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The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles #4
Revenge on the Mafia
He came for my father. Destroyed my world and shattered my memory. If only he knew that I’d come for his last breath.
Anna
My father lost his life before my eyes. My only purpose was to avenge his death. I found the monster responsible and infiltrated his home. My mission was his suffering. But why did he look at me like he deserved it? Like his bond to me had endured far longer and deeper than my comprehension.
Nico
For eleven years, I’d lived with guilt and regret. Then death breezed through my door, carrying with her the consequences of my actions. She touched my things and rearranged my belongings. She penetrated my emotional fortress with her presence. Her intentions were clear. Mine were to help her succeed. But not before I taught her a few lessons of my own.
It is a game, but who will come out as the victor? Will Anna get her revenge, or will Nico succumb to his guilt?
Revenge on the Mafia, the standalone fourth book in The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles, is a Mafia, forced marriage, enemies to lovers, revenge-plot romance featuring a possessive underboss and his Spanish maid who enters his home to avenge her father’s death. While this spicy, dark mafia romance promises a HEA, readers may find some themes concerning. Use the preview feature for details.
Authors NOTE.
This book is written in dual first-person POV
But the prologue is written in the third-person POV
Anna
My father lost his life before my eyes. My only purpose was to avenge his death. I found the monster responsible and infiltrated his home. My mission was his suffering. But why did he look at me like he deserved it? Like his bond to me had endured far longer and deeper than my comprehension.
Nico
For eleven years, I’d lived with guilt and regret. Then death breezed through my door, carrying with her the consequences of my actions. She touched my things and rearranged my belongings. She penetrated my emotional fortress with her presence. Her intentions were clear. Mine were to help her succeed. But not before I taught her a few lessons of my own.
It is a game, but who will come out as the victor? Will Anna get her revenge, or will Nico succumb to his guilt?
Revenge on the Mafia, the standalone fourth book in The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles, is a Mafia, forced marriage, enemies to lovers, revenge-plot romance featuring a possessive underboss and his Spanish maid who enters his home to avenge her father’s death. While this spicy, dark mafia romance promises a HEA, readers may find some themes concerning. Use the preview feature for details.
Authors NOTE.
This book is written in dual first-person POV
But the prologue is written in the third-person POV
418 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2026
About the author
Sophia Raz
9 books106 followersFollow Sophia for more updates.
Sophia met her forbidden MMC and crossed continents for love. She was born and raised in South-East Asia and now lives in Europe with him and their daughter. Sophia’s own love story inspired her to rediscover her passion for writing.
She writes about love beyond cultural and racial boundaries. A defiance of what is ‘expected’ in favour of what is right. Her strong-willed, unapologetic, principled FMCs don't settle for less than they deserve, even if it means breaking social convention or cultural rules. Sophia’s MMCs, while being jealous, possessive heroes, will place the heroine at the centre of their world and are willing to change and learn to gain trust and respect.
When Sophia is not writing, she’s busy being an entrepreneur or enjoying quality time with her family. Aside from that, she loves to have an authentic connection with her readers, so feel free to reach out to Sophia.
Sophia met her forbidden MMC and crossed continents for love. She was born and raised in South-East Asia and now lives in Europe with him and their daughter. Sophia’s own love story inspired her to rediscover her passion for writing.
She writes about love beyond cultural and racial boundaries. A defiance of what is ‘expected’ in favour of what is right. Her strong-willed, unapologetic, principled FMCs don't settle for less than they deserve, even if it means breaking social convention or cultural rules. Sophia’s MMCs, while being jealous, possessive heroes, will place the heroine at the centre of their world and are willing to change and learn to gain trust and respect.
When Sophia is not writing, she’s busy being an entrepreneur or enjoying quality time with her family. Aside from that, she loves to have an authentic connection with her readers, so feel free to reach out to Sophia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
September 28, 2026
It’s difficult to believe 11 years of yearning when he is busy fucking around
In his words meaning less fucks over the decade 🤮🤢😤
I hate when authors do this the whole yearing and obsession means shit to me when the H is fucking around
The only saving grace the h wasn’t celibate either but she wasn’t the one who wanted him at all so wtf
And how the fuck can you fuck your fathers killer 🤯
Not for me
this is NOT YEARNING
Writing was good
I wanted some connection except the lust 😭
In his words meaning less fucks over the decade 🤮🤢😤
I hate when authors do this the whole yearing and obsession means shit to me when the H is fucking around
The only saving grace the h wasn’t celibate either but she wasn’t the one who wanted him at all so wtf
And how the fuck can you fuck your fathers killer 🤯
Not for me
this is NOT YEARNING
Writing was good
I wanted some connection except the lust 😭
Review of advance copy received from Author
Reading good books at unusual hours has become a thing. But I will be back soon with my full ass review, because nico —whipped, yearning king— ughh, i loveeee this man.
“In New York, wheels were churning. Sealed letters delivered to my lawyers with explicit instructions, with devastating consequences if they were not followed. I’d set forth a chain of events to be triggered by the woman staring out the bay window. The same window I’d used to watch her a hundred thousand times to the power of ten.
My breath caught just as it always did. She was so fucking beautiful. One day she was going to make some man think he’d died and gone to heaven. Deep olive skin glowing reddish-brown in the sunlight, sharp features that would put any sculptor to shame. Those curls. Those tight fucking curls another man would fist in his hands, her full and plush lips, color code nine-nine-seven-four-seven-e, I’d know, because I’d zoomed in on a picture and matched it to a hex code, lips that another man would suck and bite and.… I must have let a sound out because she turned her head toward me and tipped those dusty mauve lips into a weak smile.”
The ABSOLUTE YEARNING IN THIS BOOK? 😩😩😩😩UGH, MY DEAREST HEART CAN’T TAKE THE ONSLAUGHT OF FEELINGS MISS SOPHIA AND NICO SLAMMED INTO ME. WAHH.
Revenge on the mafia is the fourth book in the shadows of the cosa nostra chronicles series by Sophia raz. I received a complementary copy from the author, thankyou because I found my obsession.
Niccolò Martello the man that you are.
His obsession, his number counting, his love and devotion for anna, since the moment he saw her, until he had her and the end of the book is just chefs kissssss. I want moreeee. Why did the book end?
Normally, i’m not a reader who cries, but the ending scene made me cry, i don’t want to spoil much.
Story : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smut rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (just top tier) 🥹
Writing style : sophia writes in a captivating style, describing just the right amount of details that doesn’t feel too much or not good enough, her writing pulled me in the moment I started reading, loved it.
Characters : i) Anna Vales Martello — what to say about her? She’s kind, soft, beautiful, extremely so, fierce, and fiery too. I loved anna too, she’s not the type to move on after what had happened to her family. She seeked revenge and oh, that turned into the most beautiful thing of her life.
ii) niccolò Martello — the “YEARNING KING” I WAS NOT READY FOR THE YEARNING, THE OBSESSION AND THE LOVE HE HAD FOR ANNA.
Damn, this man crossed all the limits of what I thought yearning was, he’s a mathematical genius, counts when he’s stressed, nervous, or agitated. This man— knew her favorite colour, when she wore it, when she didn’t, knew how many moles she had on her skin, counted each one of them, loved her hair, her scent, her eyes, her skin, oh boy —
Please read the book yourself. The anticipation, the obsession— god, how the fuck is this man fictional and not real, eh eh ehhhhhh? 😭😩 Universe, you are listening, apparently there are good men, and Nico is one of them now.
I thought nico from the sweetest oblivion by Danielle lori had my heart and then enters nico Martello to rip my heart out and rebuild it again in his hands. The man i want to worship and loveeee. Ughh. The feelings in this? 🩷🥹⭐😩🫣😌
MMC : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
FMC : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
side characters : nico’s bothers were a good distraction, and i would definitely love to read their own stories, but am quite curious whose story is next? Stefano? Because Lorenzo is married. So who is next? Miss sophia, please give me moreeeee 😩😩
Story setting : italian mafia? Sorry I was so engrossed in feeling, i forgot about it completely.
Dedicated to by the author : “To all the girls who have to walk their path without their first hero, their father.
Surviving when you’re broken is an achievement in itself.” thankyou to the author for recognising girlies like me. This book is my fav read and one of my healing ones too.
Pacing : medium.
Tropes : ☑️11 years of yearning and obsession. 👹👹👹👹
☑️ possessive hero.
☑️ protective hero.
☑️ hero who’d let her stab and kill him.
☑️ heroine who wouldn’t hesistate to kill him.
☑️ Dark mafia romance.
☑️ he falls first.
☑️ Enemies to lovers.
☑️forced proximity.
☑️ Forced marriage contract.
Themes : revenge, manipulation, secrets, obsession, devotion, love, yearning.
Yearning : 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
Emotional damage : 😭😭😭😭😭
Acts of care : 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Psychological tension : 😌😌😌😌😌😌
Chemistry : 💥💥💥💥💥💥
Domestic softness : 🩷🩷 (they are enemies, the softness is there but not much).
Emotional impact : 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 (I cried, even though I thought, i wouldn’t).
Type of romance : dark.
Tags for the book : dark mafia romance, strong FMC, equally strong and obsessive MMC, devoted MMC, yearning MMC, gentle, and Fierce FMC, and more will become spoilers. Just go and read the DAMN book. 👹
What i loved : i loved the entire book, nico’s pov, his obsession, his love, his devotion, his guilt, his anger, and Anna’s attempts to kill him, her love for her father, her protectiveness towards her family and the side characters’s appearances too!
Favourite parts/ highlights :
—
—
Is a part of a series : yes.
Series name : shadows of the cosa nostra chronicles.
Series order number : 4 of 5.
Plot or character driven : mix.
Loveable characters : yessss.
Strong character development : yesss.
Flaws of characters a main focus : yes.
Interconnected/ or standalone : interconnected standalone.
Book hangover : 1000000% will be re- reading it again to go cry and come back again to do it again.
Recs from the same author : Sophia raz is a new to me author but I will be reading all the other books written by her.
If you love mafia romance, read cora reilly’s blood in the mafia chronicles series. It’s good.
Similar books : if you love enemies to lovers mafia romance, read bound by duty by cora reilly. I don’t have many recs in my head as of now, so check out my shelves it you prefer that.
Last details : i loved this book, more than i thought. Thankyou Sophia for providing me with the arc. I’m late and i am sorry for that. Thankyou for editing the best book out there. This book deserves so much more praise and love from readers who love mafia romances and more. I wish I could give this one six stars because he exceeded my love and my expectations for it.
“In New York, wheels were churning. Sealed letters delivered to my lawyers with explicit instructions, with devastating consequences if they were not followed. I’d set forth a chain of events to be triggered by the woman staring out the bay window. The same window I’d used to watch her a hundred thousand times to the power of ten.
My breath caught just as it always did. She was so fucking beautiful. One day she was going to make some man think he’d died and gone to heaven. Deep olive skin glowing reddish-brown in the sunlight, sharp features that would put any sculptor to shame. Those curls. Those tight fucking curls another man would fist in his hands, her full and plush lips, color code nine-nine-seven-four-seven-e, I’d know, because I’d zoomed in on a picture and matched it to a hex code, lips that another man would suck and bite and.… I must have let a sound out because she turned her head toward me and tipped those dusty mauve lips into a weak smile.”
The ABSOLUTE YEARNING IN THIS BOOK? 😩😩😩😩UGH, MY DEAREST HEART CAN’T TAKE THE ONSLAUGHT OF FEELINGS MISS SOPHIA AND NICO SLAMMED INTO ME. WAHH.
Revenge on the mafia is the fourth book in the shadows of the cosa nostra chronicles series by Sophia raz. I received a complementary copy from the author, thankyou because I found my obsession.
