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Mafia Wars #5
Forget-Me-Not Bombshell
A dark Mafia STANDALONE romance from Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling authors Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
I was sold to my enemies.
The Butchers of the London mob who run an empire built on sin and greed. The stories I’ve heard about the way they rule their underworld are enough to make my heart race. But those rumours have nothing on the truth.
Danny, Church, Frank. The three men who own me now. The head of this so-called kingdom and the two savages who enforce his wrath.
They made a peace deal with my family which came at a cost – me. A mafia princess gifted to them as a bride.
So here I am in my white dress with a gun to my head and a knife in my garter.
I won’t become their plaything. I won’t become their prize.
The war between our families might have ended with this union, but I’m starting a battle of my own. And I’ll trade my body for a chance to leave this wedded bliss behind.
The only question left is whether they’ll be the ones bleeding out, or if I’ll end up with my heart torn from my chest and fed to these hungry British dogs.
This is a dark mafia romance where the main character will end up with more than one love interest and is part of a series of standalone books Mafia Wars.
I was sold to my enemies.
The Butchers of the London mob who run an empire built on sin and greed. The stories I’ve heard about the way they rule their underworld are enough to make my heart race. But those rumours have nothing on the truth.
Danny, Church, Frank. The three men who own me now. The head of this so-called kingdom and the two savages who enforce his wrath.
They made a peace deal with my family which came at a cost – me. A mafia princess gifted to them as a bride.
So here I am in my white dress with a gun to my head and a knife in my garter.
I won’t become their plaything. I won’t become their prize.
The war between our families might have ended with this union, but I’m starting a battle of my own. And I’ll trade my body for a chance to leave this wedded bliss behind.
The only question left is whether they’ll be the ones bleeding out, or if I’ll end up with my heart torn from my chest and fed to these hungry British dogs.
This is a dark mafia romance where the main character will end up with more than one love interest and is part of a series of standalone books Mafia Wars.
696 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2022
2917 people are currently reading
19780 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Peckham
111 books29k followersI'm a #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Zodiac Academy series. I write all things dark romance, from fantasy to contemporary, high school bully to mafia, there's bound to be a book for you!
Me and my sister Susanne Valenti now write books together and we've built the most amazing, fun, crazy reader group on Facebook which we would LOVE you to join. Be the first to get teasers of upcoming books, plus interact with us daily, asks us questions, make friends with other book junkies and find your reader home.
Join here >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/19697...
Sign up to our newsletter here >>
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webfor...
For all business inquiries please contact us at>>
mail@kingshollow.co.uk
For more information, special editions, signed books and more, check out my website here >>
www.kingshollow.co.uk
Me and my sister Susanne Valenti now write books together and we've built the most amazing, fun, crazy reader group on Facebook which we would LOVE you to join. Be the first to get teasers of upcoming books, plus interact with us daily, asks us questions, make friends with other book junkies and find your reader home.
Join here >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/19697...
Sign up to our newsletter here >>
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webfor...
For all business inquiries please contact us at>>
mail@kingshollow.co.uk
For more information, special editions, signed books and more, check out my website here >>
www.kingshollow.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,159 reviews
March 17, 2025
Genre: contemporary romance, mafia romance, RH, NA
Trigger Warnings: violence, death, explicit sex scenes, vulgar language, attempted rape, torture
Tropes: RH, mafia romance, enemies to lovers, sold bride, twin brothers, forced marriage, slow burn
Spice: 5/5 🌶
Rating: 4.5 ⭐
“Why are raging motherfuckers so hot?”
“Because nice guys will judge you if you ask them to choke you, a bad guy does it for free.”
Oh my sweet reading soul, I will never be fully ready for a book by the sisters, will I? I wasn’t curious enough to try any other book in the Mafia Wars series, but seeing an 888 pages book by the sisters made me grab it instantly and not regret it for a single damn moment. It was fast-paced and entrancing, with amazing banter, fascinating characters, good plot (yes, a reverse harem mafia romance with good plot, shocking, isn't it?) and so many moments that got me smiling like a cheshire cat that I can't even remember all of them.
》》The Plot《《
So the big bad five mafia families of the world had agreed on a peace treaty that stated that each head of the family or heir will marry a sister or a daughter from another family to combine their bloodlines and ensure peace between them. And each book follows how this marriages went.
Forget-Me-Not Bombshell focuses on the London mafia, ruled by the ruthless Butcher boys, where Anya Volkov, the daughter of the Russian mafia clan has to marry into. Benny and Danny Butcher are twins and, after Benny had been imprisoned 8 years prior, Danny was left to marry the Volkov girl, taking his brother's place. So when Anya arrives in Englad and finds herself in the hands of the psychotic Danny and under the close watch of Frank and Church, his seconds, she’s determined to do anything in her power to kill her soon to be husband and escape back to her family.
“Well fuck me, the Russians produced a damn bombshell when they made you, Anya Volkov,” he said in a low voice meant for only me.
“You’re right. And I’ll be sure to make a crater out of you, Danny Butcher.”
But Benny has plans of his own and, with Church's help, he gets out of prison in time to kidnap his brother and take his place, marrying the girl that was always meant to be his. But pretending to be his unhinged brother while trying to clear his name, save the business on the edge of ruin and win back the trust he had lost when he had been set up by Danny isn't half as difficult as untangling the feelings he starts having for Anya, especially when she seems to be drawn in by him, but also by Church and Frank.
“Where did you come from?”
“Your darkest desires,” I replied with a grin. “You musta been thinking naughty, naughty thoughts to summon me.”
This book is full of revenge plans, spicy scenes and impulsive characters, the POVs being shared between Anya, Benny, Church and Frank, with two or three POVs from Danny as well. It's fascinating to follow Anya hating Danny without knowing he was replaced by his twin Benny while also feeling soooo attracted to him, every interaction with Church is pure delight and every scene with Frank has brooding written all over it. I'm not really a fan of mafia romance in particular, but this book is definitely worth it.
》》Characters and Relationships《《
"And frankly, Frank, I don’t think she likes you very much.”
“I like him more than you,” I told Danny then pointed to Church. “And I like him the most.”
Church beamed, his chest puffing out.
“But I still like him less than a turd on a hot summer’s day, so take that how you will.”
This being a reverse harem, there were three romantic relationships that had to be developed in one single novel and, even if this book had nearly 900 pages, I still think it's worth appreciating the way Caroline and Susanne managed to contour such interesting characters and unique relationships. The dynamic between the four MC was great and you had a way of singling out every one of the boys, which made every romance remarkable.
👩🏼 Anya Volkov
"I had the smarts of a vicious little house cat and I knew where to stab to bleed out a man and kill him quicker than I could shout die motherfucker!
I knew how to make poison from everyday household items too, and how to disguise the scent of it in food, leave no trace of my involvement. I also knew how to make an array of bombs given the materials, but my greatest gift? Oh baby, my greatest gift was the void in me."
She was such a badass. Hands down a total baddie and I absolutely loved that. She was smart and sarcastic, totally strong willed and skilled at a lot of things. I think one of my favorite parts was her playing seductress to obtain information from the Czar and knowing how to handle him. Not to mention the poisoning scene. That was chef's kiss.
"Were you aiming for my throat?" I growled, knowing I'd only avoided that because I'd been rearing away from her when she'd tried to break my fucking nose with her forehead.
"No, I was just trying to butter some bread and my knife slipped," she deadpanned.
And her retorts were always on point, pure sarcasm and wits. It was impossible not to enjoy her smart mouth, her determination and the way she could handle the mafia life. Plus, I loved her name; I totally hate it when main characters have stupid names for the sake of being different, but Anya was such a perfect name and it suited her.
🧑🏻💼 Benny Butcher
"Outa sight outa mind. I didn’t waste time hunting prey who weren’t dumb enough to cross me."
He was cruel all right, but, unlike his unhinged brother, he wasn't hatming people for fun. He had a moral code and he was intelligent and a man of his word, but always capable of murder if that meant protecting what was his. Not to mention how protective and all alpha male he could turn when Anya was threatened.
“There are two things in this world which I won’t ever be letting go without due care, mate. My weapons and my woman. Neglecting either one could easily get me killed.”
Plus, I think he has a pretty good list of priorities, doesn't he?
🧑🏼 Church
“Dear diary, today a man named Church brought me to his skanky apartment full of trashy tourist crap. He talks like the teapot from Beauty and the Beast and acts like he lives in the Queen’s palace instead of a tiny studio apartment with no heating-”
Church was by far my favorite. He was fun and light, from his obsession with his English heritage to his general behavior that screamed 'fuck you'. His tattoos with English landmark or symbols, his Mini Cooper with the UK flag and his pride of being long lost relative of Winston Churchill made him stand out. Besides, being a shameless flirt with a talent for putting up a show made him a total sweetheart and my weaknesses.
🧑🏿💼 Frank Smith
“Honestly, Frank is beautiful, but that man has the personality of a Chihuahua that’s been rattled in a box, I don’t know how he puts up with himself.”
This man had 'brooding' written all over his character. He was obviously in pain, after having lost his brother and convinced it was because of the betrayal of his best friend. Not to mention the torture that was inflicted upon him when he was capture. So all that calm rage, that need for revenge and pain was justified. But he was also a man of his word and I loved it when, despite everything, he was protecting Anya.
👩🏼🧑🏻💼 Anya and Benny
“What am I then?” she asked.
“You, Anya Butcher, are the fire that burns in my chest every time I look at you. You’re the passion which opens my eyes every time I want to blinker myself from the truth. You’re the breath of fresh air in my lungs which shook up a life which was always going to be stagnant for me. I’m a violent, honourless man and I was content to stay as such until you.”
“So what are you now?” she asked, the two of us falling still as she turned to look up at me and my other hand moved to take a possessive hold of her jaw, my thumb tracing the full curve of her lips.
“Yours,” I replied simply.
Their forced marriage and the fact that for more than half of this book Anya thought that Benny was Danny was definitely a problem in their path, but I loved the dedication with which Benny had ensured Anya was safe and as happy as possible, while also maintaining the peace treaty. It was interesting to watch Anya struggle to understand the two sides of her husband, not knowing that the unhinged, cruel version was actually Danny.
“We have a problem,” Danny said loudly.
“If it’s your hard on then I already told Church that’s a you guys issue, not a me issue,” Anya said.
Their banter was amazing and it was fun to watch them giving into their attraction, only to later discover the possessiveness and the deeper feelings lying beneath. Especially when Anya finally found out the truth about Benny's identity and was capable to feel less guilty about her desires.
“See that, love, that’s our kingdom,” he growled in my ear, his savage thrusts becoming deeper. “And every kill I make, I make for you. Because I may own this city, but you own me, Anya. You’re formidable.”
They were a power couple, and the scenes with the two of them working together to play the Czar gave total 'king and queen' vibes.
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank
“My job is to deliver you to a location in town, and I’ll happily tie your hands to your ankles and gag you while I do it.”
“Kinky,” I rasped, wincing as he gripped my arm even tighter.
“I’d fuck a Volkov the same day I’d slit my own throat,” he spat.
“Whatever gets you off.”
I think their relationship was the real enemies to lovers going on, because he hated her for what her family had done to him, while Church and Benny were just strangers for her. And don't even get me started on the slow burn their relationship went through, because even when Frank was obviously jealous and protective of her, he wouldn't have done one single step in the direction of admitting his feelings.
“You were supposed to be the answer to my vengeance.”
“And I’m not?”
“No. You’re my temptation, Anya Butcher. Sent to torture me ever more.”
“It’s only torture while you deny yourself. While you deny me,” she added.
