Vengeance: (A Dark MC Streetfighter Mafia Romance)

by Mea Marco

The night it rained, the ring went quiet and Poison learned how fast a life can be stolen. Now the Queen of the Quarry is hunting truths in a city that wants her dead, forging uneasy alliances and drawing lines in blood. What she craves is answers. What it costs is everything.

Dragged deeper into New York–New Jersey’s underworld, Poison is offered power with strings, loyalty with teeth, and a love that cuts as sharp as a blade. Streetfights, backroom deals, and whispered betrayals pull her across docks and neon-lit alleys as old ghosts surface—along with the secrets that made her. She’s been forged in violence, baptized by loss, and crowned in rage…but even a weapon can start to bleed.

Read in order for maximum
Retaliation (Book 1) → Vengeance (Book 2). This series shares a living, breathing underworld with Shay Stone’s Mafia Crown—each stands on its own, but the scars run across both timelines. Two series. One underworld.

ExpectA brutal, streetfighting heroine who refuses to break

Knife-edge, high-heat dark romance

Mafia politics, found family, and hard choices

Grit, obsession, vengeance

Content NoteThis is a dark romance. It contains numerous triggers and explicit content; please check the author’s trigger guidance before reading. Your mental health matters.

Welcome back to Poison’s world. It only gets darker from here.

Genres: Dark Romance

479 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2025

Reviews

[Shay Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Okay, listen. Retaliation wrecked me. I thought I knew what I was signing up for when I cracked open Vengeance—turns out, I did not. Mea Marco really said: “oh you’re breathing? not for long, sweetheart.” She also apologizes in advance and i feel i need a hug!

This book is chaos in the best way—blood, betrayal, obsession, rage, grief, lust, all of it braided so tight you can’t stop turning the pages. Poison is still the best bad ass babe we all want.

There’s this one knife scene (if you’ve read it, you KNOW 👀) that had me wheezing into my pillow at 2 a.m.

If you thought Retaliation was dark, Vengeance drags you further into the shadows. It’s gritty, it’s brutal, it’s heartbreak wrapped in leather and blood, and I wouldn’t survive in this world for five minutes but I LIVE for every second Poison does.

This series is hands down my favorite dark romance right now. Mea Marco doesn’t just give you a story—she gives you scars.

[LuLu · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
3 🌶

ARC REVIEW

Poison will sharpen her knives, kick your ass, and thank you for the foreplay. 💪🏻

Enter Ruthless --> and into a puddle I went... The tension between them is unholy. 🤌🏻 He'd watch the world burn, just to keep her warm. 🔥🖤

This book had me clenching my jaw with betrayal, tension, yearning, banter, mystery, gut punches, and VENGEANCE 💀

Watching Poison unravel had me on the edge of my seat. I wanted to be her cheerleader, friend, and therapist all at once.

But uhm Mea? We need to talk about that ending!? 👀 Next time, at least kiss the brick before throwing it.. 🥹

*stomps feet like a toddler mid-tantrum* I want MORE 😫 I need more. (please and thank you) 🤭

[Juandre Botha · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!! Just wow. I don't have the right amount of words to explain the amount of emotions this book brought me. A roller-coaster is not even close enough.
The way the underground pulled poison in and the chooses she had to make to keep the people she loved safe, every choose she made had a consequence but she fought bald in hand, fists to flesh to come out on top and find the answers she was looking, batterd and bruised but not broken.
The way the new characters brings in light into a dark situation and giving her the silent strength to go on and be the boss lady she neede to be.

[Lucinda Vermeulen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vengeance is everything a sequel should be: deeper, darker, and more devastating. It trades some of the raw adrenaline of Retaliation for psychological intensity, but the payoff is worth it. Watching Poison unravel is heart breaking and addictive, you want to shake her, hug her, and follow her straight into the abyss.
If you enjoyed Retaliation, prepare yourself… this one cuts even closer to the bone.

[Tammie Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vengeance kept me breathless! To be as strong as Poison! Looking forward to your next book and Poison’s next mind blowing discovery. Loved, loved, loved this book.

[Melissa Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God!!!! I thought Retaliation pulled me in. Vengeance dragged me in, yanked me through plot twists left and right. So many my mind is blown. And another cliffhanger, What!!!!! I need book 3 pronto!!!!

[Darkdreamer01 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is pure chaos and I LOVED every second. Forget sleep, forget sanity...
Vengeance had me glued to the page.

