Content warning: This book contains scenes of violence and sex between men.



I've been reading books about gangsters and mafia men for a while. I read Mario Puzo's The Godfather as a teenager and fell in love with the characters. I've gone on to watch several movies of the same genre. So when in the past few years mafia romance/erotica suddenly became all the rage, I knew it was going to be win-win for me as a reader, combining my favourite genres into hot reads.

A few months ago I read Sicario which is a prequel to this series and I was intrigued, not just by the characters but by the physical world the author was creating. It was like nothing I'd read about before.

So when Duce came out, I was glad for the privilege to read it. In this story, Dante is a mob boss on a personal mission to find out what happened to his parents when he was a boy. He's away from his turf on vacation where he meets Carl (Carlos) at a nightclub. It's the only place in the territory where being gay won't get you into trouble.

One thing leads to another and these two get together for a one-night stand. But things get complicated when Dante finds out that Carlos is the son of a rival cartel boss. Neither of them are safe as trouble comes looking for them full throttle in the form of assassins and vendettas.

And with all that going on, the two of them discover they are falling in love with each other. But in a world where any show of affection between them can lead to death, how are they going to stay alive? 

I love what the author did here with the world building. Usually with other books, you get a whole heap of information dumped on you upfront as the authors try to give you a sense of settings. In this book, the information you need about the world is woven into the narrative and the dialogue in a seamless, just-in-time basis, so that you have enough to picture the scene without being overloaded with unnecessary words.

But the best thing about this book for me was the characters. I loved them all, even the secondary ones. Don't get me wrong, these are bad guys, antiheroes to be exact. They do bad things, illegal things and have no qualms about killing or maiming others. And if you're expecting that at the end of the story they go from being bad to being reformed, then you need to adjust your expectations. You won't find any 'road to Damascus' style transformations here as you find in many other romance novels.

This is a well-written book. I got hooked from the opening sentence and didn't put it down until the last. In fact, I've read it twice since the first time. The characters are engaging and you can't help rooting for them. I loved Dante especially and would love to see more of him in future books. #TeamDante.

The action is heart-thumping and well-paced, the smexy scenes are hot. Watching Dante and Carl together left me feeling warm and fuzzy as well as hot and bothered. LOL. The perfect high-stakes blend of power, violence and sex in one book is intoxicating and I can't wait for the next book in the series. If you want books about dark and dangerous men, then you've got to grab this. You won't be disappointed. While you're at it, pick up a copy of Sicario too. It's free to download.