Niccolò Martello the man that you are.
His obsession, his number counting, his love and devotion for anna, since the moment he saw her, until he had her and the end of the book is just chefs kissssss. I want moreeee. Why did the book end?
Normally, i’m not a reader who cries, but the ending scene made me cry, i don’t want to spoil much.
Story : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smut rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (just top tier) 🥹
Writing style : sophia writes in a captivating style, describing just the right amount of details that doesn’t feel too much or not good enough, her writing pulled me in the moment I started reading, loved it.
Characters : i) Anna Vales Martello — what to say about her? She’s kind, soft, beautiful, extremely so, fierce, and fiery too. I loved anna too, she’s not the type to move on after what had happened to her family. She seeked revenge and oh, that turned into the most beautiful thing of her life.
ii) niccolò Martello — the “YEARNING KING” I WAS NOT READY FOR THE YEARNING, THE OBSESSION AND THE LOVE HE HAD FOR ANNA.
Damn, this man crossed all the limits of what I thought yearning was, he’s a mathematical genius, counts when he’s stressed, nervous, or agitated. This man— knew her favorite colour, when she wore it, when she didn’t, knew how many moles she had on her skin, counted each one of them, loved her hair, her scent, her eyes, her skin, oh boy —
Please read the book yourself. The anticipation, the obsession— god, how the fuck is this man fictional and not real, eh eh ehhhhhh? 😭😩 Universe, you are listening, apparently there are good men, and Nico is one of them now.
I thought nico from the sweetest oblivion by Danielle lori had my heart and then enters nico Martello to rip my heart out and rebuild it again in his hands. The man i want to worship and loveeee. Ughh. The feelings in this? 🩷🥹⭐😩🫣😌
MMC : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
FMC : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
side characters : nico’s bothers were a good distraction, and i would definitely love to read their own stories, but am quite curious whose story is next? Stefano? Because Lorenzo is married. So who is next? Miss sophia, please give me moreeeee 😩😩
Story setting : italian mafia? Sorry I was so engrossed in feeling, i forgot about it completely.
Dedicated to by the author : “To all the girls who have to walk their path without their first hero, their father.
Surviving when you’re broken is an achievement in itself.” thankyou to the author for recognising girlies like me. This book is my fav read and one of my healing ones too.
Pacing : medium.
Tropes : ☑️11 years of yearning and obsession. 👹👹👹👹
☑️ possessive hero.
☑️ protective hero.
☑️ hero who’d let her stab and kill him.
☑️ heroine who wouldn’t hesistate to kill him.
☑️ Dark mafia romance.
☑️ he falls first.
☑️ Enemies to lovers.
☑️forced proximity.
☑️ Forced marriage contract.
Themes : revenge, manipulation, secrets, obsession, devotion, love, yearning.
Yearning : 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
Emotional damage : 😭😭😭😭😭
Acts of care : 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Psychological tension : 😌😌😌😌😌😌
Chemistry : 💥💥💥💥💥💥
Domestic softness : 🩷🩷 (they are enemies, the softness is there but not much).
Emotional impact : 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 (I cried, even though I thought, i wouldn’t).
Type of romance : dark.
Tags for the book : dark mafia romance, strong FMC, equally strong and obsessive MMC, devoted MMC, yearning MMC, gentle, and Fierce FMC, and more will become spoilers. Just go and read the DAMN book. 👹
What i loved : i loved the entire book, nico’s pov, his obsession, his love, his devotion, his guilt, his anger, and Anna’s attempts to kill him, her love for her father, her protectiveness towards her family and the side characters’s appearances too!
Favourite parts/ highlights :
“Gracias,” she moaned.
I wasn’t sure if she was thanking me for the attention or for letting the fucker live. My thoughts jumbled. I couldn’t think with this woman in my hands. The doubt annoyed me too. “Too bad you lucked out.”
“I didn’t luck out.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “Got myself a dream husband, too.”
“Yeah?” I liked that a little too much.
She nodded.
I groped her breasts. “I’m jealous as fuck.”
“You do you.”
“Control freak.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have noticed.”
I nipped at her sneaky grin. “Don’t do feelings.”
“You do it for me, though. So love.”
“I love you.” I didn’t know why my voice went all rough. I still couldn’t believe she was finally mine.
Her hands curled around my neck. “I love you more.”
I scoffed. “I’ll win that game anytime.”
“No, you won’t—”
I silenced her with my finger on her lips. “This is one game you’ll never win, stella mia. I’ll always, always love you more.”
—
“I wanted to suck those furious Spanish words spilling from her thick lips. Deep chocolate curls danced around her head wildly, and her face was a picture of agitation as she brushed them away furiously. My hands itched to tangle those coils in my fist. Rip those pom-poms apart and bury my cock in her pussy.”
—
“Well, I’m keeping you,” I told him.
He cocked a thick eyebrow.
“You’re far too useful.”
“I bet,” he replied dryly, but I could tell that had pleased him.
“So, what about the third man? Can I kill him?”
He groaned.
I stared at him. “You killed him, didn’t you?”
He looked at me and smiled. There was so much evil behind it the devil would run and hide. “Can I wrap it as a wedding gift?”
“Who was he?”
He sighed. “My uncle.”
He’d killed his own father. His uncle. For Papá? For me?
I sat up. “How many men have you killed in my name?”
He tucked a loose curl behind my ear. “Oh, stella mia, there’s not enough wrapping paper in the world to wrap that shit up.”
He took my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist. His grip was soft. His gaze was possessive. “Oh, stella mia, we’re talking millimeters, not fucking inches.”
I stared at him. “Did you take a ruler and measure?”
He gave me a wicked smile and said, “Nine-nine-seven-four-seven-e.”
Is a part of a series : yes.
Series name : shadows of the cosa nostra chronicles.
Series order number : 4 of 5.
Plot or character driven : mix.
Loveable characters : yessss.
Strong character development : yesss.
Flaws of characters a main focus : yes.
Interconnected/ or standalone : interconnected standalone.
Book hangover : 1000000% will be re- reading it again to go cry and come back again to do it again.
Recs from the same author : Sophia raz is a new to me author but I will be reading all the other books written by her.
If you love mafia romance, read cora reilly’s blood in the mafia chronicles series. It’s good.
Similar books : if you love enemies to lovers mafia romance, read bound by duty by cora reilly. I don’t have many recs in my head as of now, so check out my shelves it you prefer that.
Last details : i loved this book, more than i thought. Thankyou Sophia for providing me with the arc. I’m late and i am sorry for that. Thankyou for editing the best book out there. This book deserves so much more praise and love from readers who love mafia romances and more. I wish I could give this one six stars because he exceeded my love and my expectations for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you Sophia for an ARC of this book. My honest thoughts are below.
I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but in a good way. Anna is strong and pushing through past traumas she’s witnessed on a mission to avenge her father. I expected the love story to reveal itself quicker into the book but I also appreciated all of the back story and character building we did get instead. For a standalone book, it was a good amount of character building without feeling boring.
SPOILERS below
One thing I didn’t love as much was that the flip of the switch from enemies to lovers for her felt a bit out of nowhere. Like I expected it but also could have used a bit more tension building before it.
“You’re the reason I breathe. Your breath, your sound, your scent, your touch. That’s my fucking oxygen”
I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but in a good way. Anna is strong and pushing through past traumas she’s witnessed on a mission to avenge her father. I expected the love story to reveal itself quicker into the book but I also appreciated all of the back story and character building we did get instead. For a standalone book, it was a good amount of character building without feeling boring.
SPOILERS below
One thing I didn’t love as much was that the flip of the switch from enemies to lovers for her felt a bit out of nowhere. Like I expected it but also could have used a bit more tension building before it.
“You’re the reason I breathe. Your breath, your sound, your scent, your touch. That’s my fucking oxygen”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2026
3.75 ⭐️/5 — to be blunt this book was just okay. I have only read one of the other books in the series and I gave that one a similar rating. My main issue with this book is the POV of the FMC… I felt her chapters were harder to follow and I’m sure that was maybe written like that on purpose because of the characters memory loss but tbh it just caused me to lose interest very quickly. Maybe one day I will re read this but for now it was just okay 🤷🏼♀️
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book had me staring at the pages like, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH ALL THESE FEELINGS?! 😭🖤
I went into this expecting a dark mafia romance, but I was absolutely not prepared for the emotional damage Sophia was about to serve me. This story had revenge, buried truths, obsession, heartbreak, forbidden feelings, and the kind of slow-burning attraction that makes you want to scream at the characters to JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY. 😩🔥
Anna Vales is everything I wanted from an FMC. She’s fierce, stubborn, wounded, and determined to make the people responsible for her father’s death suffer. Revenge is practically the only thing keeping her moving forward, and I loved watching her refuse to back down no matter what was thrown at her.
And then there’s Nico Martello.
Nico is genuinely one of those MMCs who will stay in your head long after you finish the book. This man is dangerous. Ruthless. He has done terrible things and carries an enormous amount of guilt, but when it comes to Anna, something completely different comes alive in him. 🥹
Because this man doesn't simply want her.
He has been carrying these feelings for ELEVEN YEARS.
ELEVEN. YEARS. 😭
And the fact that he is willing to stand there and let Anna take out all of her rage on him??? I WAS NOT OKAY.
She wants answers? He gives them.
She wants revenge? He helps her.
She wants to hurt him? He doesn't fight her.
He knows exactly what she could do to him, and somehow he'd rather put himself in her hands than ever force her to feel something she doesn't want to feel.
That level of devotion absolutely destroyed me. 🫠
Nico's love for Anna is quiet but INTENSE. You can feel how much he's holding inside every time they're together. The man is practically drowning in his own feelings while pretending he's perfectly fine, and meanwhile I'm on the other side of the book losing my entire mind. 😂😭
And Anna slowly realizing that there is so much more behind Nico's actions???
THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PART.
Every revelation added another layer to their relationship, and suddenly moments that seemed insignificant earlier had an entirely different meaning. The secrets, the guilt, the history between them... everything kept building until I was emotionally invested beyond repair.
Their relationship is such a beautiful disaster. They are angry, broken, stubborn, attracted to each other, terrified of what the truth might mean, and somehow still exactly what the other person needs. ❤️🔥
The tension between them was INSANE.
Every look.
Every confrontation.
Every moment where they were standing just a little too close.
I was eating it ALL UP. 😭🔥
And when that tension finally turns into something more???
BABY.
THE CHEMISTRY WAS CHEMISTRY-ING. 🥵
The spice hits even harder because you've already spent so much time watching these two fight their feelings. By the time they finally give in, the payoff feels SO deserved. The emotional connection underneath all that heat makes their intimate moments even better.
But honestly, the biggest reason this book worked so well for me was the yearning.
Give me characters who desperately want each other but believe they can't have each other and I will happily suffer for hundreds of pages. 😭
There is just something about watching two people slowly realize that the person they've been trying to resist has become the person they can't imagine losing.
And Nico?
That man was GONE for her.
Completely.
Utterly.
Hopelessly.
The kind of love where protecting her isn't enough. He wants to carry her pain, take away her grief, and somehow make all the things that happened to her hurt a little less.
I adored that about him. 🥹🖤
The final stretch of the book had me holding my breath because EVERYTHING was coming together at once. The truths finally surfaced, the emotions reached their breaking point, and I was sitting there desperately hoping these two would finally get the happiness they had been fighting so hard against. 😭
Sophia really knows how to make you suffer before giving you the emotional payoff.
