This book was so good and kept me completely hooked; I finished it in one sitting! The characters were fantastic and I loved that Haley was a strong and independent woman who fought for herself in more ways than one. Even so, I love a good “touch her and you die” trope. I appreciated the way that her trauma was handled and worked through. It was the perfect combination of spice, danger, and romance with a great cast of characters that I would love to learn more about and follow in future books.

MORE MORE MORE!!!!

I need so much more of this series!!! I can NOT WAIT until the next book comes out!! And I have just found a new author!! 🤣so excuse me while I go find any and all other books she has written!

Book: Her Vengeful King
Author: A.N. Stauber
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: Rape, child abuse, murder, torture, sexual assault, substance abuse

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. I have never read a mafia romance before so I was skeptical, but I loved it. It was very dark and twisted, but also spicy and romantic. I loved the relationship between Callum and Haley. The ending left you wanting more and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Synopsis: Haley is an Army veteran who is struggling with PTSD from childhood trauma. Callum is the heir to the Boston Irish Mafia. Callum doesn't think he will ever fall in love until he meets Haley. Haley has put up so many walls to protect herself from her demons and she keeps pushing Callum away.

Will Haley let Callum into her world and break down those walls?


Thank you @Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Child abuse, sexual abuse, pedophilia, almost r*pe scene

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange of an honest review. The story is about Callum who’s next in line to be the mob boss and an army veteran doctor, Haley. Both of them have dark pasts especially Haley and god I feel for her so much. She has faced a lot and continues to be strong. Callum falls hard for her and is so overprotective. Their first time together was actually pretty sweet. This book handled heavy issues pretty well I think. Be sure to note the trigger warnings, Anyway I really enjoyed it and I was this close to giving it 5 stars but apparently it’s part of a series and it’s not a standalone. In fact, the story ends with a cliffhanger.

Seen this on Netgalley and it drew me in. The cover...the title...the summary. It all sounded like something I had to read.

We follow Haley Savino and Callum Murphy. Haley was a medic in the Army and now she is a surgeon. She is struggling with her childhood trauma. She drinks to escape the monsters that haunt her. She doesn't trust anyone, especially men. Callum is the heir to the Boston Irish Mafia. He only loves his family and crew. They meet at his bar for a birthday bash. He is drawn in and can't let her go. Can Haley trust him? Can he protect her from her enemies and from her demons?

I will say this right here and right now...there are a lot of things that could trigger some folks. Haley had a terrible, terrible childhood. Her twin died at a very young age in a car accident. Years later, Haley was abandoned by her father and then was molested by her stepfather. Plus there is murder and torture which is to be expected...Cal is the heir of the mob and the mob does bad things to their enemies. So yessss just be aware.

I felt SO bad for Haley. She has a lot of hurts and a lot of trauma. Poor thing needs a lot of therapy and a good support system. Not a spoiler since this is a romance, but Cal and his family (and her friend Andi) give her the support and resources she needs. The ending made me so happy! Haley deserves the world.

Now......I did struggle with how controlling Cal was sometimes. I get it.... he's a badass mafia princeling, but still. You know Haley has issues and being a controlling poop doesn't help. I'm so glad she stood her ground.

This was dark, but I did enjoy watching these two find love. They have trust issues so it really did take a while for them. They have a lot of issues to deal with before they can have their HEA. WHICH I thought worked perfect for them.

My only real big issue was that some of the smexy scenes seemed to be choppy and misplaced. Sometimes it ruined the pace of the story. There were a couple of scenes it seemed like it was just added last minute and just dropped into the middle of a scene.

Ooooo! And that cliffhanger for two side characters has me anxious! I hope it is resolved in book 2!

But yes, overall, I enjoyed this. It was dark. Very dark. Between the Mafia world and Haley battling her demons...it could be triggering for some. I loved watching them fight together to find their HEA. There were some scenes that seemed misplaced and choppy and the cliffhanger bugged me. However, I enjoyed this. I can't wait for book 2. I'll give this 3 stars.

Good book with a great start as we meet the Boston Irish Mob. I was amazed at how calm and accepting Haley was of finding herself in the middle of the Mafia yet wary of committing herself to Callum. I felt she wanted to be there but still not trusting him as a person.
Stauber’s writing kept me pulled into their story and the others in the book.
A recommended read.

i said "let me give mafia romances a try!" ouuu ntm...

this was.. there? it was here. i spent two days just looking at words and you might think "well isn't that reading" yeah... i guess. but did i REALLY read?

this book follows haley and callum. haley is an army veteran and callum is in the running to take over the irish mafia in boston. it also asks many questions about morality and what's right, ethically.

i can't even fathom giving this book a review, like a good thought out, logical review. i'm sorry but i can't. all i can tell you is that i had a little fun. i don't think we as audience were meant to take this too seriously because lord knows i didn't. it was just a funky little mafia romance, yk?

I loved this book! Haley was such a refreshing take on a mafia romance heroine and I wish there were more “normal” heroines instead of mafia princesses. Reading about Callum and his family was so heartwarming and how they accepted Haley 🤧 we love an Irish mafia book and I can’t wait to read more.

Honestly, I hated the epilogue as it was not the ending I expected which pissed me off. I was hoping for an epilogue with their wedding or their kids in the near future but what I got after reading so many pages made me angry. Ugh! At least warn us so the readers don't get disappointed.

Her Vengeful King: A Dark Mafia Romance is the first book in A.N. Stauber’s Black Hearts series. Haley Savino is an army veteran with a dark and complicated history; she is basically living a solitary life is and extremely damaged from childhood trauma. She catches the eye of Callum Murphy, scion of the Boston Mafia, He is not looking for love but something about Haley speaks to him; unfortunately, Haley is so broken that she is not physically or mentally capable of sustaining a romantic relationship. And adding injury to insult, she has a stalker, Callum inserts himself into Haley’s life in an effort to keep her safe from present danger and hopefully heal past trauma. But can Callum provide a haven for her when he is a monster? Ms. Stauber gives us a wonderfully twisted story with both graphic violence and passionate romance. I felt in some ways that Haley was unfair to Callum; he was all in in and she kept pushing him away, regardless of the lengths he went to show his loyalty and protection (he went far!!!!). I love over the top alpha males with kind hearts. We also have several interesting secondary characters, and the book ends on cliffhanger of sorts. I wait patiently for book #2.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing to me read this ARC for my honest opinion!

I was totally engrossed in the novel. I always love to read the stories of strong and independent women and this story didn't disappoint. If you're looking for a thrilling story with unforgettable characters, this book is great to read.

This is my first read by A.N.Tauber and I can't wait to read more and the second in this series.

Loved the storyline and the way she integrated Haley's sensitive past and her ways of coping was nicely done. Many triggers please read them before reading.

I loved all the characters, Tauber made me fall in love with them all especially Haley and Callum's relationship how he is with her and there instant connection.

This a must read for anyone who loves a good mafia romance with I little bit of added spice.

The perfect slow burn! Overcoming trauma and a strong but sensitive male lead. An accomplished female lead with her own career. Very skilfully executed and just the right amount of Irish dialect.

It's a very intriguing book. It slowly made you hooked to know more and more. You can also see the characters grow throughout the book.

While reading on my phone, it was at the start sometimes hard to know whose pov I was reading. Because I could see it in the table of content but not at the start of a new chapter in the book.

I’ve never ventured into reading any sort of Mafia romance before this book but man have I been missing out!
Her Vengeful King tells the story of Haley Savino, an ex-soldier and trauma surgeon dealing with a boatload of her own past trauma, and Callum Murphy, the heir to Boston’s Irish Mob with a take no prisoners attitude and a need to protect those who are closest to him.
I LOVED the development of Haley and Cal as characters. I spent the entire book wishing I could befriend Haley- she is strong, fierce and independent due to past circumstances in her life and yet she is someone who is still broken and searching for a way to overcome the broken bits and piece herself back together, despite the fact that it takes her a bit of time to work towards that conclusion.
Cal is DARK, which is to be expected since he is the next in line to take over the “family business” from his Da but there is a softer side that we get to see in him, especially when it comes to those he loves, particularly Haley and his sister. His controlling nature leads you to believe that for a majority of the book that he is one to control all aspects of Haley’s life, particularly in her safety, but when the background story of why he is that way was revealed later in the story, it made me fall in love with him even more.
There is also something so wonderful about the patience that Cal has with Haley in terms of their own relationship. Being that he has never been one to not get what he wants when he wants it, it is fascinating to see just how different he is Haley, letting her lead the way in their physical relationship (and when they finally get there is it FIRE…like )
There is a lot to unpack with this book and it comes with a plethora of trigger warnings- from child sexual abuse to murder to a childhood death to stalking. I would recommend checking looking into a full list and possibly staying away because the childhood sexual abuse and the stalker story lines are front and center for this book, but if those are things you can handle, I would 1000% recommend picking this book up- it keeps you gripped from beginning to end. It had me wanting more and seriously left me excited for the next part of their story.

I love a good dark mafia book but this one felt a bit off to me. I thought the inner monologue of callum was a bit cliché. I also thought there was too much cursing. It felt a little juvenile at times. I didn’t feel very connected to him/he didn’t seem likable to me. The first few chapters also seem a bit disjointed to me, and it doesn’t follow a natural feeling sequence. There are so many things introduced at one time, it’s hard to keep up. We learn about his father, his sister, him torturing someone, his plans for the organization, how he wants kids, his brothers, his brothers injury. All of this in such a short sequence is a little overwhelming and hard to follow. I think it takes out an aspect of mystery that a lot of dark romances have. Let us wonder about Callum, let us want to figure him out. Mysterious can be sexy.
I like the premise of how they meet, but it falls a bit flat for me, he goes from this brutal psychotic torturer to treating her like a bird with a broken wing. He seems to fixate on her shyness and it felt a bit off to me. I also think there could be more added about their physical chemistry, it’s clear that it’s there from their interaction and his observations but I like the soft fluffy details too :). I also don’t like that he refers to women as “pussy”. A lot of his personality seems inconsistent and I’m not too sure I like him.

Mafia, romance, and action all packed into this book, with a little bit of spice of course ;)

I was very much engrossed in this book from the beginning. The story was, in my opinion, very well written, which is probably why I couldn't put it down. It also ended on a cliffhanger so i will definitely be reading the second book

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!

I recieved a digital arc from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the sound of this one, I've been really into Mafia romances lately. This one was pretty good, it was very tame compared to some I'd read, but not bad. There wasn't a whole lot of Mafia stuff going on front and centre, it was all very much in the background, so we hardly saw any of it.

The twists were good, played down. The stalker was barely mentioned more than twice and the Russian thing was very quick. I did enjoy the fact that Haley was very capable of taking care of herself.

I did not like the ending at all, it was very much a cliff hanger but not for the main characters really. Obviously it was so people pick up the next book book it seemed a little random as the epilogue, especially the way Cal was talking, not sure what will happen in the future with that.

I am definitely interested in the sequel to see where the story will go next.

I ate this up!!!

I loved this book so much. It made my heart burst from joy and anger. It even got my bf to read the spicy scenes.

It was eventful and amazing. It might need some trigger warnings but i loved it so much. I cant wait for book two.