Devil You Hate

The Diavolo Crime Family #1

by J.L. Beck, C. Hallman

They call me “The Devil.”

Deranged and violent. Gorgeous but frightening.

I’m a business man so when one of my debtors offers me his fiancé in exchange for a debt settled I figure why not, the woman will be a quick sell. Repayment comes in the form of a beautiful but haunted young woman.

The light in her tempts the darkness inside of me. Teases it, tortures it. I want to hurt her. I want to break her. I want to keep her.

Lucky for Celia she fails to see that there is no goodness in me and when she attempts to draw me in with her innocence, and sweet naive heart I thrive to show her the cruel monster I am.

This is a dark mafia romance, that contains non-con/dub con, graphic violence, and sexual themes. It is not a standalone novel and ends on a cliffhanger.

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Mafia Romance, Dark, Enemies To Lovers, Audiobook, Contemporary

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2021

About the author

J.L. Beck is the USA Today Best Selling author of unapologetic romance. She lives in WI with her husband, two kids, and four dogs. She enjoys writing and recently starting a literary agency to help represent authors in the industry.

To learn more about her books or interact with her go here: https://linktr.ee/jlbeckbooks

J.L. Beck xoxoxo

Reviews

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome ending!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: ❤️💙💜💚💛
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗📘📔
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎🌍
Character development: 😌🤓😬😯🤗

The heroine: Celeste Ricci (a.k.a. Celia) - Mafia princess, who has been locked away in her tower for her entire existence. In her world women are only good for cementing partnerships with other mafia families. She has known her whole life that she would someday be bartered away and married off for her father’s gain.

The Hero(es): Nicolo Diavolo (a.k.a. Nic) - His parents and older brother were murdered in front of him and his younger brother Luca when they were kids. Since then they have lived for revenge against Celia’s father.

The Story: Nic kidnaps Celia on the eve of her wedding to another man. When Celia first see’s Nic, he is covered in another man’s blood and killing a second man. He has big plans to auction her off to the highest bidder in his revenge plot against her family.



This is a pretty standard mafia captive romance except that instead of Nicolo being the mafioso that is in an arranged marriage with the princess, he has kidnapped her to sell her for revenge against her father. However, he can’t seem to keep his hands off her even though keeping her a virgin for the auction is of utmost importance.

This book is sizzling hot and I couldn’t put it down. The chemistry between Nic and Celia is explosive 🧨. I hope the next one comes out soon because I can’t wait. The ending was a huge cliffhanger and surprising to say the least.

Triggers: kidnapping, degradation, spanking, dub-con.



I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

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[Lady Raven RAVE! · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Style: Dark Mafia Romance
Story: 3.5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5
Dark Level: 2.5/5
Sexual Level: SEX-CINTINGLY APPEALING
Triggers: Yes
Violence: Yes (Medium)
Male: Angry, Cold, Boss & Sexy
Series: Book 1 (Cliffhanger)
Pages: loc. 3381
Audio: N/A
Kindle Unlimited: Yes


STORY:
Yup, it’s official, Nicolo, is a bona fide SAVAGE. This is dual POV. The story starts with Celia’s, and you pretty much get an idea of who she is and where she stands with her family. Now, Nicolo’s first POV scenes gave me shivers. He is aggressive and wears an I Don’t Give A F$&@ suit, with the, I wish you would try me shoes pretty well. You know from his first POV scene, what you are getting, and this will be a good read because the word devil is too nice for him.

I personally felt though, yes, he was cold towards Celia, but he was more a savage to those he deems a threat or gets in his way. As the story progresses for me, I believe he maintained his icy demeanor, even when you started seeing the tiny cracks that were caused by Celia. As this is a duet, we are only on book one and Nicolo has not even touched the surface yet of the revenge he has in wait. I found this story to be appealing and falls in line with my personal preference and taste.


CHEMISTRY:
In book one, there are no words of I love you or feelings, but you do feel the sexual chemistry growing. I admit, Nicolo wasn’t the best or Rico sauve towards Celia but their physical chemistry became more appealing further into the story.


SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
Lucas- is Nicolo’s brother. He sounds just as yummy as Nicolo and is always angry. However, I don’t know how to gauge him, not sure if he is for or against.

