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The last thing Octavia expects when she finds herself with Aaron Viteri’s gun pressed to the back of her head is that he won’t pull the trigger. After all, she’s a Ferrara, and her family and the Viteris have been enemies for decades. Not to mention she has snuck into his apartment to steal the files her family desperately needs.

But Aaron offers her a deal. He’ll spare her life if she pretends to be his sex slave and helps him take over his father’s business. Octavia knows she can’t trust the cold, arrogant, controlling, and devilishly handsome Aaron, but her only choice is to accept his offer.

The more time she spends with him, the more she realizes he isn’t who everyone thinks he is. And the way he looks at her makes her want to tie him to the bed and put his perfect mouth to better use. But if Octavia wants to stop a looming war before it’s too late, she can’t let her growing feelings for her enemy get in the way.


This is the first installment in the three-book Loving Your Enemy series. It contains potentially triggering situations, violence, strong language, sexual content, and a cliffhanger.

ebook

First published November 23, 2016

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About the author

Talia Ellison

35 books513 followers
Talia Ellison is the author of Hold Me, Unfold Me, the Loving Your Enemy series, the Your Love Is Dangerous series, Destroying the Billionaire, The Mafia Proposal series, the My Broken Hitman series, the Her Dark Mafia Heart duet, the Owned by the Mafia Queen series, the Never His duet, the Taking Revenge on Her Bully series, the Varano Mafia series, and Arranged: Cassaro Mafia. She loves to read and write all kinds of romance, and she has a thing for broken, tortured heroes and fierce heroines who aren't afraid to take what they want. When she’s not busy with a book, she likes to watch TV shows and listen to music.

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5 stars
507 (35%)
4 stars
432 (29%)
3 stars
317 (21%)
2 stars
116 (8%)
1 star
72 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
Profile Image for Ari.
344 reviews242 followers
December 11, 2016
1 seriously disappointed star

Ugh, I went into this book with such high hopes, the premise for the story seemed fantastic, and the blurb promised me a fairly interesting story with a strong female character. So why did I not like it?

Well here's why:
• Have you ever played catch the criminal in your childhood? You know that game where one of your friends becomes a criminal, and you're the police and it's an entire hour of hunting fake clues, plotting stupid plans, and screaming childish threats? Yeah, that is exactly what this book felt like to me. None of the obviously grownup characters felt remotely matured to me. Not that I mind a little humor, but a dark book should be dark, and not feel like a badly written 6th grade drama.

• Secondly, it seems that people, or rather authors today widely mistaken stupidity for courage or bravery. There's a huge difference. (Kindly refer to a dictionary. Even google works.) Well, that was mostly for Octavia, our lovely little protagonist.

• I hated Octavia. I can't explain.. no actually I can. She was pretentious, trying to be a know-it-all (no not like Hermoine) and ending up looking like a fish flapping in a puddle, tried to be a badass, but clearly that was not fitted for her. Seriously, she annoyed the living fuck out of me.

• The writing was pathetic. I couldn't connect with any of it. The scenes felt very clumsily written, and the character development fell very very short.


I am just extremely disappointed, because like I said, I was really hoping for it to be quite good. Guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover after all.

[ARC provided via netgalley in exchange for an honest review]
Profile Image for Aղցela W..
4,520 reviews321 followers
February 6, 2017
This was a really good book that I liked. The Ferraras have fours sons who have joined the family business and a daughter who they've kept hidden from their enemies. The last thing Octavia expects when she finds herself with Aaron Viteri’s gun pressed to the back of her head is that he won’t pull the trigger. After all, she’s a Ferrara, and her family and the Viteris have been enemies for decades. Not to mention she has snuck into his apartment to steal the files her family desperately needs. But Aaron offers her a deal. He’ll spare her life if she pretends to be his sex slave and helps him take over his father’s business. Octavia knows she can’t trust the cold, arrogant, controlling, and devilishly handsome Aaron, but her only choice is to accept his offer. I really liked Octavia she was a woman taking charge in the bedroom by tying him to the bed. I love reading about hot sex and alpha males. This was my first time reading this author this book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Julie.
750 reviews158 followers
February 7, 2017

I'd be a liar if I said I didn't effin' love it! Hot damn, I could hardly believe I was reading a book where a chick would be taking the lead in being commander in chief during sex. I can't even begin to explain the variety of events going on in this book! Love the characters and all the excitment. Who doesn't like crime lords? Not me! Yeah in book world I do! This was AMAZING IMO!
Profile Image for Lilli.
264 reviews64 followers
May 1, 2022
2.75

This book was recommended under a tik tok about book with submissive men.

