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I’m king of the criminal underworld.
I always get what I want.
And she’s my obsession.
Cora is new to the city of sin.
Her innocent blue eyes beg for me to claim her.
But I’m not the billionaire she thinks I am.
There’s a darkness within me.
And Cora is a shining light.
She’s beautiful. A virgin.
I’m ruthless. A beast.
She found me for a reason.
She’ll be my queen.
I’ll give her everything that her heart desires.
Except for one thing.
Her freedom.
She’s mine to keep, and I’m never letting her go.

Note: This is a dark mafia romance with dark and intense sensual scenes. It is the first in a trilogy.

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 20, 2015

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Lee Savino

163 books4,700 followers
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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 646 reviews
Profile Image for Kat valentine ( Katsbookcornerreads).
760 reviews1,241 followers
September 1, 2019
The reason for a three star rating is because of the storyline,I don't have problems with the submissive theme except that it's done by degrading and the whole collar and leash thing just pisses me off!!! Marcus is a dark fucking asshole who's soul purpose is revenge for what happened to his sister. I get it, what was done to his sister was horrible! But cora was innocent,it was her father and his men who raped and murdered marcus's sister so I'm not buying it. I will say that it's me not this book,im not much of a dark romance fan. I don't mind flawed characters,but I will be damned if I believe that you can be humiliated and used by some one and some how love them! I think not. I had such high hopes between a great cover and a blurb that likened Marcus to hades. Even the God of the underworld wasn't this big of a dick! Until next time luv's💖💋
Profile Image for ➦Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas❥.
1,146 reviews286 followers
November 18, 2024


She is the damsel in distress


Persephone Vestian had escaped the Clutches of her overwhelming mother. She was so naive, sheltered, country girl …… dang her mother didn’t even have TV in the house. Much less internet or cell phones. No, Persephone’s mom wouldn’t dare have any of the outside world corrupt her daughter.
By pure chance somehow, she was able to get away from her mother and make it into the big city

From there things just got worse she was accosted by her own employer, then Persephone was drugged and almost raped in a nightclub….. A Knight in shining armor Swoops down and rescues her

He’s a billionaire and king of the criminal underworld.

Hades Ubeli, At the beginning of this book he started off as the billionaire who saved the damsel in distress from her big bad Demons.

Hades had slowly but surely torn down whatever walls Persephone had build up around her heart……

Hades had of course wined and dined Persephone….. but in like 6 or 8 weeks there was just no intimacy and no real growth of a relationship , But yet he convinced her to marry him ….
And here Persephone thought that she had left one prison behind, only to get a glimpse of freedom before she finds herself in another type of prison.


This book was so unrealistic in so many Different spots throughout the book, But then there was that last chapter or two where something dramatic happened and then there was the cliffhanger, but my curious butt has to move on to the next book to see what happens….. Let me tell you, I was on the fence for a large part of this book ..I almost DNF it few times , So by me saying that, you understand why I gave it somewhat of a low score

I guess it’s hard to write a smutty book with a good storyline.





Profile Image for Maddy.
179 reviews74 followers
June 12, 2019
I need to say this first: Is it me or did the authors describe the hero as 'Hades' from Disney's Hercules? I swear they did and it kinda put a dampener on things for me for a short time.



Now that i have got that off my chest...

I enjoyed this modern retelling of the Greek Myths' Hades and Persephone. The hero was referred to as Lord of the Underworld; his minions as Shades; his bestie and chauffeur Sharo (the ferryman Charon); city was called New Olympus and the mother Demi (Demeter) etc.

Big thumbs up.
Profile Image for Christine B.
547 reviews99 followers
May 18, 2021
I love these dark mafia stories, however it does hit some of those holy-fuck-my-morals-are-tarnished kind of book. I liked that so much I borrowed it from a another GR friend. Cora is a country girl, sweet, shelter, a naive virgin moved to the big city when she turned of age running away from a abusive mother who kept her sheltered on a farm and locked her in the dungeon when she felt like Cora didn't do what she felt like Cora should do.

