If I had known this series wasn’t on KU, I probably would’ve skipped it. The book is a great start to the series, but I don’t see myself buying each of them separately.
That said, it’s a good book. I loved the characters and I see myself in almost every aspect of the FMC and my life growing up was so similar to hers. With the exception of her being a hospital worker and I was in Law enforcement. The mmc is very sweet. He loves the FMC and wants to take care of her. It ends on a cliffhanger and I truly want to know what happens I just am not able to buy the books.
Thank you to the author for offering her book as apart of the stuff your kindle day!
I really tried to like this one. Especially for such a short book, I try to give some leeway but there was too much that made no sense and/or was poorly written. I honestly felt like the author just wrote straight through from beginning to end and never went back to revise or weave any information in so information and character motivations seemed to come out of no where. I feel like this quote from Stefan sums up my experience pretty well: "Confusion, disappointment—and more confusion raced through me. Why was she acting this way?"
Also to be clear, this is NOT a novella. It's a cheap cliffhanger meant to force you to buy the next book. I imagine it could have just been one book but was filled out and chopped into smaller books to sell them cheap.
Vows of Betrayal is supposed to be the start of a new series, but there was clearly a ton of history with the other characters which made following what was happening very confusing. As the first book, it should work as a standalone but it doesn't. It reads like a direct sequel to books from presumably another of the author's series? I got the sense that he might have been shot in those books, leading directly to the events of this one?
The blurb was really misleading. It seems like the majority of the story will be about the MMC Stefan saving the FMC Francesca from being auctioned and everything that happens afterwards in their second-chance romance, but that is not the case. In the prologue we see the moment Stefan comes across Francesca being auctioned, and then we cut back to where they first met and that makes up the rest of the book. The auction aspect never even comes up again at all.
Then there's the whole polyamorous relationship between Stefan and his brother and best friend and their wives. I have no problem with that in the book, but there was no way to know the book had that kind of content based on the blurb, introduction, or vague trigger warning. It's not clear if that relationship will continue in future books in the series. Stefan makes it clear he doesn't want to share Francesca, but he also told Francesca she'd had to deal with him kissing Even and Giselle.
Also, this is advertised as a mafia romance, but there's no mafia. At all. Maybe it comes up later in the series, but there is literally nothing of it here. There's no mafia action. No discussion of Stefan's presumed role in the mafia. No concerns about safety or his business etc. NOTHING.
Reading this was horribly frustrating. The whole scene where they first met in the hospital was so confusing. Stefan was dying from a gunshot wound in the ER where Francesca was working. The rest of the staff step out to take his x-rays, but she refuses to leave the room because he's holding her hand. A bit cheesy and unlikely but whatever, it works for the narrative so no big deal. What is a big deal is that the staff never come back? And Francesca realizes that they figure he's going to die anyway, so they just said they'd take an x-ray and never came back. Dafuq?
Then police show up to question Stefan, but she somehow chases them off and convinces them to not question him? Convenient to the plot and would never happen but again, I'll let it slide.
Right after that, Stefan tells Francesca he's in love with her. It could have been a cute "the man is dying and loved how she stood up to the cops for him" scene, but then Francesca tells him she loves him too??? Why? Her response turned his comment from something lighthearted to what seemed like genuine confessions. Confessions which I don't think are even mentioned again.
Then a surgeon randomly comes into Stefan's room, somehow holding his x-rays that were never taken, and Francesca lies and convinces the surgeon that he's supposed to be taking Stefan up for surgery. Like, that's now how shit works in the slightest and it completely took me out of the story. (This trend continued through the entire book. There was a lot of medical stuff that didn't make sense, and Francesca was arguably a terrible nurse and employee who refused to follow orders, spent 90% of her time in Stefan's room, performed procedures she wasn't trained for including removing Stefan's intubation tube(!), and regularly stole medical supplies, including IV medications. There's only so much I can suspend my disbelief here, and her actions make even less sense when half of her personality is "I'm completely broke and desperately need this job." She does eventually get fired late in the book, but she had been stealing shit since before even meeting Stefan and apparently getting away with it until now.)
