I was so excited to finally get my hands on "Be With Me" by Gabrielle Sands, and it absolutely delivered! As a huge fan of mafia romances, especially those with a delicious slow burn, this book was everything I'd hoped for and more.

"Be With Me" plunges you into a world of forbidden desire, centering on the enemies-to-lovers trope. We're introduced to Mia, the seemingly perfect daughter of a prominent political figure, and Romolo Ferraro, the intense and morally grey son of the mafia boss her father aims to destroy.

The contrast between Mia and Romolo is simply captivating. Mia's polished exterior hides a yearning for something more, while Romolo's dark and dangerous aura is utterly compelling. Their interactions are charged with a palpable tension that builds with every page. The slow-burn romance is executed perfectly, making the eventual payoff incredibly satisfying. And when the spice hits, it's explosive!

But "Be With Me" offers more than just a captivating romance. The intricate plot, filled with political intrigue, shocking family secrets, and past betrayals, kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when you think you know where the story is going, another layer is revealed.

This book is a masterclass in balancing intense chemistry with a gripping storyline. It's a world that's easy to get lost in, and the author does a great job of giving you enough details to understand the dynamics without ever overwhelming the reader.

If you love dark mafia romances, enemies-to-lovers stories, and slow-burns that deliver on their promise, "Be With Me" is an absolute must-read.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I eagerly await the next installment in this series!

I thought this book was the first in the series but then I read the author’s note that Cosimo story already happened. I was very confused, so maybe this is a rerelease? I think the backstory got cobbled together and did not make a lot of sense to me. The writing was ok enough that I did finish the book, but was not super invested in the plot. There were a lot of holes and rough patches to those holes. I did not like the characters that much. There was some Romeo and Juliet vibes, but the mafia aspect of the story was very minor. Their relationship did not consist of a lot, she is selfless and all he wants is her. His trauma was strange, and it did not help the story. Mia being unloved by her family was not that interesting and it came across as pathetic. Lots of hints to her friend Fabi’s upcoming marriage for the next book or is already the first book. I would not continue the series. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gabrielle Sands delivers a sizzling and emotionally charged tale in Be With Me, the inaugural installment of the House of Ferraro series. This dark mafia romance introduces readers to a world where forbidden love and dangerous alliances intertwine, creating a narrative that is both captivating and intense.

At the heart of the story is the electrifying connection between the protagonists. Sands masterfully crafts characters who, despite being from opposing worlds, find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. The “bad boy” and “innocent girl” trope is explored with depth, revealing layers that challenge initial perceptions and add complexity to their relationship.

The novel is replete with steamy encounters that are tastefully written, enhancing the chemistry between the leads without overshadowing the plot. Sands’ prose is engaging, with a narrative pace that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end.

What sets Be With Me apart is its exploration of themes like identity, loyalty, and the moral ambiguities of love within the dangerous world of organized crime. Sands doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of her characters’ lives, providing a realistic portrayal that adds gravity to the romantic elements.

As the first book in the House of Ferraro series, Be With Me sets a high standard, promising more enthralling stories in the same vein. It’s a must-read for fans of dark romance looking for a story that combines passion, danger, and emotional depth.

I really enjoyed it! Thanks so much for allowing me an early copy! My review is attached on Goodreads

4.5 ⭐

This book was so, so good, it's hard for me to put it into words because it's been hours since I finished it and I'm still screaming into my pillow.

I loved everything about Mia & Romolo - their character growth, their personalities, their Romeo & Juliet-esque romance. They were perfect for each other. I especially loved and appreciated that Romolo WASN'T awful, much like most men in your typical mafia series, and instead, he was thoughtful and gentle towards Mia, even in his thoughts (oh my god especially in his thoughts). Mia really brought that out in him and, likewise, he brought out the best in her - inspired her to take control of her life, encouraging her to be herself and to pursue her own happiness and wants. I just loved how and what they thought of each other, and everything about them was so natural. Their actions and words came so natural to them, and I loved seeing that come into play with other characters and the more dramatic parts of the plot with their families.

And don't even get me started on the way they didn't give up on each other at all? They COMMUNICATED instead of letting things get to them. They had such unwavering trust in each other when things got difficult and I appreciated that so, so much.

I also have to give a shoutout to Mia because she was the sweetest, and she had so much fire in her. She was just very deserving of all things good and happy. I read this and immediately knew after finishing it that I could trust her in his hands. She's officially one of my fave FMCs ever!

