Kept by the Kingpin: A spicy age gap mafia romance

by Evie Rose, Lucas Webley (Narrator), Zara Hampton-Brown (Narrator)

He reverse-kidnaps me. Instead of snatching me away, the mafia boss moves into my house. Now he’s renovating to his luxury standards and looking at me like he wants to eat me whole.

I nurse the kingpin’s gunshot wound in the hospital, and when I’m done, he asks me to quit, and work for him instead.

I refuse, and when he threatens to kidnap me, I point out that’s hardly likely to make me be careful when changing his dressings. I think that’s the end. A heart-pounding encounter with an older, powerful, dangerous man.

Until I get back to my house share, and discover he’s bought the entire building and moved in upstairs.

At first, I clean his wounds.

But it’s not long before the kingpin wants more.

Kept by the Kingpin is a sweet and spicy age gap romance with a mafia boss obsessed with spoiling his innocent girl.

Duet narrated by Lucas Webley and Zara Hampton-Brown.

Genres: Novella, Dark Romance, Audiobook, Romance, Mafia Romance, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn

Audible Audio

Published August 14, 2026

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Aleksandra [semi hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one has virgin fmc but I saw the artwork and the guy looks too hot to skip it 😩😭

[Sammy's Study · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 🌟

So this wasn't my first Evie Rose rodeo and I did know what I was getting myself into. But boy, this wasn't it for me. The instant love trope just doesn't work for me, unfortunately...

I did loooove the male narrator!! Lucas Webley has an incredible voice that made me giggle like a school girl 🫣

And why on earth are we calling this 'a reverse kidnapping'... like, do you mean a hostage situation?! Jeeeeez 😅

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing publishing for this ALC!!! 🫰🏼

[brittany:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ATE THIS UP 😭🖤

Is this a literary masterpiece? Absolutely not. You read this solely for the vibes, and the vibes were VIBING. 😂

A fun, chaotic mafia romance with grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, hostage/captor vibes, and an age gap? I was SOLD. 😭🫡 And the FMC being a nurse was just a little extra bonus for me. 🩺😂

It is a novella, so yes, it’s insta-love and things move quickly, but I was here for the vibes anyway. 😂🖤 Super bingeable and entertaining.

🎧 The audiobook drops TODAY!

Thank you Victory Editing for the ALC 🎧🖤

[Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I realised pretty quickly that the things that defined me as man were my decisions. My integrity, my risks, and my judgement.”

Finally a real man
This is him talking about why he choose to be celibate since his early years as an adult
This book has the same formula of her other books but it works and only because of this sentence I was happy
He’s a little hesitant for five minutes but then it’s insta love
Safe book and good sex scenes
No violence

[❀ Tia ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

| ALC REVIEW | ★ 2 stars ★

Cheesy, cutesy, and very spicy, but too insta-lust for my liking (even for novella standards). It was an easy listen and I liked the narration, but the story itself was nothing special, with no particular standout moments for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Evie Rose, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for gifting this audiobook in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

[Melany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the audiobook of this novella. The narrators did an amazing job portraying the characters! I liked that it was instant love and immediately dived into it. It had a decent plot but the fast pace of it and everything happening is truly what kept me intrigued.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley to listen/review. All statements are my true opinions after fully listening to this audiobook.

[Nikii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ig guilty pleasures were books, this wound be it.🥀

Safety
No Om/Ow
No cheating/Sharing
HEA

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dual pov
Age gap h23, H49
Novella 158 pages
Nurse/mafia boss
no owd/omd
HEA

[Lolina ⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wait, this was so fun 😭

[Gosia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-3.75ish rounded up

This was not my first rodeo, I think it’s 4th novella by Evie I listened to so I knew the drill. I didn’t even read the blurb, just saw that there’s a new audio by Evie and I hit that “request” button so fast.
The age gap was too big for me so in order to really enjoy this story I just removed any info about their age from my head 😂 I know I’m in minority and most readers loooove age gaps. I don’t skip them but sue me, I usually just force myself into denial about characters age.

It was insta and fast pace and silly in the best way. That’s the theme for Evie’s novellas - they do offer some dark themes and the mafia things are a part of the plot, but it’s mainly a silly, goofy entertaining story with hot spice and always perfect for one sitting read/listen.

Audio duration: 3h40min
Duet narration by: Zara Hampton-Brown and Lucas Webley
The narration was okay. I preferred the female narrator, tbh I struggled a bit during male narrator’s long segments. I needed to really focus to keep my attention on the audiobook and understand what’s happening.
The British accent was very fitting considering the story takes place in London!

Read if you want something hot and a bit on the darker end of the scale but still light, funny and simply entertaining.
If you expect dark-dark romance, that’s not it. It’s what a call a dark-ISH romcom.

