Deceitful Union

Tangled Empires #2

by Anna Harding

I wasn’t sure if self-loathing or insanity would get me first. I only knew I was destroyed by what I had done.
Jamie Lombard’s life is shattered when he’s manipulated into ordering a hit on the woman he once loved.

Worse—he now owes the Mafia a debt.
“Have you any idea how we deal with a man who refuses to pay a debt?”

Jamie has no choice.
To repay his debt, he must deceive a girl whose only crime is being her father’s daughter.
He didn’t expect her to trust him.
He didn’t expect to care.
But lies never stay buried.
And when the truth comes out, Jamie has to
Lose the woman he loves—
Or face the men who own him.

Now I knew what a real life looked like, I was determined to have it—whatever the cost.
Lorena Caletti accepted that she would obey her father until she married—and then obey her husband.

That was the only world she knew.
Until she met Jamie.

For the first time, she sees a life outside the shadow of the Mafia—
A life where she can be true to herself.
And she’s ready to risk everything for it.
Even if it means defying the Mafia.

421 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2025

About the author

Anna Harding writes dark romance that cuts deep—psychological stories rooted in pain, power, and obsession. Her work explores the cost of survival, the pull of forbidden desire, and the emotional complexity of characters who live in a morally grey world. With a literary sensibility and an unflinching gaze, Anna crafts narratives that are as emotionally layered as they are addictive.

Her heroines are flawed, her anti-heroes dangerous, and her stories unapologetically intense.

Anna lives in the UK, teaches English Literature, doesn’t believe in housework, doesn’t believe in dieting and sometimes annoys the neighbours by yodelling. She likes walking her dog and also creates poetry under a different name.
Anna believes all her characters deserve a happy ending. But first, they have to earn it…

Reviews

[Janeyjo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclosure – I received a free arc of Book 4 Forbidden Love in return for making a Goodreads account and giving an honest review of the Tangled Empires series.

The good

Love the way the characters are all so individual. After incredibly sexist Alexi we meet laidback English Jamie. After Eloise who started book 1 accepting her fate we meet tough Lorena who is determined to find a way to escape hers.

Aurelio really is a fantastic character. He dominates every scene he is in. He’s iconic Mafia boss material. Utterly ruthless.

The series arcs are great. It’s good to see an author who knows how to plot and develop a series rather than just writing a set of standalones and sticking them together. (Tip: Watch every scene with Alessandro closely. There’s a lot of breadcrumbs that hit hard in book 3).

The bad

I liked Jamie but let’s face it, it’s Aurelio the readers are obsessed with. Maybe Jamie should have been a bit more of a bad boy so he dominated his own book a bit more. (Not that I’m complaining about having too much Aurelio!). I did like it when Jamie finally punched Aurelio though, LOL

The maybe

For readers who struggled with the emotional intensity of book 1, book 2 jacks up the angst and then some.

[Jemma De Fougeres · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted to find myself back in the same universe as the last book. Thrilled to not only get to know some familiar faces a bit better. (The nice guys are still nice and those bad guys are just as bad as before.) but to get introduced to someone new. Once again the main characters are well written and well rounded and I was rooting for them all along. I do enjoy the touch of psychopath one particular character brings. (What can I say I do enjoy a bad man.)

I've already downloaded the next installment. I can't wait to see where that takes me in the New York criminal underworld.

[Shesellsseashelles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would of given 5 stars cos it's really good and I loved book 1 but I wanted book 2 to be Aurelio's PoV and it isn't. I think the author should of done him next cos he's the main character and I wanted to know more about him and how he became so ruthless. I'll defo read book 3 when we learn more about him.

[Anna Harding]

This is the second book in my Tangled Empires which is currently planned out over 15 books in the series. it's hard to say if it can be read as a standalone. I actually don't think it should be. I've designed it to be read as a series and a lot of what happens in each book is foreshadowing future events or looking back on previous events from a different perspective.

In book one I explored the consequences of tragedy and how love can grow from even the most traumatic of beginnings. In this book I explore the concepts of betrayal and trust.

I enjoyed writing Lorena because in a world ruled by violence and misogyny, she manages to make her intelligence work for her. It was very satisfying to see some of my not so nice characters come up against Lorena and be unable to get the better of her.

[DJ Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lorena was the one who really caused her suffering by going to Aurelio for a match. But her butt sure did make up for it in the end. I enjoy the gritty road to love each of the characters in this series took and how the author didn’t try to sweep the grit under a blanket of instalove. Very nice but the male characters were a bit one dimensional and short sighted compared to the depth of the MFCs. Still an ok read.

[Mrs Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought Aurelio Dinelli was a cu next Tuesday in book one but he was WORSE IN BOOK 2. I get that his cousins can’t fight him cos he’s the boss of the Mafia but OMG he’s evil to them. LOVED Jamie and Lorena. He’s so honestly in love and she fights so hard to be her own person. We get Aurelio’s PoV in Book 3 and can’t wait to see how the author redeems her most evil character.