep him from doing something irreversibly stupid, I would. A million times over, I would.'
Again. Cute.
So my thing is this. As the reader, we KNOW that Kirill thinks these things. But directly to Yarik? Nothing. Aside from the letters, he gets nothing back. I don't know why he's still holding on to this man.
As for him apologizing for that one thing, after all the crimes Kirill has committed against him? Including the thing in the study? Stand up, Yarik. Should have left it at 'unforgivable'
'You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.'
Unhinged, unwarranted behavior. But cute.
But also. I get why Yarik keeps holding on. Because for every one shitty thing Kirill says....
'Better alive and miserable than happy and dead.' (And we know he means this shit because his actions confirm it)
There's three cute things waiting in the wings to numb the pain and resurrect the hope. He doesn't intend it, but Kirill can be the cutest.
*Yarik: Well, you know everything about me.
*Deleted Kirill Text:
That’s because you never stop talking. You don’t even give me a chance to breathe before your brain’s flitting off to another topic. I could list off a thousand things that I know about you and there’d still be another thousand that I could mention.
IS THIS NOT THE CUTEST?! 🥰 Because Kirill wouldn't endure it if he didn't totally absolutely like it.
'I only ever laughed like this with him. It burned my chest. Heartburn. A medical condition without a cure, and even if it had one, I still wouldn’t choose to numb the pain. It felt too good.'
See? Cute.
'It didn’t matter that we hadn’t breathed the same air in close to three years. We were bound, the two of us, and if I had to chase him down, just to keep him from doing something irreversibly stupid, I would. A million times over, I would.'
Again. Cute.
So my thing is this. As the reader, we KNOW that Kirill thinks these things. But directly to Yarik? Nothing. Aside from the letters, he gets nothing back. I don't know why he's still holding on to this man.
As for him apologizing for that one thing, after all the crimes Kirill has committed against him? Including the thing in the study? Stand up, Yarik. Should have left it at 'unforgivable'
'You can’t let me go, and I . . . I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.'
Unhinged, unwarranted behavior. But cute.
August 7, 2024
~ ranting: 4 ☆
~ spice: 1 🌶
It's really hard to find some good mm mafia romance so I had high expectations for this one and guess what? Mia Darling just delivered it. And the cover? chef's kiss.
This book was tense and intense, I was legit obsessed with every page!
Long short story: A long time ago one boy saved another boy from certain death and since then they (kinda) became inseparable, but Yarik and Kirill's tragic love story was doomed from the beginning.
All the tension and angst was insane, the slow burn definitely sloweeeed. And I was like this the whole time lol.
That cliffhanger literally killed me, I need the second book like rIGHT NOW! These two little beans deserve the world and definitely their HEA and I'm all here for it.
“Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I... I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.”
“Even in Hell?”
“Yes,” I admitted roughly, “even in Hell.”
~ spice: 1 🌶
It's really hard to find some good mm mafia romance so I had high expectations for this one and guess what? Mia Darling just delivered it. And the cover? chef's kiss.
This book was tense and intense, I was legit obsessed with every page!
Long short story: A long time ago one boy saved another boy from certain death and since then they (kinda) became inseparable, but Yarik and Kirill's tragic love story was doomed from the beginning.
All the tension and angst was insane, the slow burn definitely sloweeeed. And I was like this the whole time lol.
That cliffhanger literally killed me, I need the second book like rIGHT NOW! These two little beans deserve the world and definitely their HEA and I'm all here for it.
“Some days I think we might even be two broken halves of the same whole, where darkness meets shadow. You can’t let me go, and I... I would rather take my last breath than live even a second without you in it.”
“Even in Hell?”
“Yes,” I admitted roughly, “even in Hell.”
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