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Love, Loyalty & Larceny #2
The Mob Boss and the Assassin
WANTED: Executive Assistant. Must be organized, discreet, and definitely not a trained assassin investigating her boss for murder.
Julia checks two of those boxes. The third one? Not so much.
When her father is murdered, Julia's family is convinced mob boss Quentin Vanetti is responsible. Julia's get hired, get evidence, and get out. Easy.
Except Quentin
a) Possibly innocentb) Definitely hotc) Extremely suspicious of her "perfect" résuméd) Really invested in their arguments about office décor. Between fending off her family's questions, managing actual job responsibilities, and trying not to kiss her boss during their increasingly heated "professional disagreements," Julia is discovering that undercover work is a lot harder when you're catching feelings.
Her deadline is one month. Her cover is slipping. And her heart? Completely compromised.
Time to figure out the truth—before her family discovers she's fallen for the wrong man.
A sexy, suspenseful rom-com where the real crime is how good they look together. Contains mafia intrigue, workplace banter, one very inconvenient attraction, and complications neither of them saw coming. Perfect for fans of Lucy Score and Penny Reid.
Julia checks two of those boxes. The third one? Not so much.
When her father is murdered, Julia's family is convinced mob boss Quentin Vanetti is responsible. Julia's get hired, get evidence, and get out. Easy.
Except Quentin
a) Possibly innocentb) Definitely hotc) Extremely suspicious of her "perfect" résuméd) Really invested in their arguments about office décor. Between fending off her family's questions, managing actual job responsibilities, and trying not to kiss her boss during their increasingly heated "professional disagreements," Julia is discovering that undercover work is a lot harder when you're catching feelings.
Her deadline is one month. Her cover is slipping. And her heart? Completely compromised.
Time to figure out the truth—before her family discovers she's fallen for the wrong man.
A sexy, suspenseful rom-com where the real crime is how good they look together. Contains mafia intrigue, workplace banter, one very inconvenient attraction, and complications neither of them saw coming. Perfect for fans of Lucy Score and Penny Reid.
- GenresMystery
473 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 19, 2026
I'm going to be honest and tell you I'm only 3% through this, but it already holds my attention. It's about Julia and Quentin unlike the previous book that was involving Serenity and Stone. Quentin is Stone's Mob boss. In only chapter 1, Julia isn't Quentin's receptionist yet - she was in book 1 - but she is interviewing for the position of executive secretary.
Julia's father who was a don was shot to death in his own home. Julia believes the killer was Quentin so she's trying to get the position of executive secretary in order to get close to Quentin so she can kill him. Of course you all know she won't cap him. Julia will fall in love with Quentin and she'll also discover he isn't the killer.
Something cool about this book is that it is the real life romance story between one of the author's - Jocelyn Drake who's real name is Jackie Manetto - and her husband Joe E Manetto (in this book he is Quentin Vanetti) using creative liberties! This is a fictional book with many key factors that actually occurred between Jackie and Joe. Just don't take all the information in this read as real life facts. Alright, back to the book...
Julia "Russo" Russell waiting to be called in for her interview with mob boss Quentin Vanetti:
"Two stunning women stepped off the elevator, introducing themselves to the receptionist. Competition. Good. Let Vanetti interview them first. Let him think he has options. By the time I walked out of here, there would only be one choice. Me."
What this whole book is based off of:
"Staying cool under pressure? That was my specialty. Which was why Carlo had given me this assignment instead of our cousin Silvio. Get close to Quentin Vanetti. Find out if he'd killed our father. And if he had... Well. That's what I was here for."
Julia's thoughts when a gunman is after her:
"My fate now rested in the hands of whichever gunman had better aim. I closed my eyes and muttered a prayer with mostly—kind of—complete earnestness. 'Saint Michael, please don't let me die in this outfit.'"
Quentin may be falling for Julia:
"Julia was sassy, sarcastic, and sophisticated—exactly my type."
Some people's happy endings have different meaning than others:
"Because maybe love was worth the risk. Maybe we'd find a way through this. Maybe—just maybe—we'd get our happy ending. Even if we had to catch a killer to do it."
This was a great read! It only took me 2 days to finish and it was honestly difficult to set down. I did have a lot of things to get done around my house, but I couldn't seem to get to them because I needed to find out what would happen to Julia and Quentin.
Yes, this book was that good. And although it didn't end on a cliff hanger, it did end with questions regarding Quentin's sister, Bianca. Bianca is in trouble and has asked for her big brother's help. The help involves Bianca's boyfriend potentially killing Quentin through his east coast mob connections.
