This is a spoiler-free review! A list of trigger warnings can be found in the beginning of the book. You can read my review of Sweet Sin on my blog, here.
Imagine the absolute delight I experienced when I found out that this book was a cross between a loose Hades and Persephone retelling and a mafia romance -- giggling and kicking my feet before I even opened the book. Since I read Sweet Sin prior to getting into the book, I at least had a little background on Kallum and Elena's relationship dynamic and their characterization. The way you can tell that he is absolutely obsessed with Elena right from the beginning had me feeling all sorts of ways, and you could tell that he was not going to let it go until she was his.
The pacing moves pretty fast in the beginning of the book, where the author basically rushes through a ton of pretty big plot events that are happening in a short amount of time, so you can really feel the sense of urgency that Kallum and Elena are experiencing. They have this dynamic between them that just screams electricity while also very much giving into the enemies-to-lovers with a side of friends with benefits. Yes, he is fourteen years older than her and YES she did just turn eighteen.... technicalities, people, technicalities.
So WHAT if he basically kidnaps her?? I call it doing that girl a favor, because boy oh boy she would not have liked where her life ended up if things did not go according to his plan. And you can clearly tell that she secretly loves that it happened, because her home life was not giving The Brady Bunch happy family by any means. Not counting her sisters, my girl Elena needed to get away from her parents immediately. So shoutout to Kal for making that choice for her, we love a thoughtful gentleman.
I literally could not get over the way that Kal talks to Elena.. like oh?? my god?? The man has absolutely no filter and does not hold back for even a second. And the way that he talks about Elena to her mother? I nearly had a heart attack thinking every one of their conversations was going to end in bloodshed. He is totally possessive of her and does not let anyone manhandle or force her to doing anything... unless it's him. Elena is very confident in herself and definitely gives Kal a run for his money when it comes to being stubborn and hotheaded, but it makes their match so great. I would have loved to see more scenes of them being domestic or of Kal being protective over Elena, but the smutty scenes more than made up for it.
Elena's sisters had me cracking up, especially because they are younger than her yet seem so much more comfortable speaking in an "inappropriate" way in front of their parents, and definitely do not hold back when asking Elena about her relationships. Her parents on the other hand are a completely different story -- they agitated me so much throughout the entire book, and her mother is downright despicable when certain events are revealed. Elena's mother does this complete turn around as a character compared to how we originally view her in the beginning of the book, and I have to say I do not wish her the best.
The plot was pretty straight forward and there were not really any super crazy twists and turns, so it pretty much read as a forced relationship romance book with a darker undertone. I definitely would have loved some more action to happen, because there are some moments that do seem to drag on just a bit that made me wish the plot would just move forward. Some things were pretty underdeveloped and I found myself a little disappointed that the author did not dive into some more deeper stuff, especially because it is such a quick read that it felt like it was over way too soon. There was not nearly enough groveling at the end of the book -- the author pretty much drops a bomb on the main character (which was completely obvious) and then three chapters later the book is over.
If you're looking for a quick mafia romance read, this was a fun surface level read that filled the transition period as I decided on what I wanted to read next. I am not sure if I would continue reading the series, but I never say never and seem to always come back around in the end.
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