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Clemenza Family #1
The Beast Who Bought Me
I used to be a mafia prince. Now I'm marked as prey.
Someone is systematically eliminating my Family bloodline, and I'm the last heir standing.
No money.
No allies.
No way out…except one.
An underground auction where the wealthy and the wicked bid on desperate, untouched men like me.
I expect to be sold to a stranger. Used and discarded.
Instead, I'm bought by a man with a two-decades-long vendetta against my dead father. A beast who drops ten million dollars to own me, then drags me home to a prison he built just for me.
He wants vengeance. He wants to break me. But I'm not as easy to break as he expects.
And when danger follows me into his territory, he becomes something I never expected.
A protector.
A possessor.
He keeps me safe, even while he keeps me caged.
I’m starting to think the most dangerous thing isn’t being owned by him.
It’s wanting him to keep me...
The Beast Who Bought Me is book 1 of an ongoing-couple trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Expect dark dealings, obsession, possessiveness, toxic dynamics, and all the red flags. These antiheroes will earn their happily ever after, but they'll fight hard to get there.
Content guidance can be found on the author's website.
Someone is systematically eliminating my Family bloodline, and I'm the last heir standing.
No money.
No allies.
No way out…except one.
An underground auction where the wealthy and the wicked bid on desperate, untouched men like me.
I expect to be sold to a stranger. Used and discarded.
Instead, I'm bought by a man with a two-decades-long vendetta against my dead father. A beast who drops ten million dollars to own me, then drags me home to a prison he built just for me.
He wants vengeance. He wants to break me. But I'm not as easy to break as he expects.
And when danger follows me into his territory, he becomes something I never expected.
A protector.
A possessor.
He keeps me safe, even while he keeps me caged.
I’m starting to think the most dangerous thing isn’t being owned by him.
It’s wanting him to keep me...
The Beast Who Bought Me is book 1 of an ongoing-couple trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Expect dark dealings, obsession, possessiveness, toxic dynamics, and all the red flags. These antiheroes will earn their happily ever after, but they'll fight hard to get there.
Content guidance can be found on the author's website.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2026
About the author
Leighton Greene
68 books526 followersLeighton Greene has been writing stories since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Her first book was a choose-your-own-adventure style book about deciding what to eat for breakfast. It didn't shake the New York Times bestseller list, but she still has a copy of it.
After spending some time writing in academia, fanfiction and corporate reporting, Leighton decided she should probably do what she actually wanted to do, which was to write commercial fiction. So she did. She writes gay romance and, when the mood strikes, erotica as L.J. Greene.
Leighton lives with her partner and her cockatiel on the east coast of Australia.
(Source: Amazon.com)
After spending some time writing in academia, fanfiction and corporate reporting, Leighton decided she should probably do what she actually wanted to do, which was to write commercial fiction. So she did. She writes gay romance and, when the mood strikes, erotica as L.J. Greene.
Leighton lives with her partner and her cockatiel on the east coast of Australia.
(Source: Amazon.com)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
May 18, 2026
My life has been piling up against me lately so it has been very hard to find some reading time. But I did it!!
I finally got to finish this book.
Caligula is the prince to a powerful mafia family which used to rule the streets of New York with an iron fist. Until some shadowed assassin melted seamlessly into the fray and began to pick them off one by one, leaving Caligula alone with no other choice but to sell himself for protection.
This harsh path leads him into the rough hands of a man named Damiano, enforcer of a wealthy crime family who has worked himself up from mere dust. He holds a very deadly grudge against Caligula’s father and has been crafting his revenge for years. The last piece to his brilliant, wicked plan, is none other than the son of the very man who murdered his father. The sly, lonely boy who he finds at an auction, ready to give anything for protection, even if it means he may lose himself in the process.
The relationship between Caligula and Damiano is very messy, toxic, and obsessive. There are definitely moments where gentleness can be seen slipping through the cracks. But the author did a good job with laying down the base layer that this kind of love is not sweet like honey but rather as bitter and powerful as poison.
The writing was well done and the hidden world of glittering wealth was nicely established. I would also like to give a shout out to Jesse Foster, he’s a side character who lives within a gilded life of pleasure while under the thumb of his master. He has the golden, irritating tongue of a sharp witted fox and everything he does is to solely benefit himself. He was a very interesting character and it seemed like he had witnessed the world's cruelty and chose to mold himself around the jagged edges. I really hope we see him again.
However, this is the first book to a series and no other installments have been released, so I’m currently battling an awful cliffhanger!!
I finally got to finish this book.
Caligula is the prince to a powerful mafia family which used to rule the streets of New York with an iron fist. Until some shadowed assassin melted seamlessly into the fray and began to pick them off one by one, leaving Caligula alone with no other choice but to sell himself for protection.
This harsh path leads him into the rough hands of a man named Damiano, enforcer of a wealthy crime family who has worked himself up from mere dust. He holds a very deadly grudge against Caligula’s father and has been crafting his revenge for years. The last piece to his brilliant, wicked plan, is none other than the son of the very man who murdered his father. The sly, lonely boy who he finds at an auction, ready to give anything for protection, even if it means he may lose himself in the process.
The relationship between Caligula and Damiano is very messy, toxic, and obsessive. There are definitely moments where gentleness can be seen slipping through the cracks. But the author did a good job with laying down the base layer that this kind of love is not sweet like honey but rather as bitter and powerful as poison.
The writing was well done and the hidden world of glittering wealth was nicely established. I would also like to give a shout out to Jesse Foster, he’s a side character who lives within a gilded life of pleasure while under the thumb of his master. He has the golden, irritating tongue of a sharp witted fox and everything he does is to solely benefit himself. He was a very interesting character and it seemed like he had witnessed the world's cruelty and chose to mold himself around the jagged edges. I really hope we see him again.
However, this is the first book to a series and no other installments have been released, so I’m currently battling an awful cliffhanger!!
October 12, 2026
Stockholm syndrome done right. I devoured it. This one was a definitely a win. The flow? Perfect. Pacing? Quick. Twist and turns? Yes please. Morally gray MMC? Throw it in.
Not technically Stockholm. Cal sold himself willingly after his mafia crumbled, but the dynamic is there. He’s owned, supposed to hate Dami, but somehow turned on, and somehow safe and at home. Perfectly messed up
Dami reveals his motives and his big plan for his purchase fast. But where's the fun in a captive who behaves? Cal refuses to let his position stop him from being a total brat. And Dami just happens to care more than his revenge plan requires. Whether he knows it or not.
The tension is everything, and the highlight of the book. Humiliation, possessiveness, protectiveness, and surprisingly caring-adjacent moments. Ate it all up.
Started at 10pm, and finished in one night. Mafia romance rules apply. We don’t ask too many questions about logic. Just enjoy the ride. 😂 will definitely be jumping into book 2.
Not technically Stockholm. Cal sold himself willingly after his mafia crumbled, but the dynamic is there. He’s owned, supposed to hate Dami, but somehow turned on, and somehow safe and at home. Perfectly messed up
Dami reveals his motives and his big plan for his purchase fast. But where's the fun in a captive who behaves? Cal refuses to let his position stop him from being a total brat. And Dami just happens to care more than his revenge plan requires. Whether he knows it or not.
The tension is everything, and the highlight of the book. Humiliation, possessiveness, protectiveness, and surprisingly caring-adjacent moments. Ate it all up.
Started at 10pm, and finished in one night. Mafia romance rules apply. We don’t ask too many questions about logic. Just enjoy the ride. 😂 will definitely be jumping into book 2.
March 24, 2026
NOOOOOO, book two isnt out yet 😭
August 23, 2026
So it took me a while to get into this one, because after seven Morelli Family books and a few mentions in the Castellani series, Clemenza = bad 😂😂 This series actually looks like it's going to be consistently dark though, which I'm a fan of because the Morelli's were actually pretty tame and the Castellani's leashed Julian so things didn't get as dark as they could have.
I actually did end up liking Caligula and Damiano together though, weirdly! I didn't particularly like the ending because Caligula is supposed to be intelligent... But, ok, be a stubborn, impulsive brat! I'm just waiting on Dami to realise he's actually full blown in love and has been for a while. He might think it's about vengeance but the commitment he's already shown to Caligula is above and beyond what any other couple in this story world have done!
The found family that Dami has is definitely an interesting one and I'm curious to see how that develops going forward. I have suspicions about Sammy though.
I also have QUESTIONS.... Where did Dami get all his money? How did Caligula forget he had cousins? Why isn't Teddy sneaking out extensive family trees of Families 😂😂
Looking forward to seeing what happens next for these two idiots!
I actually did end up liking Caligula and Damiano together though, weirdly! I didn't particularly like the ending because Caligula is supposed to be intelligent... But, ok, be a stubborn, impulsive brat! I'm just waiting on Dami to realise he's actually full blown in love and has been for a while. He might think it's about vengeance but the commitment he's already shown to Caligula is above and beyond what any other couple in this story world have done!
The found family that Dami has is definitely an interesting one and I'm curious to see how that develops going forward. I have suspicions about Sammy though.
I also have QUESTIONS.... Where did Dami get all his money? How did Caligula forget he had cousins? Why isn't Teddy sneaking out extensive family trees of Families 😂😂
Looking forward to seeing what happens next for these two idiots!
July 24, 2026
yuhhhh give me that dark mafia man
Caligula is the last of the Clemenza family that have been slowly picked out by secret opposition. He has no chose but to turn to the dark underground world and sell himself to the highest bidder.
This could have gone wrong so quick but alas his secret stalker bids on him and wins! Don’t be fooled though his secret stalker is none other than the enforcer for the Guilianos and has 21 year beef with the Clemenzas.
Yum, this is enemies-to-slightly more civil can there be hope-right back to fully fucking enemies I’m going to kill his ass. So prepare for that.
The cliffhanger 😤😩 thank god the second book is it out cause I would have been unwellllll
Caligula is the last of the Clemenza family that have been slowly picked out by secret opposition. He has no chose but to turn to the dark underground world and sell himself to the highest bidder.
This could have gone wrong so quick but alas his secret stalker bids on him and wins! Don’t be fooled though his secret stalker is none other than the enforcer for the Guilianos and has 21 year beef with the Clemenzas.
Yum, this is enemies-to-slightly more civil can there be hope-right back to fully fucking enemies I’m going to kill his ass. So prepare for that.
The cliffhanger 😤😩 thank god the second book is it out cause I would have been unwellllll
March 3, 2026
OMG! I should've known better than to doubt Leighton because, as much as I was enjoying the story and its development, it felt more Romantasy compared to the other books. I realized it was the heavy politics, the system of betrayal, and conspiracy that I was missing.
I mean, when you've gone through what I've gone through with the Morellis and the Castellanis, that rush of war, violence, protection, and love from Damiano and Caligula felt more on the lighter side because this wasn't about the Clemenzas, per se, like I'm used to. I got the impression of two broken sons with their own agendas falling for each other.
BUT, like I said, I should've never doubted Leighton BECAUSE this is exactly why I'm OBSESSED with her mafia books! I didn't even realize this was a slow burn until the very end of the book, lol.
My goodness, the Clemenzas have always been scum in my eyes, but Caligula isn't like his family, and chiiiiiiile, I'm sooo looking forward to seeing where this will go.
Will the Clemenzas get a redemption arc and rise from the ashes? What happens next with Caligula? And Damiano, will he act on his revenge or follow what his heart is leading him to? Then again, he has bigger fish to fry, like explaining his shenanigans to Big Gee, especially Seb.
Delicious! Delicious! Delicious!
I think I'm rambling about my excitement for the story and not actually reviewing it properly, but what can I say? Leighton Greene tends to bring out my inner rambling queen because her stories are so well-written and developed that I can't help but ramble on.
The Clemenza Series is off to a marvelous start, and I look forward to what happens next.
I mean, when you've gone through what I've gone through with the Morellis and the Castellanis, that rush of war, violence, protection, and love from Damiano and Caligula felt more on the lighter side because this wasn't about the Clemenzas, per se, like I'm used to. I got the impression of two broken sons with their own agendas falling for each other.
BUT, like I said, I should've never doubted Leighton BECAUSE this is exactly why I'm OBSESSED with her mafia books! I didn't even realize this was a slow burn until the very end of the book, lol.
My goodness, the Clemenzas have always been scum in my eyes, but Caligula isn't like his family, and chiiiiiiile, I'm sooo looking forward to seeing where this will go.
Will the Clemenzas get a redemption arc and rise from the ashes? What happens next with Caligula? And Damiano, will he act on his revenge or follow what his heart is leading him to? Then again, he has bigger fish to fry, like explaining his shenanigans to Big Gee, especially Seb.
Delicious! Delicious! Delicious!
I think I'm rambling about my excitement for the story and not actually reviewing it properly, but what can I say? Leighton Greene tends to bring out my inner rambling queen because her stories are so well-written and developed that I can't help but ramble on.
The Clemenza Series is off to a marvelous start, and I look forward to what happens next.
September 6, 2026
2.5 stars
Sometimes I am simply in the mood for a mafia romance. Are they predictable? Yes. Clichéd? Obviously. Does following the hearts of a bunch of murderous criminals whose politics I would almost certainly find horrifying occasionally make me question my life choices? Sure. But sometimes you want what you want.
This one is the first in a series, book two is already out, and book three is coming, so I decided the best way to settle on my rating was to ask myself one question: after that cliffhanger, how badly do I want to immediately read book two?
The answer is: not fucking much.
I probably will get to it in a bit, because I didn’t dislike the MCs, their chemistry was decent, and the writing itself was perfectly competent. The pacing was mostly okay too, although there were stretches where I was very easily pulled away, which is generally my sign that things could use some tightening.
But man, that ending pissed me off.
[SPOILERS FROM HERE]
I’m not going to spell out what happens, but the author had the opportunity to create a cliffhanger based entirely on external circumstances and instead chose to make it hinge on an internal decision that made absolutely no sense based on the preceding 20% of the book. I hate that shit. A cliffhanger should make me desperate to find out what happens next, not make me want to sit the character down and say, “Excuse me, have you forgotten literally everything you were thinking and feeling twenty pages ago?”
And then there is the realism issue.
I KNOW. It’s MM mafia romance. Complaining that it’s unrealistic is like complaining that the dragons in your fantasy novel have an implausible wingspan. I understand the contract I signed.
