This is a disappointing read. I liked Lei's story I read first. It was the most developed and the characters were all interesting. Then I read Dima's. That was shorter, and I found to be a bit weak but Dima made up for that. I was looking forward to reading about Marcello'S but it seems like his story isn't out yet. So I checked this one that was supposed to be about Kashmere and it's very disappointing.
1st problem : it should be named after her. Or, like Lei's, another title than the male's name. Especially since it focused on her family's story. It makes no sense for this book to be part of the DeLuca's series rather the Diamond Syndicate's one.
2nd problem : Kash is a very weak leading character. It makes no sense for her to be presented as the next leader after Dima. She never showed any true leadership traits. She let herself be walked over by Simon and her Grand, then 5 minutes into meeting the Santino guy, just because he talked back to Simon, and kiss her, she blindly trust him. Never question his motives, until 2/3rd of the book and then, shrug. Even her team is weak. They let that white boy take over her life, without even uttering a little doubt. Rue is supposed to have enough experience, but they never cautioned her. And they are never really developed. Like for instance Lei's aunts or Viktor's Dima, who were really well developed secondary characters. It just feels rushed. Kash acts rashly, shooting people, then all lovey dovey with a guy she'd known for 5 minutes. But all mad with Dima and Marcello. And all guilty with Gypsy, whose story is just bonkers. And not in a fun way. At no point is she shown to act like even a promising good leader. It makes no sense for Dima, of all people, to trust her with leading the Syndicate. Especially with her being married with that De Luca.
3rd. Santoni is just no a well developed character. The lust/love at first sight is always a boring trope. It's a lazy one, that always feels like the author tries to speed up the whole thing. But at least in the previous books, it was a bit better executed. Especially because of the circumstances surrounding the characters. There is no such thing here. Like one minute Santino is : I'll kill her, the next he is declaring undying love and loyalty to her. It doesn't look credible or organic. And him just wanting to shoot everyone doesn't make him look credible either. It makes no sense for the Don to have send him.
So yeah. Am so not sold.