Their scenes were always crackling with unresolved tensions, but what I clearly enjoyed the most about them was the way they both understood each other's pain and their way of connecting through music.
“And I want you to know, I started to love you the first time you played a chord on your guitar. That first note you sang, and every moment since with you because it’s felt like music playing in my soul. You’re the one who made me realise I don’t need my headphones anymore, you tuned me into life and showed me how much it’s worth staying present for every beat of it. Even when it hurts.”
Their relationship probably was the most torturous one, but when they finally accepted things it was also extremly satisfying.
👩🏼🧑🏼 Anya and Church
"You look all kinds of sinful, Miss America," I breathed in her ear, my mouth grazing the soft skin of her neck and I coulda sworn a shiver passed over her flesh. "Try not to break too many hearts out there."
"I didn't have the impression that Englishmen had hearts, Church."
Anya and Church were amazing together. They were obviously attracted to each other from the beginning and I loved how Church was never cruel to her. They were playful and fun and I think he was really good for Anya.
"Plus I’m pretty sure if I get one degree colder, I’ll be able to use my nipples to slit your throat, Churchy.”
“I’m willing to test out that theory if you are.”
“Can we try with a knife first?” I replied sweetly and he laughed louder.
Their banter was extremely enjoyable, with both of them having fun while throwing retorts at the other and, even when Anya knew Church was Danny's second, she didn't fully hate him, more like she resented him for being in her path to freedom. But she always admitted to liking him more than Frank and Benny, due to his relaxed way of acting with her.
“That you own me now, darlin’. Every black and rotten piece of my soul has found salvation in my dedication to you. I was up all night thinkin’ on it. On how you light me up and make me burn unlike anything I’ve ever known. And you know what I realised?”
“What?” she breathed.
“That I love the fucking bones of you, Miss America. For better or worse, I’m your creature now. So do with me what you will because there’s no you without me anymore.”
“Church,” she murmured, "I love you, too.”
Another thing I loved about them was the way Church always allowed her to be herself and believed in her and her abilities. They were the light in all this cloudfuckery of dark feelings.
》》Favorite Scenes《《
👩🏼🧑🏼Anya meeting Church
👩🏼🧑🏼 Church inventing the audiobook story and Anya's comeback
“Look, beautiful, I need a little helping hand here, see? My girl’s halfway through an audiobook about a chick who gets abducted by an alien with a tentacle dick and she’ll listen to it without the headphones all night long if I don’t get her new ones."
👩🏼🧑🏼 Church heading into the shower without minding the fact that Anya was already there
🧚🏻 Dylan - I will always be a sucker for great side characters
“You heard the man,” Dylan said. “You’re in safe hands. They don’t call me the Fairy Godmother for nothing. I’m about to bibbity-bobbity-boo your fine arse.”
🧑🏻💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Church and Benny kidnapping Danny
🧑🏼👩🏼 Church seeing Anya in her wedding dress
🐶 “Why have you got it in for Barkley?”
🚗🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 The Mini Cooper scene after the wedding
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Who did this to you trope
“Who did this?” he growled, his voice taking on a deadly tone and his brows pulling sharply together.
🧑🏼👩🏼 Church and Anya going shopping
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 The small bathroom scene at Dylan's house
🚫🚫 The free tits movement and Church’s enthusiasm
"Bloody hell, I loved the free tits movement she was leading. I was gonna be head of the committee and hold tea parties every second Sunday of the month."
🧑🏿💼👩🏼 Frank and Anya dancing
🧑🏿💼 Frank singing on the stage
👩🏼🧑🏼 Anya and Church running from the rival gang, leading to the first kiss and the boat scene
“I’ve never been religious, but I think I just found a Church I want to pay service to over and over again,” she murmured.
🧑🏼🧑🏻💼 Church telling Benny about him and Anya
🧑🏼🧑🏻💼Church and Benny having a fight
🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Benny suggesting an agreement
“You don’t fuck her again – unless I’m there.”
“What?” I asked, needing some damn clarification on that.
“You ain’t deaf, Church. If you’re gonna fuck my wife then you’ll be doing it out in the open, no sneaking around, no bullshit. If it fucking hurts then that’s my problem and if it turns out I like it…well, then we’re gonna need a new conversation on the subject. Deal?”
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya having to tell Frank about her and Church
👩🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank returning home after Danny and Church had the talk about her
🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 Benny and Church telling Anya that they are OK to share her
"But this was crazy, wasn’t it? The three of us? Me, my husband…Church.
Oh my god, Church is gonna be my fucking mistress."
🧑🏿💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Frank, Benny and Church coming for Anya in the poker room when they heard her scream
🚿 The shower they had to share
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank at his house
🧚🏻👩🏼 The relationship between Dylan and Anya
“It’s like the crack of dawn in here,” Dylan whispered to me. “Cocks everywhere. If you ever need a break from the testosterone, you’re always welcome at my place, honey. I’ve got the testosterone levels of a My Little Pony, it’s a safe space, I swear it.”
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Benny taking Anya away to talk
👩🏼 Anya punching the girl hitting on her husband
👩🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Anya waking up between Benny and Church
👩🏼 Anya talking to her brothers and thinking she would love to meet Iris (now I'm tempted to read that book too)
🐎 The horse race
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank in the torture chamber
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Benny telling Anya the truth
🍸 The poisoning scene
🧑🏿💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 The four of them adjusting to the situation
“You’re gonna start givin’ me a complex if you keep adding men to this situation, bombshell. Is there anyone else I should know about?"
“No,” I growled, staring from him to Church and letting them see the honesty in me. “It’s the three of you. That’s it. And that’s plenty, trust me. I’m not trying to overcomplicate my life, it just keeps happening because something about you guys keeps getting under my skin. The way I feel when I’m with each of you is the way I have wished I could feel my entire life. It’s live music thrumming through my veins and I’m awake while it’s playing. I can feel it vibrating through my bones, and I don’t want it to stop, because I’ll disappear again, I’ll vanish just like I vanished for so many years. And I want to stay, Benny.” I lurched towards him. “Don’t take them away from me. Either of them. I demand it.”
👩🏼 Anya's hour with the Czar
👩🏼🧑🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏿💼 The hide and seek game
🦆 Bidding on the duck
👩🏼🧑🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏿💼 Their general banter
“Back it up,” Benny barked, shoving his palm against Church’s head and he laughed as he slumped back against the couch.
“I can’t help if I’m her favourite,” Church taunted and right now he was right.
“No fucking my wife during business meetings,” Benny announced.
“I left the business meeting,” I said with a shrug. “I’m off duty.”
🧒The kids
🩸Dealing with the Czar
》》Conclusion《《
I loved it. Once again, the sisters did not disappoint and I'm not even complaining anymore when it comes to reverse harems. So far, their RH books are the only ones I liked, so that's got to show some magical skills.
It was a fun read and I definitely recommend this to any Susanne and Caroline fan or to those who love mafia romances, reverse harem books or want to try something spicy and catchy.
Trigger Warnings: violence, death, explicit sex scenes, vulgar language, attempted rape, torture
Tropes: RH, mafia romance, enemies to lovers, sold bride, twin brothers, forced marriage, slow burn
Spice: 5/5 🌶
Rating: 4.5 ⭐
“Why are raging motherfuckers so hot?”
“Because nice guys will judge you if you ask them to choke you, a bad guy does it for free.”
Oh my sweet reading soul, I will never be fully ready for a book by the sisters, will I? I wasn’t curious enough to try any other book in the Mafia Wars series, but seeing an 888 pages book by the sisters made me grab it instantly and not regret it for a single damn moment. It was fast-paced and entrancing, with amazing banter, fascinating characters, good plot (yes, a reverse harem mafia romance with good plot, shocking, isn't it?) and so many moments that got me smiling like a cheshire cat that I can't even remember all of them.
》》The Plot《《
So the big bad five mafia families of the world had agreed on a peace treaty that stated that each head of the family or heir will marry a sister or a daughter from another family to combine their bloodlines and ensure peace between them. And each book follows how this marriages went.
Forget-Me-Not Bombshell focuses on the London mafia, ruled by the ruthless Butcher boys, where Anya Volkov, the daughter of the Russian mafia clan has to marry into. Benny and Danny Butcher are twins and, after Benny had been imprisoned 8 years prior, Danny was left to marry the Volkov girl, taking his brother's place. So when Anya arrives in Englad and finds herself in the hands of the psychotic Danny and under the close watch of Frank and Church, his seconds, she’s determined to do anything in her power to kill her soon to be husband and escape back to her family.
“Well fuck me, the Russians produced a damn bombshell when they made you, Anya Volkov,” he said in a low voice meant for only me.
“You’re right. And I’ll be sure to make a crater out of you, Danny Butcher.”
But Benny has plans of his own and, with Church's help, he gets out of prison in time to kidnap his brother and take his place, marrying the girl that was always meant to be his. But pretending to be his unhinged brother while trying to clear his name, save the business on the edge of ruin and win back the trust he had lost when he had been set up by Danny isn't half as difficult as untangling the feelings he starts having for Anya, especially when she seems to be drawn in by him, but also by Church and Frank.
“Where did you come from?”
“Your darkest desires,” I replied with a grin. “You musta been thinking naughty, naughty thoughts to summon me.”
This book is full of revenge plans, spicy scenes and impulsive characters, the POVs being shared between Anya, Benny, Church and Frank, with two or three POVs from Danny as well. It's fascinating to follow Anya hating Danny without knowing he was replaced by his twin Benny while also feeling soooo attracted to him, every interaction with Church is pure delight and every scene with Frank has brooding written all over it. I'm not really a fan of mafia romance in particular, but this book is definitely worth it.
》》Characters and Relationships《《
"And frankly, Frank, I don’t think she likes you very much.”
“I like him more than you,” I told Danny then pointed to Church. “And I like him the most.”
Church beamed, his chest puffing out.
“But I still like him less than a turd on a hot summer’s day, so take that how you will.”
This being a reverse harem, there were three romantic relationships that had to be developed in one single novel and, even if this book had nearly 900 pages, I still think it's worth appreciating the way Caroline and Susanne managed to contour such interesting characters and unique relationships. The dynamic between the four MC was great and you had a way of singling out every one of the boys, which made every romance remarkable.
👩🏼 Anya Volkov
"I had the smarts of a vicious little house cat and I knew where to stab to bleed out a man and kill him quicker than I could shout die motherfucker!
I knew how to make poison from everyday household items too, and how to disguise the scent of it in food, leave no trace of my involvement. I also knew how to make an array of bombs given the materials, but my greatest gift? Oh baby, my greatest gift was the void in me."
She was such a badass. Hands down a total baddie and I absolutely loved that. She was smart and sarcastic, totally strong willed and skilled at a lot of things. I think one of my favorite parts was her playing seductress to obtain information from the Czar and knowing how to handle him. Not to mention the poisoning scene. That was chef's kiss.
"Were you aiming for my throat?" I growled, knowing I'd only avoided that because I'd been rearing away from her when she'd tried to break my fucking nose with her forehead.
"No, I was just trying to butter some bread and my knife slipped," she deadpanned.
And her retorts were always on point, pure sarcasm and wits. It was impossible not to enjoy her smart mouth, her determination and the way she could handle the mafia life. Plus, I loved her name; I totally hate it when main characters have stupid names for the sake of being different, but Anya was such a perfect name and it suited her.
🧑🏻💼 Benny Butcher
"Outa sight outa mind. I didn’t waste time hunting prey who weren’t dumb enough to cross me."
He was cruel all right, but, unlike his unhinged brother, he wasn't hatming people for fun. He had a moral code and he was intelligent and a man of his word, but always capable of murder if that meant protecting what was his. Not to mention how protective and all alpha male he could turn when Anya was threatened.
