Although I am not necessarily one for spicy mafia books this one gets 5 stars!

Steamy ✔️
Well developed characters although not relatable but perfect for the genre ✔️
A plot that makes sense and flows well ✔️

If you are like me and look for those 3 things then definitely check out this book.

Adaliya has been felt some difficult cards, and is certainly in need of rescue from her arranged marriage to an abuser. Valerias is the prince of the Italian underworld, all set to take over he just needs to get married first. He has that all settled, but when he sees that Adaliya needs his help again he proposes a new arrangement with her

They will marry for 1 year so that she can get her inheritance and he can take over. We all know that contract marriages can be tricky and neither of these two can resist the other.

The female MC gave me second hand embarrassment and almost made me quit reading. She is very naive, doesn’t think of her safety, and sometimes it’s a bit much.

I love the male MC and how he feels about Adaliya is just swoonworthy.

Oh wow, where do I even start?? This book was spicy, exciting, sexy as hell, and all around wonderful. Valerius is my new dream man and Adaliya is everything I want to be. Their love story is alluring and pulled me in so quickly. This was my first mafia trope read and I loved it! I can’t wait to read the next book.
Thank you so much Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley for allowing me to enjoy this book in return for honest feedback!

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬: 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘺𝘢
𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦:𝘔𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘢 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 ,𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 20𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2023

𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝙸 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙾𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚢𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝙰𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚢𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝙴𝚁 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗, 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍

*ᴅᴏɴ ᴠᴀʟᴇʀɪᴜꜱ ᴄᴀꜰᴀʀᴇʟʟɪ*

“𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙙, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙂𝘼𝙄𝙉…𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨”

𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘺𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

"It's always been out of our control. We were meant to be. Our fates were intertwined, our hearts were woven together, and our life will parallel that for as long as we live. No one else compares and I can't fathom a life without you."

Thank you for the ARC copy Olivia preya and NetGalley.
#netgalley #CuspofDarkness

I have found a new favorite series and author! Never having read Olivia Preya books before, I dived right in and couldn’t stop reading. Olivia wrote Valerius and Adaliya’s story with darkness, danger surrounding them, and they finding their love for each other. Those in the Mafia families must grow up fast and Valerius was no exception. The way he protected Adaliya for years was beautiful, while she may have first disagreed. Adaliya had grown up too fast also, now being forced into marriage she knew would be disastrous. This is their story and as raw as it may be, is also a beautiful romance.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Publication Date: January 20th 2023

Author: Olivia Preya

Review: Round of applause for @OlviaPreya. I so enjoyed this book. I loved the storyline that they both had to marry not just one side. Just the perfect amount of mafia violence too, sometimes I feel like it goes back and forth too many times and this just had little tidbits through out it. Also the drama between Valerius and Adaliya was very tasteful too. I honestly cannot stand when it has a continuous back and forth bicker between the MC’s it gets old fast and this was the opposite.

I am so happy this is the start of a series that I am definitely going to be diving into I am so happy I kept reading the acknowledge and found out the next book is about Salvator and Naya. Absolutely need that.

I firstly wanted to thank Netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review. I really love mafia books and dark romance specifically are one of my favorite books to read. I will say this one wasn't bad, but it also wasn't one that I would pick up and read again. It fell a little flat for me and I couldn't find a way to really engage with the characters. That being said I think this does have a lot of potential and I feel like this is a series that just gets better as each book continues, so I will be reading the next books. Again, thank you so much!

This book was good but not great, the story was a good idea but I am not sure that the writing got me there as I had a hard time being interested in the story but I made it to the end which actually got better because of the action, I just couldn’t give it a 5 star.

Spoilers



As much as I love mafia romances this one didn't do it for me. It was just the fact they were in relationship with other people made me put off.

I LOVED this book! The story really drew me in from the start. I do love a mafia romance with an alpha male lead and Valerious did not disappoint on that front. I also really liked Adaliya, a strong woman from the start who only became stronger throughout the story. Their first encounter was what drew me in from the start because I started imagining myself in Adaliya’s position and how I would pray to have someone like Valerious do the same for me. The steamy scenes where wonderfully written! I felt the heat eradiating from the pages! I wish the book had delved more into Valerious past, that would have made more emotional scenes between them, and also into Adaliya’s past and how her childhood was with her dad. I enjoyed also the side characters specially Salvatore! I wish we get his story with Naya in the next book!

These characters hook you from the first page! I absolutely loved this book. Adaliya and Valerius are too strong people who met six years ago during a life changing moment. Neither one of them could forget that small but powerful meeting so many years ago. So when they meet again sparks fly. I could not put this book down until I finished it!

This was like the lacroix of mafia. You want mafia with some on page violence but no actual mafia interactions? Here it is. It felt like this book was missing a lot of heart. Kind of being told without shown what was happening. The relationship between the two characters was awkward and didn't really have any growth. And while there's on page sex, it wasn't the crazy kink that I was told I would have.

I read a lot of dark romances and sadly this one just wasn't keeping my attention!