But there are limits.
First of all: how does an enforcer have this much money?
This is not even the first mafia romance where I have found myself asking this question. Damiano throws around millions of dollars so casually that he would have to be, what, a billionaire? At minimum a several-hundred-millionaire?
I know the first rule of mafia romance is don’t audit the gangster, but can somebody please throw me a line about wise real estate investments? An inheritance? Crypto? He bought Nvidia in 2016? Anything.
Because otherwise I start doing math.
Okay, let’s say he gets $10,000 for every person he kills, which already seems high, but fine. And let’s say he kills three people a week, which seems like an exhausting workload and frankly terrible for work-life balance…
And STILL I cannot get him to “owns a giant brownstone fortress in Midtown Manhattan and casually spends millions” money.
Just tell me he bought Bitcoin early and LET ME REST.
The book also kept running into my other mafia-romance realism problem, which is that apparently these men have Wolverine’s healing factor.
Damiano is nursing a knife wound to the bicep and a freshly stitched wound near his shoulder blade after falling into a dumpster, and shortly thereafter he is picking Cal up and fucking him against a wall. Meanwhile I’m sitting there worried about the stitches. And the pain. And whether anyone gave this man a tetanus shot.
He’s nailing Cal’s prostate while holding him against the wall like it’s his job, and I’m thinking, someone should have given this man a pamphlet on proper wound care.
I’m not asking for complete realism, because complete realism would mean they don’t have sex for at least two weeks and when they finally do it’s tentative and somebody says, “Wait, no, that pulls on my stitches.” Nobody wants that. I just need enough plausibility that I am not so distracted by the physical impossibility of what they’re doing that it stops being remotely arousing.
There was also an action sequence near the end involving the Obelisk that crossed over from heightened mafia-romance ridiculousness into come on now. There is simply no way all of that happens and everyone makes it home afterward and carries on with a relatively normal evening until the shit hits the fan.
And finally, a much smaller but deeply important complaint: no self-respecting Italian is serving baked ziti as a secondo after carbonara as the primo. Pasta is manna from the heavens and deserves to be respected.
So: not terrible. I liked Damiano and Cal well enough, there was enough chemistry to keep me invested, and there is enough here that I’ll probably continue the series.
But not today.
I’m still mad at the cliffhanger.
Sometimes I am simply in the mood for a mafia romance. Are they predictable? Yes. Clichéd? Obviously. Does following the hearts of a bunch of murderous criminals whose politics I would almost certainly find horrifying occasionally make me question my life choices? Sure. But sometimes you want what you want.
This one is the first in a series, book two is already out, and book three is coming, so I decided the best way to settle on my rating was to ask myself one question: after that cliffhanger, how badly do I want to immediately read book two?
The answer is: not fucking much.
I probably will get to it in a bit, because I didn’t dislike the MCs, their chemistry was decent, and the writing itself was perfectly competent. The pacing was mostly okay too, although there were stretches where I was very easily pulled away, which is generally my sign that things could use some tightening.
But man, that ending pissed me off.
[SPOILERS FROM HERE]
I’m not going to spell out what happens, but the author had the opportunity to create a cliffhanger based entirely on external circumstances and instead chose to make it hinge on an internal decision that made absolutely no sense based on the preceding 20% of the book. I hate that shit. A cliffhanger should make me desperate to find out what happens next, not make me want to sit the character down and say, “Excuse me, have you forgotten literally everything you were thinking and feeling twenty pages ago?”
And then there is the realism issue.
I KNOW. It’s MM mafia romance. Complaining that it’s unrealistic is like complaining that the dragons in your fantasy novel have an implausible wingspan. I understand the contract I signed.
But there are limits.
First of all: how does an enforcer have this much money?
This is not even the first mafia romance where I have found myself asking this question. Damiano throws around millions of dollars so casually that he would have to be, what, a billionaire? At minimum a several-hundred-millionaire?
I know the first rule of mafia romance is don’t audit the gangster, but can somebody please throw me a line about wise real estate investments? An inheritance? Crypto? He bought Nvidia in 2016? Anything.
Because otherwise I start doing math.
Okay, let’s say he gets $10,000 for every person he kills, which already seems high, but fine. And let’s say he kills three people a week, which seems like an exhausting workload and frankly terrible for work-life balance…
And STILL I cannot get him to “owns a giant brownstone fortress in Midtown Manhattan and casually spends millions” money.
Just tell me he bought Bitcoin early and LET ME REST.
The book also kept running into my other mafia-romance realism problem, which is that apparently these men have Wolverine’s healing factor.
Damiano is nursing a knife wound to the bicep and a freshly stitched wound near his shoulder blade after falling into a dumpster, and shortly thereafter he is picking Cal up and fucking him against a wall. Meanwhile I’m sitting there worried about the stitches. And the pain. And whether anyone gave this man a tetanus shot.
He’s nailing Cal’s prostate while holding him against the wall like it’s his job, and I’m thinking, someone should have given this man a pamphlet on proper wound care.
I’m not asking for complete realism, because complete realism would mean they don’t have sex for at least two weeks and when they finally do it’s tentative and somebody says, “Wait, no, that pulls on my stitches.” Nobody wants that. I just need enough plausibility that I am not so distracted by the physical impossibility of what they’re doing that it stops being remotely arousing.
There was also an action sequence near the end involving the Obelisk that crossed over from heightened mafia-romance ridiculousness into come on now. There is simply no way all of that happens and everyone makes it home afterward and carries on with a relatively normal evening until the shit hits the fan.
And finally, a much smaller but deeply important complaint: no self-respecting Italian is serving baked ziti as a secondo after carbonara as the primo. Pasta is manna from the heavens and deserves to be respected.
So: not terrible. I liked Damiano and Cal well enough, there was enough chemistry to keep me invested, and there is enough here that I’ll probably continue the series.
But not today.
I’m still mad at the cliffhanger.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2026
2nd re-listen in 6 months. I LOVED IT. I'm a sucker for a queer Beauty and the Beast retelling, I eat that shit up, and this was executed so very fucking well. I loved the writing, the pacing and the structure of the plot. Very, VERY well done queer dark romance.
I've read a couple other series from this author, and while I loved them 4/5 stars, this series is definitely their best work. I'm already itching to read them again, can't wait for book 3!!
I've read a couple other series from this author, and while I loved them 4/5 stars, this series is definitely their best work. I'm already itching to read them again, can't wait for book 3!!
July 26, 2026
Rating: 4⭐️
Format: 🎧
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.75
Bring back mafia romance now!! The way I wasn’t aware it was a trilogy and now must suffer for the next fix🥲.
Format: 🎧
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.75
Bring back mafia romance now!! The way I wasn’t aware it was a trilogy and now must suffer for the next fix🥲.
October 8, 2026
I am so happy to have .25 and .5 stars on here, so so happy.
The only other book by this author I've read was Luca and Finch's firsts book in the Morelli family series and it was good, it was okay, I 4 starred it. This seemed so interesting so I really wanted to give this a chance.
And overall, I did enjoy it. Caligula (I cannot get over that name like oh....well...that's someone to be named after...) and Damiano had some good chemistry and the sexual tension was pretty damn good.
