🔖 BLOG TOUR 🔖 Mafia Bride by C.D. Reiss {REVIEW}

Mafia Bride by C.D. Reiss

Release Date: March 16th 2021

Series: DiLustro Arrangement #1

Genres: Arranged Marriage/Mafia Romance

An epic mafia romance trilogy that sets a new bar for just how dark a hero can get, from NY Times Bestselling author CD Reiss.

Some girls dream of marrying a prince, but I never imagined I’d be sold to a king.

Santino DiLustro.

The king.

The monster.

The keeper of secrets.

When he forced me to marry him, I cried for love I’d never know.

When he locked me away, I cried for the freedom I lost forever.

Every other tear I’ve shed is for my soul, because I’m falling for the devil himself.

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My Review:

C.D. Reiss has completely outdone herself with Mafia Bride. It was such a steamy, dark and full of secrets Italian mafia romance will have you hooked from beginning to end. A great start to the DiLustro Arrangement Trilogy.

At the beginning of the story we get to meet Violetta Moretti, a nursing student who can’t wait to go on her summer vacation with her friend, Scarlett. Ever since she arrived from Italy as a five-year-old orphan, Violetta hasn’t left the country at all. She is thankful to have the support of her aunt and uncle that have worked so hard to be able to send her away for the summer. Yet, it doesn’t matter where she lives because the town where she lives now is still very much old school. In Secondo Vastro, no one speaks of who runs the town as the mob makes the world go around. There are whispers that a daughter is dealt to a capo for a debt. Violetta never imaged herself to be in that position until she finds out that she just got sold to the king, Santino DiLustro.

She was just twelve when she last saw him and she hasn’t forgotten about him ever since. He has consumed her dreams, but when they do meet again he gives her a bad impression that she does’t want to see him again. It’s when Santino comes back for her that her life truly changes forever, he is ready to make her his queen and won’t accept no for an answer. Violetta might be married to a ruthless mafia boss, but the more time she spends with him the more she finds herself wanting to give their marriage a chance. It’s when she discovers the secrets that Santino has been keeping from her that world begins to crumble down.

Santino DiLustro knew that Violetta was for him the minute he laid eyes on her, but it has been years since they’ve seen each other in person. There is no way of knowing how she is going to react when he tells her that he has come to make her his wife. By marrying Violetta, she will become a target to those that want to hurt him and he cannot show weakness by falling in love. Yet, Violetta doesn’t know the whole truth and it’s only a matter of time before she finds why he picked her.

I absolutely loved the set up of the story and the characters. Santino is such a ruthless man who exudes power and control. He knows what he wants and is not afraid it get it. He meets his match with Violetta, who is not afraid to back down and she challenges him from the very beginning. She speaks her mind, but she also knows the danger that she is in and quickly makes up a plan in order to stay alive. Even though Santino has proven that he will never hurt her, she quickly realizes that he will give his life for her and she stars to feel safe with him. She slowly starts to learn about him and about his life in Italy that they start to get close. There are so many things that she doesn’t know about his world that when she finds out what he has been keeping from her that truly shocks her. With that said, the story does end in a cliffhanger and I cannot wait to read what happens next. If you are looking for a great mafia read, I would highly recommend checking out Mafia Bride, you will not regret it! :)

**I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.**

My Rating:

About the Author:

CD Reiss has a long history of aimlessly moving from place to place. She finally settled in Los Angeles where she earned a master’s degree in cinematic writing from USC. After graduation, she ultimately failed to have one line of dialog put on film, but stayed in Hollywood out of spite.

Since screenwriting was going nowhere, she switched to novels. Soon after, luck arrived with a complete set of baggage. She now has over two dozen titles under her belt. Two of those are NY Times Bestsellers and a handful more are USA Today bestsellers. Her audiobooks have won APA Audie Awards and Earphones Awards, swelling her ego to an inhuman size.

She lives with her family, two cats and her long-suffering husband in a small Hollywood house that’s been outfitted with huge, ego-sized doorways.

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