Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: Gay Romance/MM

Tags: Mafia, Moral Ambiguity, Humour, Murder/Mystery

Length: 420 Kindle Pages

Reviewer: Karen

Purchase At: amazon, author’s page

Blurb:

Easily bored, completely manipulative, and utterly deadly…and that’s just in bed.

As an assassin for the Castellani Family, I live for the thrill of the job.
I’m devoted to my Family and my Don, because they keep me safe.

To Leo Bernardi, I’m a monster.
A killing machine.
And a puppet that his Family can use for their own ends.

To me, Leo Bernardi is a pawn.
A means to an end.
And if I have a little fun with him along the way, who cares?

Leo thinks he can seduce me. Tame me. Use me.
In this game of cat and mouse, the Bernardi Lion is about to get a big surprise.

But the more entangled we become, the more I start to feel…

Things I didn’t think I was capable of feeling.

Things I’ve never wanted to feel.

In my line of work, love is a fatal flaw. But the more time we spend together, the harder I fall.

Leo Bernardi is my greatest enemy…
Could he also be my only love?

***

Dive into a forbidden romance between a psychopath assassin and a Mob Enforcer. Get ready for seductions and betrayals, scorching love scenes, and an unforgettable romance as a cold case comes back to haunt two Families sworn to destroy each other.

His Fatal Love is the third book in the West Coast Mobsters series. Follow the men of the Los Angeles underworld in this page-turning romantic suspense series as they find love, danger and mystery in the most unexpected places.

Each book in this series tells the love story of a different couple who find their happy ending, as well as a resolution to the mystery they’re investigating, but there are cliffhangers to the wider suspense plot for the series.

Review:

Perhaps that’s why I find the little shit so fascinating? Sex and death are so mixed up for him. As much as they are for me.

I was psyched about reading this book because ever since Julian Castellani first appeared on page many books ago – Vow of the Vigilante, Morelli Family, #7 – I was intrigued. He is dangerous and quirky. Great combo for the series. My interest only ramped up as he was more on page in the Castellani series. He of the often naked body with just a cock cage on. No qualms about anyone seeing him. If he gets a reaction, that’s a good day for the hedonistic Julian. He’s also quite okay with killing people and using threats as a game. He can be hella bitchy as well. Love it. All of it meant that this book could have been a huge let down because of anticipation… it wasn’t.  

It starts with a five-year-old Julian, witnessing is mother’s death. His father, and everyone else, said she’d simply drowned, but Julian was there and he saw something else. 

 So he crept back to the hedge maze, where he saw a man in a navy suit and crisp white shirt grab his mother by the hair and push her face into the water.

Memories of a five-year-old are understandably questionable, but Julian is sure. He’s going to find out who it was, then avenge his mother’s murder. Of anyone that has ever been in Julian’s life, he has strong memories of his mother loving him and seeing him. She even taught him how to navigate a tricky aspect of his life for then and, as it turns out, for his future career. Sandro, his half-brother and the Castellani Don, gives him permission to investigate his mother’s death but to be mindful of how he treads within their Family and others. Especially in light of Anna-Vittoria Esposito’s cousin’s recent murder.   

Julian is an assassin for the Castellani Family. He’s certainly unhinged, if you read Sandro and Teddy’s book – His Brutal Heart, Castellani #2 – you get to see how Julian operates when he wants something. You already have an pretty significant look-see in Vow of the Vigilante, but this solidifies Julian’s behaviour. Julian always makes an exceedingly memorable impression. He can play the long game to pay someone back… or not. He’s incredibly observant and manages to be a pro level lurker who stealthily knows how to see and hear things others miss. 

Leo Bernardi, or the Bernardi Lion, is his Family’s enforcer. However, he also moonlights occasionally as a ‘sex worker’ at The Cellar, a Mafia neutral bar. So occasional that it’s only on the Friday nights that Julian Castellani has made a booking to see “Romeo.” And only for Julian. Because Leo is Romeo. He’s been intrigued by Julian Castellani for a while, so he wears a mask and gloves to hide his face and his hand tattoos and has some kinky sex with Julian. He does have plans to show Julian who he is. Julian being Julian, it’s not going to be a big deal. They’re very compatible. Sex is a love language to Julian and Leo is fluent in that love language. While rival Families having sex is never going to fly, some clandestine sex is hot. No feelings involved for either of them because Leo believes that’s how they both roll, Julian doesn’t disagree, but we all know exactly how that works in romance books. 

When there is some territorial fighting one night at the Bernardi run docks, Julian kicks Leo off a shipping container during the melee as the SWAT team is approaching. That does not sit well on Leo. Surely he gets who he is, right? His height. His breadth. Leo is a distinctly big man. Why would Julian kick him off the goddamned shipping container? He even waved at him beforehand, FFS. Hmm. Let’s see. Oh, yeah. Julian is unhinged – tick. Julian doesn’t behave like the vast majority of people – tick. He doesn’t make the connection between Leo being Romeo – I mean, you know, mask? Gloves? I probably wouldn’t have joined the dots either, but Julian has an extra kicker of a reason why he doesn’t know it’s Leo/Romeo. Anyhoo, Leo not being recognised by Julian really bugs him.  

It pisses me off. It’s as though both Romeo and the Bernardi Enforcer are so fucking far beneath him that he wouldn’t even bother to register their faces, let alone connect them in his head. I’ll fucking make him remember me this Friday.

To add to the story, the current Bernardi Don believes that Julian has been fucking an Esposito, the one who’s just turned up dead. He was, but he didn’t kill him. The Bernardi Don is also homophobic and he knows his middle son’s sexual orientation, and while he despises it, he wants Leo to use it to help lure Julian over to the Bernardi’s. I mean, jokes on him. They’re already fucking, and his father offers nothing good to incentivise Leo. He knows his father wants to destabilise Sandro and the Castellani’s. Getting Julian to kill his youngest son’s fiancé will help that, while also destabilising his own family so no one usurps him anytime soon. Gino loves Roxanne. Leo isn’t going to let this happen to his brother and his fiancé. His older brother, AJ, he’s not so keen on because. TBH, AJ’s an arsehole. An arsehole on a very specific hitlist. 

Once Julian gets let in on the Bernardi Don’s plan he takes it straight to Sandro. Sandro agrees that Julian should go along with it but it will be a modified Castellani version. One where Roxanne isn’t harmed but the Don thinks she has been. The Castellani’s and the Bernardi’s are each other’s biggest rivals, although the Castellani’s are wealthier and more powerful. Since Ciro’s death, they’re coming back strong from the void into an understanding of what Family really means in terms of the Mafia. In terms of genuine familial connection. Ciro left a shitty legacy that Sandro – along with the help of Jack, Julian, Max, etc – is rectifying. Sandro’s learned from his messy father and knows how to fuck with the Bernardi Don’s same leadership style.

So, this time both of the MCs are dangerous men in their own right. No worries about the big bad Mafia guy corrupting the other non-Mafia MC. Julian marches to the beat of his own drum, but he also has a vulnerable side. Honestly, I felt for him. It’s like no one trusted him, although he had to ruminate on what that feeling – trust – actually meant. Bang on the money because Julian is most likely sitting somewhere on the ASPD spectrum. The standing joke is ‘you’re crazy’ or ‘you’re psycho, Julian,’ with a comeback of  “undiagnosed.” Which, you know, fair point. However, Julian’s handywork has been pretty out there. And his thought processes make me laugh. Time and again. The way Michael Ferraiuolo narrates Julian makes him even funnier. 

I’ve updated them on what’s going on with the Bernardi operation. Jack reamed me out about the hit on Roxanne Rochford as though I ordered it myself. “She’s completely replaceable,” I point out. “In movies, in life, and certainly as Gino Bernardi’s fiancée.”

Julian and Leo are an interesting couple. Julian very much lives a lifestyle of the rich and (in)famous. It’s far removed from the way Leo currently lives. Leo’s more simplistic in his wants. Because he’s gay, his father punishes him the way he believes hurts the most, with a lack of money. I’d say lack of respect too, but Bernardi Snr doesn’t seem to respect anyone. 

Both men enjoy some rougher sex. Leo is toppy and Julian likes him that way. With Leo being the Bernardi enforcer and Julian the Castellani’s assassin, it’s kind of dark match made in Mafia… heaven? Except their relationship is very Capulet and Montague. Their Families are opposed to one another, although the Castellani Family is not homophobic like the Bernardi’s. How Leighton Greene was going to make this work was always going to be interesting. She did such a good job. I was really happy that Julian met his match in Leo. Leo knows who Julian is, and loves him for it. You can say Julian is bitchy, and he can be, but FFS, do NOT call Julian a little bitch!

      At last he speaks, a low hiss of hate. “I’m no one’s little bitch, Bernardi. You speak to me like that again, I’ll make you eat your own intestines.”

His Fatal Love has the usual mix of Mafia politics, which are really well developed, romance, and some kind of murder/mystery/suspense. Characters from prior books pop in, and I love seeing Jack or Sandro or Teddy or Miller. Then there’s action. Spice. Humour. It also builds into the next book. I listened to this book as well as read it. Michael Ferraiulo makes it extra enjoyable. I couldn’t imagine anyone else narrating the Morelli or Castellani series.   

Overview: 

In my reading experience, whenever you have a character you’re really waiting for it can sometimes lead to disappointment. Not the case for Julian. Leighton Greene is such a reliable author. She knows her characters, clearly loves them, because she does them justice every time. Julian was everything I expected in his own book with some well added pathos. He and Leo were so good together and they’re in a nice space by the end of this book. Because I’ve already finished the next two books, RTC, I know there’s more Julian. For His Fatal Love, it’s 5 Stars!         

“I see whatever shook loose in your brain, it wasn’t the part that makes you bitchy. Sit tight. My guy’ll be here soon.”