Broken Bride

Broken #1

by Stella Gray

I was sold to him to settle a debt… but Dante Bellanti never settles.

My father was always a gambling man.
Unfortunately, he never could pick winners.
When the wolves closed in, he chose himself, like always.

He traded his freedom… for mine.

He forced me to marry.
Now Dante Bellanti owns my body.
I’m just another possession for a man who already has too much.
So I won’t let him have my heart.

But you know what they say about gambling.

The house always wins.

And I’m at the mercy of the Bellantis...

Book one of three in the Broken Series.

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

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

Stella Gray has always had her head in the clouds and has been writing since she was in high school. A contemporary romance author, she loves dark romances with morally gray men. When she’s not writing, she’s either in the kitchen testing out a new baking recipe or spending time in the great outdoors.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely bought this audiobook because Teddy Hamilton narrated it… but even he couldn’t save this for me. Want to know one of my fav things ever? Men who grovel. Something I hate? Men who do NOT grovel. There was no tension between Dante and Frankie because she literally just gave into him whenever he wanted. Like GIRL. I absolutely loath the whole “omg I hate him so so much but my body can’t help but react.” EW NO. Maybe I’m just an overly sensitive bitch who needs men to beg on their knees after they piss me off but what the frick. No no no. Make him work for it! The pay off is so much better after he has to fight for it. I have no issue with the morally grey, alpha hole character… AS LONG AS THE GROVELING MAKES UP FOR HIS SHIT BEHAVIOR. And honestly? I’m more pissed at Frankie than Dante. Girly needed to put her foot down.

[Wobilba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update - not a mafia romance imo. That cliffhanger was stupid asf! So many things don't make sense here but hopefully, they do in the next book *fingers crossed*

~~~~~~~~~~

In the mood for something mafia

[Christine B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This grab my attention immediately from 1st chapter Francesca home from Italy graduating school with one goal, to save her family wine vineyard. However, at one glance she finds out that it may takes a miracle to pull off everything she learn. But even more than that she finds out her fathers drinking and gambling debts are worst and the winery was sold to the mafia The Bellanti family that called in their debt along with her freedom. Frankie was sold to Dante Bellanti. So Frankie does what she can to protect her sisters by marrying a man she doesn’t know and signing a contract and to produce heirs.

Dante Ballanti now the head of his family with his father’s recent death. He’s also drop dead gorgeous, controlling alpha asshole, anti-hero. He force Francesca into a marriage she never wanted, after Frankie shows her loyalty Dante continues to triggers her because Frankie is the first person that gives him what he needs a challenge he starts to believe and trust her especially when he gives her a job in The Bellanti vineyard taste room and within days they see an increase in sales due to the changes she made. For the first time they are on the same page which is too good to be true until the past shows up n disturb their happy bubble. Yes a cliffhanger ughhhh. Can’t wait for 2nd book.

[Arini · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

- this is more of a workplace (winery/vineyard) romance than a mafia one, which was disappointing.
- the hate banter/tension was good, but it was ruined by the h’s body betraying syndrome, which was a shame.
- the OW drama was annoying, and i have a feeling it’ll get even more so judging from the plot twist/cliffhanger at the end of this book.

(read as an audiobook)

[Elita ₊✩ˎˊ˗]

I skimmed this because the blurb intrigued me, but I was disappointed. Within a few seconds, I found our "hero" saying this: "You're to be my wife. Wives give their husbands children. Your opinion on the matter is neither required nor welcome. I will have sons." EXCUSE ME???? I think tf not. There are so many things wrong with this statement.

1) It is not required that wives pop out babies for their husbands. That is not in the job description last time I checked. Women can choose to have kids if they WANT to (key word being want), but they are not required to do so. After all, it is their body. Any man who acts like they're entitled to their wife's body is a man I do not want to read about.

2) He does not respect her opinion. I assume it's because she's a woman and he's a sexist pig. Next.

3) "I wIlL hAvE sOnS" makes it seem like he doesn't want daughters. Again, he proves to be a sexist moron.

So yeah, I will not be reading this. EVER. Thanks for giving me the time of day by reading my review :)

[Grisette · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star

This book had all the elements needed for a promising good contemporary romance of the best HP style, however it failed to deliver because, I am sorry to say the writing and story plotting is fraught with incoherences, contrived plots and disjointed and approximate story flow. There are many, many examples, like one minute the h's sister is said to have eloped with her husband and then later, the same sister is described in a difficult arranged marriage, or how the H is supposed to be in the mob (top mob family) but nothing ever transpires, or when the h tells the H that her father knows who killed his dad and the H thinks the only way to know the truth is for the h to find the answers from her dad (as if a good mobster would not take things in his own hands).

The characters of h and H are charmless. The h is almost TSTL with her juvenile reactions and in her supposed inescapable melting for husband each time he imposes sex on her, and the H is a callous jerk who always immediately departs after he fraks his wife and never expresses any real consideration for the h even in the few chapters from his POV. In the last chapter, notwithstanding that it ends in a cliffhanger, we are supposed to believe at the hints that the h and H are starting to fall for each other after few (besides the random sex at anti-climatic moments) awkward and ludicruous interactions they have had. And the sex, while moderately hot, seems to often happen at the most inappropriate moments in the story line.

It bothered me that the H planned to marry one of the Abbott girls (any one of the two!) as part of the debt repayment without us ever knowing the reason he was insistent on this clause. At first, I thought that he knew the h from before, but obviously, they never met, he refuses to listen anything she has to say, he is cold most of the time with her, snubs her with an audience and does not think it is necessary for him to remain faithful and gladly informs the h of this (and I don't care that he did not sleep with his assistant after his wedding - that too being unexplained - as he allowed her to kiss him and touch his nether parts, and who knows if he has not been banging others). So his insistence at marrying does not make any sense unless it is just contrived plotting for the book to have a raison d'être. In the same way, keeping secret the name of the killer of the H's father seems so useless as it so far does not feed into an exciting greater plot and serves only to irritate without a good reason.

Other characters lacked total depth. The h has useless sisters who either have inappropriate reactions (e.g. ecstatic that the h is marrying when it is obvious that the h has never met the H and does not question the rationale) or dumb ideas (e.g. plan to blackmail the H for benefits, with an info that in fact could make the H take revenge against the h's family). Another thing that bothered me: It is said that the h's family winery is now owned by the H's family but we get no explanation on why the family can still live there and what is their source of revenue now.