The whole 'you take care of everyone, who takes care of you’ thing is also one of my favourite things to read about. This book with Mia and Romolo was such a beautiful answer to it. I'm afraid I might not ever get over them !!

And this is all on amazing writing!!!! While I talk about the way the characters and their romance made me feel, this was definitely down to how well everything was written. Throughout this book, I laughed, I smiled, I ached, I wanted to cry. Be With Me had the perfect amount of romance, spice, drama and intrigue in it. I was hooked on them, but incredibly invested in the side characters (I can't wait for Cos and Fabi's book?!!?!) and the drama between their families too. This was my first Gabrielle Sands book and I'm incredibly impressed. Even the acknowledgements were perfect.

Thank you for giving me the chance to review this! I’ll be dedicating a post to this book/review on May 14, 2025 on my Instagram: @alecswithabook, so please check it out!

Gabrielle Sands mafia world just keeps getting better and BETTER.

I've been so curious to learn more of the Ferraro family, and in this one we are treated with the youngest Romolo. This has major Romeo and Juliet vibes, with Mia being a daughter of a Mayor candidate who is set to bring the Ferraro crime family down.

When Romolo first encounters Mia, he quickly can't stop thinking of her. When he finds out who she is, he makes it his mission to use her for his families advantage. Our girl Mia though, she's too smart and sees right through his intentions but that doesn't stop her from keeping him around.

So excited to read the next book with Cos x Fabi...and eventually Alessio!

Thank you to Netgalley and Gabrielle Sands for this arc.

I absolutely love this book! If you’ve been chasing the mafia romance high since you read The Sweetest Oblivion, this is the book for you!

It’s a Romeo and Juliet drama. The sweet selfless good girl, the bad boy who does whatever necessary to get the result he wants. Dirty spicy scenes, heartwarming realizations. Finding out the good girl might not be so good, and the bad boy might not be so bad.

I don’t normally love mafia romances but I ate this up. The political intrigue, the forbidden romance… it was so good. I really liked Mia and Rom as well as most of the side characters. I felt like the plot was well planned and the characters were well developed. I will definitely be reading the next book!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

3 ✨

Mia & Romolo were fun! But I got the feeling that everything happened so fast between them and that I needed more building and time in their relationship!
Because it's the first book, though, in the series it's also an introduction to the rest Ferraro family members and I got myself really intrigued with Cosimo's & Fabi's story but also with Alessio's character!
Read this if you need a relatively short and fast paced mafia story with various interesting characters!

𝐀 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

summary:
Mia Morales is the mayor-to-be's daughter. Her father is dead set on taking down the mafia. So what happens when sparks fly when she meets Romolo Ferraro of the most notorious mafia family in the city?

my thoughts:
- I feel like I have a lot to say about books I don't like so you can imagine why I have nothing to say for this one
- this was so amazing, I literally devoured it in hours!
- Mia & Rom were just perfect for each other & I would read an entire series about them
- the thrill of a forbidden romance is unmatched & Gabrielle left no crumbs here👏
- I loved reading about the creative fmc in fashion💗
- my heart broke for Rom when we got to know about his past🥺
- I'm already so excited for the next book because arranged marriage in mafia romances is one of my favourite tropes ever

excuse me while go read every one of gabrielle's backlist titles

thank you to netgalley & the author for the eARC!

4.75 ⭐️
Okay, wow, this was so good!! I had no idea what to expect going in, but it definitely wasn’t this. Be With Me is a dark, forbidden mafia romance packed with off the charts tension and insane angst. Mia, the daughter of the future mayor, and Romolo, a mafia heir who straight-up calls himself a gangster? Say 👏 less 👏 I’m obsessed.
The Romeo and Juliet vibes had me on the edge of my seat, cheering them on to make it work because our boy Romolo has it down bad Mia. How he protects her? Cares for her? 🥵 And he brings the HEAT 🔥 I was completely hooked from the very first page, there was no way I could put this book down until I consumed every last word.

4.5 stars! ⭐️ Huge thanks to Velvet Pages LLC & NetGalley for the ARC 💌

Okay so it had been a while since I opened NetGalley—blame exam chaos, a TBR mountain, and my attention span—but THEN one of my friends posted about this highly anticipated book, and when I went to request it, I SAW THIS and SCREEEAMED (#jskdjak IYKYK). I’ve been waiting for this one since forever, and finally diving in felt like ✨coming home✨ to all my fav tropes.

