Velvet Kingdom/ Iron Rings (Rossi Crime Family 1 & 2) by BB Hamel

Velvet Kingdom
Rossi Crime Family 1
by BB Hamel
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, Mafia, romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 2, 2024

My relationship is falling apart when I decide to spice things up by taking some steamy selfies at the office. Seems like a great idea until my gorgeous-but-strange boss Renzo Rossi walks into the room as I’m contorting in the mirror.
And he’s not shy about complimenting my pose.
Life gets even worse later that day when my boyfriend breaks up with me and skips town with all my stuff. Dumped, humiliated, and at my lowest point in forever, I’m seriously considering joining a nunnery, if those are still a thing.
When Renzo drops a bombshell:
His arranged wife skipped town and he’s desperate to fill her place. Now he wants me to marry him, carry his surrogate child, and get paid five million dollars.
Turns out, the Rossi Famiglia one of the five biggest mafia organizations in the city of Philadelphia, and Renzo needs an heir to hold on to his legitimacy.
My life can’t get worse, right? And anyway, this is just a temporary deal. Except one nighttime visit turns into two, which turns into three, and soon I can’t get him out of my bedroom.

•••••••

REVIEW: VELVET KINGDOM by BB Hamel is a contemporary, adult, dark, Mafia romance story line focusing on the Rossi Famiglia Don Renzo Ross, and his office assistant Madeline ‘Maddie’ Sorrento.

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

Told from dual first person perspectives (Renzo and Maddie) VELVET KINGDOM follows the fake relationship and marriage between our story line couple. Maddie Sorrento’s boyfriend took everything the day he said they were never going to work but Maddie never expected to find herself considering her boss’s offer of a fake marriage and real pregnancy in the face of his own humiliation when the woman he was contracted to marry ran away. With no other options, and her own sense of self esteem in the proverbial gutter, Maddie accepts Renzo’s offer, an offer with an expiry date and the potential sacrifice of a child she could love. What ensues is the building relationship between Maddie and Renzo, and the fall-out when the other heads of the crime world families don’t agree with Renzo’s plans for the future.

The world building focuses on several paths including the Rossi family matriarch’s health struggles, the siblings inability to accept what will be, and the jealousy and threats inflicted upon our story line heroine. From the outset, Renzo treats Maddie with respect and love, and in this, our couple will find themselves falling in love against their original plans.

The relationship between Maddie and Renzo begins as employee and boss but desperate for an heir and internal support, Renzo offers Maddie money and marriage, a marriage that comes with an expiry date should they have a child together. Maddie refuses to leave any child behind, and a pregnancy may be the biggest threat to their growing relationship. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to the Rossi family siblings: Stefania, Carlo, Saul and Gian, as well as their mother Stella, and Renzo’s right hand man Dante; several heads of competing crime families, as well as Maddie’s friend Nicole, and housekeeper Tara. The requisite evil has many faces.

VELVET KINGDOM is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is entertaining and inviting but the conflict is limited; the romance is seductive and sensitive; the characters are energetic, sassy and spirited. VELVET KINGDOM ends on a happily ever after-for now, as the main threat to the family has yet to be resolved.

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IRON RINGS
(Rossi Crime Family 2)
by BB Hamel
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, Mafia, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 24, 2024

I was arranged to marry his brother. Except Gian stole me away.

I fell for Gian Rossi back in college. He was everything I wanted: gorgeous, intelligent, dedicated, and completely forbidden.

Too bad he broke my heart.

Now, years later, I’m supposed to marry his brother. It’s an arrangement between our families and I don’t have any other choice but to swallow my pride and accept.

But when Gian comes roaring back into my life, all I can do is obsess over him. I hate that man, but he’s only gotten better with age. Muscular, grumpy, gorgeous, the sort of guy that looks like trouble in all the best ways.

Then one night, he offers me a deal. Marry him instead of his brother, and he’ll free me after one year.

Which is how I find myself walking down the aisle with the man I despise most in this world.

I thought he was trying to atone for his mistakes, but it’s much worse. Gian wants to own me, and now he has one year to make me forget what happened between us.

He’ll do anything it takes, from making me sleep in his bed, to flattering me with gifts and compliments.

Only I’ll never get over what he did, not even when I end up tangled in his sheets.

••••••

REVIEW: IRON RINGS is the second instalment in BB Hamel’s contemporary, adult ROSSI CRIME FAMILY dark, erotic Mafia romance series. This is Gian Rossi, and Mafia princess Allegra Rinaldo’s story line. IRON RINGS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Gian and Allegra) IRON RINGS follows the second chance relationship between our story line couple. Approximately ten years earlier Allegra Rinaldo fell in love with Gian Rossi but after a short time together, Gian Rossi ghosted Allegra never to be seen again. Fast forward to present day wherein Allegra, having ran from two arranged marriages to two of Gian’s brothers, finds herself facing the man who broke her heart but the man with whom Allegra was still in love. With an offer she cannot refuse, Allegra and Gian head to Vegas to get married, that results in the ire of two estranged Mafia families, families at war with one another. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Allegra and Gian,and the potential fall-out as the Russians and Irish take aim at the Italian mobs.

The world building continues to focus on the Rossi Crime family as their struggle to regain a hold of the territory once controlled by their father. Shoring up support with a marriage between the Rossi’s and Rinaldo’s doesn’t go according to plan, when the marriage in question is deemed a betrayal by the other side.

The relationship between Gian and Allegra is one of second chances. Gian ghosted Allegra ten years earlier but he never forget about the woman who had stolen his heart With a new start and new possibilities, Gian makes Allegra an offer, one year and then she can walk away. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate.

Once again the secondary and supporting characters include Gian’s brother Renzo (Maddie), Saul and Carlo; the ailing mother Stella, and Renzo’s right hand man Dante. We are introduced to Allegra’s father Don Rinaldo, as well as her cousin Sophia, whose allegiances are questionable for our story line heroine.

IRON RINGS is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, family and relationships, forgiveness and love. The fast paced premise is dramatic and intriguing; the romance is seductive and emotional; the characters are desperate and dynamic.

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Reviewed by Sandy