The Mafia And His Angel: Part 1 by Lylah James Also in this series: Play It Safe
Series: Tainted Hearts #1
on August 1 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mafia
Narrator: Tia Rider Sorensen
Length: 12 Hours and 28 Mins
Format: Audiobook
Alessio…
Cold. Ruthless. Killer. I am respected and feared by all.
I wasn’t put on this earth to love or be loved. I was put here to wipe out every last member of the damn Abandonato mafia, to pay them back for my mother’s death.
When I find a strange girl hiding, beaten, under my bed, I don’t let her live out of compassion. She’s a trinket, my plaything.
Ayla…
I thought Alessio was only one more man who wanted to use me, hurt me, and throw me away. I don’t know what it is to trust anymore. I can’t find my heart under the pain.
Alessio found it. He touched it, and brought it alive again.
But if he discovers just how dangerous I am to him…I’ll lose my life.
I will admit that I have been in the Mafia romance mood LATELY….I swear its so weird but I have just been in one of those strange moods. However when I saw the first book as a part of the Audible’s romance Package I just knew that I really needed to grab this one up. And boy this book including books 2 and 3….threw me off my game because WOW!! Super Reading hangover because this couple is one of my favorites of the year and really maybe even top many of the couples I read in 2017 as well!! Their story was so real and heart breaking and was so beautifully written and I found myself so captivated by their story that I had to continue the narration and purchased the books 2 and 3 because I loved the narration for book one. I will be honest, that these books are only for those fans that like dark romances or mafia themes although I did love the way this mafia romance was written, it had such a soft and romantic feel to it and not as dark as I expected…at least when it comes to the actual love story but other factors are a bit dark so be forewarned that this isn’t for the faint of heart.
So book one begins with our heroine. Ayla, who grew up with the Abandonato mafia, her father is the boss. But when she was sixteen her father forced an engagement upon her with the “devil” a man who raped her on her birthday and kept on raping her, beating her and even giving her to his mafia brothren to use in the worst ways. For seven years she has suffered great abuse at his hands with no end in sight. Until one day, she gets the courage to escape his clutches, and when his men were closing in on her, she jumped into the backseat of a car, with a stranger having no clue who he really was. Then she finds herself hiding under his bed and he discovers her.
She refuses to tell him who she is because when she learns that he is the boss of the mafia that is out for vengeance against the Abandonato, because her father murdered Alessio’s mother and tore his family apart. She knows that if he learns the truth about who she really is…then she is dead. Her primary focus is survival and finds herself relieved when he assigns her to be a maid in his home. Ayla has been abused for so long, that she doesn’t know what to make of Alessio and his mafia that he is the leader of. She knows that Alessio is hard and the life of the mafia is in his blood, but he makes her feel beautiful and sensual. He makes her believe that she is more than worthless and trash like her fiancee has made her believe all these years. She finds true acceptance and a family but she has a secret…..a secret that could destroy everything she has found with Alessio.
This is one of the most beautiful love stories that I have read, the raw emotion was to die for. I just got a kick out of Alessio and Ayla. They have some great chemistry, but what I loved was that Alessio realizes early on that Ayla is hiding some dark secrets and he is so understanding and patient with her. But Ayla finds safety with Alessio, she finds herself relaxing for the first time in many years. Seeing Ayla deal with issues with her PTSD that she is obviously trying to deal with on her own was so heartbreaking. And when she breaks, the way that the mafia just comes together to help heal her when they realize how bad she has been treated, it broke my heart. I love the way they surround her with love and acceptance and it was written so poignantly.
There is a bit of a cliffhanger, but its more of a teaser really, it doesn’t really deal with the actual love story between Alessio and Ayla. So no worries, but you will want to grab up book two the moment you finish this one up.
The Mafia And His Angel: Part 2 by Lylah James Also in this series: Play It Safe
Series: Tainted Hearts #2
on October 24 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mafia
Narrator: Tia Rider Sorensen
Length: 10 Hours and 24 Mins
Format: Audiobook
Source: Self Purchased
Ayla
The darkness never truly left me. It’s always there, waiting for the right moment to strike.
It’s been months since I ran away from the nightmare that was slowly killing me. I ran for my life, straight into the arms of a man who I thought would be worse than the nightmare I’d left behind.
Little did I know he’d become my savior.
But my happy ending was ripped away from me in a blink of an eye. I had everything…and I lost everything.
Alessio
I didn’t believe in angels. But then I saw her. I touched her. I kissed her. I made love to her. In return, she saved my soul.
