A Girl In Red

by Galleria Smoak

Francesca Grey is a womanizer. She's never been one to settle down because she has never met a woman worthy of settling for. Not to mention that being the leader of the third largest American cattive , The Northern Dragons, doesn't leave much room for relationships—least of all marriage. That is until her estranged parents tell her that she has five months to get married or she loses her cattive and it goes to her rival Scotty Fraiser, the leader of the Scar Bloods. Now, Francesca has no choice but to find a wife to marry before her twenty-fifth birthday.

Then like fate Alana Salvatore, her girl in red, steps into her life like an angel sent from the heavens. Immediately, Francesca is smitten with the mysterious woman that she deems untouchable—perfect. Their connection is intoxicating, the two of them drawn together by some invisible force. When she sets her eyes on Alana, Francesca is infatuated instantaneously, it is almost as easy as breathing. In more ways than one Alana feels the exact same way, but she can't fight the hate that bubbles under her skin. When together the two can't help but disappear into a cloud of lust and intense desire.

With the arrival of Alana, the past that Francesca has tried so long to forget about threatens to destroy everything she has been building. Now, it is not longer the Scar Bloods breathing down her neck, it is an old friend drenched in darkness that is dead-set on making Francesca suffer.

Unbeknownst to them, Francesca and Alana find themselves trapped in a game of love and hate, one that goes beyond even them.

Genres: Lesbian

472 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[V St.Clair · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF… made it to about chapter six before I gave up. The main character is just far too annoying. She walks around like Billy badass but in reality just feels like Jared Leto’s joker in the worst way. The conversation between Francesca and her lawyer was so stupid it made me laugh out loud.

The writing was extremely repetitive. Sentences like “The cars looked sleek. She touched the sleek hood.”
Over and over. Using a descriptive word from the sentence before it once again. I counted at least three instances of this in just the short amount I read.

Crime families and contracts are spoken about often but never explained or given any actual meaning. The main character’s parents return to her to ask for money yet they’re meant to be one of the higher ranking mafia families? The conversation between the main character and the woman she was having sex with on page one… the main character meant to be intimidating and scary really just comes across as a spoiled brat imitating a mafia boss. The woman saying “Who are you?” In fear. A cliche and corny phrase. I knew as soon as I made it through the first five pages I wasn’t going to enjoy this book just based on the dialogue alone.

The smut scenes were decently written but that’s about all I enjoyed in this book. Again, the dialogue in those scenes were cringey. It read like a lesbian porno written by a man.

I feel bad leaving this kind of review for a first time author. I looked at her socials and saw she takes pride in being a queer author. I go out of my way to find sapphic/lesbian stories to read and review. I WISH I could enjoy this book to hype up a member of the community. But I just can’t bring myself to do it. The author has stated she began this story at sixteen years old and unfortunately, it’s very evident.

If she had taken the time to really polish this book, edit it down, put more care into the plot, and re-read it I’m sure she could publish something worth while. When that day comes I’d love to read it! But for now, I fear this should have remained on Wattpad.

[Kaye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs Polishing

I don't usually leave negative reviews even if I didn't like a book, but there were just so many things in this book I couldn't get past. Lots of plot holes and confusing scene jumps. Grammar, wrong words and switches in tense that should have easily been picked up on a re-read. The character and relationship development just goes around and around in circles. A lot happens that doesn't advance the plot and just adds more unnecessary elements to keep track of that could have been cut. Only a 2 star and not a 1 and a DNF because wanting to know how it ended was the only thing that kept me going through this book that should have been 200 pages shorter. I will say, the spicy scenes are pretty good. The author says they pride themselves on no plot only smut, which is fine, but you can't say that, and then still attempt a plot and do it badly. This story had so much potential but needed a lot more polishing before being published.

[Tabitha Wake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very enjoyable. There were a few grammatical errors and issues with tenses and sometimes the story didn't flow well at some points and felt quite glitchy. While I usually enjoy a long book this story didn't need to be over 600 pages I think some of the events could have been removed with others written in more detail. In particular the final scene between Francesca and Rory like how did all her friends and family just end up there? Also maybe it was explained but, I don't remember how and why Diana was "killed"? I liked most of the characters but the love story between the 2 main characters felt a bit rushed and sometimes unbelievable in that they would have arguments and very different viewpoints about things that were never resolved but were instead fixed by having sex which I didn't like. If you're going to have complex and very different characters fall in love and have it work I feel there needed to be deeper conversations and character growth (particularly on Francesca"s side) to make their relationship more believable and real. Having said all the I did really enjoy this book and finished it in under a week!

[Lauren Chainey · Rating 1 out of 5]

DON'T EVEN BOTHER.

I genuinely wish I had DNF’d "A Girl in Red". The promos looked promising, and were beautiful but the actual book? Was nothing but a chaotic, incoherent mess that drug on for over 528 pages. If it weren’t on Kindle Unlimited, I wouldn’t have made it past chapter five and asked for a refund from amazon.

This book has no plot. At least, not one that makes sense. It throws around names of crime families like confetti, but gives zero context or depth to any of them. If this is supposed to be a mafia romance, where’s the actual story?

I’m no stranger to smut, but this was 95% poorly written scenes with no emotional buildup, no character consistency, and no narrative direction. One scene had a character opening and closing the same door four times. The next chapter completely contradicted what just happened. I thought I was losing my mind—turns out the book just lacks continuity.

Francesca? The most annoying and flat character I have ever read.

And the editing? WHAT editing? I read indie books regularly, and I appreciate them. But this felt more like an unedited Wattpad draft than something ready for publishing.

Don’t bother. I wish I hadn’t.

[Lil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one! The characters were super interesting, and I especially loved the dynamic between the friends—the sisterhood felt real and heartfelt. Francesca was a standout; she’s complex and layered, and I loved how she could be stone cold one moment and deeply emotional the next. Her development was such a strong point.

The action scenes kept me hooked, and I actually liked how murder played such a big role in the story—it was dark but written in a way that really worked every time. And of course, the smut? Very well done and seriously sexy.

If I had one gripe, it’s that the story could’ve been a bit tighter. I found myself waiting for the ending, but that might just be my preference since I usually lean toward shorter reads.

Overall, a great book with layered characters, gripping action, authentic bonds, and some seriously good spice. Definitely worth picking up!

[clarissa. · Rating 2 out of 5]

yeah, so i couldn’t stand any of the characters. the main character’s introduction did nothing to sway me into thinking that she was this powerful, scary mafia leader. it read like she put on the nearest suit and thought that qualified her enough to be considered the boss.

i didn’t know this book started on wattpad going into it, though i suspected by the cover. and if not for the cover, i would’ve been confident in my assumption by the first few pages.

[Christine E Carcary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long.

This book started off quite well with an intriguing story line and interesting characters. It's extremely sexy hit and quite violent, but I knew that going in. However it's a long book, far too long and repetitive to the extent that I got quite bored skipping chapters, deciding I couldn't care less about the outcome. Oh well can't win them all.

[Shaunette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t want to leave a negative review, so I won’t.
The only good thing I found that I liked while reading this book was the intense smutty scenes.
There is no character development nor world building nor structure, so if you’re looking for that, you’ll be disappointed.
Read it for the smut. That’s what the author promised anyway.

[Clarisse Djomna · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice read but a bit long

It’s not a perfect by all means and I did skipp some pages. But you never get bored. The author say all the smut but no plot. Well there is definitely a lot of suspense and you can’t predict what will happen next loved it

[Garrett Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cured my cancer and my lazy eye

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved

Dark, tragic, violent and passionate fills the pages when two women find themselves together with a love that leads to happily ever after.