TW: drug use (mentioned), parental death (off page), attempted murder, actual murder, torture

Wow, I totally devoured this one as soon as I was blessedly approved on NetGalley. Ever since meeting Ashton in Tijan's A Dirty Business I was very intrigued by him. I didn't know whether to hate him for his torturous ways or drool over his hotness. I think I just sensed something more to him and was very hopeful the author would continue this series and give us more of him and thankfully she did!

Molly Easter has been pretty much on her own since she was 11 years old, her mother died of a drug overdose or that's what her dead beat father told her. The only thing she has going in her life is her beloved bowling alley that she bought from her father and has put her blood sweat tears and money into. Things have been decent for her until the night Ashton Walden decides he needs to use her to get her father to find out who murdered Justin and Kelly (from the first book, you should definitely read that one to know what's going on here). Ashton lets it be known that Molly actually didn't buy the bowling alley from her father since his family acquired it in her father's debt to them. Molly is devestated but is determined to make the bowling alley hers and Ashton's offer of handing it over in exchange for persuading her dad to help find the killer is too good to pass up.

Ashton is cold, calculated and cruel but the way that Molly makes him feel things is a chink in his armor and I loved his vunerability with her. He tried to put up a good front and not feel but Molly is so adorable albeit a little insane. She was very much a quirky character but loveable too. The way she explained the whole roles in the group was spot on, she is definitely a sealant. Ashton was his psychotic self and it just made me love him even more (is something wrong with me?). I did love that he was very apologetic to Jess and she was very hesitant to give that forgiveness. How do you forgive someone for waterboarding you? LOL

Ashton and Molly's spice was off the charts and way better than the first book. As far as who the killer was, it was very much a surprise...I was still guessing up until the reveal! I felt this book was more a traditional mafia romance than the first book, it had loads of murders, war, betrayals, and torture galore. There were hints of a book about Trace's sister, Remmi, coming and even though she's such a bratty bitch I would read her story if Tijan put it out, I love this world that much lol.

I would very much recommend this book to mafia romance and pretty much any dark romance lovers out there. Thank you so much to Montlake publishing for sending me an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I found this book to be extremely cringe. The dialogue, the characters, it felt like a comedy more than the mafia romance it was claiming to be. I found molly to very goofy and I couldnt take any of her emotions seriously. I didnt sense any chemistry between molly and ashton either. It's sad because normally i'd love this kind of book. I love forced arrangement and mafia type romances but unfortunately this didnt work for me. thank you to netgalley and montlake for the arc.