And I willingly volunteered. 😂
This was dark, emotional, romantic, messy, intense, and completely addictive. I kept telling myself I'd read one more chapter and then suddenly it was an unreasonable hour and I was still turning pages because THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS GOING TO SLEEP WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED. 📖🌙
Anna and Nico are officially living rent-free in my brain.
So if you're looking for a mafia romance with a strong heroine, a dangerously devoted hero, revenge, secrets, emotional wounds, ridiculous chemistry, delicious spice, and YEARING THAT WILL HAVE YOU CRYING INTO YOUR PILLOW…..
READ THIS. 🖤🔥
And Sophia?
You absolutely wrecked me.
10/10 emotional damage. Would suffer again.😭❤️🔥
I went into this expecting a dark mafia romance, but I was absolutely not prepared for the emotional damage Sophia was about to serve me. This story had revenge, buried truths, obsession, heartbreak, forbidden feelings, and the kind of slow-burning attraction that makes you want to scream at the characters to JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY. 😩🔥
Anna Vales is everything I wanted from an FMC. She’s fierce, stubborn, wounded, and determined to make the people responsible for her father’s death suffer. Revenge is practically the only thing keeping her moving forward, and I loved watching her refuse to back down no matter what was thrown at her.
And then there’s Nico Martello.
Nico is genuinely one of those MMCs who will stay in your head long after you finish the book. This man is dangerous. Ruthless. He has done terrible things and carries an enormous amount of guilt, but when it comes to Anna, something completely different comes alive in him. 🥹
Because this man doesn't simply want her.
He has been carrying these feelings for ELEVEN YEARS.
ELEVEN. YEARS. 😭
And the fact that he is willing to stand there and let Anna take out all of her rage on him??? I WAS NOT OKAY.
She wants answers? He gives them.
She wants revenge? He helps her.
She wants to hurt him? He doesn't fight her.
He knows exactly what she could do to him, and somehow he'd rather put himself in her hands than ever force her to feel something she doesn't want to feel.
That level of devotion absolutely destroyed me. 🫠
Nico's love for Anna is quiet but INTENSE. You can feel how much he's holding inside every time they're together. The man is practically drowning in his own feelings while pretending he's perfectly fine, and meanwhile I'm on the other side of the book losing my entire mind. 😂😭
And Anna slowly realizing that there is so much more behind Nico's actions???
THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PART.
Every revelation added another layer to their relationship, and suddenly moments that seemed insignificant earlier had an entirely different meaning. The secrets, the guilt, the history between them... everything kept building until I was emotionally invested beyond repair.
Their relationship is such a beautiful disaster. They are angry, broken, stubborn, attracted to each other, terrified of what the truth might mean, and somehow still exactly what the other person needs. ❤️🔥
The tension between them was INSANE.
Every look.
Every confrontation.
Every moment where they were standing just a little too close.
I was eating it ALL UP. 😭🔥
And when that tension finally turns into something more???
BABY.
THE CHEMISTRY WAS CHEMISTRY-ING. 🥵
The spice hits even harder because you've already spent so much time watching these two fight their feelings. By the time they finally give in, the payoff feels SO deserved. The emotional connection underneath all that heat makes their intimate moments even better.
But honestly, the biggest reason this book worked so well for me was the yearning.
Give me characters who desperately want each other but believe they can't have each other and I will happily suffer for hundreds of pages. 😭
There is just something about watching two people slowly realize that the person they've been trying to resist has become the person they can't imagine losing.
And Nico?
That man was GONE for her.
Completely.
Utterly.
Hopelessly.
The kind of love where protecting her isn't enough. He wants to carry her pain, take away her grief, and somehow make all the things that happened to her hurt a little less.
I adored that about him. 🥹🖤
The final stretch of the book had me holding my breath because EVERYTHING was coming together at once. The truths finally surfaced, the emotions reached their breaking point, and I was sitting there desperately hoping these two would finally get the happiness they had been fighting so hard against. 😭
Sophia really knows how to make you suffer before giving you the emotional payoff.
And I willingly volunteered. 😂
This was dark, emotional, romantic, messy, intense, and completely addictive. I kept telling myself I'd read one more chapter and then suddenly it was an unreasonable hour and I was still turning pages because THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS GOING TO SLEEP WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED. 📖🌙
Anna and Nico are officially living rent-free in my brain.
So if you're looking for a mafia romance with a strong heroine, a dangerously devoted hero, revenge, secrets, emotional wounds, ridiculous chemistry, delicious spice, and YEARING THAT WILL HAVE YOU CRYING INTO YOUR PILLOW…..
READ THIS. 🖤🔥
And Sophia?
You absolutely wrecked me.
10/10 emotional damage. Would suffer again.😭❤️🔥
Review of advance copy received from Author
In one night Anna Vale lost her father, her future, and everything she knew. Years later, she's determined to avenge her father's murders and Niccolo Martello is next on her list. Nico seems to hold all the answers she's been searching for and he's more than willing to give himself to Anna if it means getting more time with her. But as pieces of her painful past slowly come together, Anna is left questioning everything she thought she knew, including how she truly feels about the man she's supposed to kill.
So, I binged this entire book on a 13-hour work flight and honestly, time FLEW because I was so lost in Anna and Nico's world. This wasn't your typical revenge assassination plot AT ALL. As someone who's read a lot within this genre over the years, I genuinely thought the premise was so so so unique and kudos to Sophia for coming up with something that kept me guessing and hooked.
“He knows me. Better than I do myself.”
Anna and Nico's relationship was incredibly emotionally charged. These are two people who've lived with loss, pain, and tragedy for YEARS and somehow they found healing in each other. And THE YEARNING. Oh man, the yearning in this book was so top tier. Nico yearned and yearned for Anna and she just didn’t fully grasp where his obsession came from. But chefs kiss, truly.
What I loved was how strong and fiery Anna was. I respected the agency she had throughout the story and her determination to pick up the broken pieces of her family and actually DO something about it. As an eldest daughter, I could totally relate to the weight on her shoulders to take care of those around her and yet the allure to be taken care of. She was level headed while still being incredibly empowered, and even when her emotions became complicated, she never lost that part of herself. I loved that.
And Nico…OMG someone please give this man a hug! He was drowning in guilt over something he didn't even do and my heart genuinely hurt for him. What really got me was how accepting he was of Anna and her mission, even when that mission literally involved him being dead. There was this constant battle between how badly he wanted and needed her versus his willingness to give her what she wanted, no matter what it meant for him. He was honestly such a sweetheart through and through. A murdering, slightly unhinged sweetheart...but a sweetheart nonetheless.
“I will always, always love you more, stella mia.”
I just also wanna quickly say, amnesia tropes sometimes get a bad rep, but Sophia Raz just did a masterclass on how you do one right. Watching Anna slowly try to figure out exactly how Nico connected to her past added so much to the story. Every little realization carried more emotional weight, and the closer she got to the truth while their emotional connection grew, the more intense everything became.
By the end, I WAS FEELING IT. This was such a highly emotional read, especially those final chapters, and Sophia Raz really gave Anna and Nico a story that was completely their own. After everything these two had been through, that ending felt so incredibly deserved.
So, I binged this entire book on a 13-hour work flight and honestly, time FLEW because I was so lost in Anna and Nico's world. This wasn't your typical revenge assassination plot AT ALL. As someone who's read a lot within this genre over the years, I genuinely thought the premise was so so so unique and kudos to Sophia for coming up with something that kept me guessing and hooked.
“He knows me. Better than I do myself.”
Anna and Nico's relationship was incredibly emotionally charged. These are two people who've lived with loss, pain, and tragedy for YEARS and somehow they found healing in each other. And THE YEARNING. Oh man, the yearning in this book was so top tier. Nico yearned and yearned for Anna and she just didn’t fully grasp where his obsession came from. But chefs kiss, truly.
What I loved was how strong and fiery Anna was. I respected the agency she had throughout the story and her determination to pick up the broken pieces of her family and actually DO something about it. As an eldest daughter, I could totally relate to the weight on her shoulders to take care of those around her and yet the allure to be taken care of. She was level headed while still being incredibly empowered, and even when her emotions became complicated, she never lost that part of herself. I loved that.
And Nico…OMG someone please give this man a hug! He was drowning in guilt over something he didn't even do and my heart genuinely hurt for him. What really got me was how accepting he was of Anna and her mission, even when that mission literally involved him being dead. There was this constant battle between how badly he wanted and needed her versus his willingness to give her what she wanted, no matter what it meant for him. He was honestly such a sweetheart through and through. A murdering, slightly unhinged sweetheart...but a sweetheart nonetheless.
“I will always, always love you more, stella mia.”
I just also wanna quickly say, amnesia tropes sometimes get a bad rep, but Sophia Raz just did a masterclass on how you do one right. Watching Anna slowly try to figure out exactly how Nico connected to her past added so much to the story. Every little realization carried more emotional weight, and the closer she got to the truth while their emotional connection grew, the more intense everything became.
By the end, I WAS FEELING IT. This was such a highly emotional read, especially those final chapters, and Sophia Raz really gave Anna and Nico a story that was completely their own. After everything these two had been through, that ending felt so incredibly deserved.
September 4, 2026
3.75 stars- REVENGE ON THE MAFIA is the fourth instalment in Sophia Raz’s contemporary, adult THE SAHDOWS OF THE COSA NOSTRA dark, erotic, Mafia romance series. This is Niccolo ‘Nico’ Martello, and Anna Vales’ story line. REVENGE ON THE MAFIA can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Several of the characters from the previous story lines cross over or are mentioned for cohesion and back story.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be trigger for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Nico, and Anna) and third person Juan, covering approximately eleven years, REVENGE ON THE MAFIA follows in the wake of the murder of Anna Vales’ father Juan. Vowing revenge, Anna placed a plan into motion to take down the people responsible. Four years after her father’s death, Anna made good on one part of her vow, but it would take another seven years before she would come face to face with the man who pulled the trigger but all is not as it appears to be, and Anna will find herself married to the man who killed her father. Enter Nico Martello. Niccolo Martello knows exactly who she is, and what Anna Vales has planned for our story line hero but Nico is determined to claim Anna as his own, allowing our heroine open access to take down the man she blames for her father’s death.
The world building focuses on the forced marriage, a captive marriage in which Nico offers thirty days then the truth will be revealed. A business arrangement of a sort, Anna and Nico’s marriage begins acrimoniously but the slow build to love finds our couple struggling with similar losses and betrayal by the people in charge.
The relationship between Nico and Anna is tempestuous at best. Anne blames Nico for her father’s death, while Nico’s guilt allows Anna access to destroying what’s left of his heart. Nico fell in love with our heroine years before but Anna is unaware of Nico’s connections to her father and their past. The $ex scenes are erotic and provocative.
The secondary and supporting characters are questionable and defiant. We are reintroduced to Stefano, Vitale, Lorenzo (Enzo), as well as Anna’s father Juan Vales, her long suffering mother, and Nico’s housekeeper Magda.
REVENGE ON THE MAFIA is a slow building story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, murder and retribution, power and control, dysfunctional family dynamics, acceptance and love. The character driven premise dark, gritty and dramatic; the romance is edgy and intense; the characters are desperate, determined and broken.
copy supplied for review
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be trigger for more sensitive readers.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Nico, and Anna) and third person Juan, covering approximately eleven years, REVENGE ON THE MAFIA follows in the wake of the murder of Anna Vales’ father Juan. Vowing revenge, Anna placed a plan into motion to take down the people responsible. Four years after her father’s death, Anna made good on one part of her vow, but it would take another seven years before she would come face to face with the man who pulled the trigger but all is not as it appears to be, and Anna will find herself married to the man who killed her father. Enter Nico Martello. Niccolo Martello knows exactly who she is, and what Anna Vales has planned for our story line hero but Nico is determined to claim Anna as his own, allowing our heroine open access to take down the man she blames for her father’s death.