I mean the author could have intended that, but if she did, this seemed really forced. It feels like the author tried a little too hard to make Aaron „cute“ and „soft“ and Octavia „though“.

I do like when the man takes a submissive role in the relationship, but in this book it felt weird, because we had him interacting with Octavia and on the other hand playing the son of a bad and influential man that wants everyone that gets into his way dead.
It wasn‘t working, because eventually the „lines blurred“ and he was something in between the whole time.

The premise sounded kinda interesting, but the outcome was not at all what you would’ve expected.
Profile Image for Wendy.
895 reviews172 followers
January 13, 2023
So, I found this book on a “femdom” list and…. Ok… we will call this “femdom lite”. 😁
She does tell him what to do a few time and tie him up a time or two, but it is more … she is a kinky girl, then she is a domme.

Most readers of mafia romance / enemies to lovers stories would probably enjoy this books. There was a well developed story and the character were well written. But.. am not a fan of either genre. I was here for the femdom, and as we discussed.. not so much.

But that is not the author’s fault. It was a well written, well fleshed out, sexy story. Just not kinky enough for me. 😉
Profile Image for Nancy Brady.
Author 7 books45 followers
August 17, 2018
A Romeo and Juliet story of two warring drug-lord families who hate each other.

Octavia Ferrara has always been hidden away, protected by her family. Most people don't even realize she exists. Her brother Tony secretly involves her in the family business, but in the process, she gets caught by their rival family's son, Aaron.

Why he doesn't kill her outright, she never knows, but they reluctantly become involved. Reluctantly, despite the fact their families are bitter enemies, each is attracted to the other. Octavia keeps looking for ways to escape, but ultimately they work together.

Is it possible for them to love each other and have a life outside of their families? Will either family allow this? Ending with a cliffhanger, Octavia's and Aaron's love story is in flux. What will happen next?
Profile Image for Karen.
151 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2021
Was a quick read ... nice ...
Profile Image for Kaz.
178 reviews3 followers
November 20, 2024
The writing was terrible and the characters were pathetic…
Profile Image for Olivia Dodds.
77 reviews
April 6, 2025
Was another easy enough read. Was good but ended on a cliff hanger and i cba reading the next book. I liked aaron and marco
Profile Image for Melanie.
1,101 reviews4 followers
April 11, 2018
If I were the guy in this story, I would have offed this chick when I had the chance. So dumb. And then he winds up liking her? Yeah. Totally improbable. Meh.
Profile Image for CYNDY.
1,149 reviews33 followers
April 24, 2017
****4.5 Antagonists Stars****
This was my first read for Talia Elllison and it was not bad. Hers to Take has little bit of everything in this book mafia war, forbidden love and steamy sex what more can you ask for. Cassandra is what her name and who she is to the world but if you know who she really is her name is Octavia Ferrara. Octavia has not lived a normal life always hiding who she really is to keep her safe from her family enemies. In a meeting with her 4 brothers Octavia learns the Viteris family is putting a new drug out that could eliminated the Ferrara family for good or bring an all-out war; but on top of that there cousin is missing and all signs point to the Viteris family. Octavia brothers are at a road block not able to get access to the information they need that could get the new drug out of the Viteris hands and information on their cousin Octavia offers to help but is shut down by father and 3 of her brothers.
Sneaking into Aaron’s apartment was supposed to be easy in and out and timed perfectly. Aaron is emotionless and cold but arrogant and a killer. He not supposed to be home and if Octavia gets caught plan dumb and loss and hope they let her go right; it should work right because no one knows who she is she right now she Cassandra not Octavia. Aaron catches Octavia red handed and does not even try to hide the fact that he knows exactly who she is. Aaron give Octavia a choice help him or die but helping Aaron still can have the same ending.
Can Octavia help Aaron without hurting her family? Will Aaron kill Octavia anyway? Can Octavia not kill Aaron or his father? Will they learn to trust one another? Can two enemies work together and not blur the lines? I can’t wait for the next book.
****ARC provided by NetGalley for review****
Profile Image for Violet.
245 reviews49 followers
March 1, 2017
4.5 STARS

This book was really really really really REALLY good!
I will say though that, while the relationship between Octavia and Aaron was not Insta-love. In my opinion it was a little quick for her to fall for him. Just a smidge. :)
It would have been nice to wait it out and play the whole L word declaration even until the second book. But it wasn't bad and I enjoyed the journey within the book. Kept me on the edge, kept me guessing, kept me super intrigued and I almost cried out at times because just when I thought something bad was going to happen and it doesn't...then BAM! It comes after I've let my guard down. It was nicely written and just my kind of book overall.

