Snaring Emberly

Morally Black #2

by Gigi Styx

Revenge was supposed to be simple, but love had other plans

Emberly

When an abusive ex corners me in a nightclub, I cling to the first man I see for protection.

Little do I know he’s a mafia Don, fresh out of prison and eager for a one-night stand.

One night extends into two, then three. I’m beginning to suspect I can’t leave.

But every time I raise questions, he answers with offers impossible to resist.

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if I’m just paranoid or a pawn in a much larger game.

Roman

When a man gets jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, the first thing he wants after leaving death row is vengeance.

The bastard who framed me stole my fortune and bequeathed it to his daughter, Emberly.

My plan is Seduce her, force her to give back what’s mine, then put a bullet through her skull.

But one taste of her gets me obsessed and my plans turn to dust.

Snaring Emberly is a dark romance containing themes that may be disturbing to some. Please check the warnings inside the book.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, Mafia Romance, Enemies To Lovers, BDSM, Audiobook

598 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2024

Reviews

[Mayssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe spoilers
-
-
700 pages of the female main character being manipulated and gaslighted.Roman was worse than her ex. I despised him every time he used her body to manipulate her and filled her with alcohol so she was compliant. This wasn’t a romance, it was straight-up disgusting psychological abuse. I have no clue how this was the same author that wrote 'Taming Seraphine'. The only reason I read this was because I thought the female was a badass, but she's like every other doormat I've read. After the male main character's betrayal and his attempt to win her back, she immediately lets him touch her? Also, am I missing something? Where was this suppose amazing grovel? There was zero grovel after everything he put her through. I expected him to spend at least 2 years begging her for forgiveness that’s the least he could FKN do after everything he had done to her. I wanted her to stand on her own without a man, but nope, as soon as he comes back, she takes him back.Complete doormat female main character and disgusting abusive male main character.I won’t be reading the other books in this series.

[annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I devoured 584 pages in just one day! It was both disturbing and captivating, and for the first time, my inner feminist took a back seat. umm make sure to check the TWs because the list is extremely long 🫣

⊹₊ PLOT ₊ ⊹

Roman Montesano spent nearly five years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Now proven innocent, he's back and determined to reclaim his family's stolen belongings.

Emberly Kay is a struggling artist and the illegitimate daughter of the man who wrongly accused Roman. With his death, Emberly stands to inherit everything, including Roman's family's assets.

⤷ PLANS TO FOLLOW THROUGH:
a) Torture her for signatures (too risky).
b) Abduct her and force her to sign (still too risky).
c) Forge her signature (illegal).
d) Make her fall in love with you and exploit that trust to get her signature? (Definitely the riskiest and worst idea of all).


⤷ ROMAN & EMBERLY .𖥔 ݁ ˖

➳ Roman completely gaslighted and manipulated Emberly. She had no clue he was deceiving her until it was too late. and everything pretty much went his way in the end (well, mostly love not included). ngl, he's a bit of a genius at twisting situations to his advantage. he literally treated her like a princess which made the situation worse for him in the end.

➳ He saw her at the club, she saw her psychotic ex, she proved to her ex that she moved on and kissed the guy closest to her who turns out to be Roman and they had a steamy night together. buttttt when she woke up at his place, she found herself locked in. Freaking out, she smashed the glass and threatened to jump from the terrace. she's wary and had such negatives views for people that she can't help but feel as if she's about to get trapped (p.s she did get). Roman, being the smooth operator he is, spun some more lies to make her trust him (not really, a lil bit?). now she can't even leave Roman either because she finds herself falsely accused for a crime she didn't commit, just for her psycho ex to have her in his clutches.

⊹₊ ❝Because you’re the most unique person I’ve ever met, and the opposite of what I expect. Everything about you is addictive.❞

➳ If you think she trusted him easily, Then THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. Glad she wasn't delusional much and knew somewhere along that SHE IS A PRISONER. She gave Roman and his guards a hard time, and I loved when she thrashed & turned the room upside down. She's unpredictable and unique, completely throwing Roman off his game.

