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Devious: A Mafia x FBI Beginners Dark Romance
265 pages, Paperback
Published May 27, 2025
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 12, 2025
Dark, twisting, action-packed, and spicy. In other words, Devious.
This was my first foray into Mafia romances, so the level into which it went with the darker elements caught me off guard but was more than welcome for keeping me on my toes.
It’s a complicated thing, making dark and morally grey characters someone you want to root for, where they usually fall to either end of the spectrum of too evil, making the reader not want to connect with them, or too good, doubting the seriousness of the story. I think Madison Lovely strikes a fine balance by utilizing perception and first impressions to set a hard tone for the character Kai, while patience rewards the reader for a character with a heart of gold(ish. It’s still very much a bloody heart).
The beginning does feel kind of jarring though, jumping from a short prologue of our protagonist getting her assignment, to much later where she’s been undercover and romantically involved with her target, with very little discussion on how what she does in order to achieve this mission conflicts with her values as a law enforcement official. Her shift to embracing and empathizing with this life of crime comes on so suddenly, as well as her succumbing to Kai’s advances.
The book is much less about them falling in love and seeing and coming to understand the worlds they both come from and the values that guide them, than it is about them being in love and having plenty of sex.
I like this story, and I’m interested in these characters, but as I finish this I realize that I really want a prequel book next. I want to see Cathrine’s worldview clash more with Kai’s and the Mafia’s, or a sequel where their pasts begin to catch up to them.
I’d recommend this as a fun summer adult romance.
This was my first foray into Mafia romances, so the level into which it went with the darker elements caught me off guard but was more than welcome for keeping me on my toes.
It’s a complicated thing, making dark and morally grey characters someone you want to root for, where they usually fall to either end of the spectrum of too evil, making the reader not want to connect with them, or too good, doubting the seriousness of the story. I think Madison Lovely strikes a fine balance by utilizing perception and first impressions to set a hard tone for the character Kai, while patience rewards the reader for a character with a heart of gold(ish. It’s still very much a bloody heart).
The beginning does feel kind of jarring though, jumping from a short prologue of our protagonist getting her assignment, to much later where she’s been undercover and romantically involved with her target, with very little discussion on how what she does in order to achieve this mission conflicts with her values as a law enforcement official. Her shift to embracing and empathizing with this life of crime comes on so suddenly, as well as her succumbing to Kai’s advances.
The book is much less about them falling in love and seeing and coming to understand the worlds they both come from and the values that guide them, than it is about them being in love and having plenty of sex.
I like this story, and I’m interested in these characters, but as I finish this I realize that I really want a prequel book next. I want to see Cathrine’s worldview clash more with Kai’s and the Mafia’s, or a sequel where their pasts begin to catch up to them.
I’d recommend this as a fun summer adult romance.
Displaying 1 of 1 review