In fact, the two authors will be releasing a book 3 eventually and my assumption is that it will involve Bianca's love story and mob help. I don't know the title of book 3, but it'll be something like: The LA Producer and a Killer Actor. Can't wait!
See you in my next book thoughts review.
Stay humble. Stay happy. Stay safe!
Deuces to your cabooses! ✨🔐✨
Julia's father who was a don was shot to death in his own home. Julia believes the killer was Quentin so she's trying to get the position of executive secretary in order to get close to Quentin so she can kill him. Of course you all know she won't cap him. Julia will fall in love with Quentin and she'll also discover he isn't the killer.
Something cool about this book is that it is the real life romance story between one of the author's - Jocelyn Drake who's real name is Jackie Manetto - and her husband Joe E Manetto (in this book he is Quentin Vanetti) using creative liberties! This is a fictional book with many key factors that actually occurred between Jackie and Joe. Just don't take all the information in this read as real life facts. Alright, back to the book...
Julia "Russo" Russell waiting to be called in for her interview with mob boss Quentin Vanetti:
"Two stunning women stepped off the elevator, introducing themselves to the receptionist. Competition. Good. Let Vanetti interview them first. Let him think he has options. By the time I walked out of here, there would only be one choice. Me."
What this whole book is based off of:
"Staying cool under pressure? That was my specialty. Which was why Carlo had given me this assignment instead of our cousin Silvio. Get close to Quentin Vanetti. Find out if he'd killed our father. And if he had... Well. That's what I was here for."
Julia's thoughts when a gunman is after her:
"My fate now rested in the hands of whichever gunman had better aim. I closed my eyes and muttered a prayer with mostly—kind of—complete earnestness. 'Saint Michael, please don't let me die in this outfit.'"
Quentin may be falling for Julia:
"Julia was sassy, sarcastic, and sophisticated—exactly my type."
Some people's happy endings have different meaning than others:
"Because maybe love was worth the risk. Maybe we'd find a way through this. Maybe—just maybe—we'd get our happy ending. Even if we had to catch a killer to do it."
This was a great read! It only took me 2 days to finish and it was honestly difficult to set down. I did have a lot of things to get done around my house, but I couldn't seem to get to them because I needed to find out what would happen to Julia and Quentin.
Yes, this book was that good. And although it didn't end on a cliff hanger, it did end with questions regarding Quentin's sister, Bianca. Bianca is in trouble and has asked for her big brother's help. The help involves Bianca's boyfriend potentially killing Quentin through his east coast mob connections.
In fact, the two authors will be releasing a book 3 eventually and my assumption is that it will involve Bianca's love story and mob help. I don't know the title of book 3, but it'll be something like: The LA Producer and a Killer Actor. Can't wait!
See you in my next book thoughts review.
Stay humble. Stay happy. Stay safe!
Deuces to your cabooses! ✨🔐✨
April 6, 2026
This book! Can be explained with one word review, WOW.
My favorite author did it again creating another masterpiece with me yearning for the next to come out. Loved the new characters but the ties with the old ones and with the families being brought together.
Good job as always Colleen. Your devoted fan Shirley C.
My favorite author did it again creating another masterpiece with me yearning for the next to come out. Loved the new characters but the ties with the old ones and with the families being brought together.
Good job as always Colleen. Your devoted fan Shirley C.
April 4, 2026
A great read in itself, but all Shelby Nichols fans will especially love this tie-in book, ‘written by’ one of the characters, Jackie. It’s a brilliant story, full of drama, action, lots of laugh-out-loud funny moments and a little bit of enemies-to-lovers romance too. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see who gets profiled next, and what the familiar characters get up to!
April 7, 2026
Absolutely Stunning
Great book read it in one day. Can’t wait for the next book. Characters and story line keeps you going till the end.
Great book read it in one day. Can’t wait for the next book. Characters and story line keeps you going till the end.
April 19, 2026
Excellent Book
This was a fabulous book can not wait for book three to come out this book should be a ten star book I highly recommend this book to everyone Dorothy Schaefer
This was a fabulous book can not wait for book three to come out this book should be a ten star book I highly recommend this book to everyone Dorothy Schaefer
April 4, 2026
A good story.
A suspenseful story with humor . Julia and Quentin belong to rival Mafia families. Julia is undercover to prove if Quentin is innocent or guilty of killing her father. The plot is good and has twists. I like the side characters. There is action, and there is steam. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
A suspenseful story with humor . Julia and Quentin belong to rival Mafia families. Julia is undercover to prove if Quentin is innocent or guilty of killing her father. The plot is good and has twists. I like the side characters. There is action, and there is steam. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
April 4, 2026
So Enjoyable
I really enjoyed this story of Quentin and Julia. Fun read filled with family (and FAMILY,) suspicion, action and romance. I enjoyed all of it! The recurring characters making reading this even more interesting.
