Name: Painted Scars
ISBN: 9781961423039

Neva Altaj

Nina

Charming, captivating, and seductive,
And a cold-blooded killer.
But I married the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva anyway.
I had to. It was part of the deal.

Now, I’m faking marital bliss,
As I tremble with fear,
And I cannot wait to be out of the clutches of this ruthless man.


Roman

I get anything I desire.
And I want this perfectly imperfect little manipulator.

The way she can deceive anyone into believing she’s crazy in love with me,
Just makes me want her even more.

She doesn't know it yet,
But I am not letting her go.
The deal - is off.

Perfectly Imperfect #1

Painted Scars

I mean.. In a normal world, I wouldn't want a murderer either😂 the mom is into dark romances👀😂

Sophia

“Your father would never kill a man because of me, you know.”

“No, honey. It isn’t,” she says and leaves the apartment.

That's really not a good idea if you want to stay married😒 but I approve😂

“I will be killing anyone who dares to hurt you,” I whisper. “I will just make sure you don’t find out next time.”

raia – inactive

"Igor speaks only Russian. How can he teach her anything?"

"I have no idea. He tells her what to do, and when she does it wrong, he yells. Well, he yelled because she burned the first batch. She yelled because he didn't say how long they should stay in the oven. Neither of them knows what the other one has been yelling about. It's hilarious."

I hook a finger on the belt loop on her pants and turn her to face me.

"Please don't ask me to keep hurting you. I can't bear it."

Voto complessivo: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Tropes and vibes: mafia romance - dark romance - arranged marriage - fake marriage- opposites attract - age gap - disabled hero - possessive mmc - forced proximity

Il mio primo mafia romance, e direi che non è andata affatto male.

Organizzazioni criminali, gerarchie e lotte interne e esterne non sono un scenario tipicamente di mio gradimento, ma nel caso di Painted Scars è tutto molto soft; anche l’elemento dark non è particolarmente pesante, per cui è sicuramente un buon libro per approcciarsi al genere senza rischiare di rimanere sconvolti.

La cosa che ho preferito è indubbiamente la protagonista: ha un bel caratterino, è intelligente, ironica, e sa farsi valere senza risultare antipatica, cosa non così scontata: quante volte mi sono trovata alle prese con protagoniste “forti e indipendenti” che in realtà erano semplicemente insopportabili?

Non mi è dispiaciuto neanche come è stato affrontato il tema della disabilità, e Roman sa ben dosare possessività e dolcezza. A suo modo, è uno che rimane fedele a se stesso, e ci sono cose che non è disposto a cambiare neanche per amore.

Insomma, lui e Nina sono un perfetto esempio del “Dio li fa e poi li accoppia”.

Insomma, qualche neo, ma nulla che non possa essere aggiustato con il proseguire della serie.

Ilaria Emme

Voto complessivo: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Dramma: 💧💧.5
Sugar: 🧁🧁🧁
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Tropes and vibes: mafia romance - dark romance - arranged marriage - fake marriage- opposites attract - age gap - disabled hero - possessive mmc - forced proximity

Il mio primo mafia romance, e direi che non è andata affatto male.

Organizzazioni criminali, gerarchie e lotte interne e esterne non sono un scenario tipicamente di mio gradimento, ma nel caso di Painted Scars è tutto molto soft; anche l’elemento dark non è particolarmente pesante, per cui è sicuramente un buon libro per approcciarsi al genere senza rischiare di rimanere sconvolti.

La cosa che ho preferito è indubbiamente la protagonista: ha un bel caratterino, è intelligente, ironica, e sa farsi valere senza risultare antipatica, cosa non così scontata: quante volte mi sono trovata alle prese con protagoniste “forti e indipendenti” che in realtà erano semplicemente insopportabili?

Non mi è dispiaciuto neanche come è stato affrontato il tema della disabilità, e Roman sa ben dosare possessività e dolcezza. A suo modo, è uno che rimane fedele a se stesso, e ci sono cose che non è disposto a cambiare neanche per amore.

Insomma, lui e Nina sono un perfetto esempio del “Dio li fa e poi li accoppia”.

I miei personali “contro”:

è un libro breve, e non mi sarebbe dispiaciuto un ritmo meno accelerato; l’autrice ha uno stile stringato che, da una parte, fa sì che il libro si divori in un niente; dall’altra, a fine pasto potresti non essere sazio;

è prevedibile, soprattutto per quanto riguarda il third act break up, che si scorge da lontano e con un bel po’ di anticipo.

Insomma, qualche neo, ma nulla che non possa essere aggiustato con il proseguire della serie.

I’m in!

خیلی کوتاه بود و داستان پلات توییست خاصی نداشت. برای وقت گذرونی و استراحت بین جلد های طولانی خیلی خوب بود. نسبت به باقی ژانر های مافیایی لایت تر و کمتر بدون قوانین خاصی بود. پاخان ابهت پاخان هایی که خونده بودم رو نداشت ولی خیلی سگ بود و لیدر خوبی بود. 

شخصیت ها خوب بودن ولی میتونست به شخصیت رومن بیشتر پرداخته بشه و فقط آخرش یکم از بچگی‌ش گفت. بعضی جاها هم خیلی زود عبور میکرد. 

نینا شخصیت باحالی داشت و دوسش داشتم. تصمیمتاشم خیلی کم پیش میومد که بگم احمقانه‌س. ولی قدشو نمیتونستم تصور کنم...

انتظارم از صحنه های اسپایسش بیشتر بود و بنظرم پتانسیل خفن تر شدن داشت ولی مشخص بود نویسنده نمیخواست تو این صفحه های کم زیاد به اسپایس بپردازه.

درکل شخصیت ها دوست داشتنی و وایب قشنگی داشت داستان. دوستش داشتم و احتمالا سراغ جلد بعدی هم برم. 

چیز خاصی نداشت کتاب ولی چون خوش گذرونی باحالی بود و وایبش رو دوست داشتم بهش ⭐⭐⭐⭐ میدم.

yasaman 

تموم شد🥹 

خیلی کوتاه بود و داستان پلات توییست خاصی نداشت. برای وقت گذرونی و استراحت بین جلد های طولانی خیلی خوب بود. نسبت به باقی ژانر های مافیایی لایت تر و کمتر بدون قوانین خاصی بود. پاخان ابهت پاخان هایی که خونده بودم رو نداشت ولی خیلی سگ بود و لیدر خوبی بود. 

شخصیت ها خوب بودن ولی میتونست به شخصیت رومن بیشتر پرداخته بشه و فقط آخرش یکم از بچگی‌ش گفت. بعضی جاها هم خیلی زود عبور میکرد. 

نینا شخصیت باحالی داشت و دوسش داشتم. تصمیمتاشم خیلی کم پیش میومد که بگم احمقانه‌س. ولی قدشو نمیتونستم تصور کنم...

انتظارم از صحنه های اسپایسش بیشتر بود و بنظرم پتانسیل خفن تر شدن داشت ولی مشخص بود نویسنده نمیخواست تو این صفحه های کم زیاد به اسپایس بپردازه.

درکل شخصیت ها دوست داشتنی و وایب قشنگی داشت داستان. دوستش داشتم و احتمالا سراغ جلد بعدی هم برم. 

چیز خاصی نداشت کتاب ولی چون خوش گذرونی باحالی بود و وایبش رو دوست داشتم بهش ⭐⭐⭐⭐ میدم.

بای بای نینا و رومن



I love the writing style and characters. It is a book that is very easy to read (I read it in one sitting). The ending felt a little bit rushed and could have been a bit longer and slower. It was not as dark as I expected (in violence and slice)

Emma Kamer

This book was short marriage of convenience and was ok. A mafia romance I got a bit bored I wouldn’t read again. 

Hana 

Emily 

Charlie Winchester 

Monserrat Navarro 

Whitney Nicole

I frankly don’t care if this was an insta-love trope. *I* insta-loved it.

Roman Petrov is the sweet, protective mafia boss that everyone who reads mafia romances hopes to find. Definitely a milder, softer take on the genre but it worked VERY well. Pair that with the forced proximity trope? Perfect recipe for a binge read. 

Also, some of the scenes were just so cute I legitimately giggled. Plenty of humor paired in with the sweet. Whatever itch you had that led you to looking at this book, I guarantee it will scratch it. Highly recommend :)

loren

suki

This book had the FULL potential to be solid 5 ⭐ read. I just wish it had more depth and essentially was longer than it was.

I'd definitely condone this book being 400+ pages with the plot it had.

Stranded 

This book had the FULL potential to be solid 5 ⭐ read. I just wish it had more depth and essentially was longer than it was.

I'd definitely condone this book being 400+ pages with the plot it had.

Love the guy tho (forgot his name 🤐)

Ok…I think I have found my new favorite series. I read one of her previous books and was a bit skeptical but ended up loving it. So I came into this one with high hopes and still loved it. She writes their love stories so so so well. I eat it up every time, borderline ravenous. Nina being a painter and Roman being the Russian mafia boss is the dynamic. Also Nina is so funny which made this book all the better. Loved loved loved.

