ARC Review - Publish Date July 4, 2023
Author: Sam Crescent
Series: Volkov Bratva Series book #3
Category: Dark Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
"This was a death sentence. I knew that. The Volkov Bratva was not a good...anything. They were dangerous, deadly, and my life had a ticking clock attached to it. Tick tock. It wouldn't be long until I took my last breath." - Charlotte
Ive was a complicated man, who really wasn't all that complicated in what he wanted in life, until her. All he wanted was to do his job well and without too much hassle, and Charlotte becoming his wife was the definition of inconvenient to him. There is nothing sweet about Ive, except all the ways that he grows to care and provide for Charlotte.
"Yeah, that was a real fucking surprise to me as well. I actually wanted to spend time with my wife. It was unexpected. I had started to look forward to seeing her. No woman had ever left me feeling that way. This was all new to me." - Ive
Ive spent a great deal of time fighting his desire for his wife, but even then, he always treated her well and protected her feelings. He was gentle and seemed to always know the right thing to say to guide her into finding herself worthy of living. Ive complains time and time again that he never wanted to be married, least of all to a woman so young, but from the first day he treated her with respect and strove to make her happy while putting her safety first.
Charlotte had a horrible life and at the beginning of the book she had very little self-esteem or confidence. Despite everything she had endured, Charlotte was very sweet, open, and honest, although understandably guarded when she wasn't positive her thoughts were truly wanted. The author did a great job of showing her growth as a person throughout the story and her slow-burn romance with Ive.
"No one has ever treated me like this. There had been no guy in my past and there certainly wouldn't be anyone else. I belonged to Ive, and I loved that I was his, in everything. I was the mistake, but now, I was his wife." - Charlotte
For being a scary, brutal mafia boss, I couldn't stop picturing Ivan as a fairy godmother of sorts. He immediately took Charlotte under his wing, and though he continued to manipulate situations, I really did think he had her best interests at heart. I smiled every time he goaded Ive into being a better husband to Charlotte.
"But then, Charlotte's life had been full of monsters. I wonder if she considered Ivan a good monster. As if there were truly any of them around." - Ive
My one disappointment was how rushed the ending of the book was. The reader knows something bad is going to happen but as the pages went by and I got closer to the end of the story, I realized that the confrontation would be quick. I would have loved a more drawn-out ending, however, I appreciated the page space Charlotte and Ive's relationship got so that would have meant a longer page count.
"The one thing I know from my short existence: life is real fucking cruel." - Charlotte
I haven't read a ton of Mafia books, but this one was a great read. There wasn't a ton of gore/violence despite people being killed, and the characters were morally grey but had hard limits on innocents. While Charlotte and Ive's relationship ends on a HEA, there is plenty of setup for more books in the series and clearly more to come from the Volkov Bratva.
This is the third book in the series, and even though there is enough backstory given in the book that you could read it as a stand alone, I'd recommend reading the series from the beginning, starting with Second Best.
Tropes and Themes: Mafia, Arranged Marriage, Age Gap, Touch Her and Die, Anti-Hero.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you BookSirens and Evernight Publishing for the opportunity.
Blurb
I was the mistake.
A piece of trash.
No one wanted me.
All of my life I’d been told this. I meant nothing. I was nothing.
The Volkov Bratva made a mistake. They kidnapped me and it should have been my sister. My father wanted me dead. I expected Ivan Volkov to kill me. Instead, they killed my father, and now I’m to marry Ive Yahantov, a brigadier. I’m to be his wife. The man hates me. He doesn’t want me.
I don’t know what changes, but I go from being ignored, to being with Ive all the time. We share everything. The life I thought was only ever going to be that of a dream, becomes my reality. I’m falling for the man I thought I would hate. But nothing is ever certain. Ivan Volkov faked his death, and the repercussions of that is far and wide. My husband has enemies, and those enemies, they’ve come to collect.
I knew I was going to die young, but I had no idea life could be so cruel. I knew peace. I knew love. I knew happiness, and now, it was all going to be taken away.
Kommentare