MAFIA CASANOVA by M ROBINSON & RACHEL VAN DYKEN

‘The reality of our love story was that it was over before it ever had a chance to begin.’

Well, M Robinson and Rachel Van Dyken certainly came out all guns blazing with the prologue in Mafia Casanova! Wow! What a way to begin one angsty, gritty, twisty and totally addictive Mafia Romance! This first collaboration between these authors was seamless. So cohesive was the collaboration, it was hard to tell where one author ended and the other began. A remarkable joint Mafia romance from this dynamic duo that only made our mouths water thinking about their next offering!

‘He was almost too pretty to be ruthless – but we all knew the truth. Sometimes the prettiest things in the world were far more warning than invitation.’

As we said, the prologue was unique and quite the heart stopper! We were desperate to uncover how this scene would fit into Romeo and Eden’s chaotic love story in a world where famiglia is everything. Where you live and die by your loyalty to the family, and no one takes that oath more earnestly than Romeo Sinacore! The ruthless menacing and dangerous younger brother of the Sinacore Mafia family.

‘I’m sorry that you had to make me the villain of your story in order to stay in the light and keep the onlookers in the dark. Paint me however you need to pain me so the guilt doesn’t feel so heavy.’ Stephanie Bennett Henry.

As children, Romeo, his older brother Tristan and their childhood friend Eden De Rossi, whose father was the head of security and a much-trusted member of the Sinacore Famiglia, were inseparable. As adults, their bond would tear them to pieces and cause no end of turmoil for Romeo, Tristan and Eden. At what cost would Romeo retain his loyalty to the family? At what cost to his heart and Eden’s sanity?

By telling their story in dual perspectives we were given an insight into two very conflicting characters, learning their secrets, and gasping at the twists this story took, as we turned each page. Romeo, a dangerous man for whom, death is a means to an end. A man with a cold heart that beats only for Eden, the forbidden love he keeps at a distance, the wife of his older brother Tristan. As we said, family is everything and Romeo forsakes his heart for his brother, but will he be able to stay away and at what cost?

‘I never imaged this would be my life. Forever stuck between a man who refused to let me go and one who dropped me the minute he was asked to.’

Although pulsing with searing passion, this is a slow burn romance about a love that would consume and destroy. A story of secrets, lies and betrayal told by two authors who know only too well how to grip a reader’s heart by serving up a huge dose of angst. We can picture M Robinson and RVD rubbing their hands with glee as they plot to destroy their reader’s hearts, keeping them on a knife’s edge, as they slowly and painfully sew them back together. Well played ladies! Well played!

‘That’s how different the brothers were. One wanted to own my soul while the other wanted my heart.’

The past and present switches were sometimes confusing which did impact the flow of the story at times, but this was a minor detail in an otherwise fabulous story. And whilst Eden and Romeo’s story had its conclusion in Mafia Casanova, the epilogue built preparing us for next book, Falling for the Villain (the next standalone releasing 16th May 2021 and available to pre-order here) perfectly! After beginning on a heart-stopper, these two authors certainly ended this story the same way! WOW!