Reign

Of Ruin and Royalty #2

by Avery Collins

My name is Nikolaj Dragovich.
Pakhan of the Bratva. Blade of Moscow. Weapon turned king.
When I left Vintermoor, I walked away with a fractured skull and a mind full of cracks. Whatever I was before died somewhere between those walls, and what rose after was a man my father never managed to mold. A man without mercy. A man without fear. A man even the Five Families are suddenly eager to bow to.
Duty was never a choice, so why does the night refuse to leave me in peace?
Why do I hear a voice in my dreams that tightens like a hand around my throat, whispering a name I should know? Why does a phantom memory cut deeper than any blade when I can’t place the face behind it?
I don’t remember the life I left behind eight years ago.

But it remembers me.


This is book 2 in the Ruin and Royalty Duet. Conquest needs to be read first to understand the plot behind Reign.

Genres: M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark, Second Chance, Mafia Romance, Crime, Contemporary

ebook

Published June 1, 2026

About the author

Dark Romance / MM Romance Author

Reviews

[Rachael Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel gave me everything I was hoping for after the first book! The plot is significantly stronger here, and the emotion is intense.

Vincenzo carrying that secret alone for eight years was heartbreaking and set the scene for all the yearning. I devoured it. I did get horrified for a minute we were about to get a reincarnation trope unexpectedly. It really broke my heart at the end.

Still, I have to say my heart belongs to Salvatore and Ruslan. Their love story is so sweet, and the pain of their wasted years hurt, but their reunion was absolutely beautiful. I could have read an entire book just about them and their love story, them picking up the pieces of their rough lives, and repairing their relationships with their sons. I needed so much more time with them!

Although I enjoyed this one a lot, I still think this really didn't need to be a duet. With some tighter editing, this could have been a strong single book story. I do love this author's writing and am excited to continue in this universe. I was surprised by the setup for future books. The lack of teasing makes me so curious about who ends up with who!

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

Honestly night and day from book 1!! I think my review made it pretty clear that I didn't really like most of Conquest, and I was annoyed that I needed to keep reading to find out what happened to Vincenzo and Nikolaj. I usually enjoy this authors books, so it was a surprise to me how much I disliked Conquest, but then the Empire novella was so good and reignited my interest in Vincenzo and Nikolaj, and the conclusion to their story was so, so good!!

I do still have questions which is why I'm not 100% on the 5 star rating, but this book grabbed my attention right from the start and didn't let go. I liked that there was a significant period of time between Conquest and Reign, mostly because it added that emotion and angst that was needed to really want to root for these two to get their HEA. The love between Nikolaj and Vincenzo was so strong in this book. I loved the way they found their way back to each other, and although the price they paid was extreme, the ending felt like exactly what they needed. I do wish we'd seen a bit more of the after though!

I did see the twist coming, but I really liked how it played out and OMG I cried SO MUCH!!!! My eyes are still sore now 😂😂

The relationship between Ruslan and Salvatore was also so sweet to see, but I do wish there was more about them! I loved seeing their relationship in Empire but it was mainly the implosion, so I'd really like to see what happened with their reunion and how they are moving forwards.

The bonus scene with the phonecall was super intriguing too, but it also left me with more questions that I hope are addressed in either the upcoming Dragovich series, or the upcoming Vintmoor series, otherwise it's going to annoy me and make me question why the events at the end of this book even happened!

I am happy to see that Arseniy, Kai, Maksim and Tatiana are getting books because I want to know more about them, I'm just unsure on what the pairings in their books are going to be, particularly because I don't really read MF romance...

[Renae Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reign is the intense emotional conclusion to mafia king Vincenzo and bratva Pakhan Nikolaj's love story. Their reunion after eight years of separation, after being set down their their predetermined paths, is filled with unresolved tension and unsettling tension as one remembers their past while another only has glimmers of moments that are left unspoken. This duet brought tears, joy and shock while leaving me exciting for the future of all of these complex characters.

I really loved this concluding entry in their duet. I felt every emotion possible while reading this story. Vincenzo and Nikolaj have been through so much and seeing them not only reunite but finally get their long awaited HEA was more than I could have hoped for, but of course there are shocking moments of distress, pain and utter devastation that made this story almost impossible to put down.

Overall I love returning to this world. It is full of surprises, beautiful heart moments and also moments of complete dread. Vincenzo and Nikolaj are strong, capable leaders and I love where the author took these characters and their future is bright and leaves me very intrigued.

[Jenny Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am speechless... this book was so good I don't know how to describe it other than simply incredible. Avery, what have you done? Written? You had my heart in my throat the ENTIRE time. The angst and the yearning between these men had me in a chokehold until the very last pages. I could feel their love through the pages in every look, touch, breath, and moment they were near each other. What I felt in Empire for their fathers came out tenfold in this book, with every part that makes me love romance and heartbreak in the same breath.

These two nearly put me on my knees with how much love was between them and how much it took from them in the end to make sure nothing and no one would keep them apart.

Nikolaj. Pakhan. The Blade. Cuore mio. The Russian who would speak first with his fists before words. He had grown in the years since Vintermoor, and coming out of that, he was not the same. But what he had grown into was someone who let the vulnerability come through and the blade soften to protect the one man he began to remember and would tear the world apart for. No longer afraid to hide, cater to the wills of other men, or let what happened to others in the past dictate his future.

Vincenzo. Italian Lover. Capo dei Capi. Beloved. A man who had to endure eight years of watching the man he loved no longer recognize what they had once started, only to watch that same man undo him with his returning memories and a love of a lifetime for him to hold onto. A man who would give up everything to make sure he never looked in his own eyes and saw the regret Vieri men carried when decisions became no longer their own.

A love that endured more than anyone should, but still found a way to shine brightly, no matter the blood, death, destruction, and violence desperately trying to get in their way. I am so excited to see more behind the Dragovich curtain next. Just brilliant, Avery.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited for this one after really enjoying Conquest. However, I closed out the book frustrated and disappointed. There were so many parts of the story that felt like they shouldn't have been in the book while other parts felt like they were missing pieces. The "mafia" parts felt forced and messy. Books are definitely full of fiction and how the author portrays their vision of their worlds but the mafia bits fell flat because they felt so far from general mafia rules and structures. I was also confused by Ruslan. In Conquest he is abusive and cruel. In Reign he is not. Change is possible but we get no reasoning for that change. It felt off and disconnected. 

I loved Niko and Vin, however the ending of their story just didn't hit. 

[Sarah Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant

Oh I’ve laughed I’ve cried I’ve screamed and I’ve begged what a ride this duet was I’ve loved every word of it I will miss Vincenzo and nikolaj a lot and I will def be coming back for a re read in the future thank you

[kaye taz]

dnf @ 23%

this duet just isn’t for me. i wish i would’ve realized three books sooner though.

