THE CAPO’S YULETIDE BRIDE (Boston Elite Syndicate 1/ 25 Days of Christmas Bikers and Mobsters) by Brooke Summers

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date. December 4, 2025

I never wanted to be a pawn in my father’s world, but when he arranged my marriage to Cesare Mariano, the head of the Italian Mafia with the Boston Elite Syndicate, I had no choice.
Three weeks later, I’m now his wife, bound to the cold, ruthless Capo who looks at me like I’m nothing more than a contract he was forced to sign.
Needless to say, I’m not happy at all. I may have been born into this life, but I refuse to be another pawn in a man’s world. I tell myself I won’t break, that I’ll endure whatever this marriage brings, until I start seeing cracks in Cesare’s icy control. And worse, he starts seeing the cracks in me.
He wasn’t supposed to care. He wasn’t supposed to look too closely. But when he discovers the truth about my past, all hell breaks loose.
Now, I don’t just have to survive this marriage—I have to survive him.
I refuse to admit I crave his protection. If I do, I may never escape the fire raging between us.

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REVIEW:  THE CAPO’S YULETIDE BRIDE by Brooke Summers is a contemporary, adult, dark, erotic, Mafia romance novella found in the author’s BOSTON ELITE SYNDICATE series, a part of the multi-authored 25 Days of Christmas Bikers and Mobsters This is nineteen year old Vittoria “Tori’ Costa, and forty-two year old Cesare Mariano’s story line. THE CAPO’S YULETIDE BRIDE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

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

Told from dual first person perspectives (Vittoria and Cesare) THE CAPO’S YULETIDE BRIDE focuses on the arranged aka forced marriage between nineteen year old Vittoria Costa, and forty-two year old Cesare Mariano, a marriage meant to form an alliance between the Costa Family of Ireland, and Mariano family of Boston. Cesare is a widower, a father of six children, most of whom are older than his future bride but Vittoria is a pawn in a much larger game, a target to destroy the power alliance.

The world building focuses on Vittoria’s role as a wife; a pawn, a strong woman forced to play a part under a threat of consequences; a woman who is placed in the direct line of fire, thrown from the proverbial frying pan into the fire but when Cesare discovers the truth about Vittoria’s life at home, Cesare becomes guardian and protector of our story line heroine. As the Syndicate moves to tighten their sense of power and control, the next generation of heirs must focus on the future, all of it arrange.

The relationship between Vittoria and Cesare is an arranged, forced marriage, for purposes of a long distance alliance but Vittoria struggles with what was, and what may be, and in this, our heroine finds herself at the mercy of the man with whom she will fall in love. The $ex scenes are limited but intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Cesare’s six children who are leery and oppose their father’s marriage to a much younger woman-Lorenzo, Ciro, Elisabetta, Valentina, Sofia and Giovanni; Vittoria’s parents Domenico and Siobhan, as well as several members of the Elite Boston Syndicate.

THE CAPO’S YULETIDE BRIDE is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, abuse and dysfunctional family dynamics, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is dramatic and edgy; the romance is limited but seductive; the characters are desperate and charismatic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy