Bastiano Romano

This is my first book by Parker S. Huntington and I can assure you it won't be my last. It's not only well written but captivating. The formatting is fantastic. I loved the chapter images and page breaks - they probably look even better on a device with colour (darn you, Paperwhite, darn you!) - I checked, and they totally do. I don't read a lot of mafia-related books, I dunno why, I guess it's just not something that appeals to me and since the morals are loose, I guess I always worry about the possibility of consent issues - since that's something I don't like reading, I just avoided them. That was a mistake. This book ticked all my boxes of favourite things so I decided to take a chance and WOW, I need more of these books in my life. It just shows that stepping out of your comfort zone every once in a while can be worthwhile. Often times the enemies to lovers aspect of the story doesn't go on for long and then it's all hearts and flowers, that is not the case here. It's a slow burn. In that you get the enemies feel for much longer, a good half, if not more, of the book and I loved it. It kept me turning the page wondering when they were going to break!

I have to admit I cried at a couple of points, 1. The dedication - just read it and you'll know why. 2. When Ari and Vince have a sit-down. I had my suspicions about him that turned out to be right - I didn't guess the depth of it all, but some of it. I love being able to do that, that the author keeps you on your toes and guessing. Parker writes beautifully. I enjoyed every second of it. She gives you enough info to make you intrigued and then feeds you little bits to keep you interested until the big finale. It works so well. I was captivated throughout. These characters are so interesting that you can't help but want to binge read them. I now need to dive in and read the others in the series...I know, I totally broke my ‘read in order' rule, but, they are standalones, and I don't think I ruined anything by reading this one first. I'm just more invested in the others. Why nobody has been shouting at me to read this series is beyond me. I'm not a huge mafia lover and I was in complete love with it. I love the world that Parker has created and although there are different families it is easy to keep track of who is who and their connections.

The chemistry between these two characters is off the charts. It's almost palpable. They are clearly attracted to each other but they spar almost continuously. And it is fabulous. I couldn't wait to see what they were going to do next. The fact that Ariana had Bastian's little sister on her side was such a cute and hilarious aspect. The fact that this big bad guy couldn't control that. It was perfect. Two words: Unicorn Chair! HAHAHA. The sex, oh my word! Somebody pass me a fan, or a new Kindle because I think mine just melted. Or maybe that was me? With chemistry like this couple had it wasn't a surprise that the sex was explosive. And for my anal loving fans, they wasted no time getting to that. Which worked so well for the way they were. There was no way Bastian wasn't going to want ALL of Ariana once he had her, ya know? With that said, each sex scene had a point, it furthered their relationship and the story. It wasn't sex for sex sake.

Bastian is the type of guy that you love to hate. He's such an a-hole, but he has his reasons. I think the first chapter was necessary to give insight into why he is the way he is now, and it worked really well because even when you're mad at him, in the back of your mind you still can't help but think, yeah, but he has his reasons. Without it, I think I would have liked him a little less...who am I kidding, I loved his a-hole ways! He is broken and watching him heal and become the man he truly is is wonderful. The relationship with his sister is fantastic and it really shows him in another light. I loved Ariana, I loved that she was vulnerable, yet strong and she was not going to take what Bastian was handing out without a fight. I loved seeing her relationship with Tessie. It was the sweetest. I hated how her only friend was a child. I wanted to be her friend. I think we'd be fast buddies. They were the perfect couple. It took them a while to see that you were perfect for each other, but they were. They worked as a counter-balance to each other and made each other think about things in a different way that allowed them to grow.

I love when authors include in their writing things about a bond and love not having to be blood. That's a subject that comes up in this story and I loved it. I was doing ALL the fist pumps. And I might have made my husband jump with my shout of ‘hell yeah' - I regret nothing! It was worded so perfectly and you better believe my highlight function was used.

This book has such a good balance of content. It's angsty, but also has lighthearted humourous moments too. It's steamy as all get-out, but emotional too. It has characters you'll love and characters you'll love to hate or hate to love. It'll also make you swoon all the swoons. And that makes for an unputdownable book. This is going on my list of favourite books from 2019 for sure.