Nick and Ava were cute. Secretly loved that it started with a one night stand. This was a quick read. I’m always down for a good mafia romance, which is why I chose this.

So glad this book got such a cute cover! I love a nice discrete but pretty cover. Nick and Ava are adorable, if just a little corny

I'm definitely here because it's a mafia romance. I love the one night stand and the arranged marriage which are the perfect tropes for a mafia romance. It was a quick read for me and I saw where it was going but I enjoyed the journey to the end.

Ties that Bind Us was a quick and enjoyable mafia read for me! I low key love it when our characters have a one night stand, thinking they will never see each other again. And I LOVE a morally grey MMC, and Nick did not disappoint! Some of the twists were predicable, but I don't mind that while reading.

Read if you enjoy: mafia romance, one night stand, arranged marriage, found family, dual POV

Thank you so much to Nicole Knight, Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read/review an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited by the premise of this book but I just couldn’t get past the poor execution. It started well enough that it caught my attention but it quickly lost it. There were several grammar mistakes and a lot of confusing plot points… I’m not sure if there was a clear resolution because I couldn’t read more after page 200. I decided to not finish it.
Since this is a indie author and the book hasn’t come
out yet I won’t be posting a negative review on other platforms.
Thank you for the opportunity to ARC review.

A Captivating but Imperfect Mafia Romance

I finished this mafia romance with mixed emotions. As a fan of dark mafia romances, I was initially swept up in the story, but as I reflected on the book, some doubts crept in.

The author's portrayal of Nick, the morally ambiguous male lead, was excellent. His emotional trauma and kind soul made him a compelling, relatable character. The dual POV narrative added depth, and the themes of found family, arranged marriage, and protective love were well-explored.

However, the plot twist, while suspenseful, wasn't particularly surprising. I also found myself wondering if the story relied too heavily on familiar mafia romance tropes. While the book was engaging, I'm not convinced it brought anything new to the genre.

Perfect for Fans of:
Mafia romances, found family themes, arranged marriage.
You may enjoy this book, but I'm unsure if it's a standout in the genre.

Thank you to Wattpad WEBTOON Netgally. 3.5

Thank you so much for this ARC
I love the pacing in this book specifically because most mafia books tend to drag the story out without focusing on the main characters but this book has a right balance of everything with great plot, fantastic characters development and the simultaneous relationship between the main characters also progresses in a nice way. Ava and Nick have an instant connection that you could just feel.

I enjoyed the story of Nick and Ava. They meet and have a one night stand. Thinking they’d never see each other again; only to find out that their families want them to get married to join their mafia families together.

If you like mafia romances with some spice, then I’d recommend this book. It was an easy, enjoyable read. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book from the author ☺️

There is a lot going on here but it kind of works. It is a true blue mafia book and the duel perspectives add a lot to the story. If you like mafia romance you won't be disappointed.

Thank you to Wattpad Books for providing the ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

As my first read for this author, I was pleasantly surprised by this mafia romance. I love a dark mafia romance just as much as the next gal, and honestly, there's not much one could do to garner a poor rating. That being said, I'm also very picky about what makes an elevated story, and this one did not disappoint. Nick is exactly what I love about mafia MMCs - morally Grey, with emotional trauma and a kind soul to be uncovered.


While the plot twist wasn't the most surpising, the book was still suspenseful and engaging. I cannot put this one down!

If you love….
- One Night Stand
- Dual POV
- Mafia
- Found Family
- Arranged Marriage
- Protective MMC

You won't want to miss this one...

Thank you so much to Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for allowing me to read this ARC early!

📖 / 4.25⭐️

I really loved and enjoyed the start of this story! But I couldn’t get past how repetitive and messy the story started to flow near the end. Quick read, but definitely not my favorite.