➳ The smut was HOT! Roman was so possessive and cared deeply for her. It was all supposed to be a show, but we all know what happened. 😂 now, he's head madly in love with her hajshajab 🤭 and the lengths he went to keep her are wild. I'm not a fan of accidental or forced pregnancies, but he got it in his head to try and get her pregnant (and regretted it right away). he also married her WHILE GETTING HER SIGNATURES FOR A HOTEL CHECK IN 💀, and regained his wealth by sneaking clauses into her art-selling contracts.

⊹₊ ❝Living without you is like trying to breathe without air. Every good thing I ever felt is because of you. You’re in my blood, in my bones, in my soul. I can’t even function without you, Emberly.❞

➳ When Emberly discovered the truth about her father, she immediately wanted to give Roman back what her father stole. However, she figured out his lies, tied him up, and left him. The book jumps six months, and the groveling begins. Roman becomes a love-sick puppy, begging for forgiveness. Emberly keeps him on his toes, even lying about the child not being his. but Roman's obsession knows no bounds, he'd sacrifice anything (and himself) for her. After some plot twists, they mend their relationship, work through their traumas, and build a friendship while Roman takes care of her during her pregnancy. Loved the epilogue! 🥺💕


⤷ CESARE & ROSALIND .𖥔 ݁ ˖

I'm both intrigued and scared by their story. It's going to be way too kinky for me, especially with the way Cesare treats Rosalind. He's obsessed with her, and she's an assassin who tried to kill him! 🫣 and lmaoooo it's funny how everyone hates Rosalind but she's still sashaying around!!

Benito's mystery girl might be the one he was once engaged to!

⤷ ratings .𖥔 ݁ ˖

• Taming Seraphine – 3 stars
• Breaking Rosalind – 2 stars
• Stalking Ginevra – tbr

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, I loved Roman and Em way more than book 1!!

Yes your going to hate Roman because you know why he's lying and gaslighting poor Em who's been there so much in her life, she has the worst luck from an ex who abuse her to bad friends 😭 to a horrible guy scamming her she lands in Roman's lap not knowing he's sorta set it up. Their first meeting was delicious hot. And the lies keep going from there to keep her close. I swear even Roman started to believe his own gaslighting until his revenge was still that but wanting to keep Em.

And poor Em, all her instincts were on point, but she failed when it came to Roman. She also met his brothers, haha, and both are their own brands of crazy. Once Em found out the truth, oh, she got hers... and let's say poor Roman's balls..

I love that he still watched her from afar and made sure she was protected. But he groveled so well..

Safety squard- em abusive ex is in it. He gets his lol. Ans Roman had an officer in Jail who gave him BJs, but he ignored her nothing on page with the ow.


Low angst, tiny om drama (ex)/tiny ow drama, no cheating, secondary character, drama, sexy times, no virgins both mentioned their past.

Recommend-yes
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶🌶🌶


Slowinsta
Age gap
24h/34H
Seperation 6 months
Abduction
Assassination
Attempted suicide
Birth control tampering
Bondage
Breeding kink
Compulsive lying
oprophilia (mentioned)
Cremation of living people
Degradation
Desecration of a corpse
Dismemberment
Domestic violence (mentioned)
Drugging
Drug production
Elder abuse
Exhibitionism
Financial abuse
Forced marriage
Forced pregnancy
Fraud
Gaslighting
Immolation Imprisonment
Improper use of a meat tenderizer
Male genital mutilation
Mental illness
Masturbation
Murder Mutilation
Organized crime
Orgasm denial
Panic attacks
Pet play (mentioned)
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Pregnancy symptoms
Psychological abuse
Rape (mentioned)
Revenge
Sex toys
Sleep paralysis
Spanking
Suicide bombing (threatened)
Urophilia (mentioned)
Voyeurism
Waterboarding
Weaponized incompetence
Hea
Epilogues

[Elli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know which one of us is more stupid, me for finishing this book or the author for writing it in the first place🤡

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The corrosive nature of gaslighting

I knew this book somehow centered around the evils of gaslighting and I was curious enough to try it. However, I thought there might be a big chance I would be too enraged to finish it so I got the audiobook. With over 17 hours of audio (on normal speed), I thought the credit use would be worth it.

In a way it was, since I was tempted to quit a bunch of time.