[Gi Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more from the ending. I don't like that they never ruled together, unifying their houses. I wanted them to actually reign side by side, a superpower couple. But nope, we didn't get that. Very sad. 😔

[Just A Girl And Her Smut · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾️⭐️ (this book gets ALL the stars)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I feel like I’ve been waiting just as long as Nikolaj and Vincenzo for this book, and now that I’ve read it, I don’t know where to start. I mean Nikolaj and Vincenzo are EVERYTHING, this book literally consumed me, my thoughts, and my life, and god it was one hell of a hard earned HEA. I went through EVERY SINGLE EMOTION while reading this, and I do mean EVERY emotion. I laughed, yelled, swore, blushed, was giddy, was astounded, I cried, held my breath, and even wanted to throw my kindle. It was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. I honestly thought I was prepared going into this book … but I was so, so, so wrong.

Vincenzo, the Italian mafia leader, the King of the Five Families, a brutal leader who is also feared. But he’s also the one who remembers every touch, every kiss, every look, every stolen moment with Nikolaj and holds it in silence. Never believing he’d have that again … until Nikolaj’s memories start to return. With Nikolaj, Vincenzo is a completely different man. He’s bratty, he complains, he pouts, he banters, and he comes back to life in way that’s beautiful to watch.

Nikolaj, the blade, the Pakhan, a leader forged out of blood, this man was a firecracker as a boy but as the Pakhan he’s something entirely different. He holds himself higher, calculates while looking indifferent, and doesn’t allow anything to distract him … until Vincenzo walks back into his life. Until his memories start to come back and dreams start to take shape and he can longer deny what he’s heart has always known … someone is missing. Nikolaj goes through some heart wrenching moments and I felt EVERY-FUCKING-THING he did.

This is one of those books where I couldn’t pick my favourite MC because I love them both whole heartedly, but in such different ways. Seriously Avery has outdone herself with book!!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely liked this one a lot more than the previous book, and I’m really glad Vincenzo and Nikolaj got their happy ending. There was so much more emotion in this one, and I really appreciated how much the story focused on them learning how to be vulnerable with each other, trust each other, open up, and actually communicate. I really loved that aspect of their relationship.

I even found myself crying at some parts, which honestly caught me off guard 😭 So yeah, this book definitely managed to get to me emotionally.

That being said, there were still quite a few things that didn’t really work for me.

First, the whole mafia aspect felt extremely surface-level. It honestly felt like it was mostly there to give the story a darker background rather than being something actually developed. We hear about supply routes, money, meetings, their “business,” etc., but whenever they talk about their actual jobs, it basically comes down to they kill people all the time. And that’s… kind of it. 😑

I kept thinking, okay, but what does this world actually look like beyond that? Because the mafia does serve a purpose in the plot and is involved in several storylines, but I never felt like we really got any depth when it came to the actual mafia world. It sometimes felt like it was mostly there to make them dangerous and give the story that darker atmosphere, rather than being a world that was genuinely fleshed out and explored. I really wish we’d gotten more of that, because as it is, some parts of it just felt a little unconvincing to me.

Then there’s the whole thing with their fathers, which I weirdly really enjoyed unwillingly…

In the first book, these two men were portrayed as absolute tyrants. The MMCs were genuinely terrified of them, and I absolutely hated them. So when we got to see more of their love story in this book, including their reunion, I was actually so intrigued. And honestly, I really enjoyed those scenes.

BUT… I also didn’t really understand what happened with them?? Suddenly they’re nice? They apologize to their sons? The MMCs’ relationships with their fathers feel completely different from what we saw in the first book. It just kind of comes out of nowhere.

Like, I spent the entire first book absolutely despising these men, and now they barely feel like the same characters. I actually would have loved this development if it had been explored more, but because it happens so suddenly, it just didn’t feel entirely coherent to me.

There is also one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about the entire book because it was NEVER addressed.

In the first book, Vincenzo was supposed to kill his own brother in order to take the throne, right? And he didn’t want to do it. He was devastated by the idea of having to kill his brother, and his father was the one ordering him to do it…

Well… what happened to that brother?!

Did he kill him? Did he not? Did the author just abandon that plot point? Because when Vincenzo eventually abdicates and gives the power back to his father, there is zero mention of his brother. No mention of whether he actually killed him, no trauma, no regret, nothing.

Did he even exist in this book?! 😭 It’s like he literally never existed, which actually made me doubt myself so much that I went back to the first book to make sure I hadn’t completely hallucinated that whole storyline.

It drove me insane that we never got an answer. And I hate with my whole heart when books leave you with random holes and unanswered questions. Like, why introduce something in the first place if you’re never going to address it?! 😭

Anyway, this bothered me WAY more than it probably should have, because I kept waiting for it to come back somehow, and it just… never did.

Also… they’re supposed to live in Moscow and Rome, respectively, but sometimes they act like they live five minutes away from each other 😐 The logistics of their relationship were definitely not always very convincing.

Despite all of that, though, I really enjoyed this book. The story itself was somewhat predictable, but it honestly didn’t stop me from being emotionally invested. I really loved seeing Vincenzo and Nikolaj become more vulnerable with each other, and I think the emotional depth is what made this book work for me.

I really like these two MMCs, and I’m genuinely happy with where their story ended. The book definitely has its flaws, but it touched me, and that counts for a lot.

A good read, just not one that completely blew me away.

[Lilwisptalks · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review

Their story may have ended but a new one will come from it.

What a conclusion to an amazingly angsty duet. I loved every moment of this read, even when parts of it had me questioning why I agreed to read this.

As painful as some of the parts in this story was, I wouldn’t change it for anything. Nothing about these two was every going to be easy or painless. That’s not who they or the world they were born into. Pain and heartache go hand and hand in their world even if they’re only shown behind closed doors, when the eyes and ears of those around them finally fade into darkness.

My heart broke at the start of this story reading Vincenzo’s parts especially after he and Nikolaj meet again. The break in scene shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did and honestly, I’m still mad at Avery for that. Of all things for Vincenzo to say at the end, you just had to put that freakin paragraph.

Like the first part there’s some spicy moments between them and they’re definitely hot however I absolutely adored watching them slowly find themselves again and build their relationship back together. They won’t ever have what they had at Vintermoor and Nikolaj will never be the man he was back then, even if all his memories return.

Nikolaj didn’t just lose his memories, he lost the love of his life and in the process took half of Vincenzo’s heart with him. They lost a lot of time, something that’ll never change no matter how hard they wish for it. What they build starts of rocky and unstable. Both aware of how dangerous it is for them and what it’ll cause if the love they have to for each other got out.

Ruslan and Salvatore finally meeting up again after all the years apart was beautiful. Did Salvatore surprise? Absolutely. I was right there was Ruslan when I read that part and then re-read it to make sure I hadn’t just made that scene up in my head. Something I can’t believe I’m going to say and I fully blame Avery for this one.

Part of me really wishes those two got a chance to go back and actually have the life they had dreamt of. I’m aware without what had happened Vincenzo and Nikolaj wouldn’t have their own story but I can dream.

The idea of what their story could have looked like had their lives been different is something my imagination will be thinking about for a while. Going from absolutely despising these two to my heart bleeding for both of them and their sons. Yeah, not many stories can do that to me.

To say this was an enjoyable story and conclusion would be a sever understatement. While yes, it took me a little bit to get really into the story and fall back into this world. I won’t ever stop talking about this story or this duet.

This right here is one of the best mafia stories I’ve read and won’t ever forget. The hurt, angst, emotional grip and freakin mental devastation this book put me through hurt like hell but with these two. I’d expect nothing less. Vincenzo and Nikolaj are so like their parents its poetic.

Is there a lot more I could say about this story? Absolutely, however spilling everything I really want to say would spoil a lot more than I want. What I can say is ……….

The last five chapters took me out so much that I had to take a few minutes to breathe. MY GOD!!!! What the hell was that?! I physically sobbed reading those especially the moment between Nikolaj and his sister and what happened after that.

I never expected picking up Conquest would lead to this kind of emotion at the end of their story. I should’ve know by now that Avery has a way of breaking your heart only to repair it but not to an undamaged state. The cracks are still there but the stories help fill them.

Another beautifully painful story, that I will forever remember. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

[ashlee ❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vincenzo + Nikolaj

-mm romance
-dark mafia
-8 years of pining
-star crossed second chance
-violent devotion
-memory loss
-“my king”

welllll fuck. i basically read this crawled up in a ball in the fetal position the entire time. & the dads?? THE DADS!! ughhh i just can't! that plot twist toward the end too? i was about to crash out but damn, avery again, came in & obliterated me with her words of love of these two boys & it was everything i needed it to be!!

[Zee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Went thru the 7 stages of angst, then healing, then joy, then more joy, then agony, then Heartbreak, then healing 🥺🥹

Ruslan and Salvatore healed something in me and then it was broken again w Vincenzo and Nikolaj....fun 😫

And now here we are....this was a journey I swear, a v hard fought one to their happy end




(My only pet peeve is the repetition which i find a lil annoying but i love the characters so i dealt with it....)

[Juliettaslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

this broke my heart and put it back together again in the most visceral way. i don’t think ill ever forget about nikolaj and vincenzo. they’re perfect and TRUE soulmates.

just wow

[Madeline Lyons Overman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck it, 5⭐️ I laughed, I cried, I had a great time. Give me 100 more just like this plz

[Joana Pozo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 4 ⭐️

Me gustó mucho el libro y la pareja pero sentí que no avanzaba mucho leyéndolo.

[Kaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾️⭐️

I think this might go down as one of my favorite MM series. I knew after reading dirty hit I needed to read more of this author and GOD did I make the right choice. These two wrecked me. Salvatore and Ruslan WRECKED me. I shed so many tears it’s sick. Needing more of them forever. Decided on no full review because even going through the quotes wrecked me all over again which meant there was more crying. A fucking work of art not only was this, but the entire series including Empire. All the stars in the world wouldn’t be enough. A reread is in the near future I’d say.

— quotes (had no control 😭)

“The bullet rests where it always does, my name carved into the metal by a hand I could still recognize blind. “It wasn’t for you to die by. I carved your name into it because if anyone could kill me, it’d be you.””

“Whatever this is, whatever’s been buried, erased, withheld, or locked behind years of everyone’s fucking silence, I know one thing with absolute certainty: I now have a face to put to the voice in my dreams—and it’s his.”

“I love you, even if you don’t ever remember. Even if all you ever feel when you look at me is confusion and contempt.”

“Did I love you? Yes, you loved me like violence learning how to kneel. Yes, you loved me terribly, beautifully, and with every doomed piece of yourself they tried to turn into a weapon. Yes, you loved me enough to hate yourself for it. Yes, you loved me in the chapel, in the library, in my bed, in every stolen corridor, in every bloody lesson, and in every breathless argument we pretended was still only war.”

“Did you ever regret loving Ruslan?” — “I regret what it cost. I regret what I became trying to survive it. I regret the people who paid for it. But loving him? No. That part was never the mistake.” (Fucking sobbing over them still)

“The years collapse—not poetically, or even gently. They cave in all at once. His kiss hits me like impact, memory, and grief with teeth. There’s nothing tentative about it; no testing or uncertain rediscovery. He kisses me like a man confirming the shape of a loaded gun he once held against his own heart and has finally found it after years of being told it never existed.”

“There’ll be a next time?” — “There was always going to be a next time, Nikolaj.”

“His memories are coming back. The sentence moves through me again and again, impossible and real. And God help me, after everything, after all the ruin and silence and blood, I still want to be something he comes back for.”

“I know I loved you,” he starts. “I know that now. I know I loved my enemy enough that they tried to rip it out of me and failed. I know I would’ve chosen you over blood, over duty, over everything they built me for. I know that, Vincenzo.”

“I want Vincenzo Vieri. I wanted him then, and I want him now. Memory loss, war, title, blood, political union, family history, and every old rule written by dead men can go fuck themselves in whichever order seems most convenient.”

“What I feel for Vincenzo is not soft; it never was. It is violent, possessive, furious, inconvenient, and alive with teeth. It comes with grief attached, with the ugly ache of every year I spent walking through the world with a missing organ and mistaking the emptiness for ambition.”

“You know who my heart beats for, Vincenzo,” I answer. “You’ve already got me by the throat in every way that matters.”

“Get up,” he says, the order brittle. “Kings don’t kneel.” — “I kneel for mine,” I answer, staying exactly where I am. “My King. Let me make up for some of what I took from you.” (STFU!!!)

“Still my ruin.”

“Eight long, ugly, whiskey-soaked years of carrying us alone, and the love of my life looked at me tonight like he remembered exactly why we were doomed, and he still wanted me anyway.”

“I remember more now,” — “How much more?” — “I remember enough to know I’ve been missing half my soul and calling it survival.” (BYE BYE BYE 😭😭)

“There is only Nikolaj above me, looking at me like he found his way back to something holy and terrible, and me beneath him, heartsick and alive enough to want. And when he says My King again against my mouth, I know with brutal, useless certainty that I was never going anywhere else.”

“You…” he says, hoarse. “My name… You put my name on you.” “Where it’s safest,” I answer, my throat tight. “Where no one could strip it away, not even memory.” (Sobbing)

“I thought I’d lost every trace of my heart,” he whispers against my skin. “And you… You carried me on yours.” — “Always,” I repeat, fingers sliding into his hair, anchoring him there. “So, carry me now.” (Sobbing more)

“Love, I know. Obsession, I know even better. Want, grief, possession, rage, devotion sharpened into violence, all of those live within me comfortably enough. But this quiet fullness, this almost disbelieving tenderness that comes from simply lying here with him breathing slowly against me, that part catches me wrong. Like I swallowed light and now don’t know what the fuck to do with my hands.”

“Stay,” he murmurs. The word is half asleep, barely formed, but it goes through me like a bullet all the same. I lower my head and press a kiss to his hairline. “I’m never leaving.” (😭😭)

“We are two men who have built empires out of blood and broken promises, and here I am in a ruined bed arguing with Nikolaj Dragovich because he called my stomach noises adorable. God help me, I love him.” (I just 🥹)

“My king,” he says, voice gone lower and dirtier in an instant, “I woke up with you in my bed and my marks on your skin. I absolutely won something.”

“You are absolutely one of my terrible ideas,” — “And still your favorite.”

