Warning this has spoilers!

Vicious Heir by Bella Ash is a forced marriage mafia book. I rated this book 3 stars out of 5 stars. It has a decent amount of spice in it and there’s a couple tropes that pop up in this book: possessive a*hole, love/hate, unexpected baby, and parental trauma. I thought the plot was easily to stay engaged especially as I finished it in one day. It seemed very rushed in the beginning and then started to slow down and more interesting about halfway through the book. The rushed part is a big part as to why this got only 3 stars. Not only did the plot feel rushed but so did the relationship with Angel and Emma and I’m not just talking about them being married so quickly. I also gave this three stars because there’s being an a*hole who loves the female character but don’t know how to say it and there’s another of being an a*hole as part of a generic character to make the main female character feel bad.
Vicious Heir starts off with Emma walking into deliver a package to Angel as a courier. Shortly after delivering the package, a rival mafia family starts shooting up the area. Emma forces Angel down and saves him from receiving a fatal blow. Angel then is forced to take her back to his compound to see what to do with her since he now owes her a life debt. His father forces a marriage to ensure that Emma is safe and to produce an heir as Angel is the heir to the Castillo mafia. Angel’s father is a ruthless and cruel man who doesn’t take no very well. While there is no love or want to get married, the marriage happens regardless. From the wedding kiss, desire was sparked between Angel and Emma. Emma then begins to learn what the meaning of being a mafia matriarch is and Angel starts learning what it’s like to have something that is solely yours and how to be his own kind of husband. Angel helps Emma heal from her mother’s passing from cancer and they both start developing feelings. Emma fights the feelings as she doesn’t want to be in love with a morally dark gray man and Angel doesn’t want to seem soft towards his wife as his father never was to his own wife. During this time, Angel’s dad is trying to build a peace alliance with the rival mafia family even though it all seems to be a trap. Eventually Angel disagrees with his father on building the alliance in front of the rival family which embarrasses and upsets his father. His father then attempts to have pregnant Emma murdered. Angel finds her in time and they both confess their love for each other. Angel’s father is forced into retirement at hospice and Angel takes over. The books ends on a cliffhanger of Angel visiting his father in his dying hours and Angel is shot by the rival family.
One thing I really liked about this book was the idea of family love in this book. You can see how much Emma loved her mom purely based on all the heartbreak she feels for the loss of her mother. Plus, it was so sweet when Emma found out she was pregnant that she wanted to be just like her mom for her own baby. I also thought the love between Omar, Lili and Angel was amazing. It’s loyalty and devotion all wrapped up in a way that having an abusive family could only create. Most mafia books don’t show that kind of love between siblings as they are usually fighting to be heir. I also thought it was sweet how much they all wanted to protect their little cousin Manny from being part of the clan so early.
There were a couple things I disliked about this book, but the biggest thing was whirl-wind love affair that seems to happen in this book. They even joke about Angel being in a Stockholm marriage. Emma is essentially kidnapped and forced into a marriage or be killed. She obviously doesn’t want to be killed but then she just basically throws herself at Angel in bed. She fights her feelings of love, but it just seemed like it was a forced writing to have her change all her own morals to fall in love with him.

This book is very straight-forward and exactly what I thought it would be going into it. It was everything I hoped for, and it didn't disappoint. I think a last round of editing at the beginning of the book would be helpful, but I know it's not always possible. That was just my editor brain going into this. That isn't why it's 4 stars for me. The story was very well written, I enjoyed it for exactly what it was. The only thing that tripped me up was POV switching mid-chapter. It was disorienting the couple of times that it happened and took me out of the story. Otherwise, if you're looking for a mafia romance, this is a perfect example.

That was an amazing story! Exquisitely intriguing with a flare of unexpected passion and understanding. Who'd have thought such a story could bring a tender, eye watering moment to light. With lot of twists be prepared to be annoyed and excited.

I always enjoy a mafia romance, so Vicious Heir was right up my alley. The character progression was great, I sympathized with Angel and Emma’s situation differently. The only qualm I would have would be the pacing of the events. Everything at the beginning of the novel happened to quickly.

I didn't think I was going to like this book. She saved him and he had a life debt to pay by marrying her. His father made him marry her. Then his father saw Emma was making him soft decided to have her killed. I didn't think that made sense. I did like to she made the best out of it. She also had a backbone and didn't really let them walk all over her. I will give it 4 stars. That cliffhanger have to know what happened.

This Book is the first book in a mafia romance series. It follows the story of Emma who is kidnapped after witnessing a fight between two rival families. She is then forced into marrying her captor and is trying to make the best of it, while adapting to being part of a crime family.

This book is one I picked up and finished in a day. The story line kept moving and was interesting enough for me to not want to put the book down. If you enjoy mafia romance, force marriage, or books where the villain gets the girl it is definitely worth a read!

With that being said while the story line felt set up to be an enemy to lovers kind of book, I felt as if they fell in love very fast and there was no real fight on that end. Didn't take away from the story at all, just not what I expected from the summary of the book. There was also some grammatical errors where the story seemed to switch from first person to third person in some sentences.

Your classic enemies-to-lovers trope, but make it mafia. When Emma saves Angel at a club, he owes her a life debt and she is imprisoned while they do a background check to ensure she isn't working for their enemies. Both are forced into a marriage by Angel's father as a punishment. But will it end up working out that way?? They can't deny the attraction brewing between them, no matter how difficult it is for Emma to accept the man she may be falling for is a dangerous killer. There's action, betrayal, spice, and QUITE the cliffhanger. I can't wait to read the next one to see how it all turns out!

I was given an advanced copy to read from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I saved his life. And he hates me for it.
My reward? A marriage to the devil.

I did really enjoy this book so much I read it in a day! The POV from Angel was my favorite. I loved that it kept you engaged from the first chapter and was nonstop action from the start. Not 10 chapters of building up to the excitement. Does have a dash of spice added into also, which never hurts.

I couldn’t put it down! It was an amazing book that you absolutely love. It starts off with a bang and ends the same way. You can’t help but love Angel and Emma as they work through a situation life throws at them. It does end in a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the next book! I was given an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

i am so grateful to this book for pulling
me out of a reading slump!

i’m a complete sucker for a basic mafia romance, i can’t lie. it was so good and i was so happy to read it. i would definitely recommend it! be warned though, it does end in a cliffhanger
which was mentioned in the description
but i might have missed that and oh my god do i need the next book!!! i am gonna definitely need an arc for that one too!

This book is an average enemies to lovers story flavored with Spanish elements on it. The pacing is a bit slow for me and the story dragged at the middle. It lacks originality and witty banter. Also it seems that the characters were not fully developed. I felt that the erotic scenes was not as descriptive as books from the same genre. The ending was too predictable. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.