Sadly, though,
・
・
・
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Ri · Rating 2 out of 5]

reading this was like watching a car crash in slow motion. i couldn't look away.

[Julie R · Rating 2 out of 5]

How did we go from such an amazing addition in Taming Seraphine to this?? I had to call it quits at 300 pages, I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s the same blab over and over. We get it Emberly - you don’t trust Roman. We get it Roman - you think she’s hot but her money is hotter.

[Koryne · Rating 5 out of 5]

****ARC REVIEW****

WOW wow wow wow wow wow i loved this SO MUCH MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD.

i have to be honest, i wasn’t going to sign up for the arc because i was iffy on Roman 😂 but the universe (and my FOMO) aligned and i got an arc for it and im so happy i did 😭 i liked this more than the first one 😳

Emberly is my kind of heroine. she’s fierce and badass and went through so much but came out so strong.

Roman on the other hand…..that gaslighting, manipulative bastard had me folding half way through 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 was i happy with him for going to SUCH extreme manipulations to keep Emberly while also getting the revenge he wanted? no but i forgave him faster than Emberly did 😂😂😂 🫦🧎🏻‍♀️

this was actually super safe (for me) in terms of ow drama. Roman was in prison for 4 years where one of the female guards would give him bjs and she did show up at his house randomly (he never wanted anything to do with her outside of prison or really even in prison but she was just there.) but instead of being jealous, Emberly was pissed that she took advantage of Roman. Emberly was Roman’s first…..out of prison nut as he put it 😂 and he didn’t even breathe near another woman after that. my man said “i’m afraid she’s going to leave me after she finds out how i manipulated her into giving me her inheritance so i’m going to poke holes in the condoms and marry her” and i love him for that.

the scene where Emberly learns the truth…..MY GAWWWWD i fell in love with her then. she was ruthless and mean and really hurt Roman and good for her 😘

another thing i loved was that even after the big showdown and she moves back onto his property (but in the pool house) they spend time together and go to therapy, aren’t intimate, and really build their relationship from the ground up and that’s honestly the most fitting grovel for them even though it’s not shown.

check the TW because there are A LOT and this is a big bitch of a book but it really kept me hooked and i couldn’t put it down.

[Erika Braga · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Oh Roman Montesano, what a sweet talker you are ….

This one is very different than the first, Roman is not a hitman with a heart like his cousin Leroi. Roman is actually the mafia boss, he is as manipulative as they come. He is convincing, conniving, a mastermind. He constructed a careful plan to get back all the money another mafia boss stole from his family, but to do this he needs to manipulate the daughter of said mafia boss who has no idea she is said daughter, plus she’s 10 years younger and she’s been running away from a VERY abusive cop ex.
Emberly is a little paranoid due to her childhood and past relationship but no amount of paranoia could’ve prevented her from falling for Roman. He is as sexy, hot, sweet and also dirty talker as he is manipulative and a gaslighter ! That’s a good old grovel in the end and made my heart happy.
This book is good, full of action and spice and I am truly enjoying this series. 🖤

I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook for this entire series, they are all duet narration with some audio effects. Specially because the books are so long the audiobook makes it perfect.

[arooba 🌷 · Rating 1 out of 5]

was this bitch dumb

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just too long.

I do think I would read another book by her though.

[rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author warned me. This book really is six-hundred-ish pages of Emberly being manipulated and gaslighted. In some ways, Roman was worse than her ex. I despised him every time he used her body to manipulate her and filled her with alcohol so she was compliant. I WISH there was more grovelling - it was the main reason I stuck with the book, but in the end, she was giving doormat.

Overall, it wasn’t bad, I mostly enjoyed reading it, but I needed more for Roman's redemption!

[clicktojointhemafia · Rating 4 out of 5]

: ̗̀➛i think i am utterly gobsmacked... nothing could have prepared me for this book. but anyways lets get down to business: the good, the bad, the ugly.

this book follows emberly and roman. emberly is the illegitimate daughter of the man who caused roman to go to prison, but she doesn't know this. however roman does and he's out for revenge. the man who wronged him is now dead but who his inheritance goes to is where the real revenge comes in. roman makes a plan to lure and capture emberly into his life and make her fall in love with him before he steals her inheritance and kills her. it's a simple task... right? well not as simple as it seems when very unsimple and complicated feelings start getting involved.

okay quick note before you dive into this book/review-first up is the trigger warnings. i didn't realise they would apply to roman too 😂. roman is a raging antihero. his character through the book is outrageously villainous- to emberly too- which surprised me to say the least.

anyways... ✨thoughts & opinions✨

when i saw their cameo in taming seraphine i was instantly hooked and could not wait for their book!!!

