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The Inferno #1
The Kingmaker
They assigned me an idealistic attorney who thinks I belong behind bars. Emilio Rossi walked into my courtroom wearing righteousness like armor and a fading wedding ring tan line that tells me everything I need to know. He's vulnerable. Brilliant. Completely wrong for defending a man like me.
I should've requested different counsel.
Instead, I'm finding excuses to keep him close. Watching him fight for me in court with a fire that makes me want to see what that passion looks like when I strip away all his principles. He thinks he can maintain professional boundaries. He thinks his integrity will protect him from men like me.
He's wrong.
I'm going to corrupt him. Claim him. Make him mine in every way that matters. And when he finally surrenders—and he will surrender—he'll realize that loving a monster means becoming one too.
The only question is whether he'll hate me for it or thank me.
I took the Vitale case to save my career. Now I'm not sure I'll survive it with my soul intact.
Alessandro "Sandro" Vitale is everything I've spent my legal career fighting against. He's dangerous, calculating, and guilty of crimes I can't prove. Defending him should feel like selling out. Instead, it feels like falling.
Every courtroom battle pulls me deeper into his world. Every conversation makes me question the lines I swore I'd never cross. He looks at me like I'm something he wants to own, and God help me, part of me wants to let him.
I know what he is. I know what choosing him will cost. My reputation. My principles. Everything I've worked for.
But when he touches me, none of that matters.
He's breaking down every wall I've built, every rule I've followed, every certainty I've clung to. And the worst part? I'm starting to think that's exactly where I want to be. Broken open. Completely his.
Even if it destroys us both.
A dark M/M romance where a ruthless mob strategist claims the attorney assigned to defend him. High heat. Morally grey characters. Obsessive love. No cheating. HEA.
Book 1 in the Inferno series. Each book features a different couple but follows an interconnected story. Can be read as a standalone.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 29, 2025
About the author
Marian Black
209 books25 followersMarian Black creates M/M romance stories with an action-thriller flavor. She has a particular love of vampire and mafia stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 7, 2026
DNF'D 48%
This story has a lot of potential but it needs to be line edited.
Not only does the author reuse the same anecdotes way too often, they also end up paraphrasing the same thing over and over.
There are two different characters named Vincent.
Both characters flip flop their opinions.
Some of it doesn't even make sense.
The attorney knows he's being trailer but still goes on dates with his client.
Sandro pays off Emilio's credit card but Emilio never reacts.
The author states Sandro ordered the payment to be untraceable but then it turns out the FBI trace it easily?
Emilio gets threatened BECAUSE he chose to be Sandro's attorney, but then he thinks he's a liability BECAUSE he is being targeted so he needs to distance himself???
But if Sandro got a new lawyer they would then just target the new lawyer too so??
And the firm pushed him to take the case knowing what Sandro does but then they want him to quit?
None of it makes sense.
This story has a lot of potential but it needs to be line edited.
Not only does the author reuse the same anecdotes way too often, they also end up paraphrasing the same thing over and over.
There are two different characters named Vincent.
Both characters flip flop their opinions.
Some of it doesn't even make sense.
The attorney knows he's being trailer but still goes on dates with his client.
Sandro pays off Emilio's credit card but Emilio never reacts.
The author states Sandro ordered the payment to be untraceable but then it turns out the FBI trace it easily?
Emilio gets threatened BECAUSE he chose to be Sandro's attorney, but then he thinks he's a liability BECAUSE he is being targeted so he needs to distance himself???
But if Sandro got a new lawyer they would then just target the new lawyer too so??
And the firm pushed him to take the case knowing what Sandro does but then they want him to quit?
None of it makes sense.
July 9, 2026
Attorney / Mob Boss
Dark-ish Romance
As with the other reviews, parts of this book felt repetitive and the spice followed the same path
Wasn't my favourite so I didn't continue with the series, not for me but might be your cup of tea
Spice - 3/5
Story - 3/5
Dark-ish Romance
As with the other reviews, parts of this book felt repetitive and the spice followed the same path
Wasn't my favourite so I didn't continue with the series, not for me but might be your cup of tea
Spice - 3/5
Story - 3/5
February 1, 2026
This is ”written” by AI author.