“There are two things in this world which I won’t ever be letting go without due care, mate. My weapons and my woman. Neglecting either one could easily get me killed.”
Plus, I think he has a pretty good list of priorities, doesn't he?
🧑🏼 Church
“Dear diary, today a man named Church brought me to his skanky apartment full of trashy tourist crap. He talks like the teapot from Beauty and the Beast and acts like he lives in the Queen’s palace instead of a tiny studio apartment with no heating-”
Church was by far my favorite. He was fun and light, from his obsession with his English heritage to his general behavior that screamed 'fuck you'. His tattoos with English landmark or symbols, his Mini Cooper with the UK flag and his pride of being long lost relative of Winston Churchill made him stand out. Besides, being a shameless flirt with a talent for putting up a show made him a total sweetheart and my weaknesses.
🧑🏿💼 Frank Smith
“Honestly, Frank is beautiful, but that man has the personality of a Chihuahua that’s been rattled in a box, I don’t know how he puts up with himself.”
This man had 'brooding' written all over his character. He was obviously in pain, after having lost his brother and convinced it was because of the betrayal of his best friend. Not to mention the torture that was inflicted upon him when he was capture. So all that calm rage, that need for revenge and pain was justified. But he was also a man of his word and I loved it when, despite everything, he was protecting Anya.
👩🏼🧑🏻💼 Anya and Benny
“What am I then?” she asked.
“You, Anya Butcher, are the fire that burns in my chest every time I look at you. You’re the passion which opens my eyes every time I want to blinker myself from the truth. You’re the breath of fresh air in my lungs which shook up a life which was always going to be stagnant for me. I’m a violent, honourless man and I was content to stay as such until you.”
“So what are you now?” she asked, the two of us falling still as she turned to look up at me and my other hand moved to take a possessive hold of her jaw, my thumb tracing the full curve of her lips.
“Yours,” I replied simply.
Their forced marriage and the fact that for more than half of this book Anya thought that Benny was Danny was definitely a problem in their path, but I loved the dedication with which Benny had ensured Anya was safe and as happy as possible, while also maintaining the peace treaty. It was interesting to watch Anya struggle to understand the two sides of her husband, not knowing that the unhinged, cruel version was actually Danny.
“We have a problem,” Danny said loudly.
“If it’s your hard on then I already told Church that’s a you guys issue, not a me issue,” Anya said.
Their banter was amazing and it was fun to watch them giving into their attraction, only to later discover the possessiveness and the deeper feelings lying beneath. Especially when Anya finally found out the truth about Benny's identity and was capable to feel less guilty about her desires.
“See that, love, that’s our kingdom,” he growled in my ear, his savage thrusts becoming deeper. “And every kill I make, I make for you. Because I may own this city, but you own me, Anya. You’re formidable.”
They were a power couple, and the scenes with the two of them working together to play the Czar gave total 'king and queen' vibes.
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank
“My job is to deliver you to a location in town, and I’ll happily tie your hands to your ankles and gag you while I do it.”
“Kinky,” I rasped, wincing as he gripped my arm even tighter.
“I’d fuck a Volkov the same day I’d slit my own throat,” he spat.
“Whatever gets you off.”
I think their relationship was the real enemies to lovers going on, because he hated her for what her family had done to him, while Church and Benny were just strangers for her. And don't even get me started on the slow burn their relationship went through, because even when Frank was obviously jealous and protective of her, he wouldn't have done one single step in the direction of admitting his feelings.
“You were supposed to be the answer to my vengeance.”
“And I’m not?”
“No. You’re my temptation, Anya Butcher. Sent to torture me ever more.”
“It’s only torture while you deny yourself. While you deny me,” she added.
Their scenes were always crackling with unresolved tensions, but what I clearly enjoyed the most about them was the way they both understood each other's pain and their way of connecting through music.
“And I want you to know, I started to love you the first time you played a chord on your guitar. That first note you sang, and every moment since with you because it’s felt like music playing in my soul. You’re the one who made me realise I don’t need my headphones anymore, you tuned me into life and showed me how much it’s worth staying present for every beat of it. Even when it hurts.”
Their relationship probably was the most torturous one, but when they finally accepted things it was also extremly satisfying.
👩🏼🧑🏼 Anya and Church
"You look all kinds of sinful, Miss America," I breathed in her ear, my mouth grazing the soft skin of her neck and I coulda sworn a shiver passed over her flesh. "Try not to break too many hearts out there."
"I didn't have the impression that Englishmen had hearts, Church."
Anya and Church were amazing together. They were obviously attracted to each other from the beginning and I loved how Church was never cruel to her. They were playful and fun and I think he was really good for Anya.
"Plus I’m pretty sure if I get one degree colder, I’ll be able to use my nipples to slit your throat, Churchy.”
“I’m willing to test out that theory if you are.”
“Can we try with a knife first?” I replied sweetly and he laughed louder.
Their banter was extremely enjoyable, with both of them having fun while throwing retorts at the other and, even when Anya knew Church was Danny's second, she didn't fully hate him, more like she resented him for being in her path to freedom. But she always admitted to liking him more than Frank and Benny, due to his relaxed way of acting with her.
“That you own me now, darlin’. Every black and rotten piece of my soul has found salvation in my dedication to you. I was up all night thinkin’ on it. On how you light me up and make me burn unlike anything I’ve ever known. And you know what I realised?”
“What?” she breathed.
“That I love the fucking bones of you, Miss America. For better or worse, I’m your creature now. So do with me what you will because there’s no you without me anymore.”
“Church,” she murmured, "I love you, too.”
Another thing I loved about them was the way Church always allowed her to be herself and believed in her and her abilities. They were the light in all this cloudfuckery of dark feelings.
》》Favorite Scenes《《
👩🏼🧑🏼Anya meeting Church
👩🏼🧑🏼 Church inventing the audiobook story and Anya's comeback
“Look, beautiful, I need a little helping hand here, see? My girl’s halfway through an audiobook about a chick who gets abducted by an alien with a tentacle dick and she’ll listen to it without the headphones all night long if I don’t get her new ones."
👩🏼🧑🏼 Church heading into the shower without minding the fact that Anya was already there
🧚🏻 Dylan - I will always be a sucker for great side characters
“You heard the man,” Dylan said. “You’re in safe hands. They don’t call me the Fairy Godmother for nothing. I’m about to bibbity-bobbity-boo your fine arse.”
🧑🏻💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Church and Benny kidnapping Danny
🧑🏼👩🏼 Church seeing Anya in her wedding dress
🐶 “Why have you got it in for Barkley?”
🚗🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 The Mini Cooper scene after the wedding
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Who did this to you trope
“Who did this?” he growled, his voice taking on a deadly tone and his brows pulling sharply together.
🧑🏼👩🏼 Church and Anya going shopping
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 The small bathroom scene at Dylan's house
🚫🚫 The free tits movement and Church’s enthusiasm
"Bloody hell, I loved the free tits movement she was leading. I was gonna be head of the committee and hold tea parties every second Sunday of the month."
🧑🏿💼👩🏼 Frank and Anya dancing
🧑🏿💼 Frank singing on the stage
👩🏼🧑🏼 Anya and Church running from the rival gang, leading to the first kiss and the boat scene
“I’ve never been religious, but I think I just found a Church I want to pay service to over and over again,” she murmured.
🧑🏼🧑🏻💼 Church telling Benny about him and Anya
🧑🏼🧑🏻💼Church and Benny having a fight
🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Benny suggesting an agreement
“You don’t fuck her again – unless I’m there.”
“What?” I asked, needing some damn clarification on that.
“You ain’t deaf, Church. If you’re gonna fuck my wife then you’ll be doing it out in the open, no sneaking around, no bullshit. If it fucking hurts then that’s my problem and if it turns out I like it…well, then we’re gonna need a new conversation on the subject. Deal?”
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya having to tell Frank about her and Church
👩🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank returning home after Danny and Church had the talk about her
🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 Benny and Church telling Anya that they are OK to share her
"But this was crazy, wasn’t it? The three of us? Me, my husband…Church.
Oh my god, Church is gonna be my fucking mistress."
🧑🏿💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Frank, Benny and Church coming for Anya in the poker room when they heard her scream
🚿 The shower they had to share
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank at his house
🧚🏻👩🏼 The relationship between Dylan and Anya
“It’s like the crack of dawn in here,” Dylan whispered to me. “Cocks everywhere. If you ever need a break from the testosterone, you’re always welcome at my place, honey. I’ve got the testosterone levels of a My Little Pony, it’s a safe space, I swear it.”
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Benny taking Anya away to talk
👩🏼 Anya punching the girl hitting on her husband
👩🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼 Anya waking up between Benny and Church
👩🏼 Anya talking to her brothers and thinking she would love to meet Iris (now I'm tempted to read that book too)
🐎 The horse race
👩🏼🧑🏿💼 Anya and Frank in the torture chamber
🧑🏻💼👩🏼 Benny telling Anya the truth
🍸 The poisoning scene
🧑🏿💼🧑🏻💼🧑🏼👩🏼 The four of them adjusting to the situation
“You’re gonna start givin’ me a complex if you keep adding men to this situation, bombshell. Is there anyone else I should know about?"
“No,” I growled, staring from him to Church and letting them see the honesty in me. “It’s the three of you. That’s it. And that’s plenty, trust me. I’m not trying to overcomplicate my life, it just keeps happening because something about you guys keeps getting under my skin. The way I feel when I’m with each of you is the way I have wished I could feel my entire life. It’s live music thrumming through my veins and I’m awake while it’s playing. I can feel it vibrating through my bones, and I don’t want it to stop, because I’ll disappear again, I’ll vanish just like I vanished for so many years. And I want to stay, Benny.” I lurched towards him. “Don’t take them away from me. Either of them. I demand it.”
👩🏼 Anya's hour with the Czar
👩🏼🧑🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏿💼 The hide and seek game
🦆 Bidding on the duck
👩🏼🧑🏼🧑🏻💼🧑🏿💼 Their general banter
“Back it up,” Benny barked, shoving his palm against Church’s head and he laughed as he slumped back against the couch.
“I can’t help if I’m her favourite,” Church taunted and right now he was right.
“No fucking my wife during business meetings,” Benny announced.
“I left the business meeting,” I said with a shrug. “I’m off duty.”
🧒The kids
🩸Dealing with the Czar
》》Conclusion《《
I loved it. Once again, the sisters did not disappoint and I'm not even complaining anymore when it comes to reverse harems. So far, their RH books are the only ones I liked, so that's got to show some magical skills.
It was a fun read and I definitely recommend this to any Susanne and Caroline fan or to those who love mafia romances, reverse harem books or want to try something spicy and catchy.
April 13, 2022
Review to come when I'm not feeling lazy but OMG I fucking loved this book. SO MUCH!!!! I wish these authors wrote more standalones. With my commitment issues, starting a series of books that are as thick as this one makes my eye twitch, but dammit! I just may have to because these two are absolute dynamite of a writing duo!
May 5, 2022
This was a Devilish read. First let me start with how much i loved the illustrations for the different 𝐏𝐎𝐕'𝐬 and Parts in this book. They were so 𝐅𝐮#𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 and matched the vibe of this story very much, i'm totally lovin' it.
The Mafia World building. I haven’t read many mafia books so i'm not really an expert here, and wouldn't know the- well default expectations for lack of better word, for this genre.
