3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

First off I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a digital review copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is going to be one of those books that feels almost impossible to review. I will start out by saying I was first introduced to this book through its recent movie that was released on Netflix here in America. I will say that the movie was an instant guilty pleasure for me. This story is basically a mix between Fifty Shades of Gray and a mafia romance. That being said, if you enjoyed the 50 Shades franchise I think this will be a book you REALLY enjoy.

I wish that I had read this book before the movie. For the first 3/4 of the book, it is a TRUE adaptation where everything is almost exactly the same. The shock value that I got from watching the movie was just missing from the book, simply because I knew what would happen. I was hoping that this book would dive more into Massimo and his work when he was not around Laura, however, because it is 100% in her POV we miss out on what could be a very interesting perspective. Toward the end, the book strays away from the movie and that is really what saved the story for me. I LOVED the ending and it has me so hyped for the sequel. I will DEFINITELY be picking up book two before I watch the sequel movie.

With all of this being said, obviously, if I had gone into this book without having watched the movie I definitely think that it would have blown me away. This novel is definitely not one that I would recommend to everyone. There is a very specific audience for it. If you enj0y the erotica genre with a heavy plot. If you are a fan of dark mafia romances, then I think you should give it a shot. This is definitely a franchise that I am very invested in and cannot see what the future holds for it.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was appaled at how badly written this book was - and yet it is a bestseller in Europe. I dislike stories where caricatures, as opposed to characters, are presented to the reader, and the author pieces together hackneyed scenes that she pulled from this or that miniseries. Trite is another word that came to mind. Deluded was another - that would be Laura, the female who is the object of Massimo's obsession and desire.

Massimo is a brutish mobster who decides to kidnap the woman whose face came to him during a comatose vision. He is going to force her to love him and stay with him, even though she is engaged to another man.

Why do women think we can "save" someone like Massimo - or anyone else, for that matter. I have seen so many relationships where one partner took on the burdens of his or her spouse in an effort to "save" or help them. These unequal relationships seldom end happily. I was fed up by the end of this story. Materialism: that is what Laura loves. She gushes about the beautiful dress she will wear, etc. I wanted to toss my ereader out the window at one point: all of these characters were just a mash up of brutal or foolish cartoon characters. I believe this is a series? Well, I don't think I'll be holding my breath until the next thrilling installment comes along. And no, I won't be watching the movie based on this novel. I don't even want to give this one start. Barbara Cartland could do better from the grave - and she dictated all of her romances while in a trance - or so the story goes. I never read any of Barbara Cartland's novels either. The same trashy lust of power and money. I was told once when I was very young that women admired rich and powerful men because they could not hope to be rich and powerful in their own right, by their own endeavours. Well, this author just rehashed that ridiculous premise and is now raking in the big bucks.
I refuse to glamorize mafia/biker/drug lord hereos - these are bad men who profit off of human misery. They enslave women and children and do not deserve my time or notice. Like war, I do not give them the time of day. I wish I had read the blurb on this one more closely and avoided having to read this at all.