I personally don't get why Damiano takes out his anger at what Caligula's father did out on Caligula. I mean...to an extent I get it, as a lot of people tend to transfer blame onto a family member when they don't have that person around to target, and also Damiano truly isn't a good person, but also...I just think that way of thinking is so stupid. He doesn't have to like Cal (I'm going to keep going with his nickname Cal because I can't with Caligula, I really can't) or be around him, but why does he have to exact revenge on someone who did nothing? Who was born or was going to be born the same year Cal's father killed his.
Like oh yeah a fetus or baby sure is responsible for that, let's buy them and torture them! Like the logic leaves a lot to be desired and I had a hard time feeling like any of Damiano's feelings and actions were right in any way when it came to him "punishing" Cal.
Him hating the Clemenza family on principle, I do get, but actually capturing and torturing one of them who is not responsible for his father's death in any way (not the one who ordered it or carried it out) it just ridiculous to me.
So a lot of this whole premise relies on Damiano's reasoning and it falls flat, in my opinion. His desire for revenge, I get - but taking it out on Cal, I don't.
For the most part I liked Cal, but I didn't like his decision at the end. I felt that supposedly he's supposed to be smart, but he isn't smart at the end at all. He and Damiano have really started to form a connection, and I really liked and enjoyed where they were heading, but then he hears that
But even if he hadn't, where did he plan to go? Someone was still out there trying to kill him, as a big part of the plot of this book is someone tryng to wipe out all of the Clemenza family and Cal is the last one left. So he's stayed with Damiano because he can protect him and keep him safe and off the streets, struggling to survive while someone is after him. That's all still true, but because
It, to me, didn't make a lot of sense. I think it would have been better if he brought it up to Damiano himself, confronted him with it. But maybe we wouldn't get a 3 book trilogy out of this if the character made the sane, smart, rational decision? I guess. I've already started the second book and now Cal is annoying me.
Like, I don't know, he and Damiano promised not to lie to each other, but they supposedly hated each other as they said that? And Damiano still wanted to exact revenge on Cal so why was he so surprised at the end there?
He didn't think shit through and then he goes and .
I don't know, the ending and the cliffhanger annoyed the crap out of me, enough to take .75 stars off. Also a part of it is also it really annoyed me how often Damiano referred to Cal as "The Clemenza" idk why I just didn't like it. Like call him by his name or just "Clemenza" not "the Clemenza" like idk...at first it made sense but he was even doing it late into the book as they got closer. It's just something that annoyed me.
I will continue reading but Cal is testing my patience in the beginning of the second book so I'll see how it goes. I really wanted them to have a deeper connection by this point and by the end they DO but then the author just reversed it, basically, and that sucks. It will be interesting to see how they come back from the events of the end of the book, though.
Onto the next, then.
The only other book by this author I've read was Luca and Finch's firsts book in the Morelli family series and it was good, it was okay, I 4 starred it. This seemed so interesting so I really wanted to give this a chance.
And overall, I did enjoy it. Caligula (I cannot get over that name like oh....well...that's someone to be named after...) and Damiano had some good chemistry and the sexual tension was pretty damn good.
I personally don't get why Damiano takes out his anger at what Caligula's father did out on Caligula. I mean...to an extent I get it, as a lot of people tend to transfer blame onto a family member when they don't have that person around to target, and also Damiano truly isn't a good person, but also...I just think that way of thinking is so stupid. He doesn't have to like Cal (I'm going to keep going with his nickname Cal because I can't with Caligula, I really can't) or be around him, but why does he have to exact revenge on someone who did nothing? Who was born or was going to be born the same year Cal's father killed his.
Like oh yeah a fetus or baby sure is responsible for that, let's buy them and torture them! Like the logic leaves a lot to be desired and I had a hard time feeling like any of Damiano's feelings and actions were right in any way when it came to him "punishing" Cal.
Him hating the Clemenza family on principle, I do get, but actually capturing and torturing one of them who is not responsible for his father's death in any way (not the one who ordered it or carried it out) it just ridiculous to me.
So a lot of this whole premise relies on Damiano's reasoning and it falls flat, in my opinion. His desire for revenge, I get - but taking it out on Cal, I don't.
For the most part I liked Cal, but I didn't like his decision at the end. I felt that supposedly he's supposed to be smart, but he isn't smart at the end at all. He and Damiano have really started to form a connection, and I really liked and enjoyed where they were heading, but then he hears that
But even if he hadn't, where did he plan to go? Someone was still out there trying to kill him, as a big part of the plot of this book is someone tryng to wipe out all of the Clemenza family and Cal is the last one left. So he's stayed with Damiano because he can protect him and keep him safe and off the streets, struggling to survive while someone is after him. That's all still true, but because
It, to me, didn't make a lot of sense. I think it would have been better if he brought it up to Damiano himself, confronted him with it. But maybe we wouldn't get a 3 book trilogy out of this if the character made the sane, smart, rational decision? I guess. I've already started the second book and now Cal is annoying me.
Like, I don't know, he and Damiano promised not to lie to each other, but they supposedly hated each other as they said that? And Damiano still wanted to exact revenge on Cal so why was he so surprised at the end there?
He didn't think shit through and then he goes and .
I don't know, the ending and the cliffhanger annoyed the crap out of me, enough to take .75 stars off. Also a part of it is also it really annoyed me how often Damiano referred to Cal as "The Clemenza" idk why I just didn't like it. Like call him by his name or just "Clemenza" not "the Clemenza" like idk...at first it made sense but he was even doing it late into the book as they got closer. It's just something that annoyed me.
I will continue reading but Cal is testing my patience in the beginning of the second book so I'll see how it goes. I really wanted them to have a deeper connection by this point and by the end they DO but then the author just reversed it, basically, and that sucks. It will be interesting to see how they come back from the events of the end of the book, though.
Onto the next, then.
Did Not Finish
November 11, 2026Pausing at 40%
OMG BRAIN WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO READ I WILL GIVE IT TO YOU I SWEAR PLEASE STOP THIS MADNESS.
OMG BRAIN WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO READ I WILL GIVE IT TO YOU I SWEAR PLEASE STOP THIS MADNESS.
March 3, 2026
He did damnit! Mafia Enforcer Damiano Orsino literally paid TEN MILLION dollars to own Caligula Clemenza, the last unexpected heir of the Clemenza Mafia Crime Family, for one whole year!
The Contract says that Orsini can't kill him, and that Caligula will get the money after the time is up. Caligula doesn't really have a choice because Orsini isn't the only one that wants him, but he doesn't know who the others are, why or what for. What he doesn't know is that Orsini's plans are a lot more sinister than killing him, and he has put a lot of preparation work into them.
CALIGULA is the last known Grandson of the Clemenza Don since he recently found the body of his murdered Cousin and just managed to escape with his own life, thanks to a stranger. His whole family; biological and pledged have been executed or removed.
He is a 21 year old virgin. He has bronze/blonde hair, honey eyes, and not meant to step into the role of a Mafia player. He was raised to be wealthy and sophisticated, to know about the Business and be Loyal but not on the Inside. Nobody wants to help a wanted man, with no money and no power. There is talk of Clemenza loyalists somewhere but are they even real. This winning bidder, the Stranger who previously saved him, is his only option.
