I waited for this book for i think 3 years. And the wait was so worth it! I usually don’t read pure MM books (manga, webtoons are the only exception), but this one absolutely floored me and i loved it so much!
Igor and Julian were amazing, and i loved my babies who had to go through so much! I also loved seeing characters from previous books.
Overall it was an amazing book and conclusion to Moretti chronicles!
This was the first book I have read by CJ and the first one in the series I have read and it has me wanting to go back and read the rest to get everyone elses story!!
I really enjoyed Igor and Julian and their whirlwind, emotional journey. They went through things I do not wish on anyone. Igor went through the mental dilemma of being loyal to the last name he has, and which makes him do horrible things or being loyal to his husband and the family who took him in. I loved how we got to see his inner thoughts and his mental anguish. It really made him human in a place he needed to be a machine.
I loved how Julian did not give up on his husband, the man he loved for 15 years. He was going to find him and bring him home. I loved how he loved him loudly and immensely. I really loved seeing the flip between the past and the present seeing them young falling in love!! I also loved Mammona and her limoncello!!
I just wish Igor was able to love Julian out loud a little more and I just felt like the jumps between some of the scenes were a little odd.
M
Madelaine Ballard-Byers
May 5, 2026
Dark MM Mafia Toamce that delivers!!
This book absolutely destroyed me in the best possible way.
This book is dark, brutal, obsessive, and somehow still incredibly emotional underneath all the bloodshed and violence. Igor and Julian are the definition of ride-or-die love. The kind that crosses lines, burns down worlds, and keeps choosing each other anyway.
Igor broke my heart in this one. You can feel the weight of everything he sacrifices trying to protect Julian, even while becoming someone he barely recognizes. And Julian?? Completely feral for his husband in the best way. The man literally tears through Europe chasing Igor and killing anyone in his path. The devotion between them is intense, toxic at times, but also impossible not to root for.
What I loved most is that this doesn’t try to soften the darkness. These men are dangerous. They’ve done horrible things. But underneath all of it is this desperate need to protect each other at any cost.
The tension throughout the book is relentless because they’re constantly being pulled between love and survival, and the looming mafia war only raises the stakes higher. Every reunion, every confrontation, every moment between them felt charged.
Also, the secret marriage trope?? Obsessed.
Definitely check your triggers before going in because this series does not hold back, but if you love MM dark mafia romance with obsession, violence, loyalty, and “I would burn the world for you” energy… this one delivers hard
A
Anna Abigail
May 17, 2026
Okay so… THIS BOOK?? It grabbed me by the throat from page one and did not let go. I opened it thinking I’d read a few chapters and suddenly I’m 60% in, dehydrated, slightly stressed, and emotionally invested in people who absolutely should not have this much power over me 😭🤌. The atmosphere is dark and wired with tension. The emotions? Messy, sharp, raw. It’s the kind of story that makes you lie awake thinking about choices that aren’t even yours 😭🫣🔥
Now let’s talk Igor and Julian, because THEY are the reason my soul left my body.
Igor is brooding, disciplined, a walking wall of quiet danger who somehow still manages to feel like home?? He’s controlled to the point of being unreadable, but every cracked edge shows how much he’s fighting himself. And when he lets that guard down just a little?? Yeah… I folded. Instantly. 😩🔥
Julian is dramatic, chaotic, flirty little menace with a smart mouth and zero shame about thirsting over Igor every chance he gets. The man stays half feral and half hilarious, and honestly? I adore him. His banter, his attitude, the way he worms under Igor’s skin...literally ICONIC. 💅😂
Their dynamic??
A stoic weapon of a man being relentlessly targeted by a shamelessly thirsty disaster boy???
PEAK ENTERTAINMENT. PEAK ROMANCE. PEAK UNHINGED TENSION. 🫣🔥
The only reason this isn’t a full 5 stars is because a few pacing moments felt slightly stretched or rushed (some scenes I wanted more, others I wanted tighter). But the vibes??…
"It’s like he was put on Earth to make me feel alive, so that I wouldn’t be so alone and lost."
Start from the very beginning: PLEASE read the trigger warnings first.
And be ready for an insane amount of crying.
This book was emotionally HEAVY for me. Like… I felt actual pressure on my chest while reading it. For a long time I wasn’t even sure how to rate it, because that sadness felt almost too much at times.
BUT.
The way the emotional storyline was written? The way the characters experience everything? Absolutely beautiful. That alone pushed it to a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ read for me.
We start off already knowing they were together, not just together, but married, and yet from the very beginning, they’re separated. And honestly? That kind of setup is its own special kind of torture.
Then going back in time, watching how their relationship developed… it was so soft, so heartwarming, I loved those parts.
Not gonna lie though: the present timeline, when they were apart? It wrecked me. My heart hurt so much for them.
Still… I truly loved this book.
It’s officially one of my top mm reads. 🤍
