Machiavellian - Bella Di Corte

Machiavellian
Bella Di Corte
(Gangsters of New York, #1)
Publication date: May 8th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

I hungered to be seen.

There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello:

He was gorgeous.
He was reclusive.
He was considered one of New York’s most savage animals.

And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement – you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave.

Life was never that simple, though. By the age of twenty-one, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings.

Capo might’ve been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss.

I killed to stay hidden.

Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything…to me, the ghost the world had once called The Machiavellian Prince of New York.

Machiavellian is the first of three books set in the savage world of the Gangsters of New York series.

Goodreads / Amazon / Bookbub

Author Bio:

Bella Di Corte has been writing romance for seven years, even longer if you count the stories in her head that were never written down, but she didn’t realize how much she enjoyed writing alphas until recently. Tough guys who walk the line between irredeemable and savable, and the strong women who force them to feel, inspire her to keep putting words to the page.

Apart from writing, Bella loves to spend time with her husband, daughter, and family. She also loves to read, listen to music, cook meals that were passed down to her, and take photographs. She mostly takes pictures of her family (when they let her) and her three dogs.

Bella grew up in New Orleans, a place she considers a creative playground.

She loves to connect with readers, so don’t hesitate to email her at belladicorte@gmail.com if you’d like to reach out.

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My Review

Machiavellian tells the story of Mariposa and Capo. From the time that they first met, eighteen years ago, it seems that everything has been leading towards their coming together as a couple. Even if Mari has no memory of Capo, or idea of what he did for her when she was just a child of five.

This is quite an involved story and there's a lot of detail to get through in the opening chapters. I was worried that it might become bogged down in information and struggle to keep up any kind of pace. I don't mind admitting that I was wrong. The more the story unfolded, the more I wanted to know where this story would lead and how the plot would unfold. This is slightly on the longer side for this type of book, but there is so much to uncover and learn about that it's needed. There were a couple of things that I wasn't completely convinced about, but it didn't really matter, I don't read romance for complete realism. 

Capo is one of those rare scary/sweet heroes, with a heart of gold when it comes to his woman. Mariposa has strength and grit and despite all that, she has suffered a kind and gentle nature. They work well together as a couple and while I'm not always keen on the hero being the answer to everything for the heroine, without her doing much to solve her situation, this time I didn't mind.

This was a great read. Many of the supporting characters felt as though they had appeared in previous books, but as this is the first in the series and as far as I can tell the first from this author, I can only assume that she has been 'living' in this world for so long that they are all so well known to her. The second book in this series features Keely, Mariposa's best friend. I didn't really warm to her in this book, but that's often the case when it's not their story. Either way, I'll no doubt be checking out the rest of these books as they come out. A great start to a new series. 

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