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** spoiler alert ** Update: the more I think about Matteo fake a$$ virginity the more upset I get ughhhh so I’m changing the rating to 3 stars only

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This fell a lil short from my expectations but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. It’s a childhood friends to lovers and if you’ve been following me for a while, you’d know it’s my jam and having it in mafia setting???? Heck yeah! Beware for spoilers & LONG review ahead!

The mmc, Matteo and the fmc, Arianna knew each other from the early stage of their childhood. She broke his nose and kicked him when he kissed her and since then he’s head over heels for her and she’s it for him. There’s nothing really to tell from their childhood and teenage life though because there’s only a couple of chapters of that and a few moments were only told in passing.

The story revolves around a new conflict that arose from the old conflict from their parents series. And also around Arianna’s identical twin, Hannah who chased around Matteo and claiming he’s hers. Before I get into my thoughts on the main characters, let me just say that I freaking hated pre-Hannah before the kidnapping. Later we found out what she’s been doing to cope with trauma but still that didn’t warrant her what she did. Just a few hours after her sister almost got shot, she ended up making it about hers anyway. Then instead of being there for Arianna, she tried to hook up with Matteo 🤦🏻‍♀�� She’s so freaking selfish and even after the whole stupid debacle with switching the wrong twin for the engagement, knowing Matteo didn’t want her, she still clung to him while it’s so obvious she’s doing this to make another man jealous! She’s so self absorbed she didn’t even see the way Ari and Matteo were always around each other. Even their friends could see what’s going on without Ari & Matteo telling them about their relationship. And don’t forget how she was yelling at Ari after finding out about her and Matteo, acting like she wasn’t using him to make another man jealous and eventhough she didn’t lit the fire but she literally poured the gasoline knowing damn well her own twin sister was in that building! What happened to her later in the book was awful but that couldn’t erased what she had done. She was forgiven way too easily and like Matteo said, her family was always giving in to her whims especially Ari! Yeah yeah they’re twins but still!

Anywayyyy, back to the main couple. Matteo was absolutely unhinged and nothing could ever stop him from having Arianna as his. He knew from the start that he wanted Ari and the way he orchestrated everything so that she would finally be his was kinda hot ngl. It’s fucked up but well this is dark romance after all. You could see the way he was mostly behaving like a green-ish flag in the beginning but then something stupid happened with the engagement announcement and when Ari withdrew from his life, he’s turning red flag right before reader’s own eyes. This was actually one of my fav micro trope. The red flag do involved his hands around her neck but it’s nothing like choking her to hurt her but rather to make statement FYI. I couldn’t fault him for turning red flag tbh because he had profusely told Ari she’s the only for him, he told Hannah he didn’t want her, he told her father Ari is it for him, not Hannah and y’all the scene where he turned psycho and confronted Ari in front of their parents and the other mafia families OMG it was so fucking HOT and hella mad because everyone was pointing g*n towards each other while Matteo had his hands on Ari and basically telling her he refused to let go what they had. He’s honestly everything I loved in mafia men except he’s not really a virgin like he claimed to be. Idk what is it with some authors that are allergic into having their men to be completely virgins 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀�� I mean what’s so hard to have him as a total virgin like you claimed him to be, not just a virgin by having doing everything else but penetrating sex. Matteo said he’s not a saint and did have some experiments and I’m so mad especially knowing him scaring away the men in Ari’s life. He literally threatened every men she came across or dated but he on the other hand could have his way with other women? The double standard is killing me 🥱 The only saving grace is that he’s not a manhoe because he wasn’t seen with any women or women flocking around him when he’s out there doing his mafia business and he’s loyal to her after being together. Ari also had this man down so bad for her, he was literally on his knees when she ran away from him. But still damn it why just why is it so hard to write him as a complete virgin just like her?!?!?! 🙄🙄

Arianna or Ari as what Matteo called her (I refused to acknowledge the nickname he gave to her because wtf was that lmao) loved to act as a martyr to her family especially her twin sister. I loved that she’s not a doormat and has a backbone but some of her actions annoyed me to no end. In the beginning, she had no feelings for Matteo but slowly falling in love with him. I loved reading about their courtship and their dates. I would say Matteo was the main pursuer in their relationship just because Ari was too afraid of telling Hannah about her and Matteo. Sooooo much could’ve been avoided if only she just sat her ass down and told Hannah about her feelings. Also the way the women in mafia books (in general) are conditioned to be in awe of mafia men when they’re not a manwhore has to be studied because the bar is absolutely on the floor for them 💀

I haven’t read Eva Winners books in a while. I still haven’t finished her Kingpins and Omerta series. I do like her writings but some sentences in this book made me cringe a lik ngl. Not to the point I won’t be continuing this series tho because I’m kinda intrigued with Nikola and Skye.