Lylah James, Tainted Hearts Series Special

The Mafia and his Angel Part I

Alessio… 

Cold. Ruthless. Killer. I am respected and feared by all. 

I wasn’t put on this earth to love or be loved. I was put here to wipe out every last member of the damn Abandonato mafia, to pay them back for my mother’s death. 

When I find a strange girl hiding, beaten, under my bed, I don’t let her live out of compassion. She’s a trinket, my plaything. 

Ayla… 

I thought Alessio was only one more man who wanted to use me, hurt me, and throw me away. I don’t know what it is to trust anymore. I can’t find my heart under the pain. 

Alessio found it. He touched it, and brought it alive again. 

But if he discovers just how dangerous I am to him…I’ll lose my life.

Review

I am not much of a fan of dark romances or mafia romances but everyone always had such good things to say about this series, which had me super curious. Now having read it... I SO SO get it! My goodness this series was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! 

What Alessio Ivanshov wanted, Alessio got. And the bruised and beaten up girl in front of me… I wanted her. Innocent kitten. I laughed at the thought. My kitten. She belonged to me now.

I honestly fell in love with this world so fast. I couldn't get enough. Alessio was everything my goodness. That bad-ass man is a dream.

He masterfully played my body and my mind. He held the strings, and I became a puppet.

I couldn't put this book down, such a page turner. A book that will pull all the feels from you. I freaking loved it! 

“You are worth more than you think,” I whispered softly, hoping that the words would have some effect on her. “You bring happiness to others. You bring light, Ayla. You have people who care about you.”

And Lylah's writing was phenomenal. I love the way she writes, it is lyrically beautiful. I swooned at her words, for real. I have so so many parts highlighted, sometimes even whole pages, that's how good her writing is.

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The Mafia and his Angel Part II

Ayla 

The darkness never truly left me. It’s always there, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

It’s been months since I ran away from the nightmare that was slowly killing me. I ran for my life, straight into the arms of a man who I thought would be worse than the nightmare I’d left behind. 

Little did I know he’d become my savior. 

But my happy ending was ripped away from me in a blink of an eye. I had everything…and I lost everything. 

Alessio 

I didn’t believe in angels. But then I saw her. I touched her. I kissed her. I made love to her. 

In return, she saved my soul. 

I was no longer unlovable, because my Angel found it in her heart to love me. 

I had her…and then I lost her. 

But I will not stop until I find her. 

Even if it means starting a war and spilling the blood of everyone who gets in my way. 

I will find my Angel.

Review

Alessio continued to win over my heart in this one. The man gets better with every chapter. I am honestly so in love with him! He might be a ruthless killer but oh boy he is so romantic. I loved watching him be with Ayla. They are so perfect together and it's the sweetest thing ever.

Alessio was both my strength and my weakness. With him, my heart soared with happiness. Without him, I felt empty.

When it comes to the mafia world, this book had a lot of gruesome descriptions that made me cringe. That's the part of the mafia romances that I honestly don't enjoy. The killings are always so descriptive and ugh I'm getting chills just thinking about it. I don't like them. I'm the same way with horror movies, give me a ghost movie anytime but give me anything with bodily warm and I cover my eyes basically the whole movie lol. 

"When I’m with you, it feels like I’m the king of the world. I can accomplish anything with you by my side. I used to believe that you are my weakness. You are. You will always be my weakness, but you are also my strength.” Oh wow. Wow. My throat tightened up at his confession until it felt impossible to breathe. “Alessio,” I murmured, a constant smile on my lips. “I don’t know what love is,” Alessio mumbled, brushing his lips against mine in the lightest kiss. “But if what I feel for you is love, then so be it.”

It hurt so bad to see what Ayla was going through again, and to see Alessio so heartbroken over it and not being able to find her. He was ruthless in his pursuit and he never gave up. Came hell or high water he was going to find her and he did. Watching him break down when he found her, oh boy the tears never stopped coming. It was honestly so heart breaking and the way the book ended, I was not expecting that. Thank god I did not have to wait for the next book, I would have gone crazy. 

“I dreamed of you before you came into my life. When I was still a little boy, I dreamed of you. Black hair and green eyes, with a beautiful smile,” Alessio said gruffly, his voice tight with emotions. I stuttered, and he smiled. “You were always meant for me, Ayla.” “I was.”

Lylah's work continued to surprise me. I just love her words. This book was captivating, a definite page turner and just one of those books that you'll read in one sitting because you simply cannot get enough. 
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The Mafia and his Angel Part III

 "The war continues... A battle for His Angel."

Ayla

My wings were ready to fly, but he clipped them. Feather by feather, until I had nothing left.

Then my savior came.

He left a bloodbath to find me. He loves me. He wants his Angel to be free.

But how can I fly again when my wings are broken?

Alessio

This war isn’t over. If he thought he could break her and just disappear, then he was wrong. I am going to find him and break him like he broke her.

I made a vow to my Angel.

I promised to let her fly…I promised to save her soul.

And I never break my vows.

