Desperate Vows

Bound by Vows #1

by Kess Avalon, Bree Livingston

Desperation can make you do insane things. Like marry a monster…

Claire
Fathers are supposed to protect their daughters.
But my father wants to force me into an arranged marriage to get his hands on my trust fund. I can’t let that happen.
So, I’m going to marry someone else first.
Lucas Kalantzis is a Greek mafia boss with eyes as dark as his soul. I chose him because I thought he’d be easy to leave when the time was right.
Now, I’m starting to realize just how wrong I was…

Lucas
A temporary marriage of convenience to a stranger in exchange for a load of cash? Sure. Why not?
But Claire Benoit isn’t just any stranger. She’s a pretty little pawn I can use to get revenge on my enemy—her father. It was the perfect plan.
Until she looked at me with those sweet, innocent eyes of hers and ruined everything.
Now, I’m thinking I need a new plan. One that ends with Claire being my real wife.
Til death do us part…

Desperate Vows is a no spice (kisses only), contemporary mafia romance with plenty of suspense and a guaranteed happily ever after. Download today and get ready to fall for Claire and Lucas.

Author's There's also no spanking. None

Genres: Dark Romance, Suspense, Romance, Closed Door Romance, Contemporary Romance, Clean Romance, Contemporary

316 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2024

Reviews

[Rachel Luke Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read from Bree Livingston/Kess Avalon and it definitely pulled me into the story fast.

Now before I get too far into this review please note that:

This is a Physical Intimacy Level 3 book. So lots of heat, moderate innuendo, and descriptive making out.

This has moderate swearing. 11 uses of dam*, 8 uses of hel*, 4 uses of whor*.

This has moderate violence with people dying, getting shot, tortured, rape, child/adult illegal prostitution etc. Nothing is very detailed or gory necessarily but it is definitely there and talked about.

This is a Mafia romance in every sense. The MMC is definitely morally gray who does what he needs to do to protect his family and to get revenge for those who have hurt him and his family. And because of that it deals with hard topics and the harsh realities of the mafia world.

Now, if you are okay with all of that being included, this book will keep you entertained as you try to figure out who is "good", who is "bad" and how is this all going to be figured out.

Claire is a wonderful FMC who is trying her best to not let her awful father determine her value or direction in life. Your heart breaks for her and what she has went through because of him. You want her to feel safe and to find joy.

Lucas, the MMC, is so well written. I love that there is such this balance in him between the harsh protector and the tender hearted man. He truly loves his family and those in his circle, but just like Claire you just are never sure who is he really.

Going on the journey of this book with Claire and Lucas definitely takes you on a road of twists and turns. You never know what will happen or who you should trust.

If you want a more gritty mafia book with higher heat while still being closed door give this one a try.

[𝕸𝖎𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖊𝖑 𝕮. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was SO EXCITED about starting this book & was SO excited to fall in love with the story... but it fell FLAT!

It was horrible. I was so disappointed.
It was short, poorly written, the dialogue was bad AND cringey, redundant, and too annoying.

Parts that were cool or finally interesting were sped up and skipped over, but all the other scenes were too long and drawn out: boring!

It was all wrong.
The trope was great... but that's all that was good. Yep, just the trope. That's it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Claire being all sad about missing her mom was overdone; it was annoying how she had such bad anxiety about it and was clinging to Thea and some old lady to regain some semblance of normalcy.

The ending was TRASH! Boring, predictable, and worst of all: cringe.

Lucas? Okay, I liked him, but this whole story was too badly written for me to really enjoy him!
He was so nice to Claire and he said all the right stuff, but this book was just so baaaaad! 😔

I finished reading this book just because it was so short, and while I truly appreciate that it was a clean romance, everything about it was bad.

[(Katie) Paperbacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐
a pretty good book, it does deal with tough topics just so you're aware going into it. I liked the story, the kissing scenes were a bit more on the steamy side, but it never went past kissing.

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series came highly recommended to me and was a little outside my usual reading zone, but I ended up really enjoying it! It was a quick, engaging read—I finished it in one sitting. Claire and Lucas were both compelling characters, and I loved following their story. The book tackles some heavier themes and moves at a fast pace, with events unfolding quickly. The characters have a darker edge, especially with the involvement of crime families, which added intensity to the plot.