ORSINI is the Enforcer for another Family. He is older. A man built for violence and intimidated, with scars and tattoos all over his body. A gay man on the Down Low who has all the sophistication of new, dirty money, and cares little about that. He does care about what he has in store for "the Clemenza" in the next 12 months.
I love Greene's books because I know that the plot will always be as exciting as the Spice. Infact her books would stand as thrilling on their own without the spice, that is how well plotted they are, and how well written.
However, that spice is imaginative, and written with perfect detail over several pages. The suspicion, hate, desire for vengeance and necessary dependency come up against inconvenient mutual sexual attraction. What develops is sympathy, gratitude, and anticipation but they can't get distracted from the original reasons that brought them together.
Some of these reasons lay in the past, and both characters have backstories that are slowly revealed but cannot be forgotten.
The supporting characters are so well developed and really come alive in the mind of the reader. They also allow additional parts of the two MMC to be shown, for better or worse. There are found family, traitorous acquintances, hurt love rivals, fair-weather friends and more than a few surprise guests.
The world building of secret basement nightclubs, glamorous galas, seedy offices, cold docks with dark warehouses and THAT house are so richly drawn and sensually evocative.
For those that are fans of Greene's previous two amazing Mafia series (The Morelli Family, and West Coast Mobsters) there are a couple of mentions to appease curiosity, but if you are not familiar then no prior knowledge is needed or even implied.
This is the first book in a Trilogy of the two MMC, which I always find worrisome because I fear that the story will lose pace, or become filled with irrelevancies but this one flew by in one sitting with enough cliffhangers to leave me frustrated in anticipation. This kind of 'edging' is not the kind I like from my spicy Mafia fiction Ms.Greene!
Best advice Dear Reader; take a month off work and read The Morellis, West Coast Mobsters and then this. Not because you need to, but because they are worlds I really want you to enjoy spending time in and you will be so very glad that you did.
The Contract says that Orsini can't kill him, and that Caligula will get the money after the time is up. Caligula doesn't really have a choice because Orsini isn't the only one that wants him, but he doesn't know who the others are, why or what for. What he doesn't know is that Orsini's plans are a lot more sinister than killing him, and he has put a lot of preparation work into them.
CALIGULA is the last known Grandson of the Clemenza Don since he recently found the body of his murdered Cousin and just managed to escape with his own life, thanks to a stranger. His whole family; biological and pledged have been executed or removed.
He is a 21 year old virgin. He has bronze/blonde hair, honey eyes, and not meant to step into the role of a Mafia player. He was raised to be wealthy and sophisticated, to know about the Business and be Loyal but not on the Inside. Nobody wants to help a wanted man, with no money and no power. There is talk of Clemenza loyalists somewhere but are they even real. This winning bidder, the Stranger who previously saved him, is his only option.
ORSINI is the Enforcer for another Family. He is older. A man built for violence and intimidated, with scars and tattoos all over his body. A gay man on the Down Low who has all the sophistication of new, dirty money, and cares little about that. He does care about what he has in store for "the Clemenza" in the next 12 months.
I love Greene's books because I know that the plot will always be as exciting as the Spice. Infact her books would stand as thrilling on their own without the spice, that is how well plotted they are, and how well written.
However, that spice is imaginative, and written with perfect detail over several pages. The suspicion, hate, desire for vengeance and necessary dependency come up against inconvenient mutual sexual attraction. What develops is sympathy, gratitude, and anticipation but they can't get distracted from the original reasons that brought them together.
Some of these reasons lay in the past, and both characters have backstories that are slowly revealed but cannot be forgotten.
The supporting characters are so well developed and really come alive in the mind of the reader. They also allow additional parts of the two MMC to be shown, for better or worse. There are found family, traitorous acquintances, hurt love rivals, fair-weather friends and more than a few surprise guests.
The world building of secret basement nightclubs, glamorous galas, seedy offices, cold docks with dark warehouses and THAT house are so richly drawn and sensually evocative.
For those that are fans of Greene's previous two amazing Mafia series (The Morelli Family, and West Coast Mobsters) there are a couple of mentions to appease curiosity, but if you are not familiar then no prior knowledge is needed or even implied.
This is the first book in a Trilogy of the two MMC, which I always find worrisome because I fear that the story will lose pace, or become filled with irrelevancies but this one flew by in one sitting with enough cliffhangers to leave me frustrated in anticipation. This kind of 'edging' is not the kind I like from my spicy Mafia fiction Ms.Greene!
Best advice Dear Reader; take a month off work and read The Morellis, West Coast Mobsters and then this. Not because you need to, but because they are worlds I really want you to enjoy spending time in and you will be so very glad that you did.
November 6, 2026
I read the series with the Morellis. Finch and Luca were 🔥🔥🔥and then I stopped reading this author for a while. Now I’m glad I’m back reading her.
Clemenzas were always the evil monsters do it was interesting to get Cal’s perspective because he wasn’t so evil.
Dami has wanted revenge on the Clemenza’s since he was 13. He’s beyond obsessed. What’s the old adage… be careful what you wish for?!?! Yikes.
Off to read book 2!
Clemenzas were always the evil monsters do it was interesting to get Cal’s perspective because he wasn’t so evil.
Dami has wanted revenge on the Clemenza’s since he was 13. He’s beyond obsessed. What’s the old adage… be careful what you wish for?!?! Yikes.
Off to read book 2!
February 27, 2026
After his cousin was found dead, Caligula at twenty-one, was the only direct descendant left—the very last grandson of Don Louis Clemenza.
They want him dead, too. To stop running and to get out of this life, he auctioned himself with his virginity.
Twenty-one years of rage and now he got what he wanted. Damiano Orsini, the thirty-four-year-old, ruthless Enforcer of the Giuliano Crime Family, finally got him; Caligula Clemenza, son of his father’s killer! He will finally get his revenge!! He will break him.
‘I’m a Clemenza. We don’t submit. We don’t beg.’
What follows is super duper entertaining, with a lot of pining, cruelty, breaking spirits, manipulation, and action.
Other mafia families are involved and it’s all intriguing af!
The story ends with a big cliffhanger
They want him dead, too. To stop running and to get out of this life, he auctioned himself with his virginity.
Twenty-one years of rage and now he got what he wanted. Damiano Orsini, the thirty-four-year-old, ruthless Enforcer of the Giuliano Crime Family, finally got him; Caligula Clemenza, son of his father’s killer! He will finally get his revenge!! He will break him.
‘I’m a Clemenza. We don’t submit. We don’t beg.’
What follows is super duper entertaining, with a lot of pining, cruelty, breaking spirits, manipulation, and action.
Other mafia families are involved and it’s all intriguing af!
The story ends with a big cliffhanger
April 3, 2026
I really enjoyed this book. It's not perfect but the characters are highly addictive. The storytelling is intriguing AF. The world is also interesting and I need to know what's going to happen because cliffhanger and I'm invested.
August 14, 2026
Mafia MM
My first into mafia MM! Very spicy and loving Caligula but not jiving with the ending, totally wrong move and whhhhhhy a cliffhanger boo! Of course onto next!
My first into mafia MM! Very spicy and loving Caligula but not jiving with the ending, totally wrong move and whhhhhhy a cliffhanger boo! Of course onto next!
