Promises and Pomegranates

I went into this expecting an incredibly spicy dark romance, and while there was some of it there, honestly, it was my least favorite part of the book (this is coming from someone who DOES like this genre). I liked the plot line and character development, and think the story would be much better if it had more of those aspects in it. Had this book done away with the spicy scenes and been advertised as a different genre, it could've been really good, it just didn't live up to what I had been expecting.

"Was the first taste of ruin not enough for you? Do you still crave my darkness, little one?"

To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiance and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They're not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to show more set her free. They're not wrong, per se. Except it was she who ruined me.
Okay so I was a little disappointed with this book. I really loved the novella and this book just didn't even have the same vibes that the novella did. Elena and Kal felt like such different characters that it took me a moment to adjust to things. I honestly wish I hadn't read the novella, because this book is completely different. This book starts with Kal pretending that he has no interest in Elena and her dad making a deal with Kal to protect her; but Kal is playing a whole other game in the process that gets hard to follow.
The relationship between Kal and Elena is mostly just full of them ignoring each other, Elena falling in love, Kal continuing to pretend he doesn't have feelings, and them sleeping together. I think they both work well together because they compliment the other's issues well and provide a counter to it. However, throwing in the jealous mom element just made things awkward, it felt like a forced obstacle for them to overcome; when the fact that it was a mafia romance could have opened up so many other opportunities for obstacles.
I also feel like the Hades and Persephone element was overdone and not really used well. I really wish this book had gone a different route, to me it just seemed like it was creating a greater plot outline that would play into the rest of the books in the series, and Kal and Elena got lost along the way. I wish the book had been more to the level of the novella. However, I am open to reading the next one to see if I feel any differently about things. show less

Doctor Kal Anderson and Elena Ricci

Review:
Bringing a touch of Greek mythology dynamics to the mafia scene, Miller sold me on this entire series from book one! I absolutely love the dynamics.

Quotes:
"Because that is what happiness is. The people you find along the way who make life a little more bearable. And once you find them, you don't let them go."

DNF - Maybe mafia romances aren't my thing? This was rough. She kept referencing events that happened...in a previous book?? Even though this is the first one?? And I didn't realize there was an age gap until Kal kept being described as such an "old man." HE IS THIRTY TWO. Also he's melodramatic as fuck and I couldn't stop rolling my eyes at his inner monologue. I can suspend disbelief but only to a certain extent and this book tested me.

Smut book club, dark smut
Sexually Explicit, check trigger warnings before reading
Dr. Kal Anderson is known in the mafia as Doctor Death. Elena Ricci is the oldest daughter of the once preeminent Rafael Ricci, powerful mob boss in Boston. They spent a night of passion and neither can forget it. Now fate throws them together and they have to find out if passion is enough.
This book has a good plot but the sex scenes are jolting for me as I felt most were not well incorporated in the storyline. I liked the characters and most of the writing. I read an expanded version of the book with a short recounting of Kal and Elena's first night together - I read it first, maybe I should have waited until I read the main book. The footnotes were show more irritating. show less

4 stars

This was an interesting retelling of this tale. I wasn't expecting a couple of the twists. There were a couple areas that needed to be fleshed out, in my opinion. However, I put them aside because, for the most part, this was a very solid book. It was my first time reading this author, but it will not be my last.

Side note, hands down some of the sexiest steamy times that I have read. And the dirty talk?! Yeah, I almost need a shower.

I give it a three-star rating because the author said the 'framework' around her story is based on Hades and Persephone. . . For me, this was not the case. Even though they call each other 'Hades' and 'Persephone' in some chapters in the story doesn't make the framework of their myth. For me, this was more a mafia Beauty and the Beast retelling. It is okay enough to read the rest of the series.