The world building focuses on the forced marriage, a captive marriage in which Nico offers thirty days then the truth will be revealed. A business arrangement of a sort, Anna and Nico’s marriage begins acrimoniously but the slow build to love finds our couple struggling with similar losses and betrayal by the people in charge.
The relationship between Nico and Anna is tempestuous at best. Anne blames Nico for her father’s death, while Nico’s guilt allows Anna access to destroying what’s left of his heart. Nico fell in love with our heroine years before but Anna is unaware of Nico’s connections to her father and their past. The $ex scenes are erotic and provocative.
The secondary and supporting characters are questionable and defiant. We are reintroduced to Stefano, Vitale, Lorenzo (Enzo), as well as Anna’s father Juan Vales, her long suffering mother, and Nico’s housekeeper Magda.
REVENGE ON THE MAFIA is a slow building story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, murder and retribution, power and control, dysfunctional family dynamics, acceptance and love. The character driven premise dark, gritty and dramatic; the romance is edgy and intense; the characters are desperate, determined and broken.
copy supplied for review
September 5, 2026
I voluntarily reviewed "REVENGE ON THE MAFIA" given for my honest review it's was intense drama hooking me from the start with danger, violence, murder, revenge, blackmail, memory loss, twists that keep you turning the pages.
Juan Vales was aware enemies arrived at his home with daughter Anna only a teen tells her to hide & make no noise no matter what happens shoving her into a cupboard, three men burst in one was Boris Martello Mafia Don of NYC he worked for saying he stole from him, no one steals from me & lives.
Juan heart sank he washed money for them for years making him dangerous, rich, & him disposable.
Boris makes his son Nico do the deed he's was only 21yrs, he didn't steal says Nico says to him, you disobeying me son if I tell you to shoot you do it.
Boris shoves Nico aside & shoots, Juan trys to hide Anna so they know she isn't there, the alarm goes off, door opens & he sees her PaPa she crys I can't make your recital he tells her forgetting to tell her he loved her.
Anna works at Marbella Hotel where she knows Boris Martello is, finding out he's allergic to pineapple & decides what's she going to do to him, her grief & memories of the night her father Juan was murdered was taking its toll.
Anna mother has schizophrenia & it got worse with Juan being taken from her she bad a psychotic breakdown & she had to hospitalized her & looking after her sister Mara.
Anna now works at Niccolo Martello's home waiting for him to show up going through his things wanting to kill him also, she's on a 3mo. tourist visa Maga the maid was told to hire more help.
Anna's fathers BF Alfonso wanted her to marry his son Joel, she was still grieving the family she lost to start one of her own, decides a soak in Nico's bath tube would be relaxing he's not home.
Nico arrives & immediately knows somethings off the place was so neat almost OCD it couldn't be he thought only to see it's was Juan's daughter asleep in his tube, aware he was watching her she sprang up & out he ran after her cursing Joder tge name she called him, letting his emotions control him, he knew she wasn't a maid she was there to spy or end him, if it's really Juan's daughter.
Will Anna get her wish after 7yrs of wanting her revenge on those who killed Juan 1st Boris now Nico it's a twisted page turner you don't want to miss to see how it all turns out, seeing if they get their HEA when all is said & done.
Juan Vales was aware enemies arrived at his home with daughter Anna only a teen tells her to hide & make no noise no matter what happens shoving her into a cupboard, three men burst in one was Boris Martello Mafia Don of NYC he worked for saying he stole from him, no one steals from me & lives.
Juan heart sank he washed money for them for years making him dangerous, rich, & him disposable.
Boris makes his son Nico do the deed he's was only 21yrs, he didn't steal says Nico says to him, you disobeying me son if I tell you to shoot you do it.
Boris shoves Nico aside & shoots, Juan trys to hide Anna so they know she isn't there, the alarm goes off, door opens & he sees her PaPa she crys I can't make your recital he tells her forgetting to tell her he loved her.
Anna works at Marbella Hotel where she knows Boris Martello is, finding out he's allergic to pineapple & decides what's she going to do to him, her grief & memories of the night her father Juan was murdered was taking its toll.
Anna mother has schizophrenia & it got worse with Juan being taken from her she bad a psychotic breakdown & she had to hospitalized her & looking after her sister Mara.
Anna now works at Niccolo Martello's home waiting for him to show up going through his things wanting to kill him also, she's on a 3mo. tourist visa Maga the maid was told to hire more help.
Anna's fathers BF Alfonso wanted her to marry his son Joel, she was still grieving the family she lost to start one of her own, decides a soak in Nico's bath tube would be relaxing he's not home.
Nico arrives & immediately knows somethings off the place was so neat almost OCD it couldn't be he thought only to see it's was Juan's daughter asleep in his tube, aware he was watching her she sprang up & out he ran after her cursing Joder tge name she called him, letting his emotions control him, he knew she wasn't a maid she was there to spy or end him, if it's really Juan's daughter.
Will Anna get her wish after 7yrs of wanting her revenge on those who killed Juan 1st Boris now Nico it's a twisted page turner you don't want to miss to see how it all turns out, seeing if they get their HEA when all is said & done.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is my first book by Sophia Raz. It’s the fourth in her The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles series but it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the others, it’s truly a standalone book and I didn’t have any issues following the storyline.
Anna has lost so much: her father was killed in front of her and her future disappeared with him. Her mother is unwell and her younger sister is too young to be involved. Anna is determined to kill those who killed her father but there’s an issue: . She’s figured out that Nico is connected though and so decides to come for him .
Nico knows what happened that day but isn’t sharing. He’s wanted Anna for so long and is so guilt-ridden that, when he realises who she is, he allows her to take her shots at him. He happily kills anyone who even looks at Anna in the ‘wrong’ way, and he yearns to be with her. Unbeknownst to Anna, he’s collected things from her past. He’s even accepted to die at her hands.
The first half of the book was a little confusing, particularly the chapters written from Anna’s POV. Because of her it isn’t always clear what’s going on and her internal monologues are as confused as her thoughts must be. If that was Sophia Raz’s intention, then she certainly succeeded! There isn’t much communication at all between Anna and Nico in this half, apart from Anna swearing at Nico and asking/telling him what the hell in Spanish.
The second half was better because they started to communicate more – and the spicy scenes started! The book also contains a small twist related to Anna’s mother which I thought was very sweet. While I understand that Nico wasn’t exactly going to spill his secrets when he and Anna meet again, he left her in the dark for a LONG time. And then when he did start to spill them,
The plot is innovative and refreshing, so if you like mafia romances with a twist, you should give this story a go!
Thank you to Sophia Raz for the ARC.
Anna has lost so much: her father was killed in front of her and her future disappeared with him. Her mother is unwell and her younger sister is too young to be involved. Anna is determined to kill those who killed her father but there’s an issue: . She’s figured out that Nico is connected though and so decides to come for him .
Nico knows what happened that day but isn’t sharing. He’s wanted Anna for so long and is so guilt-ridden that, when he realises who she is, he allows her to take her shots at him. He happily kills anyone who even looks at Anna in the ‘wrong’ way, and he yearns to be with her. Unbeknownst to Anna, he’s collected things from her past. He’s even accepted to die at her hands.
The first half of the book was a little confusing, particularly the chapters written from Anna’s POV. Because of her it isn’t always clear what’s going on and her internal monologues are as confused as her thoughts must be. If that was Sophia Raz’s intention, then she certainly succeeded! There isn’t much communication at all between Anna and Nico in this half, apart from Anna swearing at Nico and asking/telling him what the hell in Spanish.
The second half was better because they started to communicate more – and the spicy scenes started! The book also contains a small twist related to Anna’s mother which I thought was very sweet. While I understand that Nico wasn’t exactly going to spill his secrets when he and Anna meet again, he left her in the dark for a LONG time. And then when he did start to spill them,
The plot is innovative and refreshing, so if you like mafia romances with a twist, you should give this story a go!
Thank you to Sophia Raz for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌙
This was such an unusual, deeply emotional mafia romance! ❤️
Anna follows the man who killed her father all the way to the US, determined to make him pay. But Nico already knows exactly who she is. Instead of killing her, he offers to marry her for one month and “train her to kill him". Tell me that isn’t both wildly romantic and heartbreakingly sweet! 😂❤️
And Nico… oh, Nico! 😍 Ruthless, brilliant, terrifying, and completely obsessed with her for eleven years. But behind that cold, impenetrable exterior is a man drowning in guilt and regret. And the way he starts counting and such whenever he’s stressed? I don’t know why, but I found that little detail so endearing.
Anna thinks Nico is just like his father, the monster Don who destroyed her life and took everything from her. But little by little, she starts seeing the real man and the truth behind his actions. She discovers his pain, his guilt, his sacrifices, and the love he has tried so desperately to bury… ❤️
The tension between these two was high and PALPABLE. You could feel the attraction a mile away, along with the anger, confusion, and longing. 🔥🥵 There was so much they wanted to say but couldn’t, and so much history between them that Anna didn’t even remember. The more she learned, the more emotional their story became.
And I absolutely loved the twists! There were things I didn’t see coming AT ALL! And the brothers… 😂😏
The first half was a tiny bit confusing at times because of the mix of English, Spanish, and Italian, especially with the slow burn. But I appreciated how naturally the languages and cultures were woven into the story. It really shows how knowledgeable the author is. Then the second half just FLEW! The twists, revelations, angst, and emotions had me completely hooked, shocked, and amazed by just how far Nico would go to make Anna happy and fulfill her wish. My heart was hurting, melting, and breaking right along with theirs. ❤️🩹
This was my first book by Sophia Raz, but it definitely won’t be my last. I loved the unusual plot, emotional depth, twists, slow-burn tension… and, obviously, Nico and Anna! 😂😍 If you love dark mafia romance, revenge, forced marriage, enemies-to-lovers, and an absolutely obsessed MMC with guilt, jealousy, protectiveness, and a whole lot of love buried underneath all that ruthlessness, this one is definitely worth picking up!
This was such an unusual, deeply emotional mafia romance! ❤️
Anna follows the man who killed her father all the way to the US, determined to make him pay. But Nico already knows exactly who she is. Instead of killing her, he offers to marry her for one month and “train her to kill him". Tell me that isn’t both wildly romantic and heartbreakingly sweet! 😂❤️
And Nico… oh, Nico! 😍 Ruthless, brilliant, terrifying, and completely obsessed with her for eleven years. But behind that cold, impenetrable exterior is a man drowning in guilt and regret. And the way he starts counting and such whenever he’s stressed? I don’t know why, but I found that little detail so endearing.
Anna thinks Nico is just like his father, the monster Don who destroyed her life and took everything from her. But little by little, she starts seeing the real man and the truth behind his actions. She discovers his pain, his guilt, his sacrifices, and the love he has tried so desperately to bury… ❤️
The tension between these two was high and PALPABLE. You could feel the attraction a mile away, along with the anger, confusion, and longing. 🔥🥵 There was so much they wanted to say but couldn’t, and so much history between them that Anna didn’t even remember. The more she learned, the more emotional their story became.