: ̗̀➛Emberly Kay- her character was truly magnificent. i loved her and how she fought hard for herself and was not afraid to get down and dirty. she is a fucking fighter and i adore her for that!! she was such a likeable and... different female character. and totally memorable just like seraphine. i loved how we got shown her flaws and not told them and all the little things crafted into making her character was like perfect. she was so well rounded. and she did not forgive easily!!! (thank ms author, you always know what i want)

: ̗̀➛Roman Montesano- mmmmmmhm. his character was down in the dumps att he start but then got better. mostly because he called her 'baby' from the get-go and it's weird because it didn't hold meaning at the time. he also spoke so poetic 😂. how he would sometimes speak was odd because no-one in real life would talk like this man but we move. his actions made him incredibly unlikeable and he didn't really stick out to me that much until he started apologising. he was a very questionable man indeed but goddamn the spice was good. 😩 he did do a lot of good things for emberly but goddamn- there are so many things he did that had me equally disturbed but also dying of laughter. like his audacity frfr. in the end he did grovel. i don't trust this man but i trust that he is fictional so he will be perfect from here on out.

....overall? this book was honestly EPIC. all the drama, the twists at the end and EMBERLY- EMEBERLY ma'am you are spectacular. the plot and the whole family/character tree is also so well thought too. it had steam. it had angst. it had feminine rage (!!). it has it ALL. this author does not disappoint. she hits all my marks 😩.


thank you to the author who supplied an ARC in exchange for an honest review Xx


men when they apologise>>>

[Yesmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book after "Taming Seraphine". In that first story we learn that Roman got out fresh of death row after finding the true culprit and he wants revenge against the person who framed him.

Not only that, that person stole Roman's family fortune and since he's dead, Roman decides to find his only heir, seduce her, steal her inheritance and then put a bullet into her head.

However, Emberly does not even know that she's the daughter of a mafia don. Never even knew her father and lived her whole life in poverty.
So when Roman tricked her and locked her up into his mansion, she thinks he's a sex trafficker.

2 things i absolutely loved about the story:
1/This is not a captor/captive romance. Roman did not imprison Emberly and told her "sign your inheritance to me or I'll kill you".
He was smarter than that. And this story is not about Stockholm syndrome. Much worse: it's about gaslighting and psychological soft abuse.
Roman kept convincing Emberly that he's her protector and gained her trust doing very questionable things.

Which brings us to the second thing I loved:
2/That's what a mafia romance should be. Roman is an unapologetic bastard.
Before he fell in love with Emberly and became a softie for her, he really despised her and plotted so many lies against her.
Also, the rest of the characters are ruthless too. As a mafia worldbuilding should entail.

The previous book "Taming Seraphine" dealt with a psychotic FMC. So the MMC balanced her out.
In this book MMC is the one with grey/black morals. FMC balanced him out.

I'm truly afraid for the next book. Cesare is portrayed through the 2 books as a bloodthirsty man and an unhinged maniac with extreme BSDM tendencies. Why give him Rosalind who is a psychotic masochist?
No interrogation session would break her because she likes pain so much And she's an assassin sent to kill Cesare and his brothers? Too much conflict to built up a romance. But I'll read their book when it gets out.

[dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the fact that after Emberly realized Roman's betrayal, she didn't go back to him or forgive him in a day or so. She made him GROVEL. She even tortured him for his manipulations and lies he fed her, I think that was my most favorite part of this story. And DAMN that man IS the red flag. He's not an example, oh no he's the og. His manipulations were so convincing that even I, a person who knows his intentions, starts to fall for his lies.

[nini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay wow, this hit ALL my buttons. Not gonna pretend it's some masterpiece, but god was it fun. Toxic af? Sure. My toxic? Apparently yes. Zero regrets.

