The Hermit by Michelle Heard

What you would call the meet cute for Grace and Dominik would make a great opening for a 007 movie, except for the fact that Dominik is an assassin and illegal arms dealer.

I really liked almost everything about the story as it does it’s job to be an intense protective alpha love story but also start an overarching story line of this criminal alliance building its sanctuary on a remote island off the coast of South America. 

THE HERMIT title suits Dominik well. There are some lose threads at the end that don’t qualify as a cliffhanger, but are enough of a tease to interest me in the next book.

God of Vrngeance by Michelle Heard

Damiano has been the big boss in this series - stone faced, unyielding and ruthless. He’s a man that prefers solitude but gets forced into the prescience of others because he’s the boss.

As a mafia book, GOD OF VENGEANCE has some scores to settle in true mafia fashion. The betrayers can’t expire quickly or easily if it can be helped. 

The romance is intense. Gabriella is the strong woman with a good head on her shoulders. Damiano most definitely wasn’t expecting her.

Drawn to Darkness by Michelle Heard

Of the five leaders of the Costa Nostra, Dario is the sweetest, in a mafia way. I like DRAWN TO DARKNESS because we get our dark mafia fix but it is Eden that is rough around the edges. It’s an opposite sides of the track story with Eden never catching a break from her dead end jobs to her dead beat mother.

Another perk of the series is visiting with the other heads of the five families, Damiano’s story being teased and looked forward to next.

Hunted By A Shadow by Michelle Heard

It’s refreshing to see a unique plot like the one in HUNTED BY A SHADOW. I’m always on board for a stalker romance, but they are usually someone already obsessed with the female main character trying to be closer to her.

Not so with Renzo. He is coming from a place of hatred for Skylar. His intent is to torment her and her father for the wrongs he believes them responsible. It a good book of exacting vengeance (brutally) and coming to grips with loss.

Craving Danger by Michelle Heard

I wanted to read the book because of the taboo club owned by Franco. Samantha joins the club, engages with Franco but he wears a balaclava to hide his identity (her boss from work) from her.

Then it gets a little weird and she wants see him at her house, but he still shows up wearing the balaclava. So they have a unique reason to need one another that leads to love. but the life Tory secret and all that goes with it looms.

Tempted by the Devil by Michelle Heard

You will love TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL if you love those mafia bosses that everyone fears (for good reason) that fall in love at first sight with a sheltered young woman that is everything the opposite of what the mafia represents.

It doesn’t disappoint when it comes to a possessive, protective and spicy man and a minx just learning the power of her allure.

Destroy Me by Michelle Heard

St. Monarch’s is a school in Switzerland that trains the top tier of the crime families in the world.  DESTROY ME takes place mostly at St. Monarch’s but first shows us how Misha and Aurora met two years prior.

It’s good book with lots of steam.  We are introduced to a number of characters that will no doubt figure in further books in the series.

Cruel Saints by Michelle Heard

CRUEL SAINTS has some creative twists on the arranged marriage trope making it particularly interesting, but the “knight in shining armor” that is Lucian is what makes his a better than average mafia story.

The way Elena was treated by her bodyguard and father was unimaginable.  Being able to trust anyone was impossible for her.  When Lucian came into her life, she viewed him as another monster as a mafia don’s successor.

But Lucian proves to everyone what he is made of as a mafia don, a son, an ally and a husband.  The chemistry between him and Elena was electrifying.  I loved the story.