And I absolutely loved the twists! There were things I didn’t see coming AT ALL! And the brothers… 😂😏
The first half was a tiny bit confusing at times because of the mix of English, Spanish, and Italian, especially with the slow burn. But I appreciated how naturally the languages and cultures were woven into the story. It really shows how knowledgeable the author is. Then the second half just FLEW! The twists, revelations, angst, and emotions had me completely hooked, shocked, and amazed by just how far Nico would go to make Anna happy and fulfill her wish. My heart was hurting, melting, and breaking right along with theirs. ❤️🩹
This was my first book by Sophia Raz, but it definitely won’t be my last. I loved the unusual plot, emotional depth, twists, slow-burn tension… and, obviously, Nico and Anna! 😂😍 If you love dark mafia romance, revenge, forced marriage, enemies-to-lovers, and an absolutely obsessed MMC with guilt, jealousy, protectiveness, and a whole lot of love buried underneath all that ruthlessness, this one is definitely worth picking up!
October 11, 2026
Received this book as an ARC and here is my review:
With this Mafia dark romance read you get a little bit of everything. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity and marriage, murder, yearning and love. So, what more can a girl want in her current read?
You’ve got Anna the FMC. Who is a girl who lost her dad and has been dealing with the trauma since childhood. Who is now a grown women who is dead set on revenge against the men who killed her father. The Don, The Don’s son, Nico, and The Uncle. Years later she figures out what hotel The Don stays at and she gets hired as maid in hopes to gain information about him and how she could kill him. Finally, her time comes. She gets the information she was looking for to fulfil this part of her revenge plot. It’s a clumsy follow-through, but she serves The Don his end. Now she moves on to her next target, the son, Nico.
Nico enters the picture as your morally grey, obsessed MMC. Eleven years after Nico’s father kills Anna’s father, she finally finds Nico and gets hired as maid. Almost immediately Nico realizes who Anna is and why she is there. And strangely enough, he wants her to follow through. He blames himself for her father’s death and the only way he thinks for her to feel whole again, is to follow through and kill him herself. Nico proposes, more so rather forces Anna into a marriage. He tells Anna to give him a month to act as his wife in exchange for information about her father’s death.
As the 30-day deadline draws nearer and nearer Anna is having a war inside her head. She hates Nico and what he and his family did, but he starts to become Anna’s safety net. A set of arms she can crawl into when she starts to have panic attacks whenever she sees blood or how he remembers all the little things about Anna. Like the moles on her inner thighs that knows the sizes of. Or simply that he slowly gets her able to be able to listen to music again. I think all these little acts, all come together and finally Anna can’t deny it any further, that Nico is the man she loves.
With one final fight, the night where Nico was hoping Anna would end it all for him, she doesn’t. She tells him that her father would have forgiven him and that she forgives him too because she needs to move on. To set herself free from the revenger and heaviness in her heart.
Because she loves him. Because she is his and he is hers.
Mine.
With this Mafia dark romance read you get a little bit of everything. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity and marriage, murder, yearning and love. So, what more can a girl want in her current read?
You’ve got Anna the FMC. Who is a girl who lost her dad and has been dealing with the trauma since childhood. Who is now a grown women who is dead set on revenge against the men who killed her father. The Don, The Don’s son, Nico, and The Uncle. Years later she figures out what hotel The Don stays at and she gets hired as maid in hopes to gain information about him and how she could kill him. Finally, her time comes. She gets the information she was looking for to fulfil this part of her revenge plot. It’s a clumsy follow-through, but she serves The Don his end. Now she moves on to her next target, the son, Nico.
Nico enters the picture as your morally grey, obsessed MMC. Eleven years after Nico’s father kills Anna’s father, she finally finds Nico and gets hired as maid. Almost immediately Nico realizes who Anna is and why she is there. And strangely enough, he wants her to follow through. He blames himself for her father’s death and the only way he thinks for her to feel whole again, is to follow through and kill him herself. Nico proposes, more so rather forces Anna into a marriage. He tells Anna to give him a month to act as his wife in exchange for information about her father’s death.
As the 30-day deadline draws nearer and nearer Anna is having a war inside her head. She hates Nico and what he and his family did, but he starts to become Anna’s safety net. A set of arms she can crawl into when she starts to have panic attacks whenever she sees blood or how he remembers all the little things about Anna. Like the moles on her inner thighs that knows the sizes of. Or simply that he slowly gets her able to be able to listen to music again. I think all these little acts, all come together and finally Anna can’t deny it any further, that Nico is the man she loves.
With one final fight, the night where Nico was hoping Anna would end it all for him, she doesn’t. She tells him that her father would have forgiven him and that she forgives him too because she needs to move on. To set herself free from the revenger and heaviness in her heart.
Because she loves him. Because she is his and he is hers.
Mine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book will RUIN you but in the best way possible🥹
I savored this book. I felt way too much for these characters to the point where I was literally begging for them to just be together already and stop keeping secrets from each other 😭
So imagine a mafia romance where our FMC Anna is constantly trying to kill our hot Italian MMC Nico and this man isn't even trying to stop her URGH
She stabs him? He lets her
She tries to poison him? He lets her
She needs to let all her anger out? He lets her
LIKE??? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS???
This is a man who has killed more people than he can probably count but he's perfectly willing to die by Anna's hands if that's what she wants. Because apparently the only thing Nico knows how to do is protect her love her and yearn for her 🥹
The way my heart broke and skipped a beat for Nico is something I genuinely cannot explain. He feels everything so deeply but acts like it means nothing. He would literally rather die if that's what would make Anna happy. The ANGST. The heartbreak. The yearning. I was suffering but all in a good way 😭
And that last 25%??? RIP. ME. APART. And then somehow put every single piece back together again. 🥹 I cannot tell you how much these two made me FEEL. Every secret every bit of grief every moment of yearning I was right there with them.
Anna knows two things: grief and revenge. She wants the people responsible for her father's death to pay.
And Nico? He also knows two things too: how to protect Anna and how to yearn for her 🥹
Watching Anna uncover all the secrets Nico had been hiding and falling for him was everything to me. Honestly that was my ending 😭
And the spice?? BABES. The spice is SPICING 🥵 The chemistry between these two is even better because of all that yearning angst grief and tension between them
So if you love a mafia romance where the MMC doesn't just kill for her but is literally willing to DIE for her and that too at her hands!!!
THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU 🥹
I savored this book. I felt way too much for these characters to the point where I was literally begging for them to just be together already and stop keeping secrets from each other 😭
So imagine a mafia romance where our FMC Anna is constantly trying to kill our hot Italian MMC Nico and this man isn't even trying to stop her URGH
She stabs him? He lets her
She tries to poison him? He lets her
She needs to let all her anger out? He lets her
LIKE??? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS???
This is a man who has killed more people than he can probably count but he's perfectly willing to die by Anna's hands if that's what she wants. Because apparently the only thing Nico knows how to do is protect her love her and yearn for her 🥹
The way my heart broke and skipped a beat for Nico is something I genuinely cannot explain. He feels everything so deeply but acts like it means nothing. He would literally rather die if that's what would make Anna happy. The ANGST. The heartbreak. The yearning. I was suffering but all in a good way 😭
And that last 25%??? RIP. ME. APART. And then somehow put every single piece back together again. 🥹 I cannot tell you how much these two made me FEEL. Every secret every bit of grief every moment of yearning I was right there with them.
Anna knows two things: grief and revenge. She wants the people responsible for her father's death to pay.
And Nico? He also knows two things too: how to protect Anna and how to yearn for her 🥹
Watching Anna uncover all the secrets Nico had been hiding and falling for him was everything to me. Honestly that was my ending 😭
And the spice?? BABES. The spice is SPICING 🥵 The chemistry between these two is even better because of all that yearning angst grief and tension between them
So if you love a mafia romance where the MMC doesn't just kill for her but is literally willing to DIE for her and that too at her hands!!!
THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU 🥹
September 5, 2026
Revenge on the Mafia by Sophia Raz is the 4th standalone novel in The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles. While part of an interconnected mafia world, Anna and Nico’s story can be enjoyed on its own.
There is something deliciously addictive about a revenge story where the person you hate might be the only one who truly understands you… and Revenge on the Mafia gives exactly that kind of emotional chaos.
Anna has spent years carrying the weight of losing her father, and revenge becomes the one thing driving her forward. Infiltrating Nico's home with a hidden agenda, she comes prepared to make the man she believes destroyed her life suffer. But Nico isn't quite the monster she expects him to be—and the way he looks at Anna, like she's a ghost from a past he never escaped, immediately makes you question everything.
What I loved most about this story was the tension between them. Anna comes in believing she's playing a dangerous game, while Nico seems to know far more than he's willing to reveal. The guilt, the history, the missing memories, and especially the eleven years of yearning add so much emotional weight to their connection.
Nico has that possessive, morally grey mafia energy we love, but beneath all the power and obsession is a man haunted by his past. And Anna isn't simply a heroine waiting to be saved—she enters his world with revenge in her heart and isn't afraid to go after what she believes she deserves.
The story feels like a game of cat and mouse where revenge slowly collides with attraction, secrets, and feelings neither of them can control. Dark, emotional, spicy, and full of tension, this was such an intriguing addition to the series.
Tropes:Mafia Romance • Enemies to Lovers • Revenge Plot • Forced Marriage • Memory Loss • Hidden Identity • Forced Proximity • Mind Games • Blackmail • 11 Years of Yearning • He Fell First & Harder • Touch Her and Die • Morally Grey MMC • Slow Burn • Obsessed Hero
⭐4
There is something deliciously addictive about a revenge story where the person you hate might be the only one who truly understands you… and Revenge on the Mafia gives exactly that kind of emotional chaos.
Anna has spent years carrying the weight of losing her father, and revenge becomes the one thing driving her forward. Infiltrating Nico's home with a hidden agenda, she comes prepared to make the man she believes destroyed her life suffer. But Nico isn't quite the monster she expects him to be—and the way he looks at Anna, like she's a ghost from a past he never escaped, immediately makes you question everything.
What I loved most about this story was the tension between them. Anna comes in believing she's playing a dangerous game, while Nico seems to know far more than he's willing to reveal. The guilt, the history, the missing memories, and especially the eleven years of yearning add so much emotional weight to their connection.
Nico has that possessive, morally grey mafia energy we love, but beneath all the power and obsession is a man haunted by his past. And Anna isn't simply a heroine waiting to be saved—she enters his world with revenge in her heart and isn't afraid to go after what she believes she deserves.
The story feels like a game of cat and mouse where revenge slowly collides with attraction, secrets, and feelings neither of them can control. Dark, emotional, spicy, and full of tension, this was such an intriguing addition to the series.
Tropes:Mafia Romance • Enemies to Lovers • Revenge Plot • Forced Marriage • Memory Loss • Hidden Identity • Forced Proximity • Mind Games • Blackmail • 11 Years of Yearning • He Fell First & Harder • Touch Her and Die • Morally Grey MMC • Slow Burn • Obsessed Hero
⭐4
Review of advance copy
Arc reader Review: it’s a mafia revenge romance
She wants him 💀 he’s been yearning 11 years 🫡 man has it bad, enemies to lovers 😊 he falls first (obviously) slow burn (worth the wait guys it’s worth it),
THE WAY THIS MAN LOVES HER 😭 it’s not the typical touch her and die I mean he would but he would die for her if she wanted he would let her do anything she wanted… Sophia girl 😭 you wrecked me In the best way possible this story is good and it kept me hooked it kept me awake I couldn’t stop reading it.
This story kept me rooting for them to just stop keeping and secrets and be together already. The yearning had me melting like a love sick puppy and I couldn’t help but blush at some parts of this book. The spice when it finally hits its 🔥 and the tension is insane the chemistry finally exploding. They are hot,sexy and a totally flipping mess but they work and they find love within each other 😍
I can’t get over Nico like he’s killed many people but when it comes to her he’s different and he just so perfect (to me lol) , he’s willing to die if it’s inside or in the hands of Anna.
The angst, the chemistry, the tension and THE FLIPPING YEARNING!!!!
