A Dirty Business

Kings of New York

De: Tijan

Narrado por: CJ Bloom, Joe Arden

From New York Times bestselling author Tijan comes a raw, tempestuous romance between the criminal underworld and a parole officer that paints a thin line between right and wrong.

When Jess Montell meets Trace West at a hockey game, she doesn’t know his name or occupation. What she does know is there’s an instant attraction that’s impossible to ignore—or forget. And forgetting is exactly what she wants to do when she learns he’s not just a successful Wall Street suit but the heir to one of New York’s biggest Mafia families.

The last thing Trace needs is a romantic anything with law enforcement, and parole officer Jess has trouble written all over her. Too bad he likes trouble. Especially when it’s a brunette bombshell with attitude and legs for days.

She’s an absolute spitfire, and he wants to stoke that flame.

Trace didn’t ask for the Mafia life. Jess doesn’t want any part of it. They both know it’s safer to stay away, but the temptation is too hard to resist—no matter how great the danger.

©2022 Tijan Meyer (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

a dirty business

⭐ 3.75 Overall
⭐ 4.5 Narration
🌶️ 2
🥵 Spicy chapters: 28, 42, 50, 60, 69
📚 Tropes/Themes: Mafia, insta-lust, slow burn, cliffhanger, healing, he falls first and harder
👀 Dual POV 1st person
🎙️Dual narration (CJ Bloom and Joe Arden
⏰ Approx 8 hours
🧠 Triggers: CA, alcoholism, emotional abuse, parental death, murder
🛍️ Available: Now

💬 Well overall, I would say this story was pretty good. I started reading it because I have an ARC for the third book in this series waiting for me, and as a general rule if I have an ARC for the second+ in a series I've been trying to read the earlier ones first it so there's no risk of me being lost. And it's a good thing I did because.. this is a cliffhanger! Definitely didn't know that going in but that's okay.

It's been a while since I've sunk my teeth into a mafia romance so I don't know that I was as ready for this as I thought? Honestly not sure how to explain that. I like mafia romances but maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it? What I'm trying to say I think is this was a really solid, well written, well thought out story but I felt meh about it.

Also I just really hated Tracy's real name. Every time they called him Tristian I died a little inside 🤣

The story felt really long. I don't know if it's just because this was an audiobook or what but even at the last 20 minutes I kept thinking to myself how is this not over yet? It's not that it dragged, but more so there was so much happening, even right up till the end. Which now I know that's because it was a cliffhanger but even before I was getting a little tired of it.

There were a lot of twists and turns that were incredibly well done. I think Tijan is a very talented writer but with the story already feeling so long and then all of the stuff that kept happening and made it hard for me to keep track of all of the characters and what happened with them.

In terms of the narrator, I thought they did an incredible job. I love Joe Arden's voice 🥵

I am invested in the story though, not just because of the cliffhanger but I have positive feelings towards it and want to know what happens. I don't know, that's a weird sentence but I can't figure out a better way to word when I'm thinking of lol.

But, overall it was average. Maybe average+. I'm sure there's an audience out there for this that would eat this story up but like I said just meh for me

I need part 2 asap

This book is amazing need the second volume asap. The storyline is great. Please have another one of these coming soon

Good

Really enjoyed the storyline. Narration was great as expected and good steamy parts along the way.

My first Mafia romance - watch out Cliffhanger!

This was my first Titan’s Mafia romance book. It was gripping and love the two main characters. There was the typical chase of forbidden love - a cop and a mafia boss, the irresistible pull towards each other and all the other rivals pitting for each other’s territory. Joe Arden as usual was phenomenal and CJ Bloom is my fav as she did a superb job narrating the main heroine and her friend Kelly. One thing left me frustrated was the ending….just when I was going to smile…it left me with a sour taste of a cliff hanger…so be warn…

Eek

Highly recommend this book. Riveting, suspenseful, and hot, hot hot. Has you on the edge of your seat right up until the very end.

Can’t wait for book 2…

Good story with a major cliff hanger can’t wait for book 2 to come out.

Omg

Omg I enjoyed it so much I had to
Read along!! Crazy ass cliffhanger i need to know what happens next

DIRTY BUSINESS

Wow! All I can say is that if you want to story that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. This is it. It’s got sex, suspense, and romance. It will keep you guessing! I kept trying to figure it out so many options. You’re gonna love it. But be prepared for the end!

Good story but…

This is a good story but there’s a cliffhanger. I’m invested in this and can’t wait for book 2.

Cliffhanger Ending

A Dirty Business is the first book I have read by the author Tijan. I picked this book up when I discovered the mafia world would be the setting for the story. Yes! Mafia stories are my catnip. It’s my understanding that Tijan is a master at young adult stories. It would seem that A Dirty Business is her first adult romance book and her first venturing into the mafia world. While I cannot make a comparison between her newest release and her backlist, I believe she did a fairly good job with A Dirty Business, which featured a forbidden romance between a parole officer and the heir to a mafia empire.

A Dirty Business introduces readers to parole officer Jess Montell and hedge fund manager and heir to a mafia family Tristian aka Trace West. In addition to her job as a parole officer, Jess also works at a nightclub on the weekends. Unbeknownst to her, the club is owned by Trace and his best friend, Ashton. As parole officer, Jess sees the world through a black and white lens. Meaning a situation or person is either good or bad. For her, a middle ground does not exist.

Trace’s job as a hedge fund manager kept him out of the family business. However, with the failing health of his uncle, the man who raised him, and the threat of the takeover of the West territory, he knew it was a matter of time when he would step up to the helm.

Trace and Jess had an interesting first meeting. Their attraction to each from that moment sizzled and popped. Learning she was a parole officer engaged the brakes on his attempt to have her in his bed. However, this discovery did little quench his desires, and it proved too difficult to stay away from her.Despite sensing the air of danger surrounding Trace, Jess could not stop thinking about him. Then she learns of his connection to the criminal underworld. A discovery which should have the effect a fire extinguisher would have on a blaze. Instead, her attraction to him grew stronger and soon she can no longer stay away. 

Now this story did not possess the darkness and grittiness one would expect from this world. Sure, there was torture and murder, but not a large scale. Neither were the details graphic.

The slow burn romance which developed between Jess and Trace had its share of angst, which came as no surprise given their differing views and affiliation. Yes, there was a lot of back and forth between these two. Then we had Jess trying to maintain a balance with her morals and a relationship with Trace.I enjoyed the Mafia storyline. There were scenes which had me on the edge of my seat. Also, there were some interesting revelations. Now, as much as I enjoyed the story, two things prevented it from being a five star read. First, the pacing was off in some parts of the story. Second, the ending threw me for a loop. Can you believe it? The story ended on a cliffhanger. I never saw it coming. 

Readers who enjoy the forbidden romance trope set and love stories with heat, family ties to traditions and their livelihood, A Dirty Business makes a great addition to your library. 

This book was narrated by the duo of C. J. Bloom and Joe Arden. Joe Arden, I’ve listened to before and really liked - C. J Bloom, was new to me. They complimented each other well, and I really enjoyed listening at 1.5x speed.