They call me Boss, because this city belongs to my family - the Volkovs. Our greedy enemies want to take it from us, but we've got a plan - and a girl. Stella Rinaldi. She doesn't know it yet, but she's the key to ending this turf war once and for all. All I have to do is get her to trust me. I know everything about her, but she doesn't know me. Not yet. But we're about to get close. Real close.
Xander is a 46k word Mafia Mystery Bad Boy Romance with steamy scenes for the adult reader and a HEA.
~2 for 1 Bonus Content - Comes with a free copy of 'Billion Dollar Distraction', a 70k word Billionaire Romance~
I could not connect with the heroine. Stella's verbiage and inner thoughts just came off as disrespectful and trashy. If I can't connect with the heroine, I can't connect with the story. Maybe her "attitude" changed later, but there are too many other books on my TBR and my reading time is precious.
This is what I wanted to say: don't make the heroine come off as a little b***ch. I understand that Stella's mom had her issues, but Stella's attitude still came off as a little snot. Maybe if I saw more of the interaction between Stella and her mother before Stella would start smarting off (even if it was in her head), I would be more sympathetic. I just did not understand her bad attitude from page one. You need me to understand first before the bad and negative attitude is displayed.
I loved the premise so it was disappointing that it did not work for me, but it did not work for me.
Blurb: They call me Boss, because this city belongs to my family - the Volkovs. Our greedy enemies want to take it from us, but we've got a plan - and a girl. Stella Rinaldi. She doesn't know it yet, but she's the key to ending this turf war once and for all. All I have to do is get her to trust me. I know everything about her, but she doesn't know me. Not yet. But we're about to get close. Real close.
I was borderline 4 stars on this one. I liked it, I really did. It's a quick read. Mafia. Most of what the synopsis tells you. I didn't take the story to be quite as dark as I think it was intended to be. There were some dark-ish elements to it. But there were also some light and even funny interactions between Xander and Stella. They had great chemistry and I LOVE a Frenemies to lovers story. I would never call this story predictable (Yeah!) and was pleasantly surprised on a few occasions. It was like Xander was/is a "Bad Boy" until it comes to Stella, then he's mush. I loved that! My only issue was towards the end, all of the sudden there were a TON of people and storylines to keep straight, and then it was over. It seemed a bit abrupt and left me wondering what just happened. I mean, it's romance, so you get your HEA, but the last few pages summed up a story (an ending) that should have taken a year, and it was all supposed to happen in 2 months? I scratched my head a bit on that. Still, a good read. It came with a 'bonus story', which is basically another book. Which I may or may not read. Again, this was good, not great. Worth the read.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book! This book was fantastic! It had everything I wanted in a mafia bad boy novel, sex, drugs, night clubs, firecracker of a lead lady and a little bit of humor. Stella has to go stay with her Uncle while her mother goes on a cruise cus she is an overprotective mother. Stella meets Xander when he comes to pick up a package. Stella's Uncle goes missing and Xander tries to protect Stella but she is stubborn until something happens and she realizes she does need his protection. There is a lot of banter, at first she hates Xander but soon comes to the realization he is really helping her and she gives him a break. Not going to say more except the ending is a shocker. You won't be disappointed!
This was a great mafia romance. It had romance, hot sex, a little suspense, and even a little humor. I really liked Stella and Xander together. Their interactions were great. I didn't want to put this one down. *I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. This is my honest review.*