But that ending though! I will definitively be checking out more of this author's other work and most definitely continuing on with this series.

Happy reading! :)
Profile Image for Janee.
2,713 reviews12 followers
April 12, 2017
The first

Great first book in a series. Octavia is strong female character. She didn't get afraid with anything that come her way. Aaron for being the a son of a drug Lord, and trying to take over, he wasn't all that alpha.
Profile Image for annapi.
1,958 reviews13 followers
September 6, 2020
Ugh. Marginally better than the first Talia Ellison book I read, but not by much. Here we have a Romeo and Juliet scenario between two drug lords. Octavia sneaks into Aaron's house to pilfer info from his computer and gets caught. He makes a deal with her that he'll let her live if she helps him steal data from his father's computer to help him take him down. Both fight their attraction to each other (yawn) etc. etc. you know how it goes.

This author's writing is juvenile. It's a teen boy's fantasy of violence and women in black and white terms with no subtlety whatsoever. Yeah, we're supposed to feel sympathetic towards Octavia's family because although they sell drugs, they don't kill people unless they "deserved it or attacked first" (roll eyes). Then the portrayal of Aaron's family as downright evil - they not only sell drugs, they engage in female slavery. Slavery! (Cue ominous music.) Kidnapping girls off the street to use and sell and discard and call "pets" (gag me with a spoon)! And we're supposed to believe that Aaron, having been raised in this environment all his life, loathes his father and what he stands for (cue the haunted look in Aaron's eyes).

Bullets fly all over the place and no one gets hit (of course). Minutes to download a computer's entire hard drive, natch. Seven trucks, only one of them with the new deadly super-addicting drug that they must find and destroy, and how do they know which truck is which? She finds a paper on the front seat with a number on it. And the sex - the laughable attempt at BDSM which never quite becomes exactly that, as if the author chickened out of writing actual BDSM scenes. Peppered throughout the book are corny lines of dialogue that make you cringe. Naturally it ends on a cliffhanger, with Aaron getting shot saving Octavia's life and we're supposed to be in suspense whether he survives for the next two books. (Give me a break, you can't call that a spoiler, as if anyone reading this doesn't already know the hero is not supposed to die in a cheesy romance.)

At least the shenanigans here were mildly entertaining - I laughed so many times at the ludicrousness of it all, and this was short enough to get through for a challenge.
Profile Image for Farah S.
53 reviews20 followers
March 25, 2018
Tbh, I find myself not liking the female lead. Sure, she can across as badass (and the whole-taking-control-in-bed is hot) but there's just something annoying about her. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying hard to get others to believe how her family was good than other criminals because they were less worse (which btw was lol) or it could've been just me who is a bit disappointed that the 'dark theme' isn't what I had expected. Either way, I find it a meh although the male lead was so close to making me close my eyes over the female lead.
Profile Image for Synthetic Darkness.
65 reviews46 followers
March 29, 2018
Oh my gods I loved loved loved this Book! It had me completely drawn in from the first chapter.

I don't want to give much away because this book is best read just going for it not really expecting anything. I will say this bookind is NOT bdsm well not really it's more of a throw back to the old slave days. There are some moments of bdsm but it's more toward the middle and end.

Please just give this wonderful book anow honest try. Go in knowing next to nothing and experience the wonderful surprisesummer it has to offer.
Profile Image for Tiffany Rowe.
101 reviews4 followers
January 13, 2025
woah!