The writing is not bad per say, I have seen much worse, but the disjointedness in connecting plotlines was an utter failure. I mean, with base ingredients like, vineyards, rich mobsters, arranged marriage, OW being bitchy, lustful characters, mistrust between H and h, something great could have resulted if the plotting was tightly and logically done, and the angst/drama ante upped at the right moment in the best HP gripping writing style. I rated 1 star mainly because the base ingredients are there, meaning that the author had good ideas, only having difficulty in developping them coherently as they should have been. Since the books are short, I think I will still read the other 2 books, just to see if somehow the story gets better.

---

Post-review add in:

My review for Book Two: here

My review for Book Three: here

[Fathi MYHKSKPG (heylittlesiren) · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest I'm quite disappointed in this book as I had a high hope on it. What I didn't really like was Frankie's attitude she keeps saying that she hate Dante but she became soft when he touch her. Also we know Dante is a mobster but there's nothing about him in this story. I'm so sorry but I didn't root for this couple at all. I felt like there's no spark or feeling between them.

Thanks candikanepr for this arc in exchange of honest review.

[Live, Laugh, Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gobbled this story up in one sitting. It is full of twisty secrets and hotness! I can't wait to gobble up the rest of the series. Dante is arrogant hotness. And Frankie is as feisty as they come.

[freyleyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

heavily mediocre. the only thing he did well was call the heroine a bitch
3/5 ⭐️
2/5🔥

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book with my book club on a whim when we couldn't decide on a book and was pleasantly surprised!

Plot:
Frankie has spent the last few years in Italy learning how to run her family's Napa vineyard. She is determined to help turn things around and make the vineyard profitable again. Her dad has gambled nearly all of their wealth away. And Frankie feels responsible for helping because her younger sister still lives on the property. But as soon as she gets home, she finds out her dad sold her off in a deal to to the infamous Bellanti family. Not only are they known mafia, they own and run one of the best wineries in Napa. Frankie would rather do anything than marry Dante Ballanti but she would do anything for her family.

Writing:
Fast and super easy read. I LOVED all the Napa and wine references because those are two things I love in real life. The tension and spice delivered! And that CLIFFY! I immediately downloaded and read book 2 in less than 24 hours.

Tropes: arranged marriage, mafia, forced proximity

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

[The Smutbrarians · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steam 5
Storyline 4
Feels 2
Overall Rating 4
Kindle eArc provided by Author
Reviewed by Joanna

I am so torn with this story. Let me start off with what I wasn’t crazy about. Francesca AKA Frankie is sold off to a man who is a calculating control freak named Dante Bellanti. He is a mobster and her father owed him a great deal of money. To pay off the debt, he sold his vineyard and daughter Frankie. For me…I have a problem with how she reacted to the news that she was marrying a mobster. She didn’t fight it. She seemed to go along with it quite well. I also was frustrated that the author never really tells you how old Frankie or her two sisters are. We know her younger sister is an older teenager since she's a senior in high school. But we have no idea how much older Frankie or her older sister are. No idea how old Frankie is when sold to the mobster.

I loved how strong Frankie is and maybe that is why she went along with the marriage. She helps around the Bellanti vineyard. She suggests improvements, but the ANGST between husband and wife is CRAZY. She hates him. She loves him. She doesn’t want him to touch her, but she melts when he touches her. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed reading the story and the new twist at the end leaves you wanting more. Also, when Dante does touch Frankie…OH MY GOODNESS is it HOT! That is fun to read also.

I guess what I am saying is if you like a story with angst and hot fun in the bedroom and over the office desk, this story is for you. Just a few little things that bothered me in it but they may not bother you AT ALL.

[KB · Rating 2 out of 5]

The lack of anything in this book left me scratching my head. Also, wtf is the point of a dual POV if only 2 chapters are the other POV? An admitted cheater and no groveling? An admitted cheater and no repair? Fucking gross. No thanks. Dropped my review after thinking on it. What is supposed to be redeemable or likable about this man? I’ll be waiting for that list that doesn’t exist.

[ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than I expected. Loved Frankie and Dante and all the hate sex lol

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankie returned home to find out that her father had decided to marry her in part of a deal, a deal that would get rid of his debt. It didn’t help that the family business that she’d been overseas learning all she could was in ruins. She didn’t want to marry Dante, but she knew her younger sister wouldn’t survive it.
Dante knows that it wasn’t what Frankie wanted but a debt is a debt, when he learns that she knows what she’s doing he gives her a job and is surprised that the profits come in.
Frankie knows that there’s another woman and she doesn’t care, she just wants to do what she’s learnt, and she does successfully, when something goes wrong, she tells Dante who it was, the other woman he doesn’t believe her. When Dante is confronted with evidence that shows it’s his mistress that sabotaged the sales.
