Her mom did notice that H didn't go to the whorehouses the other mafia men did nor did he date anyone in the 5 years since she married H's dad. Quite sure he was celibate but not exactly mentioned. H told h that he'd fallen for her since meeting her when he was 18 and he hadn't wanted any other woman since then. Emotionally, this book was even-keeled.ġ8yo virgin h didn't date anyone since she'd only wanted H since meeting him at age 13 and had planned on marrying him since. 1-star off because the 1st 25% seemed more tell than show & there wasn't much of a challenge to their romance at that point. Their sexual chemistry was ok but would've been better & more exciting if shown more non-verbally than just told. Nice epilogue 2 years later, with H&h married with a toddler son & h preggo with their 2nd. Action-suspense scenes were exciting and not too much to distract from the romance. Loved H's OTT alpha-dominant possessive-protectiveness claimy “mine” attitude with h.

Liked H's mix of cold calculation & aggression to defend their mafia family with his softness & love for h & their parents. Liked the mix of h's sweetness & innocence with her sexiness, unfolding assertiveness & grit so H killing for her actually turned her on. She became stronger as she got challenged by her arranged-engagement to a rival Irish mafia's son (OM) in order to prevent war with their Italian mafia group. Good characterization/character development. The sex scenes were hot when H finally kissed & touched & soon devirginized 18yo h by 33% of the book.

Loved that H secretly stalked h at home when he came back home as an attorney for his family now 5yrs later 23yo (i.e., watching her sleep & shower), despite him still acting distant from her like he'd always had to keep his desire for her a secret. She didn't know that her love was returned but H did & deliberately distanced himself from h both in manner and physically (H left home to go to college) since she was too young & their parents wouldn't have approved of their romance. Liked that both H&h secretly desired each other since they 1st met 5 years ago when then-13yo h's mafia mom married then-18yo H's mafia dad and were secretly devoted to each other.

Possessive stepbrother by mink