3.5 Stars ⭐️ For being Adelaide’s first venture into mafia romance she did well! This book hit all the right spots, possessive alpha boss, the girl that got a way and sizzling chemistry. Matteo’s possessiveness DOES get a little out of control but we know it’s because he loves Ivory and she just doesn’t understand his world. Although he does cross one unforgivable line in my book. The chemistry between them is definitely pretty damn hot, if we could give half stars I would bump this up to 3.5 because there was no skimping on the frequency of scenes and let’s be real, we want to read them! There are hints of more books to come which is awesome, especially his enforcer Ryker. Looking forward to what comes next and how Adelaide’s writing evolves as she digs deeper into my favorite trope.

Sometimes I'm really concerned with the books that the romance side of booktok recommends. This is one of those that especially worries me. Please look up trigger warnings because this book is wild. I still can't believe I didn't DNF it. Believe me, I get it. A dark romance is sometimes what you want to read and there are definitely good ones out there, but this is NOT it. The love interest in this book isn't the typical broody and tough guy with a soft spot for the main character. Instead, he's the world's biggest asshole to everyone, including the main character. You absolutely cannot convince me that he had even an ounce of respect for the main character Ivory. Not only did Mateo dump Ivory in high school very publicly while quickly finding another girl right after, but he also got so much worse than you could imagine. He became obsessed with Ivory, stalked her, manipulated her, ruined her friendships, MICROCHIPPED HER, MESSED WITH HER BIRTH CONTROL WITHOUT CONSENT, forced her to move in, was ridiculously overbearing, and was completely sex-crazed with no concept of verbal consent. Even worse, she was a doormat to it all and just let it all happen and forgave him for everything. And this was marketed as a spicy ROMANCE? I didn't think I could ever hate characters so much in a romance before. Sure, it's a lovers-to-enemies-to-(reluctant?) lovers story and that trope is typically great, but man it was awful here. I hate the pregnancy trope, but a forced pregnancy after manipulation of birth control without consent even when the character didn't want a kid and he wanted to trap her? Absolutely not. I hate to say it, but this book had the vibes that made it feel like it was written by one of those male authors that readers make fun of because they have no concept of respecting women. Enough said. If you decide you want to be ridiculously brave (or crazy, same thing in this case), be prepared. This is one of the biggest red flags for a romance book I have ever read in my life...

I really wanted to like this book but there were some things that just didn't hit the mark. So Ivory is supposed to be this big blogger but after Matteo comes back into her life, she doesn't really do much blogging? Like damn, can't we get strong independent women in dark romances who don't abandon their careers the second they meet the MMC😩 All Ivory and Matteo do is fight, have sex, fight, have sex, fight. Where's the flavor? Where's the building of the relationship? WHY do they love each other? What does Ivory have that has Matteo going gaga over her? WHY does Ivory love Matteo if all she does is start fights with him when he does something wrong? Don't get me wrong, I loooove me some smut but I also want to see the relationship grow. SPOILER WARNING: Also, I love that Matteo put a microchip in her to "protect her" and she literally screamed and begged and pleaded for him not to and them said "I will never forgive you", yet 2 days later they're fucking. THEN they go to one of his clubs and she tries to get him to cheat on her and she dances with some random. Matteo obviously gets enraged and possessive. Ivory then ends up crying about not wanting to be like every other woman Matteo has been with??? Im so confused. Then the microchip is NEVER discussed. They get engaged and she never brings it up? She's so hurt by him putting the microchip but still forgets about it basically an hour later???? Also it's no secret that Matteo's family is not on the right side of the law but why is Ivory *so* shocked when he starts telling her shit? Like BRO why do you think your 2 best friends did not want you to get with him? (Other than him breaking her heart in school). '"This is why you left me, isn't it? You need a good little Italian wife to make your mob happy. Fuck, I'm so stupid," I winced." Yes Ivory, yes you are😭😭😭 literally all the signs were there so how did you miss them🥴🥴. He has bodyguards 24/7. What night club owner needs bodyguards 24/7 unless they also have some shady shit going on🤡🙃 END OF SPOILERS I- I'm sorry but this was a mess. This wasn't everything that annoyed me but I don't have the energy for more. I was truly looking forward to this book and I'm so disappointed that it didn't work for me😭

⭐️ 5 THIS BOOK WAS SO SO GOOD Definitely a dark mafia romance (check TWs) but it was such an addicting read and I definitely stayed up a lot later than I usually do just so I could finish it Matteo 😩😮‍💨🥵 this man was INSANE but I loved every single bit of his possessive/jealous behavior I’m so excited to continue this series