Rating: 5 ‘Little Devil’ Stars

Publisher: Cora Rose

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap (19 Years), Mob/Mafia, Opposites Attract, Romance, Series, Virgin

Length: 318 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

This review has spoilers from this book and The Silencer, the first book in the series.

Blurb –

All my life I’ve waited for my fairytale romance. Sheltered by my protective father and confined by the dangers of his mafia legacy, I’ve saved myself—my heart and body—all these years for this very moment…

Deadly handsome and charming, Mikhail Ivanov, strikes a deal with my father for my hand in marriage, ensuring my safety and building an alliance. And I thank my lucky stars Mikhail is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, his sweet mouth whispering sins and promises—that I’m his little prince, his angel.

But when the wedding ends and I’m left with a barren wasteland of secrets, lies, and broken promises from the man I trusted, my dreams suddenly become a living nightmare I can’t escape.

I should have known all along that fairy tales aren’t real, just as my dear husband should have known that even angels will get their revenge.

Review –

After reading The Silencer, I was eager to know Angel’s story. I held off on reading it until I could read Diablo, Angel’s twin brother’s book from the Unexpected series. I’m really glad I read Diablo’s book first, though I never liked him. He was just too bratty. He kind of redeemed himself for me in His Prince.

Angel Costello married Mikhail Ivanov in an arranged marriage near the end of The Silencer. Anthony, Angel’s father, had set it up for Angel’s safety and a business alliance with Mikhail, a Russian crime boss. Everybody except Anthony and Angel knew something was ‘off’ during and after the ceremony. Angel was an excited husband and Mikhail was standoffish, just shy of being rude. He barely glanced at Angel when they said their vows. Angel saw himself in love with Mikhail, and he chalked up his behavior as him maybe being nervous about getting married, or his new husband being the son of Anthony Costello. They’d spent a lot of time on video chats in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, and they had nice conversations. He was convinced that Mikhail felt the same way he did because Mikhail played the game well, I suppose. Angel had never been with anybody before and was more than a little naive when it came to men. Mikhail, like Anthony, had never been with another man either.

Within minutes of arriving at his new home, Angel saw a totally different side of Mikhail. They consummated the marriage – a major part of the contract – but there was nothing sweet or loving about it. When it was over, Mikhail basically discarded him and disappeared for a few days. Not only disappeared, but he didn’t respond to any messages or phone calls from Angel while he was gone. But something happened that Mikhail didn’t see coming… the sweet and innocent Angel was now pissed, and he was going to make sure his new husband paid for how he tossed Angel to the side.

Watching Angel come out of his shell was beautiful. Seriously. And Mikhail never could’ve predicted what would be happening next. He’d wrongly assumed that since Angel was shy that he would basically bow down and take it. Apparently he forgot whose son he was. He may have been shy and sweet, but he learned from birth not to take anything from anybody. Watching Mikhail learn that was pretty hilarious, honestly.

“Where did my sweet Angel go?” he asks, his voice rough, confused.

“You murdered him. He’s dead.”

~~~

I have a business to run and a feral husband who is ruining my existence.

The first thing Angel did was befriend all of Mikhail’s bodyguards. He cooked for them and baked cookies and other treats, something that nobody in the big house had ever done before. It took a little while for his housekeeper to crack, but she eventually came around. By the time Mikhail got back from his business trip, Angel was in full-on ‘eff you Mikhail Ivanov’ mode, even painting and decorating the dreary and bland house. In practically no time at all, the whole house was in ‘Angel’ chaos and Mikhail didn’t like it one bit.

Angel made it clear that there would be no more sex, that their wedding night was a one-time deal, especially after Mikhail had dared set up a hookup with a woman under the same roof. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Angel made damn sure of it. The contract also stated they were to remain faithful, something that Mikhail decided to ignore, I suppose, though he demanded Angel not be with anybody else.

“No one ever touches what’s mine, except me,” he growls, his lips brushing against my earlobe. “What are you, Angelo?”

“Yours. Yours, Mikhail.”

Double standard much? Note that the above quote was said on their wedding night, so totally a double standard.

For the record, he was only with Angel, nobody else. There was zero cheating in this book. However, the woman showing up seriously pissed me off and almost made it where there would be no coming back for me with Mikhail. He did redeem himself, so it’s all good.

“We are to be… monogamous.”

His cheeks pinken and he dips his chin. “I know. Unfortunate, isn’t it? Especially since you already tried to break it.”

The ‘no sex with each other’ thing kind of went out the window pretty quick because Mikhail didn’t play fair, but Angel had very strict rules or it wouldn’t be happening. It took a LOT for it to go beyond what was set in those rules.

“You have no respect for me.”

“I don’t. I loathe you.”

Angel and Mikhail had a marriage but not. Mikhail was dealing with his own demons from the past, and Angel was hurt by how he’d been treated on their wedding night, so he did everything he could to not give even an inch with his husband.

Everything kind of comes to a head when Anthony, Tatum, Skylar, and Diablo come for a visit. There’d been a lot mentioned in the book about Mikhail and his late wife, Katarina. Angel didn’t even know Katarina existed until he’s shown something and it turns everything upside down. The only people he shares this with are his twin and his man, Skylar. Had he mentioned it to his father or Tatum, there wouldn’t have been an upcoming happily-ever-after. Anthony would’ve disposed of Mikhail without breaking a sweat, and he wouldn’t have gone quick. You hurt somebody Anthony loves, and he makes sure you suffer long and hard before you’re finally allowed to die.

Along with those guys, Andrew and Bane, who both work for Anthony, visit. This happens before the others show up. Andrew so he can look at Mikhail’s books to confirm if somebody is stealing from him, though Mikhail doesn’t exactly welcome the guy. As for Bane, well, Bane is Bane. If you read the first book, you get what I’m saying.

Bane is allowed to get away with a lot of stuff that I can’t see any crime boss, much less two, letting go. Anthony had a million reasons to kill him over Tatum, and Mikhail has just as many reasons to do the same. I don’t understand why he’s allowed to just go in and out of private areas, take important things, and then nothing is done about it. I’m hoping he and George, Mikhail’s doctor and the ‘Bane’ character of this book, have their own book someday. I say that, but Bane is a bit much, and is only good in small doses.

My lips turn down. “I will have him chop off your toes and use your bones as a necklace for my husband.”

“Oh god,” he groans and adjusts his crotch. “Don’t tempt me with a good time.”

Mikhail trusts very few people, with Angel only becoming one of them LONG into the book. He makes the mistake of trusting the wrong person and it almost gets him, Angel, and others killed. Every bit of that got to me. It was heartbreaking and sweet at the same time.

My absolute favorite part of the book is Anthony Costello showing emotions with Angel that I didn’t see much in The Silencer with his sons. I did see a softer side of Anthony in Diablo, but not like this. He wasn’t just a father, he was a dad, and I admit to getting more than a little choked up watching it happen. Anthony is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, I believe. I’m not sure what that says about me considering he’s a murdering crime boss, but oh well. 🙂

Another thing I loved is how Angel, sweet and innocent Angel, showed everybody how much he’d been underestimated. He wasn’t as out there as Diablo with how he did things. No, Angel was sly and more than a little devious. The minute Mikhail decided to do him dirty in the beginning of the book, sweet and innocent flew out the window. It was awesome. It was actually funny, especially when Mikhail figured out what was happening. Suddenly his angel was a devious little devil, and he said this often.

I’m no longer the boss. I’m just a lowly employee of my fucking angelic, demonic husband.

Unlike his twin, Angel hated violence. Diablo thrived on it. Angel wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening. They may have been as different as night and day, but their father trained them both well. This is very important later on.

I went into this book seriously hating Mikhail. That lack of love continued quite a ways into it. But then things started changing. He started showing a little emotion with Angel. When that happened, I was cheering for them both.

Mikhail and Anthony are both crime bosses, as I said. That’s where their similarities end. Anthony is a ruthless killer who loves his position, his power. Mikhail hates the job he was born into and just wants it all to go away. This is especially true for Mikhail when he and Angel realize they love each other and plan to stay together. I like how all that was settled.

This is nowhere near as violent as The Silencer. Sure, there’s some violence, but it wasn’t as graphic or on page as much. That was fine with me because some of the stuff in the other book was a bit much.

Overall, I really liked this. After seeing Angel in his dad and brother’s books, I admit to expecting him to be a doormat who would do anything to keep his man. Uh, no. He proved to me that he was anything but.

A great book.

The next book is His Enforcer. I’ll be jumping into that one as soon as I publish this review. Honestly, I don’t have high hopes for it. I’m not a fan of one of the main characters.