Content Rated PG-13
Closed door romance with innuendo.
References to abuse, child trafficking and SA (off page)

[Shahed Zoldyck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so this book was fun and had a lot I enjoyed especially Lucas like ughhh he was amazing. Protective, strong, and had that serious mafia energy but still soft with her?? Yes please

It’s a clean mafia romance, so no spice at all and that’s always a win for me. There was action, secrets, and forced proximity, which I really liked.

But… Claire??
She was sweet, yeah, but soooo not confident. Like girl, stand up I love shy and innocent girls, but not when they’re constantly doubting themselves and acting like they’re not enough. I wanted her to grow more, to feel strong in herself, you know

I still enjoyed it overall. It was a light read with tension, emotion, and a hero I totally adored. Just not a fave

Tropes:
• Marriage of convenience
• Mafia romance
• Clean romance
• Protective male lead
• Forced proximity
• Secrets from the past

[Jessica Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this one was a 5 star for sure the way they end up falling in love it was just so sweet and this makes me see why I gave up spicy reads for non spicy

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

First-time author. As with most mafia settings, it's a bit darker without the gory details and language. I appreciated the ability to write a clean and language-free story that still piqued my interest. It started really strong, but the writing got "childish" at times, which left me confused at times. I liked both main characters, Claire and Lucas. I thought they complemented each other well.

"...the air of grace and sophistication."

Rating: PG-13 -some aggresive situations
Language: clean read
Recommend: yes

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a fairly interesting read, it seemed to cover the same ground a bit too often. It was intriguing and I appreciate that only kissing was ever involved, although those were some pretty hot scenes. Just not four stars for me.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t decide on a rating but I did read it all in one sitting so it was good enough for that

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review]

I find it hard to rate this book. It is well written but it wasn’t my style at all. Very violent and morally grey. I found it to be an interesting read but not something I would seek out nor would I be interested in reading further books in the series.

[booked_beyond_imagination_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book.

This is one of the books were u wonder if you'll write a review that will justify it

Firstly, I just want to say this is the first mafia book I have ever read in my entire life so I didn't know what to expect at all

When reading this book I found my self wanting more sitting at the edge of my seat cause like omgosh

Secondly Thank you to @closeddoorromance cause I would have never seen this book if not for her review on goodreads.


Imma be honestly the only reason I even picked up this book was because of the heat level ✋😞 (ik:( ) but I'm a lady on a missionary who wants to find books that are clean but make me feel hot (IYKYK) and this was definitely it🤭

The world building and the character building was amazing . I literally read this book in one sitting cause I couldn't put it down, I just had to keep reading wanting to know what would happen next

I absolutely loved Lucas *swoon*😩 everyone needs a man like him one that would burn the world for them cause wow he W soooo hot <3

I love Claire I wish I had her as a friend cause I would give her the biggest hug known to man because she went through a lot, I found my self wanting to cry and hug her(I don't pity her cause I'm 180% sure she wouldn't want that) she is such a baddie, the strongest FMC I have ever read

Also the tension between Lucas and Claire was delicious, to say the least, the romance was out of this world and as an added bonus the plot was just as amazing,like how did Bree think of this is beyond me honestly

I absolutely dispise her father & Marco the author wrote them soo well ,you can clearly tell that this women has talent

She is immediately an auto buy author, added to my favorite list

The side characters ,amazing (did I mention that the plot was mind blowing)
I absolutely loved Thea she is so iconi I want no Need a Thea in my life

I loved Lucas' family like I can't gush over them enough

This book is funny, angsty, heartbreaking,the drama (let keep not get started).

I literally found myself either tearing up or wanting too cause the things in this book are a little deep tho this is clean it talks about hard topics . did I mention the tention between the main characters it wasn't forced but flowed the way they developed together phenomenonal I couldn't recommend this book enough bit be ware of triggers


Trigger⚠:
-rape(with young kids/teens)
-abuse
-human trafficking
-cancer (of page)
-killings (not descriptive)
-molestation

Tropes:
😩age gap
😩Mafia
😩My wife
😩Arranged marriage
😩Touch her you die vibes
😩Burn the world for you
😩Obsessed
😩Family fond-ish
😩Baddie FMC
😩Protective MMC
😩Fire kisses
😩Hot tension
😩Crazy plot

[Suri (mamas_cozyreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Mafia and dark romance without the spice? SIGN ME UP!

