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Darkest Vows #1
Pride, Prejudice and the Bratva
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?
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
846 people are currently reading
1807 people want to read
About the author
O.S. Feathers
15 books189 followersO.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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
January 26, 2026
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2026
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
January 23, 2026
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.
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.
February 3, 2026
This was honestly one of the worst books I’ve ever read. You might wonder why I finished it—pure curiosity to see just how bad it could get.
The timeline makes no sense, the math doesn’t add up, and some details are downright baffling. An elephant farm in Greece? Really? Add to that countless small inconsistencies that constantly pull you out of the story.
If this book was generated or heavily assisted by AI—and it certainly reads like it—then at the very least, the final result should have been properly proofread and edited. As it stands, it simply doesn’t make sense.
The timeline makes no sense, the math doesn’t add up, and some details are downright baffling. An elephant farm in Greece? Really? Add to that countless small inconsistencies that constantly pull you out of the story.
If this book was generated or heavily assisted by AI—and it certainly reads like it—then at the very least, the final result should have been properly proofread and edited. As it stands, it simply doesn’t make sense.
January 27, 2026
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"
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"
January 22, 2026
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
February 9, 2026
صراحة ما أعرف كيف هالكتاب اتنشر أصلا... الرواية عبارة عن فوضى بلا أي منطق وشخصيات تتغير من شابتر ل شابتر كأن كل واحد كاتبه شخص مختلف مش طبيعي إنسان يكون ما عندها تركيز لدرجة ذي كاتبه تفتح حدث تنط منه و تخليه مفتوح في شابتر لي قدامك تلقاها تكتب في شي ثاني تمام ونسيت الأحداث لي صارت متعاطيه كلور منتهي صلاحية وهي تكتب مستحيلتكون صاحيه...و المنطق معها مودع بطلة صماء تسمع فجأة ياسبحاااان الله طفل أبكم يصير عبقري يطلع في مقابلات تلفزيونية الله على المعجزات حتى الهنودة يخجلو يكتبو هيك شي وأعمار وأسماء تتبدل بدون أي تفسير كاتبه اذا معها زهايمر تصرحنا عادي...
الحبكة معدومة السرد و الأحداث عشوائية والعلاقات تتطور بسرعة مضحكة—وقعت في حبه بعد 48 ساعة تلقط أسرع من بلوثوت —طيب على أي أساس؟ شو المنيح يلي عمله لها هذاك الحثالة حتى تحبه من غير الإساءة؟؟ ولا شي حرفيا حتى التفاصيل الصغيرة مكتوبة بلا اي إحساس بالواقعية او الاحداث يلي تجرى اصلا الحاجات تصير عشان تصير وخلاص مالهاش معنى و منطق لا تقرا الكتاب ذا لازم تركن دماغك على جنب
نروح ل أبن الحرام بطل الأبطال روسلان —خسارة فيك الإسم— إنسان مسيء الكلب—ينظم ل قائمة رجال المعفنين يلي قرأتهم مع اخوه لوكا و مايسون... دمر حياة البطلة ومع ذلك له وجه يظهر و يتكلم ذا نفس حرام فيك يا واطي و لي يضحك الكاتبه تحاول تبرر له وكأن المطلوب مني نتعاطف معه خيييير؟ وترقع تصرفاته عشان نسامحه ونتقبل حبه المعفن .. تلميع للإساءة عند كاتبات الأجانب يدرس.
و بطلة إيلينا —الإسم هذا منحوس كل بطلاته ذليلات لاعندهم كرامة ولا عقل غباء ماشيلهم في دم — لي فيها يكفيها كنت راح انقدها وبطلت مش احترام لها وإنما أنا صدعت لذلك أرحم نفسي وأروح أنام🏃♀️🏃♀️
و شابتر من طوله أقرا دعاء سفر قبل ما ابدا وياريت بس كلام يصلح كلها حشو... نبذة نفسها كانت أكبر عملية احتيال مرت عليا مافي أي عمق يستحق ذكر الكتاب تحسه مكتوب على الواقف بدون تدقيق كيف دار نشر قبلت تنشره؟؟؟ خجلت أقول مكانه الوتباد لأنو كذا تصير إهانة للوتباد بصراحة إحتمال 99.9٪ كتاب مكتوب ب Ai —وأنا دائما صح —
الحبكة معدومة السرد و الأحداث عشوائية والعلاقات تتطور بسرعة مضحكة—وقعت في حبه بعد 48 ساعة تلقط أسرع من بلوثوت —طيب على أي أساس؟ شو المنيح يلي عمله لها هذاك الحثالة حتى تحبه من غير الإساءة؟؟ ولا شي حرفيا حتى التفاصيل الصغيرة مكتوبة بلا اي إحساس بالواقعية او الاحداث يلي تجرى اصلا الحاجات تصير عشان تصير وخلاص مالهاش معنى و منطق لا تقرا الكتاب ذا لازم تركن دماغك على جنب
نروح ل أبن الحرام بطل الأبطال روسلان —خسارة فيك الإسم— إنسان مسيء الكلب—ينظم ل قائمة رجال المعفنين يلي قرأتهم مع اخوه لوكا و مايسون... دمر حياة البطلة ومع ذلك له وجه يظهر و يتكلم ذا نفس حرام فيك يا واطي و لي يضحك الكاتبه تحاول تبرر له وكأن المطلوب مني نتعاطف معه خيييير؟ وترقع تصرفاته عشان نسامحه ونتقبل حبه المعفن .. تلميع للإساءة عند كاتبات الأجانب يدرس.
و بطلة إيلينا —الإسم هذا منحوس كل بطلاته ذليلات لاعندهم كرامة ولا عقل غباء ماشيلهم في دم — لي فيها يكفيها كنت راح انقدها وبطلت مش احترام لها وإنما أنا صدعت لذلك أرحم نفسي وأروح أنام🏃♀️🏃♀️
و شابتر من طوله أقرا دعاء سفر قبل ما ابدا وياريت بس كلام يصلح كلها حشو... نبذة نفسها كانت أكبر عملية احتيال مرت عليا مافي أي عمق يستحق ذكر الكتاب تحسه مكتوب على الواقف بدون تدقيق كيف دار نشر قبلت تنشره؟؟؟ خجلت أقول مكانه الوتباد لأنو كذا تصير إهانة للوتباد بصراحة إحتمال 99.9٪ كتاب مكتوب ب Ai —وأنا دائما صح —
February 7, 2026
why was the average chapter length THIRTY FUCKING PAGES
I DONT WANT TO BE READING THIRTY PAGES A CHAPTER??
also omg what kind of a plot even was this. I can't even describe how bad it was or point out specific parts because just the book as a whole is awful. it's a miracle that it was even published. the amount of random things thrown in are genuinely insane?? ALSO THERE ARE NO ELEPHANTS IN GREECE? A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH COULD HAVE SAVED A LOT OF CONFUSION
I DONT WANT TO BE READING THIRTY PAGES A CHAPTER??
also omg what kind of a plot even was this. I can't even describe how bad it was or point out specific parts because just the book as a whole is awful. it's a miracle that it was even published. the amount of random things thrown in are genuinely insane?? ALSO THERE ARE NO ELEPHANTS IN GREECE? A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH COULD HAVE SAVED A LOT OF CONFUSION
February 7, 2026
Let’s start off with good things:
• Idk I kinda liked the plot BUT ONLY AT THE START.
