Pride, Prejudice and the Bratva

Darkest Vows #1

by O.S. Feathers

ELENA

I was late to my own wedding—because I was saving a child from certain death. My fiancé didn’t care.

He waited at the altar until I finally walked up, thinking everything was normal, expecting we were about to exchange vows. But instead of love, he grabbed the microphone and publicly declared the end of our engagement, shattering me and humiliating me in front of everyone.

The child I saved tried to cheer me up, promising he would get me a groom. And that’s when the most dangerous man in the city appeared: Ruslan Baranov—mafia boss, scarred, terrifying… and the boy’s father.

From his cold stare, I knew the truth: he hated this arrangement. He didn’t want me. He despised me.

Our marriage was nothing like a fairy tale.
He accused me of killing his pregnant late wife and their unborn child, punishing me in ways I could never have imagined.
Every touch, every word, every glance was laced with accusation. He would whisper her name in my ear as he claimed me, comparing me to her at every turn—mocking my failures, reminding me of what I could never be.
Every attempt to escape was met with his wrath. Until finally, his fury sent me to prison.
He didn’t know I was pregnant, barely holding on to the life inside me, teetering on the edge of miscarriage. And still, he claimed it was the least punishment I deserved.



RUSLAN

When my five-year-old son called, insisting I put on my best suit and come immediately, I obeyed without hesitation. For him, I would do anything.

I walked into an arranged wedding, and there she was. Elena. Curvy, defiant, trembling… the same woman who had saved my son, the same shadow I had hunted for years, accused of killing my pregnant wife and unborn child.

She would be my bride whether I wanted it or not.

The rage that had built for years boiled over. I made her my penance—every glance, every touch, every whispered word of my late wife’s name a blade against her.

Every failed escape she attempted only fueled my fury.

I burned her mother’s ashes at her feet and sent her to prison. I did it for my late wife and the child I never got to hold.

And yet, beneath it all, a storm raged I couldn’t control. She haunted my thoughts—the way she looked at my son, the way she had saved him from death, the way she endured my cruelty without breaking entirely.
Nine months later, when the truth finally came out and I ordered her release, Elena returned with nothing but silence.
“I’m sorry,” I said hoarsely, chasing her down. “I’ll do anything to make it up.”

My assistant’s voice was grave. “Sir… she… she lost her voice in prison. And… the baby… it’s gone. They say it was an accident.”

She was pregnant?
Before I could even call her name, she was gone—taken by her brothers.
Only after she was gone did I find her diaries—pages soaked with loneliness, quiet yearning, and tear-stained confessions of love she had never stopped feeling for me. Words about our nights, our fights… and the secret she never got to tell me.

She was pregnant.

With my child.

And I had sent her to prison.

The realization gutted me. I searched cities, countries, borders—screaming her name into the night, desperate to make her forgive me.

For the first time in years, the cold, untouchable mafia boss came undone—begging, bleeding, and chasing the only woman who ever loved him.

Could I ever be worthy of her again? Or had I already burned the last of what she once felt for me?

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 21, 2026

About the author

O.S Feathers writes dark, twisty love stories about morally questionable men and the fierce, brilliant women who bring them to their knees, sometimes literally. She has a soft spot for arranged marriages, possessive antiheroes, and heroines who know how to shoot or at least threaten with style.

She drinks too much coffee, lives for slow-burn tension, and has never met a knife-to-throat scene she didn’t love. When she’s not writing, she’s probably researching obscure Russian swear words, rewriting a spicy chapter for the third time, or convincing her characters that therapy is not, in fact, the enemy.

If you like your love stories messy, dangerous, and just a little unhinged, she’s got you.

Reviews

[Jacqueline Branche · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m confused.

