Wife (Betrothed #1): A Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance

I decided to get in this book after reading of so many good reviews. I would say I’m not sure how it got it. Some said it’s really hot, to be honest I didn’t feel that hot. Yes, the sex scene are a lot but they are very clinically described, pretty much the same and a few times described as Sofia is just laying there doing nothing. I found Sofia interesting about her position of life and love and agree with her a bit that her thinking is found strange only because she is a woman. But she is also contradicting herself as she left Hades and after only a week she went and beg for him giving him all the control. This is not a woman who doesn’t care, at least I didn’t feel like it. I will get book 2 but only because is on KU, otherwise I wouldn’t pay the price for it as first one didn’t leave that much of an impressionEdit: After reading about 60% of the second book, I decided that I’m not going to continue with the series as it became quite uninteresting and dull for me

This is a new to me author and I whizzed through the book.I liked the author’s straightforward writing style. It wasn’t flowery and provided great balance between the pace and description. However, some of the descriptions were repetitive, especially when it came to physical descriptions. The reader is constantly reminded about how beautiful and physically perfect both of the MCs are.Anyway, the I found the premise for this story compelling. Hades visits a fortune teller who says he will love a woman who will never love him in return, and I liked the idea of the hero pining for the heroine for a change.However, after the interesting opening, the characters and setting came across as bland and sanitised. The story was set in Florence, but it could have been any city in the world. Nothing identified it as being an Italian city and the same goes for the characters. They spoke and acted like Americans with no clue as to their actual nationality. There was nothing interesting to connect me to them. They had no hobbies. All they did was go to work or have sex. Or perhaps go for the occasional drink in a bar.What kept me reading this book? I’m not sure. It was heavy on the sex and light on the plot. I can’t say I’ve not devoured similar books.Sofia is portrayed as possessing high morals and strong ethics. She wanted to take over her family legacy, prove she could succeed in a man’s world, be independent, and never marry.When she begins a sex-only relationship with Hades, I liked that she stated what she did and did not want: great sex, nothing else. When she discovers her family legacy is entwined with the mafia she is upset. However, she seems to recover quickly enough and accepts it. It just seemed a little hypocritical, but then again we’re talking about someone who’s happy to share her bed with a drug lord just because he’s the best sex she ever had.Hades is another one of those romanticised bad guys. He runs a crystal meth empire, launders money for the mafia and kills people. But he supposedly has a conscience and only kills people who deserve it (cue eye roll).Contrary to his dangerous monster persona, he does come across as a sensitive guy and falls hard for Sofia, but he pushes too much. I think that’s what kept me reading. I loved seeing him fall deeper and deeper, while she pushed back at every step. It kept the tension high all the way through.This is one of those books where I can’t understand why I enjoyed it. I have issues with the contrived plot, the contradictory characters, and bland setting, but for some reason I couldn’t put it down.

Brilliant story from the beginning when Hades got his fortune read by the Gypsy he could not help but think about it when he and Sophia started to see one another and she would not commit to a relationship. Was it going to come true was he going to pay for the bad things he had done by living someone who did not love him?

Dark mafia is my favourite genre to read and I have read hundreds of books .Mafia stories have a similar theme in most books where the heroin is portrayed as the saint and the alpha male the sinner. I find most heroines annoying .Ms. Sky has managed to create brilliant anti heroes with redeemable qualities, you just cannot help but love. I have read all the books she has published so far and look forward to her future publications. However, if I may give her some advice, I would like her to change the way she writes the intimacy scenes in her books. They tend to be boring and unimaginative and does not reflect favourably on the alpha male dominant characters she creates .All her books have similar scenarios and therefore recommend she takes a leaf out of the books of some of the authors who write erotica well. Wish her good luck with all her future writings.

Where do I start with this book. I was constantly wanting to read on and on without stopping. It is nice to read a book where the storyline is the woman not wanting to marry or love the man, even though I am sure she does but her insecurities stop her. Hades falls in love with Sophia, something he has never done and she breaks his heart. I felt for him even though he is this alpha male who kills anyone who steps in his way. I cannot wait to read the next book and will no doubt be screaming at the characters to sort themselves out. This book will have you totally engrossed, so I advise you to not plan anything until you reach the end because you will reach the end of every chapter and want more. The only negative is some of the book contains errors, to major but in one scene Sophia has brown hair the next black.

Bad guy and innocent woman collide and have hot sex. Then more bad guys come along determined to spoil things. It is the same formula as her other books. And with the same cliffhanger style that seeks to have the reader picking up the next book. Sorry, but I found it boring.

I have read all 3 books of Betrothed series by Penelope Sky and was hooked on them from start to finish. This is the first time I read this author’s books which have all the right elements I enjoy in a book - a good story line combining romance, suspense and a happy ending.

This was a really good read. I've been looking for a book that could holdy attention for some time and this has managed that. Look g forward to reading on.