Soo - is Nicolo’s right hand man. Get the impression he is deadly, and I am curious about him, more so now, after the dinner scene with him, Nicolo and Reya.


Overall, a good start to this duet and hopes it keeps the same momentum in part two. I hope as well depending how this story progress we will see story’s on Soo and Lucas.

**Triggers:, degrading, kidnapping graphic violence etc..


****I don’t equate these stories to real life. It’s about personal taste and what you would or want to tolerate with the books you read. I know we all have different opinions and preferences with what we read. I based my book reviews on my preferences and what I like, and while these preferences may not be the same for others, I hope this review was still helpful.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review -

𝟒.𝟓 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 Holy.Wow. Holy.Wow… HOLY WOW!!

You’re going to want to take a walk with devil. Wow, this story packed a punch. Nothing was held back. It’s raw and riveting. I was held captive and couldn’t stop reading! It's dark, oh so dark. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏.

Nicolo Diavolo is nothing short of a savage. Truly. He is ruthless and out for the perfect revenge on the families who took so much from him. He has a deadly plan and will stop at nothing to achieve it. He wouldn’t be where he is in life if he it wasn’t for his unshakable darkness. He is not soft or weak. He is pure evil.

As his plan unfolds, sweet and very innocent Celia Ricci is being used in his game. She is nothing to him. Only a pawn that will put Nic closer to his end goal. He vows to break her just a bit before his final plan goes into motion. He can’t fathom that her sass and fight would ever do something to him. She fights him almost every step of the way and at some point he starts to enjoy it. She may look weak, but she isn’t fragile. She can’t be when she is dancing with the devil. She is in his world and has to live her life as such. She may be a mafia princess, but she’s never been so close to such vileness.

He is cruel to her. He is demanding of her. He is controlling of her. He takes and takes… doesn’t give anything back. In his eyes she should cower and do as she’s told.
In her eyes, that will never happen, willingly that is. She refuses to be just a toy. Just a plaything for this dark and very dangerous man.

They were dark and delicious together. Nic is someone to fear, but man is he HOT! He can talk of killing you one moment and the next be talking while he is offering up pleasure… and punishments. Celia gets it all. Every dark and dirty deed.
I’m still not on team Nic though. He hasn’t won me over… yet.

OMG!!! That ending!! What the what?!!? I can’t wait to read book 2!!

[Nunu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stockholm syndrome is real with this one

She needs a therapist,

I need a therapist for liking this.


GOD DAMN THE TENSION

[Abstract ♥ Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL MY REVIEWS CAN BE FOUND ON MY BLOG: ABSTRACT BOOKS





Star Rating : 4.5/5 Stars

POV : Dual

Cliffhanger : Yes

Hero : Nicolo

Heroine : Celia

Pace of the story : Moderate

Angst Rating : 5/10

Heat Rating : 6/10

Triggers Involved : Dub Con , Kidnapping



Plot Summary :
Nicolo has plans to kidnap And break Celia as a part of his twisted revenge. Most people won't dare go against her family but he fears no one. He thinks it would be easy to break the princes but he doesn't expect her fire. She is a strong person even though fragile and he knows that breaking her won't be an easy task. Her light calls in to him and he finds himself weakening because of her.

That angers him even more and he soon decides that it is time to break her completely. By the time he was done with her , there would be nothing left of the princess.

Overall Opinion :
I loved this book so freaking much! These authors are my one click people and I always buy their books as soon as I see that title. They have this delicious darkness in their books that calls out to me and I can't resist reading their books again and again.

Nicolo and Celia have an amazing tale of hate and revenge. This book was the first part of a series and I know that there is a lot more to come.The ending was a huge cliffhanger. I am absolutely loving this duet since I am a huge fan of dark Romance and this one has everything I desire.

Highly recommend this one to all the dark romance lovers out there! This book has a but of triggers like kidnapping and isolation so please keep that in mind.




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[Melluvsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm. That was intense. I’m gonna have to read book
2 for the whole picture before I can give my thoughts. RTC

[Jess☺️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devil You Hate by J.L Beck and C.Hallman is book one in The Diavolo crime family series.
I read a few dark Mafia romance books lately but this one is the darkest yet.
You have kidnap, bloody violence, steamy sex and an auction (yes a human auction) throw in revenge, secrets and a cliff hanger that will shock you to the core and you end up with this book.
Yes I'm definitely recommending this if you like the darkness 📖

[Charlene Gaskins · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover and the blurb was the best part of this book. I really wanted to like this book, but found just the opposite. The story line is very similar to others that have come before it making it somewhat predictable in some elements of the book. These stories have the same components just different characters and different reasons for revenge.

Is any author going to be bold enough to bring a Mafia story into the 21st century and make the women born into these syndicates strong, educated and not complacent little princesses and dolls that mummy and daddy treat like yesterdays' trash? Grant it, Celia is forced into this situation but she was prepared to marry Marco because daddy and mommy dearest said so. I feel as though this genre is caught in a time warp of 1970-1980, not 2021.

The title says it all; some characters have no redeeming qualities throughout an entire book, aka Nic. Any man who needs to prey upon an innocent young woman to exact his twisted revenge against her family, while she herself was held captive and used as a pawn, by her own family; is a complete tool. The only thing that separates Nic's character and that of a wild animal that toys with it's victims before killing them is that the animal is doing it because they are hungry and need to survive.

I have read novels with really dark themed characters that I have connected with, but never connected with Nic. This author's writing in general is good, but there has to more to Mafia genre that rape, forced sex , bloodlust and depraved characters that get off exploiting weak and ravaged women. So many of these stories have turned into "read and repeat". Story development is so important to me as a reader in order to connect with the characters; even the dark ones. There are snippets of Nic's character that try to be human, but are few and far between.

Celia although complacent at first shows a side of her that is refreshing, just too late to do any good. The end was the best part of the book. I would have liked more story and intrigue throughout the book instead of saving it for the end. The jury is still out as to whether I will read book 2.

[J.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something dark is coming...
Preorder here: https://geni.us/devilyouhate

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this CLIFFHANGER! and I'm curious to read what happens next! The story itself is a quite classic one, considering the Mafia genre. It has all the right ingredients to make it an enjoyable book to read. I'll be waiting to read what will happen with Celia and Nicolo.

[S.J. Tilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daumnnnnn

Okay, found a new author to love after reading this one!!! It’s dark and twisted so definitely be aware of that… but it’s so freaking good! Fast paced. Smoking hot. Alpha-hole behavior galore. And I’m here for it.

[Tai Nelson-Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I think J.L and Cassandra have topped their books then they come flying out with another one. Devil you Hate is a mobster masterpiece. These two wrote a dark mobster story that even took me by surprise.

Nic is a total dick in all aspects of life. His business is everything to him and he intended to keep it that way. But when he is offered a woman in place of money he finds that he would like that a hell of a lot more than the money. But he decides he will treat her like everyone else, with deceit, mistrust, and anger. But he will also take everything she has to offer in return, he will break her and remake her into what he wants her to be.

Celia is about to marry a man she wants absolutely nothing to do with. She has little idea that the sleaze she is about to say I do to has just sold her to the man he owes a bunch of money to. Celia is surrounded by lies and hidden truths, and when she is kidnapped and Nic takes control of her life she has little to do other than wait around and be told what is given to her.

Devil You Know is the first book in the duet. And I have to admit I could NOT put it down. I am excited to see what is next.


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[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devil you hate gripped me from the very first page and now ive finished it im still trying to process everything that went on in it. Which i have to say was a lot. Celia (FMC) is caught up in a nightmare scenario not of her own making. To get revenge on her father Nicolo kidnaps Celia to pay for what hes done. Theres a naivety to Celia mainly about her family/father and what hes capable of. Theres also this will they, wont they going on with her and Nicolo. That keeps you on tenterhooks throughout as to whether Nicolo will stick to his revenge plans and it keeps on going until the last few pages. My god that cliffhanger ending was just knockout!! This book was one hell of a read. I just loved it!!!

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Issues

I know authors sometimes exaggerate for a good storyline, but the killings at the beginning of the book and long time planning of auctioning off a virgin doesn't add to the villain image. Instead it just seems meaningless and makes the hero no better man than her father.
Also, there was very little storyline and the heroin was annoyingly weak, and we didn't get to know her very well.
Sorry, not for me.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Genre/Tropes: Dark Mafia Romance/Enemies-to-Lovers

**This is a dark mafia romance, that contains non-con/dub con, graphic violence, and sexual themes. It is not a standalone novel and ends on a cliffhanger.**

This was an okay read, nothing that blew me away, we have Nicolo who wants revenge so he decides to kidnap Celia a Virgin daughter of a mob boss. We have a lot of scenes with sexual tension and Celia deciding if she should fight or not for her freedom. It's a slow burn of sorts but the pacing and just the inconsistencies with the storyline i had trouble connecting with. Lots of moments that didn't add up and i guess that due to the book being co written even the ending which was a cliffhanger was so boring.