ALC provides by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op

[Maddy Hookom · Rating 3 out of 5]

like what in the wattpad book!?!?
liek the way he was down bad after two mins and they both loved each other on like day 4??? oh welll it was fun and short
low key not spicy enough
also i liked the dual perspective, but I was annoyed how the main male character at first was like oh I cant like she’s too good for me… you’re a mafia boss where are your lack of moral??

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook 4 stars!

I love a mafia romance and I love an age gap so I knew right off the bat that I was going to enjoy this one. This is nurse and mafioso romance with our nurse, being an innocent virgin female main character and our mafioso, a 49 year-old rugged grumpy, male main character.

While this was more of a novella length, I liked the slow burn of the relationship. Even though it had an insta lust feel, they did not immediately jump into each other's arms until further into the book. The spice was so spicy and such a steamy listen. The narrators did such a great job portraying each character. One thing that did kind of throw me out of the story was the Fae ball at the end, while that sounds fun in theory it just didn’t fit within the story. I also didn't like that the female main character didn’t know what a billionaire was and the male main character said to her “do you know what a billionaire is, that’s 1000 millions." It just made her sound really dumb.

Overall, this was a great fun time. I would definitely recommend it if you like a spicy mafia age, gap romance.

This book was sent to me via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Nabbed By The Bratva back in May - I was excited to dive back into another quick read spicy novella in this London Mafia Bosses series.

 

Each book focuses on a different couple so although I've only read books 11 & now 12 in Thai series, these really do work well as standalone reads and are perfect to devour on audio book whilst doing a bit of housework.

 

Once again, I devoured this in one sitting and absolutely had so much fun.

 

Our Kingpin Reid finds himself in the hospital being patched up for a gunshot wound and instantly falls for his nurse Callie.

Quite rightly, she doesn't trust his offer of a live-in nurseing job - so what can Reid do but move himself into her apartment and reverse kidnap her!

 

Oh, I loved this whole concept - not something I've seen before.

He buys the apartment, renovates and just sits there patiently for Callie to learn to want him as much as he wants her - and being a nice and easy, quick read, we don't have to wait long before we see some spice shining through.

 

I loved this couple.

I really connected with them both and loved that although we're dealing with mafia bosses, there's no unnecessary "behaviour" - we just get in and enjoy the ride.

 

This is an obvious storyline - but this is no bad thing.

I love that we know where we're heading and we can just relax into it and enjoy a great story which is packed with humour that just has me smiling the whole way though.

 

I devoured this in one sitting and.and really looking forward to working my way through the rest of the blacklist, whilst waiting for the next release soon.

 

 

 

 

[Stephanie Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎧ALC Review🎧
⭐⭐⭐.75/5
Narrated by Lucas Webley and Zara Hampton-Brown

Kept by the Kingpin delivers exactly what it promises: a fast‑paced, high‑stakes romance built on obsession, proximity, and the thrill of danger, without losing its sweeter emotional core. Evie Rose leans into the fantasy of an older, powerful mafia boss who becomes fiercely protective of the heroine, turning a single hospital encounter into a full‑blown takeover of her living space and her routine. The “reverse‑kidnapping” premise is playful rather than dark, giving the story a heightened, dramatic tone that stays focused on emotional tension rather than explicit content.

In audio, Lucas Webley and Zara Hampton‑Brown elevate the material. Webley brings a controlled, authoritative warmth to the kingpin that makes his intensity feel grounded rather than abrasive, while Hampton‑Brown gives the heroine a sincerity and softness that fits the age‑gap dynamic. Their performances create a clear emotional contrast between characters, making the push‑and‑pull of proximity, caretaking, and reluctant attraction feel more vivid.

Overall, this is a story for listeners who enjoy protective‑hero fantasies, dramatic setups, and a blend of sweetness with danger. It’s not a gritty mafia tale, it’s a romance that uses the mafia backdrop to heighten devotion, tension, and the feeling of being cherished.

[Lexa K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these Mafia romances by Evie Rose. Yes, it's predictable. Yes, it's cheesy, but it does exactly what I've come to expect from this series and Lucas Webley could read me the dictionary and I'd still be drooling in the corner just listening to him.

Like the other books I've read in this series, there is an age gap, there is an inexperienced FMC and there is a possessive MMC who falls instantly. But I had a great time with Reed and Callie nonetheless.

The spice was expertly written as per usual, and the quirky sense of humour lingered on the pages. I loved the reverse kidnap angle of moving in instead of a hostage situation and the Fae Ball with the other 'maths club' members was particularly enjoyable.

I'd love to join the London Mafia wives monster smut club 🤣

The narration from Lucas Webley, as I've already mentioned is PERFECTION and Zara Hampton-brown brings Cassie to life with her narration style.

This audiobook is perfect for a quick couple of hours of escape and some spicy fun in the world of the London Mafia.

[Audiobooksgirlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a quick, spicy little palate cleanser 😂 Reid buying Callie’s entire building and moving in instead of actually kidnapping her was completely ridiculous and somehow exactly the kind of ridiculous I’m willing to accept in a mafia romance.

Reid is possessive, obsessed, older, powerful, and basically decides immediately that Callie is his. Callie being the nurse who patches him up after a gunshot wound made their whole setup even more fun. It’s definitely instalove, but with a novella this short, I wasn’t expecting a six month courtship 😂

The audiobook was duet narrated by Lucas Webley and Zara Hampton Brown, which automatically gets points from me. Quick, entertaining, very spicy, and easy to fly through between heavier reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co op for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review.

[Khadija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to review this audiobook.

This was fun . It was fast paced,spicy novella .

What will you find in this fast-paced novella?

Steamy mafia,Age gap,Billionaire,Nurse,Virgin, obsession, passion and spice.

The narrators were wonderful and did an amazing job in bringing this novella to life.

[Fiatgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad to see this series ending.

[Han]

Safe
Virgin h

[Coline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sympa. Callie et Reid sont mims.

[mary ♡⋆ ࣪₊ꫂ᭪݁⋆˙ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh wow the best part about this book was the artwork

[Jahda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehh might read

[Diana Chinchilla (dianasbookhaven) · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝘼𝙇𝘾 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ♥️♥️♥️♥️
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🌶️🌶️
𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨: Novella
Grumpy/Sunshine
Mafia Romance
Age Gap

🎧🄰🄻🄲 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆: eohhwee! Good lawd, I love hate/novellas sometimes because they leave me wishing there was more. This was super short and sweet, just enough teasing to leave me needing more. A must add to all those smutty lovers, because both the narrators brought the heat.

📖🆂🆃🅾🆁🆈 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆: if you can get over the fact that you don't have all the information, this is super entertaining. Selfishly, I wanted more of the story but knowing it was a novella before helded me not keep my hopes up. Super fun story



🎧𝙶𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝙻𝙲 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 & 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 netgalley 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢.

[kymagirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

He moved into her life like a threat and stayed like a vow.

Callie is used to caring for people who need her. She’s sweet, stubborn, overworked, and safer when love stays theoretical. Then Reid arrives in her hospital with a gunshot wound, a dangerous reputation, and the kind of attention that makes her feel seen before she’s ready to be wanted.

Reid is older, powerful, and used to getting what he wants. When Callie refuses to leave her life behind, he doesn’t drag her into his world. He moves into hers, turning her house share into something sharper, safer, and impossible to ignore.

At first, she tells herself she’s only tending his wound. But forced proximity strips people down. Between quiet meals, careful hands, bruised histories, and Reid’s need to protect and spoil her, Callie sees the lonely man beneath the violence.

Their connection is fast, intense, and uneven in all the ways that matter. He’s possessive and morally gray. She’s inexperienced but not weak. What starts as a power imbalance turns intimate, dangerous, and hard to walk away from.

Callie grows from guarded caretaker into someone brave enough to want, trust, and choose a dangerous love without losing her softness. Reid shifts from controlling kingpin to devoted partner, letting Callie become his weakness, comfort, and future. Their relationship begins in coercive forced proximity, then deepens into a high-heat bond where control gives way to trust, vulnerability, and devotion.

An ultra-steamy, age gap, instalove, grumpy sunshine mafia romance with forced proximity, reverse kidnapping, praise kink, hurt comfort, caretaker intimacy, possessive devotion, and a morally gray silver fox who falls first and hardest. It’s about control, trust, loneliness, protection, power, sexual awakening, and the strange tenderness that grows in dangerous places.

The Elevator Pitch: A gentle young nurse patches up a wounded mafia kingpin and finds herself pulled into the gravity of a man who mistakes control for care until she becomes the one person he can’t command himself to leave. As danger closes in around them, their forced proximity turns intimate, volatile, and deeply revealing, exposing old wounds neither of them expected the other to touch. What begins as a threat becomes a devotion neither of them knows how to survive without.

Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥 Ultra-Steamy / Erotic Romance

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mafia lite novella w an obsessed mafia boss and his kind-hearted nurse.

Reid 🔫 Callie

Reid and Callie meet one night when he comes to the hospital where she works with a bullet wound. She treats him and he immediately tries to convince her to quit her job and work for him. She refuses, but when she goes home he’s bought her entire building, found housing for her other roommates, and moved in.

It starts w him genuinely only wanting her as his nurse but grows from there. He’s touch averse and she’s the only one who’s been able to touch him without him flinching in at least 10 yrs.