Now I can move on to everything that made me give this book 1 ⭐️, when I basically never give such low rating.
Be aware, there will be cursing and a lot of emotion in this review.🫡
1. Sisters have the same name..? That’s not how things work bby. I get it, she did it for the plot so readers at the start think that Elena that killed Amy is the same Elena at the wedding, ok, still wtf.
2. Mother’s name was also “senior”… umm babe, I know that this “tradition” was in family, but wouldn’t it make more sense if it was tradition from father’s side? Since the father was written as a shitty, power hungry, egoistical moron, shouldn’t the only family tradition they have, come from dad’s side?? I just don’t believe it the guy who decided to fake his death, kill his wife and just watch from sidelines how his daughter was molested, SA’d, would allow such ridiculous tradition.
3. Yannis. What fucked me up the most, at one point someone called him “Vanya”??? Umm.. what? If it was something like “Yan” I’d easily pass it as nickname but Vanya… girl bye.
4. The kid almost immediately bonded to Elena, yet after the nightmare scene he basically disappears? Yea no. He’s not mentioned in his father’s POV yet the plot line was that Ruslan loved his kid sooo much he would steal, kill and die for him… interesting.
5. The plot just DOESNT MAKE SENSE. Im sorry, but what the actual fuck???
6. Elena has NO LIVING FAMILY that she knows of, yet she comes out of the prison and suddenly she has “foster brotherS”??? Wtf? How the hell she gained brotherS while sitting in prison? Ok I can look over this if she didn’t know abt them, but SHE KNOWS THESE MEN AND WILLINGLY GOES OFF WITH THEM???? Goddamn family reunion in prison??
7. Uncle suddenly works at women’s prison? Isn’t he supposed to be wealthy??
8. Elena has basically no good memories about her life in America but GOD FORBID she gets to live in different country? That it will “delete her existence” girlie pop… WHAT EXISTENCE?!? Basically all your life has been shit and is STILL SHIT yet noooo don’t bring her to new country so she can make a new life for herself.
9. What the actual fuck was that scene at the graves??? It just DOESNT MAKE SENSE! Everything was okay..? Till her THERAPIST suddenly, out of nowhere, in the middle on nowhere (cuz let’s be real, you can’t dig several graves bring a unconscious girl there, have a whole scene with yelling, thrashing, etc, etc, in the middle of fucking city) shows up and believe it or not CARES ABOUT HER, after the shit he did. Im calling bullshit right here.
10. Dude works for America, kills Greek mafioso, overtakes GREEK MAFIA and yet this shot is called “pride, prejudice and The BRATVA” the only shit that came from Bratva was his name, tf?? Even his son’s name didn’t scream Russian till my guy gets called “Vanya” out of nowhere.
I will stop here, but believe me when I say, there r more fucked up shit in this book, but I’m not about to write a better and longer review then the book I’m reviewing.😤
If you got this far in this review, thank you for reading my rant. Read at your own risk. I most likely won’t be reading the next book, cuz you cant save a dumpster fire.
If you want a continuation to this rant I have MORE, ask away.😘
• Idk I kinda liked the plot BUT ONLY AT THE START.
Now I can move on to everything that made me give this book 1 ⭐️, when I basically never give such low rating.
Be aware, there will be cursing and a lot of emotion in this review.🫡
1. Sisters have the same name..? That’s not how things work bby. I get it, she did it for the plot so readers at the start think that Elena that killed Amy is the same Elena at the wedding, ok, still wtf.
2. Mother’s name was also “senior”… umm babe, I know that this “tradition” was in family, but wouldn’t it make more sense if it was tradition from father’s side? Since the father was written as a shitty, power hungry, egoistical moron, shouldn’t the only family tradition they have, come from dad’s side?? I just don’t believe it the guy who decided to fake his death, kill his wife and just watch from sidelines how his daughter was molested, SA’d, would allow such ridiculous tradition.
3. Yannis. What fucked me up the most, at one point someone called him “Vanya”??? Umm.. what? If it was something like “Yan” I’d easily pass it as nickname but Vanya… girl bye.
4. The kid almost immediately bonded to Elena, yet after the nightmare scene he basically disappears? Yea no. He’s not mentioned in his father’s POV yet the plot line was that Ruslan loved his kid sooo much he would steal, kill and die for him… interesting.
5. The plot just DOESNT MAKE SENSE. Im sorry, but what the actual fuck???
6. Elena has NO LIVING FAMILY that she knows of, yet she comes out of the prison and suddenly she has “foster brotherS”??? Wtf? How the hell she gained brotherS while sitting in prison? Ok I can look over this if she didn’t know abt them, but SHE KNOWS THESE MEN AND WILLINGLY GOES OFF WITH THEM???? Goddamn family reunion in prison??
7. Uncle suddenly works at women’s prison? Isn’t he supposed to be wealthy??
8. Elena has basically no good memories about her life in America but GOD FORBID she gets to live in different country? That it will “delete her existence” girlie pop… WHAT EXISTENCE?!? Basically all your life has been shit and is STILL SHIT yet noooo don’t bring her to new country so she can make a new life for herself.
9. What the actual fuck was that scene at the graves??? It just DOESNT MAKE SENSE! Everything was okay..? Till her THERAPIST suddenly, out of nowhere, in the middle on nowhere (cuz let’s be real, you can’t dig several graves bring a unconscious girl there, have a whole scene with yelling, thrashing, etc, etc, in the middle of fucking city) shows up and believe it or not CARES ABOUT HER, after the shit he did. Im calling bullshit right here.
10. Dude works for America, kills Greek mafioso, overtakes GREEK MAFIA and yet this shot is called “pride, prejudice and The BRATVA” the only shit that came from Bratva was his name, tf?? Even his son’s name didn’t scream Russian till my guy gets called “Vanya” out of nowhere.
