The writing felt a bit disjointed or juvenile to me. ( )

3.75 stars

I liked it.
A lot ( )

Renee Rose masters whatever genre she turns her hand to. I'm pretty sure she could write a tech manual on putting together flat pack furniture and it would turn out to be the best written manual evah. But Nico and Sondra's story isn't a manual, it's a living, breathing story about two wonderful people who are trying to figure out their love and deal with all the crap that goes along with it.

Sondra is an art history professional who happens to have crappy taste in men. She's left Reno to stay with her cousin Corey in Las Vegas while she figures out what to do after she found her slimy ex-boyfriend cheating on her. On her way into Vegas, she crashes her car. Then when she tries to get a job as a dealer at the casino where Corey works, it turns out that the only openings are in housekeeping. At least it's a job.

Nico may be part of an organized crime family, but they live in Chicago and he lives in Las Vegas and he tries to run his casino as cleanly as possible. He's also doing it almost all alone, which means he's insanely busy and he never sleeps. He can go days without sleep. So when he comes back to find Sondra in his bathroom one day, his serious lack of sleep catches up with him and he gets really paranoid and scares the ever-loving piss out of her.

Nico goes through a really interesting evolution. I enjoyed seeing who started out as and who he ended up as. I disliked him occasionally through his journey, but that's going to happen in any good book, I think. I love when the characters feel so real that I get really upset at them. Sondra does occasionally jump before she looks, and she listens to that voice of wrong a few times when she probably shouldn't, but she is a reasonably strong character who struggles with who her lover is and what he does.

I devoured this book from the first word to the last. I can't wait to read more books that take place in this world. I hope we get to see more of Nico and Sondra. ( )

4.6 stars

Mafia romance is my favorite. So when I found out that this author had written one I was ecstatic. When I read it and found out it was going to be part of a series I might have fangirled a little because it was so much better than I was anticipating.

This was a very well thought out story. There was a great foundation for the story and plenty of secondary characters that paves the way for future stories. YAY!!!

Nico is a dominant alpha mafia man that unlike typical mafia men because he wants a legitimate run family business and not one that dabbles in drugs or girls, or money. He is not a fool by thinking that he can escape it entirely which is what made this story plausible. His mouth is hotter than Hades. Sondra is the innocent sweet girl that wants to trust implicitly. She has no idea why she is so drawn to Nico but she embraces it. These two combined are perfect for each other. They are light and dark juxtaposed together.

I cannot wait to read the next in the series. I want more Corey and I definitely want more Tony. ( )

Great, quick read that was hot!! ( )