Anyway, they both are drawn to each other. Sexy times, a kidnapping, a dead dad follow. You know, the usual mafia hijinks.

- No third act breakup
- No miscommunication
- Age gap - he’s 40 something and she’s 24. He thinks it s a bigger deal than she does.
- Opposites attract - morally grey mafia boss who’s actually a good guy and gentle kind nurse
- Spice - She’s a virgin bc she can’t stand the thought of a man controlling her; she watched her mom be physically abused by her dad. It’s implied that he hasn’t been w someone for 10 yrs.
- Forced proximity - he’s moves in w her and basically never leaves.
- No OM/OW
- Cute banter
- HEA; married w kids 10 yrs later

The is the safest mafia story I’ve read. It’s sweet to the point of cavity inducing.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ALC of Kept by the Kingpin

“Callie is a bright, shining star in the middle of blood and death and darkness and loss.”

“I’m impatient for my little nurse to come home.”

So this book is follows Callie (nurse) and Reid (Mafia Boss). Callie helps fix Reid up and after not being able to be touched by anyone he is able to be touched by Callie and now wants her to work for him as his nurse. Callie eventually agrees and the love story starts.

“I love this girl because she’s the sweetest thread of hope I’ve ever hung onto, and she won’t break. Callie is far stronger than she looks. And whatever the price, whatever I need to do… I need her forever. I want her as my wife.”

“We can be friends, Callie.” The way he says it, friendship sounds like a dark temptation. A forbidden, silky thing that would take my breath away and steal my soul.”

So I want to say this is a SHORT book 156 pages only 3 hours of listening. But it was a good Duet narration! Duet narration always makes the audiobooks better for me.

“Her face is a picture. The little nurse who had such a soft touch, but a spine of steel. I like her. More than that, I’m curious about her.”

This book is very spicy and an age gap romance. It is instalust/love but I feel the author portrays this well for the type of book and how short it is!

Because it’s so short I always feel like I’m missing so much of the story but overall this is one of the better novellas that I have read. And the spicy scenes were good 🥵

“And then he winks. The infuriating, beautiful, arrogant bastard, winks at me, and leaves.”

[Kate V · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 - 4 smut-scale stars!

Ok this was legit so cute. Mafia man gets taken care of by a sweet nurse and mafia man decides he wants her. But she’s stubborn and so he finds a way to get her…

“I want to make you explode because the pleasure shakes you to your core. I want you helpless because you need me to give you release. And though, yes, I would very much like to fuck you senseless in every position you can think of, all my favourites need both my arms more capable than they are right now. So my priority is orgasms for my sweet little nurse.”

By buying the building she’s in and becoming her roommate…obviously. This was sweet, sexy and an all around good time.

[Faye Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie Rose knows how to do these romcom novellas! Kept by the Kingpin is funny, fast-paced and spicy. The duet narration by Zara Hampton-Brown and Lucas Webley is perfect, and the "reverse kidnapping" (the MMC buys the FMC's apartment building and promptly moves in) was a new one for me!

With a novella, the plot has to be quite fast paced, so this one is pretty insta-lovey, but with a spicy novella, I think that's probably to be expected. This one has an age gap romance and forced proximity, and it's a very short but fun listen.

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Listener Copy from NetGalley this is my voluntary and honest review.

[Sarah Emmerick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with an advanced copy of Kept By The Kingpin! I thoroughly enjoyed Reid and Callie’s story. It was fast-paced and incredibly spicy. I was captivated by their growth as a couple and appreciated the subtle and explicit nods to Beauty and the Beast. This story kept me engaged throughout and made me eager to read the rest of the series.
I was given an ALC of this story and I will say that I LOVED that the narrators sounded normal and entertaining even at 2x speed (I tend to listen to my audiobooks faster than normal but HATE when the speed increase takes away from the narrators)

[Valeria ❀⋆୭ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept by the Kingpin 👩🏼‍⚕️🩺🔫🏘️

This book was so sweet and so much fun!!

I had been feeling like no book was able to truly pull me in, and then I came across a fan art of this couple... and that was all it took to convince me to pick it up. And I'm so glad I did because I absolutely loved it!!

Callie is a nurse at a hospital, and one day she meets Reid after he arrives with a gunshot wound. She patches him up, but before leaving, Reid asks her to come work for him. He hates physical contact with anyone, but somehow she was the exception. Of course, she tells him she can't just quit her job, so what does he do? He buys the building she lives in, moves in himself, and that's how their arrangement begins: she'll take care of his wound until it heals.

But the attraction they felt from the moment they met only keeps growing stronger!!

This book was incredibly sweet. I absolutely adored both of their personalities—they're complete opposites, yet they complement each other perfectly!!