I really enjoyed this story of Quentin and Julia. Fun read filled with family (and FAMILY,) suspicion, action and romance. I enjoyed all of it! The recurring characters making reading this even more interesting.
May 24, 2026
I don't normally like romance books but this book is so much more than that and I actually loved it.
Okay where to start. Well first, this is a spin off from the author's main series (Shelby Nichols Adventures-which I would also recommend). It's actually a series that is written by one of the characters in the book and is loosely based on Shelby and the gang. So yes I couldn't help but imagine them as the ones in this book, the only difference is the names.
The story might be about how the Mob boss and his secretary fell in love and yes they end up in bed but it's not over the top and doesn't go on for pages and pages, giving you details. Instead the story is more focused on the circumstances of how they got involved and whether they survive the encounter. And oh boy, was that complicated and entertaining at the same time. The story is told by both Julia and Quentin, which works well as you get both sides of the story and both perspectives as the characters learn it they can trust each other or not. I can't wait for the next adventure.
When a Mob boss is killed, the family send his daughter to get close to there suspect and take him out.
So when Quentin's secretary is set to retire, Julia applies for the job and the family give her a month to get the job done. There's two problems with that plan, first the more she gets to know Quentin the less she is convince he is behind the death and second trying to fight her attraction to him is proving to be harder than she thought. With the family getting impatient for results, Julia will have to decide Quentin's fate by proving him guilty or as she hopes innocent. Proving him innocent brings its own problems because if Quentin didn't do it then it means someone in the family did. And will Quentin still want her after he learns she was sent to kill him?
I liked the narrator. She is not the normal narrator this author uses but I think that was the right decision as it would have been too much like reading a Shelby book otherwise. She also does a good job and hope the author will use her for further books in the series.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Okay where to start. Well first, this is a spin off from the author's main series (Shelby Nichols Adventures-which I would also recommend). It's actually a series that is written by one of the characters in the book and is loosely based on Shelby and the gang. So yes I couldn't help but imagine them as the ones in this book, the only difference is the names.
The story might be about how the Mob boss and his secretary fell in love and yes they end up in bed but it's not over the top and doesn't go on for pages and pages, giving you details. Instead the story is more focused on the circumstances of how they got involved and whether they survive the encounter. And oh boy, was that complicated and entertaining at the same time. The story is told by both Julia and Quentin, which works well as you get both sides of the story and both perspectives as the characters learn it they can trust each other or not. I can't wait for the next adventure.
When a Mob boss is killed, the family send his daughter to get close to there suspect and take him out.
So when Quentin's secretary is set to retire, Julia applies for the job and the family give her a month to get the job done. There's two problems with that plan, first the more she gets to know Quentin the less she is convince he is behind the death and second trying to fight her attraction to him is proving to be harder than she thought. With the family getting impatient for results, Julia will have to decide Quentin's fate by proving him guilty or as she hopes innocent. Proving him innocent brings its own problems because if Quentin didn't do it then it means someone in the family did. And will Quentin still want her after he learns she was sent to kill him?
I liked the narrator. She is not the normal narrator this author uses but I think that was the right decision as it would have been too much like reading a Shelby book otherwise. She also does a good job and hope the author will use her for further books in the series.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
April 15, 2026
Fabulous
This is the second book of the spin off series thats meant to be written by Jackie, a character in the Shelby Nichols series. It Jackie using characters to write similar stories to her real life with Joey Manetto. Its about a mob boss who another crime family believes murdered their father. The daughter of murdered Sal goes to work for Vanetti, the man who the evidence seems to point to as the culprit.
Julia has a job to do, get Vanetti to take her on as his new secretary and find evidence that he killed her father. But nothing is ever that simple and things get complicated fast. Fab second book in this soun off series. Shelby is still my favorite though.
This is the second book of the spin off series thats meant to be written by Jackie, a character in the Shelby Nichols series. It Jackie using characters to write similar stories to her real life with Joey Manetto. Its about a mob boss who another crime family believes murdered their father. The daughter of murdered Sal goes to work for Vanetti, the man who the evidence seems to point to as the culprit.
Julia has a job to do, get Vanetti to take her on as his new secretary and find evidence that he killed her father. But nothing is ever that simple and things get complicated fast. Fab second book in this soun off series. Shelby is still my favorite though.
May 26, 2026
Loved it!
I absolutely loved this story! I started to read it and then put it down for a couple days, as I was busy. I picked it up again and forgot what the book was about and who the author was . As I was reading, I thought to myself, this is really good and pulled up the book info with the author’s name and then I remembered- Jocelyn Drake (Colleen Helme). You know how some authors write every book the same style? Not this author! I love that! Can’t wait for the next one!