But i honestly loved the way the structure of this world was written in here, i found it to be very 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. It kept me 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 the more pages i read. I wasn't too overwhelmed with the crap fest of info dump about The Firm and the gang or feeling confused, quite the contrary every aspect of this story was very well balanced and nicely delivered. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭. Now I'm not a fan of the mafia bride trope, this is actually my first one and after reading one hell of a review, i found out this was also a 𝐑𝐇, so it got me curious enough to give it a go.
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Anya, before i start i gotta admit something to you guys, it took me while to be able to read her name without having a 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧. Like a really long time, i swear every time i said it out loud i heard Sasha's stupid voice calling her name. The only thing that helped was actually calling her Ana for most of it, but then by like 65% i started calling her by her actual name without 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, so that was a win. I knew that book would eventually come back to bite me in the ass. 𝐅#𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐄.
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Now apart from my little struggle there, i actually 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑. Which is why i managed to separate her name from that tragedy of a book. Her character was really well written and had a nice development arc. She was 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲, 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬.
I also loved how self-aware she was of her own strength and weaknesses, she knew exactly what she could or could not handle. Plus she had a very nice way with words that i devoured. I could read 1000 pages of her monologs and never get tired of bored. That's talent. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. And if that wasn't enough, i absolutely adored her relationship with our three 𝐌𝐂, it was more than wonderfully done.
But it's how our Anya handled all the trauma, betrayals, pain and loss that left me in awe of her, and really impressed by how she sharpened it all, into the deadliest tool in her arsenal. Even when she wanted to just fu#king dissappear, she wasn't willing to throw in the towel in this fight and give up her freedom. No she was ready to show them who she truly was. 𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍. 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑. 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
“I would have sold my soul to keep those headphones alive. I couldn’t live without my music. I’d get no sleep, and eventually the demons would break in again and I’d fall prey to their claws and teeth. They were always waiting to come in, but the music kept them at bay, it closed the doors and bolted them tight. Without it, I didn’t know what would happen. And I didn’t want to.”
[..] “All I knew was that I’d never felt the way I did now lying between the two of them. Like the music was playing non-stop without ever needing to switch it on. There were hardly any days in my life which I could remember without it, and all of those that I could were filled with darkness. Music was light and joy and peace. It was all the things I’d struggled to find in the real world, but suddenly it was here, winding around the three of us and begging me to stay.”
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Benny was very 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞. This man was the epitome of perfection in my book, Well My Very Demented Version Of A Book Of Course, but that's neither here or there.
Her interactions with Benny were the most complicated since he was playing the role of Danny for half the book. But despite it all their love for each other grew and couldn't be denied. And between the three guys, i think 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. Don't get me wrong, they all craved and wanted her in equal and different ways but with Butch, she freed him from his prison and brought him Out of his Own Void.
“You’ve got something not many have. Grit, fire, ambition, determination and the ability to use all of that well. You were born to rule, bombshell. You, Anya Butcher, are the fire that burns in my chest every time I look at you. You’re the passion which opens my eyes every time I want to blinker myself from the truth. You’re the breath of fresh air in my lungs which shook up a life which was always going to be stagnant for me. I’m a violent, honourless man and I was content to stay as such until you.”
“So what are you now?” she asked, the two of us falling still.
“Yours,” I replied simply because it was utterly true. At some point since she’d come crashing into my life, I’d fallen under the spell of her and I found I had no desire to break free of it. She was all I’d never known I needed and that meant I was going to stay hers until the Devil got sick of my shit and came to drag me down into the dirt where I belonged for my sins.”
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Church, Our enforcer number one. 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎. The dude was my kryptonite, between the tattoos, the attitude, the psycho manic personality, the flirting, i was a goner. I mean seriously, how was i suppose to resist silver eyes and dimples. I'm only human you know.
The dynamic between these two might be my favorite. Actually it definitely is. Church gave her a country to call home, a love that was as strong as the music that resonated deep in her soul. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. But she also brought the joy back into his life and showed him how worthy he was of her and happiness. Not to mention his friendship with Benny, like 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐅#𝐂𝐊, God help me i was hooked on these two. Their bonds was better than any actual romance story. This was truly chef's kiss.
“She looked so fucking beautiful, fired up on violence and adrenaline and so full of life that I wanted to catch it in a bottle and steal it all for myself. I leaned in before I could stop myself, my mouth capturing hers and the whole world just melting away as I tasted that glorious smile on her lips. It wasn’t just any kiss, or some collision of mouths searching to steal something from one another.
No. Kissing Anya was like tasting the first lightning strike of a storm. Devouring her lips was like claiming a bite of the most beautifully forbidden poison and heading into death willingly for the pure fucking ecstasy of that taste. My heart free fell in my chest like I’d just leapt from a cliff without a parachute.” [...] “You own me now, darlin’. Every black and rotten piece of my soul has found salvation in my dedication to you. You light me up and make me burn unlike anything I’ve ever known.”
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Frank, Our enforcer number two. Where do i even start, well Anya describe him as 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮#𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, so there you have it. But he was also loyal, dedicated, full of pain, sorrow, rage and passion, just like our Bombshell. He pulled at the cords of her soul and gave her the freedom she craved her entire life. I loved the connection between these two, it was very different from the others but not less important. Their dynamic was born from blood and vengeance and I loved every second of it.
“You’re the first thing I’ve seen in a long fucking time that makes my heart beat again, do you get that? You’re far from perfect. In fact, you’re so rough around the edges you chip off pieces of the people around you without even trying. But fuck perfect. I’ve had perfect and it tastes like nothing. Vanilla, boring, soulless and fucking empty. But you, you’re so full, you’re practically overflowing with life. And not just the good, you’re full of the bad too. I look at you and see death and music.” [...] “This was my road in life, and I’m glad I took no other turns because it led me here to you, Anya. I’ve claimed you from your brothers in a way. You’re mine. Ours. You may be a Volkov, but you’re a Butcher now too, and better than that, you’re a Forget-Me-Not.”
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Now listen i love my characters psychotic and unhinged even when it's one i hate, but Danny was 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐧𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋, it ruined his character for me. I wanted to d*ck punch him and throat slice him so many, many, many times i honestly scared myself with the level of violence i felt towards him. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮#𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. I honestly wanted to cut his hands off and burn him, then vaccum his ashes Bryce Quinlan style.
I have to say tho, his fixation towards Benny was so fu#king cringy and kinda desperate. Honestly i don't know, if it's his thought or my own depraved mind, but i swear the way he talked about his relationship with butch was downright sexual. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮#𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫.
And that's all I'll say about this piece of sh*t because he doesn't deserve one more word from me. Well except this bit, by the end i couldn't even muster 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦. His last chapter was so fu#king sad, now i didn't feel sorry for him but i didn't loathe him anymore either. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Overall great mafia bride story, I thoroughly enjoyed myself but this will be my one and only, even tho i devoured the crap out this book i doubt the feeling can be replicated again. Now these two authors seemed to have embraced their inner Oprah with the multiple prologue chapters situation. One for you and one for you and you and you and again.. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡*𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡.
But if I'm being honest, i would've preferred if they didn't go there with the kid drama in the last prologue. I feel like it was an unnecessary moment, since having a Butcher/Volkov baby was the whole point of this treaty. So giving her 6 kids and not one mini Benny was kinda cruel. Well until little Tilly arrived that is but still i could've done without that drama. Now they're some things in the main story that i quite didn't like or wanted more, but honestly the good outweighed the bad by far so i won't bother mentioning it. Absolutely Recommend to those who love this genre/trope or to the curious mind.
The Mafia World building. I haven’t read many mafia books so i'm not really an expert here, and wouldn't know the- well default expectations for lack of better word, for this genre.
But i honestly loved the way the structure of this world was written in here, i found it to be very 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠. It kept me 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 the more pages i read. I wasn't too overwhelmed with the crap fest of info dump about The Firm and the gang or feeling confused, quite the contrary every aspect of this story was very well balanced and nicely delivered. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭. Now I'm not a fan of the mafia bride trope, this is actually my first one and after reading one hell of a review, i found out this was also a 𝐑𝐇, so it got me curious enough to give it a go.
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Anya, before i start i gotta admit something to you guys, it took me while to be able to read her name without having a 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧. Like a really long time, i swear every time i said it out loud i heard Sasha's stupid voice calling her name. The only thing that helped was actually calling her Ana for most of it, but then by like 65% i started calling her by her actual name without 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, so that was a win. I knew that book would eventually come back to bite me in the ass. 𝐅#𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐄.
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Now apart from my little struggle there, i actually 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑. Which is why i managed to separate her name from that tragedy of a book. Her character was really well written and had a nice development arc. She was 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲, 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬.
I also loved how self-aware she was of her own strength and weaknesses, she knew exactly what she could or could not handle. Plus she had a very nice way with words that i devoured. I could read 1000 pages of her monologs and never get tired of bored. That's talent. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. And if that wasn't enough, i absolutely adored her relationship with our three 𝐌𝐂, it was more than wonderfully done.
But it's how our Anya handled all the trauma, betrayals, pain and loss that left me in awe of her, and really impressed by how she sharpened it all, into the deadliest tool in her arsenal. Even when she wanted to just fu#king dissappear, she wasn't willing to throw in the towel in this fight and give up her freedom. No she was ready to show them who she truly was. 𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍. 𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑. 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
“I would have sold my soul to keep those headphones alive. I couldn’t live without my music. I’d get no sleep, and eventually the demons would break in again and I’d fall prey to their claws and teeth. They were always waiting to come in, but the music kept them at bay, it closed the doors and bolted them tight. Without it, I didn’t know what would happen. And I didn’t want to.”
[..] “All I knew was that I’d never felt the way I did now lying between the two of them. Like the music was playing non-stop without ever needing to switch it on. There were hardly any days in my life which I could remember without it, and all of those that I could were filled with darkness. Music was light and joy and peace. It was all the things I’d struggled to find in the real world, but suddenly it was here, winding around the three of us and begging me to stay.”
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Benny was very 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞. This man was the epitome of perfection in my book, Well My Very Demented Version Of A Book Of Course, but that's neither here or there.
Her interactions with Benny were the most complicated since he was playing the role of Danny for half the book. But despite it all their love for each other grew and couldn't be denied. And between the three guys, i think 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. Don't get me wrong, they all craved and wanted her in equal and different ways but with Butch, she freed him from his prison and brought him Out of his Own Void.
“You’ve got something not many have. Grit, fire, ambition, determination and the ability to use all of that well. You were born to rule, bombshell. You, Anya Butcher, are the fire that burns in my chest every time I look at you. You’re the passion which opens my eyes every time I want to blinker myself from the truth. You’re the breath of fresh air in my lungs which shook up a life which was always going to be stagnant for me. I’m a violent, honourless man and I was content to stay as such until you.”
“So what are you now?” she asked, the two of us falling still.
“Yours,” I replied simply because it was utterly true. At some point since she’d come crashing into my life, I’d fallen under the spell of her and I found I had no desire to break free of it. She was all I’d never known I needed and that meant I was going to stay hers until the Devil got sick of my shit and came to drag me down into the dirt where I belonged for my sins.”
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Church, Our enforcer number one. 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎. The dude was my kryptonite, between the tattoos, the attitude, the psycho manic personality, the flirting, i was a goner. I mean seriously, how was i suppose to resist silver eyes and dimples. I'm only human you know.
The dynamic between these two might be my favorite. Actually it definitely is. Church gave her a country to call home, a love that was as strong as the music that resonated deep in her soul. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. But she also brought the joy back into his life and showed him how worthy he was of her and happiness. Not to mention his friendship with Benny, like 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐅#𝐂𝐊, God help me i was hooked on these two. Their bonds was better than any actual romance story. This was truly chef's kiss.
