Thank you Netgalley and the author for the ARC

I requested the book solely based on the cover and maybe from the blurb as well. What I did not know was this is a dark romance genre where Ive only heard of but never had the slightest intention to explore on. But I thought I'd give it a try cus, why not?

and I thought it wrong. Unfortunately, the genre really isnt for me. I think the writing and the characters are pretty strong or too strong? I cant compare to anything to decide on it but I just dont prefer mixing romance and violence.

4.5 ⭐️s!! I flew through this book and even after finishing a couple others, these characters are still living rent free in my head.

Seriously, this story has:
- Mafia romance
- Rival families
- Romantic suspense
- Great side characters
- Protective MMC
- Second chance romance
- “MY WIFE” vibes

What more could you ask for!? If that all sounds good to you, make sure you grab Through Any Fire!

*Available on KU*

PS I’m already counting down until Katherine Carter releases book two in this series next March!

✨Spoiler Free Review✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️
I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for this book, and I absolutely adored Callahan and Loren's story! It's a delicious mix of Mafia vibes, second-chance romance, childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, and pretend arranged marriage. Plus, the FMC is a powerhouse with real agency. I inhaled this novel in two days - it's unpredictable, relatable, and oh-so-steamy 🔥! Overall, a fantastic read, and I'm eager to dive into the rest of the series.
I will say to check the trigger warnings on this one before reading, there is some dark content. Just looking out for my fellow readers!

I don't usually break out of my Romantasy Genre and I'm glad I did, this was a perfect pause before delving back into my comfy zone.

Thank you to the author for the advanced reader copy!

Did not like the MMC which made it hard to like the story and the second chance romance. I could not root for this couple at all.

Thank you net galley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed parts of this book like the ‘my wife’ & the ‘touch her you die.’ The way he got her back into his life was so wrong and I understand he’s morally ‘dark’ but she forgave him way too easily just cause she loved him. The ‘cheating’ irritated me and went on for too long. I blushed at times don’t get me wrong but I couldn’t root for this couple. If anything I was hoping they would break up. Her writing was good and gripping though.

Overall this story was enjoyable, I think the beginning was a little to fast paced and at time the story felt a rushed. I did like the back and forth between the two crime families. This one also gave a the angst I really love! This is a good pallet cleanser book

This was a good read and I don't think l've read a lot of books like this before but I did enjoy it! It was a second chance romance and I love the rival families dynamic. The chemistry between the main characters was pretty 🔥 and I really enjoyed the balance of plot and romance! Only thing I really struggled with was the reformed playboy vibes so I couldn’t connect to the MMC much. (But I might be use to fantasy men and the way they yearn)

Tropes:
✨ second chance
✨rivals turned lovers turned strangers
✨marriage of convenience
✨forced proximity
✨”my wife"
✨reformed playboy old wounds still bleed

arc review

I like the premise of the book, and I liked the characters. I liked the plot twists and the action. the book was really good but I felt something was lacking for me? it maybe just needed more yearning? make me want them together more? the twists for me were a little too predictable. overall a good book and I did burn through it though! worth the read, just wished for a little something more.

4⭐️
╰► 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱!

❰ 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰! ❱

“𝑰’𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑹𝒆𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝑰 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒚, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔.”

₊˚ʚ ➼➻❥𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨💭
╰┈➤ from the very first chapter of this book, i was already hooked. this book is filled with lots of crime and i feel like i haven’t read a lot of romance books where crime is the plot. there was a lot of rivalry going on, especially between the two main characters, loren and cal. something i didn’t do before reading this book, was check the trigger warnings. i would advise everyone to definitely check the trigger warnings, because there are a lot of sensitive topics. but, i did very much enjoy this book.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙚🔥
✶࿐“𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ loren/ren is the heart of this book. i thought that she was a very fierce and loyal character. she was unwilling to bend unless it was for someone she loved, and she did that a lot throughout the book. she isn’t the kind of fmc who endures what’s thrown at her, she always meets it head on. a part that i really loved was when she literally ran into a burning building to save the mmc, callahan. it was giving ‘the greatest showman’ when hugh jackman ran into the circus to save zac efron. anyways, i think that loren’s determination to save and find her brother, pushed her to face the man who broke her heart, and watching her navigate her heart between love and loyalty was very gripping.

₊˚ʚ ➼➻❥𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙠𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙚🥊
✶࿐“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒐, 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑨𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒚𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒚. 𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒔.”✶࿐
╰┈➤ calahan keane is a very aware, calculated, and powerful man. the tension in his character comes from balancing the ruthless world he inhabits, and the softness he only shows loren. his love for her is intense, protective, and possessive. but, cal’s devotion to loren is also admirable. he’s a constant danger to the people around him, but he’s safe for her. every choice he makes always circles back to loren and his need to protect her from harm. he’s a devoted man—ruthless in his world but tender when it comes to loren. his feelings for loren run bone deep, and he showed that various times by protecting her and remembering tiny details about her past. in simple terms, he’s a fine ass man.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣🔒
╰┈➤ even though it took me like 20 days to finish this book, it was so worth it. if you love second chance romance with a criminal underworld twist and a plot that keeps you breathless, definitely add this to your tbr. this story is messy, magnetic, and impossible to look away from, just like loren and callahan’s relationship.

°•. ★ .•° °•. ★ .•° °•. ★ .•° °•. ★ .•° °•. ★ .•° °•. ★ .•°
𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆:
+ 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔
+ 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒚
+ "𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆"
+ 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒚
+ 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒍𝒔
+ 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔
+ 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓
+ 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝑴𝑪
˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖ ˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖ ˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖
₊˚ʚ ➼➻❥𝙦𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙✨

"𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰'𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕. 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅?”
˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖
“𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕, 𝑹𝒆𝒏."
˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒐, 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑨𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒚𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒚. 𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒔.”
˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖
"𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕, 𝑹𝒆𝒏, 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒆."

A second chance arranged marriage? I was hooked from the character art and that trope. I love mafia romances so much, I think this one had a little more potential but it was still great read!! It’s more of a low stakes mafia romance and I would consider it a good introduction to that subgenre.

I was a little confused at the first and the characters and backstory took me a minute to figure out. I did enjoy the story and the romance between the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this ARC!

Make sure you read the trigger warnings; there are a few aspects that might be triggering for some people.

This book surprised me; it had a great mix of romance and high stakes action. Mafia style romance with rival crime families are not usually the books I reach for, but the romance aspects drew me in. The tropes include rivals to lovers, slow burn with open door spice, second chance, marriage of convenience, and Romeo and Juliet vibes. My romance loving heart was satisfied, and the “my wife” talk was swoon worthy honestly.

We experience the story from Loren’s point of view, and she is such a strong and badass women. She never hesitated when it came to protecting herself and the people she cared about, which was truly admirable. She was the perfect counterpart to Callahan with his position as a leader and the danger that came with it. The way they navigated the chaos of the lifestyle, and their shared history together was a wild ride!

The more sensitive topics were shocking but felt like they added to the depth and the danger of it all. There were so many twists and turns, and I couldn’t put the book down!

dnfed at 45%

callahan is not a likeable character. i didn't think much of the prologue, but when kyra appeared and how he reacted to her, i just felt icky. this is supposed to be a second-chance romance??? reformed players should have reformed before proposing marriage to their first loves 💀
there's also the way they broke up as teenagers 😭😭 it's probably a misunderstanding or he did it to protect loren or something, but i hate these kinds of excuses.

when you don't like the MC, it's hard to fall in love with the story, and this was no exception. i didn't care for the characters except maybe cohen, and while the romance did get my heart fluttering, i couldn't forget how much callahan annoyed me.

romeo and juliet, maybe. but i wished it was handled differently. despite cal's character, i think i could have pushed through if it hadn't been for the new drama with alice. it feels a little off to have so many problems when it should be focused on loren and cal's rekindling—because now their playful dynamic feels cheap. when loren was bantering with cal, i was thinking, um shouldn't you be more concerned about your friend??? who gives a fuck about the coffee and being petty, and which room you should sleep in? there's also withholding information bc she's pissed at cal for underestimating her, and i'm?? 💀💀 girl, there's a life on the line. several lives, actually, and you're behaving like a teenager.

so. with that being said, i liked the writing and the idea of this story, but it didn't deliver the way i wanted it to.

thank you netgalley for sending me this copy for free. it sucks it didn't work out.

Odio cuando presentan a una protagonista fuerte, pero basta con que se reencuentre con el protagonista para que se vuelva una tonta y toda su personalidad gire en hacerlo feliz.

Loren y Cal eran novios hasta que él decidió terminar la relación. Como sabía que ella no se iría por voluntad propia, le hizo creer que le había sido infiel y, para rematar, le dijo cosas muy feas. Años después, Loren lo busca para que la ayude a encontrar a su hermano, y él acepta… pero con la condición de que se case con él por dos años.

No me gusto como se manejo su reencuentro porque realmente no hay crecimiento por parte de ninguno, apenas y se hablan. Al final me quedo con que por lo menos en el presente su amor se basa en la idealización de su amor de adolescentes.

Loren se entera de que Cal estuvo con otra mujer y, en lugar de reclamarle o dejar de hablarle, va y lo besa, intentando acostarse con él para “demostrarle” lo que se está perdiendo. Él la rechaza (porque está borracha) y la escena termina siendo solo vergonzosa. Un poco de amor propio no le habría venido mal.
*La mujer con la que estuvo resulta ser su su informante, y sus reuniones se llevan a cabo en un club de sexo para que nadie sospeche. Pero el punto aquí es el comportamiento de Loren, que termina viéndose como desesperada por un hombre que no parece preocuparse por ella. Lo gracioso o triste es que, en ese momento, ella supuestamente está intentando encontrar a su hermano y rescatar a su mejor amiga… pero al parecer tener sexo es más importante.

