A Beauty So Cruel: A Dark Hostage Mafia Romance

Beauty & the Beast, Book 1

By: Beena Khan

Narrated by: Matt Weight

I was a beauty, a stray orphan until the beast took me as his hostage.

Once upon a time...

A don by the name of Vlad Vitalli ruled New York.

He's a mafia man. The leader of one of the five ruling families, La Cosa Nostra. He's a monster. A trained killer and a cold-blooded murderer. Tall, mysterious, with icy gray eyes, and he rarely smiles. He's ruthless, cold, dangerous, and wants to kill me.

I was the wrong person at the wrong time.

Just an innocent at the masquerade ball. The mafia has rules: no witnesses left behind. To save my life, I made a deal with the beast. I handed myself to the cruelest man in the kingdom.

For him, It was supposed to be an easy kill. I'm an orphan raised in poverty. Just as Don Vlad was about to order the hit, I threw off my masquerade mask, revealing my face and offered myself to him. One look, and I was doomed. He took me as his hostage. His captive. He didn't know by taking me, Dahlia Hadid, he sealed his own fate.

Welcome to New York's Underworld.

A Valentine's Day special. A Gothic romance! A Beauty So Cruel is the first book of the series Beauty & The Beast. Loosely based on the fairy tale. Recommended for fans of enemies-to-lovers, age gap, alpha males, strong heroines, fairy tales, Cora Reilly, Sophie Lark, and Nicole Fox.

©2021 Beena Khan (P)2021 Beena Khan

The ending saved it

3.5 Stars

Audio ARC provided by Author upon my request.

I wanted so bad for this to be a 5 star read for me. But I listened to the audio book and I need to consider that in my rating and experience.

The story follows Delilah who witnesses a murder and is kidnaped by the Mafia Don, Vlad, who also has Bratva ties hence his name. I'm not really sure what the plot is after that. There are some scenes with the two MCs, there are flash backs for both of them. There are some parts that weren't needed because they didn't help further the plot I was still too unsure about.

The story is written in Dual POV which I love but it's confusing because Delilah's was written in 1st person and Vlad's was written in 3rd person. I don't think I've ever read a book like that before.

The audiobook needed some editing due to repeating lines. Also, it needed a male and female narrator. Having a male narrator only really took from the experience in my opinion.

But wait, I am not just going to tell you what I didn't enjoy or what didn't do it for me.

Let me tell you what Beena Khan did to me. She finished off this book with a big old fat BAM!!!!! The ending saved it for me. Oh my goodness!! Yes it's a cliffy, but if you want someone to be hype and buy your next book, your ending has to do that for them. And that is what Beena did, she guaranteed that I would continue the series because I need to know what happens next. I just NEED to!!!

So thank you for providing me with the audio and thank you for showing me a totally different writing style than I am used to and last but no least, thank you for now making me sit here twiddling my thumbs waiting for the next one to drop.

*The book isn't Dark, not in how I would define it b/c I read some pretty dark books, but it does have events that could be triggering to some.

what the what!

omg I loved this book was not expecting it to end on a cliffhanger like that omfg I need the next book now

Sexy Captive romance

Well written and narrated ! Both author and narrator are new to me and i thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Matt has a strong deep voice that is very expressive. Beauty and the Beast retelling /captive romance theme. Good balance between romance and steam and i always love a good mob story. Was exciting from the first chapter to the end. Will definitely listen to future Beena Khan books

Dahlia-The Beauty and Vlad-The Ruthless Don

Ms. Khan is a new to me author and wrote a very unique mafia beauty and the beast story. I love mafia romance. This book was so good! It kept my attention from beginning to end. I did not know what would happen next. Dahlia meets Vlad at a masked ball. As she is leaving, she witnesses a murder by Vlad's goons. Vlad was going to kill her but she takes off her mask. He has his men take her to his house. On the way, Leo, Vlad's right-hand man, tries to strangle her and she claws him. When Vlad sees her neck, he made her identify who did it. He proceeds to break both of Leo's hands as punishment.

Vlad's father, Enzo, was a real piece of work who wanted to sell her but Vlad wanted to keep her for himself. Dahlia thought Vlad betrayed her when it was his father who betrayed him and sold her to Salvi Moretti for millions. Vlad went nuts when he found out. Vlad had to act one way in front of his father and men in order to show strength. Neither Vlad nor Dahlia are as they seem.

I was so glad when Leo got what he deserved the night he went to Dahlia's room to hurt and sexually abuse her. He was still angry from when she told Vlad he was the one who strangled her. Vlad witnesses their interaction but did not interfere to help her with good reason. The woman could hold her own against Leo. She is definitely not as she seems and this gives Vlad pause.

I love when they finally came together. You could almost see something slowly developing between them but is it real? Vlad's intention was to never let her go. She is his captive but will he let her go?

Oh my goodness, that cliffhanger ending and a taste of what is to come! What an ending! My heart broke for Vlad. He was falling for Dahlia. I cannot wait until the next book is on Audible! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Ms. Khan's writing style. Although Matt Weight did a great job with the narration, it would be even better with both male and female narrators. I received this free copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

love

I loved it. from beginning to end. it kept me waiting for more each chapter