Review: Lovely Venom (Empire of Kings #3) by A. Zavarelli

Lovely Venom (Empire of Kings #3) by A. Zavarelli is LIVE NOW!

Amazon/KU: https://geni.us/LovelyVenom

𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒:
🖤Secretly obsessed hero
🖤Guarded heroine
🖤Hidden identity
🖤Rival families
🖤He falls first

Blurb

I’ve spent six years hiding behind a fake identity, too many deadbolts, and secrets that could destroy me.
Trust isn’t an option. Especially when it comes to the man who doesn’t know I’m rival blood.
In the Cosa Nostra, they call him Il Corvo—the Raven.
On the surface, he’s cold, controlled, aloof…and definitely not interested.
So I made a deal with a mysterious masked stranger instead.
It was supposed to be a simple arrangement. He would help me explore my desires and overcome my fears. No names, no attachments. But when it got too real, I ran.
What I didn’t know was that he had secrets of his own.
Because the man who’s haunted me for the last three years?
He might go by a different name…
But he and the Raven are one and the same.

MY REVIEW

Chantel lives a life looking over her shoulder, always, even while at work as a burlesque dancer. She was in an on-off something with a douche but now she's finally rid of him. Unfortunately she's also taken on a protector of sorts in Cristian Vitale, a man who can't stand her. She's close friends with his sister, and for some reason she offends him. Or does she? Because Cristian has secrets that she couldn't even have guessed...

Chantel has no idea that Cristian's feelings for her are quite the opposite of what she thinks. He's been pining from afar and close, and now that he has her in world, he's not letting her go. He'll burn down the world for her, kill anyone who touches her. But will he really hate her when her own secret is revealed?

I know I said this last time, but I have a new favorite Ashleigh guy! Cristian is nothing I expected, but yet everything and more. Yes, he's broody and rigid, dominant and bossy, and yet he's also ooey gooey for his gattina. And it's this juxtaposition that had me falling so hard for him, for this story. Chantel is this distrustful woman who still has a tender, if bruised, heart that is just waiting for someone to love her the way she deserves. I might have shed a few tears as she started out so wary, then slowly lowered her guard as Cristian's brand of Vitale love finally snuck past her walls. I know I also said before that Ashleigh has written some of my favorite ever Mafia/mob series (Boston Underworld!!) so it's no surprise that I love this series too. Cristian and Chantel's story is deliciously dark and intriguing and has me really impatient for more (Ares please!!)