Cora had nothing but once she moved to the city she found a in home nanny's job immediately, which worked for Cora because she had no where to live. For the first time Cora felt as if she was making her own decision, free from the clutches of her mother. First night out having fun with other nanny's she allowed a guy to buy her cranberry juice Cora thought she was careful but now she was starting to feel funny, yes she had been drugged. Now she knew if she didn't fight for her life things would go terribly wrong for her. If mama could only see her now, guess Cora's mother was correct that she was not ready for the big city. As Cora tried to stay awake she manage to get a burst of energy and falls out of kidnappers car and ran like crazy into a the first facility she could. Little did Cora know she ran right into the big bad wolf. Marcus Ubeli King of the criminal underworld her family arch nemesis. However Cora didn't know that at the time, she thought of him as her savior from the kidnapper who had drugged her drink. Now on her wedding night she finds out exactly who the big bad wolf really is.
Profile Image for Poisonic.
87 reviews251 followers
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April 14, 2024
A cruel jackass hero who used the innocent virgin heroine as a pawn to draw his old enemy (heroine's mom) out. The heroine was a doormat. Even though H treated h like shit, she still risked her life to save him from being killed by her mom. Heck, even H himself thought h was so stupid and pathetic for falling in love with her captor.
Profile Image for Louise H's Book Thoughts.
2,019 reviews322 followers
September 23, 2020
For me the pace of this story is far too slow. It's a duet stretched out into a trilogy (or possibly even just one longer book padded out into three). So whilst the technical writing was good i.e. the story was easy to read, conversations flowed smoothly etc I just didn't find myself connecting with the characters. They felt quite flat for a long time and I just wasn't drawn into the story. I'm a character driven reader but if you are plot driven and love dark tales then I'm sure you'd enjoy this.

There was a lot of suspending of disbelief required to get through even the first half of the story, not to mention inconsistencies in the story. Just how old is Marcus? At one point it was suggested he was about 10 (or so) years older than the 19 year old Cora. Possible Wow - that one sailed so far from the shore of what is possible it definitely wandered into la-la fantasy land.

As others have mentioned, there was also the whole naive, sheltered, country bumpkin girl with $0 to her name managing to travel to a big city on her own and get a job with accommodation instantly. Well I can only assume instantly since she panicked about being homeless at one point in the story, clearly never having encountered this situation before. I also couldn't buy that her mother never .

Oh and please ENSURE is the word to use when you mean to make certain of something. INSURE is when pay premiums to protect something. This one annoys me almost as much as drug instead of dragged.
Profile Image for DeeReads.
2,284 reviews
June 15, 2019
I enjoyed reading "Innocence (A Dark Mafia Romance)" but I hated the hero, well anti-hero, Mafia boss, Marcus Ubeli!

description

Well I didn't hate Marcus from the start of the story but as the story progressed, you discovered his hidden agendas/false pretenses against the heroine, Cora Vestian AKA Cora Titan! His revenge was against the Titan crew and when one of his shades spotted Cora in Olympus, Marcus started planning her ruination yet not really knowing that her cruel mother, Demi Titan had abused her all her life...until she ran!

So on her wedding night he does his worst to his wife... reveals the truth about her father and mother... his enemies ... the Titans who killed his little sister Chiara!

description

Looking forward to see if Marcus Ubeli will ever tell his wife, Cora how he truly feels about her or is it too late..

4 engaging stars ****
Profile Image for ⋆Lara⋆.
111 reviews50 followers
April 15, 2020

4 stars

Get ready to lose all your underthings while reading this book!!

Did that sound like a bad TV commercial line? But it gets my point across.

I never thought I'd give this book such a high rating but it wrenched it out of me!

Innocence is one of the best crime romances, I've read in a while. So much so, that I wanted to shout "Finally! Now that's a criminal hero who can use his brain instead of just brawn!!"

Marcus Ubeli is known as the Lord of the Underworld because for obvious reasons (you know, mob boss sorta things). As far as criminal heroes go, he was pretty good. Adorned with god-like looks and magnetic personality, he has that perfect blend of cruel, cunning and caring in him.

Cora Titan is a náive girl who has run away from her cruel, abusive mother, and is trying to find her foot in the big city, but it isn't easy for her, until Marcus drops along.

The authors were apparently obsessed with Hades and Persephone's myth and this book clearly is based on that theme.

I enjoyed reading this!

Profile Image for Jacqueline's Reads.
3,024 reviews1,525 followers
September 29, 2019
4.25 – 4.50 Stars

I’m not sure why I picked up this book. I guess I’ve seen it trending on Amazon for some time and decided to pick it up. I had no idea what it was about and I kind of like that. Going into blind is the best way to go into this book.