“She looked so fucking beautiful, fired up on violence and adrenaline and so full of life that I wanted to catch it in a bottle and steal it all for myself. I leaned in before I could stop myself, my mouth capturing hers and the whole world just melting away as I tasted that glorious smile on her lips. It wasn’t just any kiss, or some collision of mouths searching to steal something from one another.
No. Kissing Anya was like tasting the first lightning strike of a storm. Devouring her lips was like claiming a bite of the most beautifully forbidden poison and heading into death willingly for the pure fucking ecstasy of that taste. My heart free fell in my chest like I’d just leapt from a cliff without a parachute.” [...] “You own me now, darlin’. Every black and rotten piece of my soul has found salvation in my dedication to you. You light me up and make me burn unlike anything I’ve ever known.”
⋘•⋙---------•⪼⪻•---------⋘•⋙
Frank, Our enforcer number two. Where do i even start, well Anya describe him as 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮#𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, so there you have it. But he was also loyal, dedicated, full of pain, sorrow, rage and passion, just like our Bombshell. He pulled at the cords of her soul and gave her the freedom she craved her entire life. I loved the connection between these two, it was very different from the others but not less important. Their dynamic was born from blood and vengeance and I loved every second of it.
“You’re the first thing I’ve seen in a long fucking time that makes my heart beat again, do you get that? You’re far from perfect. In fact, you’re so rough around the edges you chip off pieces of the people around you without even trying. But fuck perfect. I’ve had perfect and it tastes like nothing. Vanilla, boring, soulless and fucking empty. But you, you’re so full, you’re practically overflowing with life. And not just the good, you’re full of the bad too. I look at you and see death and music.” [...] “This was my road in life, and I’m glad I took no other turns because it led me here to you, Anya. I’ve claimed you from your brothers in a way. You’re mine. Ours. You may be a Volkov, but you’re a Butcher now too, and better than that, you’re a Forget-Me-Not.”
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Now listen i love my characters psychotic and unhinged even when it's one i hate, but Danny was 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐧𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋, it ruined his character for me. I wanted to d*ck punch him and throat slice him so many, many, many times i honestly scared myself with the level of violence i felt towards him. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮#𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. I honestly wanted to cut his hands off and burn him, then vaccum his ashes Bryce Quinlan style.
I have to say tho, his fixation towards Benny was so fu#king cringy and kinda desperate. Honestly i don't know, if it's his thought or my own depraved mind, but i swear the way he talked about his relationship with butch was downright sexual. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮#𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫.
And that's all I'll say about this piece of sh*t because he doesn't deserve one more word from me. Well except this bit, by the end i couldn't even muster 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦. His last chapter was so fu#king sad, now i didn't feel sorry for him but i didn't loathe him anymore either. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.
]|I{•---------⋘⋙---------------•⪼⦕࿅⦖⪻•---------------⋘⋙---------•}I|[
Overall great mafia bride story, I thoroughly enjoyed myself but this will be my one and only, even tho i devoured the crap out this book i doubt the feeling can be replicated again. Now these two authors seemed to have embraced their inner Oprah with the multiple prologue chapters situation. One for you and one for you and you and you and again.. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡*𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡.
But if I'm being honest, i would've preferred if they didn't go there with the kid drama in the last prologue. I feel like it was an unnecessary moment, since having a Butcher/Volkov baby was the whole point of this treaty. So giving her 6 kids and not one mini Benny was kinda cruel. Well until little Tilly arrived that is but still i could've done without that drama. Now they're some things in the main story that i quite didn't like or wanted more, but honestly the good outweighed the bad by far so i won't bother mentioning it. Absolutely Recommend to those who love this genre/trope or to the curious mind.
March 11, 2022
My mind is blown. This is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. These two sisters are so good at what they do, they have become an instant read for me, no matter what they release.
I loved the plot twist at the beginning of the story, and how it elevated the whole thing. And the parallels between character arcs were so flawlessly done, I’m in awe.
Benny felt he had to pay for the sins of his brother.
Anya felt she had to pay for the sins of her brothers.
And the way they went about it was so damn good.
Anya was a great FMC, she was fierce and feisty, and when she was vulnerable, it was heartwarming.
Benny is probably my favorite. He was the best simp I’ve ever read. And he was into Anya slapping and choking him. 10/10 would recommend this man.
Church was the Leon of this book. He was funny and charming af. And he wasn’t gay but willing to go there and that’s always something I appreciate.
Frank was complicated. I loved some parts of him, but wasn’t sold on others.
The epilogue was perfect, like every epilogue these women write.
And Danny… I kinda hated what they did with him at the end but I admit it was very poetic.
I loved the plot twist at the beginning of the story, and how it elevated the whole thing. And the parallels between character arcs were so flawlessly done, I’m in awe.
Benny felt he had to pay for the sins of his brother.
Anya felt she had to pay for the sins of her brothers.
And the way they went about it was so damn good.
Anya was a great FMC, she was fierce and feisty, and when she was vulnerable, it was heartwarming.
Benny is probably my favorite. He was the best simp I’ve ever read. And he was into Anya slapping and choking him. 10/10 would recommend this man.
Church was the Leon of this book. He was funny and charming af. And he wasn’t gay but willing to go there and that’s always something I appreciate.
Frank was complicated. I loved some parts of him, but wasn’t sold on others.
The epilogue was perfect, like every epilogue these women write.
And Danny… I kinda hated what they did with him at the end but I admit it was very poetic.
April 10, 2024
Dnf @78%
I know, I know. So close to the end but I just couldn't be bothered.
I think it's high time that I admit to myself that these authors (2 sisters from what I hear? Idk) are just not it for me. I've read several of their books before and always end up DNF-ing the series. I thought that that'd change with a standalone but alas...here we are once again.
My main issues with this book are essentially the same as with their other books
*!* I was exhausted - Why oh why is a RH book almost 700 pages?? See... I'm convinced that the authors fill their books with a whole lot of nothing just to make them hella long for some reason that I haven't figured out yet. I say this as at 78% not a lot has happened - other than a whole lotta sex. Plotwise though??? Absolutely nothing
*!* Repetitive dialogue - I am genuinely curious if this duo has an editor and if they do, do they ever listen to them or is the said editor just slacking off?
Other than that, in relation to this book specifically
*!* I didn't care for any of the characters - The men seemed to only exist to fuck Anya. Their lives revolved around her and that was it. Idk about you but I'd have liked to see them do some actual mafia shit. Also,
Frank - This man did not fit in the harem at all. I feel like he was dropped into the story just to make it an RH.
Church - He felt like caricature and not like an actual person. This made me hella uncomfortable and I'm not even British or white
Benny - Meh🤷🏾♀️
Anya - *deep sigh* Miss 'show me you are not like other girls by showing me that you are not like other girls'. A bitch was trying too damn hard
Danny - Dude was gross and creepy AF but was by far the most interesting character
Adrik - Your time was short-lived but maybe if you'd stayed around things would have been more interesting
✌🏾✌🏾
I know, I know. So close to the end but I just couldn't be bothered.
I think it's high time that I admit to myself that these authors (2 sisters from what I hear? Idk) are just not it for me. I've read several of their books before and always end up DNF-ing the series. I thought that that'd change with a standalone but alas...here we are once again.
My main issues with this book are essentially the same as with their other books
*!* I was exhausted - Why oh why is a RH book almost 700 pages?? See... I'm convinced that the authors fill their books with a whole lot of nothing just to make them hella long for some reason that I haven't figured out yet. I say this as at 78% not a lot has happened - other than a whole lotta sex. Plotwise though??? Absolutely nothing
*!* Repetitive dialogue - I am genuinely curious if this duo has an editor and if they do, do they ever listen to them or is the said editor just slacking off?
Other than that, in relation to this book specifically
*!* I didn't care for any of the characters - The men seemed to only exist to fuck Anya. Their lives revolved around her and that was it. Idk about you but I'd have liked to see them do some actual mafia shit. Also,
Frank - This man did not fit in the harem at all. I feel like he was dropped into the story just to make it an RH.
Church - He felt like caricature and not like an actual person. This made me hella uncomfortable and I'm not even British or white
Benny - Meh🤷🏾♀️
Anya - *deep sigh* Miss 'show me you are not like other girls by showing me that you are not like other girls'. A bitch was trying too damn hard
Danny - Dude was gross and creepy AF but was by far the most interesting character
Adrik - Your time was short-lived but maybe if you'd stayed around things would have been more interesting
✌🏾✌🏾
February 26, 2022
This was literally everything I needed in a dark mafia romance.
-Enemies to lovers
-SPICY
-Reverse Harem (so you are bound to find a minimum of one man you can vibe with. It was all three for me)
- Banter that was witty and makes you chuckle out loud.
-A strong female Main character
-Touch her and die vibes
I will absolutely be reading this again!!!
OBSESSED.
-Enemies to lovers
-SPICY
-Reverse Harem (so you are bound to find a minimum of one man you can vibe with. It was all three for me)
- Banter that was witty and makes you chuckle out loud.
-A strong female Main character
-Touch her and die vibes
I will absolutely be reading this again!!!
OBSESSED.
February 14, 2022
ALL MY REVIEWS CAN BE FOUND ON MY BLOG: ABSTRACT BOOKS
The Butcher King bows for no one, but I’ll make an exception for you.”
Star Rating : 5/5 Stars
POV : Multiple
Cliffhanger : None
Heroine : Anya
Pace of the story : Moderate
Angst Rating : 6/10
Heat Rating : 6/10
Triggers Involved : Past Trauma (more to be updated after release)
Plot Summary :
Anya never had an easy life. With a monster as her father, she already knows the ways of her world and how much a person can be bent until broken. That is until she is one of the spoils of war. One of the daughters who will be married off as a part of a treaty to the most feared mafia man. Danny himself. His tales of horror are stuff made of everyone's nightmares. There is nothing that the man won't do and taking his wife might be his greatest pleasure of all.
Not only Danny but Frank and Church also hold a part of Anya captive. All three of them are ruthless and if they think they have a woman they can share and tame then they have another thing coming to them. Anya has had her fair share of monsters and it will be them who will be tamed by her.
Things at her new home are not as innocent as they seem. She has an enemy living under her roof. A person who is hell bent on taking everything from them. A person who will love to see them all Butchered. With her being his prime target.
Overall Opinion :
Omggggg. Like I can't stress this enough, these authors have gone wild with this book! For a moment they had me totally confused about who was the hero and who was the villain but things got figured out later 🤣
"Forget Me Not Bombshell" Is a masterpiece in itself. You like a bunch of ruthless, unhinged and absolutely crazy men at the mercy of a true queen? Then, yeah you're gonna love this one. This book is like a dream come true for all the mafia romance lovers out there. Like it's literally Perfect. An absolute 10/10 read for me!
Danny, Anya, Frank and Church have a tale which is amazing and terrifying in its own way. This book is a wonder in itself. I remember screaming because omg , some scenes are downright wild and brutal. The best thing about these authors writing the reverse harem genre is them making the heroine seem like a true queen who rules over her men and her men respect her. They never take an angel where the men see her as a thing to be owned and shared and that is something I can never get enough of . Anya was one such queen. She had the roughest childhood and strength never failed to surprise me. I absolutely love her so much! I have lost count of how many amazing women heroines have these authors given to me.
Also , not me sitting here and cursing myself for wanting a redemption book for a very very twisted man?? It's a curse honestly, a single chapter from the villain's POV and BAM I am in love. 🥲🥲🥲🥲
We also get to see a glimpse of the next book in this series which was best in its own way. I loved that little snippet and am now even more crazy for it. Definitely recommending this standalone mafia reverse harem romance to all the crazy people out there! The sisters have outdone themselves and have given us a bunch of crazy men with their usual tinge of humor that never fails to make me laugh and enjoy the book 100 times more!
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March 10, 2022
2⭐️
2 stars only because of the smut. i feel like i can only get through the sister's books if i like a character because otherwise the jokes get repetitive the dialogue is a drag and just everything seems like it doesnt end.
in this case, i didn't care for any of the characters. i feel like the twin switch was way too confusing for me and i just kept getting lost. i found church and frank to be very boring characters and i cant even remember how they look like.
the only person i liked was the bodyguard in the beginning, why couldnt he have been a love interest????
anyways, if you LOVEEEEE RH and want something funny this is for you. i like RH but only if i like at least 1 person out of the harem... otherwise i find it useless.
“You have entered my life like a fuckin’ meteorite, Anya Volkov. I can still count the hours I’ve known you and somehow you’ve possessed my thoughts in every single one of them,”
2 stars only because of the smut. i feel like i can only get through the sister's books if i like a character because otherwise the jokes get repetitive the dialogue is a drag and just everything seems like it doesnt end.
in this case, i didn't care for any of the characters. i feel like the twin switch was way too confusing for me and i just kept getting lost. i found church and frank to be very boring characters and i cant even remember how they look like.
the only person i liked was the bodyguard in the beginning, why couldnt he have been a love interest????
anyways, if you LOVEEEEE RH and want something funny this is for you. i like RH but only if i like at least 1 person out of the harem... otherwise i find it useless.
March 21, 2022
I have mixed emotions with this book and what's preventing me to rate it a 2-star is the smut, some were 'spicy good' but i just think the other ones was kinda cringy. Also, it would've been nicer to see the three guys individually have more moments with Anya where we can really see them develop feelings for her and not just being horny 24/7 their only personality trait
The plot would be a whole lot better if Danny was the only villain because his character was so interesting, if only the authors highlighted the twins' dark past and why all the mafia problems came together, like to be honest having the twin-switch situation was so cool and with that storyline it could've had an unique plot line, as well as dealing with the RH drama, that would've made everything exciting. I felt like the authors just dragged the events with too much smut and not alot of action scenes and it felt kinda boring up until the end.
Lastly for me, Anya and Church had the most chemistry (sorry benny it's true) like through and through i craved to see more from them, all their moments were so cute and funny, with Benny it felt like it was just bc they're married that's why he's so drawn to her, i just hope they added more intimate moments were we could've seen more of their relationship growth, and lastly adding Frank felt so unnecessary i wish they could've just expanded his character and be much more than her 3rd lover. Anya as the FMC was so badass at first but what annoyed me is how all throughout the story she kept nagging how 'she's not like the other girls with the dresses and heels' like sis we get it, you could be different without announcing it at every single chapter like ily but stfu. Overall, I didn't feel any connection from any of them because their personalities were so repetitive and basic.
The plot would be a whole lot better if Danny was the only villain because his character was so interesting, if only the authors highlighted the twins' dark past and why all the mafia problems came together, like to be honest having the twin-switch situation was so cool and with that storyline it could've had an unique plot line, as well as dealing with the RH drama, that would've made everything exciting. I felt like the authors just dragged the events with too much smut and not alot of action scenes and it felt kinda boring up until the end.
Lastly for me, Anya and Church had the most chemistry (sorry benny it's true) like through and through i craved to see more from them, all their moments were so cute and funny, with Benny it felt like it was just bc they're married that's why he's so drawn to her, i just hope they added more intimate moments were we could've seen more of their relationship growth, and lastly adding Frank felt so unnecessary i wish they could've just expanded his character and be much more than her 3rd lover. Anya as the FMC was so badass at first but what annoyed me is how all throughout the story she kept nagging how 'she's not like the other girls with the dresses and heels' like sis we get it, you could be different without announcing it at every single chapter like ily but stfu. Overall, I didn't feel any connection from any of them because their personalities were so repetitive and basic.
January 26, 2023
Came for the reverse harem mafia dark romance, fled because one love interest was an absolute cringy jerk, and the other literally abused, harmed and humiliated the MC just because (no, it wasn't any type of kink)
DNF in Chapter 4
DNF in Chapter 4
March 7, 2022
The female main character was so selfish and oblivious to herself that I could barely stand to finish this book.
March 3, 2022
I don't even know what to say! I feel like I start every review for a C&S book like that. Because every time they just blow me away with their writing, themes, tropes, characters, settings an especially their humor.
This book is a standalone but it is set in a multi-author reverse harem mafia universe series. I did not read the other books prior to reading this. But I definitely will now because I'm so intrigued by the other mafia houses.
Essentially all the mafia houses get together in the beginning for a book and state that to insure they don't betray each other, the women in their families will be married off into one of the other mafia families. And ten years later Anya is shipped off to London to marry a Butcher. Anya is one of the best MFC's I've ever read. She is definitely hands down my favorite MFC that C&S have written. Her personality and humor, her sexual dominance, the way she needs music to survive. I just love it all. And the boys! Oh my god. They fully accept her and are obsessed with her and worship her. They want to protect her at all costs and are possessive, but they don't treat her fragile and like she can't handle something.
Another huge thing for me with this book was the setting. Everything about this book screams London, and it makes me so happy. London is very special to me and I could literally picture everything that was described and all the Brit-isms.
There was only one thing I didn't love in the beginning, cause I love twins and that old sitch-a-roo threw me for a loop, but the way C&S wrote it as it continued in the story completely made it work.
This has officially been placed in not only my top RH list, my top mafia list, but my absolute tippy top favorite book list in general. I implore you!! READ THIS!
This book is a standalone but it is set in a multi-author reverse harem mafia universe series. I did not read the other books prior to reading this. But I definitely will now because I'm so intrigued by the other mafia houses.
Essentially all the mafia houses get together in the beginning for a book and state that to insure they don't betray each other, the women in their families will be married off into one of the other mafia families. And ten years later Anya is shipped off to London to marry a Butcher. Anya is one of the best MFC's I've ever read. She is definitely hands down my favorite MFC that C&S have written. Her personality and humor, her sexual dominance, the way she needs music to survive. I just love it all. And the boys! Oh my god. They fully accept her and are obsessed with her and worship her. They want to protect her at all costs and are possessive, but they don't treat her fragile and like she can't handle something.
Another huge thing for me with this book was the setting. Everything about this book screams London, and it makes me so happy. London is very special to me and I could literally picture everything that was described and all the Brit-isms.
There was only one thing I didn't love in the beginning, cause I love twins and that old sitch-a-roo threw me for a loop, but the way C&S wrote it as it continued in the story completely made it work.
This has officially been placed in not only my top RH list, my top mafia list, but my absolute tippy top favorite book list in general. I implore you!! READ THIS!
March 20, 2023
This was one of my '12 books recommended by 12 friends' and honestly... I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy this one.
As someone who is fairly new to 'Why Choose' romances I'm very particular with them. Unfortunately, I really didn't like the dynamic between the group - it felt very 'married couple, but the wife keeps cheating' and that was a huge ick. For me, the group dynamic can make or break a 'why choose' romance and unfortunately... it's a no.
As someone who is fairly new to 'Why Choose' romances I'm very particular with them. Unfortunately, I really didn't like the dynamic between the group - it felt very 'married couple, but the wife keeps cheating' and that was a huge ick. For me, the group dynamic can make or break a 'why choose' romance and unfortunately... it's a no.
May 1, 2025
3.5⭐️
такий собі гарячий мафіозний гаремчик, який під кінець більше веселив мене нереалістичністю того екшену, різанини та стрілянини, яка відбувалась. але книга мене розважила і то приємно 🤓
персонажі теж імпонують.
аня - сильна гг, яку брати навчили битися та вміти постояти за себе. травмована аб'юзом в сім'ї та вбивством матері в неї на очах, тому постійно заглушає ці флешбеки музикою, усюди перебуваючи в навушниках. музичний смак у авторок, як завжди, нот бед 😎
бенні - самопроголошений "король лондону" та любитель отримати ляпаси по пиці. серйозно, чел мазохіст і кайфує, коли аня його лупцює та душить, особливо під час сексу 😈 а взагалі ох уж цей король, який відсидів в тюрязі і боїться поліції. ну як кажуть god save the king 😁
френк - такий весь холодний буркотун, який ненавидить аню і її сімейство більш за все, оскільки її брат жорстоко його катував.
черч - золотистий ретривер і веселун. відчуває себе найбільшим британцем серед четвірки. хоча ні, не його рівень, найбільшим британцем на планеті 🤭
денні - брат-близнюк бенні і за молодшого пиздюка-психопата в їх дуеті відповідає він 🌚
щодо гаремних стосунків, то тут вони на трієчку. мені не вистачило почуттів і кращої мотивації потягу до усіх хлопців, окрім як це просто передбачено сюжетом "кого аня хоче, того і трахає". потім примирились, шо вона з усіма, і покохали її. шош, ну такоє 😐
в цілому, впізнається фірмовий стиль авторок "академії зодіак". купа непотрібних описів, думок, неважливих подій, які спокійно можна викинути і книга стала б більш концентрованою на цікаві повороти, важливі для сюжету та розвитку персонажів. серьйозно, хотілося, щоб книга була на половину меншою.
такий собі гарячий мафіозний гаремчик, який під кінець більше веселив мене нереалістичністю того екшену, різанини та стрілянини, яка відбувалась. але книга мене розважила і то приємно 🤓
персонажі теж імпонують.
аня - сильна гг, яку брати навчили битися та вміти постояти за себе. травмована аб'юзом в сім'ї та вбивством матері в неї на очах, тому постійно заглушає ці флешбеки музикою, усюди перебуваючи в навушниках. музичний смак у авторок, як завжди, нот бед 😎
бенні - самопроголошений "король лондону" та любитель отримати ляпаси по пиці. серйозно, чел мазохіст і кайфує, коли аня його лупцює та душить, особливо під час сексу 😈 а взагалі ох уж цей король, який відсидів в тюрязі і боїться поліції. ну як кажуть god save the king 😁
френк - такий весь холодний буркотун, який ненавидить аню і її сімейство більш за все, оскільки її брат жорстоко його катував.
черч - золотистий ретривер і веселун. відчуває себе найбільшим британцем серед четвірки. хоча ні, не його рівень, найбільшим британцем на планеті 🤭
денні - брат-близнюк бенні і за молодшого пиздюка-психопата в їх дуеті відповідає він 🌚
щодо гаремних стосунків, то тут вони на трієчку. мені не вистачило почуттів і кращої мотивації потягу до усіх хлопців, окрім як це просто передбачено сюжетом "кого аня хоче, того і трахає". потім примирились, шо вона з усіма, і покохали її. шош, ну такоє 😐
в цілому, впізнається фірмовий стиль авторок "академії зодіак". купа непотрібних описів, думок, неважливих подій, які спокійно можна викинути і книга стала б більш концентрованою на цікаві повороти, важливі для сюжету та розвитку персонажів. серьйозно, хотілося, щоб книга була на половину меншою.
November 4, 2025
I liked this overall but it was way too long. 60 percent of this book could have been cut. Also Anya, Benny, Church and Frank were like every other dark romance character by these authors. RTC.
March 7, 2022
I wanted to like this so much more than I did, I got an arc and it took me about a week to read. I felt like the book was a bit too long for a standalone, simply because it also had too many plot threads for me. I think if one had been left out, it would’ve worked a bit better for me.