“Fuck, you’re tight even after last night. You miss this? Eight years eating European croissants and smiling for cameras while your hole went hungry?” (Yeah im cracking TF up 🤣)

“”I love you.” The words land in the room with all the force of a gunshot and all the quietude of a prayer.”

“I never thought I’d hear that again.” — “I suppose you’d better get used to hearing it again.” (I cant 😭)

“He steals the kiss. Hard enough to make the point, soft enough to hurt. He kisses me like a thief and a king and the love of my life all at once, and when he pulls back, I’m the one half dazed now.” — ““I love you,” he says quietly.”

“Then I kiss him, because I’ve had enough death for one night and his mouth is the only thing in the room that still tastes like life.”

— salvatore and ruslan break here —

“He kneels, and I forget how to breathe all over again. This is an old King on his knees in the cold on my terrace, because he doesn’t know how else to tell the truth.” (I cant)

“I loved you,” he says. “I love you still. And I chose wrong. I chose bloodline over you and lost everything anyway. Lucia. You. Myself. Every version of the life I told myself I was protecting.” He swallows hard enough to hurt. I can see it. “There is no day I have not woken up with that in me.” (FUCKING BAWLING MY EYES OUT)

“I’ve missed you,” I say, and my voice is gone completely now, wrecked and young and helpless in ways I haven’t been since exile. “Fuck, I’ve missed you.” (Bawling like i didnt read this chapter twice)

“His mouth is cold from outside air and tastes faintly of whiskey. But the second he kisses me back, all that old hunger, grief, and recognition tears wide open inside me so fast it feels like a wound finally admitting what it is. He makes a sound into my mouth that I feel all the way down in the places that never stop belonging to him.” (Like kill me)

“Then why are you here?” — “Because you were alone with a gun.” His answer comes immediately. “And I heard my name was on the bullet.” (Cannot deal)

“”Cuore mio,” he murmurs, and the old endearment in his mouth after all these years is too fucking much. “I’m here. I’m here now.” I pull him into me and bury my face against his shoulder like I’m trying to climb back into a version of time where none of this has happened yet, and all we have to do is make it through the night. But the night has already taken thirty years.” (I need to be sedated)

“But after thirty years of pretending certainty while ruining both our lives, I’ll take honest confusion.” — “That earns me a look; sharp, familiar, loved. There it is—the unbearable truth of all of this. We are old, broken, full of ghosts, and we still know each other too well for comfort.”

“Nothing is repaired just because Salvatore knelt on my terrace and I kissed him for it. But he is here, and tonight, for the first time in thirty years, when I say his name aloud, I do not have to imagine the answer.”

— back to regularly scheduled programming —

“And on the porch, wrapped up in each other like I’ve stepped into a fever dream constructed from family ghosts and too much whiskey, are our fathers.” (Like yeah i’m ill)

“A place where I can kiss Nikolaj in open light and hear no footsteps coming to stop me. A place where his hand at my waist is not a stolen thing or a risk measured in seconds. A place where, if I wake in the middle of the night aching from the shape of a life that still has to exist outside these walls, he can pull me back against him and remind me that we are not only what the world forced us to be when it watched.”

“Memory, grief, inheritance, miracle. A dead girl’s name given to a place where two generations of men who loved wrong are trying, however badly, to begin again.” (🥹🥹)

“Right now, your job is to breathe. My job is to make sure you remember how.” (Bye)

“Thank you,” — “For what?” — “For making quiet feel safe.” — “For treating silence like something we can keep instead of something waiting to kill us.”

“There it is again. The man I love. It hits differently the second time. Worse. Better. I don’t know. The whole room feels too small for those words, for blood, for the fact that Vincenzo is angry because he is afraid, and I am angry because being loved this openly still catches in me like a blade.”

“I don’t know how to love you now without trying to control every threat around us until there’s nothing left standing. I don’t know how to tell you things before I’ve already decided how to fix them. I don’t know how to trust that if I hand you the ugly parts before I’ve made them useful, you won’t look at me one day and decide I’m more danger than I’m worth.” (Seriously stop!!)

“You should have called me because I love you, and I am tired of finding out after the fact that someone has decided where I’m allowed to stand in your life.” (Crying again like i cant stop)

“I love you,” he says. My anger takes another step back. I hate it. I love it. Both are true. “I love you too.”

“Come here,” I say softly. — “You keep saying that like I’m trained.” — “You are. Badly.” (LMAOOOO)

“I’m not laughing at you.” — You are a little.” — “I adore you a little.” That hits him hard enough that his eyes close briefly. When he opens them again, something in them has steadied. “Good,” he says quietly. “Because I adore you completely.” (Fuck off)

“But I can give you forever in the only way that’s mine to give. I can give you the truth before strategy. I can give you every morning I can steal, and every night I can make safe. I can give you my blood, my name, my fucking loyalty, the parts of me they tried to carve out, and the parts that came back meaner for surviving it. I can give you a place no one else touches. I can give you this.” (Crying OBVIOUSLY)

“You were my prince when we were young, then you became a King without me, and I hate that. I hate that you had to do that alone. But you are My King now, too, not because of the Families, not because of your bloodline, not because any council put a title on your head. Mine. The king of my heart, if you want the dramatic Russian version.” (Fuckkkk)

“Be mine forever,” he says. “Not in theory. Not as memory. Not only when the doors are locked, but also when the world is quiet. Mine in the way that matters. Mine when it’s hard, when we’re angry, when we fuck up, when the blood starts moving around us again, and every instinct we have says to lie first and confess later. Be mine, and I’ll be yours. No title above it. No crown before it. Just us, choosing each other like we should’ve been allowed to do eight years ago.”

“I reach for him—not the ring first. Him. My hands close around his face, and I drag him up enough so that I can kiss him. It’s clumsy because I’m crying now, really crying; no elegant tears I can pretend away.”

“I’ll be yours forever. I’ve been yours for years, you unbearable bastard. I was yours when you forgot me. I was yours when I tried to hate you for it. I was yours in every room I drank myself empty in and every bed I refused to share properly. I’m yours now.” (😭😭)

“Relief. Devotion. Fear still, yes, but softer now. Shared.” — “”My king,” he murmurs. I look down at the ring, then back at him. “My husband.””

“Husband. Not legally. Not socially. Not in any way the world can bless without turning a knife in the same hand. But here, in this room, between the two of us, it’s truer than anything signed by men at tables.”

“Still mine?” I look at the ring on my finger and feel my heart answer before my mouth does. “Forever,” I say.

“I loved you at Vintermoor when I should’ve hated you. I loved you when you forgot me. I loved you when I had to stand there and let you look at me like I was a stranger. I loved you every year after, even when it made no sense to keep carrying it.” (Pls stop)

“I love the way you say my name when you’re trying not to beg. I love that you look at me like I’m the only part of the world that ever made sense and the worst mistake you’d make again.”

“I love you,” I whisper. “I love you, My King. My husband. My beautiful, impossible fucking heart.” (Faking his death was CRUEL like im sobbing)

“I looked at Ruslan and Salvatore and wanted to hate them for having what I didn’t, but I couldn’t. Not fully. Not when I’d seen my father alone on that terrace in Kolomna with a gun and Salvatore’s name on the bullet.” (Yeah sobbing again nothing new)

“Vincenzo Dragovich lives. That is the identity Kieran built for me. That is the life I bought with everything I left behind. I’m not the King of the Five Families anymore. I’m not Arabella’s husband. I’m not bound to Rome, the council, or any throne that needs me empty to function.” — “I’m yours,” he says. “Legally, privately, practically, dangerously, completely. I have nothing, but I am yours.” (😭😭🥹)

“I’m crying because he’s alive. I’m crying because he let me think he wasn’t. I’m crying because his name is Dragovich now, and because for one month I said goodnight to a ring like it could answer me.”

“You’re really here,” — “You’re alive.” — “Yes.” —“You’re mine.” — “Yes,” Vincenzo whispers. “I’m yours.”

“He looks down at the ring in his hand, then back at me. “I love you,” he says. I close my eyes because that still hurts. “I love you too,” I say, and the words come out like a wound reopening.”

“It’s freedom, yes—God, it is freedom—but freedom after a staged death does not feel like stepping into sunlight. It feels like standing outside the burning building you escaped and realizing someone you love was still inside while you were running. Even if you ran for both of you.”

“My beautiful, violent, impossible man. My husband. My grave and my resurrection.”

“You think I don’t know you?” — “He does know me. That is the terrible, beautiful thing. Memory loss stole years from him, but it did not steal the shape of us forever. He learned me again with frightening speed because some part of him had never stopped knowing. He knows when my silence is strategy and when it is shame. He knows when I am being careful with him and when I am using care as a prettier name for distance.”

“Perhaps that is what we are now. Not healed. Not untouched. Not magically made whole because I returned and he held me. Just two men learning the difference between anger and abandonment, guilt and punishment, silence and absence.”

“I love you too,” he says. “You insane, cruel, beautiful fucking liar.” (Crying like a bitch still)

“Outside the villa, the sea moves against the shore of the island he bought for a future we had to destroy ourselves to reach. Free. Guilty. Alive. Here, in his arms, where the grief can see both of us and know it has not won.”

“But I forgive you,” — “Because you came back. Because you gave up everything. Because you’re standing here trying to carry guilt as if it’ll somehow pay me back, and it won’t. Because I don’t want our life to be you waiting for me to punish you, and me hating myself every time you flinch.” — “Because I love you more than I hate what happened.” (Fuck all the way off please 😭)

“Home. The word no longer feels impossible. It feels like a room still under construction. A bed with two men learning how to sleep again. A bath that smells of cedar and whisky. A terrace where silence might one day become peaceful instead of haunted. A place where I can be Vincenzo Dragovich and not flinch from the name because it cost too much to wear lightly.”

“Toward the life we destroyed kingdoms to reach, toward the peace we never thought men like us could have, and toward the reign we are only just beginning to understand was never about power at all.”

[Celina Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reign is the second book in Of Ruin and Royalty, and I knew from the start I’d have to buckle up and I was right. This story broke my heart, made me laugh, scream, hold my breath, and that plot twist nearly did me in, but the way it all came together was flawless. From childhood to becoming men and leaders, Nikolaj and Vincenzo endured so much, and even when they were at odds or fighting to survive, their constant was always their love. If I could experience it all for the first time again, I absolutely would. For anyone who hasn’t started reading Of Ruin and Royalty, I highly recommend beginning with Conquest, then Empire, and finishing with Reign.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my most anticipated read of 2026.
I absolutely loved Nikolaj and Vincenzo's relationship. As much as it pained me that they were apart for eight years, I enjoyed the development of their new relationship, the vulnerability between them, and the new love they had for each other as men.
Whenever they were together I was invested and even though they were strong leaders to the outside world, when they were together, they were just two men in love.
Arseniy really intrigued me, and I'm looking forward to reading more about him.

[Julia (bookish.jka) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Alone isn't what this is anymore."

If you only read one dark MM romance series this year, it needs to be the Of Ruin and Royalty duet by Avery Collins, featuring Conquest, Reign and don't forget to start with the prequel Empire.

This is dark mafia romance at its finest. I rarely get this emotionally attached to book characters but Vincenzo and Nikolaj hit deep.

I'm not going to to precis the plot. You just need to read the series.

What To Expect:

🖤MM mafia romance
🖤Dark themes
🖤Grief and loss
🖤First times
🖤Mine
🖤Obsessive possessive
🖤Forbidden
🖤Secret relationship
🖤Enemies to lovers
🖤Off the chart chemistry
🖤All the steam
🖤All the angst
🖤All the heartbreak
🖤The ending we all needed

ALL ⭐️ THE ⭐️ STARS ⭐️

[Sara Husser · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖤☠️Yes, beloved. You chose me so completely that it destroyed us both🩸🩵

"Yes, beloved. You chose me so completely that it destroyed us both."

"I love you, even if you don't remember. Even if all you feel when you look at me is confusion and contempt."

"Why does it hurt you?"
"Because I remember every second you can't, and you didn't choose to forget me."

"We were always a slow-motion bullet."

"Did I love you? He loved me, and I left him there eight years ago with nothing but the memory of what we used to be."

"Because this was never just a feud, it was a f****** love story. And they buried it alive."

"What I feel for Vincenzo is not soft; it never was. It is violent, possessive, furious, inconvenient, and alive with teeth. It comes with grief attached, with the ugly ache of every year I spent walking through the world with a missing organ and mistaking the emptiness for ambition."

"I didn't ask to forget."
"And I didn't ask to remember alone."

"Get up. Kings don't kneel."
"I kneel for mine. My King. Let me make up for some of what I took from you."

"I remember enough to know I've been missing half my soul and calling it survival."

"I thought I lost every trace of my heart. And you...you carried me on yours."
"Always. So, carry me now."

"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For making quiet feel safe. For treating silence like something we can keep instead of something waiting to kill us."

"You were my prince when we were young, then you became a King without me, and I hate that. I hate that you had to do that alone. But you are My King now."

"I love you. I loved you at Vintermoor when I should've hated you. I loved you when you forgot me. I loved you when I had to stand there and let you look at me like I was a stranger. I loved you every year after, even when it made no sense to keep carrying it."

"I'm yours. Legally, privately, practically, dangerously, completely. I have nothing, but I'm yours."

This was a phenomenal way to end this duet and set up multiple future series to come! If you thought Conquest and Empire gutted you, then this book will obliterate that 😅. This was a heavy, traumatic, and emotional read. My feelings were all over the damn place. Avery did a flawless job pulling on your heart strings while adding in some anxiety and dread. But she also gave you so many beautiful, intimate, and emotional moments full of growth and healing. This is one of the best mafia series I have read and I can't wait for what's in store with all these new series coming. Tatiana, Maksim, Kai, and Arseniy were fantastic side characters, so I can't wait for their series! I loved the Kieran King cameo, which makes me now wonder wtf Killian is involved with 😅🤣. One of the best parts of this story was seeing Ruslan and Salvatore reunite and have their HEA! That had me screaming.

This story follows Nikolai and Vincenzo. This takes place 8 years after Conquest. As we know, Niko lost his memory and Vincenzo has been living for 8 years with loving a ghost and a stranger. They both took their positions. Vincenzo is the King of the Five Families and Capo dei Capi and Nikolai as Pakhan. Niko has been having dreams, which are his fragmented memories, but he can't place the face of the man in them. Vincenzo holds a summit and invites Nikolai. Once Niko hears his voice, some memories come back. He breaks into Vin's room for answers and Vin tells him to check the evidence from Vintermoor. Once Niko sees all the proof of his past life, all the memories flood back slowly. Niko and Vin start a relationship again. It gets dicy a few times and problems arise. Some space is needed and feelings are hurt. They try to salvage what they had and build something new at the same time. You see people trying to hurt them at all angles. Some people are trying to tear them from each other again. More betrayals are happening. So much grief and guilt is centered at the end of this book that I was in a chokehold of anxiety 🤣. This was the hardest fought HEA I have ever read but this couple wouldn't have it any other way.

These two men went through so much hell, grief, guilt, trauma, and pain to be together. Their dynamics switched in this story as they're older and changed. Niko became more serious and controlled. Less impulsive. Vin became more free, flirty, and bratty. I loved how these two men had to re learn each other and adapt. They both had so much growth through this entire series. The chemistry and connection was everything 🔥🔥🔥🥵🥵. Their spicy scenes were feral but also beautiful and intimate. I loved seeing their adorable and vulnerable moments 🥹. Isle Lucia had me bawling but also cackling with Niko's antics 😅. The ring and speech by Niko had me in my feels 😭. The ending where Niko broke...broke me 😭. Seeing Vin live through years of grief was so hard. This book had so many heavy moments but the reunion and fight these two had to stay together, made it all worth it. I also loved the vulnerable talks they had with their fathers. Everyone needs to read this series now! 🖤🩵👑☠️🔫🔪🩸💍🏝

[Daniela Tavares · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
🌶🌶.5/5.

This story earned my first 6 stars of 2026.
Conquest started my demise and wrecked me by the end of it but Reign gave me hope, closure and ultimately put my scattered pieces back together. The journey Vincenzo & Nikolaj took me on was chaotic, doubtful, cruel, sad, depressing but also beautiful, sometimes in an ugly way, challenging, hopeful but also fragile happiness.
By the end tho? It gave me the certainty that the love these two had, was one for the ages. The type of love that can survive anything no matter how much time has passed, who or what tried or stood between them, nor their fear of hoping for a happy ending and certainly not their will to stand beside the love of their life no matter how painful the journey was to get to that point. This was everything. They were everything.

After reading Empire and rereading Conquest before diving into Reign, I admit I had my doubts. I had my doubts about the author on whether or not she could write a story I would love because I'm new to her but also because amnesia trope is a deal breaker for me depending on who writes it and the type of story it is being told. I also wondered if my questions or rather feelings towards side characters would be resolved because I can hold a grudge and I had very mixed feelings towards Ruslan and Salvatore but also Arseniy.
I'm sort of in awe that Avery managed to weave the parents and Arseniy in a way that made sense, didn't feel like too much and by that I mean that the pov's we got were done in the place that we needed them to without taking away from the overall story. It was in a way a reprieve from everything while also making the reader come to terms with what they did and understand the cruel world they were in and that they did what they thought was the right thing while acknowledging that what they did wasn't the right choice and they should've done better but they can't turn back time now and maybe they wouldn't.

I'm pretty sure I never cried so much like I did in this one and the tears started rolling early on. I apparently have a weaker spot for powerful brutal men that just feel so much that when they cry, I cry too in solidarity because wtf not... I tried to control the tears and they still fell, just like these two powerful fell to each other's knees. 😭

I liked that those damn 8 long years happened for a reason. It was to make them the bosses they were supposed to be, some could say that they even surpassed expectations. Vincenzo also learned to appreciate what they had together so when everything came crashing down and there was no amnesia between them except hurt and a whole lot of other emotions, Vincenzo was hopeful but so afraid too. Nikolaj wanted him but also needed time because Vintermoor was heavy as F and it hurt. It hurt seeing Vincenzo going through it all alone. It hurt seeing Nikolaj building his empire without knowing half of his soul was missing and it hurt that after that was out of the way, they still hurt because nothing was ever easy for them and it wouldn't start being easy now.
I just loved that for better or for worse they became better partners to one another because of Vintermoor, painful heartbreak, ghosts and fragile hope. I loved seeing the way both of them grew up. There were no more games between them, no more hiding from one another. Just fragile hope and love that hurt so much that they couldn't take it anymore and had to lay it bare to the other because it's too much for just one person to carry all alone.

The plot twist twisted okay. I was not expecting that for both things that happened.
I'm happy that Salvatore finally swallowed his fear of being rejected and finally bit the b*llet. I'm glad he stopped his pity party and went to Ruslan. Ruslan was waiting for so many years and that also hurt. It was also heartwarming knowing Nikolaj had a hand in that.

I have so much more to say about this book but I'll just stop now because apparently the tears haven't dried yet. 😩
I'm very excited for what's coming next in this world.

* I read an arc of this story. *

[Marquess Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

DID I FINISH THIS BOOK OR DID IT FINISH ME?!

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF ANYMORE!!!!

I live and breathe this book.

I need this forever injected into my DNA. It is a book that you don’t forget about ever.

Listen, I read Conquest back in November and I was like nah nothing could top that, EHHHHH WRONG. REIGN TOPPED IT. TOPPED IT LIKE A CHEERLEADER PYRAMID. Please be aware you must read Empire and Conquest before reading this!!! I’m being so for real, pls read them prior to this.

Buckle up, let’s go because I have been waiting for this in what feels like a century. This was my most anticipated read of 2026 and once again Avery did not disappoint and she brought her A game. She put her entire Averyussy into it.

The insanity that this was. I stg I don’t think I let a breath go until the very end of the book, I just knew that Avery was gonna mess with my head and heart the entire time so I kept my cheeks clenched and prepared for the worst. An absolute rollercoaster she put me on. I sobbed my eyes out idk how many times. My emotions never settled out until they got their HEA (don’t worry they get their HEA). I could cry right now thinking about Vincenzo and Nikolaj all over again.

Vincenzo is one of my favourite characters ever written. He’s such a beautiful man inside and out. He may be the King of the Five Families and scary, brutal, Italian mafia man but he’s also Nikolaj’s King. Nikolaj’s King complains about how strong his love’s coffee is. Nikolaj’s King is bratty and loves to pout if he doesn’t get his way. Nikolaj’s King loves to make his Mio Re smile and laugh because he was without it for 8 years. Nikolaj’s King loves to banter with his man and never lets him get away with being an a**hole. And does Vincenzo know how to yearn. Yearning is his middle name. He’s everything you can ask for in a MMC. Complicated, flawed, loving, caring, a brat.

Nikolaj is also tied for first place too. This man. This. Goddamn. Man. He is hot af when he’s on Pakhan mode setting but also he’s vulnerable behind closed doors and that’s what really sold me on him full stop. His breakdowns actually destroyed me from the inside out. You could feel his pain. You could feel his utter desperation to get answers. You could feel his lack of control slipping through his fingers when Vincenzo is involved. He is one of the most emotionally aware characters I’ve ever read. He too is complicated and flawed like his other half but they balance each other out. He knows Vincenzo like the back of his hand, can read him like a book and that’s why he’s so emotionally in tune with everyone around him. When you find someone who is your soul and can read your soul, it’s easy.

This is probably Avery’s least spiciest book yet and honestly? That was on purpose and intentional. She focuses on the intimacy, and the connection between Nikolaj and Vincenzo. So when the spice did happen it was explosive cause you could actually feel it through the pages. Feel their love for each other, feel how much their hearts are connected. With that being said, does Nikolaj have a filthy mouth I can neither confirm or deny but I highlighted pretty much everything he said so what does that tell you. And bratty Vincenzo is FEISTY. It’s glorious.

Me whenever Vincenzo and Nikolaj were just talking and bantering and doing normal relationship things:



They found their way back to each other, it was a journey yes, but what a journey. It’s beautiful. It’s cathartic. It’s heartbreaking. It’s devastating.

This is a book you’ll never forget. Avery tests your limits, and will drain every tear from your body but it’s well worth it. I promise. The emotional turmoil will wreck you for 90% of it but trust me when I say she lets you take that deep breath at the end.

I’m sorry this review is chaotic and insane but my mind is still boggled.

I love Reign with everything that I am, it’s a part of me now. It’ll be a reread quarterly.

Thank you so much for the ARC, Avery.

Reign 🤝 Me

[૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴠᴀᴜɢʜɴ ᴍᴏʀᴏᴢᴏᴠ ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Except I am not grieving a breakup or an affair that burned out. I am grieving a phantom limb. Someone cut off half of me and sent it back to its homeland with new orders and new scars, and I’ve been stumbling around ever since, trying to convince the world I walk fine.

So… where do I send my therapy bill? No. Seriously.

Where the hell do I even start? This book broke me and somehow put me back together. This duet was just wow. Really well written, emotions were devastating, the characters were flawed yet easy to root for. This book is exactly why I’m on Avery’s street team and why all of her books are instant reads.

Because this was never just a feud, it was a fucking love story. And they buried it alive.

In Reign, we jump eight years in the future from Conquest. While I hate the amnesia trope, I think it’s necessary here for the payoff in the end. I don’t think this book would have hit as hard without it. Nikolaj and Vincenzo needed to be older and established in their roles for it to work. You get so many sweet moments and you get so many heartbreaking moments. Honestly Nikolaj was much more likable in this book. But, I still loved Enzo more. Though I was very mad at him late in this book >.> He’s got such big brat and baby girl energy, I found myself kicking my feet and giggling.

“Touch yourself,” he says, voice rough stone.

“No…You want me to finish, you work harder for it.”

“Such a fucking brat.”

There is not much spice, but honestly, this book doesn’t need it. It hits so much harder without it. This is an emotional journey. It makes the tender kisses and stray touches seem like smut 😅 And with how they are written, with so much emotion, they might as well be. You’ll be so invested in the story, you won’t notice!

“Be mine forever…Not in theory. Not as memory. Not only when the doors are locked, but also when the world is quiet. Mine in the way that matters. Mine when it’s hard, when we’re angry, when we fuck up, when the blood starts moving around us again, and every instinct we have says to lie first and confess later. Be mine, and I’ll be yours. No title above it. No crown before it. Just us, choosing each other like we should’ve been allowed to do eight years ago.”

I cannot wait for what’s to come in this universe. Excited to see all of the amazing side characters getting stories. Though I have to say I’m most excited for Kai and Bishop because who doesn’t love the nerdy quiet guy and King and Arseniy because hell yea that sounds amazing and I need to know more about them.

”Tell them that The Blade has left Moscow.”

[sycokittykat - Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruined by Vincenzo & Nikolaj

I knew this book was going to destroy me before I ever picked it up. After reading Conquest and Empire I knew all of these men deserved all the happiness. I also knew this book was no going to make it easy or kind. I went through every emotion and was physically unable to put this book down until I finished it.

"Eight years. Eight f-ing years, and I still remember him with more clarity than I remember my wedding vows."

Vincenzo, The King of the Five Families, is powerful yet broken. He is living with memories of a man he loved who doesn't remember him. Haunted by the memory of every touch, kiss, and stolen moment. After all these years he never expects that Nikolaj might remember.

Nikolaj, Pakhan or the blade, is haunted by memories he doesn't have, dreams of someone he can't remember and a longing he doesn't understand. However, one simple sentence begins to unravel the truth he couldn't remember.

"My world comes to an immediate f-ing stop. It's the voice from my dreams."

From this moment the book grabbed me and refused to let me go. I laughed and cried and raged. I also loved and cherished the moments of happiness. This book was an experience and I already wish I could read it again for the first time.

I adored seeing their fathers get their moment too. It was decades late and with little left to offer but it was beautiful. It was filled with heartache and the grief of lost time but the love was still there.

The end of this book takes you on an emotional journey I was absolutely not prepared for. I knew it was going to hurt and heal but I had no idea just how much. I'm still sitting on that beach. Then can we talk about that bonus epilogue? That was so unexpected and I'm not even sure I have words for all of it but I am definitely excited to see what's next in this world.

"Be mine forever." he says. "Not in theory. Not as a memory. Not only when the doors are locked, but also when the world is quiet. Mine when it's hard, when we're angry, when we f up, when the blood starts moving around us again, and every instinct we have says to lie first and confess later. Be mine, and I'll be yours. No title about it. No crown before it. Just us, choosing each other like we should've been allowed to do eight years ago."

[Katsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5/5 ⭐
Spice: 1.5/5 🌶️

✨💔 This duet is honestly one of the best duets I've ever read, and I'm still thinking about it long after finishing it. 🥹❤️ Avery Collins absolutely outdid herself with this story. Her writing is so emotional, immersive, and beautifully crafted that I couldn't put the books down. 📚✨

😭 Nikolaj and Vincenzo's story completely broke my heart. From the very beginning, I was emotionally invested in everything they went through. 💔 We start with an 8-year time jump, where Vincenzo is left carrying nothing but painful memories while Nikolaj can't remember any of it. 🥺🧩 That was absolutely devastating.

🤯 What frustrated me the most was that no one told Nikolaj what had happened between him and Vincenzo at Vintermoor. 😭💔 Knowing everything they had been through, it was heartbreaking to watch Nikolaj become so cold, ruthless, and violent that even Arseniy ended up hating him. 😢⚔️

❤️‍🩹 One thing I absolutely loved was that Nikolaj didn't just ignore the strange dreams he was having. 🌙✨ Instead, he wanted answers and refused to stop searching once he realized that Vincenzo was the man from his dreams. 🥹❤️ That determination made me love him even more.

💕 Their relationship developed so naturally and realistically. Nothing felt rushed, and that's one of the things I appreciated most. 🫶 Nikolaj needed time to process everything, to understand his feelings, and to slowly let Vincenzo back into his life. 🥺❤️ It wasn't an easy journey for either of them, and that's exactly what made their love story feel so genuine and believable.

😭 The ending absolutely destroyed me. When Vincenzo almost died, my heart was in my throat the entire time. 💔😭 And then the epilogue... 🥹❤️ It was the perfect way to wrap up their story after everything they had endured together.

🥹 I loved these two so much. Their chemistry was incredible, their love was beautiful, and I cried so many times alongside them. 😭❤️ They went through so much pain, but seeing them fight for each other made every emotional moment worth it. ✨💖

🥰 I honestly can't recommend this duet enough, and I'm already so excited to read the other stories in this world. 📚✨ I have a feeling they'll be just as unforgettable! ❤️🖤🥹✨📚💔🌹

[Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed Reign far better than Conquest.

Oddly enough, I thought Vincenzo and Nikolai had much better chemistry and connection here than in book one. And even though I am not partial to the whole amenisa storyline in books, I felt it worked well here and was handled correctly. My main issue with this story was the faked death. I felt it was BEYOND cruel how Vincenzo handled it. He allowed the love of his life to mourn him for over a month until Nikolai started to spiral so badly he was contemplating suicide. It just didn't make sense to me. So there was a hit out for Niko; then why did Vincenzo fake his death? How did that help him? I don't know. I felt the whole Five Families in the mafia didn't really make much sense, how things were run, and the supposed power struggles within got confusing. I also thought it was stupid that Vincenzo kept his first name and took Niko's last name to create a new identity. Wouldn't that be rather obvious to others? Why not change his first name to Enzo, like the way Niko used to call him in school? Also, the whole thing about Vincenzo's wife bugged me. Okay, so she wasn't a villain, but still, she was having sex with someone else in their bed FOR YEARS. And that someone just happened to be Vincenzo's cousin, whom he tells he can no longer trust. Yeah, valid, but his wife gets a free pass because he feels sorry for her? It just felt like the author was grasping at straws to make the wife a sympathetic character when, in fact, she was not trustworthy either.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I thought I would rate this a five-star read, but by the end of it, I felt that both Vincenzo and Nikolai were too broken to make a serious go of it. It felt like they were trying to recapture the past rather than move forward. Yeah, I know this is fiction, but some things in life cannot be rectified simply because you love someone. The ending didn't feel satisfying. I think the author was aiming for realism, but it just felt too depressing and didn't work for me. 4.35 stars.

[August June 💘 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who gives 1* even before the book is published?!

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10 fucking *. READ IT!!! Read it for Nikolaj, read it for the goddamned intensity, read it for the heartbreak, read it for the intimacy (god! the dialogues and convos between Nikolaj and Vincenzo!) read it for the smut, just plain read it! There are absolutely no fillers in this book. Every chapter, every word, every statement adds to the story. No long monologuing (or even if they had, I didn't notice it), it was that good.

This is ONE of the best books I read and it easily will be in my top 5 list. I know I will be re-reading this book so many times in the future, it is that good. I just wanted to read more more more.

Nikolaj's character will go down as one of the best MM heroes ever written atleast for me (on par with Logan from Temptation series by Ella Frank, Kieran from If we could go back by Cara Dee, Viper from Fallen Angel series or Zane & Ty from Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux). Damn, if only these books also become a TV show! Nikolaj has so many shades and he goes for what he wants, no Qs and no hesitation. Vincenzo continues that delicate/sensitive mafia leader but still comes to his own standing beside Nikolaj. What I loved between them is there is no fake dick measuring contest despite both being heads of their own mafias, both knew what they are to each other and didn't repeat the mistakes of Ruslan/Salvatore. Vincenzo's softness did not make him look weak nor Nikolaj's dominance made him look superior.

There is a loose end, I really hope Avery writes a novella (at the least) on Ruslan and Salvatore and how they are managing their lives with the recent changes related to Five families.

And few open Qs like what Vincenzo would have done if Nikolaj didn't do what he did towards the end? How would it have worked out then? I am curious, I wish author gives an alternate story with Nikolaj continuing and how their life would have worked out then.

[Kerri Rutana · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no words to describe how much this book completely obliterated me, then slowly put me back together. It's been days since I have finished, and I am still having trouble trying to read something else. I literally catch myself staring into space, thinking about Nikolaj and Vincenzo. It's been days and this book still has me in a choke hold. I even tried to prepare myself beforehand. I knew how conquest ended, and I also knew it would be 8 years since Nikolak and Vincenzo would see each other. I was not prepared at all. The emotional roller-coaster I had through this book was like nothing I have had before. The book begins 8 years after our boys leave Vintermoor. Nikolaj, the Pakhan of Bratva, the blade. Nikolaj has made a name for himself since Vintemoor. He's ruthless, feared, and shows no mercy even when it comes to family. And yet he still has this feeling that something's missing, a voice in his dreams that has him in a chokehold. Vincenzo, the Capo. My heart was so broken for him. Imagine not seeing the man you love for 8 years, and carrying that love with you while doing things that are expected of a Capo. Imagine knowing that the love of your life is alive, but does not remember any of your time together and hates you. When they see each other again the connection is instant, and this is where the story begins. From the confusion, heartbreak, understanding, forgiveness, and growth you will go through it. Avery has a way of pulling these emotions from you, so you are feeling exactly what her characters are. Let's not forget the parallels between not only Conquest Book 1 in the series, but also Empire, a novella in the series. Also that plot twist nearly killed me, I don't think I have cried so much throughout a book. I will stop here, because I fear that I have already written too much. I was honored to read this Avery, and so happy Nikolaj got his “King” and Vinzenzo his “mio re”.

[Stephen Rutana · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG This Book was everything

There are no words to describe how much this book completely obliterated me, then slowly put me back together. It's been days since I have finished, and I am still having trouble trying to read something else. I literally catch myself staring into space, thinking about Nikolaj and Vincenzo. It's been days and this book still has me in a choke hold. I even tried to prepare myself beforehand. I knew how conquest ended, and I also knew it would be 8 years since Nikolak and Vincenzo would see each other. I was not prepared at all. The emotional roller-coaster I had through this book was like nothing I have had before. The book begins 8 years after our boys leave Vintermoor. Nikolaj, the Pakhan of Bratva, the blade. Nikolaj has made a name for himself since Vintemoor. He's ruthless, feared, and shows no mercy even when it comes to family. And yet he still has this feeling that something's missing, a voice in his dreams that has him in a chokehold. Vincenzo, the Capo. My heart was so broken for him. Imagine not seeing the man you love for 8 years, and carrying that love with you while doing things that are expected of a Capo. Imagine knowing that the love of your life is alive, but does not remember any of your time together and hates you. When they see each other again the connection is instant, and this is where the story begins. From the confusion, heartbreak, understanding, forgiveness, and growth you will go through it. Avery has a way of pulling these emotions from you, so you are feeling exactly what her characters are. Let's not forget the parallels between not only Conquest Book 1 in the series, but also Empire, a novella in the series. Also that plot twist nearly killed me, I don't think I have cried so much throughout a book. I will stop here, because I fear that I have already written too much. I was honored to read this Avery, and so happy Nikolaj got his “King” and Vinzenzo his “mio re”.