This story draws you in from the first page. There is so much that happens and so much darkness. Our FMC goes through such horrible events and moments in her life. How she overcomes them and finds her own voice, is incredible. I was shocked at everything she went through. Our MMC is morally grey, leaning towards black, but seeing him defend the FMC was perfect. Their relationship is not all roses and sunshine, they undergo a lot of difficult things. I enjoyed the sibling bonds and how they showed up for each other.

I'm excited to continue this series and see the siblings have their HEA.

[Maggie Torgerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good! Lucas was for sure a morally grey character, and at first he seemed like he was going to be really grumpy but then he ended up being really sweet.

To me it felt like Claire was crying the whole time 😅 I get she went through a whole lot, and I would probably cry too, but it just felt like every time I turned the page from her finishing crying, she was crying again. Other than that I think she was a strong character and she wasn’t just a dumb girl looking to be in a relationship, she was looking for a solution to a problem and trying to save her own life.
Overall this was a good book and it’s always great to find a clean mafia romance!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my kind of book. I read it because I love Bree Livingston's books and thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the relationship between Claire and Lucas and his family as well, but I was not a fan of the mafia revenge parts of the book. If you enjoy that, then I think you'll like this story.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up..

I felt like this book was written by ai??
I didn’t get interested with the characters i gave it so many chances but in the end i put It back in the shelf
So cringy and they kissed in chapter 7?? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
Anyway i was so excited for this book but i ended up disappointed ☹️

(DNF page:200)

[jellybellybeans · Rating 1 out of 5]

huh

[Kathy Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y'all. The only thing I knew about this book before diving in was the MMC was morally gray. It was part of an Instagram post that a favorite author was tagged in and it just seemed to pop out at me, so I decided to give it a try.

I started it late morning and then lost all track of time as I was sucked into the world of Claire and Lucas. I was held hostage for hours with no food or water, no bathroom breaks, it was just me in Chicago hanging on every word, every moment, anything that would bring me to the HEA both Claire and Lucas deserved.

I absolutely adored these two! Complete opposites in every single way, but perfectly imperfect for each other. Their journey was filled with struggles, overcoming past traumas, discovering who they are both as a couple and individuals, it was real, it was raw, it was emotional. Some things were hard to read, but I was so invested in their heartachingly beautiful story that I just could not put it down.

I've seen reviews by others that didn't know how to rate the book, didn't know what to think. But, for me, it was a break I didn't know I needed from what I have been reading over the last several months. It was something serious, something different. I had no clue what I was getting into when I started reading, but I loved every minute of it.

Here's where I would've said... I love discovering new to me authors. But I can't. I didn't realize until after I finished the book and looked at the cover that it's written by Bree Livingston. Never in a million years would I have ever guessed Ms. Livingston and Ms. Avalon were one and the same. To me, the writing styles are completely different, which I love. I'm definitely excited for the rest of the series!

As for my casting, I saw these two from the very beginning. I love it when that happens!



Content: PG-13 - Mild swearing, innuendo, abuse, child trafficking and sexual assault (off page), steamy kisses.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was different. I have read several books by Bree Livingston, and loved them. She doesn't write Christian fiction, but it is clean and curse-free.

I pulled up all of her books on Amazon, and this one popped up, so I borrowed it on Kindle Unlimited. And didn't realize right away that another author's name is on the cover. On Amazon, Bree's name is also listed on the credits, and the publisher is Bree Livingston Publishing...so not sure what is up with that.

Onto the book: It is kind of dark. The main characters are all in mafia families. The male, Lucas is in charge of his family as the oldest and his parents dead.
Claire's father is in charge of theirs, and is into bad stuff like human trafficking, sex trafficking - including very young girls. As is one other mafia family.

There are some uses of hell and damn....which surprises me as the formerly mentioned Bree does not have any in her books.

I did enjoy the book...it is kind of bad guys vs worse guys. To be honest, it is not one I would have read had I known more about it and the content, and I am not sure what rating to give it. It is well written, and I did like the two main characters. Lucas, not so much at the beginning, but he did redeem himself.
So I settled on 4 stars. I never give Christian fiction that has bad language 5 stars, and this is not Christian fiction, but will still detract a star from it.

