Is it me or have Russian mafia books become the next big craze in romance novels? What ever the case may be, I’m really enjoying different authors takes on this new sub genre. I would caution readers that there is a repetitive formula being used by these novels. I saw that formula here in this one. Not a problem for me but may be one for others looking for something new and original.

Demented Devil is a pretty basic mafia/arranged marriage novella that gives readers a quick and spicy hit of dark romance. While this novella certainly doesn’t cover any new ground, it’s a fast and fun read that will definitely give readers exactly what they expect without over or under delivering.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title.

This book had all of the tropes that I adore, and I enjoyed this read so much. I honestly wish it had been longer, because I would have loved to spend more time digging into these characters. I thought that the situation was well plotted, and would love to know what happens to everyone.

Loved it.. Although I would if liked it to be longer than it was... I wanted more .... But nevertheless I loved it....

Although I did quite enjoy this story, I felt as if it was rushed. There wasn't quite enough to make me absolutely love this like I thought I was going to.
With that being said, I loved watching Sophia and Maxim fall in love. I just felt as though the author rushed it a bit. So I'm kind of at a loss. I kind of want to give this 2 stars but because I did enjoy it a bit I think I will land safely at 3 stars.

This was quick, fun and a little bit steamy! Typical love story where a daughter has to marry the mafia in order to become allies. Maxim was arranged to be married to Lorenzo’s daughter, Aurora. When they were about to meet Maxim, they were ambushed, and Aurora protected her sister. Before her dying breath, she asked her to protect their family. Fast forward, since her sister is dead she has to marry Maxim. Sofia is the black sheep of the family but later on as the story progresses, she decided to marry Maxim.

It was definitely short so there is not much character development. However, I did enjoy Sofia’s character because she was strong. If you want a short story, fast paced mafia romance then this one's for you.

I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC. Know that this review and opinions are all mine.

I was so focused on Lev and how much I liked his personality that I had a hard time focusing on the main story. Here are my unfiltered thoughts as I read:
“She should have been with Lev
I wish this was a why choose
A lot of the chapters read like one big scene and not like distinct chapters
Her personality is giving bipolar
I do love that she’s not a prude. I was getting bored of that trope. A lot of the chapter breaks don’t have very good continuity. It’s either like a chapter was broken up randomly in the middle or that a chapter was skipped for length.
The pasta 🥹
I need more Lev what the fuck
He has like 5 lines
Omg Lev is so cute. I can’t.
I NEED A BOOK WITH LEV”

Quick. Easy. Steamy.

Is it a great read… it’s about a fifty fifty for me. Character development. Not great. Smut… steamy.

It really depends what you’re coming to this book for. It’s mafia romance novel and this genre is notorious for some great books but not great characters, archs or storylines

3/5 for me

<b>Star Rating:</b>⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
<b>Spice Rating:</b>🌶.5/5
<b>Angst Rating:</b>🖤/5
<b>Burn:</b>🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Fast

🥀 Novella
🥀 Mafia Romance
🥀 Arranged Marriage

<b>“The realization dawned on Sofia that everything was about perception. Instead of viewing this place as another cage, she could see it as a palace fit for a queen.”</b>

<b>Tropes:</b> Marriage-of-Convenience, Cold-Hero, Black-Sheep-Heroine, Insta-Love, Revenge

<b>Kinks/Spice Details:</b> Dom/Sub, Bondage

Demented Devil follows Sofia, the misfit daughter of an important mafia boss, who is arranged to marry Maxim in her sister's place after an unfortunate tragedy. Maxim is your typical mafia antihero, he is cold and distant until he meets and falls for our heroine. The plot follows Sofia and Maxim’s journey through an arranged marriage and solving the crime against Sofia’s sister.

