No one knows me like she does.

She’s the only one who has power over me.

I’ve loved Samara since I was a boy, since the moment I heard her sing and told her she would be my wife. I sacrificed that dream to keep her safe.

Our love is a secret, hanging unspoken between us.

Everything changes the night I find her beaten and broken by the man who should have protected her. What I have longed to do more than anything.

After all this time, the safest place for her is in my arms.

I’ve tried to be patient, to let her come to terms with the shift in our relationship, but soon I will make her mine. Time is running out for my Little Dove.

I won’t stop until she’s my wife.

Avery’s Thoughts About the Book

A Long Game Friends-to-Lovers Romance

This is the second book in the Bellandi Crime Syndicate series and I like Lino so much more than I liked Matteo. While both are still over-the-top alpha types, Lino is a little more palatable than Matteo was. Matteo’s sketchtastic behavior mostly served selfish motives and Lino’s actions have always been driven by a desire to keep Samara safe.

CONTENT WARNING: While Lino might be a little bit more tame than Matteo in his OTT behaviors, this is still a dark mafia romance with a metric shit ton of red flags. This is a good opportunity to remind everyone to check out the Trigger Warning page here on my website. This message applies to my books and pretty much everything you’re going to see on my blog, whether it’s dark romance or paranormal romance (which tends to be violent). I don’t include this message with every review but some books demand a little extra caution. In the case of this book, I felt like the most triggering thing would be the things Samara suffered at the hands of her ex-fuckface….I mean husband. Ex-husband. Ex-FF for short. Ugh….I hate him, you guys…. Anyway, please read responsibly.

Lino is the kind of hero who is a monster with a heart of gold. He does horrible things, yes, but there is a mushy center in that man and it’s all for Samara. Well, it is once he’s decided to step in and save her from her ex-FF. Prior to that, he’s a whooooooooore but those behaviors change as soon as he decides to make her his. When Lino openly intervenes to give her a way out of her shit situation, she’s (for lack of a better term) broken. He’s so patient and kind with her.

Samara is a bit mousier than I prefer my leading ladies but she’s been through a lot so she gets a pass. If you’ve ever been in an abusive relationship, physically or mentally, you can completely understand how she got to that point so I’m not counting it against her. The unrequited love story line between these two is a teency bit frustrating at times only because Samara seems to go looking for ways to misinterpret what Lino feels for her. Meanwhile, as the reader, you and I are completely privy to how both parties feel. I found myself yelling JUST BANG AND BLURT YOUR ILYs ALREADY! They’re steamy together but they just cant get out of their own way for a minute. Once they figure it out, their HEA is totally worth it.

As I mentioned in my review of the first book in the series, my only real complaint about this book is the audiobook performance. The male narrator is the shit and the female narrator is not. I wont be continuing this series until I have the time to read the rest of the books with my own peepers. Audiobooks are my jam and she makes it a struggle to get through. The series is well worth reading more but I wont be doing it via Audible.

Heat Level
🔥🔥🔥🔥

Avery’s Rating
🖤🖤🖤🖤

Tropes Used
Dark Mafia Romance
Second Chance Romance
Friends-to-Lovers
Alpha Hero
Physical & Emotional Abuse Scars