I love Caroline and Susanne’s writing, Ruthless Boys remains my all time favorite series, but I think I prefer when Caroline writes the guys and Susanne writes the girl, which I think was the reverse here. Idk, personally I just didn’t resonate with any of the characters. Some of it was a bit too instalust for me, or constant lust, i should say. It got a little overwhelming to me. There’s one scene with a guitar amplifier that Anya sits on and gets an orgasm in public that just gave me the deepest secondhand embarrassment I had to stop reading for a whole day lol.
The characters are pretty developed though, which is always a positive with these authors. And i genuinely liked the initial plot, which was the twin switcheroo. I liked how that was handled at the end. There were a bit too many epilogues for me and too many kids at the end as well tbh, but it’s always nice to see characters in the future.
I’m disappointed this didn’t fully work for me but I know most people will enjoy it more! I will still read pretty much anything these authors put out!
I love Caroline and Susanne’s writing, Ruthless Boys remains my all time favorite series, but I think I prefer when Caroline writes the guys and Susanne writes the girl, which I think was the reverse here. Idk, personally I just didn’t resonate with any of the characters. Some of it was a bit too instalust for me, or constant lust, i should say. It got a little overwhelming to me. There’s one scene with a guitar amplifier that Anya sits on and gets an orgasm in public that just gave me the deepest secondhand embarrassment I had to stop reading for a whole day lol.
The characters are pretty developed though, which is always a positive with these authors. And i genuinely liked the initial plot, which was the twin switcheroo. I liked how that was handled at the end. There were a bit too many epilogues for me and too many kids at the end as well tbh, but it’s always nice to see characters in the future.
I’m disappointed this didn’t fully work for me but I know most people will enjoy it more! I will still read pretty much anything these authors put out!
March 20, 2022
As expected with the author duo, this is as crazy as it can get. Probably the best out of this series. Let's see if K.A Knight can top this with the final book.
RTC
RTC
March 22, 2022
Phew! This was one long ass book! But loved the feisty heroine and her harem of men ;)
March 31, 2022
That’s it. No more TikTok recommendations.
June 23, 2022
Boy was this book long, it was exhausting, the first and second parts were good, but the third dragged a plot that wasn't even that entertaining.
The Candlestick maker was just there, his scenes were so random and he died in a meh way.
The Czar story was annoying and it was there just to give Anya something to do on the gang, I don't think that I ever wanted a FMC to fail in something so much like I wanted her to fail in her mission of finding out what he gave the other guy to keep safe. Also I hate inconsistencies, like the guy is super paranoid and you tell me that he doesn't have cameras on his house and didn't see Anya kissing Church on the supposed Interpol raid, come on. Also, Benny's speech while he was killing the Czar was the most cringe worthy thing that I ever read.
This books would be better if Danny was the only villain, because his story was the most interesting.
When I arrived on the third part I was praying for the book to finish already.
The other characters were mostly alright, but I came to the realization that these authors RH stories all have the "same" characters, their FMC are all the same with the only change what they're obsessed with.
Anya started as a good character, but I felt like she was trying too much to be "not like other girls" (like Rogue with her love for the Green Ranger or Tory with the bikes) and I hate this, you can say that you like to wear jeans and t-shirts without complaining about dresses and heels, and her only hearing "classic rock" was another "not like other girls" and it made my liking towards her diminish, and she just became annoying after the revelation about Benny and him promising her that he would give her everything that she wanted.
I loved Church and Benny, wanted to see more of them together and together with Anya, which we almost don't get, like we have Benny promising that he'll make Anya want him and them we have a passing of weeks and Anya telling about him going down on her, but we don't see them together, we don't see her falling in love, the same with Church, we don't see them together, we just get them talking about being in love, but we don't see it.
I got a problem with Frank's characterization. He doesn't fit in the group, I didn't felt chemistry between him and Anya (or him and the boys), him getting all mad at Danny because he took her away didn't made sense, especially because she arrived unharmed and she wasn't his? If it was the real Danny he would be dead and his outburst could had put her in danger because Danny could think that they were together or something like that. The music thing just doesn't make sense, "oh we like music so we must be together", is just stupid. Him wanting to hurt her because of what her brothers did to him is the most idiotic thing that I ever heard, the same thing about him not believing or wanting to hear Benny when apparently they were thick as thieves.
Also the sex scenes weren't that good, I find it so weird these writers obsession in inserting objects on their FMC pivate parts, it's not sexy. Frank and Anya little torture/sex scenes reminded me of a scene from Den of Vipers which isn't something good. Anya and Church had the best scene that was the boat one.
I hate the use of the word Karen to describe woman, and the glamourized rudeness that these characters acts towards people living their lives, like Benny with the waiter and Frank knocking people food and bumping into people while he was chasing Danny, and they think that they're somehow right?! I just hate this without meaning rudeness.
I realized that I hate when the FMC is married to one of the guys from the harem, I just feel like it makes the relationship a counter balance because the husband will always think and act like he's the boss on the relationship (like Havoc by C.M stunich) and I just hate it.
I actually kind of wanted them all to be dead, it would be the perfect ending, because the epilogue part was bad, it wasn't funny (and also the thing about Benny needing a baby with Anya to keep the peace didn't made sense since he considered all the kids his and they were all hers) and as I said before it had the worst cringy worthy moment that I ever read.
The Candlestick maker was just there, his scenes were so random and he died in a meh way.
The Czar story was annoying and it was there just to give Anya something to do on the gang, I don't think that I ever wanted a FMC to fail in something so much like I wanted her to fail in her mission of finding out what he gave the other guy to keep safe. Also I hate inconsistencies, like the guy is super paranoid and you tell me that he doesn't have cameras on his house and didn't see Anya kissing Church on the supposed Interpol raid, come on. Also, Benny's speech while he was killing the Czar was the most cringe worthy thing that I ever read.
This books would be better if Danny was the only villain, because his story was the most interesting.
When I arrived on the third part I was praying for the book to finish already.
The other characters were mostly alright, but I came to the realization that these authors RH stories all have the "same" characters, their FMC are all the same with the only change what they're obsessed with.
Anya started as a good character, but I felt like she was trying too much to be "not like other girls" (like Rogue with her love for the Green Ranger or Tory with the bikes) and I hate this, you can say that you like to wear jeans and t-shirts without complaining about dresses and heels, and her only hearing "classic rock" was another "not like other girls" and it made my liking towards her diminish, and she just became annoying after the revelation about Benny and him promising her that he would give her everything that she wanted.
I loved Church and Benny, wanted to see more of them together and together with Anya, which we almost don't get, like we have Benny promising that he'll make Anya want him and them we have a passing of weeks and Anya telling about him going down on her, but we don't see them together, we don't see her falling in love, the same with Church, we don't see them together, we just get them talking about being in love, but we don't see it.
I got a problem with Frank's characterization. He doesn't fit in the group, I didn't felt chemistry between him and Anya (or him and the boys), him getting all mad at Danny because he took her away didn't made sense, especially because she arrived unharmed and she wasn't his? If it was the real Danny he would be dead and his outburst could had put her in danger because Danny could think that they were together or something like that. The music thing just doesn't make sense, "oh we like music so we must be together", is just stupid. Him wanting to hurt her because of what her brothers did to him is the most idiotic thing that I ever heard, the same thing about him not believing or wanting to hear Benny when apparently they were thick as thieves.
Also the sex scenes weren't that good, I find it so weird these writers obsession in inserting objects on their FMC pivate parts, it's not sexy. Frank and Anya little torture/sex scenes reminded me of a scene from Den of Vipers which isn't something good. Anya and Church had the best scene that was the boat one.
I hate the use of the word Karen to describe woman, and the glamourized rudeness that these characters acts towards people living their lives, like Benny with the waiter and Frank knocking people food and bumping into people while he was chasing Danny, and they think that they're somehow right?! I just hate this without meaning rudeness.
I realized that I hate when the FMC is married to one of the guys from the harem, I just feel like it makes the relationship a counter balance because the husband will always think and act like he's the boss on the relationship (like Havoc by C.M stunich) and I just hate it.
I actually kind of wanted them all to be dead, it would be the perfect ending, because the epilogue part was bad, it wasn't funny (and also the thing about Benny needing a baby with Anya to keep the peace didn't made sense since he considered all the kids his and they were all hers) and as I said before it had the worst cringy worthy moment that I ever read.
November 29, 2022
Re-read 28/11/2022: ♾️/5⭐️
Here I am again, reminded of all the reason why I loved this book in the first place. I can always count on the Twisted Sisters to get me out of a reading slump - especially after I've read disappointing book after disappointing book. I didn't think this could happen, but I fell even harder this time around for Benny's possessiveness, Church's charm, Frank's filthiness and Anya's grit. I fell hard and fast for my Forget-Me-Nots y'all😮💨 The plot and the pacing was perfect and smut was...HOLY SHIT the smut had me blushing and creaming my fucking panties y'all ajshsjjsjsk😏💦 Honestly, get you a man (or men) who worship the ground you walk on and would be ready to die/kill for you. FMNB is the definition of a perfect dark reverse harem romance and everything I could ever want in a book. This was hands down one of my top reads of 2022 and I'm proud to say that this was the book that led to me devouring the rest of the sisters' books heheh😁 Looking forward to seeing what other fantastically twisted shit CS have gotten up their sleeve!😍
Edit: I'm gonna re-read this soon because I fucking miss my babies😭💗
Fuck me because this book completely exceeded my expectations and was everything I'd ever wanted to read in a book. The chemistry, the plot, the mindfuckery and the level of darkness in this story was just *chef's kiss*
For some reason, this was the only book that actually stood out to me from the Mafia Wars series and I'm so fucking glad that I gave it a chance. If you're into RH with three sexy as fuck men coupled with an intense and violent plot, then Forget-Me-Not-Bombshell is the perfect pick for you. I don't think I can recommend this book enough and I will absofuckinglutely never shut up about this masterpiece. If I could give this a rating higher than 5⭐, I def would hehe. I hope I've managed to convince you to read this beauty. ✨Thank Yew✨
Side Note: I want Dylan to be my best friend. Oh and also, I'd like an order of three men named Benny, Church and Frank please and thank you teehehehhehe🥵🤰🏻
Here I am again, reminded of all the reason why I loved this book in the first place. I can always count on the Twisted Sisters to get me out of a reading slump - especially after I've read disappointing book after disappointing book. I didn't think this could happen, but I fell even harder this time around for Benny's possessiveness, Church's charm, Frank's filthiness and Anya's grit. I fell hard and fast for my Forget-Me-Nots y'all😮💨 The plot and the pacing was perfect and smut was...HOLY SHIT the smut had me blushing and creaming my fucking panties y'all ajshsjjsjsk😏💦 Honestly, get you a man (or men) who worship the ground you walk on and would be ready to die/kill for you. FMNB is the definition of a perfect dark reverse harem romance and everything I could ever want in a book. This was hands down one of my top reads of 2022 and I'm proud to say that this was the book that led to me devouring the rest of the sisters' books heheh😁 Looking forward to seeing what other fantastically twisted shit CS have gotten up their sleeve!😍
Edit: I'm gonna re-read this soon because I fucking miss my babies😭💗
Fuck me because this book completely exceeded my expectations and was everything I'd ever wanted to read in a book. The chemistry, the plot, the mindfuckery and the level of darkness in this story was just *chef's kiss*
For some reason, this was the only book that actually stood out to me from the Mafia Wars series and I'm so fucking glad that I gave it a chance. If you're into RH with three sexy as fuck men coupled with an intense and violent plot, then Forget-Me-Not-Bombshell is the perfect pick for you. I don't think I can recommend this book enough and I will absofuckinglutely never shut up about this masterpiece. If I could give this a rating higher than 5⭐, I def would hehe. I hope I've managed to convince you to read this beauty. ✨Thank Yew✨
Side Note: I want Dylan to be my best friend. Oh and also, I'd like an order of three men named Benny, Church and Frank please and thank you teehehehhehe🥵🤰🏻
Want to read
November 24, 2022*sees the book si written by CP&SV*
*adds to TBR*
*adds to cart*
hehehe ✨✨✨
*adds to TBR*
*adds to cart*
hehehe ✨✨✨
March 7, 2022
*4.5 Stars*
This was a challenge unlike anything the twisted sisters had seen before, writing a true standalone story, and it was great! This book had everything I love about the sisters' writing wrapped up into a thick and beautiful package! First things first, I couldn't even decide which character I loved more! Anya who's a sassy bombshell that gives as good as she gets, my British ray of sunshine and star of comedy Church, or the dark but fiercely loyal and protective Benny Butcher! I usually have a favorite when it comes to harems but I am still struggling to pick between these two, plus their friendship and loyalty to each other through most of the book had my bromance side swooning! Another one of my favorite things about this book was the amount of humor that was packed into it, but especially the banter, THE BANTER WAS TOP TIER and nobody will ever convince me otherwise! 🤌🏻🔥 My only complaint is that I wish the whole reveal and fallout had happened a little bit sooner cause everything following that was 5 stars for me! It just felt like I was waiting a super long time and kept hoping it would happen after we hit the halfway point. Oh, and there was a new first for me in this story...I actually felt bad for the villain at the end. 😳 I don't forgive them by any means but knowing their background and seeing how they ended up kind of hurt, I found myself wanting to take their pain away knowing how traumatic that debilitating that experience was for them. And that author's note at the end? Well I'm both scared and excited to see what they come up with assuming they decide to follow through on that idea! 👀 All in all, the queens have struck again and given us a riveting standalone that was filled with all of my favorite things! I would recommend this to anyone who loves reading mafia and RH books!