I really wish this would have worked out for me.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

[Becca's Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is rubbish. Sorry if you liked it, but I really do think that your reading material standards are under the floor boards if you enjoyed this - which ironically is where I wish I was instead of trying to battle through this terrible story with these boring unimaginative characters.

[Anne Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin
When I first started this book I thought I knew the storyline but let me just tell you I have gone through every emotion reading this book. Celia has never known love. Her father sees her as a bargaining chip and that’s all she is to him. He is a ruthless man who would be happy to marry her off just to make the family stronger in the criminal underworld. And that’s what he does he plans to do, marry her off to a man She’s never met before and after there first meeting Celia doesn’t even like him. Her older sister killed herself and now Celia understanding why.
But she finds that she has been kidnapped by a cruel man Nicolo. But what Nic is after is revenge. Revenge of a man who killed his mother in front of his younger brother. But he needs to take on the five families to get his revenge and what he plans to do is auction off his daughter. To the men he trusts. But there is something about Celia that calls to Nico. But he cannot afford to have feelings for this woman. His brother is out for blood and cannot stand looking at Celia.
But can he auction this woman off knowing the men who will be at the auction who will use her, abuse her and most likely kill her???
Boy did I go through every emotion reading this book and I have such an anger with Nico that he could do this to another human being. There are always ways around getting your revenge and this isn’t it!!!! How he can’t see that this girl is such an innocent she hasn’t had a life to live yet.
I feel for Celia because she’s never know what it’s like to have an attraction to somebody, she doesn’t understand why her body is betraying her towards this man that she feels so much hate towards but when her body betrays her over and over again she’s left confused. This is an outstanding read and the cliff hanger at the end had me screaming at this book we need the next book now. I have my suspicions but I have no idea how this second book is going to end for her. We need the second book now please
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Serena Akeroyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a title like that, there was a lot to live up to.
Safe to say, Devil You Hate's Nicolo more than brings the hate. So why do I also love him?? >.<
I CAN'T wait for part two.
Come on, Celia. You got this, girl!!

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just don't like this hero. Hardly at all. I want this heroine to have more spine than she does.

But I will read the next one and see if he has more grovel. I need more hope in my stories than this one has.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mon premier livre des auteures et certainement pas le dernier.

Ce premier tome ma conquis, Nic et Celia sont le feux et la glace. Les émotions a fleur de peau.

Voila pourquoi la Dark romance est un de mes genres préfère, l'émotion, l'angoisse, et les anti-héros, les bad boys sont ma criptonite et quand elle est bien écrite c'est encore mieux.

Allé je me lance dans le tome 2, trop anxieuse d'avoir les réponses a toutes mes questions, et il y en a.

[Callen Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

there’s not a single redeeming quality about this. i have to read the last 50% drunk it was that bad. this was awful.

[Book Maniac Forever · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS
The plot of this story was dark and alluring. The level of suspense and action had me constantly on the edge. I just had a little difficulty to buy the weird dynamic between Celia and Nicolo. Toward the end, maybe I felt a little shift, but for most of the book I just found Nicolo to be cruel and unredeemable. Nonetheless, the sexual moments are plenty and hot, but lacking a spark between the main protagonists. I can't wait to read the next book though to better understand these characters and their future.

[Mandyloves2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is dark dirty and oh so good ! I was immediately hooked right from the start ! It’s emotional intense and dangerously steamy ride . Nicolo is definitely the Devil ! That ending was jaw dropping I’m speechless right now and I need the next book ASAP please !

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐⭐⭐

I have to admit that this book gave me some mixed feelings. Not gonna lie, I did enjoy it one way or another, but it doesn't give me the buzz that I wanted. Basically, the entire story is about Celia being kidnapped by Nicolo as an act of revenge on his part of the side. In the entire book, he was planning to sell her in an auction but of course, the sexual tensions and the chemistry between these two made the entire book becomes more complicated than ever.