February 4, 2026
Okay..
I liked this story...but at times I felt like I was reading the same part over again. There are parts that are word for word the something that happened before. A little odd. I hated how wishy washy the lawyer was. Oh, I can't believe I compromised myself...then...don't be sorry for me, I made my own choice. It was more than battling with oneself...anyway, I am going to read book two.
I liked this story...but at times I felt like I was reading the same part over again. There are parts that are word for word the something that happened before. A little odd. I hated how wishy washy the lawyer was. Oh, I can't believe I compromised myself...then...don't be sorry for me, I made my own choice. It was more than battling with oneself...anyway, I am going to read book two.
March 17, 2026
The story had a lot of potential but sadly didn't deliver. The plot holes are so big the story doesn't even make sense and it's very repetitive. The trial doesn't make sense at all, like the person prosecuted isn't the person who committed the alleged crime, the writer obviously didn't bother to do her research to find out how the judical system actually works. Also the whole trial is being portrayed like it was some big murder trial when it's a relatively minor offense. Both main characters do illogical things and then act surprised when it has the expected consequences. Whole conversations are being repeated over and over again and every time they act like they hear it for the first time. And if I read one more time "I'm choosing you, I'm choosing this freely" I swear to God.
June 20, 2026
2.5
The only thing that kept me interested was the plot and even then it wasn’t the best. Everything felt very repetitive and nothing was really detailed expect for them working on the case. I felt like we got too much information about that to where it was so repetitive and we lacked information about the couple and surroundings. I couldn’t tell you how anything looked other than everything was expensive and even then that’s not very descriptive.
The characters didn’t seem to really know each other but yet they loved each other??? Emilio was described as brilliant, smart and beautiful and that was it. His whole life was his career and then his whole life was Sandro. He has no friends did nothing but work and see Sandro. Him and Sandro would talk about the case and sex and that was it. We knew nothing about who they were outside of work and sex. No hobbies no going out and enjoying each others company outside of trials and work. We know nothing about Sandro’s background other than his dad died and gave him the family business but we know nothing about his childhood and how he was raised or anything that would make you connected to a character.
I am hoping to see some character development for Matteo and Stefan in the next book and I am interested to see how the plot develops in the second book and see what happens with the RICO trial.
The only thing that kept me interested was the plot and even then it wasn’t the best. Everything felt very repetitive and nothing was really detailed expect for them working on the case. I felt like we got too much information about that to where it was so repetitive and we lacked information about the couple and surroundings. I couldn’t tell you how anything looked other than everything was expensive and even then that’s not very descriptive.
The characters didn’t seem to really know each other but yet they loved each other??? Emilio was described as brilliant, smart and beautiful and that was it. His whole life was his career and then his whole life was Sandro. He has no friends did nothing but work and see Sandro. Him and Sandro would talk about the case and sex and that was it. We knew nothing about who they were outside of work and sex. No hobbies no going out and enjoying each others company outside of trials and work. We know nothing about Sandro’s background other than his dad died and gave him the family business but we know nothing about his childhood and how he was raised or anything that would make you connected to a character.
I am hoping to see some character development for Matteo and Stefan in the next book and I am interested to see how the plot develops in the second book and see what happens with the RICO trial.
January 15, 2026
Wouldn’t call it dark
This book is definitely not dark but worth the read. I’ve read about three of Marian’s books lately and they’re enjoyable but I have a few peeves. One is the repetition in writing. They’re all about a supposed bad guy who goes soft when falling in love. She repeats herself a lot in every story. The line “Well do it together” is a constant verse used multiple times in every book, almost like a staple. Trust me you won’t miss or forget it. There’s a lot of things like this in the writing. Repeat repeat. Then there’s the sex scenes, there’s plenty of it in this book which I happen to enjoy but every single one is the same with maybe one or two different words spoken in them to make them sound different but they’re exactly the same from start to cleanups. It feels like they’re copy and pasted in each chapter. A little too vanilla for me. Other than that the stories are enjoyable enough to read through. The characters are good, the storyline is good, the editing is good. It’s a one time read book only in my opinion.
