I’m about to marry a ruthless mafia don… But he can never know I had his baby.
Ren Caruso was my first love… and my most devastating heartbreak. When we were teenagers, I thought I’d always be his. But that illusion shattered at his cruel she’s just not wife material.
So when I found out I was pregnant, I never told him. For the past few years, I’ve built a life for myself and my daughter, far away from the mafia… and Ren.
But when my life is in danger, there’s no one else I can turn to. Ren offers me protection… if I agree to marry him.
Now, I’m trapped under the same roof with a man who has no idea he’s my daughter’s father. A man with a reputation so bloody it should make me run screaming. A man who traces my scars and swears to kill the man who put them there. A man who’s so obsessed with me he swears he hasn’t touched another woman since I left him.
If he wasn’t forcing me into a marriage with him, I might fall for his heated words, vicious promises, and searing kisses.
But we have enemies who will stop at nothing to tear our lives apart. And if they find out Ren is my daughter’s father, none of us will ever be safe again.
Secret Baby for the Mafia King is a second chance, secret baby dark mafia romance with a possessive mafia man fighting to win back the woman he loves. Spice, angst, and HEA guaranteed. Intended for a mature audience.
The Mafia "King" is utterly useless and powerless. He can't seem to standup for himself and put people in their place really. He resigns to dying to save Nadia and Harper, after he spent years trying to find her. There were so many moments I wanted to see Ren's reaction from his POV but it was almost glossed over. I wanted to see his reaction to finding out Harper was his daughter but we didn't get anything more than an 'ok, cool' so to speak. Too many unnecessary twists, convoluted discussions, and back and forth between Ren and Nadia.
Their explosive chemistry from them as teens, fizzled out with them as adults as soon as Nadia and Harper moved in with him. Just my thoughts.
This is a 4-star read for me. It has some of my favorite tropes — secret child, mafia romance, and it was written so well.
It also features “it has always been you,” mutual pining, and just a little bit of miscommunication.
I love Ren and Nadia’s love story. It was so beautifully written. I especially love how Ren dropped everything to come to Nadia’s rescue, even when he wasn’t supposed to, and how he stood up for her in front of everyone. Ren always picked Nadia; he never second-guessed his decision to choose her.
This is my first book by this author, and now I want to read all her other works
I should’ve DNF’d this book—no offense 🫣 It felt like a Wattpad story that somehow got published after getting some hype. The plot was just blah and boring. But hey, I was in a book slump and still managed to finish it, so maybe that’s the only win here 😅 1.5/5 ⭐️
it’s as if someone wrote this on wattpad in 2016 and published it after getting rave reviews. that being said… it’s the first book i finished in a month…..
You might want to make sure to double check that you are buckled up, dangerous men, alpha’s personified, possessive, oh, gorgeous, brooding all the makings of a story consisting with three D’s (dark, delicious, and dirty) 😊. There will be suspense, betrayal, death, darkness, secrets reveled, violence, hope, forgiveness, and maybe even love along the way. Ren sexy as all get your king isn’t a man with patience, isn’t a man you on your radar, he is usually ruthless, dangerous on a good day, deadly every day, most days doesn’t need a reason to come for you but know that if you give him one well he will take it personally, and he has only loved one women from his father was still the king when he get his hands on her boy will there be fireworks in the best way 😊….. I think. Nadia is so sweet but one of the strongest girls she met the man of her dreams when they were teenagers did their first with each other only to have him crush her heart with one small comment sending her on the run as well with a little something that would bring them together forever, although, she will always love him and no matter how many times she told her heart not to it didn’t listen every time she looked at her baby girl she saw him. But when his enemy came for her of course he was one person she knew she needed to call to protect her and their daughter but what happens when he comes for her the one women he has loved for six years, searched everywhere for six years, when finds out he has a little girl from one night of passion or discovers she will always be the one, will his enemies just walk away, what price will they have to pay for her freedom, will they fix what’s broken between them, can he explain what she heard, can they find their way back to one another, and will they find the happiness they deserve somewhere along the way of craziness?
3.5✯?I have mixed feelings about this.Obsessed Mafia don stalk his ex,that she secretly has his kid.Not really good mafia boss,only thinks about her and doesn't care what happens to his business,but that is a big mistake.
This year I have decided to read quality over quantity of books.
This Mafia read is absolutely phenomenal. Ren & Nadia ((&Harper)). A storm in a mafia tea cup, but this book poured me straight into it, and I steeped in every word of it. The love, the angst, betrayal, fear, torture, lies, chemistry, spice, the suspense. And then the sugar was added to my cup, and as I sipped away, and the last mouthful was had, I was left with a smile and a feeling that all was right in Ren & Nadia’s world. Loved every minute.
I should have really listened with the one star reviews on here, but I really wanted to read this first before I judge the book because I'm usually pretty open minded about stories and everything that happens.
🟩 I'm going to state what I loved—Harper. I adore her so much. I always find myself laughing with her antics. That's it. That's the only thing I loved.