August 18, 2026
4⭐️
Caligula Clemenza maybe the last one in his line of a previously powerful mob, family, but he’s willing to do anything to survive and get revenge for his family. Un enforcer from arrival gang takes an especially intense interest in him and chasing him down. Yet, Damiano isn’t the only one who is chasing after Cal.
Cal decides that the only way that he’s going to be able to make it out alive and with enough money as if he sells himself at auction. Of course, I’m sure you can guess who the buyer is.
This book has:
- mafia MM romance
- captor / captive situation
- enemies to… not really lovers, but guys that have complicated feelings and have an intimate sexual relationship
- lusting after him without meaning to
I had no idea when I picked this up, but I’m fairly certain that this trilogy is actually a spinoff of another mafia series. I did feel that there was a lot of talk about different families that weren’t strongly introduced in this book, but I still feel like I understood 90% of what was going on. I definitely will go back and read the original series, but at this point, I am locked into this trilogy.
This is not a standalone book, it ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m pretty sure all three books in the trilogy follow the same couple. I did feel like the book did a good job with keeping the intensity up for the entire story. I also enjoyed the fact that these characters, despite definitely having an explosive sex life, aren’t just suddenly falling in love with each other and acting all lovey-dovey. I love the distrust and angst that comes with the mafia genre and I was happy that this book delivered on that.
One thing I will say about the writing style is that it is sometimes a little bit repetitive in certain aspects. However, it is mostly really easy to follow and I thought the spicy scenes were really good. One thing that did annoy me is that when we were reading from Dani’s POV, he referred to Cal as “the Clemenza” so many times that it started to get a little bit annoying. However, his nickname for Cal, “golden boy” was excellent and I did enjoy that one very much.
I still have a lot of questions and there are definitely some themes that were explored that we’re not concluded in this book that I really are explored in the next book. I’m definitely keen to pick it up and will be reading it next.
Caligula Clemenza maybe the last one in his line of a previously powerful mob, family, but he’s willing to do anything to survive and get revenge for his family. Un enforcer from arrival gang takes an especially intense interest in him and chasing him down. Yet, Damiano isn’t the only one who is chasing after Cal.
Cal decides that the only way that he’s going to be able to make it out alive and with enough money as if he sells himself at auction. Of course, I’m sure you can guess who the buyer is.
This book has:
- mafia MM romance
- captor / captive situation
- enemies to… not really lovers, but guys that have complicated feelings and have an intimate sexual relationship
- lusting after him without meaning to
I had no idea when I picked this up, but I’m fairly certain that this trilogy is actually a spinoff of another mafia series. I did feel that there was a lot of talk about different families that weren’t strongly introduced in this book, but I still feel like I understood 90% of what was going on. I definitely will go back and read the original series, but at this point, I am locked into this trilogy.
This is not a standalone book, it ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m pretty sure all three books in the trilogy follow the same couple. I did feel like the book did a good job with keeping the intensity up for the entire story. I also enjoyed the fact that these characters, despite definitely having an explosive sex life, aren’t just suddenly falling in love with each other and acting all lovey-dovey. I love the distrust and angst that comes with the mafia genre and I was happy that this book delivered on that.
One thing I will say about the writing style is that it is sometimes a little bit repetitive in certain aspects. However, it is mostly really easy to follow and I thought the spicy scenes were really good. One thing that did annoy me is that when we were reading from Dani’s POV, he referred to Cal as “the Clemenza” so many times that it started to get a little bit annoying. However, his nickname for Cal, “golden boy” was excellent and I did enjoy that one very much.
I still have a lot of questions and there are definitely some themes that were explored that we’re not concluded in this book that I really are explored in the next book. I’m definitely keen to pick it up and will be reading it next.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Oooh hottie and the brat! Gimme gimme!! Fine he is one scary hottie who (initially) has no trouble putting the brat in his place with a revenge plot to boot and he is brat running for his life with no where left to turn when the hottie BUYS him in The middle of shifting regime changes in the criminal mafia underworld of the city but hey that is what makes this book ADDICTIVE. It works like a dream.. fast paced writing, fantastic characters and pushing the plot to the edges makes for a spectacular reading experience.
I need to shout about this new series by Leighton Greene. It is phenomenal- all the lines are blurry or eradicated, no one wants to be redeemed and the grey is black tinted. Except when it’s white hot like the virgin who finds him self a slave and discovers he has a possible praise and degradation kink and loves being edged with forced orgasms. This book has darker themes than the previous series so if you need to please read the content warnings.
So there is a tonne of action, life and death situations, murky loyalties, strong found family and a possesive protective MC *growl*!
I need the next book after that cliffie so I hope it’s coming soon this series has started off with such a gripping first book. Damiano and Caligula are absolutely fire together the back and forth push and pull the animosity the resentment is just sublime.
I need to shout about this new series by Leighton Greene. It is phenomenal- all the lines are blurry or eradicated, no one wants to be redeemed and the grey is black tinted. Except when it’s white hot like the virgin who finds him self a slave and discovers he has a possible praise and degradation kink and loves being edged with forced orgasms. This book has darker themes than the previous series so if you need to please read the content warnings.
So there is a tonne of action, life and death situations, murky loyalties, strong found family and a possesive protective MC *growl*!
I need the next book after that cliffie so I hope it’s coming soon this series has started off with such a gripping first book. Damiano and Caligula are absolutely fire together the back and forth push and pull the animosity the resentment is just sublime.
July 5, 2026
3.5*
Intersting general story line that continues in the world of the Morelli family. Great chemistry between the 2 MC's and Damiano is a very intriguing character.
Though I really could have done without all the repetitions of how Dami waited 2 decades to have his revenge on Cal for his father's death and has every right to make Cal pay for his father's sins...
Intersting general story line that continues in the world of the Morelli family. Great chemistry between the 2 MC's and Damiano is a very intriguing character.
Though I really could have done without all the repetitions of how Dami waited 2 decades to have his revenge on Cal for his father's death and has every right to make Cal pay for his father's sins...
April 1, 2026
it’s ok. dami is a little tamer than i was expecting, a lot of bark and little bite. but might check out the next one.
September 30, 2026
3.4 stars.
For the most part, I enjoyed myself. Yes, there are some dark themes, but it never felt too scary. I can see a kind and loving person in Damiano even if he's a bit broken.
I genuinely loved them... but the author let all the air out of the tires at the end. Like, this is a trilogy. I don't really care what happens next. They get all lovey and then Caligula gets his little feelings hurt. It was dumb. And annoying.
For the most part, I enjoyed myself. Yes, there are some dark themes, but it never felt too scary. I can see a kind and loving person in Damiano even if he's a bit broken.
I genuinely loved them... but the author let all the air out of the tires at the end. Like, this is a trilogy. I don't really care what happens next. They get all lovey and then Caligula gets his little feelings hurt. It was dumb. And annoying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2026
A fabulously dark, twisty & spicy 'Beauty & the Beast' romance that I just couldn't put down. I loved enforcer 'beast' Dami and his unexpected relationship with super-smart & super-posh down-on-his-luck Cal. Yes, Cal is a prisoner in Dami's house, but Dami isn't quite as in charge as he'd assumed he would be, and innocent Cal has a nice line in snark which helps him keep everything under control. Almost. Cal is the one with the brain & Dami has the brawn. The two of them create quite a series of disasters & crises across their mafia world, and are just utterly electric together! I also loved Dami's household set-up, particularly the wonderful Rosa. Yes, this one ends on a cliff-hanger (never my preferred choice for a story) but I've already bought the second in the series and am lining up the final one too. Recommended.