I will stop here, but believe me when I say, there r more fucked up shit in this book, but I’m not about to write a better and longer review then the book I’m reviewing.😤
If you got this far in this review, thank you for reading my rant. Read at your own risk. I most likely won’t be reading the next book, cuz you cant save a dumpster fire.
If you want a continuation to this rant I have MORE, ask away.😘
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2026
read it in a single hour, that’s how shitty it was.
what about this book screamed « pride and prejudice » for the author to title it the way she titled it ?!!
worst book i’ve read in a long time.
what about this book screamed « pride and prejudice » for the author to title it the way she titled it ?!!
worst book i’ve read in a long time.
February 24, 2026
The book has so many errors and loopholes that it’s laughable. It sounds like it was written by AI, it’s so bad and an insult to literature lol.
February 7, 2026
Found it as booktok recommendation, the teasers were great but a lot of those are not even in the book, the plot has potential but some things dont make sense, the chapters were too long, the timeline is just wrong, there is no much interactions between the characters just at the beggining, the rest is just each telling their pov of what happen, no conversation just someone telling what happen to another person there where scenes that where worth giving more details like their background, the first time they were together as she said it was her first consent, the trial or when he found the text and so much more, they use of the kid at the beginning like someone important and then just gone. is not a bad plot but it couldve been handle differently
January 23, 2026
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2026
Wtf did I just read? It honestly feels like no one proofread this before publishing. Random characters keep appearing in the middle of the plot, and the story is somehow chaotic and confusing while also feeling like nothing is actually happening.
January 29, 2026
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.
Also there was way too many plot holes going on.
February 10, 2026
Wow what a book. Fantastic writing. Looking forward to to the story continuing when the second book is released
February 9, 2026
كتاب سيئ جدا و فيه أشياء غبيه و اخرها قال ايش قال انخطفت؟ مو تقولون اخوانها الخمسه اقوى رجال نيوريورك و انخطفت بسهوله؟؟ ايش الغباء هاذا عطوني شي معقول مو غباء!!! أشياء كثير في الكتاب استفزتني و غبيه جدا كيف في بدايه الكتاب انها صماء و تسمع بس الي يصرخ عند أذنها بس صارت تسمع البطل و الاغاني و صراخ ولد البطل؟؟ لولا انها بكماء و حلقها يوجعها إذ تكلمت و طول الكتاب ترطن كانها راديو بس الاحداث المهمه سبحان الله حلقها يوجعها و تسعل دم💀💀 فيه أشياء كثير غير عقلانيه و مستفزه مرههه البطل حقير طول الكتاب بس لسا مصره تحبه😬😬 و بعد بما اني الكاتبه و اعرف وش بيصير بقولكم انه الجزء الثاني بيصير بلوت تويست وانه الطفل ما مات بس اخت البطله و أبويها خطفوه 😒 الكتاب غبي تحمست له على الفاضي بطله مهانه و بطل حقير
روسلان&ديلينا
وعن البجاحه تتحدث(زوجتي اخذت مني)
روسلان&ديلينا
وعن البجاحه تتحدث(زوجتي اخذت مني)
February 7, 2026
It’s got potential (spoilers)
I really loved the story plot. However this book good use a good editor. The prologue was perfectly written. Then the story falls apart. I get that our FL has some secrets, and I LOVE how those secrets shape her character and make her such a broken Trauma treasure, but can we get an accurate time line for her, a cohesive back story. He dads mafia but she down learn of this till she’s 16 and he’s dead. He dies in a plan crash with her mother and brother (a brother only ever mentioned once) but then we find no, her mom dies with her grandpa in a plan crash setup by her father, and the dad dies how? It’s need editing a flushed out background for our FL and the time line with her and ML needs some serious work. It’s fine to trauma dump but at least process fully the trauma. If her vocal cords are damage to where she’s coughing up blood how’s she screaming and begging less then 10 pages later. I certainly believe in love at first sight and we could follow that narrative for her esp. with our mafia kings utter devotion to his son. But that trope falls apart when even she say no i didn’t want to marry you because I saw the hatred-in your eyes. How about we follow the I’m a nice guy trope for a while then I turn on her when I think she’s the one who … so much potential I was able to read it but it needs so much work.
I really loved the story plot. However this book good use a good editor. The prologue was perfectly written. Then the story falls apart. I get that our FL has some secrets, and I LOVE how those secrets shape her character and make her such a broken Trauma treasure, but can we get an accurate time line for her, a cohesive back story. He dads mafia but she down learn of this till she’s 16 and he’s dead. He dies in a plan crash with her mother and brother (a brother only ever mentioned once) but then we find no, her mom dies with her grandpa in a plan crash setup by her father, and the dad dies how? It’s need editing a flushed out background for our FL and the time line with her and ML needs some serious work. It’s fine to trauma dump but at least process fully the trauma. If her vocal cords are damage to where she’s coughing up blood how’s she screaming and begging less then 10 pages later. I certainly believe in love at first sight and we could follow that narrative for her esp. with our mafia kings utter devotion to his son. But that trope falls apart when even she say no i didn’t want to marry you because I saw the hatred-in your eyes. How about we follow the I’m a nice guy trope for a while then I turn on her when I think she’s the one who … so much potential I was able to read it but it needs so much work.
March 5, 2026
See this is the reason why I should stop wanting to read books by unknown authors… I wanted to read something different that I’ve never seen on bookstagram or Booktok and fuck it was so bad. Let’s just stick with the popular books that we see everywhere. Honestly I would give this a 0 star but it’s not possible here 🚮🚮
January 22, 2026
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?
March 24, 2026
⭐☆☆☆☆ | this book is what happens when plot points are thrown into a blender and nobody turns it off
I genuinely do not even know how to explain the reading experience of Pride, Prejudice and the Bratva because calling it “messy” feels too kind. Messy suggests there is at least a shape under the chaos. This book does not have chaos with direction. It has chaos with commitment. It is one of those books where every time you think you understand what story it is trying to tell, it immediately swerves, contradicts itself, introduces some new dramatic reveal, and then abandons that too before it can mean anything.
And what makes it worse is that the premise actually had potential. A lot of potential.
Elena Sr. kills Ruslan’s sister. Elena Jr., the younger sister, ends up trapped in the consequences of something she did not do. On paper, that is exactly the kind of setup that could have carried an intense dark romance. You could build an entire book around that emotional conflict alone. Revenge directed at the wrong person. A heroine forced to suffer for a crime she did not commit. A hero torn between grief, rage, guilt, and attraction. A family history full of lies and blood and betrayal. That should have been devastating. That should have had weight.
Instead, the book takes that setup and somehow turns it into a confusing pile of half-developed twists, emotional whiplash, and timeline nonsense.
