Synopsis

Ava Blue is a physician assistant at Bellevue Hospital in New York who has spent years sacrificing to get ahead. When she finally lands an affordable apartment in a luxury building, she thinks it's the fresh start she desperately needed, far from an ex who's determined to ruin her career. But the apartment is a trap, and Ava wakes up a prisoner, sold to the highest bidder.

Dmitri Morozov, about to become Pakhan of the most powerful Bratva in New York and St. Petersburg, is used to people running from him, never toward him. So nothing prepares him for the injured girl racing down the hallway of his own building, screaming for him to save her. Someone used his territory to traffic women, and someone hurt her, and that is something Dmitri will never forgive.

As he keeps her under his protection and hunts down those responsible one by one, what started as a rescue turns into something far more dangerous. Because Ava has no idea she ran straight into the arms of a monster, and Dmitri has no intention of letting her go.

The protagonists

My review

Besties, it had been sooo long since I found a mafia book that truly hooked me with its story, and with Lord of Vengeance I finally did 🖤

Ava is a physician assistant who works like crazy at Bellevue, and just when she thinks things are finally going her way, she falls into a horrible trap. The way she escapes and runs straight into Dmitri's arms, with no idea she's asking for help from the most dangerous man in New York, is one of those openings that hooks you instantly.

What I enjoyed most was the plot. This isn't just romance with a little mafia sprinkled on top, there's real mystery here, betrayals, kidnappings, twists I never saw coming and a villain I was dying to unmask. I swear, night would come and I'd still be going "just one more chapter" 🙈

And I loved Arianna Fraser's writing. She has this subtle humor that shows up right when the story gets dark, and she makes you fall for the whole cast, not just the main couple. Ava is a super smart heroine with ADHD, and the author writes her with so much care and respect that it makes her feel even more real, her brain runs a mile a minute and some of her comebacks had me laughing out loud 😂 She's not the kind of heroine who sits around waiting to be rescued, she fights back, sets boundaries and asks Dmitri the uncomfortable questions when it matters.

Dmitri, on the other hand, is "touch her and you die" at its finest 🔥 Cold, controlled and lethal with his enemies, but with Ava he's pure care. And something I found really refreshing is that he doesn't come from a horrible family or a traumatic childhood, quite the opposite, the Morozovs are a close and loving family, and he's still a dangerous man who won't hesitate to do whatever it takes. The scenes with his family are some of my favorites.

Something I didn't know when I started is that this is a second-generation series. Dmitri is the son of Maksim and Ella, the leads of The Morozov Bratva Saga, who show up here and who I'm now dying to properly meet. So after this book I'm determined to start that first saga, and then come back to continue with the brothers' stories 👀

It has steamy scenes, zero other-woman drama and a happily ever after they truly earn.

Content warnings: human trafficking and the sale of women, kidnapping and captivity, the heroine is drugged, beaten and forced to wear a shock collar, graphic violence, torture and murder, references to past sexual abuse (never by the hero), trauma and nightmares, unplanned pregnancy and explicit sex scenes.

If you've been looking for a mafia book with a plot that truly hooks you, this one's for you 🖤

Who is this for?

Where to buy it?