This book has all the key components typically found in mafia romances…
✔️ Controlling mafia boss father
✔️ An unwanted arranged marriage
✔️ Family tragedies resulting in the loss of a parent
✔️ Heroine sacrificing her own wants to aid the family “business”
✔️ Cold & violent antihero who believes he is incapable of love
✔️ Violence, sex, & revenge

I found this to be an enjoyable read, however, I really wished it was longer. I didn’t feel like I had enough time to connect to the characters, especially since so much of the book was focused on resolving Sofia’s sister's unfortunate tragedy and family politics. There wasn’t much time left for character building due to the plot-focused storyline. The romance felt quite rushed as well. I wished the heroine didn’t give in so quickly and I felt like it was a bit too fast for Maxim, who previously stated numerous times he was incapable of emotion, to fall so quickly for Sofia. That being said though, I did enjoy this story and I really liked Sofia. She is strong and works to accept her differences and come out of her sister's shadow. I appreciated that she didn’t give up the things that brought her joy, even if others disapproved. Overall this was an enjoyable read and if you’re looking for a quick read with all your favorite mafia romance tropes, this may be a good read for you!

<b>**Thank you NetGalley, Evernight Publishing, and Winter Sloane for this ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review. All thoughts are my own.**</b>

This was great, but I think this could have been amazing.

Demented Devil by Winter Sloane brings us Maxim Semenov and Sofia Bianchi. She’s the daughter of an Italian don and he’s the head of the Russian Bratva. Their ties are to strengthen their organizations and their marriage was arranged but their happy ever after, if possible is all their own. Sofia attempts to love the monster that is Maxim Semenov and Maxim finds he’s trying to be a better man than before.

This was cute and a great story, I just wish it had more. I felt like we skimmed over everything. It was like a quick retelling of a really great mafia romance. I enjoyed all the characters except for one or two. I honestly thought the sister faked her death at first to get out of the arranged marriage. I almost wish it did happen to give the story more drama. But it was still great. While I didn’t think the story was meaty enough I really did enjoy Maxim and Sofia’s relationship. They knew the marriage was happening and I feel like they gave it an honest try from the beginning instead of fighting each other. I also enjoyed Sofia’s revenge. While she could have been more feisty I still enjoyed her character. Maxim and Lev were well described as brutal and psychotic but I feel like I didn’t see enough of that in the story to get that vibe from them.

For being a short mafia story it was great. For it not being too detailed and in-depth, it left me wanting more. But I’d still give this a recommendation, especially for those who need a quick fix on a mafia arranged marriage romance.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

Aurora Bianchi is to marry a stranger, her father has promised her to Maxim Semenov, a ruthless mafia bad boy, to secure an alliance between the Bianchis and the Semenovs. But when Aurora is killed, her sister Sofia has to take her place. But rumor has it Maxim killed his last wife...

Sofia doesnt have that much experience with relationships let alone being married, but she finds herself quickly settling in and enjoying married life more than she really wants. Maybe Maxim is the one for her after all? He is convinced he has found his Queen, now its just the matter to make her feel like one.

I read this in about an hour, its an arranged mafia romance and that is exactly what yopu get. The characters are really good despite it being a short story, and the storyline is great. Sofia and Maxim are a cute couple, I really like the "hard exterior/bad reputation man falls for the right one and then we get to see the real him"- trope that this has, but I wanted a bit more of their romance. I would say that the level of smut in this are moderate.

This little novella made me want to read more of Winter Sloane's works

TW: Death, violence, torture, pregnancy, vomit, arrranged marriage, confinement

For me, This book left a lot to be desired.

I felt it was too short for me to really be invested In the story and it’s characters and as such the book suffered in my opinion. The writing style was good and I would definitely try this authors work again.

This mafia book was what I found pretty short and sweet, which was a good thing because it went by quickly. That being said, it definitely reads like a mafia arranged marriage story and hits all the usual tropes and topics we tend to see with this type of book. Sofia was a great character who I actually really liked throughout it all. Often times she gives off strong character traits which are not always seen in the FMC of mafia books. Because of this, she was one of the best characters in the entire book. Maxim is the badboy, but not really cause he's actually very soft towards Sofia, something that's a change from the typical mafia books I've read that I didn't mind.

Overall this was a fun mafia romance book that I would definitely read again!


Thank you to Evernight Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Maxim is arranged to marry Aurora, a fellow mafia boss’s daughter to strengthen an alliance. When Aurora’s life is taken abruptly, Sofia must take her place. As a couple, Sofia and Maxim will steal your heart quickly!