So here’s the deal:

Be With Me is the first book in the House of Ferraro series and OHMYGOD it starts with a bang. It’s about Mia, the picture-perfect daughter of NYC’s future mayor, and Romolo Ferraro, the tattooed, intense, morally grey son of the mafia don her dad wants to destroy.

One wrong party.
One locked door.
One life-changing moment.

Enemies-to-lovers? Check.
Obsessed mafia hero? CHECK.
The forbidden tension? OH, IT'S CHECKED.
This book is dripping with angst and chemistry and YES, I WAS LIVING FOR IT.

I love how Mia starts off being this polished, polite daughter doing everything “right”... but you can literally feel her suffocating under all that perfection. And then Romolo waltzes in with his shadows and danger and I’m like YEP, she’s gonna crack and I can’t wait.

Also Romolo?? Man was DOWN BAD for Mia and didn’t even try to hide it. The way he watches her. The jealousy. The “I hate you but let me save your life real quick” vibe. TOP TIER.

And the mystery/suspense?? UMM YES. The political intrigue + mafia secrets + past betrayals = I was flipping pages like a maniac. There are layers here, and Gabrielle Sands didn’t just write a romance—she wrote a situation.

ALSO. I love how everything made sense. The pacing was tight, the family dynamics were explained without info dumping, and the world was rich but never overwhelming. Like THANK YOU for letting me enjoy mafia without needing a genealogy chart on standby.

Let’s talk ✨TROPES✨:
🌹 Enemies to lovers
🖤 Good girl x bad boy
🌹 Forbidden romance
🖤 Mafia/Crime family daama
🌹 Protective obsessed MMC
🖤 Slow burn with explosive payoff
🌹 Touch her and die
🖤 Political scandal twisty bits

ALSO I HAVE SO MANY THEORIES AHHH.
First of all, what Vita did—EXCUSE ME??? I’m still screaming.
Next book is Cosimo & Fabi and I really hope Cosimo didn’t cheat on her with Rosa. I swear Gabrielle wouldn’t do us dirty with a cheating trope… right?? Right???

Also i’m curious—who’s the 4th Ferraro?? we’ve got Romano, Cosimo, Alessio... but the series is called House of Ferraro so there’s GOTTA be a 4th, right?? and listen… the girl group?? Mila, Fabi, Zo, and Nina? i feel like they’re all gonna end up with a Ferraro. Mila already got Romano, now Cosimo & Fabi. Maybe Alessio & Zo?? (Nina is their cousin on their mom’s side so not her). But like maybe she ends up with a cousin from their dad’s side? Idk i’m literally living for the theories rn.

Anyway—
This was a banger of a first book.
Bold. Sexy. Addictive.
Gabrielle Sands?? You’ve got me hooked.

Can’t wait for book 2 IMMEDIATELY.

This was an absolute 5 star read for me.

I seriously adored this book. Rom and Mia had everything I love in an enemies to lovers couple - the tension, the angst, the passion and the sweet romantic moments that really make you fall for them as individual characters and a couple. The plot was full of mystery and tension and I found myself in shock and gasping at a lot of points throughout. It felt very thought out and was written so well. I was also a HUGE fan of the Romeo and Juliet (but make it mafia) vibes that this was giving off!!

This was my first book by Gabrielle and I'm about to jump straight into all her other books now too. She's immediately become an auto-read author for me now and I cannot wait for this series to continue.

Thank you so much to Gabrielle Sands, Netgalley and Velvet Pages LLC for a copy of this story - I absolutely ate it up!

I always forget how much I enjoy a mafia romance novel like this until I come across an amazing one like "Be With Me" by Gabrielle Sands. This is my first one of Gabrielle Sands books I have read and I cannot wait to read more. I tore through this book so quickly. You got a forbidden romance with an obsessed mafia MMC that's the key to success. The tension between Romolo and Mia was CRACKLING.

Mia Morale's father is running for mayor, and Mia pushed her dream to help her father win. Becoming a political pawn in his campaign. Her father's big campaign point is taking down the organized crime families of their city. Mia finds out her best friend ,Fabi,is marrying into the Ferraro family and Fabi's family is the mob her father is trying to take down. While trying to get out of a party where all the mobster's Mia father is trying to bring down, Mia crosses paths with Romolo Ferraro, the son of a mafia family. Romolo become obsessed with Mia and the two keep crossing paths.

This is one of those mafia books where you’re asking for 20 more after your done!