Review

This book oh my god. This one made it hurt in the beginning. Watching Alessio taking care of Ayla and watching him hurt over  her being hurt broke my heart, but also made my heart warm to see him love her so much and be there for her, fighting for her, never losing hope that she'd come back to him. It brought tears to my eyes. It hurt my heart but it was so beautiful and sweet. Their love was everything, it overcame every obstacle on their path and it was one of the most amazing love stories I've read.

I had promised to give Ayla back her wings. And I would continue to fight until my Angel could fly again.  

I love Ayla! She is honestly the strongest character I think I have ever encountered. I loved her and felt so much for her. I cried for her and the cruelty she was put through. I also don't think I have ever despised a character so much as I did Alberto, I wanted to kill him myself. He got everything he deserved. 

“Let me be your monster. Let me kill for you, Angel.” I nodded silently. Bringing our lips together, we kissed. Softly and gently. A contrast of what was happening around us.

I also loved the fact that Alessio was such a monster when he was dealing with work but as soon as he got close to Ayla he'd go all soft for her. I loved that so much. I just loved these two period. 

“I know. I believed in us, Alessio,” I said, wrapping my arms around his head. I held him to me, our lips still touching. “I believed in us, too. I never stopped believing.” 

The last 20% of the book made me so happy and I swooned so hard. It felt so good to see them happy and get all the things they deserved. Ah it was the best thing ever! I cried happy tears.

“Alessio Ivanshov, your love is my anchor. You are my strength. I promise to give you all my love from now until eternity ends."

Honestly, I was not expecting to love this series and these characters as much as I did but it was such a spectacular surprise. I am so happy I finally read this series and even more happy that I loved it so much. Honestly I am a little sad that I don't have anymore Aylessio books to read, but I'll take anything Lylah gives me at this point. All the characters in this book were amazing (aside from the enemies ofc), I felt invested in each and every one of them and I hope they all get their own story told because I need it.

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Blood and Roses

Maria

I was trapped. There was nothing left of me. 
Then he came and wanted to make me his.
He saved me. He gave me a home, a family. 
He made sweet love to me. 
I was his Angel. He was my everything. 
I thought we would live happily ever after, but there are no happy endings in the mafia life.
I found this out the hard way, as the blood flowed, red as roses…

Lyov

Angel. The word meant nothing until I saw her. 
I found her in a place worse than hell. She calls me her savior. 
But I didn’t save her. I captured the pretty angel and made her mine. 
Life was perfect. I had everything I wanted.
I was her salvation. She was my redemption.
Until I lost her. 
Angels deserve happy endings, but monsters like me don’t.
My darkness became hers, and our happily-ever-after became tainted.

Review

I knew getting into this one might was gonna hurt a lot and I was gonna end this book completely broken but oh man it still took me by surprise how much emotion it pulled from me and how many tears feel down my cheeks. 

Lylah, woman you wrecked me.

She had me captured, my attention all on her. The Angel holding the Devil in chains. She was the captor. I was the captive. She was the Master. And I was slave to her warm blue eyes that held so much pain.

Even tough I knew this book would leave me feeling nothing but pain, I was still excited to see how Lyov and Maria came to be and reading it was just as amazing as reading Aylessio's story. Like father, like son. They both had such epic and beautiful love stories. 

He touched me to give me something nobody had ever given me…without asking anything in return. I gave, and he took. He gave, and I took. A balance of power.

I loved getting to know Maria as her own person and to get to see for myself the person she was and the role she played in everyone's lives.

“Your happiness is my happiness, Lyov. I will try to be the best for you. I promise. Until my last breath.”

Again Lylah's writing was just freaking phenomenal, I am in love! Her descriptions of the events are so vivid and so heartfelt, it's impossible to read anything without it affecting you. Impossible. And that she gives me these amazing and romantic and just soulful passages and I die. Her writing is just beautiful I swear.

Having said that, once it got to the faithful night my goodness those chapters were amazing, completely broke me but they were amazing. Beautifully written, heart-stopping and beyond emotional. I both loved them and hated them because my heart almost physically hurt. 

My knight in shining armor on his white horse. Our little castle. And we would live happily ever after. Although, Lyov was no knight in shining armor. He saved me, but in this fairy tale—he was the beast.

Lyov and Maria's love was so grand and magnificent. Watching her say goodbye oh man... I was left in a puddle of my own tears... and then Lyov when he found her and after watching his baby boy with his own angel...damn. After all that time seeing him talk about Maria, it was beautifully heartbreaking. She still owns his heart and will until his dying breath. God it was beautiful. 

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Overall, I have nothing but amazing things to say about this series, this characters and Lylah's writing. I honestly fell in love with it all and I'm dying to get more of everyone and Lylah's lyrical exquisite words.

What a funny way to live our vows…till death do us part. No. Not even death could separate us. Maria was mine. Always would be. And I was hers. Till my last fucking breath. There would be no other. For my Angel was the only one. And that was my vow.

Series rate: +5 stars

Angels deserve happily ever after. Monsters like me don’t. My darkness became hers, and our life became tainted. We didn’t live happily ever after. I touched the portrait and traced her beautiful, smiling lips. But when I did have her in my arms…when we had each other, when we were together, we were happy. Love stories like ours didn’t have endings. It lived on forever. As beautiful and as flawed as it was. Until we meet again, Angel.