Vengeful Hearts is the first book and standalone in the new organized crime romance series by S. Lexi. I did receive an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Book Info
Title: Vengeful Hearts
Author: S. Lexi
Publication Date: August 1, 2023
Category: Dark Organized Crime/ Dark Mafia Romance. MMC and side characters with military past.
Relationship: M/F (Blaise/Erika) that meet by chance when plans go awry
POV: This book is told from both the main female and male character's POV
Series or Stand-Alone: This book is the first in a new series and is a stand-alone. There are currently 5 books planned for this series with each book featuring a different couple.
Length: Long - over 400 pages
Ending: This book features what I consider a very adequate HFN.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Open or Closed Door: Open door
Spice Level: 3 out of 5 peppers
Book Boyfriend Material: Blaise is the perfect book boyfriend for those that enjoy a main male character who has no problem being a bad boy that's rough around the edges to everyone.
Well, everyone but his girl that he's somehow a mix of an alpha and totally obsessed cinnamon roll at the same time.
Readability: Minimal grammar issues and easy to read
Themes: Enemies-ish (trust issues) to lovers with forced proximity and dark mafia vibes. He falls obsessively first.
Possible Triggers: Violence, murder of side characters, foul language, torture (not between main characters), rape (not main characters), drugs
Note that most triggers don't overly bother me so they may not all be listed here.
Available On: This book is currently available on Amazon including Kindle Unlimited, Kindle, Hardcover, and paperback as of this review.
Synopsis From Author
Erika grew up on the streets of New York City. When her baby sister got kidnapped by the most extensive human trafficking ring in the area and eventually murdered, she swore to avenge her death.
Blaise grew up in the Italian Mafia; his father was the don. He wanted nothing to do with his father’s empire, so when he turned eighteen, he walked away from his family, changed his name, and joined the military.
But when Blaise learned that his entire family was decimated, he returned to take back the city and destroy those responsible for murdering his innocent mother and sister.
Blaise and Erika’s paths cross when a deal goes wrong, and Blaise takes Erika captive. He quickly became fascinated with the stubborn, fierce, and hostile woman in his possession, even though she seemed dead set on killing him at every opportunity.
Erika became Blaise’s favorite obsession, and his need to dominate the strong-willed woman was overwhelming. Will Erika give in to Blaise’s domineering ways, or will she continue fighting him until the very end?
Will either get the revenge they craved for their loved ones’ murders or will they destroy each other before the opportunity arises?
This is book 1 of the Savage Soldiers Series and can be read as a standalone. There will be 5 books in total, each featuring a different couple.
Trigger Warnings: This is a dark mafia romance with scenes that may be disturbing to some readers. There is graphic sexual content, violence, and foul language, making this book ideal for an audience of 18+. Please read the trigger warning page at the beginning of the book for a complete list before reading.
My Review
S. Lexi is back again with another winner of a book. This is her first mafia-style book but it's so good you'd never realize it.
Erika has some heavy guilt about her little sister and what happened in the past.
Her plans for seeking vengeance don't exactly go as planned and she instead finds herself stuck with Blaise and his military friends turned business partners.
Blaise and Erika have a pretty immediate attraction to each other but realize they probably can't trust the other as far as they can throw them because no one's willing to tell their truth just yet.
Will they end up needing to seek vengeance against each other in addition to their past or can love and happiness be found amongst the crap-hole their lives have been so far?
Pros
- Feisty, confident FMC who is self-sufficient and takes crap from no one
- Amusing situations and banter between both the main characters and side characters
- No breakups or other m/f drama
- There's a dog - Zeus!
Cons
- If you want super dark - this isn't exactly it. It definitely has its fluffy moments
- Can go either way - there's not much angst that you usually find in a mafia-style book
Okay, so I feel weird saying this about a book that really does have quite a bit of violence - but this book is just so fun and entertaining to read!
Pretty much every mafia-style book I've read in the past has been pretty long and drawn out with angst in the main characters fighting their attraction because they don't trust each other, or like how the other lives, etc.
Not with Vengeful Hearts. And I love it. I don't mind a bit of angst but often times it's just too much too long for my preference.
Erika and Balise's attraction almost feels like an insta-love but they don't quite proclaim their undying devotion and immediately jump into bed.
No, while our MMC may almost immediately become obsessive with our FMC, they both have to figure out if they can trust the other.
But, it doesn't take too long and our main characters don't really hurt each other too badly before they basically become a power couple force to be reckoned with.
This is why I say this book really isn't that dark - even if it does contain a lot of death, violence, drugs, and even rape.
For example, Blaise is so against hurting Erika that he's thankful he gets called away right before he may have to physically hurt her to get information out of her.
And really, I love a main male character like this. He's not afraid to murder or hurt those that deserve it or to protect those he loves.
On the flip side, he's a big cinnamon roll for those he loves and cares about and will do anything for them.
Pretty early on you'll figure out that both main characters aren't out to hurt everyone - just the people that deserve it.
I also love that Erika is not an innocent.
So many stories feature a female character that might as well be next to an angel that helps redeem the next to evil man that steals her heart.
No, Erika might be even more screwed up in the head than Blaise to do what she feels needs to be done.
Which makes for a hilarious book fully of witty banter and crazy ideas the whole book long.
You'll also find several chapters with sexy times - and Blaise, of course, likes to have control. It's not a straight up BDSM style read, but there's plenty of spanking and restraint -which I found refreshing.
You'll also meet Erika's older sister who is still alive and maybe has even more attitude than Erika.
I also love when books feature pets. Zeus seems like a pretty awesome dog, though I wish we could have read a bit more about him in the book.
You'll also come across a few twists and turns along the way as both main characters seek vengeance for their families.
I wouldn't say they were super surprising, but enjoyable to read nonetheless.
The book definitely ends on a happy note. It's a happy for now instead of my preferred happily ever after.
However, there are more books planned in this series with characters introduced in this book so I'm sure we'll see more of Blaise and Erika as we go along.
Vengeful Hearts was so good that I definitely can't wait for the rest of the series to come out.
I definitely recommend anyone that enjoys a strong female character, an obsessively loving male character, and lots of banter and plot with a bit of spice thrown in to read this book.
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