Such a good storyline, loved the romeo/juliet-esque story, the complex characters (!!!!!), the inner dialogue was so funny and heartwarming, the buildup, the steamy scenes (😚🤌)… EVERYTHING was just perfectly executed, writing was well paced, and it was super binge-able

I can’t wait to see where this story goes because the author sets up the next book so well that it has me itching to know what happens, when it releases, and should I get 5 copies of it!!

Highly recommend reading this book when it releases next week!!

This cover caught my eye and after reading the synopsis I was intrigued. I really enjoyed this opposites attract, good girl/bad boy dynamic where neither of them tried to change the other. I loved how obsessed Rom was and how he did anything to make Mia's life easier and happier. Mia herself is a very empathetic character. The chronic illness and ptsd rep was well done. That scene of Rom telling his backstory was hard to read, but I think that's an important thing to see depicted. It needs to be shown that boys and men expierience things as well that shouldn't be swept under the rug. I liked the brotherly dynamic, although I hope that becomes stronger depicted in further books. This was just my level of mafia romance, what I deem light mafia. It has the elements but nothing extremely dark. The characters had great chemistry as well. My one tiny issue was his nickname for her. Food and animal names just aren't my liking but other than that FIVE STARS.

Be With Me by Gabrielle Sands is a sultry, high-stakes romance that hooks you from the very first chapter and refuses to let go. With its delicious mix of forbidden attraction, mafia danger, and emotional tension, this book masterfully balances plot and passion. At the heart of the story is the electric dynamic between the mayor-to-be’s golden daughter and Romolo Ferraro, the tattooed, menacing youngest son of New York’s most feared crime family. Sands doesn’t just give us a love interest; she provides us with a villain you’ll crave. Romolo is magnetic, brutal, and undeniably irresistible, and watching the heroine navigate the tightrope between self-preservation and obsession is as tense as it is thrilling.

What sets Be With Me apart, though, is how exceptionally well the erotica is written. Sands doesn’t rely on clichés or gratuitous heat. Instead, she crafts scenes that are deeply intimate, charged with emotional conflict, and dripping with intensity. Every touch, every line of dirty dialogue, every surrender of control feels purposeful and scorching—anchored in character development and the slow unraveling of inner desires. The result? A series of encounters that don’t just raise the temperature—they reveal layers of vulnerability and longing. The writing is lush, the tension tight, and the chemistry? Absolutely incendiary. If you’re looking for a dark romance that knows exactly how to blend danger with desire, Be With Me is a wickedly satisfying choice.

“We were like two magnets reversed-drawn to each other with a force neither of us understood, only to be repelled every time we got too close.”

Romeo and Juliet vibes, dark mafia romance? YES.
I really enjoyed this! The tension between Rom and Mia was chef’s kiss. Romolo… the mouth on that man! I love a book where the guy is seriously pining and yearning for the FMC—soft for her and only her—and goes feral when another man even looks at her. Rom did not disappoint.
This was my first Gabrielle Sands book, and it definitely won’t be my last—and I’ll definitely be continuing the series!

Thank you NetGalley, Velvet Pages LLC and Gabrielle Sands for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

J'entendais parler de cette autrice depuis un petit moment et quand j'ai vu qu'elle allait sortir une nouvelle série , j'ai sauté sur l'occasion pour découvrir sa plume et j'ai passé un excellent moment!

Nous allons suivre Mia, la fille d'un des potentiels maire de New York et ce dernier prône la tolérance zéro face à la mafia... Sauf que Mia va découvrir que sa meilleure amie fait partie de la mafia mais en plus qu'elle est fiancée à un frère Ferraro... Lorsque pendant la fête des fiançailles, elle se retrouve dans un placard avec Romero Ferraro, sa vie va être changer à jamais...

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre, qui se lit vite et sans prise de tête. Alors oui, il y a des parties de l'intrigue qui sont très prévisibles mais cela ne m'a pas empêché de passer un bon moment! Le plus de cette histoire, ce sont les personnages qui sont terriblement attachants et touchants. On peut facilement s'identifier à Mia qui est prête à se plier en quatre pour sa famille quitte à s'oublier, elle manque parfois de confiance en elle alors qu'elle est splendide... et que dire de Romero? Il est protecteur, sombre, complexe mais toujours là pour soutenir sa famille et Mia! J'ai adoré aussi les personnages secondaires qui offrent une vraie found family et j'ai hâte de découvrir leurs tomes respectifs!

En bref, un excellent premier tome!

I loved this so much!! The cover is stunning and the story swept me up. Romolo was such a delicious hero and the mouth on him?? Yes please!!