I have no idea what I just read. None of it makes sense. She was deaf, but could hear half the time? I don’t know. I’m extremely confused off the whole thing. I feel like a story with such trauma and pain should be written with more sense and clarity than this.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of things that does not line up in this book. It was a little hard for me to get through because a lot didn't make sense to me. One thing that was weird is sisters with the same name? Elena Sr. And Elena Jr. I find that weird.

Yannis was mute after his mom was murdered but when Ruslan married Elena jr, his voice came back and all of a sudden he's some child prodigy who goes on shows and TV interviews? 😑😑😑

Also, she admits she might be in love with Ruslan after just meeting him 48 hours ago?! And in that same short time frame, Yannis asks her to make him something to eat, she goes and does that and gets snacks with weird little shapes and thinks; “this is perfect because Yannis loves whimsical things” umm you literally just met the kid 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Then at the end, Elena Jr is released from prison after Ruslan frame her and puts her in there for 9 months and comes to a realization he loves her and he fucked up but she now has people, "the Voss brothers" looking out for her? Where were they when she was homeless, working shitty jobs and sleeping in horrible places just to survive? Where the heck did they all of sudden pop out from!? 🤦🏻‍♀️ ugh, idk. I don't plan on continuing on to the next book when it releases.

[Augustine · Rating 1 out of 5]

My gooddd the continuity error in this book is astonishing. The first few chapters, sure, I ignored it. But up until the end?? It's like every chapter was written by a different person. And every chapter it's like the character is suddenly a different person because of their never ending personality shift. So many scenes didn't make sense and add up. I honestly don't know how I managed to finish this. I now have a hunch this was written by AI

[Owetu Samantha Jabavu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely a good read for me,I won't lie it definitely 90% healed my reading slump, and I'm in the mood to start reading more again.
Spoiler or advice, this book ends on a cliffhanger, and there's another one coming.
This book is one of the booktok recommendations, and I liked it. I definitely liked the whole storyline with Elena and Ruslan. Even though I hated Ruslan for not believing her about the truth,I also kind of understood him. What Elena endured in that prison is nothing but horrible, and I want her to take her time with forgiveness in the next book. My only issue with this book was that it had long chapters, and it also kind repeated a lot of events,but if you are someone who loves slowburn dark mafia romance then this is a good book for you.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really confused. She went from having a stutter and being deaf to no stutter and can hear properly. Plus the kids age changed multiple times. Ruslans last name was wrong at one point which makes me wonder if it was copied from somewhere else

[Kaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

He is such a piece of shit, legit ruined her life and the has the nerve to cry at the end. Poor girl she just wanted to be loved and he just abused her.

Also there was way too many plot holes going on.

[Emma Cousins · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was potential with the plot but there is no rhyme or reason with the storyline, characters appearing out if nowhere, other characters that played a main role disappearing and never mentioned again. No reason for any actions taken by her family. The blurb basically gives you the whole story. The was no consistency either. The least of the issues was the sisters sharing a name - is that a thing?

[Michaela Lalonde · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 57%

Um. I did check the acknowledgements and the author does thank her editors and beta readers. I fear as though maybe we should have had one or two more of those review this book before it was published.

Here’s the deal, if we had simplified the plot line just a touch and double checked the continuity, I think this could have actually been a banger. I’m not totally seeing the parallels to pride and prejudice, and the MMC seems more Greek mafia than bratva but maybe that becomes clearer later on.

Unfortunately, when there are large continuity errors/ lack of fact checking with a story it really takes you out of the world and then makes the minor issues quite glaring.

For example, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the car going to and from the wedding somehow morphing from a lambo to a ‘rari but I was already trying to figure out the time line since Elena would have been 16 when she was some how in this black site weirdo CIA group. Sure, this is explained later with the whole Elena SR, Elena JR thing. However if you were using the duplicate naming convention within a family, it’s very common for siblings to use their middle name to avoid confusion.

I don’t even want to touch Elena (JR)’s life story with a ten foot pole. First of all, this girl is one of the most unlucky son of a biscuits I’ve ever seen. Second of all, holy cannoli there is literally no continuity about anything regarding her hearing loss or speech. Somehow a random doctor at the clinic can perfectly confirm her previous diagnosis her after asking two yes or no questions. This entire sub plot was very clearly not researched by the author, editor, or beta team and holy smokes it shows.

Also Ruslan? Oof. His timeline is so close to lining up but is off by a hair. I’m half way through the book and I honestly feel like I know nothing about who he is. We know he’s motivated by revenge and all, but that’s kind of… it? I am DNF’ing before the whole groveling arc though so you’ll get a better vibe later on.

Here’s the deal. The author does actually seem to have a decent tone when writing a story and I did want to keep going but just couldn’t tough it out. They’ve clearly got a lot of great ideas that are all trying to spill on the page. If this book was re-edited, I’d reattempt it. But as is, this one is a doozy.

[Margerm, Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book taught me a lesson. A book can be recommended for a trope but that doesn't mean that it is well written. From the first chapter it was obvious to me that I would have to suspend belief in order to follow the story which by the way ends on a cliffhanger.
The H, the h's sister, and his own sister are the only three remaining of the group of 21 who were assigned to capture and/or kill a powerful crime warlord. They walk into a trap and are captured. After prolonged captivity, the tortured H overthrows the warlord and takes his place. Ten years after his capture, he still searches for the h's sister to avenge the death of his sister and also believes she was responsible for the murder of his wife and unborn child. Then the story becomes even more far fetched. The h is deaf and living in poverty but set to marry in alliance with another Mafia family so that she can access her inheritance. She is wearing her wedding gown and taking a taxi to the church when she rescues a young boy, the H's son, from two thugs who are trying to kidnap him. She takes the boy to the church with her to save time but she arrives too late. The groom announces a postponement. The boy phones his dad, the H, and tells him to dress up and come to the church. The boy is trying to give the h a groom for her wedding. The h and H get married.
Examples of ???? The h describes her hearing loss and use of hearing aids but also describes the murmurs in the church. The h is barefoot, then shoes are described, then she's barefoot again. The H is in a mansion in California and has two elephants. Six foster brothers show up out of the blue when at no time was it shared that the h was in foster care.
The H was distant, cold and beyond cruel to the h so it is an example of that trope, one that I love reading but there's just too much that seems ridiculous.

[Valentina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was probably written by AI because there were so many inconsistencies.
Why would you tell the entire story in the prologue? Like... why?
The first chapters were actually quite nice, building a female protagonist with hearing issues. It was clearly stated that she couldn't hear and relied mostly on lip-reading... but then, halfway through the book, she could suddenly hear music and talk normally? The expensive hearing aids that were supposed to be hurting her, the ones she rarely used, just disappeared?
One question left unanswered was whether she had been trained by the CIA. The more she tells her story, the less the timing makes sense. She was supposed to be poor, and the one with CIA training was her sister, not her; yet, somehow she was able to handle two grown men to save Yannin.
The first chapters were almost decent: nice storytelling, fear, and action. But everything after that made no sense. Why was Yannin no longer mentioned in the final chapters? Wasn't he supposed to be really attached to Elena? Come on. And suddenly, Roslan loved Elena? One thing I didn't like is that Elena suffered an excessive amount of misfortune, to the point where it wasn't pitiful anymore,it was just absurd!
Phrases that make me believe this was AI written:
- "Then I looked at him, really looked at him"
- "Something shifted inside him, something dark"

[zearcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

La sinopsis del libro tenía potencial. Mi problema al leerlo fue la estructuración. Mientras leía me tomó mucho tiempo el estar averiguando si lo que había leído era correcto, pues la edad de Elena no me cuadraba con los tiempos. Después se descubre que eran dos hermanas que se llaman igual. El uso excesivo de los recuerdos. Entiendo que si quieres traer algo al presente en forma de recuerdos es válido, pero varias escenas eran necesarias redactarlas en la línea temporal (la escena donde tienen sexo la única vez, la traen en forma de recuerdo, cuando hubiera sido bueno que lo incluyeran en la narración de la historia para agarrarle un poco de cariño al MMC, por qué ni cómo defenderlo si lo único que narran es la forma horrible en que la trata) . Lo demás que me causó malestar es el hecho de sacar personajes de la manga solo para resolver ciertas situaciones y que luego desaparecen. ¿La escena del elefante? ¿Los hermanos perdidos que aparecen al final? Dejaron que se muriera de hambre 10 años, que la metieran en prisión y ¿y llegan a salvarla de la nada al final? Son muchas situaciones que en la edición y corrección del libro pudieron haber pulido. No leeré la continuación =/

[Jada G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book took me everywhere and nowhere and back to everywhere. I feel it had so much potential, but I got completely lost in it, and not in a good way. Changing characteristics, awkward time jumps, some characters not being mentioned again, or even some being brought up for the very first time when you’re already about 96% into the book. Elephants… yes, elephants. It was just an awkward read, sadly felt like a complete waste of time, and then, to top it off, a cliffhanger. Suppose you could call it that. So much and so little happened that it just left me reeling. I felt the summary was written better than the book itself. Just not good.

[Debleena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh hell naw, if the author even tries to redeem this utter loathsome piece of dirt, then the author herself deserves to end up in a jail. Ruslan should and must die a brutal humiliating painful death, only then can this utter cluster fuck of a story have an iota of being good. If the FMC ends up back with Ruslan then yup I will pray for the author the land up in jail, because wtf was this book. It was like the author herself had some big big personal grudge of infinite proportions for the FMC.

[Reba Densley · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!

Elena has been through so much and you feel it the whole way through. And the little boy she connected with instantly was just the cutest. Then you have Ruslan who knows loss but he came out meaner. He shows that sometimes revenge over powers everything.

[Reba Densley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elena has been through so much and you feel it the whole way through. And the little boy she connected with instantly was just the cutest. Then you have Ruslan who knows loss but he came out meaner. He shows that sometimes revenge over powers everything.

[Aurora Ivy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such an asshole man. He knows she's innocent but still want to tortured and put her in the fuckin prison. She's broken asf, she's deaf and temporarily mute and also lost her child???!!! Wtf- I'm glad the book ended like tht but you tell me there's second book??!!

[Fathi MYHKSKPG (heylittlesiren) · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmm

So so read. Was so excited after reading the teaser on tktok but it fell flat. Too long chapter and some parts jump into another part. There’s barely background for the charactes. Some of the characters suddenly appears and dissapear. Could’ve been better.

[Britany | SouthernAsianReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll read anything with Pride and Prejudice in the title…that was a mistake this time. This story goes completely off the rails. It’s like a train wreck that you can’t look away from. Sadly the ending was so out there, I might get book two to see what happens.

[Olaya Blanco · Rating 2 out of 5]

me encanta esta autora porque efectivamente me demuestra que los hombres poderosos siempre quieren algo y el drak romance de este tipo es DARK ROMANCE de verdad sin romance

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Urgh

Another nothing book. This point in starting to think it's just money spinning rage bait....to write entire books that could be a chapter for how little happens.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't know it would end on a cliffhanger

There is a lot of inner monologue and also flashes of the past. I wanted more action than telling .

[Misha GUPTA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think they all give it way on description let’s see what happens next

[Anne-Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Gratiana Serban · Rating 2 out of 5]

Possibly one of the worst books I have read but it’s intriguing and I probably will read the next books 🙂

Also Elena is such a sweetheart I feel so bad for her 💔

[taz · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am convinced this was written by AI, it was THAT bad

[poppy smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a mess

Storyline is a mess with the FMC switching between being mute and death and being fine. It lacks depth. The 2nd book is coming out, it will not be on my tbr