March 7, 2026
If you are not a fan of dark romances then don’t pick up this book. If you are not a fan of MM romances don’t pick up this book. If you do not love Leighton Greene again I say do not pick up this book. As introductions to a new series goes this is excellent. It is a twisted version of Romeo and Juliet with lots of twists and turns you come to expect from Leighton. Damiano Orsini has spent his entire life planning revenge against Caligula Clemenza for the death of his father 21 years prior. The thing is Cal was only a baby at the time of Dami’s father’s death. But as with any traumatic event in ones childhood rationalizing what you saw, what actually happened and who to blame without therapy rarely if ever happens. In the world Dami grew up in that was not going to happen and his need for revenge becomes an obsession and that obsession leads Cal right into the fire.
Cal is the last living Clemenza (you will need to have read the Morelli Family series to understand the full scope of the demise of the Clemenza family) and he is on the run. Although Luca D’Amato has decreed no one can go after the Clemenza’s someone has ignored the Don. Cal has no one he can trust, friend or “family” and he would rather die than go to the Morelli’s for protection. He finds himself on the auction block staring down Damiano Orsini whom he doesn’t know hates him for the sins of his father. Cal believes he will be safe once bought by Dami since he is now owned by an enforcer of one of the four families. Dami thinks he will be able to easily break Cal now that he owns him, they are both so very wrong.
The assassination attempts continue the question is why and who? Cal wasn’t set to inherit the family business his grandfather was a cruel man and would not under any circumstances leave his empire to his queer grandson. So who is trying to kill Cal and will Dami see past his vengeful obsession and look at the man Cal really is? Will Cal look past the surface and see the man Dami is the man still mourning the loss of his father, can they find love while trying to stay alive?
Will Damiano and Caligula build their own empire? We have two more installments to go and I can’t wait.
Cal is the last living Clemenza (you will need to have read the Morelli Family series to understand the full scope of the demise of the Clemenza family) and he is on the run. Although Luca D’Amato has decreed no one can go after the Clemenza’s someone has ignored the Don. Cal has no one he can trust, friend or “family” and he would rather die than go to the Morelli’s for protection. He finds himself on the auction block staring down Damiano Orsini whom he doesn’t know hates him for the sins of his father. Cal believes he will be safe once bought by Dami since he is now owned by an enforcer of one of the four families. Dami thinks he will be able to easily break Cal now that he owns him, they are both so very wrong.
The assassination attempts continue the question is why and who? Cal wasn’t set to inherit the family business his grandfather was a cruel man and would not under any circumstances leave his empire to his queer grandson. So who is trying to kill Cal and will Dami see past his vengeful obsession and look at the man Cal really is? Will Cal look past the surface and see the man Dami is the man still mourning the loss of his father, can they find love while trying to stay alive?
Will Damiano and Caligula build their own empire? We have two more installments to go and I can’t wait.
Review of advance copy received from Author
First in series (Clemenza Family). Captor/captive. Forced proximity. Dub-con. Size difference. Age gap. Dual POV. Cliffhanger. Heed content warnings.
Caligula is on the run and has been marked for death, his last hope is to auction himself off in order to gain enough money to disappear. Damiano is an enforcer that wants revenge, and buying the Clemenza heir is a triumph, but keeping Caligula safe while plotting his torture becomes a hard task to juggle.
A fantastic start to a darker trilogy, where revenge and family loyalty are paramount. The power imbalance is acute, but Cal is a fiery, highly intelligent man, so their interactions are definitely push and pull. Both Cal and Dami want to manipulate and use the other, and outside forces come to bear on their interactions which disrupt Dami’s revenge plan as they try and find out who is out to kill Cal. The sexual tension is high, the peeks into Cal and Dami’s backgrounds are important, and the trust is thin. Knowing this is a relationship that will struggle was compelling, the characters interesting, the chemistry steamy, and seeing they actually work well outside of the bedroom was fully entertaining. 4.5 rounded up
Caligula is on the run and has been marked for death, his last hope is to auction himself off in order to gain enough money to disappear. Damiano is an enforcer that wants revenge, and buying the Clemenza heir is a triumph, but keeping Caligula safe while plotting his torture becomes a hard task to juggle.
A fantastic start to a darker trilogy, where revenge and family loyalty are paramount. The power imbalance is acute, but Cal is a fiery, highly intelligent man, so their interactions are definitely push and pull. Both Cal and Dami want to manipulate and use the other, and outside forces come to bear on their interactions which disrupt Dami’s revenge plan as they try and find out who is out to kill Cal. The sexual tension is high, the peeks into Cal and Dami’s backgrounds are important, and the trust is thin. Knowing this is a relationship that will struggle was compelling, the characters interesting, the chemistry steamy, and seeing they actually work well outside of the bedroom was fully entertaining. 4.5 rounded up
March 27, 2026
I cannot emphasize enough that this is the best of the genre. Oh my god. And I don’t mean Mafia Romance. I mean MM Romance. I wish I could give more than 5 stars. I CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2.
Now time to explore the author’s backlog and see whether this story just went crazy for my taste or if they’re all amazing like this.
reread 5/29 — even better the second time.
Now time to explore the author’s backlog and see whether this story just went crazy for my taste or if they’re all amazing like this.
reread 5/29 — even better the second time.
October 25, 2026
Damiano Orsini you fool 🤣you bought a man to torture him and somehow ended up being the one losing your mind, imagine spending years planning this? 😂
What I loved about this book is how the power dynamic NEVER stays where you think it will. Caligula starts off with practically nothing. His family name is a curse, people want him dead, and he’s scrambling to survive. But this man is no helpless little victim waiting for his big, scary captor to develop a conscience. He’s a brat, he’s clever, he knows how to use his words, and he refuses to let Damiano have the satisfaction of breaking him. Meanwhile, Damiano is this massive, tattooed beast who has spent YEARS planning his revenge, only to discover that the pretty Clemenza heir is considerably harder to handle than expected. The brute and the brat? Oh, this pairing WORKED. Watching Damiano go from having Caligula chained up in his basement to practically being at his feet was an absolute delight.
And then, naturally, these two had to make a complete mess of things. Caligula’s one big thing is honesty, and Damiano decides that’s the one thing he can conveniently lie about. The escape happens just as they’re finally getting somewhere, and I wanted to grab both of them by the shoulders. Caligula, I understand why you’re hurt, but the TIMING, darling. Damiano, you spent years plotting revenge and somehow failed to account for feelings. Embarrassing for you, really. 😂 But underneath all the sass, that ending actually hurt because you can see how easily the trust between them falls apart when it matters most. And did I sit around processing my feelings? No. I opened book two. These idiots are not leaving me in this state.
