A mafia romance about betrayal and faith by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.

“The truth may hurt for a little while, but a lie hurts forever.”—Ryan Bigge

I grew up knowing it would happen one day.
Believing that I would fall into my father’s footsteps and become a monster of my own making.

So I fought it.
I lived.
I loved.
I teased.
And then one day… I destroyed.
And realized I loved the pain.
Obsessed over the feeling.
So I cut again and again and again.

She saw my rage, my madness, and tried to stop me from destroying myself, and I hated her for it, pushing her away past the point of no return.
Izzy Abandonato was supposed to be mine.
But there are some things people can never come back from. I hurt her, she hurt me, and now I’m living a lie. Telling the ones I love that I’m on one side when for years I’ve been forced to play both.

I’m not the hero.
I’m the villain.
And I may single-handedly bring down the Cosa Nostra—by default.

I, Maksim Sinacore, will have my vengeance.
I will win her back.
Even if it means I have to kill everyone in my path.
The pain masks the betrayal.
I never realized that one day—I’d be the very rat that I hated. That I was sent to kill. But once you’re deep in a lie—you’ll do anything to hide the truth.

She fell for the bad one.
She fell for the sinner.
So why does that make me smile?

Goodreads

Review by Twinsie Melinda

I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest review.

I do love this Mafia family. Izzy Abandonato and Maksim Sinacore have been perfect from the star. Both were more interested in their studies than in the family business. This book was great so many ups and downs. I even had a few tears in there too.

Izzy is a strong, independent and sassy woman but would we expect any less from a woman in this family. She loves Maks with all her being but he continues to break her heart time after time when he pushes her away and runs to other women. Most would give up and protect their own heart but not Izzy. She may try but she just cannot give up on Maks.

Maksim holds my heart. I have never had a story take me on a ride like this. Everything Maks did was for Izzy and his family. Always afraid to turn into a monster and he felt Izzy deserved better that what he was. He would show her he loved her and she meant something then he would push her away and find someone else to hurt her.

The love these two have for one another is spectacular. What Maksim was dealing with was heartbreaking and I love him probably as much as Izzy does. Izzy shows over and over that she is the perfect person to be with Maksim no matter what her dad does or says. With these too the saying could not be truer never judge a book by its cover. Sometimes you have to open in and dig in to truly find their beauty.

I have only read Mafia King in this series although there are a lot of characters in this book, I was still able to follow. I may have been able to clue in on some of the underlying things if I read the others but I don’t feel I missed out on the big things. I am only 3 books behind so I am sure I will be able to get caught up. I did enjoy Maksim and Issy’s story and cannot wait to jump into the others and see what went on to bring us to this point and then on to Broken Crown in a few months.

Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 90 books ranging from contemporary romance to paranormal. With over four million copies sold, she’s been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable sons, naked cat, and two dogs.

For more information about her books and upcoming events, visit www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com.

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