The readers of this series will know how much we hate Ashton for what he does to Jess in the previous book so I was wondering if he will redeem himself and how his romance will flow. But do not worry, the author manages to make readers fall in love with Ashton pretty quickly in spite of his extreme alpha behavior. The way he falls hard for Molly is absolutely heartwarming. Their chemistry is on another whole level and how Molly brings in a whole new side of mafia guy Ashton. I didn't enjoy how Molly doesn't bother getting more info and has this thing called "switch". If you can ignore those, it was a fun read. If you are ready for some mafia backdrop romance, this is for you.

This book is the second in the series. I highly recommend reading the first book, A Dirty Business.

This story picks up right where book one left off. This story is about Ashton & Molly.

I was eager to start this book after reading A Dirty Business to pick up where it left off. Ashton has taken over the family business. There is a new investor trying to threaten his territory. Pretty much all the characters from book one are I'm this book. Except for a few.

This story flowed easily and had me turning each page as fast as I could. It was hard to put this book down. The suspense was great. The mystery was solved by the end. You fall more in love with certain characters, and you dispise others. It has all the feels. I'm looking forward to reading more if Tijan writes more of this series.

ARC Review of A Cruel Arrangement by Tijan
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A romance blossoming in the dark world of deals, secrets, money and power.

Molly has landed herself in a bit of a situation, partially on the fault of one moron who decided to break into her establishment...the other because her father gave her something he shouldn't have. Something that wasn't his.
Now, the head of the Walden family, had her in his grasp and was ready to make a deal. He needs Molly's assistance, and for that, he will give her what she wants. Yet, even in the mess and lies and raining bullets, he cannot unlatch his claws from her.
The craving is beginning to build between them. Molly knows what kind of man Ashton is. What he does. What he HAS to do.
Will that be an end for them, or does the enemy already have one foot in the door with a vendetta that could hurt them both?

A great read on a cool grey day, really sets the mood for a dark romance. Molly's family history is complicated, as well as her upbringing. Her father really is a nasty peice of work and karma is a-comin' for men like him. Ashton is a man of iron and steel, however, he is aware that Molly is a weakness to him. He himself also shares an interestingly tragic past, one that binds the events together. The sudden tragic deaths that haunt the entire group of lovers and friends is a wonderful wedge and glue, with the result being a fantastic shock.

Ashton and Molly.
Second series from Kings of New York. In the first book, Ashton tortured Jess (Trace's fiancee) and he seemed like an as$hole but on this book he definitely made up for it.
Ashton and Trace (1st book hero) takes over their mafia family and they are in war with another mafia from Boston.
Ashton's family has been killed, Jess's best friend and her fiancee been killed and they are trying to find who murdered all of them. While trying to find the murderer, Easter lane (Bowling alley) pops in Ashton's radar. He will do anything to protect Molly but it won't be easy.
Molly's life is in Easter lanes and it is everything to her. When Ashton shows up in her bowling alley and tells her she is not the actual owner, he is. Now she will have to work with Ashton to get her bowling alley back and it will involve her father who she loathes.
Ashton was always attracted Molly and they share a history Molly doesn't remember and know. He will have to open up to her if he wants to protect her. But it won't be easy.
Ashton wasn't favorite hero to like but as the story unfolds, he only had eyes for Molly and super protective. He definitely won my heart. Molly's quirky, witty personality was perfect for Ashton.
All the mystery regarding Jess's best friend's murder were solved in this story and it kept the suspense until the end. I really enjoyed this series so far.
Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for ARC.

Omg a 5 star book all the way! A string alpha male who is also is in the mafia with a bowling ball alley owner who is seriously protective of her loved ones makes for a binge worthy book....

A Cruel Arrangement is book 2 in the Kings of New York series. While the overall story is a continuation from book 1, this stories centers around Ashton and Molly, who we met in book 1. They have a connected past and more of a connected present than Molly even realizes. When Ashton inserts himself back into Molly's life, he learns that his attraction to her is something he cannot control or ignore.

Ashton had a lot to make up for from book 1. He did some awful things that should make the reader hate him but reading his book, I can't help but cheer him on and want more of him. His character has a good amount of growth throughout the book, both within his relationship with Molly, and within his friendship and himself.

Molly is strong female character who doesn't take anything from anyone. She has no problem throwing down when necessary. She has worked hard for everything she has and has had a pretty rough life. She doesn't let many people in but when she does, she is fiercely loyal to them.