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile]

Tapping out

I'd take the knife happy,dick eating (literally) crazy of Seraphine over Emberly any day of the week! The H is gas lighting and manipulating her but she's had plenty of opportunities to question it and she just settles for his explanations! Like girllllllllllllll hold a knife to his dick and make him talk!! I think Seraphine ruined the h's for me
Considering book 3 is about Rosalind who was a hook-up of the H of book 1 I'm tapping out of this series entirely

[Helene Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

I loved this story.
I loved the characters.
Even though Roman is this hella red flag man and a gaslighting, manipulating perfectionist, the writing made me love him. I tried so hard to not like him, but it was impossible. Despite everything he does, he is also so freaking sweet.

“𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡, 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒.”


Emberly is a strong, badass woman. She has been through so much, with a neglecting parent and an abusive ex, but she is so fierce.

“𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐼’𝑚 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛.”

I love how she questions everything, and didn’t just give in to anything.
Yes, she was a little damsel in distress sometimes, but she still put up a little resistance and a fight.
And I LOVED the part where her ultra badass side came out and she took charge with the little meat tenderizer 👏🏼

I loved Roman and Emberly together throughout the plot in this book, which was amazing.
There was a lot happening, and it had me on my toes.
This was an amazing execution of an organized crime story in my eyes.
The spice was also fire. They are such a perfect match, and it shows in the spicy scenes. Their chemistry and the tension between them is great.

“𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦.”

~~~~~~~~

“𝐼𝑓 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑝 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔.”

~~~~~~~~

[Tyler | bookishwithty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gigi Styx showcases a talent for portraying raw, emotional turmoil in her writing. The protagonist, Emberly, has endured significant mental and physical abuse, including gaslighting. The author adeptly captures Emberly's emotions, thought process, confusion, self-doubt, and self-reflection. I could vividly place myself in Emberly's shoes. The plot is intricately crafted, with the main male character (MMC) embodying a vengeful mastermind. The story exceeded my expectations and pleasantly surprised me. I eagerly anticipate the next book for Cesar
and Rosalind’s story as well and as glimpses of previous characters!

[Alexandra.readss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried ! I swear I tried to like this book so so much . I read Taming Seraphine in one day, but this one ? I can't . Half way in and it's the same thing over and over again . When she woke up after the first night and broke stuff and threatened to jump from the balcony I thought " omg I love this woman". But that was it !!! The over and over brain washing got boring really quick . I wish it would have been at least 200 pages shorter. 400 pages would've been more than enough.

[Morgan Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gigi has done it again. This is the perfect dark mafia romance. The character development throughout this book is top notch. The spice is well written and perfectly placed throughout the book. The plot is engaging right from the get go and will keep you hooked until the very last page. There is no denying that this book is dark but there is sweet romance dusted into it that just makes your heart want to burst. I absolutely adored this book as much as the first one.

Thank you so much to the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! ✨

[Book Boyfriend Whoarder Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Roman!!! I knew he was going to be different than Leroi but I didn’t think he would steal my heart. He’s ruthless conniving, manipulative and hot as hell man that will do anything to keep Emberly under his thumb. Even when he just wanted to get back his father fortune and was going to manipulate Emberly until he did. He didn’t think he would fall for her since he hated her father so much even though she had no idea who he was. I loved Emberly she’s a feisty girl even after everything she went thru with her psychopath ex Jim. She would keep Roman on his toes all the time. I really loved this story… can’t wait for the next book in the series.. these Montesano men are so hot 😈😏.

5/⭐️
4/🌶️

[Holly Godson · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Read -
I literally read this in two sittings!! 😅
To say I was hooked is an understatement! I LOVED this book! 🫶🏻
Emberly overcame so much and by the end I was so proud of her 😭 and Romans icy exterior finally melting to allow himself to feel and experience what he always deserved was *chefs kiss* 💋
I also loved the little mentions of Leroi and Seraphine throughout, the gang back together!! 🙌🏼
Well done Gigi, another fantastic story!! ❤️
(I really want to see more about Benito and what’s the deal with the phone!!! Please tell me that books coming?! 🤞🏼)

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's sad the hype was so high.. it didn't need to be this long and for it to only be enjoyable for the last 10 chapters, here's to higher hopes for Rosalind's book

[Un Isariyakunakorn · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's like GIGI wrote this for me to dislike it

[charisse ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

taming seraphine was better

[Dodibook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very different story than Taming Seraphine, but certainly even good. I love Emberly and Romand as a couple even more. They are made for each other and their love is so swoonworthy.