The biggest issue is that the story never seems to understand the difference between a reveal and a contradiction. A reveal adds depth to what came before. A contradiction makes what came before look badly written. This book keeps acting like it is delivering shocking twists when really it is just rewriting its own reality every few chapters. Elena Jr.’s life story keeps changing. Her identity keeps changing. Her relationships keep changing. Her level of isolation, danger, knowledge, and connection to the mafia all shift depending on what dramatic moment the book wants right then. So instead of feeling like a layered heroine whose past is being slowly uncovered, she feels like a character who is being rebuilt in real time by an author who keeps changing her mind.
That is the core problem with Elena Jr. as a protagonist. She is not allowed to be a person. She is treated like a device. Whenever the plot needs her to be vulnerable, she is alone, abandoned, traumatized, and disconnected from everyone. Whenever the plot needs her to be more “interesting,” suddenly she has all of these buried ties, shocking family links, emotional attachments, mysterious histories, and hidden connections. But none of it unfolds naturally. None of it feels earned. It is all dropped in as if surprise alone is enough to make something compelling.
And then there is Elena Sr., who should have been one of the most important people in the entire book and somehow still feels underwritten. Her actions are the reason the plot exists. She is the catalyst. She is the one whose choices set the entire revenge arc in motion. She is the reason Ruslan hates. She is the reason Elena Jr. suffers. She should loom over the whole story like a ghost, like a shadow, like the source of every wound. Instead, she feels more like a dramatic concept than a fully realized character. The book wants the reader to accept her importance without doing the work to build it. So the story keeps insisting that Elena Sr. matters, but emotionally, it never lands the way it should because she is not developed enough to carry that weight.
And because Elena Sr. is not fully developed, Elena Jr.’s suffering loses power too. The whole point is that Elena Jr. is paying for her older sister’s actions. That is the tragedy. That is the moral ugliness of the situation. That is where the emotional complexity should live. Elena Jr. is innocent in relation to Ruslan’s grief, but she becomes the target anyway. That should have created this unbearable tension where the reader feels the injustice of every punishment and every accusation. But the book moves through it so clumsily that instead of feeling devastated, I just felt irritated.
Now let’s talk about the timeline, because this is where the entire thing fully collapses.
Elena Jr. falls in love with Ruslan at what feels like record speed. Not slowly. Not reluctantly. Not after some meaningful buildup where we see her struggling against the attraction because he is dangerous and cruel and tied to her pain. No. It feels like she meets him and her emotions just leap forward several stages before the relationship has earned any of it. There is no real progression from fear to interest to attachment. There is no proper transition from tension to vulnerability. It is just emotional teleportation.
And that completely kills the romance.
For a story like this to work, especially one borrowing from the language of Pride and Prejudice, you need tension. You need resistance. You need misunderstanding that slowly becomes insight. You need the attraction to feel dangerous because it is building in spite of everything. You need the characters to fight it, deny it, circle each other, wound each other, and only then gradually become unable to stay away. That is what makes a story like this addictive.
But this book skips that entire process and goes straight to emotional attachment before the reader has any reason to believe it. Elena Jr. loving Ruslan so quickly makes no sense, especially because the book itself gives us every reason why she should not. He is not merely cold or distant or morally gray. He actively hurts her. He punishes her. He treats her as if she is guilty by association. So when the story tries to convince me that she is already in love with him almost immediately, it does not feel tragic or twisted or emotionally intense. It just feels absurd.
Then, as if that were not enough, Ruslan sends her to prison.
This is the point where the relationship should have shattered beyond repair unless the story was prepared to do some very serious emotional work afterward. Because sending Elena Jr. to prison is not a small misunderstanding. It is not a minor betrayal. It is a massive act of cruelty, especially when the central truth is that she is not the one who killed his sister. The story is asking the reader to watch a woman suffer for something she did not do and then still somehow buy into the romance.
That is already a difficult sell, but it could have been done if the writing had the emotional intelligence to handle the fallout. If Ruslan had been forced into genuine reckoning. If Elena Jr. had been allowed rage, fear, trauma, and distance. If the relationship had to be rebuilt from ashes. If guilt had consumed him. If her forgiveness, if it came at all, had been slow and bitter and costly.
But that is not what happens.
Instead, the prison arc feels like just another dramatic beat thrown in to make the book seem darker, and then once it has served that purpose, the story moves on. Ruslan gets her out, and suddenly the emotional center shifts again. Now he is in love. Now his feelings are supposed to matter. Now the reader is meant to feel the intensity of his devotion.
Excuse me?
This man sends her to prison, pulls her back out, and the book acts like that counts as development. It does not. That is not a romance arc. That is emotional whiplash. The problem is not just that Ruslan changes. Characters can change. The problem is that the change has no believable internal progression. It is like the story expects the mere passage of events to substitute for emotional logic. He hates her, then he punishes her, then he gets her back, then he loves her. But where is the transformation? Where is the inner collapse? Where is the unbearable realization that he destroyed someone who did not deserve it? Where is the torment? Where is the shame? Where is the evidence that this love has actually been earned rather than simply announced?
Because that is how so many of the emotional beats in this book feel: announced.
We are told that feelings exist. We are told connections matter. We are told certain people are important. But the storytelling rarely slows down long enough to let any of that breathe. Important scenes feel rushed. Emotional developments feel summarized. Moments that should have been devastating are over almost as soon as they begin. So instead of the reader being allowed to sit in the pain of what is happening, the story just barrels into the next twist.
And then there is the foster family storyline, which honestly feels like it wandered in from another book entirely.
This is one of the clearest examples of the book not understanding its own character. Elena Jr. is initially framed in a way that emphasizes her isolation. Her loneliness matters. Her lack of support matters. Her vulnerability depends on that absence. The emotional stakes of her story are built on the idea that she is largely alone in the world and forced to survive without the safety net she deserves.
And then suddenly the story starts throwing in this foster family dynamic, these deeper ties, this expanded support network, this entire emotional structure that radically changes the way we are supposed to understand her life. But it is not handled with care. It is not introduced gradually. It is not meaningfully integrated into the emotional spine of the story. It just appears. So instead of adding richness, it creates confusion.
And this confusion matters because backstory is not decoration. Backstory determines how a reader interprets every choice a character makes. If Elena Jr. is truly alone, her dependence, fear, desperation, and emotional hunger mean one thing. If she actually has all these other ties and people and buried relationships, those same reactions mean something else. You cannot keep changing the architecture of a character’s life without destabilizing the character herself.