I need more books with YEARNING! I need yearning to make a huge comeback, nothing is more sexier than a man or a woman that their whole body and soul yearns for the one person they think they can’t have or won’t get but end up getting in the end, you healed that part of me! The yearning is slowly coming back and I’m here for it.
You made a great story! It’s become clear I’m gonna have to read your other books it’s a must at this point cause you had me hooked from beginning to end. It’s a story that will never be forgotten, god I love with a absolute passion mafia romance stories I will eat it up every time
She wants him 💀 he’s been yearning 11 years 🫡 man has it bad, enemies to lovers 😊 he falls first (obviously) slow burn (worth the wait guys it’s worth it),
THE WAY THIS MAN LOVES HER 😭 it’s not the typical touch her and die I mean he would but he would die for her if she wanted he would let her do anything she wanted… Sophia girl 😭 you wrecked me In the best way possible this story is good and it kept me hooked it kept me awake I couldn’t stop reading it.
This story kept me rooting for them to just stop keeping and secrets and be together already. The yearning had me melting like a love sick puppy and I couldn’t help but blush at some parts of this book. The spice when it finally hits its 🔥 and the tension is insane the chemistry finally exploding. They are hot,sexy and a totally flipping mess but they work and they find love within each other 😍
I can’t get over Nico like he’s killed many people but when it comes to her he’s different and he just so perfect (to me lol) , he’s willing to die if it’s inside or in the hands of Anna.
The angst, the chemistry, the tension and THE FLIPPING YEARNING!!!!
I need more books with YEARNING! I need yearning to make a huge comeback, nothing is more sexier than a man or a woman that their whole body and soul yearns for the one person they think they can’t have or won’t get but end up getting in the end, you healed that part of me! The yearning is slowly coming back and I’m here for it.
You made a great story! It’s become clear I’m gonna have to read your other books it’s a must at this point cause you had me hooked from beginning to end. It’s a story that will never be forgotten, god I love with a absolute passion mafia romance stories I will eat it up every time
September 4, 2026
When a book centers around revenge, I usually hesitate — I haven’t read many good ones on the topic. But Sophia manages to capture that prickling, nerve‑tightening suspense that forces you to turn page after page, chewing your nails while whispering “is it now?”
I loved Anna instantly. Strong yet soft, forced to take responsibility for the family she’s upheld with honor. She becomes Nico’s housekeeper with one goal: avenge her father’s death. Anna is exactly the kind of Spanish woman I imagine — temperamental, fire and ice at the same time.
And Nico — excuse me? He has waited eleven years for Anna?! Eleven years of longing, dreaming, loving — and this cold, calculating man hands her every possible weapon to ensure she succeeds in her revenge. His feelings for Anna are anything but cold, and his brothers quickly notice when this ice‑man cracks open to reveal a volcanic, possessive, jealous force.
The chemistry between Nico and Anna keeps the reader locked in from the first page to the last. This is the perfect “just one more chapter” book — until you realize it’s already night and you have to force yourself to put it down.
This was my first book by Sophia, but I’m already sprinting to Amazon to grab the previous three and prepare for the fifth. If I understood correctly, it’s about the charming, mischievous brother — the one who stole my attention with his wicked habit of poking at his brother’s possessiveness. Those moments were magnetic, and I’m dying to see how the brothers serve him his own medicine 🫦
I loved Anna instantly. Strong yet soft, forced to take responsibility for the family she’s upheld with honor. She becomes Nico’s housekeeper with one goal: avenge her father’s death. Anna is exactly the kind of Spanish woman I imagine — temperamental, fire and ice at the same time.
And Nico — excuse me? He has waited eleven years for Anna?! Eleven years of longing, dreaming, loving — and this cold, calculating man hands her every possible weapon to ensure she succeeds in her revenge. His feelings for Anna are anything but cold, and his brothers quickly notice when this ice‑man cracks open to reveal a volcanic, possessive, jealous force.
The chemistry between Nico and Anna keeps the reader locked in from the first page to the last. This is the perfect “just one more chapter” book — until you realize it’s already night and you have to force yourself to put it down.
This was my first book by Sophia, but I’m already sprinting to Amazon to grab the previous three and prepare for the fifth. If I understood correctly, it’s about the charming, mischievous brother — the one who stole my attention with his wicked habit of poking at his brother’s possessiveness. Those moments were magnetic, and I’m dying to see how the brothers serve him his own medicine 🫦
September 11, 2026
****🚨This review contains SPOILERS!!🚨****
‼️Proceed with caution!!!!‼️
I received this as an ARC read and….WOW!! Sophia really did a number on my emotions with this book and I loved every minute of it!!😄😍
Nico stole my heart from the very beginning and the YEARNING and LOVE this man had for Anna was all encompassing and you could feel and taste it. I love a morally grey man but a morally grey man with a tortured mind and soul, that’s obsessive and protective, with OCD tendencies (the counting), sign me the hell up RIGHT NOW!!😈😆 I’m also incredibly grateful to Sophia for throwing the counting in there the way she did. There is definitely a delicate balance and art to writing out mental health struggles and as someone who has OCD and also counts it was well done and felt real.
Anna was an absolute Spanish firecracker and it was so GREAT!!🧨😉 As a firery Latina I can totally relate to all of Anna’s short fuses. Also, what is it about the men in our lives loving to push our buttons and she is angry.😅 I knew from the beginning the was no way Anna would actually kill Nico but it was still great to read/watch it all unfold. Huge kudos to Sophia for have 3 languages (English, Spanish and Italian) in her book. Nothing makes my heart happier than reading the blend of English and Spanish.
Nico and Anna are a firery power couple and through my tears there were huge cheers for their well deserved HEA!! Don’t sleep on this one, it’s definitely worth the read and will most likely make you want to dive into the series bc I know I want to now.💚
‼️Proceed with caution!!!!‼️
I received this as an ARC read and….WOW!! Sophia really did a number on my emotions with this book and I loved every minute of it!!😄😍
Nico stole my heart from the very beginning and the YEARNING and LOVE this man had for Anna was all encompassing and you could feel and taste it. I love a morally grey man but a morally grey man with a tortured mind and soul, that’s obsessive and protective, with OCD tendencies (the counting), sign me the hell up RIGHT NOW!!😈😆 I’m also incredibly grateful to Sophia for throwing the counting in there the way she did. There is definitely a delicate balance and art to writing out mental health struggles and as someone who has OCD and also counts it was well done and felt real.
Anna was an absolute Spanish firecracker and it was so GREAT!!🧨😉 As a firery Latina I can totally relate to all of Anna’s short fuses. Also, what is it about the men in our lives loving to push our buttons and she is angry.😅 I knew from the beginning the was no way Anna would actually kill Nico but it was still great to read/watch it all unfold. Huge kudos to Sophia for have 3 languages (English, Spanish and Italian) in her book. Nothing makes my heart happier than reading the blend of English and Spanish.
Nico and Anna are a firery power couple and through my tears there were huge cheers for their well deserved HEA!! Don’t sleep on this one, it’s definitely worth the read and will most likely make you want to dive into the series bc I know I want to now.💚
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2026
This book was so uniquely Sophia Raz. You had the wide array of emotions: grief, anger, obsession, affection, attraction, confusion and almost anything else you can think of!
This story was complex of confusing emotions and ambitions. Nico was present during Anna’s father death, and Anna has been completely broken by this since her beloved father was murdered in front of her, concealed or not. Anna is utterly broken and just surviving her life while taking care of her family, yet not living. The only thing that is giving her any spark is her hate towards her father’s killers and the idea of revenge. While Nico has always liked Anna, more obsessively and observationally. Yet, the death of Anna’s father broke something essential also in him, since he always cared for the man. Yet, Anna does not know the whole truth.
I enjoyed understanding more of Nico’s motivations and sorrows, since Anna’s were much more straightforward from the beginning. I honestly felt bad for both of them because sorrow really sucked out the joy of life from them. Yet, somehow they found the joy of life in the most unlikely places, within each other. The conflict, especially for Anna, was falling for her enemy. And for Nico, it was allowing some joy into his guilt ridden life. It was a rough ride, but they were perfect for each other, even though they had to go through a lot of difficulties to get there.
Let me tell you, Nico is obsessed for Anna. That shines throughout the story. 🤭
Thank you Sophia for the honor of letting me ARC read your book. I enjoyed it as always. 🩷
This story was complex of confusing emotions and ambitions. Nico was present during Anna’s father death, and Anna has been completely broken by this since her beloved father was murdered in front of her, concealed or not. Anna is utterly broken and just surviving her life while taking care of her family, yet not living. The only thing that is giving her any spark is her hate towards her father’s killers and the idea of revenge. While Nico has always liked Anna, more obsessively and observationally. Yet, the death of Anna’s father broke something essential also in him, since he always cared for the man. Yet, Anna does not know the whole truth.
I enjoyed understanding more of Nico’s motivations and sorrows, since Anna’s were much more straightforward from the beginning. I honestly felt bad for both of them because sorrow really sucked out the joy of life from them. Yet, somehow they found the joy of life in the most unlikely places, within each other. The conflict, especially for Anna, was falling for her enemy. And for Nico, it was allowing some joy into his guilt ridden life. It was a rough ride, but they were perfect for each other, even though they had to go through a lot of difficulties to get there.
Let me tell you, Nico is obsessed for Anna. That shines throughout the story. 🤭
Thank you Sophia for the honor of letting me ARC read your book. I enjoyed it as always. 🩷
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC review of Revenge on the Mafia
This is not the first mafia romance I’ve read (but is the first in this series) and definitely won’t be my last🤣 I’ve read a lot of really good mafia romances this year and Revenge on the Mafia did not disappoint! This is book four in the series, and I’m terrible for reading books in order, but the story was easy to follow and had me immediately hooked.
Our characters Anna and Nico have a long and complicated past. Anna has no clue about Nico’s existence, but he’s had a crush on her for a looooong time. Now she’s on a mission to avenge her father’s death, and Nico tries to keep his distance because he thinks it’s for the best. After not seeing him for 7 years, she ends up as his maid and (terribly) creeps into his life so she can unalive him, since she knows he had a part in what happened - and he happily accepts his fate (and even helps her??).
This book was full of so much banter and all kinds of swoon-worthy moments, from Nico counting the moles on Anna’s legs, to secretly collecting household items from her past that she doesn’t truly recognize until he know’s shes ready (😭😭).
There’s also some gore (is it really a mafia romance if there’s not??), a gang of overprotective brothers who make sure Nico isn’t going loco, and some hilarious moments because we need those to balance out the tissues you will inevitably go through.
If you love a good ol’ enemies to lovers mafia romance, make sure you add this to your tbr on September 4th!
This is not the first mafia romance I’ve read (but is the first in this series) and definitely won’t be my last🤣 I’ve read a lot of really good mafia romances this year and Revenge on the Mafia did not disappoint! This is book four in the series, and I’m terrible for reading books in order, but the story was easy to follow and had me immediately hooked.
Our characters Anna and Nico have a long and complicated past. Anna has no clue about Nico’s existence, but he’s had a crush on her for a looooong time. Now she’s on a mission to avenge her father’s death, and Nico tries to keep his distance because he thinks it’s for the best. After not seeing him for 7 years, she ends up as his maid and (terribly) creeps into his life so she can unalive him, since she knows he had a part in what happened - and he happily accepts his fate (and even helps her??).
This book was full of so much banter and all kinds of swoon-worthy moments, from Nico counting the moles on Anna’s legs, to secretly collecting household items from her past that she doesn’t truly recognize until he know’s shes ready (😭😭).