This was a challenge unlike anything the twisted sisters had seen before, writing a true standalone story, and it was great! This book had everything I love about the sisters' writing wrapped up into a thick and beautiful package! First things first, I couldn't even decide which character I loved more! Anya who's a sassy bombshell that gives as good as she gets, my British ray of sunshine and star of comedy Church, or the dark but fiercely loyal and protective Benny Butcher! I usually have a favorite when it comes to harems but I am still struggling to pick between these two, plus their friendship and loyalty to each other through most of the book had my bromance side swooning! Another one of my favorite things about this book was the amount of humor that was packed into it, but especially the banter, THE BANTER WAS TOP TIER and nobody will ever convince me otherwise! 🤌🏻🔥 My only complaint is that I wish the whole reveal and fallout had happened a little bit sooner cause everything following that was 5 stars for me! It just felt like I was waiting a super long time and kept hoping it would happen after we hit the halfway point. Oh, and there was a new first for me in this story...I actually felt bad for the villain at the end. 😳 I don't forgive them by any means but knowing their background and seeing how they ended up kind of hurt, I found myself wanting to take their pain away knowing how traumatic that debilitating that experience was for them. And that author's note at the end? Well I'm both scared and excited to see what they come up with assuming they decide to follow through on that idea! 👀 All in all, the queens have struck again and given us a riveting standalone that was filled with all of my favorite things! I would recommend this to anyone who loves reading mafia and RH books!
March 7, 2022
2.5 ⭐️
I’m honestly so bummed that I didn’t like this. I really wanted to support and like it because of Caroline/Susanne but i couldn’t bring myself to rate it higher. This book was wayyyy longer than it should have been.
To be fair there were parts I enjoyed but there were more parts where I was bored/annoyed with the characters.
I loved getting Danny’s perspective and my favorite character had to be John Boy.
I’m honestly so bummed that I didn’t like this. I really wanted to support and like it because of Caroline/Susanne but i couldn’t bring myself to rate it higher. This book was wayyyy longer than it should have been.
To be fair there were parts I enjoyed but there were more parts where I was bored/annoyed with the characters.
I loved getting Danny’s perspective and my favorite character had to be John Boy.
September 29, 2024
Holy moly! What a wild ride. This is powerhouse of a mafia, enemies to lovers, reverse harem story. Intense, intriguing, dark and twisted- and SO very addictive. I devoured this story page after page. What a fantastic addition to the Mafia Wars series!
I have an embarrassing confession- this is my first Peckham and Valenti story. I’ve long since filled my TBR with their writing, both the content of their stories and their rabid fanbase told me I’d enjoy them. But I never quite knew where to begin, so this mafia standalone felt like a great starting place, and oh man have I been missing out. Dark, twisting, so very sexy, immaculately interwoven, I just could not get enough of this- and now I’m ravenous to read the backlist that I’ve been hoarding away for so long on my TBR.
Thus far, this is my favorite of this crazy creative mafia wars series. Every time I felt myself settling into this story, this dynamic duo would throw some other unexpected twist my way, shattering just what I thought I knew. While the story is long, the pages fly, the adrenaline stays high, and every moment is intense.
If you love strong heroines who come into their power and bring mafia men to their knees, you’ll love our heroine Anya, our bombshell. She finds herself in the most complicated and unusual of situations, powerless in a world run by the machinations of win of ruthless men, yet she never stops fighting. And our mafia men are simply delicious- the enigmatic, tortured and vengeful Frank, the charismatic, the sexy, and sassy Church, and the dark and dangerous Danny- the man that challenges us most of all.
I loved how I was second guessing just who to root for and who not to- just WHO was the proverbial bad guy, and what are the real motivations. It makes for a really immersively heart pounding experience.
I have an embarrassing confession- this is my first Peckham and Valenti story. I’ve long since filled my TBR with their writing, both the content of their stories and their rabid fanbase told me I’d enjoy them. But I never quite knew where to begin, so this mafia standalone felt like a great starting place, and oh man have I been missing out. Dark, twisting, so very sexy, immaculately interwoven, I just could not get enough of this- and now I’m ravenous to read the backlist that I’ve been hoarding away for so long on my TBR.
Thus far, this is my favorite of this crazy creative mafia wars series. Every time I felt myself settling into this story, this dynamic duo would throw some other unexpected twist my way, shattering just what I thought I knew. While the story is long, the pages fly, the adrenaline stays high, and every moment is intense.
If you love strong heroines who come into their power and bring mafia men to their knees, you’ll love our heroine Anya, our bombshell. She finds herself in the most complicated and unusual of situations, powerless in a world run by the machinations of win of ruthless men, yet she never stops fighting. And our mafia men are simply delicious- the enigmatic, tortured and vengeful Frank, the charismatic, the sexy, and sassy Church, and the dark and dangerous Danny- the man that challenges us most of all.
I loved how I was second guessing just who to root for and who not to- just WHO was the proverbial bad guy, and what are the real motivations. It makes for a really immersively heart pounding experience.
July 22, 2022
This was wayyy too long to be considered one book. The plot was good but at multiple parts of this book it just feel really dragged on and I was literally skimming. And I felt like there could’ve been better development between the FMC and each love interest, individually. Cause it felt like we just got pushed into love all of a sudden.
Overall, it was an interesting and spicy read, but I would probably never ever ever ever read it again.
Overall, it was an interesting and spicy read, but I would probably never ever ever ever read it again.
May 15, 2023
Forget me not Bombshell by @carolinepeckham & @susanne_valenti
These sisters suck me into books so fast! This is a standalone book, but you can read the other couples in the mafia wars series written by other authors.
Anya, Benny, Church, Frank, and Danny have quite the ride through this book.
If you like arranged marriages, spice, mistaken identity, spice, mafia, and loads more spice, then this is a book for you!
This is a spicy read with lots of plot to! Loved it!
⚠️ TW ⚠️ cruel treatment, branding, bruising, and blood.
Overall ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/ 5
Spice 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶/ 5
These sisters suck me into books so fast! This is a standalone book, but you can read the other couples in the mafia wars series written by other authors.
Anya, Benny, Church, Frank, and Danny have quite the ride through this book.
If you like arranged marriages, spice, mistaken identity, spice, mafia, and loads more spice, then this is a book for you!
This is a spicy read with lots of plot to! Loved it!
⚠️ TW ⚠️ cruel treatment, branding, bruising, and blood.
Overall ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/ 5
Spice 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶/ 5
July 29, 2022
This book was a BEAST but I really enjoyed it! Do I think it could've been shorter? Absolutely. Was I sucked in the entire time? 100%. I mean, mafia arranged marriage reverse harem? Literally say less.
February 28, 2022
Words can’t describe how much this book was exactly what I needed. Escapism is real friends and that is exactly what this book has offered me: An escape from life/ real world problems etc etc.
From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. That’s how good it was! One thing is for sure, and that’s that the sisters never cut corners with their work. This includes standalones.
This baby right here is a whopping 800 pages long, that’s two books in one! And if you are wondering, yes that also means that the plot, world, and character building is extensive and extremely well done.
When I first started this book I wasn’t sure about the men. They were a little rough around the edges and one in particular would say the most unromantic things. For a brief second I was missing my RB boys (another amazing read by these authors) and then suddenly, things were so incredibly romantic and I was falling. Falling HARD for these men because I’m going to be honest, Frank, Benny, and Church are AMAZING and you can’t help but love them. They are so incredibly possessive and jealous when it comes the fmc and it’s the hottest thing ever.
As for the fmc, Anya. I’m even more in love with her than the men. She’s beautiful, dangerous smart, and strong—but also incredibly broken to some degree.
She uses Music to cope with the trauma life as mafia daughter has caused her, and that’s something I find incredibly relatable. The music part, not the mafia daughter part of course!
Anyways, her interactions with the men are hilarious, volatile, and absolutely exquisite. I devoured every little moment like a crack head searching for his or her next fix.
—In which I mean that I loved every moment, and I especially loved how THEIR love blossomed into something so incredibly heart warming and beautiful. Did I mention the sex scenes???? Yeah well just know that the sisters never disappoint with that, and they sure didn’t this time.
Would I recommend this read? Absolutely.
5 stars from me.
From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. That’s how good it was! One thing is for sure, and that’s that the sisters never cut corners with their work. This includes standalones.
This baby right here is a whopping 800 pages long, that’s two books in one! And if you are wondering, yes that also means that the plot, world, and character building is extensive and extremely well done.
When I first started this book I wasn’t sure about the men. They were a little rough around the edges and one in particular would say the most unromantic things. For a brief second I was missing my RB boys (another amazing read by these authors) and then suddenly, things were so incredibly romantic and I was falling. Falling HARD for these men because I’m going to be honest, Frank, Benny, and Church are AMAZING and you can’t help but love them. They are so incredibly possessive and jealous when it comes the fmc and it’s the hottest thing ever.
As for the fmc, Anya. I’m even more in love with her than the men. She’s beautiful, dangerous smart, and strong—but also incredibly broken to some degree.
She uses Music to cope with the trauma life as mafia daughter has caused her, and that’s something I find incredibly relatable. The music part, not the mafia daughter part of course!
Anyways, her interactions with the men are hilarious, volatile, and absolutely exquisite. I devoured every little moment like a crack head searching for his or her next fix.
—In which I mean that I loved every moment, and I especially loved how THEIR love blossomed into something so incredibly heart warming and beautiful. Did I mention the sex scenes???? Yeah well just know that the sisters never disappoint with that, and they sure didn’t this time.
Would I recommend this read? Absolutely.
5 stars from me.
02-tbr-queue
February 8, 2023⏸️ Back on the shelf you go…
I think my mood has put me off of this at the moment. Definitely going to come back though.
I think my mood has put me off of this at the moment. Definitely going to come back though.
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