[My_every_day_chilling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dark mafia romance without the sex scenes. It's loaded with chemistry, morally dark scenes and of course violence.
Dark is dark. So it will have violent scenes, very heavy topics (child trafficking, child molesting, rape, etc).
Dark is dark. We'll have a mafia boss killing people to protect his family. They don't turn the bad guy in, they kill them.
I'm a mood reader and for me, this kind of romance is not to be read every day - maybe once a year, lol. Although I enjoyed most of it, I still don't know how I feel about the violence (but I already knew I wasn't a dark reader).
I also think insta-love is the hardest trope to write about and get it to work. And I don't think it worked in this story. Both MC's had super big trust issues, no matter how much chemistry they had, I don't think their falling for one another that fast was real.

1st kiss: 30%
Romance: 1⭐
Chemistry: 5⭐
Spice: none (maybe some internal thoughts going astray, but that's it)
Humor: 1⭐
Cry factor: 2⭐
Drama: 4⭐
Suspense: 4⭐
Foul language: 1⭐(it's dark so I think it's natural to have some cuss words but no f-bombs or close to that)
Faith elements: 0⭐
POV: 1st person,dual
AI content: none that I noticed

[Fudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mafia book without spice and a good plot!!!
I've been struggling with finding clean romance with enough action but is geared towards an adult audience. There's indications of spice, and the tensions is 100000% there but no written spice!
I wouldn't call this dark romance or a morally grey mmc either since him and his entire family is full of vigilantes.
I will say that the style of writing made it a bit difficult to follow the plot but eventually it all makes sense. Although I was confused about how they both liked each other yet still believed either was working with Franklin. I felt for Claire alot especially with the way her father treated her.
I absolutely LOVED Thea's character and hope she gets her own book but I'm not sure. And getting hints of the next book was great.
I wish we found out if Franklin was Claire's biological father and I wish we got to see Marco die but I'm hoping the next book has it.
Overall, a great read, fairly short, could've been a bit more in detail so the plot would've been easier to follow.

Oh and I still don't understand why people do the garter thing at weddings. That physically made me cringeeeee.

[Bre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally

Find me a good closed door Mafia story. This story got me in my feels. There was definitely some emotional travesty that happened. There was great character development, both the main characters and side characters were very likable. But oh my, the villain? Literal hate to the villain. This was fantastic And it wasn't ruined by smut this was real romance real emotion no lust It was wonderful
It was written well the FM wasn't vs chaotic mess of word salad. She wasn't helpless and Do frustrating Do frustrating unintelligent things To get herself in trouble The main character was written well She was a damsel in distress but it wasn't her fault she got in this situation. she didn't make it worse. as emotional as the story was the character was not driven by emotion. I really enjoyed this character. Which was nice to see cause that rarely happens with the female man character The male main character was likable like I said before he was definitely Gray or maybe even an anti hero But it didn't really go into detail in the gray areas It was a very light read with more emotional aspects rather than violence and Sexual scenes.

[Ballet in AK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that definitely was edgy and talked about the effects of an emotionally abusive and controlling father on his daughter. I feel that, as powerful as her father was, it would take an equally powerful man to rescue Claire from his schemes. Lucas is that man.

As a reader, I found myself hoping that 1) Claire wouldn't end up married to younger version of her father, and 2) that Lucas could figure out Claire's father's plan before it was too late.

I loved how Lucas' protective instincts were fired up on Claires behalf! And that Claire's nurturing nature was softly grabbing Lucas' heart.

It's a little unclear as to whether Lucas and family stop their illegal activities for good, or only one aspect of them (that's the impression I get). However, what is clear is that they love Claire and she loves them.

An edgy read for us clean romance readers, but the door doesn't have to close because there's nothing going on behind it. This couple saves their conjugal relations until after they are married.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well gosh golly, what a ride!

The tension, the kisses, the twists, the mystery! It was one of those books you read in a day because you can't stop thinking about it, and it reads so fast. It was action-packed.

