When my family’s biggest rival offers me a deal to end decades of bloodshed, I know it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could change everything for the better.
But to seal the deal, I’ll also have to marry the Mazzas’ youngest son, Luca.
Luca might be the hottest man I’ve ever seen and he’ll be no more than my property, but the angry fire in his eyes tells me that he’s trouble and a distraction that I don’t need.
Still, the deal is too good to pass up.
I can handle Luca.
If only it weren’t so easy for him to sneak into my heart...
This standalone contains mature language and content.
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.
The book felt hastily written, with little to no genuine emotion. It was extremely short, lacked depth, and honestly read like something copy-pasted from ChatGPT. I genuinely don't understand how some readers gave this a five-star review — it makes me wonder if we even read the same book.
A pretty typical “mob” storyline. Two mob families are joined by marriage. Though, in this case, the unwilling spouse is male and the mob boss he’s being delivered to is female. Luca, the fifth son of Giovanni Mazza, is given to Valentina Cassaro in marriage. No ceremony, just a wedding license next to their latest treaty. Then Luca is delivered with tied hands and loopy with “something to calm him” into Valentina’s keeping.
Luca was never favored by his father. He was kept locked away much of his youth for the crime of being an independent thinker and daring to express himself. So the new locked room he is delivered to seems much the same. Once off the drugs he is violent and destructive, until Valentina personally takes him in hand. Her 20 year old virginal husband is aroused when she ties him to a spanking bench to receive his punishment. He’s aroused when she ties him face down on the bed with a plug in his ass and a cage on his cock. He is willing and eager when she ties him the first night she takes him. He surrenders himself to her ropes the night she introduces him to pegging.
But more than a fuck toy, she welcomes Luca’s input and protects him like he is something precious. Soon the guards are there only to protect him, not to keep him from running. For a moment, Valentina chooses to send him away where he can live a more normal life, but she can’t stay away and he begs to return to her side.
Not a long or complex story, but I love Luca and Valentina and I like Valentina’s version of femdom. Luca is never demeaned or degraded, but treated as precious. There are no safe words or negotiation, but it is clear that Valentina wants to please her husband. She never brushes against any hard limits and he is open to whatever she brings to the table.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.