Sergei - Naomi West
Not for me. This is the first book in the Dirty Dons Club series and follows Sergei, head of the Bratva, and Naomi, waitress at a club. The two meet at the club Naomi works at and have a one-night stand. Months later, he goes back to the club to see her and finds out she's pregnant with his baby. He steps up to the plate the only way a big alpha mob boss can - by forcing her to live with him and showing her with all the money and things she could possibly need. Mafia romances are one of my favorite romance sub-genres and I've read a lot of Italian Mafia books so I was excited to pick up a Russian Bratva book. However, this book was just super dull. The only part of this book I liked was the heroine - she was an interesting character and I liked her attitude and outlook on life, especially her new life with Sergei. Everyone else, however, was super dull. Sergei was dull and his relationships with other characters were dull - at one point, someone close to him dies and we're told he's upset about it but we don't really see any of that emotion and we barely saw the two characters interacting at all anyway. The mob plot line was really dull - two gangs fighting, A kills a member of B, B kills a member of A, lather rinse repeat. And the relationship between Sergei and Naomi was basically non-existent and I found the chemistry severely lacking. At one point, Sergei even admits to the reader that all they do is fight until enough tension is built up that they just have to tear each other's clothes off to blow off some steam and they just repeat that cycle. Also, I'm 90% sure a character changes names between chapters - like one chapter he is called X and then the next chapter he's called Y. I re-read the chapters a couple times to see if I missed a character introduction but I don't think I did and the name change didn't get caught in editing (this happens close to the end and it doesn't impact the story line at all but it was super confusing for a couple minutes until I just accepted this new name). So overall, I wouldn't recommend.
The Romeo Arrangement - Nicole Snow
This is listed as a stand-alone romance but it does take place in Dallas, ND where some of Snow's other books take place - we see Drake Larkin from Accidental Knight (which takes place before this book) and Quinn Faulkner from The Best Friend Zone (which takes place after this book). This book follows Ridge and Grace. He left Hollywood behind for a more quiet life and had it until she and her father came into town and brought the trouble they were trying to run away from with them. After a chance meeting in a diner during a snowstorm, Ridge offers Grace and her father a place to stay until the roads clear. However, once he finds out just what they're up against, there's no way he's letting them go. This is a typical Nicole Snow action-romance, but a little different since in this one it is the heroine who is bringing the trouble (although the hero does still save the day). I liked the added element of Grace's dad being sick and her trying to take care of him as well as keep them both safe from the bad guys chasing them. Throw in a fake engagement and a spunky rooster and I was sold. I did find this one a little slower paced than the other books of Snow's that I've read and I think it is mostly because there wasn't as much on the page threat/investigation as in previous books. Ridge does a lot of reaching out to his buddies for info and then reading emails to Grace with what they found out. I also thought the romance wasn't as built up as it needed to be given the ending. They were both obviously into each other and had a good amount of chemistry, but Grace didn't even know if Ridge loved her for real or was still going with the fake engagement at the end and then not long after that they end up getting married? I'm wasn't quite sold, but still had a fun time reading.
Beauty and the Billionaire - Lauren Landish
This is the first book in the Dirty Fairy Tales series and follows billionaire Thomas and super-geek Mia. Mia is a data analyst for Thomas's company and when she is put on a big project, she immediately catches his attention. Sparks fly fast and the two are quickly entwined. However, Thomas is haunted by his past and he has to constantly battle the voices in his head telling him he'll never be enough. Mia has a similar story, but a much happier ending to her childhood so she understands Thomas but is also waiting for the other shoe to drop. The two work on their relationship, slowly peeling away the layers and sharing more and more about themselves. An outside force wants to destroy Thomas and his company so Thomas and Mia must put their histories aside and figure out who is behind the corporate espionage at the company. I thought the relationship dynamic was really unique and I appreciated how real and raw a lot of the emotions shared were. Thomas is by far the one with the most baggage in the relationship and it was refreshing to see a hero struggle instead of always having to be the one doing the saving. This doesn't fall into the "love fixes everything" cliche and Mia straight up tells Thomas that she can't solve all his problems and will support him when he's ready to try therapy (which he does). This book is multi-POV and while most of the chapters are either from Thomas or Mia's POV, there is a third POV of the big bad guy. We only get the big bad POV a few times throughout the novel (maybe 4 or 5?) and those chapters really wrecked the pacing for me. I know they are meant to ramp up the tension because we can see the big bad guy scheming but they were so few and far between that I really didn't care to see the puppet master. I was much more interested in getting back to Thomas/Mia and their investigation. Thomas and Mia's story is complete at the end of this book, but the overall big bad guy plot line does continue into the next book which focuses on two new characters.
Ruthless Prince - Faith Summers
Throwing in a good ol' mafia romance before the week is up. This is the first book in the Dark Syndicate series and follows Massimo and Emilia. Emilia is planning on going to art school in Italy when she is told she will instead marry Massimo in order to clear some of her father's debt to Massimo's family. There is a good amount of bad blood between the two families, going back decades, and Massimo knows Emilia's father won't give up his empire without a fight. From there, this is a pretty standard mafia arranged marriage romance. The romance plot was so similar to Savage Beginnings by J.L. Beck and C. Hallman that I had to double check that I hadn't read this one before. The mafia plot with the Syndicate group was interesting and that plot line continues into the next book in the series (but Massimo and Emilia's story is complete in this book). I did like their chemistry and Massimo seemed softer than other mafia heroes. He's not a softy by any means, but he does earn Emilia's heart by the end which stands out a bit in the mafia sub-genre. So overall, it was a good mafia romance, but with a very similar plot to other books I've read. That being said, I'm excited to continue on with the series to see how the Syndicate group plot line turns out (the other books aren't released yet) and to see Massimo's brothers get their happily ever afters.
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