Natasha Knight always beautifully marries suspense and dark romance in a dramatically yummy package- and With This Ring is a twisting, intriguing page turner. Natasha is the queen of mafia marriage of convenience and captive tropes, always finding new and invigorating drama to spin in the genre.
Christiano is a compelling hero- straight away, we forgive and relish his darkness, because this is a man who has suffered at the betrayal and treachery of others. His vendetta makes him initially dangerous and cruel, but we find his softer layers pretty quickly as we start to unpack his past and as we see him drawn to his captive, Scarlett- the enemy who is in his clutches just waiting for him to destroy, only her spark somehow chips away at his anger. Despite Scarlett’s own painful history and the darkness surrounding this story, she’s actually quite a fun heroine. She’s feisty, with a smart mouth and smart wit. She’s fiercely proactive of those she loves and refuses to back down to anyone, let alone her very intimidating captor. Like Christiano, we find her softer layers as well- she’s suffered greatly from being a pawn in the machinations of greedy and corrupt men- men who by their birthright should protect and cherish her. BOTH of these characters are such powerful survivors- flawed, but beautiful. We empathize with them so easily- long before we know some of their truths.
The story starts out with an incredibly intense BANG- a full throttle, take no prisoners exposition that hooked me immediately. From there, our story slows down a smidge as these two characters start to orbit each other and clash...and as we start to piece together the secrets we only read between the lines at first. I caught on to some larger secrets earlier, and so the reveals felt a bit drawn out for me, though NK does a great job building the intrigue and emotional suspense. I’ve noticed recently with NK duets that the first book has a slower romantic pace, with a heavier focus on building the emotional base and the suspenseful architecture. And, this duet seems to be following a similar pattern. Which means this is a slow burn- Natasha really makes us ache as she builds the anticipation. The emotional connection and the chemistry between them took a while to click for me- once they did, I was addicted. There is a lot unspoken between these characters- a budding connection we don’t yet understand, but they have empathy for one another that starts to challenge their plan to use the other to get what they need. The pace accelerates quickly from there, with a barrage of betrayals, twists, and heartbreaking moments that lead to a heart stopping cliff hanger. THANK GOODNESS the next book is not far away- because by the end of this story I was obsessed with these two and am desperate to find out just what this ending means for their overarching story.
This is just what I like in mafia romantic suspense- it’s dark, unpredictable, sexy, and dangerous. A wild and dramatic adventure with a turbulent and messy love story at its center. I NEED BOOK 2!