The same thing happens with the mafia connection. At first, Elena Jr. seems positioned in one kind of story. Then, little by little or honestly, not even little by little, more like randomly the book keeps layering in these deeper ties to the mafia world. Suddenly she is more entangled than the earlier version of the story suggested. Suddenly her life has bigger implications. Suddenly there is more history, more connection, more inherited danger. But again, this is not presented in a way that feels like a careful unveiling. It feels like escalation for the sake of drama.
That is one of the book’s biggest weaknesses overall: it mistakes escalation for depth.
Every time the story starts to lose momentum, it throws in something else. A new connection. A new family tie. A new reveal. A new layer of betrayal. A new piece of tragedy. But depth does not come from piling up dramatic elements. Depth comes from developing them. Letting them affect the characters. Letting them reshape relationships. Letting them have consequences that feel lived-in and irreversible.
This book keeps adding instead of developing. So by the end, the plot is crowded, but the story is still thin.
And that thinness is why the romance never works. Elena Jr. and Ruslan do not feel like two people trapped in an unbearable emotional conflict. They feel like characters being yanked from one dramatic position to another because the story wants maximum angst without having to build the emotional bridge between each point. One minute she loves him. The next he destroys her. The next he wants her back. The next he is consumed by love. The next we are supposed to believe that this entire disaster is romantic.
It is not romantic because the book never earns romance. It earns chaos.
A truly dark romance can survive cruelty, but only if the writing is honest about the damage. It has to look directly at the wound. It has to understand that love after harm is not automatically compelling just because it is intense. The intensity has to mean something. The redemption has to cost something. The relationship has to be transformed by what happened, not simply pushed forward through it.
Here, it feels like the damage is used for drama and then emotionally skipped over. That makes everything hollow.
Even the central revenge premise gets weakened by the way the book handles its reveals. The idea that Elena Jr. is suffering for Elena Sr.’s actions should have been the emotional and moral center of the novel. Every interaction with Ruslan should have been sharpened by that imbalance. Every moment of attraction should have been poisoned by the knowledge that his grief is real but his target is wrong. That is where the tragedy should live. That is where the obsession should feel most dangerous. But because the book is so busy throwing out new twists and new backstory fragments, it never fully commits to that core dynamic. It gets diluted.
And that is maybe the most frustrating part of all. The bones of a much better book are clearly here. You can see the outline of the story this could have been. Elena Sr. as the devastating older sister whose choices poison Elena Jr.’s future. Elena Jr. as the innocent younger sister trapped in inherited violence. Ruslan as a man so consumed by grief and revenge that he destroys the wrong person and then has to confront the horror of what he has done. That story could have been brutal and gripping and emotionally devastating.
But this version never settles long enough to become that story.
Instead, it keeps lurching from one dramatic idea to the next, rewriting its own emotional reality as it goes. Elena Jr. loves too fast. Ruslan hates too flatly. The prison arc is too huge to be handled so lightly. His love comes too suddenly after his cruelty. The foster family thread appears too abruptly to feel organic. The mafia ties expand too randomly to feel intentional. Elena Sr. is too important to be so underdeveloped. And the timeline is too broken for the reader to ever fully trust the emotional journey.
By the end, I was not heartbroken. I was not obsessed. I was not even angry in the way a dark romance can make you angry while still keeping you hooked. I was just exhausted. Exhausted by the inconsistency, by the emotional shortcuts, by the constant sense that the book was trying to force impact instead of earning it.
Final rating: 1 star.
Not because the idea was bad. The idea was actually the only thing keeping me going. But a good premise can only carry a book so far, and this one collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.
This should have been a sharp, painful, intoxicating story about revenge, innocence, grief, and misplaced obsession. Instead, it reads like multiple different drafts stitched together with no one stopping to ask whether the emotional timeline, character logic, or basic structure actually worked.
Elena Jr. deserved consistency.
Elena Sr. deserved meaningful development.
Ruslan deserved an actual arc instead of emotional whiplash.
And the reader deserved a story that knew what it was doing.
Because this was not tragic.
It was not sweeping.
It was not darkly romantic.
It was just a mess.
I genuinely do not even know how to explain the reading experience of Pride, Prejudice and the Bratva because calling it “messy” feels too kind. Messy suggests there is at least a shape under the chaos. This book does not have chaos with direction. It has chaos with commitment. It is one of those books where every time you think you understand what story it is trying to tell, it immediately swerves, contradicts itself, introduces some new dramatic reveal, and then abandons that too before it can mean anything.
And what makes it worse is that the premise actually had potential. A lot of potential.
Elena Sr. kills Ruslan’s sister. Elena Jr., the younger sister, ends up trapped in the consequences of something she did not do. On paper, that is exactly the kind of setup that could have carried an intense dark romance. You could build an entire book around that emotional conflict alone. Revenge directed at the wrong person. A heroine forced to suffer for a crime she did not commit. A hero torn between grief, rage, guilt, and attraction. A family history full of lies and blood and betrayal. That should have been devastating. That should have had weight.
Instead, the book takes that setup and somehow turns it into a confusing pile of half-developed twists, emotional whiplash, and timeline nonsense.
The biggest issue is that the story never seems to understand the difference between a reveal and a contradiction. A reveal adds depth to what came before. A contradiction makes what came before look badly written. This book keeps acting like it is delivering shocking twists when really it is just rewriting its own reality every few chapters. Elena Jr.’s life story keeps changing. Her identity keeps changing. Her relationships keep changing. Her level of isolation, danger, knowledge, and connection to the mafia all shift depending on what dramatic moment the book wants right then. So instead of feeling like a layered heroine whose past is being slowly uncovered, she feels like a character who is being rebuilt in real time by an author who keeps changing her mind.
That is the core problem with Elena Jr. as a protagonist. She is not allowed to be a person. She is treated like a device. Whenever the plot needs her to be vulnerable, she is alone, abandoned, traumatized, and disconnected from everyone. Whenever the plot needs her to be more “interesting,” suddenly she has all of these buried ties, shocking family links, emotional attachments, mysterious histories, and hidden connections. But none of it unfolds naturally. None of it feels earned. It is all dropped in as if surprise alone is enough to make something compelling.
And then there is Elena Sr., who should have been one of the most important people in the entire book and somehow still feels underwritten. Her actions are the reason the plot exists. She is the catalyst. She is the one whose choices set the entire revenge arc in motion. She is the reason Ruslan hates. She is the reason Elena Jr. suffers. She should loom over the whole story like a ghost, like a shadow, like the source of every wound. Instead, she feels more like a dramatic concept than a fully realized character. The book wants the reader to accept her importance without doing the work to build it. So the story keeps insisting that Elena Sr. matters, but emotionally, it never lands the way it should because she is not developed enough to carry that weight.
And because Elena Sr. is not fully developed, Elena Jr.’s suffering loses power too. The whole point is that Elena Jr. is paying for her older sister’s actions. That is the tragedy. That is the moral ugliness of the situation. That is where the emotional complexity should live. Elena Jr. is innocent in relation to Ruslan’s grief, but she becomes the target anyway. That should have created this unbearable tension where the reader feels the injustice of every punishment and every accusation. But the book moves through it so clumsily that instead of feeling devastated, I just felt irritated.
Now let’s talk about the timeline, because this is where the entire thing fully collapses.
Elena Jr. falls in love with Ruslan at what feels like record speed. Not slowly. Not reluctantly. Not after some meaningful buildup where we see her struggling against the attraction because he is dangerous and cruel and tied to her pain. No. It feels like she meets him and her emotions just leap forward several stages before the relationship has earned any of it. There is no real progression from fear to interest to attachment. There is no proper transition from tension to vulnerability. It is just emotional teleportation.
And that completely kills the romance.
For a story like this to work, especially one borrowing from the language of Pride and Prejudice, you need tension. You need resistance. You need misunderstanding that slowly becomes insight. You need the attraction to feel dangerous because it is building in spite of everything. You need the characters to fight it, deny it, circle each other, wound each other, and only then gradually become unable to stay away. That is what makes a story like this addictive.
But this book skips that entire process and goes straight to emotional attachment before the reader has any reason to believe it. Elena Jr. loving Ruslan so quickly makes no sense, especially because the book itself gives us every reason why she should not. He is not merely cold or distant or morally gray. He actively hurts her. He punishes her. He treats her as if she is guilty by association. So when the story tries to convince me that she is already in love with him almost immediately, it does not feel tragic or twisted or emotionally intense. It just feels absurd.
Then, as if that were not enough, Ruslan sends her to prison.
This is the point where the relationship should have shattered beyond repair unless the story was prepared to do some very serious emotional work afterward. Because sending Elena Jr. to prison is not a small misunderstanding. It is not a minor betrayal. It is a massive act of cruelty, especially when the central truth is that she is not the one who killed his sister. The story is asking the reader to watch a woman suffer for something she did not do and then still somehow buy into the romance.
That is already a difficult sell, but it could have been done if the writing had the emotional intelligence to handle the fallout. If Ruslan had been forced into genuine reckoning. If Elena Jr. had been allowed rage, fear, trauma, and distance. If the relationship had to be rebuilt from ashes. If guilt had consumed him. If her forgiveness, if it came at all, had been slow and bitter and costly.
But that is not what happens.
Instead, the prison arc feels like just another dramatic beat thrown in to make the book seem darker, and then once it has served that purpose, the story moves on. Ruslan gets her out, and suddenly the emotional center shifts again. Now he is in love. Now his feelings are supposed to matter. Now the reader is meant to feel the intensity of his devotion.
Excuse me?
This man sends her to prison, pulls her back out, and the book acts like that counts as development. It does not. That is not a romance arc. That is emotional whiplash. The problem is not just that Ruslan changes. Characters can change. The problem is that the change has no believable internal progression. It is like the story expects the mere passage of events to substitute for emotional logic. He hates her, then he punishes her, then he gets her back, then he loves her. But where is the transformation? Where is the inner collapse? Where is the unbearable realization that he destroyed someone who did not deserve it? Where is the torment? Where is the shame? Where is the evidence that this love has actually been earned rather than simply announced?
Because that is how so many of the emotional beats in this book feel: announced.
We are told that feelings exist. We are told connections matter. We are told certain people are important. But the storytelling rarely slows down long enough to let any of that breathe. Important scenes feel rushed. Emotional developments feel summarized. Moments that should have been devastating are over almost as soon as they begin. So instead of the reader being allowed to sit in the pain of what is happening, the story just barrels into the next twist.
And then there is the foster family storyline, which honestly feels like it wandered in from another book entirely.
This is one of the clearest examples of the book not understanding its own character. Elena Jr. is initially framed in a way that emphasizes her isolation. Her loneliness matters. Her lack of support matters. Her vulnerability depends on that absence. The emotional stakes of her story are built on the idea that she is largely alone in the world and forced to survive without the safety net she deserves.
And then suddenly the story starts throwing in this foster family dynamic, these deeper ties, this expanded support network, this entire emotional structure that radically changes the way we are supposed to understand her life. But it is not handled with care. It is not introduced gradually. It is not meaningfully integrated into the emotional spine of the story. It just appears. So instead of adding richness, it creates confusion.
And this confusion matters because backstory is not decoration. Backstory determines how a reader interprets every choice a character makes. If Elena Jr. is truly alone, her dependence, fear, desperation, and emotional hunger mean one thing. If she actually has all these other ties and people and buried relationships, those same reactions mean something else. You cannot keep changing the architecture of a character’s life without destabilizing the character herself.
The same thing happens with the mafia connection. At first, Elena Jr. seems positioned in one kind of story. Then, little by little or honestly, not even little by little, more like randomly the book keeps layering in these deeper ties to the mafia world. Suddenly she is more entangled than the earlier version of the story suggested. Suddenly her life has bigger implications. Suddenly there is more history, more connection, more inherited danger. But again, this is not presented in a way that feels like a careful unveiling. It feels like escalation for the sake of drama.
That is one of the book’s biggest weaknesses overall: it mistakes escalation for depth.
Every time the story starts to lose momentum, it throws in something else. A new connection. A new family tie. A new reveal. A new layer of betrayal. A new piece of tragedy. But depth does not come from piling up dramatic elements. Depth comes from developing them. Letting them affect the characters. Letting them reshape relationships. Letting them have consequences that feel lived-in and irreversible.
This book keeps adding instead of developing. So by the end, the plot is crowded, but the story is still thin.
And that thinness is why the romance never works. Elena Jr. and Ruslan do not feel like two people trapped in an unbearable emotional conflict. They feel like characters being yanked from one dramatic position to another because the story wants maximum angst without having to build the emotional bridge between each point. One minute she loves him. The next he destroys her. The next he wants her back. The next he is consumed by love. The next we are supposed to believe that this entire disaster is romantic.
It is not romantic because the book never earns romance. It earns chaos.
A truly dark romance can survive cruelty, but only if the writing is honest about the damage. It has to look directly at the wound. It has to understand that love after harm is not automatically compelling just because it is intense. The intensity has to mean something. The redemption has to cost something. The relationship has to be transformed by what happened, not simply pushed forward through it.
Here, it feels like the damage is used for drama and then emotionally skipped over. That makes everything hollow.