Cusp of Darkness is a dual-POV book that follows the marriage between Valerius Cafarelli and Adaliya Solarin. 6 years earlier Adaliya killed a man in self-defense and comes face to face with mafia family member Valerius when he attempts to clean up the mess she made. Present day, Adaliya is sold by her father to excuse his debt and Valerius must marry to assume the mantel of the family. Agreeing to a 1-year marriage, Adaliya marries Valerius but neither of them knew it would be something more.

First let me start out by saying that although I wasn't blown away by this, you may be! Although I didn't prefer this book by Olivia Preya, I will be following her works because I do see the potential she has as a writer.

I found this book's plot hard to follow at times with the Dual-POV in combination with the past and present jumping. I felt that there was too much jumping around and I often had to reread sections to really get the gist of what was happening. I will say that the Dual-POV alone was a great idea, I loved reading from both perspectives and it made the relationship between our MCs feel more realistic. One other thing that just didn't vibe well with me was the lack of depth between the characters, don't get me wrong they had chemistry out the wazzah but I felt like I needed more than that. I feel like that problem could be solved by giving more of the characters' backstories and the more romantic likable sides of them so that I as a reader am more invested and connected to our MCs.

Overall this was a great first attempt at a new mafia series, I would recommend it to my mafia-loving friends. Don't write this author off because of my review, I think her writing and Dual-POV style can make for great novels- this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I’m obsessed with mafia romances.

Specifically tall, tattooed mob bosses.

The Cafarelli family needs a new Don but try telling Valerius what to do. The only woman that has ever meant anything to him was his Angelo, a girl he found at the lowest moment of her life and has quietly kept tabs on ever since. But Adaliya Solarin is doing just fine without him, becoming a Doctor and living her life.

Except, six years later, Adaliya is being forced to marry a slimy politician to get her Dad out of some serious gambling debt? I think our tatted up Don can come up with a happy solution to solve everyone’s dilemma don’t you??

The scenes between these two are *amazing*. Thank you NetGalley for introducing me to this incredible author and for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t WAIT to read about Salvatore and Naya and I will be counting down the days.

Sadly this was not my cup of tea!
I understand this was an ARC and is not 100% finished but there was a lot of grammatical errors that need to be fixed!
As an avid reader of romance/dark romance, I need more than just chemistry between the fmc/mmc to keep me interested (though, admittedly, there was great chemistry), and this story was just a bit lacking.
The story felt like it lacked a depth beyond the sexual escapades of Valerius and Adaliya - it needed some stronger and more likeable side characters and additional backstory for our leads to overcome the somewhat redundant feeling plot.
All of this being said, I will read any future books in this series as I am interested to see how this author evolves her writing over time as this was a fairly strong debut!

This book captured my attention right from the beginning. I love a good mafia romance, and add in a fake relationship/kinda forced marriage and I am sold. The plot was a bit redundant for this genre but still entertaining. The side characters make me excited for figure books in this series.

I would round up to 3 1/2 stars. Definitely an adult novel that has descriptive violence and sex (all sex is consensual). This book comes out this month and I think it will do well in the adult romance world. The actual book is better than the summary; I would have someone rewrite that. I Wouldn’t have chosen to read this based in that, but because I was given a free copy, I read it. By the way…I hope they caught the grammatical errors I found along my way. 😀 It was a typical low key mafia bad ass with the innocent (but is she really?) woman he falls for. IT caught me off guard, though, at how it did suck you into this little “family” they have created. It is supposed to be the first in the series and I think I would read the next one. But the pet name “Angelo” got old, used way too much, in my humble opinion. I think you just have to let go of reality and jump into this world and get lost in it to enjoy it; just let go and enjoy it for what it is.

3.5 Stars

A steamy mafia romance + marriage of convenience. Sign me up!

First off, the author did a great job with the steamy scenes. I can feel the tension and heat radiating from the protagonists. But as an avid reader of mafia romances, I want more than just romance. I wanted more depth. We barely got a glimpse into their past, the mafia world, and secondary characters. I want to be able to fully immerse myself into this dangerous mafia world. Not saying there wasn't any mafia action, it was mostly toward the end of the novel.

Overall, an entertaining & spicy read that you can easily devour in a day.

***I would like to thank NetGalley and Olivia Preya (the author) for graciously sending me an ARC to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.**

Adaliya and Valerius meet under dangerous circumstances, then don’t see each other again for six years where they strike up a bargain.

This book was okay. It was an easy read, I finished it in a day. I liked the premise, but there were some plot points I couldn’t get behind. I didn’t think the deal with her dad was realistic as it was written, so I wish we had a little more details about her relationship with her dad and what her childhood was like. I also thought that it would have been beneficial to have more memories or flashbacks of what Adaliya’s relationship was with her sister. The build up to the spice was worth it. All in all, it was a solid 3 star mafia romance.

3.5/5 stars! If you are a fan of mafia romance books, you will enjoy this book. It is a worthwhile entry into that genre. I really enjoy dual POVs so getting to understand this story through both Valerius' and Adaliya's eyes was great. This is a dark story and not for the faint of heart. I highly advise reading the trigger warnings beforehand. But it was a great mafia romance and I'm looking forward to reading the next entry and seeing if we get to learn more about the cast of side characters.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily