SPLINTERED VOWS (Gallo Mafia Empire: Desecrated Love 1) by Jade Marshall and Sofia Aves

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 27, 2023

I have been beaten.
I have been lied to.
And now I am being forced into a marriage I don’t want.

My uncle has taken everything that mattered from me. But I am not going down without a fight. I will show my future husband that I won’t be easy to tame.

But this new life is not what I expected and neither is my new husband. Things are never truly what they seem but now I need to protect my heart and keep the only person that still matters alive.

I may have lost all the battles in the past but I will win this war.

•••••

REVIEW: SPLINTERED VOWS is the first instalment in the contemporary, adult DESECRATED LOVE dark, Mafia romance trilogy set in the Gallo Mafia Empire, co-authored by Jade Marshall and Sofia Aves. This is eighteen year old Willow Hernandez, and Raphael ‘Rafe’ Gallo’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Rafe and Willow) SPLINTERED VOWS follows in the wake of a one-night stand in Greece between our leading couple. Upon her return to America, Willow will discover she has been sold by her uncle to the Gallo family, and is to become the wife to the heir, to the crown but Willow’s little adventure in Greece will cost her dearly, and the fall-out begins a spiral of no return. Enter Raphael Gallo, Willow’s one-night stand, and the man to whom she will marry but all is not well between our leading couple as Raphael struggles to trust the woman with whom he will fall in love. What ensues is the building but tempestuous relationship between our leading couple, and the potential fall-out as miscommunication, secrets and lies threaten the lives of everyone involved.

The world building focuses on the impending war in the world of underground crime. Willow has been sold to the highest bidder but her uncle is no longer satisfied, and her husband is struggling with the woman in his life.

The relationship between Willow and Rafe begins as a one-night stand in which neither one knows the other’s history but that doesn’t stop Rafe from attempting to destroy his wife, a young woman who is a pawn in a much large game. The $ex scenes are aggressive and intense.

We are introduced to Rafe’s sister Regina, his right hand man Dominic Barese; Dom’s father Armand Gallo; chef Luca, and family healer Thalia, as well as Willow’s uncle Sebastian, Sebastian’s right-hand man Mario, and Willow’s brother Roman. The requisite evil has many faces, not everyone will survive.

SPLINTERED VOWS is a story of secret and lies, power and control, betrayal and vengeance, abuse and torture, acceptance and love. The character driven, fast paced premise is dark, dramatic and edgy; the romance is provocative and impassioned with some scenes of questionable intent; the characters are desperate, determined, dynamic and animated.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy