Roxy Sloane

Okay, okay... I read this about a week ago and sat on it, trying to decide how I felt. I should also admit that I'm on the 3rd/last book in the series now, so I can't say I wasn't interested enough to immediately start the next book each time the prior ended. This review is spoilery, FYI, but I'm not hiding it.

I'll preface this by saying that I love romance, I love horror, I obviously enjoy some dark romance, I love love enemies-to-lovers, aaaaaand I don't always have the best taste in show more literature, if my favorites are any indication (I'm a simple girl, not much brain here, ie easy to please). I'm also weirdly okay with questionable "romantic"/sexual situations, which this series is chock full of, though I'd say there's consent involved in all of these. Some of my favorite books involve two people that really don't like each other but still eventually (and predictably) fall into bed/love together. I'm sure there's something that happened in my childhood (or in my entire generation's childhood, since we all seem to be keen on the tsundere/enemies-to-lovers romance thing) that influenced me into liking this type of thing so much, because even my personal relationships have leaned that way. There's just something so satisfying (to me) about a romance where the two people are warring with feelings of hate/dislike but still manage to fall for one another. I think it's so much more intense, interesting, exciting, hot... Anyway, this entire paragraph has been a tangent that I'm sure no one will read.


I started this series kind of new to the mafia romance sub-genre (I guess it's actually more of a full blown genre these days), but I've been sniffing around it for a while now. I hated 365 Days will a full-blown passion, but I still like some of this stuff, so I read the blurb for this book and thought hey, that sounds like my thing. Sure enough, it kind of was...

Our main FL is... I honestly don't even remember her name, hold on lemme look.........LILY! That's her. It should have stuck, Lilith/Lillith is one of my favorite names to use. Anyway, Lily is a frustrating character. Now, she's not the worst I've read, but she did some things that really made me make an angry face, pull my hair, or just sigh in exasperation. She's portrayed as this strong girl that went through all these hardships throughout her life because her dad ratted out the mafia king and thus propelled their family into witness protection and less fortunate financial status, but you'd never know this girl had to make any tough choices. She constantly makes poor decisions throughout the series, the most glaring one regarding communication. This.girl.does.not.know.how.to.communicate. Aside from that, I didn't hate her, she's just annoying.


Now for our ML, Nero... He's basically the quintessential booktok bad boy/villain everyone wants right now, and I can't say I'm not right there with them, even if I don't love some of his quirks. He's tall, he's muscley, he's hot, he's a dick, he's made questionable tattoo decisions (really Nero, tribal), and he's all dommy and bossy. He's mostly my type, so sure, I like him, I'll admit it, I'm part of the cliche right now, I'm okay with that. Y'all can keep your weirdo Christian Grey, thanks. I love a good bad boy with a soft heart and controlling tendencies, and Nero delivers, though he's got plenty of things to not love. I'm well aware these guys that I think are hot in books I would probably hate in real life, but that's not a shock, and I'd probably still go for them anyway.

Anyway, the "story". Lily and Nero used to be a thing back when they were young, like high school age. Lily was rich, Nero was the mafia boss's son, and they fell in love. Eventually Lily's dad ratted on Nero's father (Roman, I think?) to the FBI, got him sent to prison, so she and her family were whisked away suddenly one night into witness protection. She was unable to say goodbye to Nero, who annoyingly assumes the worst: that she betrayed them along with her father. Lily and her fam are now middle class, parents marriage begins to fall apart, mom splits, dad passes, and soon she and her younger brother are the only ones left of their traitorous family. Her brother goes off to college, supposedly blissfully unaware of what all happened because he was so young, while Lily moves around trying to keep them both under the radar so Nero will never find them.

I will say, I appreciate that the story picked up pretty much right away. There weren't chapters of her running to slog through; Nero shows on page one and immediately finds her, though it's coincidental. He love/hates her because of the assumed betrayal, instead of just asking her what happened, and she of course doesn't explain anything to him.

That right there is the most annoying part of this damn series: MiScOmMuNiCaTiOn.


This is a constant issue throughout the series, even in the final book, and it is mind-numbingly, teeth-grindingly, hair-pullingly fucking annoying. I mean, the entire premise of this book is set upon one, with Nero assuming she was part of the betrayal. I get that they were both kids, but they were in love. I mean, I'm old now, but I was that age once, and your first love can be mind altering. In a situation like this, I find it really impossible to believe she wouldn't have found some way to reach out to him. If I'd been in her position, I would have - I was a total idiot at 16, especially for love, so I probably would have burned my family to the ground for it.


Anyway, he's a mean asshole to her in the first book because he wants her but doesn't trust her because of what happened. He threatens her and lets his asshole right hand, Chase, toss her around. She and Nero are locked up in a house living together, but it's not like they talk, so they of course don't hash out what happened and get past it. I was screaming at the book, begging them to communicate, but nope. They do some sexy time, because he's got that magical D and she's got that sweet V, so we hear about that constantly. I like smut but this got a little old sometimes, though not 50 Shades inner goddess annoying, thank fucking god.


I honestly enjoyed the slow burn and the gradual opening up to one another. I knew it wouldn't last because of all the dumb shit she hadn't told him about, but I liked it while it lasted. I feel like the more hard won it is, the sweeter, so I wanted it to drag on. However, when the miscommunication is revealed, it caused such a shitshow that I just had to roll my eyes.

Anyway, I didn't plan on rehashing the entire plot, because honestly each book blended into the other and I don't exactly remember what happened in which book, so I'll end it here. This felt kind of wattpady, like some others have said, but I guess you could say that about most books of this type.

I liked this book, I kind of guiltily like this series, but I know there has to be better mafia romance types out there, so I'm giving it a 3 because miscommunication is fucking annoying and shouldn't drive the entire plot of a series. show less

Hahaha, I'm laughing at myself because I know I should have better taste of books now that I'm an adult, but no. At least this is a step up from the Horrorscape series! I can give myself some credit there. Nero is definitely not Gavin. Anyway.

I read this book right after finishing the first, because I have a shitty memory and I wanted to just power through them. I'm currently still getting through the third/last one. The lines between each book have blurred a little and I'm trying to recall show more how this one started.

I'm not making this as long as the last review because, honestly, I doubt anyone is reading this. I like hearing myself type but I know when to stop, sort of.

Anyway (x2), I first thought I liked this book slightly more than the first, but now that I've mulled it over, I think I like it about the same, which is that I don't but kinda do like it but still sorta don't. I think the fact that they finally started to mutually like each other made me happy, but that made what happened even more annoying. I just wanted them to talk and sort things out, and they did at one point, but then more miscommunications come crashing down and ruin things again.

That's a trend with this series, as I mentioned in my last review (not that you read it): this series loves miscommunication. It's based on that, it continues to build plot on that, and I'm sure it'll end on it in some way, shape, or form.

If you care to browse through my highlights, there were several points where Lily did stupid shit, as she's prone to do, that we all knew would later cause problems. The main one was that she speaks to a divorce lawyer AFTER she and Nero FINALLY sort out the huge miscommunication of the first book, him thinking she was involved in the betrayal of his father. She got the guy's info prior to that, then she and Nero make up, then she still makes an appointment to go see the lawyer and gives him the OK to get the paperwork ready, just in case. Like why, girl. I literally highlighted that part and said it would come back later, and sure enough, it eventually does. I can't remember if it was this book or the next.

Another thing that annoyed me about this series is the fact that, despite being a super overprotective and controlling guy, Nero leaves her alone on multiple occasions in the weirdest places. Like the club, when Chase found her and fucked things up like he always does, sending us into the big confrontation of the second book. Why would Nero leave her alone in a club? I mean, I guess he can't take her with him to the bathroom, but why doesn't he just hold it since they're about to go home? I dunno.

Overall, this book was a little more exciting than the first, and like I said, I liked them liking each other, and I didn't mind the eventual fallout, I was just mad about the reason. I know this type of book is ultra cringe, but still sometimes kinda hot, while at the same time you're telling yourself you have horrible taste and sending yourself to horny jail. I doubt I'd ever read this series again, but it's an OK 3 stars. I at least prefer it over some other shit I've read. show less

OMG!!! That ending was just... How could you do that to me. My heart is still racing. I kind of guessed what was going to happen, but still. The writing and the story just drew me in. I never wanted it to end.

I'm in love with both of the main characters and can't wait to read more of their story. Despite coming from different backgrounds, they seemed to really hit it off and there was still a 'real' element to their relationship. And let's not forget the sex. It's very fan worthy hot.

However show more I need the next book like now. show less

OMG!!! That ending was just... How could you do that to me. My heart is still racing. I kind of guessed what was going to happen, but still. The writing and the story just drew me in. I never wanted it to end.

I'm in love with both of the main characters and can't wait to read more of their story. Despite coming from different backgrounds, they seemed to really hit it off and there was still a 'real' element to their relationship. And let's not forget the sex. It's very fan worthy hot.

However show more I need the next book like now. show less