Sins You Can't Escape : Tethered By Sins Duet

by Arelli Jones

I saw my life full of promise and success. Until it was ripped away leaving me soaked in tears, with blood on my hands. Now I must run and hide to conceal my true identity.

Have I hidden myself well?

Have they forgotten about me?

I was foolish to think this cat and mouse game was over, foolish to become comfortable in this new life. The monsters always lurk in the shadows and I was naive to think that they don’t hide in plain sight.

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2024

Reviews

[Tay_is_reading_again · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in less than 24 hours and it was on my Kink & Ink 2026 TBR. It’s a dark romance where our FMC (Amelia/Sophia) experiences the very traumatic event of her family being murdered and must go on the run and assume a new identity. This book is a very quick read and heavy on character growth/arc! I’m a huge fan of duets because I can get fatigued with fantasy series. This book 1 of the duet sets up book 2 perfectly and I can’t wait to find out some answers to questions. The ending was fantastic! I also really enjoyed the Latino representation and some of the real life challenges Latina women overcome.

Read this if you like:

💚force proximity
💚secret identity
💚overcoming trauma
💚found family
💚 instant attraction
💚 touch her and ☠️
💚 stalker
💚 be quiet or they will hear 😈

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

[Alex Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Romance mafia..... absolutely sign me up. The FMC (Amelia/Sophia) is such a strong badass. You follow the story line of her coming home to discover a horrific scene that then sends her running and taking on a new identity. It's a very fast read with an amazing amount of character development. The ending of book 1 sets you up perfectly to continue into book 2. Holy cow I now an impatiently waiting for the second book to come out because.... DANG YOU ARELLI!

[Gabby Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book in 4 hours and it has left me absolutely feral for book 2!

The story is gripping and kept me sprinting forward because I had to know where it was going.

The characters, both main and supporting, were amazing.

The spiceeeeeee 👏🏻👏🏻

There’s so much emotion in this story and I could feel it through the pages. Absolutely amazing!

Cannot wait for book 2!

[𝚡𝚇.𝙲𝚕𝚘.𝚇𝚡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Sins You Can’t Escape by Arelli Jones – ★★★★★

Sins You Can’t Escape is a hauntingly evocative dark romance that grips you from the first page and never lets go. Arelli Jones crafts a story steeped in tension, shadowed desire, and emotional depth, weaving gothic undertones throughout a world laced with secrets and sin. The atmosphere is rich with foreboding—luxurious settings become gilded cages, and every whispered promise feels like a knife’s edge.

Arelli Jones masterfully builds a slow-burning connection between two souls bound by darkness, each carrying ghosts they can’t outrun. The writing is lyrical yet razor-sharp, creating a cinematic reading experience where every glance and silence feels loaded with unspoken history. There’s a sense of beautiful decay here—of love blossoming not in light, but in ruin.

Without revealing plot details, it’s safe to say this is not your typical romance. It’s a story about survival, power, and the quiet war between vulnerability and vengeance. For readers who crave intensity, flawed characters, and emotional grit, this book is utterly captivating. A five-star debut that lingers like a bruise you almost don’t want to heal.

[jasper’s piece of mind · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this book, but i also found it a little confusing to follow at times.

it was interesting to see the navigation of these latino americans in the seattle community. it was interesting to see these three friends and joaquin going about their lives in the food and music industries, while also fighting against those coming after them.

i will say that i found the formatting of this book a little odd. it may just be the version that was available on kindle unlimited, but sometimes it felt like a lot of dialogue from different people was smushed into the same paragraph which sometimes made the paragraphs feel disjointed. it was also structured as big paragraphs that were separate from all of the other paragraphs (there was a line of space between each paragraph), which just made the story feel a little off. maybe it’s just me, but at times the weird structure took me out of the plot. however, the plot and characters were quite strong, and i can’t wait to see how the plot wraps up with sins of my father!

3.5 stars

[Samantha Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I read this to prepare to read the ARC sent to me by Ms. Jones for the second book in this series.

This had me by the uterus straight out the gate! @authorarellijones writes so beautifully and in such a way that it keeps you locked into the story and invested in the characters.