I was no longer unlovable, because my Angel found it in her heart to love me.
I had her…and then I lost her.
But I will not stop until I find her.
Even if it means starting a war and spilling the blood of everyone who gets in my way.
I will find my Angel.
This second installment pretty much takes off the moment that book one leaves us with. Alessio and Ayla are starting to become closer and the intimacy between them is growing. And Ayla is starting to become more comfortable and revealing small things to those closest to her….Alessio and her best girlfriend, a fellow maid. I was at the point though I just wanted her to be honest with Alessio, because you can see that he would love her no matter what, and even upon learning who she is, you get this feeling he would NEVER do anything to hurt “his angel”. We see a different side to Alessio in this book some good and some we see how cruel he can be to his enemies.
Now I will try not to reveal anything too much but it can’t be helped in some ways. The Devil finds the angel and our Alessio will do anything to bring her back to him. Its not easy to see Ayla being back in her evil and sadistic fiancee’s clutches again, or to see how broken Alessio and the whole family is really without their “angel”. We see how much light and life she brought to them and now with her kidnapped and betrayed by one of their own, it really tests them in the worst ways. We do learn more about Ayla’s mother and how she really was killed and the man who has always considered himself to be her father but thought she was dead all of these years. We see the strength that Ayla has to go on months of torture, and that Alessio is the one that keeps her from falling completely apart. She never gives up on him finding her. But I will say that seeing them search relentlessly for her, just broke my heart. Especially when they know of her true parentage and all that matters is getting her BACK, they could care less that her father is the enemy that destroyed them so many years previous and boy I love how loyal they are to her and understand how “innocent” she really is and fight for her no matter the cost.
We do get another cliffhanger but its bittersweet and more of a teaser really but will be enough of one to want you grabbing up book three.
The Mafia And His Angel Part 3 by Lylah James Also in this series: Play It Safe
Series: Tainted Hearts #3
on November 21 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mafia
Narrator: Tia Rider Sorensen
Length: 11 Hours and 23 Mins
Source: Self Purchased
Ayla
My wings were ready to fly, but he clipped them. Feather by feather, until I had nothing left.
Then my savior came.
He waged a bloodbath to find me. He loves me. He wants his Angel to be free.
But how can I fly again when my wings are broken?
Alessio
This war isn’t over. If he thought he could break her and just disappear, he was wrong. I am going to find him and break him like he broke her.
I made a vow to my Angel.
I promised to let her fly…I promised to save her soul.
And I never break my vows.
So we are in for our finale….the most recent installment in the trilogy, although I have a feeling that this author will be adding more books for other members of the mafia that we saw hints of in this trilogy.
I will say that book three is probably my favorite, although each book has some vital roles in their story. At the beginning of this story, Alessio has found his “angel” with her wings broken and now he will need to be strong enough to put her back together. Ayla has put herself in a blank state…to protect herself when the torture got too much for her. And slowly Alessio is bringing her back, he is the only one that she responds to until she regains her memory. We see that Alessio has to provide a safe place for her to want to face her demons for him again.
This is the most heartbreaking installment of them all but so fully satisfying and seeing this couple find their happy ever after that they deserve was so endearing. We see how they deal with Ayla being pregnant, four months along when they find her, which is how long she was kidnapped for. We see the vengeance that Alessio and his best friends and men he trusts completely go after the traitor and her fiancee. Its really kinda tough to see and I admit that some of the “torture” scenes I had to skim over because they were a bit too brutal for my tastes.
However we get to see Ayla regain her memory and this is where you just smile and burst with happy feels in this book. Seeing her reconnect with the other members of the clan, and honestly this moment in the book was probably my favorite. Seeing Alessio realize that she remembers HIM and what they are together was so real and full of emotion that left me raw at times. We see them go through the pregnancy together, seeing Ayla play the piano for Alessio and these small intimate moments that truly matter. We see a wedding being planned and seeing Ayla captivate Alessio’s father and her own adopted father who loved her mother (Alesso’s fathers best friend). We see Alessio…big tough mob boss stumble across a proposal and wedding vows hehe We also see some fun times with this mob family as they finally heal from the horrors of the past.
This beautiful trilogy just left me with so much emotion and love….I adored these books so much and seeing Alessio and Ayla learn and grow in many different ways and seeing the intimacy that builds between them is so beautiful. I didn’t want to put these books down and I can’t wait for future books from this author. She is definitely one to keep your eye on.
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