This was my first mafia romance, and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was so fun and exciting!

Ava is literally the definition of “the bolter,” and I LOVE FMCs like that because it gives them more of a backbone and makes the MMC more and more obsessed (which we LOVE to see of course). Nick was obsessed with Ava in the hottest ways EVER. He was arrogant and cocky, which I normally hate, but it was impossible for me not to love him in the end. Together, their relationship was so passionate, and the tension had me in a chokehold! They had an instant connection that was undeniable, and I FEIGNED for it. Also, THE BANTER??? Ate it up.

I always love a good “rival families” trope; it makes things so interesting, especially since, in this case, they both worked in the mafia, which gave it a sense of suspense for me.

All in all, this was a good read, and I’m now obsessed with mafia romances—more to come for sure!

3.7 ★ (may change later, I’m indecisive)

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for this ARC of Ties That Bind Us. It has rival families, one night stand, lots of plot twists. I was intrigued in the beginning but as I kept reading, I was losing focus bc there were a lot of gaps and not so much action + dark mafia scenes. I’ve read a lot of dark mafia romances and this was light so I do recommend if you’re wanting to dip your toes into mafia romance, read Ties That Bind Us.

In this steamy mafia romance, Ava Moretti has a passionate night with a handsome stranger, only to discover he’s Nick Caponelli, the heir to a rival mafia family. When her father forces her to marry Nick for the sake of the family business, Ava must choose between loyalty to her family and the undeniable connection she shares with her sworn enemy. As Ava navigates the dangerous world of crime and family, she faces a life-altering decision—love or duty.

Hooked from the first page, if you enjoy books by Ana Huang, Rhenna Morgan, and L.J. Shen then this is right up your alley! fast paced and will have you wondering what's going to happen next.

This book has a great flow, it’s packed with action and the spice is perfect!! There wasn’t a moment in this story where I felt bored or was waiting for something to happen. Nick fell as soon as he saw Ava but it didn’t feel like an insta-love. Nick showed Ava what love and care is supposed to look like after realizing how her dad actually treated her and I’m so happy for Ava to know what it feels like and how she stood up to her dad.

This book has a great flow, it’s packed with action and the spice is perfect!! There wasn’t a moment in this story where I felt bored or was waiting for something to happen. Nick fell as soon as he saw Ava but it didn’t feel like an insta-love. Nick showed Ava what love and care is supposed to look like after realizing how her dad actually treated her and I’m so happy for Ava to know what it feels like and how she stood up to her dad.

As much as this book had a great story, I do wish that the couple were able to communicate in a little bit more of a healthy way!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I love a good mafia romance story and Ties that Bind Us by Nicole Knight was the perfect steamy read.

I originally read this book in 2022.
I gotta say I love the new reprint.

TIES THAT BIND US by Nicole Knight was exciting, fast-paced and satisfying!
This book has the best of both worlds. Romance and crime. I loved the mafia aspect of this story. It proved to be that much more intriguing.

This was such a great read!
I was instantly hooked and once I started I couldn't stop!
The characters are hot, sweet hard I instantly fell in love.
I could picture them perfectly.
The writing was good.
Fast paced, intriguing, exhilarating, compelling.
I can't wait to read book two.

I read a fair amount of Mafia Romances, and what I liked about Ties that Bind Us is the pacing. I’m a stickler, as a reader, when it comes to being pulled in from the beginning of a story. Author Nicole Knight drew me in with Ava and Nick’s characters. I was incredibly wrapped up in all the drama involved in everyone’s lives. Between Ava’s emotional struggles with her twin brother and challenges to stay clean, her father’s controlling behavior, and her ex-boyfriend’s manipulation, the story is packed. Nick, the mafia boss, handles things so well. He’s the best at handling everything. Nick was simply the best. I loved the ending, too

This was such a good read!! I loved it. I would highly recommend reading this. Was quick and easy and would recommend to audience

This had the potential to be a stand-out book, with some key pieces of a mafia romance in place: Nick & Ava had clear chemistry, rival families brought together by a marriage contract, and enough brothers and sisters to make a great supporting cast.

Unfortunately, the writing didn’t allow for any of these components to click. Transitions were so sudden between places, moods, and conversations that I was often asking “Wait, how did we get here?”. Also, character personalities didn’t really line up with actions or dialogue.

If someone is looking for a surface-level mafia romance, this checks the boxes; however, this could be an easy DNF for others.

The highlight of this book is that the main male character is so well developed. Secure with himself and emotional intelligent.... and we love that!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Wattpad for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

For the sake of full transparency, I did end up DNFing this book. I thought the plot/story idea was really fun and something I would normally enjoy. I love the idea of anonymous lovers having an epic night only to find out they're sworn enemies. We're talking enemies to lovers and arranged marriage and morally gray characters. However, there were too many things about the book that made it too hard for me to enjoy. I understand this is an ARC copy and may not have completed the editing processes, but the amount of errors in spelling, formatting, missing words, etc there were led me to believe it hadn't ever been edited at all. In addition, the writing itself felt very chaotic and juvenile. It made following along in the story sometimes difficult. It also lacked chemistry between the main characters, as their interactions took on a clinical quality that left out passion. The time jumping back and forth in the first couple chapters was also very confusing and did not help to keep my attention.