Emberly has been through so much in her short life and she's never had anyone who would do anything for her!
Roman, who is deathseth on getting his revenge, falls for Emberly so hard and so fast, but he continues to dig his grave further and further. And although he is a manipulative, lying, obsessive, gaslighting piece of sh*t, he already made me fall for him halfway through the book!

Emberly knows that several things are wrong and keeps asking questions, but keeps getting nowhere!

The way she handled that meat tenderizer... fierce and scary!

I would have liked to see some more spicy scenes, because the ones that were there were, hmmm, delicious!

🅡🅐🅣🅘🅝🅖
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🅢🅟🅘🅒🅔
🌶️🌶️🌶️

🅣🅡🅞🅟🅔🅢
❤️Groveling
❤️He Falls First
❤️Touch Her And Die
❤️Age Gap
❤️Forced Proximity
❤️Revenge

🅕🅐🅥🅞🅡🅘🅣🅔 🅠🅤🅞🅣🅔🅢
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑔.

𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝐾𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 , 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦, 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.

𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜. 𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑓𝑦 𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝐸𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦.

"𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔," 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑡

[R1vana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.25

The book follows as of late let out of death row mafia wear Roman and his requirement for revenge against the one who put him there as his girl, Emberly.
Roman(MMC) is recently let out of jail, falsely accused, and hoping to seek revenge after his dad's organizations were taken from their family after his dad's demise and Roman's capture.
Emberly(FMC) is a craftsman who was misled by a workmanship display, essentially the exhibition proprietor, and is unconsciously the little girl of Fredric Capello and acquires Roman's privately-owned companies that were all taken.
How do they meet? A cliche moment: when she and her flat mate go to Roman's club, the Phoenix, subsequent to getting a flier with the expectation of complimentary admittance to the celebrity room at the club, hence starting Roman's vengeance plan. Emberly runs into her creepy, abusive ex, who is an cop and abuse his authority. In order to escape him, she kisses the first guy she bumps into aka Roman, without realizing it was him, and Roman brings her back to his family back home, starting the second piece of his arrangement. But that arrangement wasn't what she expected. A night filled with lust will soon turn upside down.

Honestly, I didn't enjoy this book as much as Taming Seraphine. The fmc in this book clearly doesn't or won't suspect how much gaslighting she being thrown out. Almost like a dormat. Thankfully, towards the end, something seems to bring her back to reality... not enough groveling and i don't think Ronan loves her as much as he seems to say. Especially after everything he has said about her...

Psa: do look for the trigger warnings beforehand!
Release March 31, 2024

[Hannah Hamersley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roman. The. Master. Manipulator.

This book was okay, it wasn’t as good as Taming Seraphine in my opinion. I felt like the lies and manipulation from Roman would have been GREAT if they weren’t drug out for 400 pages. He consistently lied and lied and it felt like ages until his lies caught up to him. Then in the last 10% of the book everything solves itself? It just felt very unreal, and not greatly written. It also took me a long time to read this because nothing new was really happening and it all just felt like the same shit different day through the center of the book.

I’m definitely taking a break from this series before reading Breaking Rosalind, but I’m still hopeful that book will be better than this one was!

[⋆˚ leyla ✿˖° · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I loved Taming Seraphine this one… didn’t hit the same. All the bonding and ‘cute’ moments are ruined with Ronan just being a manipulative gaslighting bastard.
And I wouldn’t mind this so long as not EVERY single moment you get you hear him saying ‘I’m gonna kill her though! Wait for it!’
I skipped about 200 pages in the middle of the book because that was just repetition and I don’t feel like a missed anything.
The ending was alright! I liked the torture, and some groveling, but again it just didn’t hit. I WANTED MORE GROVELING.

It sounds like I didn’t enjoy the book, I did, just not as much as I would have hoped.
Will still be reading the next parts in the series 🫶🏻🫶🏻