The first part of the book to me was really cheesy and I totally ate that up. You know the damsel in distress storyline? This is full on damsel in distress storyline. Cora is a country gal trying to make it in NY, but NY is kicking her butt.

You will feel REALLY bad for Cora. Anything and everything goes wrong for her. Her employment is awful. Her mom is awful and it seems she usually runs into men that try to harm her. What is a girl to do?

Until one day she ran into Marcus.

Marcus seems like he has it all. The money, the status and the power. He’s also very kind to her.

But not everything is what it seems.

The second part of the book is where everything transitions and it becomes “dark”. I wouldn’t call this book dark, but if you want a tame book, this one is very good to start out with.

I liked the way the book was written. I felt like it was more dialogue based and there was just enough character development to get me to really feel for the characters.

Sure, some stuff needed to be tweaked. There were some parts that were a little repetitive. I thought Marcus could have been a little meaner and I thought Cora could have had a little more back bone. I also thought the book should have been smutty, but there’s no naked man on the cover, so that is good.

Overall, the concept of the book isn’t unique, but I don’t always have to have that. Innocence totally sucked me in and I’m moving into the next book.
4 reviews
June 19, 2019
Annoying

Cora is annoying in this book, with her yes he's abusive but I love his touch, yes he keeps me chained up but his touch is everything. If you want a book about a weak women who just loves her abuser then this book is for you.
Profile Image for Meiwilli.
1,632 reviews5 followers
April 2, 2016
Horrible... My intelligence was so insulted I couldn't even finish! Horrific editing, inconsistent story line, poorly defined characters and unbelievably unrealistic. No action, no suspense, no romance. Cora is not naive, she's just an idiot. Is anyone on the planet really this stupid? Marcus is a joke--crime boss? Only in his dreams. Skip this one. It is the worst I've read this year. 0.1 stars.
Profile Image for Bookadmirer.
368 reviews237 followers
July 24, 2020
This is the first book of Marcus and Cora's story. There are two more books in the sequel follows the main event. It's a modern mafia retelling of Hades and Persephone of Greek Mythology. The first half was quite boring. It was only about Marcus courting Cora. But the second half was literally awesome. At first, I hated how Marcus treated Cora, she had no fault. She was just a pawn for Marcus but he fell in love with her. Cora took a bullet for him, so there's no question how much she loves him. It's a wonderful book.


https://officialbookcritic.blogspot.c...
Profile Image for Lee.
Author 163 books4,700 followers
Currently reading
June 3, 2019
Cora knew she was dreaming.

She stood on the rooftop of a highrise, goosebumps rising on her skin at the glorious view. Beside her stood the man who gave her everything, his face shadowed.

“It’s beautiful.” The city lights glittered like jewels in a black velvet night. The whole world laid at her feet.

“It’s mine,” Marcus told her. “Everything you see belongs to me.”

She wore a red dress and heels with slender straps winding up her legs. Her wrists bore silver cuffs. Her ring flashed red as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Everything?” She leaned against the ledge, striking a pose. The old Cora, country girl Cora would never be so brazen. The old Cora was a sheltered virgin, sweet and naive.

The old Cora was dead.

Marcus’s footsteps echoed as he stalked to her. “Everything.” The lines beside his dark eyes crinkled.

He grasped her hips and lifted her onto the ledge. Giggles escaped as her chest tightened. Before her stood the man she loved. Behind her, a dark expanse. An endless chasm.

“Marcus.” She clutched his broad shoulders. The wind ripped at her garments, tugged her silvery hair.

He caught her wrists and forced her hands back.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she whispered. Her fingers fluttered. The garnet in her engagement ring caught the light.

Marcus moved closer as if to kiss her. She angled her face towards his—

—and he shoved her off the ledge. Her hands reach for him, her dress streaming around her floating body as Marcus grew further and further away.

The night rose up, surrounded, swallowed her. The city lights swirled, a dizzying kaleidoscope. One by one, the lights went out and Cora tumbled into darkness.

Cora jerked awake. Marcus’s dark head on the pillow beside her’s, the shadows under his eyes lighter with sleep. The sight of him anchored her, grounding her spinning senses, the weightless sensation. If she closed her eyes, she was still falling.

Smoothing her pillow, Cora settled in. In the dark confines of Marcus’s bedroom, she was safe.