Ultimately, after a lot of editing, I do think this story could be something a lot of people would love to read. It just isn't for me as is.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

This is a good way to get into mafia romance (dark romance) for readers who are interested in getting into this type of romance sub genre! It is still triggering and is a dark story, but a decent amount of the darker stuff is off page and/or not very graphic. Definitely check out content warnings! It was a lighter dark romance (contradiction, I know), but it was interesting enough to keep me reading until the end!
The sexual content starts out strong, but does become more closed door as the story goes on, so if you want the explicit sexual content in your dark romance, most of this falls off after the beginning. The ending was fine, and I can see that the author either set it up to become a series, or left it open for the option to return to this world for future books, but I am not sure if I would be interested in future books in the series. I would be interested in checking out another storyline/worlf from Knight in the future though!

A steamy, well written mafia romance but the MMC is one of the most secure and emotionally intelligent men I've ever read about!

Wow! This was my first mafia dark romance and I’m obsessed! I loved the story, loved Nick and Ava’s connection and how he was so protective over her. The writing flowed so perfectly and the twists and turns made it hard to put down. Nick Caponelli is🥵ugh. My first book by this author and won’t be my last!

4⭐️
2.5🌶️
Slow burn
Enemies to Lovers
Forbidden Love
Arranged Marriage

From a one night stand to potentially falling in love? This mafia romance follows Nick and Ava, two people who when they first meet have a one night stand. They don’t give out their actual names but as faith keeps bringing them together in the most random places that’s when their story really unfolds!

Coming from two families who from certain actions despise each other that’s when they fall in love little by little. I can’t give too much away because that’s part of their story but I enjoyed every single moment of it.

A nice take on the mafia world.

Ties that Bind Us was everything I was expecting and then some. Nicole Knight took me on a freaking emotional roller coaster with this one! I was in absolute happy tears by the end of this page turner.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice - 3/5 🌶️

🔥Slow Burn
❤️ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Forbidden Love
❤️ Possessive

Ties that Bind Us is a dark romance featuring Ava Moretti, youngest daughter of the Moretti Mafia, and Nick Caponelli, Son and heir to the Caponelli Mafia. Did I forget that the Moretti's and Caponelli's are sworn enemies in the mafia world. Ava just wants to prove to her father she is just as valuable to him as a son. She has gone to law school with the hopes of being a defense attorney for this reason alone, but nothing she does is ever good enough for him. To him she is the problem, wild child that he would rather not have to deal with. So when Nick Caponelli suggest a marriage arrangement with Ava to create peace and unite the two families, her dad very willingly agrees.

This book was such an emotional roller coaster. We go from Ava meeting Nick (unknowingly neither knows who the other is), to her fighting her inner demons and addiction with drugs, to her falling in love with Nick, to the betrayal of her own blood, and loss. I was an absolute wreck after reading this!

Overall, if you are obsessed with morally grey mafia men, like myself, then this is the book for you! Nicole Knight has made it on to my automatic read author list after this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad books for gifting me a copy to read and review!

I have not read a mafia romance that I've LOVED in forever. This was something very unexpected for me.

First - don't just a book by it's cover. I don't think you'd realize how dark this book gets at times based on the very feminine pink cover. I love that it was like a hidden gem.

Second - I fell in love with Nick and Ava. Their chemistry was absolutely OFF the charts. I want more of their story.

Okay so I did not except a darker romance based on the cover but I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!! I loved the mafia trope with this book! I loved the surprise within the book that Ava felt after seeing the one night stand, Nick. Nick is somebody that would make anyone absolutely SWOON. I was in love throughout the whole novel.

Oh my! I had forgotten how much I love a good mafia romance! I love a bad boy! Nick is the entire package, good & bad.

I loved the storyline and how it progressed! I love, love, love this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review.

#NetGalley #TiesThatBindUs #NicoleKnight

Ava is a mafia Princess , she's smart, fierce and sassy. Ava does not like to be told what to do or who to be.
Nick is next in line to head the Caponelli mafia, and he is strong willed, arrogant and always gets what and who he wants.

When these two strong personality's collide by chance, neither of them know they are from rival families. They are like two stars colliding together , after a night together they think they will part ways and never see each other again. However fate is a fickle thing.

Ava is faced with huge decisions to make, Will she stay true to she is and follow her heart and her own path or will she be who her family has been preparing her to be her whole life.

I'm not one who is huge on the mafia romances, however i read a webcominc that got me in to the genre and when i came across This one it sounded way to good to pass up and I'm SO GLAD i got the ability to receive the Digital ARC for review. If your new to mafia romances or a seasoned reader I think youll enjoy this. I thoroughly enjoyed this much more than I thought i would.

The romance is *chefs Kiss * amazing but the dynamics between all the characters is so well written as well.

Nick and Ava were written so well for each other and your heart will be rooting for them every step.

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the Digital ARC.
Check out my website for reviews and more at www.lexariffe.com

ties that bind us | nicole knight 💍🖤
⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Thank you @netgalley and wattpad publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review 🫶

Looking for an arranged marriage/mafia romance/steamy instalust story? This one’s for you 🥀

I was so thrilled to read a mafia romance! It was entertaining, fast paced and light despite the darker topics. 🖤

Maybe I was expecting something deeper, maybe I was not in the right mood : I thought it was good -don’t get me wrong- but it didn’t stand out to me. I really liked the arranged marriage and the forced proximity in this book, but everything was so quick -insta-lust, insta-love, wedding, moving in, etc.- that I couldn’t truly « believe » it. 💍

Nick Caponelli tho (🔥) : I will not shut up about him! It was refreshing to see this mafia man with such power willing to share it so honestly with his partner. Also, we always love when the MMC is head over heels and would k*ll for the FMC (it would be traumatizing irl but shhh 🤫)