There’s also some gore (is it really a mafia romance if there’s not??), a gang of overprotective brothers who make sure Nico isn’t going loco, and some hilarious moments because we need those to balance out the tissues you will inevitably go through.
If you love a good ol’ enemies to lovers mafia romance, make sure you add this to your tbr on September 4th!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Revenge on the Mafia by Sophia Raz — Spoiler-Free ARC Review
Revenge, secrets, a forced marriage, and a man giving very literal touch her and die energy? This one definitely kept me turning the pages.
Revenge on the Mafia starts by giving us the backstory behind Anna’s determination to get revenge for her father’s murder, which helped set up her motivations right away. From there, the story moves at a pretty fast pace and doesn’t really slow down.
I really enjoyed the dynamic between Anna and Nico. Anna is determined to uncover the truth and get the answers she’s been searching for, while Nico is dealing with his own guilt and trying to atone for what happened, all while attempting to give Anna back some of the life that was stolen from her.
There are Spanish and Italian phrases used throughout the book, and while I understand what they added to the mafia/family atmosphere, I personally could have done without some of them. At times, having the dialogue followed by an explanation or translation interrupted the flow of the story for me. It wasn’t a huge issue, just something I noticed while reading.
Overall, this was a fast-paced mafia romance with revenge, tension, spice, complicated loyalties, and plenty of protective MMC moments. If you like forced marriage, morally complicated characters, revenge plots, and touch her and die vibes, this is definitely one to check out.
Thank you to Sophia Raz for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Revenge, secrets, a forced marriage, and a man giving very literal touch her and die energy? This one definitely kept me turning the pages.
Revenge on the Mafia starts by giving us the backstory behind Anna’s determination to get revenge for her father’s murder, which helped set up her motivations right away. From there, the story moves at a pretty fast pace and doesn’t really slow down.
I really enjoyed the dynamic between Anna and Nico. Anna is determined to uncover the truth and get the answers she’s been searching for, while Nico is dealing with his own guilt and trying to atone for what happened, all while attempting to give Anna back some of the life that was stolen from her.
There are Spanish and Italian phrases used throughout the book, and while I understand what they added to the mafia/family atmosphere, I personally could have done without some of them. At times, having the dialogue followed by an explanation or translation interrupted the flow of the story for me. It wasn’t a huge issue, just something I noticed while reading.
Overall, this was a fast-paced mafia romance with revenge, tension, spice, complicated loyalties, and plenty of protective MMC moments. If you like forced marriage, morally complicated characters, revenge plots, and touch her and die vibes, this is definitely one to check out.
Thank you to Sophia Raz for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
"You're the reason I breathe. Your breath, your sound, your scent, your touch. That's my fucking oxygen."
This is one of my favorite series, and each book just gets better and better. Nico's obsession with Anna runs deep, 11 freaking years deep, and I loved watching it unfold. This one was a slow burn with tons of tension and off-the-charts chemistry between the two MCs. Anna was such a fierce FMC, and Nico matched her energy head-on. She had a goal to kill him, and he was gonna let her do exactly that; in fact, he was begging her. Their witty banter made this such a fun read, but it was also incredibly emotional. Between some of Anna's panic attacks and Nico's guilt, my heart broke for both of them.
Now, that spice was spicing! The way they both lost control of each other made those scenes so hot and intense, especially because Anna was still fighting her feelings for him. The end of the book was everything I needed and more. It genuinely made me so happy! Them going back and forth on who loves who more, the epilogue of Nico still being possessive and jealous and willing to go on a murder spree over any guy being around Anna, it was just so good!!
As always, I cannot wait for more in the series!
Another favorite quote of mine from the book, because my Kindle is full of highlights:
"She tasted like a drug. One that made you feel like you were in heaven when your heart was still pumping."
This is one of my favorite series, and each book just gets better and better. Nico's obsession with Anna runs deep, 11 freaking years deep, and I loved watching it unfold. This one was a slow burn with tons of tension and off-the-charts chemistry between the two MCs. Anna was such a fierce FMC, and Nico matched her energy head-on. She had a goal to kill him, and he was gonna let her do exactly that; in fact, he was begging her. Their witty banter made this such a fun read, but it was also incredibly emotional. Between some of Anna's panic attacks and Nico's guilt, my heart broke for both of them.
Now, that spice was spicing! The way they both lost control of each other made those scenes so hot and intense, especially because Anna was still fighting her feelings for him. The end of the book was everything I needed and more. It genuinely made me so happy! Them going back and forth on who loves who more, the epilogue of Nico still being possessive and jealous and willing to go on a murder spree over any guy being around Anna, it was just so good!!
As always, I cannot wait for more in the series!
Another favorite quote of mine from the book, because my Kindle is full of highlights:
"She tasted like a drug. One that made you feel like you were in heaven when your heart was still pumping."
September 4, 2026
• 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 5✨
• 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 - September 4, 2026
• 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 -
dark mafia romance
revenge & secrets
forced marriage
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
obsessive & possessive MMC
morally grey hero
he falls first & harder
11 years of yearning
• 𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 -
Anna comes into Nico’s life with revenge on her mind, believing he is responsible for her father’s death. But Nico has been waiting for her for eleven years, and when she finally comes back into his life, he is not ready to let her go.
The whole revenge angle was SO good, especially when the truth slowly started coming out. I loved how everything wasn’t as simple as Anna thought and how Nico had been carrying so much guilt all these years.
And Nico, this man was OBSESSED with Anna. The possessiveness, the way he protected her, the way he wanted her even when he knew she wanted to kill him, everything about him was just so intense.
I also really loved Anna. She was strong, determined and had every reason to want revenge, but watching her feelings slowly change made the romance so much better.
The chemistry between them was insane, the emotional moments hit hard and the whole forced marriage situation gave me exactly the kind of drama I love in a dark romance.
This was such an addictive read with revenge, secrets, obsession and a romance that slowly became so much more. I genuinely enjoyed Nico and Anna’s story and that ending made my heart so happy. 🥹🖤
Definitely a 5 star read for me. Thank you author for the ARC!!!
• 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 - September 4, 2026
• 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 -
dark mafia romance
revenge & secrets
forced marriage
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
obsessive & possessive MMC
morally grey hero
he falls first & harder
11 years of yearning
• 𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 -
Anna comes into Nico’s life with revenge on her mind, believing he is responsible for her father’s death. But Nico has been waiting for her for eleven years, and when she finally comes back into his life, he is not ready to let her go.
The whole revenge angle was SO good, especially when the truth slowly started coming out. I loved how everything wasn’t as simple as Anna thought and how Nico had been carrying so much guilt all these years.
And Nico, this man was OBSESSED with Anna. The possessiveness, the way he protected her, the way he wanted her even when he knew she wanted to kill him, everything about him was just so intense.
I also really loved Anna. She was strong, determined and had every reason to want revenge, but watching her feelings slowly change made the romance so much better.
The chemistry between them was insane, the emotional moments hit hard and the whole forced marriage situation gave me exactly the kind of drama I love in a dark romance.
This was such an addictive read with revenge, secrets, obsession and a romance that slowly became so much more. I genuinely enjoyed Nico and Anna’s story and that ending made my heart so happy. 🥹🖤
Definitely a 5 star read for me. Thank you author for the ARC!!!
September 6, 2026
I love an obsessed, morally grey MMC. Bring yearning into the mix, and you have my attention. You also have Revenge on the Mafia.
Let me tell you—this woman pushes his buttons as no one else can. These two characters can go toe-to-toe. Anna is relentless. I love how Nico goes absolutely weak for her. At the same time, Nico is the only one who can break Anna’s tough shell. She is the type who buries her emotions. There is so much more to Anna—her past trauma—and he takes care of her when she does fall apart. Nico is all about “She’s Mine.” But Anna is out to avenge her father, and Nico is the guy she's out to get.
Author Sophia Raz is so good at crafting the characters' subtle microexpressions that build all the romance and shmexual tension between these two. The way Nico tucks a loose curl behind Anna’s ear, or even the way he looks at her. Amid all that, an intense, suspenseful mafia plot unfolds around them. What a story Sophia delivers in Revenge on the Mafia and don’t forget that bonus epilogue.
Revenge on the Mafia is Book 4 of The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles. It can be read as a standalone.
Note: I purchased the ebook with my own $$
TROPES:
Mafia romance, Enemies to lovers, 11 years of yearning, Revenge plot, Mind play, F—ced Contract marriage, Blackmail, He falls first and harder, Boss/employee, Hidden identity, F—ced Proximity, Touch her and ☠️, Morally Grey MMC, Obsessed MMC, Time Skip, Slow burn
Let me tell you—this woman pushes his buttons as no one else can. These two characters can go toe-to-toe. Anna is relentless. I love how Nico goes absolutely weak for her. At the same time, Nico is the only one who can break Anna’s tough shell. She is the type who buries her emotions. There is so much more to Anna—her past trauma—and he takes care of her when she does fall apart. Nico is all about “She’s Mine.” But Anna is out to avenge her father, and Nico is the guy she's out to get.
Author Sophia Raz is so good at crafting the characters' subtle microexpressions that build all the romance and shmexual tension between these two. The way Nico tucks a loose curl behind Anna’s ear, or even the way he looks at her. Amid all that, an intense, suspenseful mafia plot unfolds around them. What a story Sophia delivers in Revenge on the Mafia and don’t forget that bonus epilogue.
Revenge on the Mafia is Book 4 of The Shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles. It can be read as a standalone.
Note: I purchased the ebook with my own $$
TROPES:
Mafia romance, Enemies to lovers, 11 years of yearning, Revenge plot, Mind play, F—ced Contract marriage, Blackmail, He falls first and harder, Boss/employee, Hidden identity, F—ced Proximity, Touch her and ☠️, Morally Grey MMC, Obsessed MMC, Time Skip, Slow burn
Review of advance copy received from Author
11 Years of Obsession! Whew!
Ohhhh Besties... this one came armed with revenge, obsession, and 11 YEARS of yearning, and I was absolutely Here. For. It! Anna walks into Niccolò Martello’s life with one goal: avenge her father’s death. Unfortunately for her plan, Nico has been carrying secrets... and feelings... for far longer than she realizes. 🤭
I loved the cat-and-mouse energy between these two. Anna is determined to hate him while Nico is over there being possessive, calculating, and COMPLETELY gone for her. The forced contract marriage only makes their mind games messier, and once the truth starts cracking through Anna’s memories, everything gets deliciously complicated.
What surprised me most was the emotional weight beneath all that mafia darkness. Grief, guilt, trauma, panic attacks, and obsession are woven into their relationship, so the story has more heart than I expected. And the piano scenes? Whew. Those hit differently.
The middle stretched a little for me in places, but the final stretch delivered the reveals, intensity, and emotional payoff I wanted. Dark, messy, obsessive, and seriously addictive.
My Ratings: ⭐ 4.5/5 ▪︎ 🥵 3/5
🥀 My ratings and review are my own. For my rating scale breakdown, head over to my Goodreads &/or Amazon profile! 🖤
Ohhhh Besties... this one came armed with revenge, obsession, and 11 YEARS of yearning, and I was absolutely Here. For. It! Anna walks into Niccolò Martello’s life with one goal: avenge her father’s death. Unfortunately for her plan, Nico has been carrying secrets... and feelings... for far longer than she realizes. 🤭
I loved the cat-and-mouse energy between these two. Anna is determined to hate him while Nico is over there being possessive, calculating, and COMPLETELY gone for her. The forced contract marriage only makes their mind games messier, and once the truth starts cracking through Anna’s memories, everything gets deliciously complicated.
What surprised me most was the emotional weight beneath all that mafia darkness. Grief, guilt, trauma, panic attacks, and obsession are woven into their relationship, so the story has more heart than I expected. And the piano scenes? Whew. Those hit differently.