🟩 The beginning chapter was nice. I find myself hooked reading it, but after that? It was so draggy. The plot twist carried, it was okay I guess. I was shocked. But that's 80% of the book already. I was bored to death before that.
⬛ I didn't like a lot of things but here are some of it that I can remember on the top of my head:
(Warning spoiler ahead)
•Miscommunication tropes are good when it's used right and when it's not redundant. But 60% of the book, they're still miscommunicating and I'm so sick of it.
•The way Ren learned Harper was his daughter was so blah, I thought I was going to be emotional but I kept a straight face reading that section.
•Marlow can just threaten Elijah? The mafia "King's" second in command?
How on earth have they maintained being on "top" of the mafia food chain when their communication is that sh!tty and they have no one to rely on.
"Ren isn’t the only one who gets to drive this family into the ground over a woman.”
Stop using women as an excuse for your failures. Ew.
He's a mafia man! He doesn’t have people???? I can also say that statement to Ren. He's the "KING" But it's like he only has olivia, marco, and elijah as his people and they didn't even do their job well. (this doesn't apply to marco, lol)
•Ren just accepts he's going to die for Harper and Nadia. Girl. He doesn’t even find a way how to fix the problem early on. Like????
The whole book I didn't find the reason to believe he's smart, scary, and that he deserves the mafia "king" title.
•If his fight with Atlas was detailed, I could retract that statement, but it was all tell. No show.
He was this, he was that. Girl whereeee??????
It was so frustrating but I didn't want to DNF it. I pushed through but I was so bored.
It's a pity because this has so much potential and everything fell flat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Guys this was a pleasant diversion from some heavy books and I had a great time. The title is cringe but the story was perfect. We have teenage sweethearts torn about by misunderstanding and death. Nadia is on the run with her ex’s baby and in a desperate situation. Six years passes!!!!! SIX. During that time Ren is hunting for her along with other enemies. She faces a situation that leads her to finally reach out to Ren and ask for his help. I love a good second chance romance and this was everything.
I also felt like the author has been to New York. The traffic talk, the strip club across the street from the church, the renting drama? All things I can relate to.
Also, my baby Ren. You are the best. Not sure how you became a mafia boss while being the biggest simp. It’s a dark romance but not super dark. Not triggering for me and the plot moves along well. I never felt bored. I read no other book in this series and felt like I missed nothing. Enjoy!
So, Nadia hears something when she’s 17 that causes her to block Ren. And then some bad stuff happens and she goes on the run. For six years. With a daughter who has a congenital heart condition.
Olivia is Ren’s assistant and she seems very possessive of him. Now that Ren has Nadia, Olivia is concerned about the state of the business and she’s not happy Nadia was back. In the end she proves to be a traitor, but she disappears from the story and there’s no resolution on what happens to her. I know she’s not a main character but this is a huge loose end…
And Nadia’s uncle Marlow is a big plot point. The “fade to black” moment when she just smiles only hints at what’s happened. Again, a loose end with no solid resolution.
Those are just a few of the issues that made this three stars for me. There are some good plot lines that are definitely interesting, but generally this was an average read for me.
1.5. Dnf it had so much potential. The beginning really put the bar high, up to when they meet the angst was high and then they just stay enemies for the entire book?
Enemies that hate fuck, keep in mind I read up to 75% and still don’t know the backstory, they haven’t had a single productive conversation about their past or their future. Yet they love each other in secret?
The guy basically hates her while also being obsessed with her. She loves the old him but is afraid of him.
I had to dnf because I read through so much and yet nothing happened I kept waiting for them to communicate, to see more of them as a family, the little girl, them finally tell each other everything but it was getting too stressful
Oh big big thing- he doesn’t fucking work?? He spends his days stalking the MFC and kind of forgets he’s in charge of an entire mafia
I did not like Nadia at all… I’m really sorry to the author but I really didn’t like her. I thought that I would eventually but she threw me off telling Ren in order to loose her virginity he had to kill someone for her. I almost stopped reading after that. I took a break and came back and forced myself to finish to keep up with my Kindle Unlimited rewards. Ren deserved better than Nadia even Harper deserved better than her. I preferred Ren’s POV. Elijah was very shifty I still don’t trust him. What happened to Olivia? I hope they killed her never liked her either. I honestly wouldn’t have been upset if Nadia didn’t make it. I would have been more interested in reading about Ren raising Harper as a single dad and finding someone new to love. I feel bad that Nadia’s uncle is the reason all the drama started but mostly because Ren lost a lot. I hate the power that she had over him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I was really impressed with how nuance the characters were and even when I would get frustrated with them I could understand their reaction. My favorite dynamic was the father/daughter one between Ren & Harper. The romance was almost meh for me, even though I am glad they got together in the end. I found Nadia's hesitation regarding Ren to be believable and understandable.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the plot to be quite complex with lots of surprising reveals. I really liked the subplot surrounding the strippers, they were badass. The pacing in the book was good overall until the epilogue then it felt really rushed and choppy to me. I was a bit annoyed they were still working things out in the epilogue. It would have been nice to see them solidly together. I was worried there would be things not resolved/talked about, but it was all addressed in the epilogue.
I liked how Harper was a believable kid. Nadia was a badass when needed. There was a lot of "lack of communication" and lack of trust between Nadia & Ren until the very end, which on one hand was understandable and on the other hand got a bit frustrating to read. It was a decently angsty read. I really had no idea how they were going to survive or what would happen near the end. Solid book in that regard.
In the end, I enjoyed reading this book, but I wasn't fully satisfied in the end. Making this a mid book for me.
Tropes: secret baby, mafia, second chance, single parent Heat level: 4/5 Spice Frequency: Smut Tears: n/a POV: 1st person; Dual (Nadia & Ren) OM/W drama? Ren assumes Nadia's child is the result of another man, but there is no real "other person drama." Cheating? No 3rd act breakup? Yes, but not in a way that bothered me. Hea? Yes
I don’t usually enjoy secret baby books, but occasionally, I do. I enjoyed this story very much. I liked the plot, the characters, the conflict, the steam and the HEA. The major peeve I had—was how the author copped out on explaining how Ren got himself out of the deadly situation with Atlas. REN was just suddenly free, Atlas was dead, and the explanation was that REN had BLANKED OUT, so no details on what actually happened were revealed. I have zero respect for Deus Ex Machina’s. It’s obvious that the author backed the character REN, into a corner that they (the author) wasn’t imaginative enough to credibly get out of.
I play the role of his wife, and I torture him right back. He starts watching me like I’m walking around with a knife instead of a smile.
There was so much wrong with this. Sooooo much. I didn’t understand how Ren had so much power and respect. Was it because he was a murdering tyrant? He killed or beat everyone around him. I just don’t understand but whatever. The love. My goodness the love… all the miscommunication and lies. I was frustrated. Even angry reading. BUT I kept reading so it wasn’t that bad… maybe.
Don’t trust me. I’m in a my mafia romance era and it’s not pretty.
Honestly, the fmc made no sense. She was angry that the mmc didn't take the deal, leaving them essentially homeless and in need of money, when the whole reason the deal even came about was because she was in need of money and couldn't pay it back....like wtf was she expecting if her daughter ended up hospitalised again, how was she planning to pay to take care of her? And in what world did she really think that weirdo was actually going to let them go. And wtf happened to Olivia? Is the bitch dead? Did I skim past that bit? This shit pmo
Youthful innocence can make for bad decisions, and that can lead to more bad decisions. This spicy dark romance is all about how these choices can wreak havoc on one's life. It's also about how love can endure through the worst of times and last a lifetime. If I am to define a tortured man in love, it's a picture of Ren that I see. It's a great story. Go read it. Enjoy.
3.5 decent story overall. The H missed the mark all the way around. Tried to make it seem like he was gonna be some sort of tough guy but he was a hot mess. It’s really sad cause the story was good and he definitely had the potential but it just fell short. Plus honestly my biggest pet peeve is bad guy gone good. It made him even worse. Did the story dirty by making not letting the characters live up to everything they should be.
I came across this book through an ad on FB. The first 2-3 chapters? Had me hooked. The next few chapters kept me going and then flatlined. The plot was there but so much time was spent on the frenemy aspect of the relationship that everything else just fell by the wayside. I struggled to read this book. This was my first book by this author and I honestly do t think I can read another.
Something is missing from this book. I can't really explain it, but I feel like there were a bunch of small plots thrown in and it was supposed to help with buildup. However, it instead just kind of fell flat. It honestly, lacked personality...
With that being said, I did end up staying for Harper for the most part. And because I was hoping the ending would be good enough to justify everything. But it just didn't do it for me, still was a pretty decent book!!
4⭐️Star Read I loved the romance between Ren and Nadia!!!! And I also loved how they both were with their daughter Harper. Harper was so cute and sweet and also was sassy too. I felt like if Ren didn't say she wasn't wife material that they would have gotten married and also had kids. Loved how Nadia was brave and strong and also protected her daughter Harper. during some parts of the book I didn't like Ren but other parts I did. I loved how he protected them and he also married Nadia too. This was a spicy read too. And I liked that neither of them dated or had someone in their life while they were apart. And I was glad when she told Ren that Harper was his kid too. This was a good story with lots of intense emotion and violence. I am glad they got an happy ending together as a family and I can't wait to read more books in this series.
First book to be read by the author Lia Zari. This book was recommended by Facebook and once in read the synopsis I was in!!! I read this book in one sitting!! Nadia and Ren story was so compelling, I never wanted it to end. I will say the ending seemed rushed, but overall great read.
This story had so much potential, but the miss communication and bad decisions just made the story drag. There was so much unnecessary… Everything tbh. And to top it off the ending wasn’t satisfying at all. The first 15% of the book was good but skimmed the rest hoping to find something entertaining but it all fell dead.