Even the central revenge premise gets weakened by the way the book handles its reveals. The idea that Elena Jr. is suffering for Elena Sr.’s actions should have been the emotional and moral center of the novel. Every interaction with Ruslan should have been sharpened by that imbalance. Every moment of attraction should have been poisoned by the knowledge that his grief is real but his target is wrong. That is where the tragedy should live. That is where the obsession should feel most dangerous. But because the book is so busy throwing out new twists and new backstory fragments, it never fully commits to that core dynamic. It gets diluted.
And that is maybe the most frustrating part of all. The bones of a much better book are clearly here. You can see the outline of the story this could have been. Elena Sr. as the devastating older sister whose choices poison Elena Jr.’s future. Elena Jr. as the innocent younger sister trapped in inherited violence. Ruslan as a man so consumed by grief and revenge that he destroys the wrong person and then has to confront the horror of what he has done. That story could have been brutal and gripping and emotionally devastating.
But this version never settles long enough to become that story.
Instead, it keeps lurching from one dramatic idea to the next, rewriting its own emotional reality as it goes. Elena Jr. loves too fast. Ruslan hates too flatly. The prison arc is too huge to be handled so lightly. His love comes too suddenly after his cruelty. The foster family thread appears too abruptly to feel organic. The mafia ties expand too randomly to feel intentional. Elena Sr. is too important to be so underdeveloped. And the timeline is too broken for the reader to ever fully trust the emotional journey.
By the end, I was not heartbroken. I was not obsessed. I was not even angry in the way a dark romance can make you angry while still keeping you hooked. I was just exhausted. Exhausted by the inconsistency, by the emotional shortcuts, by the constant sense that the book was trying to force impact instead of earning it.
Final rating: 1 star.
Not because the idea was bad. The idea was actually the only thing keeping me going. But a good premise can only carry a book so far, and this one collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.
This should have been a sharp, painful, intoxicating story about revenge, innocence, grief, and misplaced obsession. Instead, it reads like multiple different drafts stitched together with no one stopping to ask whether the emotional timeline, character logic, or basic structure actually worked.
Elena Jr. deserved consistency.
Elena Sr. deserved meaningful development.
Ruslan deserved an actual arc instead of emotional whiplash.
And the reader deserved a story that knew what it was doing.
Because this was not tragic.
It was not sweeping.
It was not darkly romantic.
It was just a mess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2026
Very much enjoyed this book, military and mafia mixed into one, completely different to everything else.
January 23, 2026
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2026
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2026
If I could give it 0 stars I would. It’s a slow burn that manages to give us nothing. This book was ass. I stuck till the end thinking maybe it’s written to confused us nope it just sucks. He literally treats her like shit the entire time. Her therapist that helped rape her randomly shows up naked in the woods where the mmc is about to bury her alive (she’s surrounded by 8 graves..) and dumped her mothers ashes she’d been looking for for years after she died in a plane wreck….? That was all in 48 hours and she loved him after that mind you they met at her wedding she was abandoned at after arriving late because she was saving MMC’s son and the son making him come to the wedding because her fiancé ditched her so the son makes his father marry her because he felt guilty…. But wait there more, the FMC‘s sister killed his ex-wife and unborn child and his sister who he was in the army with and the sister is Elena senior -_- so he thinks she’s her…. Are you confused because so was I. Also if you think this review is written badly boy don’t read this book. I’m not done yet either. Oh and he also frames her for murdering his wife even tho he knows it wasn’t her sister and told her that… in the prison the uncles who raped her with the therapist works there he knew this…. For 9 months left her there to be raped beaten…. Then randomly decides it was the worst mistake of his life …… Yeah I’m 100% convinced this author uses ai to write either way you should find another hobby or take some classes to get better. As someone who had an iep in school and could hardly read and write this is exactly what I imagined my books woulda been like had I choose to be an author. Btw if you read this review congratulations you don’t need to read it now because THATS ALL THAT HAPPENS besides the mmc sons getting extremely attached right away to this random women aka the fmc
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2026
This book had me in a chokehold for 400+ pages and I have complicated feelings about all of it. 😤
Let me start with Ruslan, because my relationship with him as a character is… a journey. When we meet him and witness what happens to his sister, I was fully in his corner. That helplessness, that grief, that rage — I felt it with him. And then the second half of the book happened and I just… couldn’t anymore.
Because what he does to Elsa is genuinely despicable. She had nothing to do with her sister’s actions, and instead of even trying to listen or understand, he makes her pay for it in the most brutal ways possible — the repeated assault, the psychological cruelty, the manipulation, the coldness. And imprisoning her while she was pregnant? That was my absolute last straw. I had tears running down my face through the entire back half of this book. 😣
And yet — I could not put it down. Not for a single second.
That’s the maddening thing about this book. The chapters are long, there are genuine inconsistencies (the timeline gets confusing, the editing has some noticeable gaps), and I went in having read some not-so-glowing reviews. But I made my own call, and honestly? I don’t regret it one bit. Maybe I have chaotic reading taste 🫠 but I was so completely absorbed that nothing else existed while I was reading it.
It’s not a perfect book — not even close. But it is a deeply captivating one, and there’s a real difference between those two things.
Trigger warnings are essential here, please read them before diving in. This one is genuinely dark. 🖤
Already into book two and I have a feeling my emotions are not safe.
Let me start with Ruslan, because my relationship with him as a character is… a journey. When we meet him and witness what happens to his sister, I was fully in his corner. That helplessness, that grief, that rage — I felt it with him. And then the second half of the book happened and I just… couldn’t anymore.
Because what he does to Elsa is genuinely despicable. She had nothing to do with her sister’s actions, and instead of even trying to listen or understand, he makes her pay for it in the most brutal ways possible — the repeated assault, the psychological cruelty, the manipulation, the coldness. And imprisoning her while she was pregnant? That was my absolute last straw. I had tears running down my face through the entire back half of this book. 😣
And yet — I could not put it down. Not for a single second.
That’s the maddening thing about this book. The chapters are long, there are genuine inconsistencies (the timeline gets confusing, the editing has some noticeable gaps), and I went in having read some not-so-glowing reviews. But I made my own call, and honestly? I don’t regret it one bit. Maybe I have chaotic reading taste 🫠 but I was so completely absorbed that nothing else existed while I was reading it.
It’s not a perfect book — not even close. But it is a deeply captivating one, and there’s a real difference between those two things.
Trigger warnings are essential here, please read them before diving in. This one is genuinely dark. 🖤
Already into book two and I have a feeling my emotions are not safe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2026
Great plot, bad writing.
I dont know why I keep trusting Booktok’s recommendation
Felt like another Wattpad book. (Apparently it’s written bi AI😂😂 make more sense now)
I thought I was going to read about a strong and confident woman who does not let herself be fooled and stand up for herself. Instead we get the whiny and annoying character who cries at every sentence and suddenly can’t speak when asked about something important. The girl’s mute and nobody think to give her a pen and paper, that would have saved us of the same conversation dragging on.