Safe from everyone but him.
489 reviews
May 31, 2019
DNF at 24%

I kept trying to get into the book, but at 24% I finally gave up.
The heroine is a farm girl who had only met her mother up until she was 15, glanced at some other people when she ran to town but her mother got her back. At 19 she ran away to a fictions big city. No mention of how she managed to get there, no money.
From some of the description this girl should have basically had zero understanding of the world and it’s ways.
After six weeks in the city for meets Marcus, the H of the book. Everything up to 24% was from her POV, but I wanted to know his thoughts too.
There was no intimacy and no real growth of a relationship besides her talking some about her shelter. She has supposedly zero clues about anything, but then he gets her tossed into some high fashion runway show with hair, make up, cameras etc and it’s no a problem for her what so ever? It seemed very unrealistic that 19 year old girl who had really only ever known her mother with no tv, internet, no ID and her mother was a psycho would adjust so smoothly with no cares to such a situation.
And then there were just in general inconsistent blips going from clueless farm girl to go with the flow knows how to move around girl. There should have been growth of her learning and growing.
Also, no mafia business up until 24%. Not sure what happens after. But it wasn’t smooth, pretty bland and just felt off.
So I tossed it back and would not recommend.
Profile Image for Ann.
1,930 reviews31 followers
May 27, 2019
Warning: cliffhanger
I was conflicted with my feelings toward Marcus. He and I had a love/hate relationship. I could feel he was fighting his feelings toward Cora. Cora I adored. She was so strong for only 19. She was so sheltered as a child which is why Marcus could manipulate her. Despite all she endured with first her mom and now Marcus, it is a wonder she remains strong and open to happiness. I sure hope she finds true love and happiness in book 2.
Profile Image for Christi (christireadsalot).
2,701 reviews1,296 followers
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June 26, 2024
Dark, mafia romance! Cora and Marcus! He’s a billionaire and king of the criminal underworld. She’s innocent and new to the city of sin.

He ends up coming to her rescue at the right time and immediately sweeps her away with him. He’s all about giving attention and spoiling her, gifting her jewelry and clothes! I legit gasped when he reveals something on their wedding night and the story takes a turn! “You’ve just married the big bad wolf.” 👀🤭 Full of family secrets and dark themes!
Profile Image for La-Lionne.
484 reviews839 followers
April 18, 2021
Intriguing premises, disappointing delivery.
Mafia romance is one of my favorite tropes. The mafia element is almost nonexistent in this story. The heroine is week and uninteresting. Book is filled with dull and repetitive bdsm scenes.
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,482 reviews449 followers
November 19, 2020
2.5 “lite” Mobster Stars
I love a re-telling especially a dark, twisty re-telling. So, when I read this was a retelling of the Greek Myth of Hades & Persephone… I one clicked. Unfortunately, the only real similarity between the two are names, (Shades, Titans, tons of references of goddess, by the Gods, and Fates) and the dynamic that Marcus is “bad” and Cora is “good”. Innocence tells the story of Marcus Ubeli, leader of the New Olympus Underground (mobster) and Cora a sheltered virgin from Kansas.

The book starts with Cora finding herself in a sticky situation that Marcus rescues her from. There are some holes, like how she relocated from Kansas to New Olympus with no id, money and had spent her life locked away from people, but I just went with it. The first 25% is only from her POV which I understand because there’s a twist at the 40% that required Cora being in the dark.

Bottom line- This is marketed as a dark mafia book, there’s also a captive element, but compared to others within the genre ( Ruthless People, Nero, King, Crow, etc) it is not very dark… like at all. IMO, this is the best in the series, and after this one it almost gets a silly feel to it. For instance, Cora is the most virginal of virgins she’s never even used a tampon, and has the 😲😳 reaction to his junk with the OMG it will never fit… sigh… With the genre, I knew going in that Marcus would start out as a creeper, but so far, Cora hasn’t found her inner badass, but fingers crossed for Awakening. 🤞🤞
Profile Image for Sara.
86 reviews56 followers
October 30, 2019
This book was a little too fast paced for me, right from the beginning so many things were happening & I couldn’t keep up.

In a nutshell this story is about the heroine (Cora) escaping from her mother and working as a nanny. Everything with her nanny job goes wrong and she meets Marcus who offers to take care of her. In the beginning Marcus is really nice until he discovers that Cora is the daughter of his enemy then he starts treating Cora like trash, abusing and using her as a pawn to get to her mother.