What got me the most wasn’t just the fights (though those had me hyped), it was the EMOTIONS. Poison’s grief? Her rage? Her loyalty to the people she loves even when it destroys her?
Gut wrenching. I felt every punch she threw and every heartbreak she swallowed.

The way ppl shows up for her, the tension, the quiet moments between the storms—it wrecked me harder than any fight scene.

Thank you Mea, true fan for life!
I cannot wait for book 3

It was just so, so, sooo well written!

[the_chronicles_of_charnia · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review

4 ⭐️
2.5 🌶

first of all, let me just say that I am a sucker for metaphors, and Mea Marco uses them beautifully

Poison is back and I absolutely lived for her! I felt every ounce of pain, grief and heartache she experienced.

Sometimes I did feel that she is a bit superhuman and unrealistic but I still love a bad ass FMC and that is exactly what you will find in Poison.

I fell in love with Saffa. He is just 👌🏼 Give me more please.

Vengeance was the perfect sequel and I do suggest you read it directly after Retaliation as I had a bit of a struggle remembering all of the characters.

[iky reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dived straight into this sequel having loved book 1 so much and boy was I not disappointed. A lot deeper, a lot darker this sequel was everything it should be and more. I loved the growth of the FMC and the twist of the MMC.

I had all kinds of emotions with this book, at one stage I was so overwhelmed with all the characters and plot development I had to take a breather. Once I picked it up again, being sucked back in instantly with every page unpredictable and a total rollercoaster.

This is part of a series so the story is not over, book 3 cannot come fast enough.

A must read!

[Janusha Rambally Moonsamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything was about to be taken.... Now you get to discover what it was and what she does about it.
This book is fast-paced, laced with Dangerous Edge. Nothing is as it seems and that makes Poison... LETHAL. She is consumed and in turmoil but Queen She Is and Queen She Remains.
Mea Marco ends the book with her signature "PUNCH IN THE FACE" so Expect it... Look forward to it... Book 3 is the only salvation..

[Nics · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really should be illegal to end a book like that!😭🤣 The cliffhanger was hanging.🤌🏻🫠

But back to serious business, this was a wild ride. Let me introduce you to the strongest, in will, and maybe physical as well, FMC. She is really going through the most. I was exhausted on her behalf. But I love her.

Then I spat out my coffee when that gorgeous Calvin Saffa spoke an Afrikaans word in between sentences. That was honestly the best part for me. I devoured that.

The knife scene, yes, uhm. 😮‍💨 Although I wasn’t routing for that man, it was something!🔥

On an extremely serious note, I need more of the Saffa, please, I need it, like breathing!

I love whatever is going on in your mind Mea Marco, because the plot!👌🏻🖤✔️

Thank you for sharing it with me. I’m going to be waiting so impatiently for the next book, then I’m going to grab it with both arms. 👏🏻🙂‍↕️

[Rose Pretorius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really excited for this ARC when I got it and it was really hard for me to wait as obviously can only read one book at at time.

VENGEANCE....Don't even know where to start with describing this book, it had my head literally spinning with all the ups and downs of poison's life.

The Anger, grief, betrayal and of course love. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole book through.The chaos that is poison spoke to me.

I would just like to say thanks to author Mea Marco for this ARC and am grateful for having had an opportunity to read the second book of this series as well

Can't wait to see what happens next
I live for the crazy 🤪

[Iliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It was an amazing dark romance. It pulled emotions from me that I was not expecting. Obsession, lust, rage, and betrayal are intertwined to take you on a rollercoaster that you don't want to get off of. If you haven't read it, you are missing out.

[Tiffany Loots · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. GOD. This book straight up ate me alive. Retaliation had me shook, but Vengeance?? Nah, this one dragged me into the gutter and LEFT me there.

Poison is a savage queen, HUGE PLOT TWIST!
And the betrayals??? I was SCREAMING. Full feral.

And THE KNIFE SCENE. I can’t even. I will never recover. Sexy. Violent. Unhinged. 10/10 would sell my soul to reread it fresh.

This isn’t romance dipped in sugar, it’s blood, trauma, lust, and rage. It’s exactly why I love dark romance. Mea Marco, you evil genius you, thank you for ruining me. 🖤

Where is book 3 ?!?!?!

[Shannon Alderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic read! The tension? Phenomenal 🤭 she’s such a badass I just love her. I didn’t think book 1 could be topped but I was wrong!