I really enjoyed "Ties that Bind Us" by Nicole Knight. It was one of my favorite ARCs of the year. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Nick and Ava have a one night stand in the beginning of the book and they act the complete opposite after. Nick needs to find the girl that left his bed before he woke and Ava wants to forget it ever happened. When all comes to a head they realize they belong to enemy mafia families forced into a marriage.
This book has potential for me and is one where I think others will love it. I think I had a lot of issues with the pacing of this book and the grammar and writing made it hard to keep my focus.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC. I was excited because I love mafia stories, and the book started off great with Nick and Ava’s meeting and their fun “cat and mouse” game. But I had trouble enjoying it because of grammar mistakes and a messy plot. After the wedding treaties part, the story got confusing and didn’t focus enough on the mafia drama. The ending felt too rushed after Ava was rescued and Nick woke up, and the adoption storyline didn’t make sense after everything they went through. The Russian plot was also left unfinished. I gave it 2 stars because it had potential but needed a lot more work

What an amazing read this was! I read this years ago when it first was uploaded to Wattpad and it’s so nice to see it finally getting published by Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group! I loved it while it was on there and now I love the rewritten version!

Both Ava and Nick are strong characters and their chemistry was through the roof. You could tell throughout the entirety of the book that Nick would do just everything for Ava! This is a well-written mafia romance that I truly enjoyed and it was a good read with such a good plot and storyline. It did have me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next because it is a bit different than the version I read years ago.

Nick Caponelli is such a good guy and he did deserve a chance at happiness with Ava who is such a strong female character (I just adored her)

The emotional rollercoaster this book had me on was no joke it did have me feeling so many things. It all came together in the end and I couldn’t be any happier with how it ended. I was so completely hooked from the beginning that I couldn’t even put it down for anything!

I highly recommend Ties That Bind Us if you looking for a good Mafia romance, with truly amazing characters. It does talk about some series topics so I would read with caution when starting this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group, and most importantly Nicole Knight for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

I love mafia romances and dual POVs so I was super excited for this, unfortunately I ended up DNFing, mostly due to the repetitive dialogue that felt childish at times.

Starting out with a thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the privilege to read another ARC. I truly love all things mafia/mob related, so when I saw this opportunity I was truly excited. I’ll start off the review by saying that I really wanted to like this book. Part of me thinks that the editing and grammar issues found throughout the e-book was part of the issue, but the other part tells me it is because the story was so all over the place I just didn’t like it as much as I wish I would have. I’ll start off by saying I loved the beginning with Nick and Ava and how they met and then the cat and mouse game of Nick trying to find and then sweep Ava off her feet. I feel like after the wrench was thrown in with the wedding treaties and they finally were able to get together, it all went downhill. There was way too much that happened and then was under developed that it lacked enough intrigue to keep my attention. I really wish that the author would have focused more on the actual mafia plotting and families/entanglements. I really was also disappointed with how quickly the ending happens after Ava was recovered and Nick woke up in the hospital, and definitely wish there would have been more of an epilogue. I disagree with the timeline of adoption as they both could never have been 100% ready to adopt and care for a child after all that trauma, and who knows what happened with the Russians since that plot line was never concluded. Overall, a three star read for me, and I think it would have had more potential if the plots were developed more throughly.

Please check book over for spelling and grammatical errors. ‘Nicole Young’ is in the middle of a page, along with Ava, being spelt Avs a few times.

Some of the things I enjoyed about this book were he falls first, dual POV, mafia romance, arranged marriage, one night stand. I was truly super intrigued by the premise of the main characters accidental meeting, then the MMCs obsession with finding her again. I loved how the author wrote of finding her randomly after searching for weeks and then finally learning her real name! Swoooon. The forced proximity in this was so good!! However, about half way through I started to notice the dialogue felt juvenile and/or a teeny bit repetitive. The pacing was also a little bit off for me. As well as the dialogue regarding the arranged marriage that we get in the beginning with the rival families. Overall still a good reading experience but not my all time favorite mafia romance either! I’d still recommend especially to people newer to the genre that haven’t read very many.

I love me a mafia romance and this one didn’t disappoint it kept me hooked and tied down the entire book there were so many twists and turns and the emotional roller coaster I went on whew I absolutely loved this one!