Thanks to BookTok, we have been introduced to quite a few new to us authors and books. And at the same time, we are also learning about the backlist of authors we already enjoy.
One author that we have been enjoying lately is Shain Rose. In fact, we have read quite a few of this author’s books. But we had never heard of the New Reign Mafia duet before. And then we stumbled across a BookTok video talking about it, and when we went over to Amazon to look up the books, we found out that it was a best of BookTok selection on the global bookselling platform.
So, as fans of the author already, it just made sense to snag Heart of a Monster, the first book in the duet to see what we were missing. And we immediately realized that we had been missing out. There is just something about her writing that we can’t resist. There is a depth to the characters, and an ability to engage the reader that we love.
For this story, obviously it is a mafia romance. So we knew that we were going to have violence and heat. We knew that there would be drama. And we got all of that. We had a woman being saved by a man that most people would consider to be a villain. However, the fact that he saved her life and then tried to stay away from her, is proof that there is so much more to both of these characters than meets the eye.
The New Reign Mafia duet was a BookTok win
I would say that the first book has the right amount of twists and turns to keep me coming back for more. And with the way this first book ended, I knew that I was going to pick up the second book, Love of a Queen, immediately.
I think the development of these characters over the course of both books is what really made me enjoy this one. This duet was well crafted and featured a storyline that really did make sense in this world that Rose developed. I think the author knows how to create engaging stories that are believable. And even though this particular duet featured a lot of betrayal, spice, deceit, and of course, romance, I think what makes this duet so good is the fact that it felt binge-worthy. This was one of those duets that you wanted to finish in one sitting, even if you couldn’t
When it comes to books recommended by BookTok, I think this particular duet from Shain Rose was an absolute win. I think TikTok got it right this time.