This book is definitely not dark but worth the read. I’ve read about three of Marian’s books lately and they’re enjoyable but I have a few peeves. One is the repetition in writing. They’re all about a supposed bad guy who goes soft when falling in love. She repeats herself a lot in every story. The line “Well do it together” is a constant verse used multiple times in every book, almost like a staple. Trust me you won’t miss or forget it. There’s a lot of things like this in the writing. Repeat repeat. Then there’s the sex scenes, there’s plenty of it in this book which I happen to enjoy but every single one is the same with maybe one or two different words spoken in them to make them sound different but they’re exactly the same from start to cleanups. It feels like they’re copy and pasted in each chapter. A little too vanilla for me. Other than that the stories are enjoyable enough to read through. The characters are good, the storyline is good, the editing is good. It’s a one time read book only in my opinion.
May 23, 2026
I mean where do I start w how much I disliked this?
The characters weren’t bad, neither was the plot but the writing ruined it all. Never have I read a book where the characters repeated the exact same words nearly word for word in just about every other chapter if not every chapter and it wasn’t in a way that reiterated a point it was just like the author had forgot they’d already used that line multiple times earlier in the story or simply didn’t know how to write anything else for them to say.
The smut was either poorly written or again repetitive. The same smut and same phrases used to describe every time they had sees which was at the end of every confrontation or stressful day. They either had sex to distract themselves or “remind” themselves why they were together.
This story had so much potential and could’ve been so good but the execution was so bad that I only finished bc I was hoping it’d improve.
The characters weren’t bad, neither was the plot but the writing ruined it all. Never have I read a book where the characters repeated the exact same words nearly word for word in just about every other chapter if not every chapter and it wasn’t in a way that reiterated a point it was just like the author had forgot they’d already used that line multiple times earlier in the story or simply didn’t know how to write anything else for them to say.
The smut was either poorly written or again repetitive. The same smut and same phrases used to describe every time they had sees which was at the end of every confrontation or stressful day. They either had sex to distract themselves or “remind” themselves why they were together.
This story had so much potential and could’ve been so good but the execution was so bad that I only finished bc I was hoping it’d improve.
April 21, 2026
IA Autor. Empecé a leerme este libro sin ningún conocimiento al respecto más allá de la trama, mientras más avanzaba se sentía más extraña la lectura en ciertos puntos. Había mucha falta de congruencia; los personajes actuaban de una forma diferente a los que se decían de sí mismo, el diálogo muchas veces se sintió repetitivo y las escenas spicy literalmente fue un copiar y pegar en la que realmente me quedé pensando si estaba en la página correcta o había retrocedido. A pesar de tener una muy buena idea inicial para la trama me pareció que no lo supieron manejar de la forma correcta. Al buscar al autor veo que ha sido señalado con utilizar contenido de escritura con IA y todo tiene sentido. No recomiendo su contenido, que poca creatividad tienes que tener para usar IA en tus libros y si lo haces no mereces ser llamado artista/escritor por ello
July 11, 2026
I thought about DNFing about 70 pages in but I pushed through. This wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it wasn't great. I've seen the other reviews and agree with the majority when they say: it is so repetitive! There were so many times I thought, "didn't they already have this conversation?". I also never want to read the phrase "he was attracted to me, and hated himself for it" in any form or iteration for the next year at least lol.
This story did have potential, and it's an okay read, but the payoff wasn't worth it in the end, for me. With some unbiased editing, this could have been about 50 pages shorter.
This story did have potential, and it's an okay read, but the payoff wasn't worth it in the end, for me. With some unbiased editing, this could have been about 50 pages shorter.
February 15, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Listen. I enjoy my gay smut. I enjoy it even more when it comes wrapped in an actual good storyline instead of just vibes and dramatic breathing.
