Not Mine to Keep (The Costa Family #1) by Brittney Sahin
Audiobook with Connor Crais (Narrator), Allie Piper (Narrator)
Pub Date: Sep 24, 2024

A delicious tale about a gorgeous rich playboy who is reluctantly tied to a seemingly innocent small-town girl who happens to be the only child of the largest mafia boss in Italy. A fast-paced story filled with danger, family honor, heat, and what people will do for power, love, and family.

Calliope (Callie) is a 29-year-old schoolteacher with a passion for music and plays in a band for fun. With a limited relationship with her birth mother, she has lived a happy and simple life being raised by her aunt Tia. Tia couldn't have children, so when her sister told her she was pregnant with the child of a married big mob boss in Italy and didn't want to raise a child in that environment, she convinced her sister to have Callie and let her raise her. Callie was completely unaware of who her father was until he showed up at her mother's funeral and realized she was his daughter. He never had children and Callie was his sole heir since he confirmed she was his daughter, he has made it a mission to marry her off and continue the bloodline to take over "the family business" when he is gone. She is followed day and night by her father's goons and is being pressured by him to get married and start a family.

Alessandro Costa is just shy of 40 and has zero interest in settling down. Ever. In his line of business, it's best to play the field which he is very good at and likes being single. His family "takes care" of problems with dangerous people and is as good at his job as he is at winning over women's affection. An old school friend to whom he owed a huge debt invites him to meet at a fundraiser where Alessandro meets a beautiful woman who sparks his interest while waiting for him to arrive. Alessandro's friend calls and tells him his favor owed is to help him take over the biggest mafia family in Italy and happens to involve the southern siren that caught Alessandro's eye at the fundraiser. Knowing Alessandro is an honorable man and can't resist a beautiful woman, he was chosen for this task and now that he met her, it makes it even harder to say no.
Alessandro has two choices.
1. Hide her forever from the world with a new identity which will be difficult to do with who her father is, or
2. Marry Calliope himself before her father forces her hand to pass along his legacy to her and his future grandchildren and marry a monster he and his family despise.

Previously, Callie's dangerous father was giving her time to find a husband, and although he pushed rich Italian men with powerful families he approved of her way, he found out time was ticking due to his failing health. He now pushes up the timeline unbeknownst to her and the man her father chose is a monster that the Costa family has a vendetta against. Alessandro would never allow someone like that near an innocent woman. He has to convince her that the safest thing she can do is agree to the marriage until they can find a way to appease her father, keep her safe, pay off the debt, and get revenge on an old enemy. Piece of cake right?

This was a fast-paced, fun read that I ate up and couldn't stop listening. It's a spicy romance with danger, a sassy FMC who loves to push buttons and gets under a seemingly hard-to-crack billionaire playboy who is tough but will protect the ones he loves at all costs (Especially when it comes to Callie).

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio for the advanced audiobook to review in exchange for an honest review of this new book.

"And yet here I was, captivated by Little Miss Tennessee Whiskey. A.k.a. Calliope. A.k.a. mine."

- mafia romance (she's the reluctant mafia princess)
- playboy billionaire
- fake marriage
- protective mmc
- forced proximity
- 🌶️🌶️/5
- dual pov
- narrated by Connor Crais and Allie Piper

Premise: you're a playboy billionaire who reluctantly decides to fake marry a Southern belle who just learned she's a mafia princess to a) save her life, b) return a favour, and c) take down her family and the man who nearly killed your brother.

What a plot, huh? This was my first Brittney Sahin book, and I really liked it. It was a fast-paced listen, and Connor and Allie did a great job capturing the MC's unique accents – Alessandro grew up partially in Italy, while Callie is a Southern girl.

Alessandro made Callie feel safe from their meet-cute, even when she thought she should've feared him. He always put her first, although they'd only know each other days when they got married.

While the romance is a highlight, a lot was happening behind the scenes with moles, murder, and mystery… the usual mafia things 😅.

I'd definitely be keen to continue this series. It also wasn't as spicy as I expected (with less than five scenes, it didn't overwhelm the plot as it does in some mafia romances), which was a refreshing surprise for someone who is a little spiced out.

Thank you to Brilliance Audio for the early copy.

Alessandro Costa is a playboy and doesn't want to change anything about that. When Alessandro get a phone call from Gabriel one of the top men working for DiMaggio mafia crime family. Gabriel has finally called in his favor from five year ago. Now Alessandro is finding himself in Nashville waiting to see what the "favor" is going to be. Calliope is a teacher, song writter and singer in Nashville and has been raised by her aunt since birth. Calliope's mother had died a year ago and has meet her father at the funeral. Calliope's father is the head of the DiMaggio crime family and Calliope is his only heir. Alessandro must marry Calliope in order to save her life and to repay Gabriel for saving his brother's life. Against not wanting to be married to each other they have no other choice to do so. This was a good book and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is book 2 in a series and while I never read book 1 I was able to follow the storyline just fine. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Brillance audio for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this audio book.

I love a mafia romance! Alessandro and Calliope’s relationship had its ups and downs as this is a marriage of convenience story, but when it was on, it was ON! This book is both steamy and dreamy. Connor Crais has the best voice for Alessandro- the accents were so great!