Se supone que Cal solo ha amado a Loren y que, cuando se le presenta la oportunidad de volver con ella, no duda en tomarla. Sin embargo, después de casarse, no hace nada: la ignora, apenas conviven y pasan días sin verse. Para mí, después de lo que vivieron, había solo dos caminos posibles:
-Que durante esos 11 años él se hubiera enfocado en deshacerse de su padre para poder recuperarla, en lugar de pasar el tiempo acostándose con cuanta mujer se le pusiera enfrente.
-Que en ese tiempo hubiera sufrido por saber que nunca podría estar con ella por miedo a que su padre la matara, y que cuando regresara a su vida hiciera lo imposible para demostrarle que nunca la engañó, que solo quería protegerla y que haría lo que fuera por recuperar su perdón. Pero no… en la realidad, ella ya está enamorada de nuevo mucho antes de conocer la verdad y, para colmo, soportando ser ignorada.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

3/5!

Rival mafia families that have the whole Romeo & Juliette forbidden relationship when they were teens, something happens and then they have a second chance. Was this a great book? No but I found myself enjoying my time reading more than I thought I would.

Callahan had me giggling,kicking my feet at “she drinks whiskey” - literally his first words. I think Cal would literally burn the world for Loren, given the chance. It’s very fast pace and A LOT happens and by a lot I mean it’s one thing after another.

*Check trigger warnings before reading*

Thank you Netgalley & Katherine Carter for the Arc!

5 stars because I read this book in one night. Mafia romance, a little forced marriage, and a fierce FMC.

I would definitely recommend checking the content warnings before reading, this story does include some sensitive content.

I knew I was going to love this book very early on, Loren has a very spy-like energy from the start and she holds onto it throughout the story. I also appreciated that she’s mid/late twenties, and a lot of her choices were more mature and thought out. I was able to settle in and enjoy the story with minimal internal groaning about Loren’s choices. (Although there may have been a moment I was reading through my fingers in secondhand embarrassment.)

The plot is not lost in the romance or spice, and hindsight is definitely 20/20 when you get to the end and realize how much subtle foreshadowing there was. I’m so excited to read the next book in the series, With Any Luck, when it’s released.

4 ⭐️

Thank you to Katherine Carter and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was such an addictive read, I finished this in a day! Second chance, marriage of convenience, sign me up!!

Callahan was such a sweetheart— mayor of down badsville, when it came to Loren! Yes, he was a little misguided, and unhinged (and I LOVED IT) about ensuring that Loren, the woman whom he was in love with since he was 17, and had no other choice but to break her heart when they were teenagers. Now, 11 years later, he’s determined to tie Loren to him, by ensuring that she marries him, in exchange for finding her missing brother.

I love a good romantic suspense, and suspense this did have, I literally couldn’t quite predict what was going to happen, and there so many twists to this.

This is a slow burn, mostly told through Loren’s pov, and the odd chapter that was told in Cal’s pov.

I’m very intrigued for Alice’s story next!

Tropes

Second chance romance
Forced proximity
Marriage of convenience
Reformed playboy
Slow burn
Mafia romance
He implants a tracker on her

If you’ve been around for a while, you know I have a weakness for marriage of convenience and fake dating tropes—they’re my ABSOLUTE favorites!!

This story is fast-paced, action-packed, and completely addictive. I tore through almost the entire book in one go!

What you can expect:
♡ Forced proximity
♡ Marriage of convenience
♡ “It’s always been her” energy
♡ Plenty of swoony “my wife” moments
♡ Mafia family drama
♡ Delicious mutual pining
♡ Second chance romance

The story focuses on our MC's Loren and Callhan. Loren was madly in love with Callahan eleven years ago, that is until she walked in on him with another woman, and hasn't spoken to him since. Loren's younger brother Mason has gone missing and she is now forced to turn to none other than Callahan for help.

I loved that this was a second chance romance as it just added another layer of tension. Their story definitely had its ups and downs.

I can't wait to see what Katherine does with Alice's story.

I was definitely not expecting this book to be so damned action packed! I should have known seeing as it's a mafia romance.

I felt as though the story was really well balanced between the romance, plot and pacing. So much was happening yet I didn't have that feeling of details being skipped over, it was all nicely hashed out.

I'll definitely be returning for the next book in this world!

Thank you NetGalley for the copy for me to review.

I picked this up thinking “let’s see what all the mafia romance hype is about”… and honestly? Not bad. Not great. Just meh with moments.

But the plot? Very much giving: “I loathe you with every fiber of my being—wait, nvm, I’m in love.” Ma’am. Please. 😂

It wasn’t a total miss—I had fun! Just not something I’d shout about. File under: good for a weekend binge, but won’t be living rent-free in my brain.