The Kingmaker by Marian Black delivers both—steamy tension and plot thick enough to trip over in expensive Italian shoes.
Law. Crime. Mafia bosses. Sharp-suited attorneys exchanging words like loaded weapons.
Absolute. Perfection.
Came for the romance, stayed for the danger, finished the book like I’d just survived a very attractive felony.
10/10 would willingly be emotionally manipulated again.
Listen. I enjoy my gay smut. I enjoy it even more when it comes wrapped in an actual good storyline instead of just vibes and dramatic breathing.
The Kingmaker by Marian Black delivers both—steamy tension and plot thick enough to trip over in expensive Italian shoes.
Law. Crime. Mafia bosses. Sharp-suited attorneys exchanging words like loaded weapons.
Absolute. Perfection.
Came for the romance, stayed for the danger, finished the book like I’d just survived a very attractive felony.
10/10 would willingly be emotionally manipulated again.
May 6, 2026
Could not finish. The legal terms and court information were substantial. However, the redundancy in dialog cut off the reality the story tried to maintain. Things only go into motion at 45% into the book. The beginning has no conflict of interest besides the ethical violations against sleeping with a client. The convence and rapridtiy Sandro has breaks suspends the stories reality. Instead of subtle reveals of essential information, it is dropped off as needed, which, again, breaks reality. This story has good bones, but its delivery needs editing.
July 9, 2026
The kingmaker 1/5 ⭐
Sinceramente no me gustó nada. Un copia y pega constante y no tiene nada de sentido la historia. Frases repetidas, contradicciones a menudo, mismas escenas de sexo. No había nada en esa historia que fuera buena. Luego busque en tiktok y Goodreads y me enteré que está acusada por escribir con IA y entendí todo. No lo recomiendo, no vale en absoluto la pena. Es una lastimas porque la sinopsis estaba buena, pero horrible historia y NI SIQUERA me gustó la pareja. Nono. Feo, feo.
La historia no existe, literal, no existe.
Sinceramente no me gustó nada. Un copia y pega constante y no tiene nada de sentido la historia. Frases repetidas, contradicciones a menudo, mismas escenas de sexo. No había nada en esa historia que fuera buena. Luego busque en tiktok y Goodreads y me enteré que está acusada por escribir con IA y entendí todo. No lo recomiendo, no vale en absoluto la pena. Es una lastimas porque la sinopsis estaba buena, pero horrible historia y NI SIQUERA me gustó la pareja. Nono. Feo, feo.
La historia no existe, literal, no existe.
January 19, 2026
Repetitive
This book is very repetitive. MMCs repeat themselves multiple times throughout their chapter long internal monolog. There isn't anything left to the imagination, hidden agendas are plainly laid out on the table with no room for foreshadowing. I have no clue how the spice is written because I couldn't make it that far. It was somewhat condescending to my intelligence the way this was written.
This book is very repetitive. MMCs repeat themselves multiple times throughout their chapter long internal monolog. There isn't anything left to the imagination, hidden agendas are plainly laid out on the table with no room for foreshadowing. I have no clue how the spice is written because I couldn't make it that far. It was somewhat condescending to my intelligence the way this was written.
February 14, 2026
Good, but a lot of repetition.
Overall the story, characters, and pacing felt really good. That said, as I got further through the book, I began noticing what appeared to be a lot of repeated dialogue and scenes. The last few chapters felt unnecessary, and was more like a condensing a repeat of the entire book with different details.
I liked the characters, the power dynamic, and the word building and will probably be reading the next book before long.
Overall the story, characters, and pacing felt really good. That said, as I got further through the book, I began noticing what appeared to be a lot of repeated dialogue and scenes. The last few chapters felt unnecessary, and was more like a condensing a repeat of the entire book with different details.
I liked the characters, the power dynamic, and the word building and will probably be reading the next book before long.