What I loved about this book is how the power dynamic NEVER stays where you think it will. Caligula starts off with practically nothing. His family name is a curse, people want him dead, and he’s scrambling to survive. But this man is no helpless little victim waiting for his big, scary captor to develop a conscience. He’s a brat, he’s clever, he knows how to use his words, and he refuses to let Damiano have the satisfaction of breaking him. Meanwhile, Damiano is this massive, tattooed beast who has spent YEARS planning his revenge, only to discover that the pretty Clemenza heir is considerably harder to handle than expected. The brute and the brat? Oh, this pairing WORKED. Watching Damiano go from having Caligula chained up in his basement to practically being at his feet was an absolute delight.
And then, naturally, these two had to make a complete mess of things. Caligula’s one big thing is honesty, and Damiano decides that’s the one thing he can conveniently lie about. The escape happens just as they’re finally getting somewhere, and I wanted to grab both of them by the shoulders. Caligula, I understand why you’re hurt, but the TIMING, darling. Damiano, you spent years plotting revenge and somehow failed to account for feelings. Embarrassing for you, really. 😂 But underneath all the sass, that ending actually hurt because you can see how easily the trust between them falls apart when it matters most. And did I sit around processing my feelings? No. I opened book two. These idiots are not leaving me in this state.
September 12, 2026
Juicy mafia romance 🤤 Woof! This book was perfection!! Action packed, full of snarky banter, messy mafia politics, and of course hot sex. Book 3 comes out in a month so instead of diving in to book 2 immediately like I desperately want to I think I’ll wait a week or two so everything stays fresh. If I had realised book 3 wasn’t out yet I would’ve waited because this is such a binge-able series and I’m so hooked. ❤️🤗
When all of Cal’s family starts getting picked off he knows he’s next. Out of options he opts to auction himself off and who buys him but the brute enforcer that blames his family for his father’s murder.
Auction
Captor/captive
Mafia Prince/Enforcer
Is it a punishment if I like it
A surprising amount of rimming
I hate you but I want you
When all of Cal’s family starts getting picked off he knows he’s next. Out of options he opts to auction himself off and who buys him but the brute enforcer that blames his family for his father’s murder.
Auction
Captor/captive
Mafia Prince/Enforcer
Is it a punishment if I like it
A surprising amount of rimming
I hate you but I want you
September 14, 2026
3.5⭐️ This was my first book by this author, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Based on the blurb, I was expecting something much darker, but honestly, this was surprisingly tame. Damiano was giving very much all bark and no bite. But that’s okay. It was still a pretty good read, and by the end, I think the slightly lighter relationship worked in its favor. I also liked that this wasn’t overly dramatic, which books like this can sometimes be.
There were, however, a few things I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. Like, how does Damiano, as an enforcer, just have tens of millions lying around to spend?? 🤔 And if the Clemenza family is really that influential, how is Caligula in such bad state? Surely he’d have some personal wealth, his own bank account, or at least something to fall back on, even if his family has been hunted down. Of course, this is my first book by the author, so maybe there are explanations for some of this in the previous books that I’m completely missing.
Overall, this isn’t the best book I’ve read in terms of writing quality and plot but it’s certainly not the worst either. I’m just… pretty neutral about it. It didn’t really make me feel much. There’s a cliffhanger here, which is why I waited to read this one until the third book was closer to release. But somehow, I didn’t finish this thinking, “omg, I need the next one NOW!!”. That said, I definitely plan to keep reading, at least through the next book, and we’ll see where this goes from there. 👀
There were, however, a few things I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. Like, how does Damiano, as an enforcer, just have tens of millions lying around to spend?? 🤔 And if the Clemenza family is really that influential, how is Caligula in such bad state? Surely he’d have some personal wealth, his own bank account, or at least something to fall back on, even if his family has been hunted down. Of course, this is my first book by the author, so maybe there are explanations for some of this in the previous books that I’m completely missing.
Overall, this isn’t the best book I’ve read in terms of writing quality and plot but it’s certainly not the worst either. I’m just… pretty neutral about it. It didn’t really make me feel much. There’s a cliffhanger here, which is why I waited to read this one until the third book was closer to release. But somehow, I didn’t finish this thinking, “omg, I need the next one NOW!!”. That said, I definitely plan to keep reading, at least through the next book, and we’ll see where this goes from there. 👀
September 24, 2026
This is a great first book in the Clamenza story. Cal is the last remaining heir to the Clamenza family, but someone is hunting him. He is desperate, so he goes to an underground auction where one of the men that’s been hunting him buys him. He belongs to this beast for a year now. This is the first book of three and it’s dark and steamy. Well written. The narrator does a good job.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I really enjoyed the first instalment of this new dark mafia series. We have Caligula Clemenza who is own the run and trying lay low as his cousin Louie, next in line to take over the Clemenza Crime Family has just been killed. Someone is trying to kill off all of the remains Clemenzas. He doesn't know who to trust or where to hide so he can figure out his next move. He is also a closeted gay man who lived terrified what his grandfather would do if he ever found out that his grandson like men, so he never acted on his impulses. This all changes when Caligula is forced to do the unthinkable, auction himself off to the biggest bidder for a year in order to keep himself safe and alive.
Damiano is an enforcer for the Guiliano Family and has been planing his vengeance over the Clemenza Family ever since his father was killed in front of him by Caligula's dad, when he was only 13 years old. He has had years to think and plan so when he is tipped off that there is a very special 'auction' going on at the Bratva's private club, he finds himself with the best opportunity he has had in ages, to seek his revenge. Make Caligula pay for what his family did.
But things don't always go as planned and I loved having a front row seat to Damiano and Caligula's slow dance around each other. Damiano may be a beast who has amounted a fortune over the years being the enforcer of a famous mafia family but has no style and is quite brutish in his ways even if he cares for his close found family that works for him. Caligula may not be an active participant in the Clamanza Family but he has all of the pomp and poise and know how of someone who has been brought up like royalty. As they both try to find out who is trying to kill Caligula, the must find a ways to work together whilst being captor and prey. Being in such close proximity their attraction grows even if Damiano is blind to it.
I enjoyed the pacing of the book, how crumbs were dropped slowly, the fact that neither men could let their guard down for that long not knowing who to trus. I also like the extra drama the secondary characters bring to the book and I can't wait to see what Leighton has in store for us in book 2.
I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
Damiano is an enforcer for the Guiliano Family and has been planing his vengeance over the Clemenza Family ever since his father was killed in front of him by Caligula's dad, when he was only 13 years old. He has had years to think and plan so when he is tipped off that there is a very special 'auction' going on at the Bratva's private club, he finds himself with the best opportunity he has had in ages, to seek his revenge. Make Caligula pay for what his family did.
But things don't always go as planned and I loved having a front row seat to Damiano and Caligula's slow dance around each other. Damiano may be a beast who has amounted a fortune over the years being the enforcer of a famous mafia family but has no style and is quite brutish in his ways even if he cares for his close found family that works for him. Caligula may not be an active participant in the Clamanza Family but he has all of the pomp and poise and know how of someone who has been brought up like royalty. As they both try to find out who is trying to kill Caligula, the must find a ways to work together whilst being captor and prey. Being in such close proximity their attraction grows even if Damiano is blind to it.
I enjoyed the pacing of the book, how crumbs were dropped slowly, the fact that neither men could let their guard down for that long not knowing who to trus. I also like the extra drama the secondary characters bring to the book and I can't wait to see what Leighton has in store for us in book 2.
I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
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