I was very into this storyline! It is however a very quick, easy read and is definitely missing depth. I would have liked to have seen this as a full length stand alone with a solid foundation of character and baseline.

•Moderate Spice
•Mafia Romance
•Arranged marriage

It was supposed to be mafia romance right? Then where was the romance? I started this book thinking it's Mafia one, we'll get arranged marriage angst, the hate to love romance, spicy scenes but what did I get?

A fast paced half story? With umm no plot? Wasn't Sofia supposed to be rebel one? Why didn't her actions said so? She just accepted everything easily. And there wasn't any chemistry buildup or any powerful scene between the leads. They married, had few conversations and then lived happily ever after. (coz we get epilogue very very soon)

Where was the erotica? One scene doesn't mean it's an erotic book.
Lord, what did I just read? This book delivered exact opposite of everything it was supposed to.

Maxim was promised one daughter, but after her tragic death he marries her sister Sophia. To her Maxim is the devil in disguise, the man who’s a complete stranger, a forced alliance, but she soon learns there’s more to her husband. Maxim and Sofia have an explosive relationship, I would have like to see more character development between them, overall, an enjoyable story. I voluntarily read and reviewed this excellent story.

Maxim and Sofia are fireeeeeee! I absolutely love this book and could not put it down! It’s short but intense and it keeps you wanting to continue reading without putting the book down! It has action, grief, love, and all the juicy things!

Hands down one of my favorite short stories I have read in this year! The author did a fabulous job.

Yes, the story was moving fast but it was well worth it!

A bit shorter then I would have liked, I loved these 2 as a couple but would have liked to have read more about them. Mafia style with that perfect level of spice 🔥

2.5 ⭐️
Thank you Net galley for the arc..
Demented Devil was a fast- paced mafia book about Sofia, estranged daughter who due to certain events is arranged to marry Maxim the pakhan as an alliance between their familias.. Sofia is a little bit of a wild one who never wanted anything to do with her father’s mafia so how will Sofia adapt to her new situation and will she find herself falling for her husband?
This book was a fun read and I enjoyed the fact that the heroine wasn’t a pushover and that maxim wasn’t an asshole who’s controlling like a lot of the mafia heroes.. he respected the heroine and didn’t try to control Sofia’s freedom. He was very soft when it came to her which was endearing.
However, the book was a little too short so the plot felt underwhelming and the characters weren’t well developed and the romance felt wayy too fast paced ( I guess I expected a little bit more angst and a little bit more hatred from Sofia’s side?). I unfortunately didn’t feel like I got attached to any of the characters and it just felt anticlimactic.
I’m intrigued by the brother tho and would love to read about his story.

Demented Devil is a mafia romance, in which Maxim arranges to marry Lorenzo's daughter, Aurora.
But when tragedy strikes, Sofia must take her place.

This is a very quick read and I think it’s a bit too short.
Everything goes so fast that it lacks some depth.
It also hits every note for the "typical arranged married mafia story," which makes it predictable.

We get to know Sofia and I really liked her.
As one of the daughters in this mafia family, she decides not to get involved in that business and follow her own path.
She’s introduced as a very strong character, but I feel like we're losing that part of her later in the story.

Maxim is the ‘standard’ hot mafia guy.
I don’t think he’s that demented?
He isn’t overly violent, doesn’t come across unhinged and is nice towards Sofia from the start.

Maxim’s and Sofia’s relationship falls a bit flat for me. Sofia didn’t really want to marry him, but there was an instant attraction. However we went from her ‘wanting to set some ground rules’- to her being the happy wife that knows his schedule, has cute little jokes with her husbands and we see things like: ‘he often said..’ and ‘like always’, yet we don’t get to see when they got this chatty all of the sudden.

Last but not least: this book is a dark romance/ erotica. We get one smut scene and after that there are only hints towards them having sex?
I expected a little more. Let's be honest, that's why we're reading this.

In short: the characters are nice, the story is fine, unfortunately I think it’s lacking a bit.