February 14, 2026
Decent
I would have rated higher if the book wasn’t so repetitive. The spicy scenes were copied and pasted. EACH. SCENE. The dialogue was predictable and I cannot pinpoint the moment both characters fell for the other. I stayed for the outcome of the trial. The story needed heavy editing. It also needed to be fleshed out more. It was decent. Not great.
I would have rated higher if the book wasn’t so repetitive. The spicy scenes were copied and pasted. EACH. SCENE. The dialogue was predictable and I cannot pinpoint the moment both characters fell for the other. I stayed for the outcome of the trial. The story needed heavy editing. It also needed to be fleshed out more. It was decent. Not great.
March 6, 2026
Now this book is a must-read first in a series. One book leads to another with a theme running through them all. Emilio is a brilliant lawyer who is asked by his boss to take on the Vitale assault case, what he doesn't know is he will find the love of his life. Sandro is the head of the family and has gone through lawyers like water until he discovers Emilio. Plans change in this steamy book but it needs to be top of your list.
Did Not Finish
May 13, 2026DNF’d at 41%…should’ve been earlier.
What is the grocery list was this? Characters poorly built, shit plot with big plot holes, I would rather take a grater to my flaps than read the mediocre, repetitive “spice” that was attempted in this book. Was like watching paint dry.
Did we copy and paste some paragraphs in each chapter? I think so.
What is the grocery list was this? Characters poorly built, shit plot with big plot holes, I would rather take a grater to my flaps than read the mediocre, repetitive “spice” that was attempted in this book. Was like watching paint dry.
Did we copy and paste some paragraphs in each chapter? I think so.
February 18, 2026
Começou bem, mas desandou à medida que ia desenrolando. Os personagens ficaram bitolados e nem de longe é Dark Romance. Hoje, as pessoas não estão mais sabendo o que é cada tema. Qualquer livro é considerado dark, sem ser. Sério, é frustrante.
April 3, 2026
DNF 51%
The plot itself is not that bad tbh. But the writing omfg. It is repetitive. The same scenes are described by boths povs. The sex scenes are copy paste. The same sentences are used way too often. Makes me think it’s written by AI. Overall this isn’t readable.
Please do not read it.
The plot itself is not that bad tbh. But the writing omfg. It is repetitive. The same scenes are described by boths povs. The sex scenes are copy paste. The same sentences are used way too often. Makes me think it’s written by AI. Overall this isn’t readable.
Please do not read it.
May 30, 2026
Exciting start to this series
This is a story of influence and choice. Two men who are committed to each others finding their way through challenges and conflict. An interesting story well worth reading.
This is a story of influence and choice. Two men who are committed to each others finding their way through challenges and conflict. An interesting story well worth reading.
June 29, 2026
Dnf at 52% the dialogue is extremely redundant and the author just copy pasted all the spicy scenes, they’re are literal copies of the same paragraphs over and over again.
I just can’t read anything released 2025 and beyond, it’s all AI SLOP!
I just can’t read anything released 2025 and beyond, it’s all AI SLOP!
January 5, 2026
omg brilliant read I loved it fantastic characters
I love the law part and the slow romance
now the next book
thanks
I love the law part and the slow romance
now the next book
thanks
January 26, 2026
Liked the characters but the author was very repetitive in the writing.
February 11, 2026
Interesting
I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this one. To my surprise, I found myself devouring the entire story. Wonderful
I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy this one. To my surprise, I found myself devouring the entire story. Wonderful
February 27, 2026
Okay story.
I liked the characters and most of the story. The last chapters I thought are unnecessary. The author repeated phrases and situations. Parts became tiresome.
I liked the characters and most of the story. The last chapters I thought are unnecessary. The author repeated phrases and situations. Parts became tiresome.
March 4, 2026
This was a great start to what is going to be an amazing series! Be warned, it’s dark and gritty and doesn’t hold back on its punches…
March 15, 2026
It's just so boring and repetitive. I'm getting the feeling this is AI so why waste my time when even the spice is the same scene
Did Not Finish
March 26, 2026DNF @ 40%. It was too repetitive for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews