NetGalley Reviewer nix21230

Not Mine to Keep is a romantic suspense novel about Calliope DiMaggio, who is trying to escape her family's mafia ties. Despite her efforts to live a normal life as a teacher and singer in Nashville, her father's dying wish forces her back into the mafia lifestyle. Even worse, she finds herself in an arranged marriage to a wealthy billionaire, Alessandro Costa. What started as pretend, soon turns real and as Calliope and Alessandro's relationship deepens, they find themselves caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse involving secrets, betrayal, and a deadly threat to their lives.  Great mixture of romantic suspense, strong characters, intense plot twists, and a thrilling storyline, The characters are well-developed and relatable. A fab combination of romance, danger, and family drama, but at times quite dark, with themes of violence and betrayal.  "She’s the kind of friend that points out your crown is slipping, not quietly helps fix it."

This is a two-part story which does what it says on the tin: mafia, bad boys, enemies to lovers, and some steam. VICIOUS HEIR: Enemies to lovers. Force marriage.  This Angel and Emma' story. Emma saves Angel's life and as a mob thank you, she's made Angels captive.  BRUTAL ENFORCER: Revenge turns to mutual love. This is Omar and Lyce's story. Lyce is the daughter of the rivalling family and their union is less than applauded by their families. 

I have been hooked on the Blood Brothers books since I stumbled upon the first one on Netgalley in 2021. Fast paced, bad boys, mafia, corrupt police and strong capable women. If you haven't read them all, I recommend that you do; you're in for a treat! I thought MARKED, the fifth book in the series was going to be the last one, but the ending said differently, and here we are almost a year later -- the sixth book in the series -- UNBROKEN. It sure delivers!! Savannah is the mafia princess her father wants to protect at all costs, although she's fighting against his domineering control every step of the way. It gets even worse when she's told she needs to go away for a week with a 'babysitter' from Backcountry Protection Services. Toth has very reluctantly accepted the assignment to protect Savannah - he said no repeatedly, but that was exactly what made him the perfect man for the job! Fighting to keep Savannah safe and keeping his own feelings under wraps, this...

Blue Blood is marketed as an arranged marriage mafia romance. This is the first book in The Family series.  Gio and Ana are betrothed to get married.  Ana comes across as a very independent women, with her own interest including a money making seamstress business which she has funded completely on her own without support.   The lead of the mafia families, and his wife are assassinated and Gio steps in as the new Don. Very quickly it becomes clear that there are a lot of old messes to tidy up and opposing fractions to get rid of.  Following the wedding, we learn more about the mafia business, the betrayals, and the fighting for power. The wedding night is one to remember, not due to the spice, but rather due to one of Ana's innocent questions! There is more intrigue and business than romance, but still plenty to enjoy.  This book will be available on 15 September 2023. #BlueBlood #Netgalley

I hadn't come across Lisa Renee Jones before but couldn't resists this boxset when it came up on Netgalley - EIGHT books in one go and no wait in-between!!! Reading through the whole series, I feel that you really need to read them as pairs to avoid any frustrating cliff hangers. All books build on each other, and the storyline felt more 'complete' after every second book. Murder Notes (1) and Murder Girl (2) Murder Notes provides a fantastic start to the Lilah Love series. All the key characters are introduced.  Lilah is the sought after profiler at the FBI. She has a cunning way to 'speak with' dead bodies and to think like a killer. She also has a romantic past with Kane, who we're repeatedly told is NOT the lead of the Mendez cartel... Other key characters include Lilah's family who all work for the police force and not really approve of her links with Kane. We are also introduced to the many victims and their families as Lilah is trying to follow le...

I don't know how many versions of this review I have deleted by now, but as it's being published tomorrow I really need to get this review written (I don't believe in not reviewing books I have received for free). If you like the stereotypical naive younger girls marrying older men type of story, then this book could be for you. Building a story around a young woman being treated like property and being offered to the highest bidder just doesn't work for me, although she does end up with the son, so in a way that was positive. The writing is promising and some of the characters (Roman and Elena!) could be interesting to learn more about, but I'm not sure this book will hook readers to get the rest of the books in the Sokolov Bratva series. #SavageBoss #NetGalley

Finally we get Cole's story and it sure delivers! Marked, the fifth book in the Blood Brothers series, written by Samantha Wilde.  Bad boy and contract killer Cole Holmes is drawn into rescuing a little girl who's been kidnapped; the "only" complication being that her mother is Detective Sophia Aldridge who is hell-bent on putting Cole behind bars for his many crimes.  They shouldn't work together but needs must, and other needs develop along the way.  I have been hooked on the Blood Brothers books since I stumbled upon the first one on Netgalley in 2021. Fast paced, bad boys, mafia, corrupt police and strong capable women. If you haven't yet read them all, I recommend that you do; you're in for a treat.  I thought this would be the last book, but after having read the last few paragraphs I am not so sure any longer... #Marked #NetGalley

Chemistry knows no borders, and breaks all rules of what should and shouldn't happen - but the consequences are still there. Would you risk your life and your career for love? Jess Montell, a parole officer, meets Trace West, the Mafia bad boy and heir, at a hockey game and the attraction is immediate. After finding out who the other one is, they both knows that logically the relationship is completely impossible - since when does police and crime enter a relationship? Events continue bringing them together and their story develops at a great pace throughout the book.  Highly enjoyable and addictive!   The only negative is the end, and the fact that the next book in the "Kings of New York" series in not available until April 2023. Keep an eye out for A Cruel Arrangement. #ADirtyBusiness #NetGalley

Her Vengeful King is the first book in the dark mafia romance series Black Hearts. Callum Murphy is the heir to the Irish Mafia in Boston and he's always satisfied his needs with one-night stands, never even missing something more long lasting. Haley Savino, a former surgeon in the army, as sworn off men since she was young, keeping busy with studying and later her medical army career.   The two meet via Callum's younger brother who served with Haley and the chemistry is undeniable.  Stauber has created a fantastic plot, with many characters likely to have their own books in the future. Superb pace and suspense throughout, and very believable characters; a great first book in the series!   Thank You to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read this hot eARC. This book is available now.  #HerVengefulKing #NetGalley

James Swallow has done it again! Anti hero Kevin has a REALLY BAD day and it's about to get even worse. His relationship with his daughter is at rock bottom, he's just lost a big deal and his business partner has cleared out the company leaving Kevin with nothing, stranded in a foreign country. To make it even worse, he stumbles on some cash and makes a bad decision, messing with the bad guys.  The fast paced, unexpected and clever story line makes this a thoroughly enjoyable, hard to put down book.  By the way, if you haven't yet read Nomad, Exile and the other books in the  Marc Dane series , go and do that NOW!    [ Link to Amazon ]  Thank you to NetGalley and Welbeck Publishing for allowing me to read this eARC. The book is due to be published on 26 May 2022, but you can pre-order your copy now.

Title: Unchained (#3 Blood Brothers) Author: Samantha Wilde This is the third book in the Blood Brothers series by Samatha Wilde (Keith) -- and it's another corker by Wilde!  A fantastic, hard-to-put-down romantic thriller with a medical and ethical theme. Fabulous, fast-paced writing is carrying the story to a happy ending via a few twists and turns. Highly recommended! Brooks Ivanov, the brother of Alexis who we met in the first book in the series, has been kidnapped, sold and tortured for medical research; and personal gain of his owner. His memory is destroyed and he's at the end of his tether, believing death would be better than his current circumstances.  Camryn Bayfield is trying to keep a low profile and accepts a job working as a nurse in the Utah dessert. During her first shift she's tasked with administering drugs to Brooks, but her gut feeling tells her something is not as it should be. She starts asking questions, but doesn't get any satisfactory answers. ...