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

Mafia Queen by C.D. Reiss

Release Date: October 12th 2021 by Paige Press

Series: The DiLustro Arrangement #3

Genres: Arranged Marriage/Mafia Romance, Contemporary

What doesn’t kill you makes you a killer.

Santino DiLustro changed me. You can’t spend time in bed with the devil without getting addicted to the heat.

Before him, I was a girl. Innocent and weak.

Now, I’m a woman. A fighter. A killer.

I’ll burn the world down for him. Shatter the sky. But I will not break.

No. I will rise up and destroy whoever dares to threaten what my king has built, because I am forever his queen.

Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Nook, Google Play

My Review:

C.D. Reiss delivers an action packed and suspenseful story in Mafia Queen. The conclusion to The DiLustro Arrangement comes to an emotional end that will leave you wanting for more.

Violetta never expected for her life to change the way it did the minute she married Santino DiLustro. After being forced to marry him so that he could collect her inheritance, the last thing she was expecting was to fall in love with him. But it’s just when they were starting to start a new chapter in their lives that things go south and he gets shot right in front of her eyes. Someone has broken their trust and has turned against them. While there is someone else out there wanting Violetta’s inheritance. He won’t stop until he gets what he believes is his, no matter how he goes about getting it. Violetta has been through so much in her life already, has lost so many people close to her heart and this gives her the strength to keep going. She is going to get her revenge for what others have caused her if the it’s the last thing she does.

As the last book in the trilogy, we have seen the characters go through ups and downs all throughout the series. This was the most emotionally intense book as we get to see Violetta suffer a tragic loss. At the beginning of the series we see her having fun and being excited to start nursing school. She had heard of the people running the town of Secondo Vastro, but never imaged that she would end up marrying the mafia king himself. That’s when her life truly changed and she started to see the world her husband runs. It’s in that moment that she discovers all the secrets that Santino had kept from her and we witness her go through more changes. Which leads to the last book and how we see Violetta come to accept her new life and use her power to save the love of her life. It’s her inheritance that truly makes her a queen and Santino sees that too. There is a lot more action in this book and the ending fit them really well. I would highly recommend checking out the whole trilogy, if we love a good mafia romance with a twist. I cannot wait to read any other works by the author in the future. :) 

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

Mafia King by C.D. Reiss

Release Date: June 15th 2021 by Paige Press LLC

Series: DiLustro Arrangement #2

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Mafia

Santino is my king. My lover. My husband.

He’s the head of the Cavallo crime family and the moment he choked my vows from me, my life was bound to his.

I’m done fighting my fate, until I hear two rumors, and I’m shaken to the core.

One rumor about the past—that I wasn’t the first bride Santino took.

Another about the future—a new bride is about to be taken.

Changing the old ways is like dousing the flames of hell with tears.

But I married the devil himself, and when I vowed to obey, I lied.

Book two of three in the The Dilustro Arrangement.

Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Apple, Google

My Review:

Mafia King is the second book in the DiLustro Trilogy, full of shocking twists to leave you hooked from beginning to end.

The story picks up right after it left off in Mafia Bride with Violetta finding out that she might not have been meant for Santino from the start. It’s been weeks since she has learned the truth and she cannot look at her husband without thinking of the possibility that he could be hiding other things from her as well. She can’t believe that she was just a nursing student not that long ago, with a life of her own. Nevertheless, Violetta had no idea that she would end up married to the most powerful mobster in Second Vasto. But now that she knows that her sister was involved with Santino, she wants to know what truly happened to her. Santino took her sister away from her and now Violetta is ready to make him pay and watch him struggle. Yet, there are a lot more things to the story that Santino is not telling her and finding out the truth could change their future forever.

C.D. Reiss delivers an action packed story filled with an emotional rollercoaster between Santino DiLustro and Violetta. In Mafia Bride we get to see the characters go through a series of obstacles as secrets are fully revealed, putting their relationship at risk. Santino promised to protect Violetta, but she still struggles to accept the way his people make deals and it puts her at constant risk. He never expected to fall for her the way he did and it’s when he finally tells her the actual truth that she starts to see him in a new light. But the shocking twist at the end has me wanting to read the third book asap! The books just keep getting better and I cannot wait to read the final book in the trilogy, Mafia Queen.:)

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

My Rating: 4.5/5

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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🔖 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.

Amazon, Apple Books, Nook, Kobo, Nook, Google

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.

Website, Newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon

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✯REVIEW & EXCERPT TOUR:✯ Prince Roman by C.D. Reiss

Prince Roman by C.D. Reiss

Release Date: November 7th 2017 by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

Pages: 120

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

From NY Times Bestselling author, CD Reiss, love comes in the most ordinary and most forbidden places.

Rules for my new job:
1) Do not have sex with a man in the office (again).
2) Do not break Rule #1

I’m playing it cool, clean, and professional…until I meet Roman Bianchi. He’s not an insecure nerd or an ego-hole like the other kings of Silicon Valley. He’s charming and handsome. He’s fun, funny, and smart.

He’s also in the office across the hall.

Two broken rules waiting to happen.
I can’t lose this job over some guy.
But Roman’s not just some guy. Under that suit and cocky smile, he’s a prince.

Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon AU

My Review:

Not having read other books by the author before, I didn’t know to expect before reading Prince Roman. The synopsis and the cover completely drew me in, but after reading the book it felt unfinished for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters and the length of the story was probably the reason why. Without spoiling the story too much, we get to meet Roman Bianchi, a top notch lawyer who has been assigned to work with Raven Crosby. She is a strong and independent woman who has boundaries at her workplace and doesn’t want to mix business with pleasure. She values her career too much to have relationship in her workplace. Yet, when the two meet there is spark in them that they can’t deny and that is how they end in an “forbidden office affair.” When the two start to realize just how much they want to be with each other, they’ll have to decide if giving up their jobs is worth it or not. 

Though I founded hard to connect with the characters, I did liked the overall concept of the story. The author touches on very important topics in the story, like equal pay in the workforce. Females do get treated and paid differently from male workers and the story did a good job touching on that particular subject. Now the story was well written and thought out, but had the author extended the story, it would have been great to see fully developed characters and it would have made the story so much better to read. All in all, if you like quick romance stories I would still suggest picking this one up. :)

***ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.***

My Rating: 

{EXCERPT}

As a lover, I hadn’t had a future with Taylor, but I’d been attracted to him. Suits, cleanliness, and attention to detail got me off. Ego-holeness didn’t.

The only reason I’d ever had a date in Silicon Valley was the pure odds that something had to make sense with someone. After all, I was a highly desired specimen, so rare in the wild that I attracted attention wherever I went. Numbers had been crunched. Articles had been written. The odds of my existence were infinitesimal. In this particular corner of California, I was a unicorn.

Meaning, I was a single female of child-bearing age.

I had my pick.

The guy with the mutton chops he thought were neat-o, or the dude in the Van Halen T-shirt that had the porousness and smell of Swiss cheese. The guy who couldn’t stop talking about World of Warcraft or the one who mentioned he went to grad school “in Cambridge” four times in four minutes. The experts on beer, custom-tuned guitars, gastropubbing, and social awkwardness. I’d dated boys in men’s bodies, humorless geniuses, closet Nazis, and unapologetic sexists who could rattle off the most convenient stats, studies, biological “facts,” and “cultural norms” that proved a woman’s place was in human resources doing anything but hiring other women.

Taylor had been a pretty good deal, everything considered. He at least showed me enough coding and IT to make me valuable in system implementation.

“But never again,” I said to Masy on the walk from the parking lot on the first day. The weather was standard-issue California perfect but seemed just a touch more perfect on the way into my new job. It was going to stay that way. “No more intra-office fucking.”

“Trust me,” she said, popping her lips off the green straw sticking out of her frothy coffee, “you’re safe from dating anyone at Neuronet. It’s like a cross-section of the worst of them.” My best friend, roommate, and fellow single-female unicorn worked in the marketing department. She’d mentioned the VP opening in HR systems when it opened up. Neuronet was as excited to meet me as I was eager to work with them.

About CD Reiss:

C.D. Reiss is a USA Today bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up, she’s at the well, hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere, but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.

Critics have dubbed the books “poetic,” “literary,” and “hauntingly atmospheric,” which is flattering enough for her to put it in a bio, but embarrassing enough for her not to tell her husband, or he might think she’s some sort of braggart who’s too good to chop a cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.

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✯BOOK BLITZ:✯ Dark & Dangerous Boxed Set {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

Dark & Dangerous Boxed Set 

by C.D. Reiss, Clarissa Wild, Gemma James, Lili St. Germain, M. Never, Nashoda Rose, Skye Callahan, Skye Warren, Vanessa Waltz

Release Date: October 13th 2015

Pages: 2500

Genres: Romance, Suspense

*** 8 tales of dark desire from your favorite NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY Bestselling Authors! ***

Delicious dark romance, toe-curling suspense, and sinful pleasure, all packed into one boxed set. We’ve gathered all your favorite Dark Romance and Suspense stories and combined them into one scorching bundle. These possessive alphas, sexy bad-boys, and savage heroes will claim your heart and leave you begging for mercy.

This boxed set contains:

~ Mr. X by Clarissa Wild

~ Gypsy Brothers: Part 1-3 by Lili St. Germain

~ Overwhelmed by You by Nashoda Rose

~ Owned by M. Never

~ Breathe by C.D. Reiss

~ Epiphany by Gemma James

~ His Witness by Vanessa Waltz

~ Love The Way You Lie by Skye Warren

~ Irrevocable by Skye Callahan

Purchase: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo

{EXCERPT}

I was dreaming. Normal people didn’t suspend over someone like a balloon, pulled along for the ride like a silent spectator. Then again, normal people didn’t see the stuff I had in my dreams. My momentum slowed, and I watched Aidan pull into the garage of a single-level stucco home. He closed the garage door, concealing his silver BMW as two preschool-aged kids approached his front stoop while their smiling mothers waited on the sidewalk. The sun dipped toward the horizon, its last rays painting the mountain range a stunning burnt orange. The kids were getting a head start on trick-or-treating. Raggedy Ann stood back as the brave-faced pirate rapped on the front door.

Aidan entered the house through the kitchen. His hair was shorter than the careless length he wore now, his eyes bloodshot and weary. He halted at the counter and stood unmoving, lifeless as a pillar at Stonehenge. The two trick-or-treaters knocked a second time but were either ignored or simply not heard.

In a fit of rage, he grabbed a plate from the sink and hurled it at the wall. The rest of the dishes joined the first, and glass shattered and rained everywhere. He stared at the mess, as broken as the shards glinting on his floor.

“Aidan—” My voice cracked on his name.

Of course, he didn’t hear me. He strode from the room, stomping through the house and kicking anything in sight as a slew of obscenities filled the air. He reached the bedroom only to come to an abrupt stop. The room was alight with candles, and a banner reading “Happy Birthday” hung above the four-poster bed.

On the comforter sat a note.

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