[Kate Pazanin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark mafia romance with plenty of grit and underground danger. Poison’s fight for revenge continues, but the pacing felt uneven and some parts dragged for me. Still, the chemistry and brutality kept me turning pages.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - simply cause I can't get this out of my head, I am updating.
🌶️🌶️🌶️

"I'm planning your murder. Different thing."

"Because she knew the truth she refused to say out loud: a man could return a hundred times and it still wouldn't matter if he never learned how to stay."

We are back in in Poison’s world. After a tragic end to book one, we return to where Poison is unravelling and she no longer finds peace in the warmth of her crew and nomad friends.

Her world has come undone. She has more questions than answers and nothing is making sense.

I absolutely loved the ride you are taken in this book.

Poison is a bad ass fighter, she will punch and stab first before asking questions.

And we have a new fighter - Please welcome Ruthless - the untamed tension we have there with the South African Sass, was just so worth it.

But seriously, Mea, can we talk about these endings.

When is the next one? how long must we stew for until we have answers. 🥺

[Christie Wilcox]

&& the story continues… need more !

[Ester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This damm series had me screaming Miss Mea.
I was angry and sad, I cried and laugh,
the plot is awesome, well written.. you have smut and also a history.
Even if you take out the spicy 🔥 is so good, I fell in love and out of love with all the characters and then some.. it was just too good. .
The characters got me involved and wishing for a book just for them.

This is a 10/10 book if you are looking for a FMC that is a Baddie and needs no one and takes no crap from no men/woman.. and does not give us and lives for her own, you need to read this books..

You will love and get exasperated with Miss Poison and her temper.

I have question, so many questions.. hopping for a new book to get them answer ..

[Avasha Lochan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow ....Another fantastic book in the Poison universe and im already craving book 3 ...

The amount of drama that can happen in a single book takes my breath away.

This second installment of the Poision verse really was something ..again everything just flowed from one thing to the next and the author's writing. ...I just cant get over it .

all I can say is this is definitely another 5 star because of how much I personally enjoyed it ...the Spice level on this one I'd say is around a 2 to 3 .

Do yourself a favor and read the Poison verse...thank me later or scream either one .

[Sarjxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS 🌟

This book by Mea Marco is an emotional, dark rollercoaster that had me hooked from start to finish. Following a badass FMC who’s determined to get answers while figuring out who she can truly rely on, this story grips you with intensity and never lets go.

I felt like I was on a whirlwind of emotions the entire time... one minute I was tense and anxious, the next completely in awe of her strength and resilience. Poison (the FMC) stole the show for me. She’s strong-willed, unapologetic, and impossible not to root for, exactly the kind of heroine dark romance readers crave.

The quote that stuck with me most:
-“Trust someone,” he said. “Doesn’t have to be forever. Try tonight.”
It perfectly captures the raw, vulnerable edge that runs through this story.
There’s power, pain, and passion in every chapter, and even though it ends on a cliffhanger, it fits the tone of the story perfectly.

I wouldn’t change a thing. If you love dark romance, mafia undertones, or fiercely independent heroines, this one’s for you. It’s bold, addictive, and absolutely unforgettable.

Mea Marco I cannot wait for book 3.

[Sanri Du · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poison, oh Poison… you absolutely made the book, even more so than in the first one. Your strength, tenacity and way of being makes you one of the best FMC’s in dark romance.

Did I love the book?? Of course. I more than loved it. One of my favorite books of the year.

PS: be sure to check the TW’s.

[Danni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect vengeance to hit me as hard as it did, from the first chapter it just sucked me in.

Poison is so unapologetically raw, rather terrifyingly powerful as you watch her navigate through street fights, mafia politics and all the twisted loyalties that go along with it.

The romance isn't cute and sweet, it's like a storm unfolding... something completely destructive, obsessive, dangerous and messy in all the right ways.
Poison is the type who would burn the world down and you low-key want it to happen.

This is everything a dark romance lover could want.
This was a great read.

[Lientjie · Rating 5 out of 5]

She rose from the ashes of her own pain — a queen forged in blood and silence. 🖤
A haunted past, a love as dangerous as the life she built, and a soul that refuses to break.
This story isn’t just dark… it’s beautifully brutal.
Every page drips with power, passion, and pain — and I felt every heartbeat of it. ⚜️

[Meredith Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF just don’t like it. First book was ok and wanted to read this to see who it was but just don’t have it in me. There’s too many good books out there to waste my time on something I don’t like