These two together had some fireworks going on! They are both strong-willed but were able to yield to the other at certain times. They seemed to know what each other needed and even when they were trying to fight their feelings, they still made sure to take care of each other.

I really enjoyed both books from this series and may have enjoyed book 2 a little more than book 1. I don't know if we will get more from this mafia world but I hope we do!

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake and Tijan for this ARC!

This was an amazing read! I loved Molly and Ashton’s story! I just loved the dark protective energy that emanated from Ashton when it came to Molly, I love an overprotective MMC. This is book 2 in a series and I hadn’t read book 1 when I started reading, which I think made me a bit confused at the beginning and maybe I lost some key elements in between, however, I found this an amazing mafia story! The heat, tension and witiness in this book is just *chef’s kiss*!

So this book was WOW!
The buildup, the characters, the flow of the story, the secrets, everything was brilliant. I literally lived inside this book until the last word in it.
I expected to like it because it is written by Tijan and i love her books, but I didn't expect to be so obsessed with this story.
I enjoyed the slow burn, the suspense, the growth of the characters and their sizzling chemistry.
Amazing, amazing, amazing book 💕 i would rate it 100 stars if I could.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This was an interesting novel. I liked the story overall and I liked the characters, but there were moments that I completely lost interest and the only reason I continued is because I shined until my interest was peaked again. I also felt like I might have needed to read book 1 to really understand the overall Mafia lifestyle and the conflicts they were having. It was a bit glossed over just coming in with no knowledge of what happened before, maybe?

I liked Molly and her no nonsense way of life. She wasn't scared of Ashton, she hated her father, she loved her bowling alley. Molly was definitely all or nothing kinda girl.

Ashton - seeing him realize how deep his feelings were for Molly was fantastic. I loved that part so much.

So yeah I enjoyed this but there are moments I felt a bit lost. Overall I'm glad I got the chance to read it!

I really enjoyed this one. I thought it was quick paced and written well. I easily followed what was going on. My first book by this author and I'll deffo go back for more.

i think i liked this one more than the first! old family rivalry, a women trying to get out of her dads shadow, & a guy who wants to protect here even when she doesn’t want it.

i loved this one! had the perfect tijan feel to it

This was good. I think I loved the first book more but that’s okay. For most of the book I would say I was in different until the last couple pages where things were being revealed & I found myself crying?? The crying did it for me & I was like okay this is good. Did I feel the love between these characters? Not really. A lot happened but I get it it’s a mafia book :)

What a fantastic 2nd book!
I greatly enjoyed the writing style and story of Titan’s A Dirty Business, so knew I was going into A Cruel Arrangement with high expectations, and a need for the story to continue. I was not disappointed. I loved exploring the relationship between Molly and Ashton and enjoyed that we still got glimpses of Jess and Trace. I am truly hoping this series continues and we get more insights into this passion filled mafia world!

Oh, Tijan! After book 1 of the Kings of New York, I really wanted to hate him, but how can you hate someone who falls in love with someone who makes him a better person? Passionate and intense, it's a page turner!

A Cruel Arrangement by Tijan is the second book in the Kings of New York Series. This is Molly and Ashton‘s story.
 
Molly grew up with a horrible father who lost everything and is indebted to the mafia. She managed to flip around the family bowling alley Easter Lanes and that is her everything. But one day Someone threatens this, and Molly isn’t having that, and the situation gets out of control. She is tough and badass, and I really liked that.
 
Ashton is the new head of the Walden family, a notorious mafia family. After events from the last book, he is still adjusting to his new role and trying to solve what happened to some things in the past. That was very enthralling, and I liked uncovering this. Ashton is a very dominant and alpha male and sometimes this just comes across as arrogant. Therefore, I needed a while to like him.
 
Ashton has the higher position and therefore the characters didn’t feel equal. For me that is important for a romance to develop and that also didn’t change. They experience some crazy things together and that definitely brings them close. However, the actual romance starts very late in the book, and I would have liked to see more scenes of them actually being together.
 
Overall, A Cruel Arrangement is a good mafia story, but something was just missing for me. 3,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

This story was an okay read for me. There were things I liked and disliked about the story. The beginning of the story was a little too slow for my liking and I had to push myself to keep reading. I know that if I hadn't had to write an honest review for this book, I probably wouldn't have finished the whole story. However, it turned out not to be so bad once the story picked up the pace. I liked Molly's character. She was definitely a feisty woman and had me laughing out loud a few times. Ashton was an okay character. There was nothing about him that made me love him though. I liked the way he treated Molly, but I wish that when it came to them there was more romance in the story. That was what was missing from this story for me. I need more romance between the main characters. Molly's fuzzies got a little redundant in the story early on so I was expecting more than that in the story. There was suspense, betrayal, mystery, revelations, and surprises, but for me it was lacking the romance I look for in the books I read. I've read this author's book before, so I was looking forward to some of that romance in this book as I've read in the other and it didn't turn out that way. This wasn't a bad story; it just isn't the story for me. I'd definitely recommend this book to readers looking for a mystery and suspense filled read with a light touch of romance.

Love love the mafia story. I love the dynamic between Ashton and Molly so I would be looking forward to more. Definitely recommend.

This is the second book in the Kings of New York Series by Tijan. To my enjoyment this was not a continuation of book 1 but an interconnection with this story being dual POV between Molly and Ashton. I have to say I liked this book better than book one, this story jumped right into the relationship between Molly and Ashton. Because they didn’t have the same barriers between them as Trace and Jess, so due to that you fall right into their relationship and storyline. You did get a bit of something between them in the first book, so I knew something had happened between them at some point and we do finally get the answer in this.

Molly was adorably quirky in the ways that I’ve come to ascribe to Tijan and the wonderful way she creates her characters. I wasn’t expecting her to be this way because you don’t’ really get a feel for her in book 1 so I was thrilled. I love the way Tijan develops her characters it’s always so refreshing and endearing to me they feel more real and raw, leaving me to fall in love with each and every one of them. Molly grew on me more and more as the story progressed and the connection between her and Ashton felt immaculate and perfect. They legit felt like they were made for each other.

Where Molly was sweet and open not dwelling on the bad things or the past. Ashton was hard and cruel at times, closed off in deep rooted ways due to the way he was raised and what happened in his childhood. He never apologized for who he is which I appreciated; he owns up to his actions even the ones that occurred in book 1 even to the potential detriment of his relationship with Molly. I loved watching his character ARC in this and the way he slowly matured emotionally allowing Molly in and understanding what he had done in the past and how it affected those around him.

Tijan without fail delivers characters with epic banter and prevailing emotions. Her stories always pull you in and keep utterly entertained, and for this reason she will always be a one-click author for me.

I didn’t realise how much I was in need of a Tijan book, let alone a Tijan mafia book until I started this. This is Ashton and Molly’s book and it’s explosive.

We got a snippet into the dynamic between these two in book 1 and they are fire. It’s a slowish burn between these two even though they kinda tease each other, but they don’t want to give in when there are other things that are their priority, namely finding Kelly and Justin’s killer.

As all of the pieces in this mafia war unravel, so do the feelings these two have for each other. They each begin to open up and accept love into their lives, even if they have to constantly dodge bullets and attempted kidnappings.

I loved every moment of this story, I even lost sleep trying to get as much reading in as I could. Tijan brought an action packed conclusion for this duet.

A great second installment in the Kings of New York series! I actually didn't pay much attention to the blurb before I dove in and was surprised to see that our story isn't a continuation of our first couple's POV but Molly and Ashton's- and I enjoyed their story a bit more than the first. Jess and Trace fans, never fear- we still get to see more of them as their story continues- all amidst the broader overarching plot.

This series is a great merger of all things Tijan- quirky characters, fast paced story telling, plenty of action and drama, and a few twists and turns...all culminating in an unexpected finale. Molly is so classically Tijan as a heroine- she's quirky, emotional, and makes decisions that we don't always understand. At times I actually was frustrated by her, but perhaps this was also her juxtaposition to the more rational and stoic Ashton....well, at least as it relates to how he orients to the world. Molly can certain unsettle his stoicism.

I'm loving the romantic suspense angle of this series- we have a lot of elements and plot points circling around, plenty of mystery and action, but Tijan throws in some fun and and lightness as well. And the ensemble cast is really interesting overall- I'm enjoying the friends perhaps as much as the romances.

Molly and Ashton are certainly an entertaining couple- lots of tension and fun banter, and Molly is pretty fierce in the face of Ashton's protective bravado. I really loved Ashton - he's charmy in the way he looks after others. And I enjoyed their romance, though I wish we'd had just a bit more focus on them as a couple. But, with all that's going on around them and the suspense elements, at times I felt their story was in service of it vs. vice versus, and it could have developed more- but I definitely enjoyed them as characters and as a couple.

Excited to see where this goes in book three and to touch base again with this great crew! And another surprising ending that has me asking all the question!