Talking about the characters, I liked Nicolo. As a dark romance lover, I think his character makes him looked pretty attractive and I can consider him as a major hottie. Whereas for Celia, there are times where I'm kinda annoyed with her. The main reason is because she's kinda naive, and I disliked naive heroine. She's kinda gave me the vibe of ''I'm not like other girls'' bla bla bla. Anyways, I do like the sexual tensions between these two.

Overall, this book is kinda enjoyable yet forgetabble. It was a pretty meh experience. Do I love it? No. Will I read the sequel? Probably. However, I do love the cliffhanger tho. It was a great way to end the first book. Either way, I do recommend to those who love dark romance to read this book.

ARC provided in exchange for honest review ~

[Mysti · Rating 1 out of 5]

another book to burn. I really tried with this one. This is a crappy recap because it's a crappy book.

Celia is being forced to marry a man for the family mafia ties. She has to sit quietly through dinner with him and say "please" and "thank you" and be perfect. She can't open her mouth to disagree or argue with anything, has to wear the clothes her mom picked out, can't tell him that she doesn't want to drink what he gives her because she doesn't like it. Typical mafia family. She ends up being sold by the fiancé to bad guy Nic as payment for his debt. Nic plans to sell Celia's virginity. Now suddenly, Celia is all defiant and speaking her mind. How am I going to believe that Celia is so placating and obedient at home without guns and violence with her fiancé, but then the actual crazy guy who has her locked in a cell and has already shot two people in front of her - is now going to be all brave and bitchy?!

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!!!!

Plus - it takes a special person to write an antihero. This guy is supposed to be bad who falls for the girl, except he's just bad. I can't explain it other than there's nothing to like about him. He's not bad in a sexy way. IDK.

anyway - i thought it was stupid as hell.

[Michele A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Celia finds herself kidnapped a few days before her wedding. Nic steals her as some sort of debt payment and also as revenge against her family. Celia has not very many redeemable qualities. She claims to be strong and then throws temper tantrums Nic is just a brute and I did not like him one bit. I was waiting for him to realize that he was no better than the people he was supposedly seeking revenge on, but that didn't happen. He played Celia like a fiddle and she seemed to not understand the game. The ending was interesting, but didn't make up for the rest of the darkness in this book. If people have triggers, they should definitely stay away from this book. There were also themes that seem to be prevalent in these books. Am hoping that one day there will be a heroine who fights back and doesn't succumb to the "charms" of a monster. Give me a break on that one.

[JoLee (Cozy.Sunday.Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devil You Hate (The Diavolo Crime Family #1) by J.L. Beck and C. Hallman is the second book I read from this awesome writing duo. I love how cold and savage heroes they write about. Did not disappoint with Nicolo (Nic). Will not find any hearts and flowers but slowly see Celia get under his skin.

Found the secondary characters add to story. Lucas his brother not sure where he stands in the plot. Now Soo who is Nic right hand man has caught my attention. He has this calm attitude but feel he is just as dangerous and deadly as his friends. I hope get more on him with Reya.

Highly Recommend for Enemies to lovers, Dark Mafia Romance fans.

[Steffi De Ceuster ♥]

I enjoyed this writing duo before and this trope is one I like to read. However this one made me irritated..
Don't get me wrong I like my stories to be dark and very very steamy and sexy, but if I ever get kidnapped I would not forget that fact while he touches me every single time. Unless it's S.J. 😉
That's the part that annoys me the most I guess, where she forgets everything when he is touching her of making her touch him..

I'm also mad at myself for buying the second one because one sentence at the end. Why do I do that?!

[Flo₂₂ · Rating 2 out of 5]

sigh...lately i DNF so many books and i struggled so hard to finish this one too.. i just couldn't connect with these too, i just needed more romance between him being a jerk you know? we needed some stuffs to make us see his reasons.. JUST MEH.
Now...that cliffy was interesting and well, i will try to read the second one, hopefully the author will save this story...but honestly i think will be hard. will see.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoever chose the female narrator for this book is just awful. The book was already boring and to get a boring ass voice to drag it more is terrible.
I struggled with this one and I don’t mind dark romance but unredeemable heroes I can do without. I also long for the day I can read a strong heroine who actually fights back and doesn’t succumb easily to lackluster charm. DNF at 45%