Between the constant mention of the same thing over and over again in the same chapter, the love confession when they have known each other for 48 hours, hours where the guy tried to kill her by the way, and the random apparition of character that feels out of place ?? (They kept saying she has no one left and then suddenly her « fosters brothers » shows up at the end to « take care of her » and of course they are another mafia or whatever ????), oh and let’s not forget the kid who’s also mute (shocker) and only talks to her ? A girl he barely even met and asks her to be his new mom (we’re still in the 48 hours timeline). Then two sisters who have the same name ??? And the one we’re reading about (Elena junior?) has supposedly no training but take down two men by herself ? And she supposedly don’t know shit about her sister’s business (Elena senior) but some time she said things like she was the actual CIA trained sister ???
Honorable mention for elephants in Greece, imported in California 😂😂😂
I dont know why I keep trusting Booktok’s recommendation
Felt like another Wattpad book. (Apparently it’s written bi AI😂😂 make more sense now)
I thought I was going to read about a strong and confident woman who does not let herself be fooled and stand up for herself. Instead we get the whiny and annoying character who cries at every sentence and suddenly can’t speak when asked about something important. The girl’s mute and nobody think to give her a pen and paper, that would have saved us of the same conversation dragging on.
Between the constant mention of the same thing over and over again in the same chapter, the love confession when they have known each other for 48 hours, hours where the guy tried to kill her by the way, and the random apparition of character that feels out of place ?? (They kept saying she has no one left and then suddenly her « fosters brothers » shows up at the end to « take care of her » and of course they are another mafia or whatever ????), oh and let’s not forget the kid who’s also mute (shocker) and only talks to her ? A girl he barely even met and asks her to be his new mom (we’re still in the 48 hours timeline). Then two sisters who have the same name ??? And the one we’re reading about (Elena junior?) has supposedly no training but take down two men by herself ? And she supposedly don’t know shit about her sister’s business (Elena senior) but some time she said things like she was the actual CIA trained sister ???
Honorable mention for elephants in Greece, imported in California 😂😂😂
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2026
Y de nuevo caí en las mentiras de tik tok…
oh por Dios! Habia tantas inconsistencias!!! Oh era sorda o muda? Porque parecía que no se ponía de acuerdo, de repente hablaba a la perfección y escuchaba música y conversaciones ajenas y luego simplemente ya no lo mencionaban, luego en momentos al Ruslan le cambiaban el apellido, al chamaco tambien se supone que era mudo por selección algo así debido al trauma cuando de repente! El mocoso hacía entrevista y estaba hablando mandarín como todo un pro!!! A ver explícame eso????
Mágicamente ambas hermanas se llamaban igual y se parecían pero el pendejéte de ruslan no se dio cuenta
Simplemente una pérdida de tiempo la única razón por la que lo termin fue porque quería ver con qje estupidez terminaba.
Y ahora me vienes a decir que la manera en la que quedo embarazada fue porque ambos estaban borrachos y nos presentaron ese acto como un recuerdo??? Después de que se enterara que lo perdió? Una disculpa pero me dio vibes de que la autora no sabía lo que estaba escribiendo y lo redactó tantas veces que ya no supo que publico al final
Oh y para fregarlas se supone que Elena sufrió en la calle por 10 Años!!! Y de repente afuera de la cárcel aparecen 6 tipos que según son sus hermanos???!!!!
No… simplemente no
Las peores horas de mi vida desperdiciadas en esta cosa horrorosa!
No lo recomiendo!
Y lo escribí en español porque en inglés me tardaría demasiado y estoy enojada!
oh por Dios! Habia tantas inconsistencias!!! Oh era sorda o muda? Porque parecía que no se ponía de acuerdo, de repente hablaba a la perfección y escuchaba música y conversaciones ajenas y luego simplemente ya no lo mencionaban, luego en momentos al Ruslan le cambiaban el apellido, al chamaco tambien se supone que era mudo por selección algo así debido al trauma cuando de repente! El mocoso hacía entrevista y estaba hablando mandarín como todo un pro!!! A ver explícame eso????
Mágicamente ambas hermanas se llamaban igual y se parecían pero el pendejéte de ruslan no se dio cuenta
Simplemente una pérdida de tiempo la única razón por la que lo termin fue porque quería ver con qje estupidez terminaba.
Y ahora me vienes a decir que la manera en la que quedo embarazada fue porque ambos estaban borrachos y nos presentaron ese acto como un recuerdo??? Después de que se enterara que lo perdió? Una disculpa pero me dio vibes de que la autora no sabía lo que estaba escribiendo y lo redactó tantas veces que ya no supo que publico al final
Oh y para fregarlas se supone que Elena sufrió en la calle por 10 Años!!! Y de repente afuera de la cárcel aparecen 6 tipos que según son sus hermanos???!!!!
No… simplemente no
Las peores horas de mi vida desperdiciadas en esta cosa horrorosa!
No lo recomiendo!
Y lo escribí en español porque en inglés me tardaría demasiado y estoy enojada!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2026
This book didn’t make sense. First having sister named literally the same is weird and unnecessary. In the beginning it made it seem that Elena Jr. was the one who was in the CIA she kept saying vague things like “I was trained by the best , they drilled close quarters combat into my bones” when she had fight scenes but then it turned out nope she was left alone at fifteen because she believed her parents died in a plane crash and her sister Elena Sr. Went missing on an op with the CIAz. She was never the one who had that past then it was completely forgotten once the truth came out. So who trained her? Why was she trained? She said she didn’t know about her father being in the mafia so he didn’t train her. Didn’t make sense.
This book kept changing the troupe it wanted throughout the book. One minute it’s “my grandmother is the only person I have” next it’s I have a sister,brothers and a father. Then it’s I have no one I’m alone and homeless. Please choose which is it.
The young boy is all but forgotten halfway through the book. It was made a big deal that the MFC and the young boys bond is the only reason she is left alive but then you don’t hear anything about him after the half way point.
It couldn’t been a good story is the author just brainstormed and thought through their ideas.
This book kept changing the troupe it wanted throughout the book. One minute it’s “my grandmother is the only person I have” next it’s I have a sister,brothers and a father. Then it’s I have no one I’m alone and homeless. Please choose which is it.
The young boy is all but forgotten halfway through the book. It was made a big deal that the MFC and the young boys bond is the only reason she is left alive but then you don’t hear anything about him after the half way point.
It couldn’t been a good story is the author just brainstormed and thought through their ideas.
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