Mafia King

The DiLustro Arrangement, Book 2

By: CD Reiss

Narrated by: Emma Wilder, Antonio Amato

Santino is my king. My lover. My husband.

He’s the head of the Cavallo crime family and the moment he choked my vows from me, my life was bound to his.

I’m done fighting my fate, until I hear two rumors, and I’m shaken to the core.

One rumor about the past—that I wasn’t the first bride Santino took.

Another about the future—a new bride is about to be taken.

Changing the old ways is like dousing the flames of hell with tears.

But I married the devil himself, and when I vowed to obey, I lied.

Book two of three in the The Dilustro Arrangement.

©2021 CD Reiss (P)2024 Flip City Media

WOW

I am stunned!
this book had me scared, angry happy and sad. Anxious for Massimo and Delfina hoping that they will not lose each other, hoping that Massimo will win! Yes I know it's a book but I am totally committed and vested in ALL of Chrissies books. anyway Elena Wolf is excellent as always and Mario Catalan is running with Sabistan and Shane and believe me that's the best compliment he can get! excellence job narrators! I am not into vampires but ..its CD Reiss soooo I am waiting to read.. happy reading..

Fantastic Romeo/Juliet esque story

CD Reiss writes books like no other author I’ve read before. She has this amazing way of captivating the reader, really pulling them into the story. I loved how exhilarating this story was, really giving a Romeo and Juliet vibe with a mafia twist. I also now appreciate calling someone a “cabbage” as an insult.

Elena Wolfe and Marcio Catalano did such a spectacular job with their performance of this story.

Elena picked the perfect tone and inflection for Delfina, whose characteristics are very demure, and doll-like on the outside, but she has a feisty side that no one else ever sees, especially the men around her. Elena's voice is just very soothing and easy to listen to. She had the right amount of gravel to her tone when narrating the male characters, it blended very nicely.

Marcio is the king of accents. Each character that he narrated had a completely different accent and tone that you really believe there were multiple people narrating this, no character sounded the same. I loved the tone he used for Massimo, not too gravely and growly, but the right amount of “firmness” that matched that character’s possessive attitude. My favorite was when he was narrating for a drunk Aris, that had me straight cackling.

My only ever so slight critique would be that while Marcio provided an accent for all his character where need be, such as an Italian accent for Delfina’s character, Elena did not. It took away from the flow of the story ever so slightly and felt it would’ve really elevated the narration. BUT I still loved this oh so much and I highly, highly recommend it.

LOVE.

CD Reiss has written so many mafia series (I think this is her 4th one), but they are each wonderfully different in their own way.

Even though Massimo Colonia is the brother of the main female character in the Take Me series, this book can definitely be read without reading that series (although, I highly recommend that trilogy. It is heaven under the olive trees, or some Italy metaphor that is just out of my grasp).

Massimo is disgraced and living in a kind of purgatory in Italy, but yearns to return to New York and seize back his Father's Kingdom. And then he meets and rescues Delfina. Fates collide and true love and passion both scream at you and whisper through the pages directly from the always eloquent and poetic words of Reiss.

I love this sort of book from time to time, but only when it's done well. And this author is one that I trust to hit the nail on the head every time.

I listened to the audiobook.
I'm in love. I'm in love with the voice of Marcio Catalano. Elena Wolfe is excellent as always. Highly recommend this audio

Brillant

CD's writing, as always, is impeccable. If you love drama, intrigue and thrilling elements, Mafia Kingdom will have you on the edge of your SEAT.

It's an emotionally rich and intense mafia romance and the brilliantly written "bridge" to the enticing world of Carmine Montefiore, Mafia Capo and King of Vampires.

The narration for this book was perfect. Elena Wolfe and Marcio Catalano narrated each character exactly as I would have imagined them.

Interesting

Not going to lie, I was very confused this whole story. I felt like I was between series and was missing a major plot point. I was interested because I wanted everything to finally snap together but it never really does…until the Authors Note at the end. Then everything made more sense. The story was intriguing with parts that were going to make up a whole eventually. This is kind of like a big prologue and once you hear the authors note it makes even more sense. Reading Mafia Bride first I think would help tie a lot of this together so if this story intrigues you start there. The narration by Marcio and Elena was good. Both give a lot of emotion to their characters and there are a lot of different characters for them to bring to life.

Confused.

I’m a little unsure of how to proceed with reviewing this one, since I’m not sure how I feel about it. The story is unique, with its blends of genres, and it is well-written and very interesting with its mystery and suspense. I’m assuming that, based on the author’s note, there will be a continuation of sorts to be released in a few years. I do hope it is a continuation of this, and not a standalone that just includes these characters as the other stories do, because I’m left trying to figure out what just happened. There are so many loose ends remaining when the story comes to an abrupt halt. Not really a cliffhanger, but not a resolution, either. It’s a complex story, difficult to follow because of the complexities that are just hinted at, or implied, but never really confirmed. It’s not as steamy as some of her other stories, but still has some spice and lots of passion. I did enjoy the feel of an older writing style superimposed over a modern setting, but it did cause me a little dissonance. The feeling was similar to that of Dracula, and other Gothic Romance stories. One thing I never cared for with gothic classics is the tendency to lack a satisfying denouement. That’s one element this book retained, albeit, loosely and with a promise of a potential resolution to come—however vague and mysterious. While I really enjoyed this story and thoroughly appreciated its unique blending of genre styles, I need a bit more clarity and explanation. Not necessarily a thorough and complete explanation—just a bit…more. It leaves much to be desired. This one is unique for sure. I don’t regret it. But it just feels like a cliffhanger without being a cliffhanger. I am from the “old school” when cliffhangers between books/movies/sitcoms/etc. were perfectly acceptable, so unlike many who rate harshly because of them, I am ok with them (as long as an author isn’t chopping up shoddy content into 3-4 poorly written books in order to capitalize on it as a series that should have been a single book). So, I feel like—hope that this HEA was just a temporary pacification for the whiners who can’t handle a cliffhanger and that a real resolution is coming in a few years. The quality of this story is superb. I can’t imagine what it could become if the Reiss continues the story and brings all the loose threads together. It has so much potential. In the meantime, I am going to to check out some of her other books. I’ve listened to/read most of hers, but haven’t checked out the vampire ones—so, let’s see if I can get a clearer picture while I wait for her next release.

Good book

Interesting start to new series. Good narration and interesting twist. Vampires in the future sounds interesting.