He was just so stubborn and difficult and I was so frustrated with him. Cameron, on the other hand, I wanted to kick more than a few times. I don't care if he was a mobster and as such did questionable things, he was also loyal, protective, caring, and sweet, even if the way he went about things with Cameron skirted the dubcon line. We get enough background information that you don't need to read Lucien, although I suggest you read it for maximum enjoyment. Like I said, I’ll pick up the other books in the series as well as I did enjoy most of this one.Ĥ Stars Angelo is book 2 in the Marchesi Family series and I guess it could be read as a standalone. Michael Dean narrated the book and he brought that extra something special that he always does. Killing is still violence that we don’t necessarily need these days – so consider yourself warned. Yes, these guys are doing some good things and yes, they’re only killing ‘bad’ guys. I didn’t read Lucien and I have yet to read Devil and I will read both, but with the same lens of this isn’t really right. In the end, Cameron winds up making the same devil’s bargain and gets in bed with the mob. But then this book wasn’t meant to make me feel good. Cameron suddenly obeying Angelo in his sexual demands felt…off. The extortion made me uncomfortable, as did the D/s relationship that felt a bit forced. I love morally ambiguous characters and Angelo is that. Except now he’s discovered his father was heavily indebted to the mob and Angelo is there to collect the debt. He decides to restore it and run it the way it used to be. He’s overwhelmed by nostalgia for the way the bakery was when his grandparents were alive and running it. When his father is killed, he plans to come home, sell the bakery, and move back out west. Cameron left town a long time ago and never intended to look back. A reprobate who left everything to his son. A reprobate who has died under mysterious circumstances.

Book 2 finds Angelo calling a debt owed by a reprobate. Peter understands this is a devil’s bargain, as it were, and accepts his role. Lucien has taken over as head of the family business with his lover Peter by his side. Devil was born around the same time as Angelo so although he’s a cousin, he’s like close family as well. Alas, it’s too far from here so I had to simply enjoy reading about all those carbs. Man, my mouth was watering at all the Italian treats.

Or in this case a cup of flour as there is serious baking involved. Anything that glorifies violence and criminal behavior has to be taken with a grain of salt, so to speak.

Lucien by Silvia Violet