The middle stretched a little for me in places, but the final stretch delivered the reveals, intensity, and emotional payoff I wanted. Dark, messy, obsessive, and seriously addictive.
My Ratings: ⭐ 4.5/5 ▪︎ 🥵 3/5
🥀 My ratings and review are my own. For my rating scale breakdown, head over to my Goodreads &/or Amazon profile! 🖤
August 24, 2026
Anna and Nico’s lives have been intertwined for a while. The opening of the book was a bang and then we fast forward and we see Anna and where she is in life. She makes a bold move. Then we time jump again and her bold move paid off and now she’s ready to try her luck again. Nico is moving through life and he never forgot Anna. Now they are back in each other’s lives. She wants revenge for the past and he wants her to have it. These two are fire. They bicker like an old married couple. They enter into an arrangement they I guess you can say benefits them both. These two are the definition of hot and cold, push and pull. They are both fighting the inevitable. I feel like the book was drawn out more than it needed to be. The first half of the book was a lot of the same thing. Once we got to the halfway mark things did start to pick up some. I absolutely adored Nico’s brother Stefano. The second half of the book was had some repetition but there was definitely a reason for it and once you read the book you’ll find out why. These two gave each other a run for their money. These two fought hard for their happily ever after. There was bl**d, sweat and tears. If you’re looking for revenge, healing, good banter and love this is the book for you. It was a good book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC Review- Book received from author. Please know that all reviews posted are my opinion and the source of the book does not influence my review or opinion of the book. The revenge plot was very intriguing to me and that was the main pull for me to want to read it. It was well written and the plot was not lost part way through which I appreciated. It was a strong plot and carried the story and characters well. I have not read the other books in the series so don’t let that be a deterrent from picking up this one if you haven’t read them. Based on this book, I would pick up others in the series. The FMC, Anna, is well written, has motive and is stronger than she thinks. The MMC, Nico, comes off as a bit autistic, obsessive, while it doesn’t always work in an MMC it works for this one. Please note that this is a dark mafia romance and there are several dark themes in this book. Some readers may be triggered by some of the themes or scenes and I recommend reading the author’s trigger list at the beginning of the book to see if it’s right for you before you begin reading. Overall, I would recommend this book to others, especially those who enjoy mafia romance stories!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This dark mafia romance is packed with suspense, secrets, danger and spice and a morally grey, tortured mafia MMC.
My Synopsis:
Anna is seeking revenge on the men who killed her father in front of her eyes. With one down and two more to go, she heads to New York to work as a maid for Nico, one of the men on her list. Nico’s guilt consumes him, so when Anna arrives with his death as her goal, he isn’t going to fight it. Deciding to enjoy something he has desired for 11 years, he creates a game that will give them both what they they want. Only it may be end up that both of them will loose it all in the end.
My Thoughts:
Nico’s guilt over killing his mentor overshadows everything in his life and creates a dark, brooding, dangerous character. Anna is consumed by revenge, and it has not only cost her her memories but also all the things she use to find pleasure in. The heartbreak of both of these characters made me want to hug them and make it all better. I love that in the end what appears to be the thing that will destroy them actually pulls them together.
The plot has several twists and as secrets are unveiled you begin to see the larger picture and grow to love both characters dearly. Nico’s obsession with his little assassin knows no bounds from buying things from her childhood home and having his home decorated in a way he knew she would love to remembering her favorite color and the bathing suit she wore when he saw her on the beach. Whether obsession or love, the more you learn, the more you fall for all that is Nico Martello. If you love yearning, slow burn, forced marriage, a MMC who will unalive anyone that touches or looks at his FMC in a romance born out of tragedy, I highly recommend this one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️
My Synopsis:
Anna is seeking revenge on the men who killed her father in front of her eyes. With one down and two more to go, she heads to New York to work as a maid for Nico, one of the men on her list. Nico’s guilt consumes him, so when Anna arrives with his death as her goal, he isn’t going to fight it. Deciding to enjoy something he has desired for 11 years, he creates a game that will give them both what they they want. Only it may be end up that both of them will loose it all in the end.
My Thoughts:
Nico’s guilt over killing his mentor overshadows everything in his life and creates a dark, brooding, dangerous character. Anna is consumed by revenge, and it has not only cost her her memories but also all the things she use to find pleasure in. The heartbreak of both of these characters made me want to hug them and make it all better. I love that in the end what appears to be the thing that will destroy them actually pulls them together.
The plot has several twists and as secrets are unveiled you begin to see the larger picture and grow to love both characters dearly. Nico’s obsession with his little assassin knows no bounds from buying things from her childhood home and having his home decorated in a way he knew she would love to remembering her favorite color and the bathing suit she wore when he saw her on the beach. Whether obsession or love, the more you learn, the more you fall for all that is Nico Martello. If you love yearning, slow burn, forced marriage, a MMC who will unalive anyone that touches or looks at his FMC in a romance born out of tragedy, I highly recommend this one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Review of advance copy received from Author
Hello? Are we okay? 11 years of yearning? Yeah that's hot. I love the plot of this book. You think having read hundreds of mafia romance, you will know how the plot of the book is? You're wrong! Sophia, this is the first book that I read in this series, and I am going to read more of your books. I love the writing, I love the characters, banter and the chemistry. Anna has one thing in mind, which was to get revenge. Anna did not know Nico even existed, but being a yearner only for her, Nico falls hard for her since a long time! You know what I find even hotter? Nico accepted his fate that she wants to end him because it will help her. Urgh I need that kind of man! Now! There is nothing that Nico won't let her do to him as long as it helps her. If thats not love, I don't want it. Oh and Nico counting the moles on Anna's legs? Yeah I'll be insecure as hell but if its Nico, I'll wear my shorts for him to count everyday 🤣 You want dark mafia romance with enemies to lovers and add revenge to the plot, I got the book for you! Please add this to your tbr and you won't regret it. In fact, bump this up to the top list on your tbr!
September 19, 2026
🎹Revenge On The Mafia - Sophia Raz
~Summary~
Anna’s world shattered when her Dad was killed in front of her eyes. Now 11 years later she finally crossed the killer’s threshold and infiltrated his house working as a maid. All Anna wants is to kill this ruthless monster.
Ruthless indeed, but having carried this guilt for 11 years Nico wants Anna to end his miserable life. He wants her to succeed and offers her the maddest deal of his entire life. Will Anna accept and get her revenge?
~My thoughts~
This book may be fast-paced but still carries a lot of depth. The emotional grip it had on me was astounding. My heart bled for those two lost souls. Anna is one feisty woman which made the banter so much better. :) Nico is such a closed up person and Anna seems to breathe some life back into him. I devoured this!
If you love emotionally grey characters and a deep love that comes close to obsession, this one’s for you!
•Revenge on the Mafia is the standalone book 4 of the Coda Nostra Chronicles.•
I thank the author Sophia Raz for sending me her ARC. This was so worth it and I’m not done, I still have book 2 and 3 to read! Aaannd book 5👀
~Summary~
Anna’s world shattered when her Dad was killed in front of her eyes. Now 11 years later she finally crossed the killer’s threshold and infiltrated his house working as a maid. All Anna wants is to kill this ruthless monster.
Ruthless indeed, but having carried this guilt for 11 years Nico wants Anna to end his miserable life. He wants her to succeed and offers her the maddest deal of his entire life. Will Anna accept and get her revenge?
~My thoughts~
This book may be fast-paced but still carries a lot of depth. The emotional grip it had on me was astounding. My heart bled for those two lost souls. Anna is one feisty woman which made the banter so much better. :) Nico is such a closed up person and Anna seems to breathe some life back into him. I devoured this!
If you love emotionally grey characters and a deep love that comes close to obsession, this one’s for you!
•Revenge on the Mafia is the standalone book 4 of the Coda Nostra Chronicles.•
I thank the author Sophia Raz for sending me her ARC. This was so worth it and I’m not done, I still have book 2 and 3 to read! Aaannd book 5👀
September 23, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the premise of this one, especially having the FMC be the one seeking revenge. That immediately made the story feel a little different, and I was drawn in pretty quickly.
One thing that almost threw me off was the prologue being written in third person when the rest of the book is first person. I’m not a fan of third-person narration at all, so if I hadn’t known ahead of time that it switched, there’s a good chance I would’ve stopped after the prologue. I’m glad I kept going, though, because the story itself hooked me.
My biggest issue was the writing style. There are a LOT of descriptive words… honestly more than I ever thought I’d complain about… and some of the phrasing felt unusual or awkward to me. The sentence structure also had a very clipped, almost staccato rhythm at times, which made the prose feel less natural and occasionally pulled me out of the story.
That said, I still liked the overall plot and enjoyed the revenge angle enough that the writing quirks didn’t ruin the book for me. It was an interesting story with a premise I really liked, and overall I’m glad I read it.
I really enjoyed the premise of this one, especially having the FMC be the one seeking revenge. That immediately made the story feel a little different, and I was drawn in pretty quickly.
One thing that almost threw me off was the prologue being written in third person when the rest of the book is first person. I’m not a fan of third-person narration at all, so if I hadn’t known ahead of time that it switched, there’s a good chance I would’ve stopped after the prologue. I’m glad I kept going, though, because the story itself hooked me.
My biggest issue was the writing style. There are a LOT of descriptive words… honestly more than I ever thought I’d complain about… and some of the phrasing felt unusual or awkward to me. The sentence structure also had a very clipped, almost staccato rhythm at times, which made the prose feel less natural and occasionally pulled me out of the story.
That said, I still liked the overall plot and enjoyed the revenge angle enough that the writing quirks didn’t ruin the book for me. It was an interesting story with a premise I really liked, and overall I’m glad I read it.
September 2, 2026
Wow oh wow!
This is one of the best mafia books I have read in a long time.
I have read the first 3 books in the series however you do not need to do so to thoroughly enjoy this book!
This book is the perfect balance between plot and spice, I sometimes find that in mafia books it can become a little bit repetitive with the storyline however this one was incredible!
We have the MMC Nico who is the son of the Don and 11 years ago he was involved in the death of a family man and he carried the responsibility heavy on his shoulders.
The FMC Anna was a daddy’s girl and idolised him until one day the mafia took her from him right in front of her eyes changing the trajectory of her life forever! She had one thing on her mind and one thing only and that was revenge. She wanted to track down the men responsible and avenge his death.
We’ve got a possessive MMC who quite literally gives off touch her and die vibes!
Forced marriage contract which I absolutely love.
Enemies to lovers which was just so deliciously well written!
This book was brilliant I give it 4.5 ⭐️ and 3.5🌶️
If you love a dark mafia romance this book is 100% worth the read!
This is one of the best mafia books I have read in a long time.
I have read the first 3 books in the series however you do not need to do so to thoroughly enjoy this book!
This book is the perfect balance between plot and spice, I sometimes find that in mafia books it can become a little bit repetitive with the storyline however this one was incredible!
We have the MMC Nico who is the son of the Don and 11 years ago he was involved in the death of a family man and he carried the responsibility heavy on his shoulders.
The FMC Anna was a daddy’s girl and idolised him until one day the mafia took her from him right in front of her eyes changing the trajectory of her life forever! She had one thing on her mind and one thing only and that was revenge. She wanted to track down the men responsible and avenge his death.
We’ve got a possessive MMC who quite literally gives off touch her and die vibes!
Forced marriage contract which I absolutely love.
Enemies to lovers which was just so deliciously well written!
This book was brilliant I give it 4.5 ⭐️ and 3.5🌶️
If you love a dark mafia romance this book is 100% worth the read!
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