The characters are so well written. I wonder if they could have their own dedicated books. I know Ari does, as the book that follows this is his. I adored Thea in a way. Loyal, kick butt, and unafraid.

I think I'll pick up the second at some point.

Tropes:

Found family.
Touch her and die.
Finding her voice.
Arranged marriage/marriage of convenience?

🌶 Spice: Kisses only.
⚔️ Violence: Yes.
💭 Language: Some.

There are a few TW: If you want to know what it is, you can message me, and I'll tell you.

[Carrie Lehnert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute!!

I loved this book! The way you get emotionally attached to her from the beginning. The hard life she has lived. Your heart just breaks. Then you meet Lucas and OMG. She needed someone to truly love her and him thinking he would never find love and that no one could love him. The dark themes and steamy kisses. 🤌 I highly recommend this book to everyone. I believe this is a book that open door and closed door readers will enjoy! Easy, quick read. Can't wait to read the next one!

- Enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers
- FMC personal growth throughout the book
- MMC morally gray, but a total cinnamon roll
- Found family
- You're mine ❤️❤️❤️❤️

TW: The story revolves around r*pe and child tr*fficking

[Hannah F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok look 💀 I read strange things in times of distress

Writing: 7/10 she had me laughing and sometimes not on purpose
Swoon: 10/10
MMC: 1000/10
FMC: 9/10? Idk she’s great. She went through a lot. I just feel bad for her honestly.
Violence: 7/10 didn’t bother me at all

Some thoughts: when this woman said closed door I thought she meant fade to black. NOPE. She said the door is closed!!! But for not fading to black she sure did talk about wanting to a lot. I was obsessed with the dual POV. She did a lovely job on that. Lucas said/called Claire “my wife” 1000 times and I swooned equally every time. My new life goal is to just have a man want me like Lucas wants Claire. Also age gap is mwah.

[Konrie Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh wow! closed door dark romance with steamy passion?! yes please

Holy cow. I was not expecting this to be quite this dark and heavy. But that happens when you are dealing with evil villians that prey on the innocent and the morally grey characters trying to turn themselves around and keep their loved ones pure and innocent. Adult subject matters addressed. But delicately handled.

He cradles her while she cries, he is willing to do anything to protect her, stabby protective bff/sister character, found family. I LOVE AUNT HELEN even if we don’t see a ton of her!

Only one church swear word ever used (but used multiple times by the darker characters).

[Megan | Reads Alotl Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claire is just a pawn in her fathers game and when the man she thinks can save her is approached by her father to wed her....what will she do?

Lucas just wants to keep his promise to his father and keep things clean and his family out of the mafia game. Will he decide that his marriage of convenience is worth the cost of revenge or will he take a chance on his new wife?

This was a fun story with the Mafia elements and the MOC. Lucas and Claire really have trust issues they have to get over, but they sure do have tension and fire together.

[Reviewer King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this. You guys have no idea how long I've been looking for a clean mafia book. I really liked the fmc, she was someone so vulnerable, strong, and yet fierce, that I instantly loved her character from the first page. She went through a lot and still had courage. Even though I liked the story, I didn't connect with how fast their romance occurred. It was too insta-love which is not my thing. And I feel like a lot of things were contradictory and confusing where I had to go back and reread to make sure I wasn't wrong. I think I just wanted things to be fleshed out more?

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew I would like a plot-moving, closed-door, mafia romance?

This was a fun and refreshing read that I picked up and finished less than 24 hours later. There were a few moments I questioned things, but overall it was different and fun and everything you'd think of a mafia romance without being descriptive and too dark.

The main character's juxtaposition of being violent but also being protective in a dual POV tale was different than my normal read and I was here for it.

Thank you to the author for a free review copy.

[CoffeeLovinRi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating/Recommend:
4⭐️• kisses only • yes, if you’re looking for a no spice mafia romance

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this one. It’s very fast paced and an easy read. Lucas really has the territorial male vibe down. Claire turned out to be a lot more resourceful than I was expecting. I definitely plan to continue the series. There are some darker elements to this series that may not be for everyone.

Tropes:
- no spice mafia romance
- marriage of convenience/arranged marriage
- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity

CW:
- language: minimal adult language
- spice: kissing only
- mentions of child abuse, trafficking, drugs, alcohol, torture & murder.