Tiana holt

Nouran Hazem

This probably shouldn’t be 5 ⭐️ but I ate that book up and finished it in one sitting, and Roman and Nina were simply iconic I love them so much… Nina was a badass queen and had me cracking up! 
obviously like the rest of the books in the series the book is so short, so the timeline is always too fast.. maybe I’ll drop the rating later since this was obviously not a good book but it was a fun book!

detelinka

lovely for a forst read of the year. dark (light compared to other of my reads), smutty, cute, mafia yk all the basics of the wattpad story. funny enough i found some grammar mistakes but overall i loved it. i read it in one sitting bc its kinda short tho, good thing its the first of 6 parts :p

Cherryreads

When will I learn tiktok can't be trusted...
This was so horrible.

 would've been five stars if it hadn't been so rushed. The plot was really fast paced and so much happened in so few pages that it was hard to keep up. Sometimes you have to go a little slower to create tension and in this case it was to fast resolved to create any.

However, I loved Roman. It was so refreshing to read about someone so respectful in a dark romance. Yes, he still killed people but he was never rude to his staff or men. Sure, he was firm and barked out orders but he always tried his best to keep everyone safe.

He never once trashtalked a woman (at least as far as I know) and he didn't force himself on the fmc. He didn't even want the marriage at first because he didn't want to drag a normal girl into this life and that's just the cutest thing I've ever read. He made sure he never touched her without her approval.🥹 It was so wholesome when you compare it to other mafia men or worse, Zade.

I loved Nina, too! She was such an interesting character. She was okay with killing people but not because of her. She was okay with marrying into the Mafia because why bother when she can't control the outcame either way. She did something that a lot of women in these books don't do. Listen. She managed to have her own mind and didn't take shit from him (not that our teddy bear would ever do such thing) but she was smart enough to play the game.

Their communication skills were so good! There was never a misunderstanding, they were always open with each other, and I loved that for them! I loved it for me, too, because it kept my anxiety at bay haha

I loved the main characters.

It would've been five stars if it hadn't been so rushed. The plot was really fast paced and so much happened in so few pages that it was hard to keep up. Sometimes you have to go a little slower to create tension and in this case it was to fast resolved to create any.

However, I loved Roman. It was so refreshing to read about someone so respectful in a dark romance. Yes, he still killed people but he was never rude to his staff or men. Sure, he was firm and barked out orders but he always tried his best to keep everyone safe.

He never once trashtalked a woman (at least as far as I know) and he didn't force himself on the fmc. He didn't even want the marriage at first because he didn't want to drag a normal girl into this life and that's just the cutest thing I've ever read. He made sure he never touched her without her approval.🥹 It was so wholesome when you compare it to other mafia men or worse, Zade.

I loved Nina, too! She was such an interesting character. She was okay with killing people but not because of her. She was okay with marrying into the Mafia because why bother when she can't control the outcame either way. She did something that a lot of women in these books don't do. Listen. She managed to have her own mind and didn't take shit from him (not that our teddy bear would ever do such thing) but she was smart enough to play the game.

Their communication skills were so good! There was never a misunderstanding, they were always open with each other, and I loved that for them! I loved it for me, too, because it kept my anxiety at bay haha

Lover of Romance 

Painted Scars is the first book in the "Perfectly Imperfect" series and this series has been all over the romance book community I feel like and I finally decided to pick her up. She has been on my TBR for quite a while and Its been a while since I read such a good Mafia Romance. Now while it didn't quite make it to a five star read, it was still a solid read and I am very intrigued about this. I had such a good time with the authenticity that is delivered in this one. I really adored the way in which the author implemented this story here. There are many fun aspects to this story and while it wasn't a perfect book for me, it was such a win. I have to say that it was such a page turner, and I couldn't put this book down. So I will warn you that her writing is very gripping and you will be so easily drawn into the story. 

(Spoiler Section)
Painted Scars though had some issues for me, if I am behind honest. My largest issue was the heroine. I really struggled with character especially in the later half of the story. Like she devotes herself to the hero but then runs scared and wants a divorce when she is faced with the reality of being in the mafia which she knew going into in the first place. I just felt like she was too rash and didn't give herself time to think it over before ending it all and the hero I am sorry he didn't deserve the pain she put him through. And then the whole groveling she does, well I think the hero deserved more. She just seemed so naive to me and wasn't able to take accountability for her lack of commitment to her husband. 

Overall while I had some issues, I had a wonderful time with this one here. And I can't wait to explore this series, as I hear it gets better with each book.

Painted Scars Perfectly Imperfect #1