Oh how I loved this mafia romance! The fact that she was the badass, the one who persisted, ugh it was so good! The character development, how they grow and change is spot on!
Octavia- is a girl who definitely knows what she wants and will do anything to go after it. I loved her strong character
Aaron- his imagine is one way, but she discovers he’s completely different. AND he lets her take charge!!!
It’s a mafia, enemies to lovers, romance but so much more.
Ugh and the cliffhanger ending, I am just glad I do not have to wait to read the second book lol.
Profile Image for Jamies.
642 reviews3 followers
June 7, 2017
I liked the story overall and think if this type of mafia drama intrigued me more I would read the other 2 books, immediately. Didn't like how Octavzia acted during the beginning of their plan because she def wasn't playing her role even close. She also made way too many assumptions about Aaron even though he clearly wasn't the normal Viteri. I want to know more about Aaron's past but not sure if I wanna read the other 2 books to find out. We shall see.
Profile Image for Kandas.
31 reviews
December 28, 2019
Was expecting a trashy romance novel. Instead got an excellent, entertaining and well written enemies to lovers romance. With an exciting made for a movie plot. Kick ass heroine, family dynamic, kind of unbelievable plot made believable by how natural the characters progressed. Ends on a teeny cliffhanger, but one you can live with. Got that Romeo & Juliette vibe, but with adults who know better. This one is a re-reader!
Profile Image for Amanda.
692 reviews8 followers
January 22, 2020
This book kind of reminds me of a cop show or something. It's full of drama and villains you would like to just let them rot in some dank hole somewhere. The steam is in full force in this...good grief. If a book makes me squirmy then I know the scenes were written well. This book didn't draw me in like some, was more like watching a show or a movie. It was interesting reading about mob families and the various functionality and set backs. Smexiness is on fire with this one.
Profile Image for Bri M.
75 reviews
April 27, 2024
Enemies to lovers, action, suspense, romance, add it all in one book? Sign me up! Couldn't buy book 2 fast enough!

This book has it all: action, spicy love, forbidden alliances, traitors. It'll keep you wondering how it'll end.
Octavia didn't want this life. She also didn't want Katya, her cousin, to have a life in the hands of their enemy.
So she risks it all to try and find her and save her. But what she has to do? What she has to pretend to be? All in the hands of her enemy...


Follow on insta @disnerdbri for more reviews!
Profile Image for Hailie Rawlings.
3 reviews
February 22, 2025
This book is absolutely not what I expected! I loved it! The book is really well written and very easy to read. I loved the characters. I loved the fact that the female main character was a strong, independent figure. It changes from all the other stories where the girl is helpless and needs to depend on the male lead character. The characters are so memorable. I haven’t liked a book like this in so long. I look forward to reading the second book :)
Profile Image for Breanna  Eichhorn.
1,251 reviews13 followers
May 4, 2017
Talia Ellison really knows how to draw someone into a story. I found this book to be very well written and the characters to be very well developed. I loved how I felt connected to the characters, I also found this book to be very hard to put down. This is my first book by Talia Ellison and I can honestly say that this book will not be my last.
905 reviews9 followers
July 26, 2017
I got this book through an eBook Discovery giveaway in exchange for an honest review. It was an enthralling read with some steamy scenes, but the characters didn't seem to react much to the trail of corpses that they left behind. There seemed to be no consequyences to the killings. It is the first book in a series and leaves you needing more.
Profile Image for Cammie Adams.
25 reviews1 follower
March 28, 2018
Agh! Cliffhanger

This book is so much more than the title and cover lead one to believe.
As far as cliffhangers go, the warning was clear and I have to say, this one was totally worth the aggravation. The writing, fantastic. The characters, enthralling. So much so, that I must read the rest of the series.
576 reviews6 followers
July 4, 2019
She loved her family's enemy's son

Two drug cartells. Hrr family sheltered her. She was never seen with them, only meeting her family by walking through a tunnel underground to go to their home.
Aaron was the enemy's son. He figured out who she was but after capturing her, he protected her from his evil father. She helped him. It all came to a head. She loved Aaron. He was wounded by his father's men. Her family took Aaron for medical care when he saved her life.
Profile Image for Sofia Wren.
Author 5 books31 followers
March 17, 2020
A really fun romance book with a chick who kicks ass! Just what I've been looking for. What a refreshing change to the billions of books about alpha males: this is about a chick who manages to twist a guy around HER finger for once.

In a world where women are sold and used as sex slaves, she decides to masquerade as a slave to gather information about her enemy. I find this important because human trafficking is really gross. In the context of this, she's not only in control with Aaron, but she is protesting the entire system of abusing women.

I also enjoyed the action of the book! Very exciting. I had to know what happened next. :) I think I may have found a new favorite author.
24 reviews1 follower
Read
September 26, 2020
Great read

It's a classic opposites attract, when you fall in love with enemy story. And it is good. When someone loves you enough to take a bullet and
Risk losing their life for you, that's true love. Like I said before I love stories that build so I will be getting the next book as well hope it is as good as this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews

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