After his surgery, Stefan is whiny as shit. He's supposed to be a badass mafia dude (thought again, no mafia in the plot), but he's complaining about how he just wants to die because of the post-op pain he's in (while medicated BTW). Then he started literally crying when Francesca came in and asked him how he was feeling? I'm all for an alpha male getting emotional and letting some tears fall over his girl, but this type of character should not be "bawling like a baby" (yes, that's how it described) in this scenario. It's not the last time he cries or complains that he'd rather just die because he's hurting. (Note: This is not portrayed in a serious, suicidal character way. I think the author was just trying for drama to show what extreme pain he was in, but that level of pain made no sense and it didn't work)
Francesca is 23, but has the emotional volatility (not to mention the illogical decision making) of a teenager. She falls for Stefan right away, and has no problem jerking him off while he fingers her in his hospital bed, but then suddenly she's insisting there's no feelings between them and getting pissy with him over and over again. Then she got all upset about how she's "from the wrong side of the tracks" and that seemed to come out of nowhere but then became a major factor in her view of their relationship.
After two weeks of her caring for him and them apparently regularly making out, she still acts like this. He literally tells her she's his, points out the connection between them, and says he wants her to live with him, and she's pissy and dismissive, refusing to believe him, even though she feels the same for him. Her entire internal argument amounts to nothing more than the weak ass cliche "he doesn't really mean that."
After getting discharged, Stefan hides in Francesa's car and guilts her into letting him stay in her apartment so she can care for him. The story kind of just continues for a while without going anywhere. Francesca is poor. Stefan feels guilty about that, but does literally nothing about it. He's super rich, but because he lost his wallet the night he was shot, he just does nothing? He talks about paying for her to go to college or taking her on vacations, while she's getting groceries from a church food pantry. You can't tell me he couldn't make some calls and actually get shit done to help her. (In fact he could. Like 90% into the book he finally borrows her phone to call his assistant (whoever the fuck that is) to arrange to pay for her tuition. He still doesn't do anything about her rent or food situation).
Then the book ends with Stefan insisting Francesca move to his place the next day, and Francesca sneaking out that night to run away. We have no idea why she's doing this (because the author wants us to buy the next book to find out!) but I'm guessing it's stupid and illogical like most of the shit she does.
On top of everything, the writing was also weak.
Francesca's overuse of the word "gosh" drove me insane. I'm guessing it was intended to show how sweet and innocent she is but she said it multiple times per page in some scenes.
On the flip side, Stefan seriously overused "Christ," again often multiple times on one page.
This book had a lot of single line paragraphs. Like, a lot. On some pages it looked like I was reading poetry rather than narrative prose. This can be used effectively to emphasize something, but it was so overused that it was distracting. If I'm being cynical, I'd say it also could have been done deliberately to inflate the page count.
The author also overused em dashes. They were all over the fucking place, replacing commas and periods, and even in the middle of sentences where no punctuation was needed.
For a book with such a short page count, there was a lot of wasted words and content. There were multiple scenes of them just watching television, including describing what they were watching when it was completely irrelevant to the plot or characters (it's not like it was being used to parallel the MCs experiences or help us gain insight into their character). A lot of shit could have been cut to add relevant information or ease transitions to improve the story significantly.
Overall, reading this book was a frustrating experience I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I very rarely give 1 star reviews, but the fact that I was compelled to stop and take notes while reading just to write a review this long for a book this short tells you how aggravating it was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Picking up where we left off at the end of Giselle’s book, Stefan’s story begins 6 months later. When he goes to a meeting and gets caught up in an “auction”. He’s about to leave when the woman he loves appears on the stage before him😳
A definite must read and I want to get my hands on the next book ASAP, so I can find out all the juicy details🙌 I received an advanced copy and willingly leave my honest review❤️🩹
I should be used to ending like this one, but it still gets me every time. This one picks right up from the end of Carlo and Giselle's story and I am here for it.
I mean the girl from the other side of the tracks who is so sweet and helpful but doesn't want to live the rich life and even though Stefan is willing and ready to give it to her, she seems to think it is her problem to deal with what life has thrown her. Then Stefan who is trying to recover from being shot see an angel and tries to do everything to get her to stay with him. If anyone deserves an HEA it is Stefan, and he has fallen hard for Francesca, and I think she has also but is afraid. I know I have just started the journey and can't wait to see how their stories pan out.
This is the start of Stefan’s series and it does not disappoint. We met Stefan in Nick and then Carlos series. This series picks up where we left off with Stefan at the end of Carlos series so you will definitely want to have at least read those books. I can’t wait to see everything that will happen for Stefan. Will he finally end up with his love? Stefan was showing his angry side a lot at the beginning but then he was knocked off his rocker when an angle showed up in his life. Francesca is caring and amazing at her job as a nurses assistant. She has a quiet strength about her and will do anything to help Stefan. They have chemistry as well as a cord from fate pulling them together. Their series is going to be complicated yet beautiful. I can’t wait to see how the next book unfolds.
I have read soooo many of Jessa's book and yet she wows me every single time! Stefan and Francesca had a whirlwind romance that I was not quite prepared for.
The story starts with Stefan attending what he believed to be a meeting, little did he know, it was actually an "auction" and the woman he loves is the first woman being auctioned. Immediately after this is when the whirlwind begins.
The story then takes a trip into the past to give you the background information on how Stefan met his angel, Chesca. Their love story takes you on a ride full of emotions, confusion, and more. I will admit I had a slight problem with how aggressive Stefan was but I grew to love the way he loves her.
This book ended with a cliffhanger that caught me off guard and I am so excited for another book with Stefan and his angel!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I’m not sure how Francesca is in the pickle she’s in now, but I DO know that Stefan likely had something to do with it. And I also know that, no matter how angry and betrayed he might feel, he’s going to do his best to save her from something far worse than time with him. The question is, will she tell the whole truth to be saved? Or will she pull a Giselle and try to save everyone by keeping quiet?
I also have a feeling that FAMILY is truly anything but in her case. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I sort of doubt it. Now I shall wait to find out what happens next.
This is the beginning of Stefan’s love story with Francesca. She’s a nursing assistant who is working at the hospital when he comes in with a chest gunshot wound. He’s a very difficult patient who would only cooperate with her. He refuses to see his brother Carlo, and his friend Nico while hospitalized, but allows Giselle and Eve to visit. When he’s discharged he decides to go with Francesca to her place, without her knowing. She nurses him back to health, but she is in a very difficult financial situation, to the point of not having enough money to buy groceries, pay for gas and rent.
I liked this book more then I thought I would. Actually I didn't really have a opinion going in I was just like yeah sure 3 bucks let's try it.
It is a quick easy read but I feel about like disappointed becuase instead of being multiple books it could have just been a longer single book and almost feel like I'm not disappointed with how it ended.
I will be reading the rest becuase I am a sucker for happy endings.
Vows of Betrayal is the first book in the Sovrano Mafia Empire. It picks up where Carlo and Giselle's story ended. This is the beginning of Stefan and Francesca's story and it is a whirlwind romance. Stefan falls hard and fast for his nurse. It's full of emotion. As always (LOL) Jessa ends this on cliffhanger leaving us wanting more ASAP.
Once again Jessa doesn’t disappoint. Her men are fire & Stefan is no exception. He falls hard and fast. He’s gentle but persistent. There was only one request, “ Don’t break his heart.” Will Chesca live up to that or will hell rain down on all?
Wow!!! Stefan and Francesca's story is beautiful, protective, intriguing, and hopeful. I want to know what happens next when Stefan finds out she's missing....
It was ok , I just felt it was a little slow and the behaviour of both characters very repetitive , gave little information never enough to hook me though
So glad we finally get Stefan's story and it is full of angst, and steam. Ms. York has done it once again with a story that is addictive, entertaining, easy to get engrossed in and one where you need to keep reading. Stefan's story picks up after Giselle and Carlo's story leaves off. The beginning of the book had Stefan's jaw hitting the floor and myself intrigued. Then we are thrown six months into the past and Stefan is injured and an angel comes to his rescue, Francesca. She is not the type of girl you would think he would go for. Francesca's life is somewhat like Eve and Giselle's growing up. She is sassy, feisty, tells it like it is and doesn't let anybody push her around until Stefan arrives on the scene. Stefan is Stefan, bossy, dominant and sexy as all hell. In Ms. York's fashion, she leaves us with a cliffhanger that has you wanting the next book now.
Vows of Betrayal is book 1 in The Sovrano Mafia Empire series. Stefan and Francesca’s story was a whirlwind of emotions and tension. A fast paced, intriguing read that left me on the worst cliffhanger! I’m curious to know what happens next.
I’ve read a few other books from Jessa and none have been this intense and spicy!
Vows of betrayal follows Francesca and Stefan as their very different worlds collide. Francesca is working at a hospital when Stefan comes in almost dead! She convinces the doctor to save him, and that’s where Stefan’s obsession of his angel begins.
Stefan’s obsessed with Chesca and sometimes it was a bit much for me personally, but at the same time I’m thinking “girl this man is literally worshiping you, LET HIM!!” The way he treats her like an angel, and wants to do everything he can to claim her and get her out of the crappy lifestyle she is currently living.
Chesca is so not letting Stefan help her, she’s independent and can do it, even if that means doing some sketchy stuff. The cliffhanger has me wondering who Stefan is going to end up killing, because obviously he won’t let her get hurt/stay in trouble!
4 stars only because his quick obsession gave me the ick at first, but I’m hoping the next book changes my mind and makes me love it in the end!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.