Okay to be honest...I utterly disliked this book when first reading it! By page 13 I was very tempted to put the book down and never turn back. Because this book is only 230 pages give or take, you can very much tell that Rose was rushing and trying to compile a lot of plot into so little pages. The rushed sexual attraction between Carmine and Delilah, the sudden obsession Carmine formed towards Delilah, the quick realization from both parties that they were falling for each other, and then the out-of-the-blue reveal that Carmine and his twin brothers had another brother who was sold off to the Romano family - their enemies - when he was only an infant. Sorry, but that twist felt like it was thrown from left field and as a last attempt to make the book seem interesting.
The plot held a lot of potential. I don't understand why Rose chose to work with so few pages when the ideas she had were so big. I wish we saw more of why Delilah wanted to be a doctor, how Carmine handled his business rather than only seeing him ready to pull the trigger or being up under Delilah. In the book he is nicknamed “The Devil” but such was never focused on at any time in the book! Like cool title, but why exactly do you have it?? I think there definitely should have been more of an insight into these characters instead of the bare minimum (if I can even call it that). Plus, the spice wasn't that grand. There were a few things Carmine said during sex that had me confuzzled and kind of made me uninterested in reading the rest of the smutty scene happening before my eyes. And this man is supposed to be 41 years old but his actions and temperament contradict that by a lot! I get he has traumas but I feel like somewhere down the line, as a 41 year old, you should have a better handle on your emotions or simply not act like you’re a teenager. It completely threw me off as I read as I would randomly remember that this man is supposed to be 41. He just never acted his age! But I think that’s just me having my expectations too high for a book that had very few pages written regarding a couple that had a 20 year age gap.
Overall, this book had pretty good potential but fell really short upon execution. I wish Rose didn't limit herself to just 230 pages cause a plot that revolves around forced marriage and the mafia does not give off the vibe of a short story. The next book revolves around his younger brother Ari but I'm not gonna read it cause the plot is basically the same. He makes a deal with a girl where they will get married and she will carry his baby and, in return, he will protect her. I'll pass! The only reason why I finished this book so fast is that I didn't want to DNF a book that was so short (in short, it was my pride pushing me to finish) and also because I just wanted to be done with it as soon as possible so I could move on to a better book!