I absolutely loved this story! I started to read it and then put it down for a couple days, as I was busy. I picked it up again and forgot what the book was about and who the author was . As I was reading, I thought to myself, this is really good and pulled up the book info with the author’s name and then I remembered- Jocelyn Drake (Colleen Helme). You know how some authors write every book the same style? Not this author! I love that! Can’t wait for the next one!
May 14, 2026
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I KNEW!
Oh no. Thought I had it all figured out. However, twist and turns. Besides the fact that it is an interesting storyline, there are many good sentences or thoughts that ring true for everyone. Won’t spoil by quoting them, but this is definitely a must read and I cannot wait to read the continuing story.
Oh no. Thought I had it all figured out. However, twist and turns. Besides the fact that it is an interesting storyline, there are many good sentences or thoughts that ring true for everyone. Won’t spoil by quoting them, but this is definitely a must read and I cannot wait to read the continuing story.
April 9, 2026
Jocelyn Drake
Enjoyed the storyline and the writing its self. All Colleen Helme's books keep you turning the pages. Trouble is, you want more when you have finished the book but you have to wait until the next book is wtitten.
Enjoyed the storyline and the writing its self. All Colleen Helme's books keep you turning the pages. Trouble is, you want more when you have finished the book but you have to wait until the next book is wtitten.
April 12, 2026
Romance with Mob complications
Read this as swept away by Colleen Helms - Carrot Series and wanted more. This book was entertaining but alittle lacking of the intense fast plot and angst from Carrot series. But enjoyable read.
Read this as swept away by Colleen Helms - Carrot Series and wanted more. This book was entertaining but alittle lacking of the intense fast plot and angst from Carrot series. But enjoyable read.
April 4, 2026
This is a fun series.
April 16, 2026
I love these books! This was great. Really like the characters and the story. Can't wait to read the next one
April 27, 2026
3.5 This is a good read, but the repetitive explanations/inner dialogue bogged it down somewhat.
May 20, 2026
Fabulous book! Exciting! Scary! Thrilling! Thank you for another really great book!!
May 25, 2026
Julia and Quentin
A crazy wild story with so much drama in every new chapter. I’m glad they found the truth on who killed Julia and Carlo’s father.
A crazy wild story with so much drama in every new chapter. I’m glad they found the truth on who killed Julia and Carlo’s father.
Review of advance copy received from Author
WOW! I LOVED it. Intense with subtle humor and ever-growing steam, The Mob Boss and the Assassin is a suspenseful romance written under the double pseudonym Jocelyn Drake/Jackie Manetti and by the wonderful Colleen Helme. This 2nd book in the Love, Loyalty and Larceny series is inspired by fictional mob boss Joey Manetti and his beloved wife and author Jackie. Julia is the daughter of a big-time mob boss who was recently assassinated. The death demands retaliation, and rumors indicate the hit was set up by rival, Quentin Vanetti. Julia is sent to verify that he is responsible and to kill him unless she finds absolute proof that he is innocent. That proof better include the name of the person responsible and the obituary of that person, otherwise, the death of the Vanetti will be on her head. Whether she carries it out or not, he will be assassinated. Julia knows she has to follow through on her assignment, but there is something about Quentin Vanetti.
When the Vanetti reads Julia’s resume for a job as his executive secretary, he is suspicious over how perfect it is but decides that having her close is probably the best way find out what she is really after, not to mention there is something about her that he can’t quite resist.
Readers will be pushed to the edge of their seats from the beginning, and the couple’s story only gets more complex as they are pulled together by a chemistry they can’t resist and murder attempts are direct at both of them. Buckle up for an irresistible ride that moves closer to the edge throughout the book and offers several big surprises along the way.
As a big fan of the Shelby Nichols series, I was thrilled by the chance to read an ARC of The Mob Boss and the Assassin. I received the ARC from author Colleen Helme. All opinions are my own; I loved the book.
When the Vanetti reads Julia’s resume for a job as his executive secretary, he is suspicious over how perfect it is but decides that having her close is probably the best way find out what she is really after, not to mention there is something about her that he can’t quite resist.
Readers will be pushed to the edge of their seats from the beginning, and the couple’s story only gets more complex as they are pulled together by a chemistry they can’t resist and murder attempts are direct at both of them. Buckle up for an irresistible ride that moves closer to the edge throughout the book and offers several big surprises along the way.
As a big fan of the Shelby Nichols series, I was thrilled by the chance to read an ARC of The Mob Boss and the Assassin. I received the ARC from author Colleen Helme. All opinions are my own; I loved the book.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews