Sacred Deception

GodHood #4

by Cristina Russo

She will do anything for power. He will do anything to have her.


Called Pretty Poison for her deadly charm,a mafia princess cannot seem to escape her past.

STUNNING. SEDUCTIVE. CRAZY.

FRANCESCA DeMONE, as ruthless of a Don as her father, has only ever wanted two things: money and power. With the entire Cosa Nostra against her high ranking in the mafia as a woman, she must prove herself – just until the title of Underboss is finally hers.

She is her father’s most trusted confidant. His hand which holds the gun. His voice which gives the final command. His brain which directs every strategy. And she will walk through any fire if it means becoming Head of the Family.

What she didn’t expect to have to endure, is marriage with the Devil himself.

CHARMING. LAID-BACK. INTIMIDATING.

MATTEO DI’ABLO, an ex-drug-lord, has had enough violence to last him five lifetimes. After re-building his family’s empire from the ashes and passing the legacy onto his younger brother, he wants nothing more than to lay on a beach and relax.

But when a bullet misses his brother’s heart by an inch, he is forced to take over the family business one last time – just until his brother recovers.

What he didn’t expect to have to endure, is a forced alliance with the Italians in the face of threats. Or lay awake all night while his new bride sleeps across the hallway.

They agreed to divorce after a year.
Marriage was never part of the plan. Least of all falling in love.
At least for one of them.

Genres: Dark Romance, Mafia Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Romance, Dark

457 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2025

Reviews

[destiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

beta / arc review to come omfg i need a minute 😭🖤 i fucking love these characters

[hajer · Rating 5 out of 5]

He soooo nice and sassy with it
my sunshine

[just a swiftie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok so I was reallyyy excited for this book and by that I mean, I used to check every week when this was going to be published. Unfortunately, that excitement was short lived. This was supposed to be a marriage of convenience “mafia romance”. Emphasis on mafia, as far as I am concerned mafia stands for plot, violence at least a little bit. I was expecting the heroine, Francesca to be a bad-ass female character.
Also its not like this is the authors first time writing a bad-ass female character because tell me WHERE WAS THE BAD-ASS. She was shown to be an upcoming underboss for the Italian mafia, this was supposed to be her goal then why was she feeling trapped all of a sudden, I understand that feeling change people chance and what not but some how I never see this happening for the mmc?? And why did they have s*x in the first half BEFORE GETTING MARRIED, like I dont get how this is a marriage of convenience when they have already warmed up to each other and had a heart-to-heart in Hawaii?? In this book, 80% was all smut, I understand I love smut which is why I tend to read mafia romance BUT so much that there is no plot alongside. I skimmed through the book because unfortunately nothing grabbed my attention.
How can the fmc to hold the mmc by the collar and threaten him in their first meeting to not having a spine and relying on the mmc for everything. She could not stand up to him at all. We were given the illusion the she has the reigns outside the bedroom and he has the reigns inside the bedroom but it seemed like he was in control all along and convinced the fmc to believe that she was in control.
Why make a woman badass and the fact that she is the future underboss and she took an oath at 15 years old because she literally murdered a group of men and had no remorse obviously and then making her marry a guy forcefully because the other capos are misogynistic??? Like I get that is what a marriage of convenience is in a mafia romance its just they finished her independence aspect of her personality and well as her blood thirstiness.
OK THAT PART I CAN GET BEHIND BUT THEN MAKING HER SAY THAT SHE FEELS TRAPPED IN NEW YORK WHERE HER LIFE WAS????? AND THEN MAKING HER FEEL ALL SAD AND WHAT NOT BASICALLY MAKING HER ALL MUSHY LIKE SCUSE ME WHERES THAT GIRL WHO FUCKING MURDERED PPL AT 15?????? HOW CAN YOU GET WEAKER AS YOU GROW OLDER.
As a person who has been reading mafia romance as a literal tween, WHENEVER A MAN IS THE CAPO OR UNDERBOSS OR THE LEADER FOR THE MAFIA, THEY NEVER FINISH OFF HISS LUST FOR BLOOD THERE IS SMUT THERE IS EVERYTHING THEN WHY IS IT THAT WHEN A WOMAN MARRIES CONVENIENTLY SHE IS SUPPOSED TO NOT BE BLOOD THIRSTY ALL OF A SUDDEN I WANTED VIOLENCE LIKE THE AUTHOR HAS PREVIOUSLY GIVEN US. I REMEMBER MARIA AND ZACH (I think his name was), THE BOOK DELIVERED ON EVERYTHING VIOLENCE SMUT AMAZING BUT THIS WAS NOT IT.

Anyways thats all for today thank you for listening to my rant.
DISCLAIMER: this is my opinion I dont care you disagree with but I am entitled to my opinion thank you. If this is for you no judgement here you can enjoy it. 😀🫶🏼

[•°Dahlia ( hiatus )]

I NEED THIS ATM

MATTEO AND FRANCESCA? am so ready for this and am already imagining the tension 🤭🔥

[Gia Grewal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not gonna lie this was prett underwhelming. All the other books were so good literally 5 stars I've never read any series where each book just got better but with this one it just lacked so much depth. the story itself wasn't that intriguing there wasn't any other plot besides the couple which was kinda disappointing cause the other books had so much plot and we also didn't get as much insight on the characters as I thought we would based on the other books. I just wish it wasn't the last book but it was still a good read and I also love the author a lot but the I just wish there was more action like the other books had and a longer story with the two characters. The ending was so cute though with all the other characters I just WISH it was more focused on franchesca and matteo like why start with a wedding AND end with one we needed more. The one thing I really liked though was the writing style that was the biggest thing that got me hooked on all of her books I just love the way she writes, most authors repeat and repeat bit it's always something new and raw with this author. ALSO I really wanted to learn more about Francesca back story cause it made it seem like she had such a rough upbringing but like everything was lowk handed to her and it just didn't match well besides when she made her point and shot that one guy.

[Veena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, but please that epilogue? Maria and Zach are literally my Roman Empire and are to go untouched PLEASE.

[Joud · Rating 4 out of 5]

What on earth was that ending?! I can’t believe it just stops there—I’m seriously expected to wait for the next book to find out what happens?!
As for the couples, I absolutely love them. Mateo is ridiculously sweet, with a sassy attitude and a very dirty mouth, and I’m obsessed. Francesca is a total badass, and I adore her. Honestly, every FMC in this series is strong, fierce, and amazing.

[Marki Henricksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAT IS THAT ENDING???? I don’t want to have to wait for the next one 😩😩😩 that’s such a major cliffhanger and I’m so fucking confused now on where this storyline is going to go. This series has the same storyline going on throughout each book even though it’s about different couples. The five mafia families in New York are all being targeted and they’ve trying to figure out who it is and how to stop them. While that is happening each book goes through different couples and different families merging together to make alliances and what not. I was dying for Matteo’s and Francesca’s story for so long and I loved it. Francesca is going to be the underboss of the mafia families while her brother Gio will one day become the boss of all of them. Francesca is having a hard time with getting the other families on board with her taking this position because she’s a woman, ugh men 🙄 Matteo is a cartel boss that they all know and he’s been hung up on Francesca for quite some time. So when the opportunity arises for him to marry Francesca to help her become the underboss and to also make an alliance with the DeMone family why not take it? Francesca though? She wants nothing to do with marriage and is even more furious when she finds out that all the other families agree that this is the way that they will accept her becoming the new underboss. So this marriage of convenience becomes her only option but what happens when he won’t let her go and tries his hardest to do everything he can to keep her and make her fall in love with him?

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geht man nach der Qualität der Geschichte und wie das Lektorat dieses Buches hier stattgefunden hat dann gäbe es 1 ⭐ und ein herzliches auf nimmer wieder sehen.

Geht man danach wie ich mich gefühlt habe kann ich (fast schon leider) sagen dass ich Matteo und Francesca so toll fand, habe 3 Tage lang durchgängig an die beiden gedacht und irgendwie hat mich das Buch voll in seinen Bann gezogen. 🥺💀

Die Story ist überhaupt nichts besonderes, kaum Inhalt, fokussiert sich stark auf die beiden und schreitet viel zu schnell voran aber genau das hat mir auch gefallen, es geht nur um die beiden, ihre Gefühle und um sonst wirklich nichts😂

Muss auch mal sein mensch keine Ahnung

Wer eine klassische Geschichte lesen will brauch dieses Buch hier nicht lesen. Wer sich aber in die Köpfe dieser beiden reinversetzen will und step by step jeden Akt der Beziehung dieser beiden durchlaufen will ist hier richtig 😄

Glaube Eisprungphase wird hier erwartet 😂

3,5 ⭐⭐⭐

[fia · Rating 5 out of 5]

so. i love this book and characters and sobbed when it was over that cliffhanger was something else and i need the next book NOW. i can’t wait for carmen and giovanni’s duet to come out full rtc!! ♥️♥️

[Samia · Rating 5 out of 5]

let me tell you one thing, this book ended on a VERY interesting and surprising cliffhanger and i'm excited to see it all unravel in book 5. that finale is gonna be LIT

[Jiv ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I swear these last two books weren't as great as the first two. 😣

He also forced her to tell him she loves him during s*x??? 🤢

[n]

Just because it’s arranged marriage hehehhe pls make them like Zach and Maria 🙏

[maría · Rating 2 out of 5]

uh what the fuck was this?

i was SO excited for this. marriage of convenience, boy obsessed, reverse grumpy x sunshine. but then it fell flat. all the other books had romance but also plot. a hell of a lot of plot. this didn’t.

the beginning had so much potential but then they got married and i thought it would be like every other mafia romance where they don’t get along, they fight, a lot of possessive jealousy scenes, you know the basics. and it didn’t give that.

there was way too much misplaced smut. some scenes weren’t necessary in any way. their whole relationship was based on lust and infatuation. i genuinely felt no connection towards them as a couple.

francesca was supposed to stand her ground and be badass and she was over here calling this man ‘daddy’ in bed??? seriously?? a daddy kink?? why are we still doing this. that took me out. i HATE the whole ‘daddy’ thing. outside of the bedroom she was perfect but in it??? girl…

matteo had me so excited but he gave nothing but flirtatious remarks and that’s it. not to mention every time it was mentioned he was 6’5 i rolled my eyes cause in no world would a MEXICAN man be 6’5. 6’0 maybe and even that is pushing it. i don’t know, i just didn’t connect with the story and i was sort of expecting everything. for a marriage of convenience, it was seriously lacking jealousy scenes on HER behalf.

as for the two of them together it felt SUPER insta lovey. i mean all the other previous guys GAVE so much yearning and longing and they were DESPERATE for their women bc their women had strong backbones. francesca folded SOOO fucking easily like huh? everything in their relationship was based on sex. they never evolved past that. it lacked so much plot.

not to mention the spelling mistakes were alarming. it was also like the book itself was confused. i mean one second she’s describe wearing a black dress and them the next he refers to it as red?? that took me out of the story a lot.

however, i’m foaming at the mouth for gíovanni and carmen. i cannot wait. tony and kim better also be getting a book.

and that second epilogue??? first of all, that ending???? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?? WHAT IS GOING ON?? HAS MARIA BEEN SPYING ON THEM THIS WHOLE TIME?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?? what does this mean for maria and zach?? and what about her and natalia? i don’t know. i feel blindsided, there’s so many plotholes.

2/5⭐️

[Ema · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did AI edit this? Wtf happened here….
I was SO excited for this book and the slow burn was burning but it felt like someone clicked “publish” before reading it through.

[alicia🪽 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I absolutely hated this book.

[Katie Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cristina absolutely devoured and left no crumbs when it came to Matteo and Francesca’s story.

Now these two were definitely quite the pairing - let’s start with Francesca, well she is definitely a woman you most certainly do not want to underestimate and the men in her family did not make the mistake of doing so. Francesca was sworn in as a made woman when she was fifteen and now she is on the rise to become her family’s underboss and I was absolutely here for it. This is something that is very unheard of when you read mafia books and Francesca worked ruthlessly to be in that position. What made it even more sweeter was her brothers and her father (the current Don) being ever so supportive of her. In simple terms I absolutely loved her.

