Thank you to Katee Robert for the advance reader copy of The Bastard’s Betrayal, the first book in the Scandalous Scions series. This book releases on August 25th!
I have adored every single Katee Robert book I have read and so despite never having read The O’Malleys, I decided to pick up this spinoff series. I am ready for this mafia romance to rock my world.
Check out the Goodreads synopsis…
“She thought it was love.
Rose Romanov is a mafia princess, and everything that entails. Violently over-protective parents. A giant extended family, all ready to kill anyone who looks at her wrong. Learning to run a business that isn’t exactly on the right side of the law. So, naturally, when she meets a nice guy who isn’t in the life, she falls hard… Right up until she discovers her new boyfriend isn’t a civilian at all.
But he betrayed her.
When Dante Verducci was sent on an undercover mission to evaluate the Romanov family for weakness, he never expected to have an instant connection with their unlikely heir. There’s something fierce and feral about Rose that calls to him. They’re alike, even if they’re both lying to each other during the months they date. Before he could figure out a new plan, Rose finds out who he really is, dumps him, and immediately enters an engagement with the heir of a rival family. Yeah, no, that’s not going to work for Dante.
Now he’ll do anything to reclaim her. Even go to war.”
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Rose Romanov is the heir of the Romanov mafia family. She is the daughter of Dimitri and Kiera Romanov. If you have read Katee’s The O’Malleys series, specifically the sixth story The Bastard’s Bargain, then you will be familiar with them. I have not read any of these books yet, I do plan to after reading this story. Rose is the eldest of four girls and she takes being the heir quite seriously. I loved how strong her character was. She was incredibly tough and loyal. She has done very little to anger her parents except for when she accidentally stumbled into the bed of the enemy. Dante Verducci is from a rival mafia family based in Los Angeles. Dante hid who he was to get closer to Rose. It is his betrayal that is referenced in the title. Yet he is much more of a morally gray character. Dante is equal parts caring and devilish towards Rose. My absolute favourite part about Dante was all his Italianisms.
- Setting: The Romanov family is based in New York which just felt like a classic setting. A perfect setting to have rival mafia families duke it out. A good chunk of the novel is spent in the wilderness, in hiding. I love how a setting like that really forces characters to come together. With the New York mafia, world setting came a huge list of side characters. So many of whom I am excited to read about hopefully in the future. Especially Rose’s sisters are some gals I would love to read about next.
- Pacing: The story felt quite fast-paced. It would have been interesting to have had a bit of a longer book. Maybe more scenes of when Rose thought she was with a normal guy. I liked what Katee did with having the story open with Rose shooting Dante. I just did not have an investment built up to really feel the betrayal.
- Romance: These two were just hot, hot, hot together. There were so many great sexy scenes. I loved how Dante in one sentence would call Rose his beloved and in the next, he would be rough and dirty with her. Reading Rose’s resolved dissolve was really enjoyable. To read a woman who never saw herself worthy of anything but an arranged marriage, fight for the man she loves.
The Bastard’s Betrayal receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story here.
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Thank you again to Katee for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