Dante realises that his wife was right, she’s actually good at what she does, and she stirs something in him that he’s never felt before. Just when he thinks this marriage could be real, he finds out something that changes it all.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on Apple iBooks today (4/5/2022)! 🎁

[Kim Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken Bride captured my attention!

[Sharon in SF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed many Stella Gray series, but this one isn't starting off as smoothly as her previous series. We're left to decipher our Hero and heroine's personality characteristics since the author doesn't really paint a good picture for us. The prologue introduces Dante with mafia undertones, but then the rest of the story unfolds at his family's vineyards. There are "alluded to" references of debts concerning other families, but aside from that the focus is solely on Bellanti Vineyards. The arranged nuptials takes place fairly quickly between Dante and Frankie. I have no sense of who she is at this point, on one hand she shows her feistiness, but then she totally flips the other way. Just as I think she's starting to show her backbone, she again turns into a simpering girl when he kisses her.

There's a lot going on within the story, which I feel like I was dropped into the middle of as unexplained situations and incidences occur without a lot of preamble. This one ends on a cliffhanger, and I will read the next book in hopes that Ms. Gray can fill in the details and ultimately explain why she purposefully didn't name names.

[Arna · Rating 1 out of 5]

chapter 9- Frankie is so embarrassing. No shame at all. No
backbone. Nothing. She really thinks she is doing something, when she is just coming off as a pathetic weak embarrassing woman. Let’s see if my opinion changes as I read the next few chapters.

chapter 13- desperate. pathetic. stupid. female lead ever !!

chapter 21- “my body betrays me again” pathetic. no self respect.

chapter 24- she really said i love u. Dumbest person i have ever seen.

I can’t read this trash anymore.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Star

This was a refreshing take on the arranged marriage, sold into marriage trope. I loved the setting and the vineyard. The dual POV was...odd. Like 21 chapters of Frankie before we got another from Dante. It made the pacing very weird and made me less interested as I waited for Dante's to come back.

Overall, this was a great book but not a God Tier book. I will try this author again in the future.

[Nine Cats · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some time ago I didn’t think I could like a mafia romance, but I happened to find a couple of the kind that got me hooked. This one was not the case, in fact I was rolling my eyes almost entire time of reading it. No chemistry, the H is an asshole without any redeeming quality, the h is a doormat with a treacherous vagina that does the thinking and whole story is so inconsistent it hurts. Obviously I’ll pass on the rest of the series even though the first part ends with a cliffhanger.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book but it left a lot to be desired. For example, I still feel like I don’t know Dante. I get there are more books in the series but seriously starting to feel like a copy and paste of past books.

The flow of the book just wasn’t great either. I don’t know if I’ll continue reading this series.

[Harim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, no.

[Mariloli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Y paso de seguir con la trilogia

[Carol (bookish_notes) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen. Any book that can get me to read it with my eyeballs in text form (without the help of an audiobook because that's how I mostly read these days) and can get me to read it all in one sitting is a win.

Content notes violence, blackmail, arranged marriages, mentions of family members passing away before the book begins, mentions of alcoholism and possible drug use, mentions of gambling, and dubcon.

It's a solid book that takes the tried and true mafia tropes and gives it small little twists that make the book feel a little different from your typical mafia romance. You still have a family debt that results in a quick marriage, your typical Italian mafia, questionable Italian names, sketchy consent...like that's all there.

What's a little different is that we have Francesca "Frankie" who has a mind for business and really studied for it. She's had past relationships and she's no virgin when this book starts out, she's combative with her husband when she gets angry enough, and she likes wearing suits all the time (we see her in the occasional dress for formal occasions but not as her everyday clothes). I'm not sure why this series is called Broken Bride because Frankie won't be having any of that and she's far from a "broken" anything in this book. She's strong willed and I kind of love her for it?

This book is mostly told from Frankie's POV, but we do get the occasional chapter from Dante, which I appreciate. Because it helps to clear up some things about his character for readers, but still leaves a bit of suspense for Frankie to find certain things out. I don't really know how I feel about Dante. He's the standoffish alpha character who is all business and hard to know, even by the end of this first book. Which leads me to the sex scenes.

There's a number of sex scenes, but I would say the consent for all of them is a bit sketchy. Dante is very forceful, and Frankie doesn't say no but both before and after they have sex, Frankie feels bad and really doesn't want to have sex with Dante again. I would say at best, this is dubcon. It's what you'd expect from a dark romance, but maybe some more progress or self-awareness from Dante regarding how Frankie feels would've been nice to see by the end of this book. No doubt this is a slow burn that takes place across a trilogy, but I would've liked feelings of some sort to have developed a little sooner and for Dante to be nicer to Frankie in their more intimate moments.

I don't really care for wine and all the details surrounding reading about it, but Frankie's family and Dante's are in the winery business so there's a lot of that. It's not terrible to read? It doesn't take over the story, but I like that it informs us more about Frankie and gives her something to do and rounds out her character. I can see this story transforming into Frankie fully helping run Dante's legitimate business by the end of the series.

I actually really liked the story with Frankie and her sisters - her older sister Charlie (Charlotte) is married to a mobster as well, and Livvy (Olivia) is the youngest and loves horses. The thing that confuses me is whether I overlooked a book with Charlie getting married? Because she's not married to anyone in the Bellanti family and it's someone...else. But there's not much to go on there, but it does sound like she's not in an entirely happy marriage, so maybe we don't have a book about her. Livvy is the youngest and still in high school and just wants to compete in dressage with her horses. The sisters are very close and love each other very much. Meanwhile, their dad IS in the picture but has gambling debts and is awful and I'm not entirely sure he's surviving this series.

Dante have his younger brothers who will have their own books in this series - Armani the middle child who is just a workaholic like Dante but is much nicer, and Marco the youngest who doesn't love working at all and would rather party his way through California. The book starts out with a funeral for their father and we learn that their mother died when they were young. I like the brothers. It looks like Marco is the next brother to get his own series of books, and then I'm assuming Armani will be last. We're already getting hints of who Armani might be paired with and it'll be interesting to see that relationship develop. We haven't seen anything regarding Marco's pairing yet.

There is a typical other woman, and an ex storylines coming to wreak havoc on our main characters lives. At least with the other woman storyline, Dante does not sleep with her once he gets married, but I fear this book is not going to be the last we see of her? Or will it be that easy that she just disappears forever? Then there's Frankie's ex (maybe ex?) who reappears in dramatic fashion and we don't know much about him yet, but I'm just going to think it's nothing good and it's possible he winds up dead too. Who knows at this point.

Overall, I think this was a fun book that I managed to read all in one sitting. I like the characters, and I can't wait to see where this series goes!

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella Gray has become a new favorite to read. This story was so good! I could not put it down! Frankie and Dante were an intense, passionate couple!
After a long trip back home from Italy, with high hopes for the future, Frankie’s life turns upside down. Her father sold her to Dante Bellanti in order to pay off his debts to the mafia family. Can you believe that!!?? Anywho, Who can’t resist a mafia,arranged marriage romance?
This story was angsty, thrilling and consuming. It was definitely a page turner for me. I could not resist putting this book down. The fierce, passionate push & pull between Frankie & Dante kept me on the edge. Dante was an alpha jerk from the start. We see him soften a bit at times, but he is controlling and unreadable throughout most of the book. I wish more of the story was from his POV. Frankie was sassy and fierce. I both hated and enjoyed the way Frankie hated him but also melted at his touch, always leading to hot hate sex. Oh Em Gee!! The twist cliffhanger was shocking. I did not see coming!!!! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see what happens.

[book_fairy13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

RECEIVED ARC FOR HONEST REVIEW

Frankie has never had an easy life, she is has been betrayed by the people who should love her. She just comes back from a long trip, to find out that her father sold her to an arranged marriage.
Dante is a typical alpha-hole, who honestly deserved a slap. He has a lot of growing up to do and I cannot wait to see him grovel.

My favourite part of the book was the relationship between Frankie and her sisters, she would do anything to protect them. She is a strong character because Frankie was willing to stand up to Dante and not be pushed aside by him or anyone.

Cannot wait to see what happens next!

[Sheena ☆ Book Sheenanigans · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Auj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank god there was something good on my Kindle I hadn't read yet.

Francesca returns from Italy to discover that her dad's sold her into an arranged marriage to Dante, a wealthy man connected to the mafia (not sure the exact connection). Both families have wineries, though Francesca's family's winery went bust. Francesca helps improve Dante's winery, though Dante's assistant and mistress gets in the way.

4 stars though Dante and Francesca hardly talked to each other lol

[Lady Lauren Explorer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25!

I almost gave up on this book, because the plot felt too off like the pacing.

But Finn has more sugar to go on I was sucked into it, mainly because I was trying to figure out who did the murder.

And then we have that crazy plot cliffhanger that I wasn’t expecting, but I don’t think is real, because of Dante in her situation with him.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a promising start to what looks like will be a really good series. I can already say I adored Frankie but wanted to kick her father in the head for what he did to her with really not a care in the world about it but she was so determined to to make it better when she was the one who was suffering cause of it. I’m interested in reading much more about Dante so I’m looking forward to the next one