If you are unfamiliar of who Matteo is he is Zach from book one’s brother and the head of the Di’Ablo family. To say this man fell hard and fast for Francesca would be an understatement- he was very cunning and he stopped at nothing to ensure that she would be his and only his. He knew that Francesca was a strong independent woman and he kept that flame of hers burning strong. When Francesca needs a bit of assistance with her position of the family an alliance is propositioned and Matteo did not hesitate to offer his assistance and let’s be fair Matteo found no hardship in becoming Francesca’s husband. He was definitely very found of the “my wife” phrase🤭

I loved this couple, their chemistry was like fireworks and their banter was absolutely off the charts.

Overall I loved this story but there is definitely some rocky sailing upon the horizon for all of our main couples and I oh cannot wait to dive back into this world in the near future.

Thank you to the author who provided this e-arc for my honest thoughts 💭

[Diana Villegas · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW !

First I want to say, the story line has SO much potential and the tension between the FMC and the MMC was perfect!



It started off strong but then sort of started to fizzle out for me towards the end. I feel like the book was sort of dragged out and it could have ended a few chapters earlier. I kept getting taken out of the story because there were so many misspelling’s like stake instead of steak, raggaton instead of reggaeton etc . There were also a few typos.
I also think some of the descriptions didn’t make sense at all. It was almost as if she was stringing words together to make a description but it didn’t sound good. It was also very repetitive. She’d use the same words over and over to describe like “sinful, like it belonged there, infuriating”.
The spice scenes were …. Something. I mean whatever floats your boat you know? I have nothin against spice but her saying he “f*cked her so good” when they hadn’t even had sex yet is crazy 😅 (you’ll get it if you read it)
There were some GREAT moments in the book but it wasn’t enough for me to love the book. It was okay ! I rated it the 3 stars because with proper editing and a little polishing , she really could have a great story !

[Melanie Manzanarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um. excuse me. cliffhanger??? THAT CLIFFHANGER OF AN ENDING WITH NO 5TH BOOK OUT YET??? BRO????? WDYM!!!!!!!! holy crap guys.

ok first off, arranged marriage is my bread and butter i love this trope sm. the tension in this book was a slay HOWEVERRR why did the plot of like her joining all the coasts and becoming underboss just like not happen? im assuming cause there is a fifth book pero you dangled it in my face all book and francesca got a little TOO soft towards the end.

i really enjoyed this but that freaking ending has my head REEEELINGGG i need to know wtf happened like yesterday

[Tovenares · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way that Cristina writes is *chefs kiss*!
The way this ended in a cliffhanger like that aaaaaaaaaaaaaa i cannot wait for the announcement of the new and final book in this series! I am legit obsessed with this series.
Here i thought Trevor was my favorite MMC but Matteo takes that crown. He is the definition of DADDYYYYYYYYYYYY🤤

[Coraline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow didn’t expect to love this duo as much as I did, the tension between them was so intense. Loved seeing things from the other character’s perspective in those last few pages, but that cliffhanger had me shook… can’t wait for the final book to come out !!!

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

they were fucking 80% of the book but hey i still love them.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.80⭐️

[Keren Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVEEEEEEEEEEE THEM SO MUCH!!!! That cliffhanger omggggg

[alysha ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six fucking stars but WHAT THE FUCK was that cliffhanger?? How am I meant to wait.. like my girl would NEVER

[Manon · Rating 4 out of 5]

MATTEEEOOOO✋🙂‍↕️🤚
Und das ENDEEEEE WHAAAAT????

[nicklein · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is, by far, my favorite godhood book—favorite couple, trope, storyline ughhh and that ending??? that was diabolical.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so good. Not the most plot but I loved their story. I read the first 80% in one sitting I was obsessed

[Ani Popkhadze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOOOVED IT💕💕💕 and at the end, OMG, I was like WHAAAAAT???!!!!! Can't wait for the final book of the series.

[Jann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, beaucoup de passages olé olé mais CHEF’S KISS! La FMC…she’s badass af LOVEEEE IT et le MMC…tall, dark and…gray so just how I like it.