The heroine is stupid & weak, I couldn’t stand her at times so if you want to read about a heroine who is a doormat & likes the abuse, then I would recommend this for you.

description
Profile Image for Michelle Claypot_Reads.
2,504 reviews61 followers
June 23, 2019
I am not usually a fan of Mafia stories but I definitely enjoyed this one. Marcus and Cora have a VERY twisted and convoluted tale together. Great chemistry, plot twists galore and an ending that has me desperate for book 2. Great read.

I received an arc of this book.
Profile Image for Lisa.
248 reviews25 followers
June 17, 2019
The writing took some time to get used to. Marcus was very hard to like, Cory is confusing, story implausible but some how I want to continue with the next book. Not great but I’m glutton for punishment.
Profile Image for Teresa Lara.
3,407 reviews51 followers
May 23, 2019
Best book so far this year.Omg riveting intense broken emotional loved Marcus and Coras forbidden love story.Ready for more
Profile Image for Jan.
2,021 reviews10 followers
May 27, 2019
Cora was just going out to have some fun. First she had to deal with her handsy boss and now something odd was in her cranberry juice. What should have been a night out with the girls turned all wrong. But when she stumbled into Marcus Ubeli, things heated up.

This book is like a mix between Fifty Shades and Carrie. It is the “way” that Cora is treated that I picked those two books. Her mother kept her locked up most of the time and away from anyone. Marcus wasn’t about to let Cora go. He found her innocence refreshing and seemed to “need” that lightness. I have to say when the “rug was pulled out,” I was shocked and a bit afraid for Cora. He romanced her and made her feel special and then “BAM.” I did not see it coming. I guess perhaps I was hoping for the romance to go on but with Marcus, things are not as they seem. I wanted to run and felt for Cora. Do you trust him or run? UGH! I cried. I guess a part of me feels like Cora, trapped. Always feeling like the fool. But this story does make some serious sharp turns. You don’t know what to think but OMG I have to wait for what happens next.
Profile Image for W.B..
457 reviews7 followers
February 10, 2021
Wow!
This book was intense, in the beginning I was a bit mesmerised by how sweet he was to help her.
I was a bit suspicious about his motives but his actions was consistent that he in fact had feelings for her. He might be keeping secrets about his criminal empire I thought that was the reason for his mysterious actions.

But I was blown away by the truth which led to her wedding night became a nightmare.
He had been playing her the the whole time.
I thought she was a bit naive at times but when you thought about her upbringing it was to be expected.
He was very cruel when he showed her his real colours.
Filming her was disgusting and thank god he realised that.

He did feel something for her but his agenda was bigger and stronger than that. Revenge for this sister.
Towards the end she took a bullet that was meant for him, I thought he would be touched or realise how much she loved him and finally come the understanding that he loved her back. Instead he shut his feelings down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tami .
1,123 reviews33 followers
April 30, 2016
This review is based on an ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest opinion.

If you liked Sidebottom's NSC series then you will like this one just as much! Well I did anyway Lol. I stumbled through the beginning of the book, then it just got AMAZING. Action everywhere. Our bad boy dom has a soft side but ONLY for the heroine. Love, heartache, action you name it......its probably in there for you :P. Ms. Savino outdid herself this time!
2,760 reviews13 followers
May 26, 2019
You could feel the darkness within Marcus as he struggled with his growing attraction to Cora and his desire to continue with his plan of revenge. This story surprises you with the sweet innocence of Cora and her realization of her inner strength. Their wild journey is just beginning for they have so much to learn about each other besides their mutual attraction.

I read and reviewed a copy of this book.
Profile Image for Maria11.
1,990 reviews41 followers
May 31, 2019
Not sure what to think

I liked it at first, but then I got to the point where I didn’t like Marcus and sometimes when the author makes the lead character too much of a @#@@@(insert cuss word). He can’t come back from it. Marcus is right at that point. I will read the next to see what will happen.
Profile Image for Kathleen Bradbury (Bulfon).
16.4k reviews213 followers
June 7, 2019
I absolutely loved this book and was honored to have been able to read and review. It was such a phenomenal read and had amazing characters as well as an amazing story line. I just could not get enough of it and once I started reading it I could not put it down. I recommend that you read it.

"I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book."
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