The Villain

War of Hearts, Book 1

De: Natasha Knight

Narrado por: James Cassidy, Nikki Grey

My life changed the moment I saw Cassian Trevino standing in the shadows of my father’s study.

A ruthless villain in a suit, he’s the head of a rival mafia family.

I should have been safe.

Instead, I was trapped by the man my brother betrayed.

Cassian came for blood.

But he took me instead.

Now I’m his possession.

His obsession.

He demands my surrender. He wants my body, my heart and soul.

And the most dangerous part? My heart has already betrayed me.

But the truce between our families is fracturing. We stand on the brink of a mafia war.

Loving my enemy isn’t only forbidden. It could be the deadliest betrayal of all.

Author's note: This is a dark mafia romance. NO cheating. Check TW on my website.

©2025 Natasha Knight (P)2025 Natasha Knight

Dark start

Natasha Knight is one of my all time favorite dark romance authors. Her stories are always alluring and gripping, captivating explorations of power dynamics and psychological manipulation and deeply broken, dark men who find their only softness in who they least expect, usually the enemy. And Villain, the first in the War of Hearts duet has all of our hallmarks I usually enjoy. Yet, for some reason, I struggled to get into this one for a bit. It did pick up at the end and I'm really curious where this will go- and just how these two will move forward.

We have the NK dark and depraved anti-hero, and he comes out of the gate with a lot of cold detachment, ruthless humiliation, and ruthless power. He's very stoic, emotions safe guarded. Whereas sometimes NK heroes are brimming with anger or explosive tension, Cassian is more tightly locked down, which means it took a minute for me to be drawn to him, to find connection. Our heroine Allegra has a lot of spine and sass, so that makes for some great tension- even though she's relatively powerless and at his will, a captive for her family's misdeeds and a pawn in the broader mafia machinations of men. She too has some secrets- so both characters felt a bit removed from me at first, which may have been why I took a minute to get into this. It is also pretty heavy on a mafia subplot, and the first few chapters felt extra heavy on that as well.

This is definitely on the darker end of the NK spectrum just in terms of the dynamics between these two. Do not expect softness or affection at this point- this is all power play and control and push-pull and dubious motivations. The world is gripping the characters alluring, I just am not quite feeling much emotional connection just yet to them or them to each other, so I'm excited for the second book and a chance for things to perhaps develop more substantively between them. But it is wildly entertaining, super faced paced, and doesn't feel predictable or overly tropey- this kept me on my toes. And, when I was struggling to get into it at first, I switched over to audio and found both performances fantastic and that really pulled me in.

Little Moth & Her Flame

Natasha is my all favorite author. I’ve read almost all of her books over the past 3 years and have never been disappointed.

Reaper and his Moth are diabolical creatures and I pity the fool that thinks they can harm this vicious little moth.

She’s got teeth and isn’t afraid to use them.

5/5 📚
3.5/5 🌶️

I am runninggggg to get book 2

James Cassidy and Niki are utterly fantastic. Natasha Knight is my favorite author. Her books are incredible, intensive rides. Sometimes I realize I’m not breathing while listening because she knows how to weave emotional suspense so well. I’m getting book 2 as soon as I leave this review. This was a one sitting eight hour listen. I devoured this book. High tension is an understatement and you don’t know what anyone’s thinking, who’s side they’re really one and of course everyone has secrets which makes plot twists all the more shocking. If you love Natasha or mafia this is a must read.

DARK Mafia Romance

Excellent book 1 of 2. Very dark, so be aware. Not glossed over mafia brutality - FMC kidnapped 5 years prior in which her mother was tortured and murdered, shaping her present. As with all N Knight books, there is always an element of betrayal and of course a big alpha MMC who falls hard for the FMC. I appreciate that book/audio 2 came out so quickly after the first book/audio.

eat the book up BUT

Woahhhhh, I love a good fast pace Mafia book. The only thing is a warning for anyone that done audio and book at the same time they done match. They left things out of the story in the book and say it on the audio tho. The narrators are great. AGAIN another warning if your going to read this book its a cliffhanger one so get the other book ready.