Sophia/Amelia has survived and overcome so much as she was born and raised in Mexico and then comes to the states to pursue her dream of being a chef. She is strong, smart, driven and cautious in life to avoid the same demise that her family met a year prior.

Joaquin is mysterious, charming, handsome, successful, overprotective, and falls head over heels for Amelia almost immediately when he meets her....oh and he is the son of a Mexican cartel lord.

There are quite a few twists and turns through this storyline.... I had a feeling that Joaquin had ties to the devastation in Sophia/Amelia's life but that twist at the end ....

I am so happy I have the ARC of the second book so I can dive right in because that cliffhanger was 🤯

[Ellie Moreland · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Probably not the best way to start with the end, but oh my gods??? The cliffhanger is spectacular, while I guessed the main twist, I didn't see that coming.

Sophia is fun and sassy without being annoying, which is such a fine line to toe. I love that you can feel her try so hard to both be the person she was and grow into someone new, the person she thinks she's supposed to be now. I also love her passion for cooking - I feel like we don't usually see people's work lives in books, and it's always refreshing to me.

Joaquin is so tortured, I love it. Torn between being who he was raised to be, and the person he wants to be for Sophia. I wish we saw more of his passions - I didn't get a good feel for what he enjoys, outside of sleeping with Sophia. 😅 I'm hoping we get to see more in the next book!

[Haley R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this story blind, and with dark mafia romances to me, that is the best way!

I received book two as an ARC and was so intrigued, I ran to book one when I got the news.
The way I devoured this first book so fast, I was not prepared for this sensational writing style that tells a story charged with suspense, dark desire, and emotional depth, wrapped in gothic tones and set in a world riddled with secrets and moral corruption. It's not just a love story that we are immersed in, its power, survival, its mystery, suspense and darkness that can't be escaped.

There is spice, which was so well done, but it is still more plot focused and the two went together beautifully. I ran through this book and immediately went right into book two. This story is a must read for any dark romance lover.

[BombshellDanielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy…What?

Ok this is like mafia vibes, our girl is on the run and she’s trying to make a new life but you can’t trust anyone.

Spicy but definitely plot driven. This was really good. I didn’t see the twist til the end and I can’t believe it. I nearly dropped my kindle. 😳 The cliff you are left hanging off of is agonizing!!!!

There’s some traumatic stuff so check your triggers but I loved this. The banter and tension was sexy and fun!! Check this out! I can’t wait for book two!!! I’m going to be an eARC reader for book two Sins of my Father, so be on the lookout for my review!!!

#mafia #ontherun #darkromance #foundfamily #secretsandlies #trustnoone #newidentity

[Harley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤.. 𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡..

𝐺𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑖 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒..

𝐺𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑!! 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼'𝑚 𝑜𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤..

𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛.. 𝐻𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑘..

𝐽𝑜𝑎𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛.. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛

𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑎/𝑆𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑘... 𝐵𝑂𝑂𝑀.

𝑆𝑂 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑓𝑢*>|>~%~ ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟!! 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑚.. 𝐷𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤?! 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?! 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 2. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒.

𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠!!

[Ally-Chaos Demon · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SMOKES!

The cliffhanger.... oh the cliffhanger.

This story is absolutely beautiful written. There is so much detail and suspense written into the fabric of Sophia's life.
THIS is how a mafia romance is written. I cannot wait to see what the next chapter on Sophia's story holds.

[Ashley Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved that that story is mostly based in Seattle (hometown) ❤️ the drama was juicy, the friendship between the 3 is goals, and the spice is 🔥 🥵

[Maddy]

DNF

[Reading is escaping reality · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow. This book is a roller coaster that takes off from page one and doesn’t slow down until the very last sentence. Every chapter kept me on edge, and just when I thought I knew where it was going—bam! Plot twist.

And that cliffhanger at the end? Brutal. My mind is racing with questions, and I need the next book immediately. If you love fast-paced stories that hook you from the start and leave you begging for more, this one’s for you.


“How do I look?” No reply, how rude. “I’m going to forgive the silence. I think I look great, thank you.”

[Gabbyreadsss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mafia romance + stalker + family trauma 10/10 this is for the strong fmc that like a fmc that has sass is independent and a badass cook plus who doesn’t love a morally grey neighbor and a deadly grey stalker 👀🙂‍↕️