Mafia King

Arranged Marriage, Book 1

By: L. Steele

Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Roxy Isles

You are mine.

Michael Byron Domenico Sovrano.

Lord of the underworld.

Master of all the criminal masterminds who ever crawled the underbelly of Sicily's notorious mafia company.

Who just happens to be hot and snarly, and with a demanding manner, gulp!

My father owed him, so he took me as payment. He gets what he wants, and I am his new obsession. To take. To break. As if I'll let him.

He's out to destroy me, but I'll go toe-to-toe with him every step of the way. I'll do everything to make him fall for me.

Until he springs the ultimate surprise.

Note: This is book one in Michael Byron and Karma's story. A dark billionaire arranged-marriage mafia romance with intense emotional scenes.

©2021, 2022 Laxmi Hariharan (P)2022 Laxmi Hariharan

Arranged Marriage Series

Mafia King (Arranged Marriage #1) A dark billionaire arranged marriage mafia romance. Oh my stars and garters, pure perfection with a splash of roses and thorns. I absolutely loved this beauteous book even though it's a very different read than this author normally writes. The writing style is captivating and high caliber. Intricately bleeding through the pages is unexpected twists that leave you cool as cucumber. Michael Byron Domenico Sovrano, Lord of the Underworld, and Karma's story isn’t all sweetness and light, heaps of darker tone moments seep through the pages. This audio ends in a cliffhanger that will leave fire in the belly. The ebooks in this trilogy are available. I'm looking forward to listening to book two in this exciting series.

Jason Clarke, Roxy Isles dual narration was purely perfection. Jason's inflection is deep and intoxicating. He voices the role of Michael authenticly and becomes the character. Roxy's inflection is fun and I love british tone.

Jason Clarke’s Italian is so swoony!

When Michael kidnaps Karma as payment for a debt left behind by her father, he has no idea what he’s started. Karma’s no wallflower, and she’s not afraid of Michael, even though he’s a Capo for the Mafia. There’s been an attraction between them from the time they met, but neither is ready to admit it.

As Karma settles in for what appears to be an indefinite kidnapping, she and Michael get to know each other, and try to deny what’s happening between them.

I’m really enjoying the conflict Michael feels between his responsibilities as head of his clan while developing feelings for Karma. Karma’s used to taking care of herself, but she’s starting to feel safe with Michael, and that doesn’t sit well with her. When they finally give in to what they’re feeling, it’s on!

Jason Clarke and Roxy Isles are so great with their narration. His Italian is heart-stopping, and so sexy. Can’t wait to start Mafia Queen!

Spicy Age-Gap

Shiver me timbers, phew, was this a spicy little thing. It's a dark and dirty age-gap story. Karma is a strong-minded heroine with a whole lot of sass. She isn't afraid to speak her mind to the alpahole boss of the Sovrano crime family, Michael. His initial plan was to remove her from the equation only to find himself attracted to her intelligence. There's a little bit of everything in this Mafia King: Murder, betrayal, and some pretty steamy scenes.

The narration by Jason Clarke is fantastic. I now understand why he has been referred to as "Mr. Disrespectful," dang, he delivered the growly gives no f*cks attitude needed to portray Michael. Roxy Isles was new to me. I enjoyed her initially, but she sounded more like a child than a young woman after a while

Steamy Mafia Romance!

This is the first book in the Arranged Marriage series, a Mafia Romance, one of my favorite subgenre. Michael and Karma's story is steamy, and intriguing. They share a sizzling hot chemistry. Michael is alpha, dominant, powerful, possessive., and enigmatic. Karma is such a beautiful character, strong, sassy, funny, and talkative. They are like fire together! And OMG! The twists and turns! This is a sizzling hate/love slow burn romance. The world building is interesting, filled with twists and turns. The story ends with an unpredictable cliffhanger. Jason Clarke is already one of my favorite narrators. Roxy Isles is a new narrator to me. She has a beautiful voice, very pleasant to listen to. They did an excellent job with the narration. I am looking forward to listening to Mafia Queen, the next book in the series.

Dark & Sexy

Michael Byron Domenico Sovrano is ruthless, cold and loyal only to his Sicilian mafia family. He also has a score to settle and an alliance to forge. For that he intends to take what was owed to him and send a message to the other mafia families by killing one little bird. Only he wasn’t prepared for the feelings his strong-willed, defiant captive brings out in him. He wants to break her and claim her for his own but can he do it without losing what’s left of his dark heart to her in the process?

Karma West hasn’t had an uncomplicated life. She was given a strange name by her hippie mother, her father was in the mafia and left her and her older sister to the foster system after their mother died and he had to hide from the people he betrayed. Now Karma's finally an adult and wants to live a life outside of her father’s shadow and her sister’s overprotectiveness, where she can explore the dark corners of her own personality and sexuality that she’s kept hidden. When a scarred, handsome and dangerous stranger appears and steals her away, is he the answer to her prayers or her worst nightmare?

I loved the wickedly dark banter between Michael and Karma throughout this book and the chemistry and sexual tension between them was off-the-charts hot! While this is a dark mafia romance, I found myself laughing out loud many times at the snark between these two characters. The book does end on a cliffhanger and I am anxiously waiting for the next installment, Mafia Queen, to hit audio since that’s how I consume most of my books.

Jason Clarke and Roxy Isles were brilliant as Michael and Karma. Jason has a voice that is tailor-made for these dark anti-heroes but he knows how to add shades to each character and moment so that you feel Michael’s sarcastic humor, his intentional cruelty and his internal conflict over how his actions affect Karma. Roxy’s bright tones and easy conversational delivery made Karma such an easy heroine to root for. I loved Roxy’s portrayal of Karma’s sassy, determined nature.