Book Review: Vengeful Devotion by Morgan Elliott (Wicked Souls Book 1)

 Genre: Contemporary Dark Romance / Mafia Romance

Tropes: He Falls First, Mafia King, Runaway Heroine, Touch-Her-and-Die, Protective Alpha, Found Safety in the Underworld, Trauma Recovery

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶 (High – explicit open-door scenes)

Format: eBook

Series: Wicked Souls Book 1

Content Notes: Implied sexual assault (past), childhood trauma, murder, explicit sexual content

 

               Gemma had finally escaped a monster and decided to travel to Vegas. It would be a great place to lay low and start over. However, after a night of disasters while waiting tables she was offered a job as assistant to Mrs. McBride and comes face to face with the King of Vegas. He is a monster of a different flavor, but could he be a secret to her freedom or just another temporary stop before fleeing the country?

                Facebook ads made me get it and I loved it. This is a contemporary dark romance mafia book where he falls first. Trigger warnings: implied sexual assault, childhood trauma, open door spice scenes, and murder. Now that those are out of the way this book was amazing.

                We start by following Gemma as she escaped from her Uncle and fled to almost the other side of the country. Thinking she found a place to blend in and keep her head down until she makes enough money to get to another country and out of her uncles clutches permanently. I love that we get snippets of both main characters backgrounds as the story unfolds. We know things exactly when the author wants us to versus all the background information at once.

                The spice is real, the action is amazing, and the protectiveness is top tier. I didn’t think for a second what her uncle wanted was going to happen and I love the way this all played out. The book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger in that there is still much more to their story because of the decisions made. That being said, Declan and Gemma’s story is well wrapped and I am hoping her cousin gets to be in book 2.

                I will absolutely be reading on in this series at some point.

                This book is available on Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon for $2.99 by clicking here.

 You’ll love this book if you enjoy:

• Mafia romance with a powerful crime boss MMC
• He-falls-first energy
• Runaway heroines escaping abusive pasts
• Touch-her-and-die protectiveness
• Explicit, high-heat romance
• Trauma recovery arcs
• Action-packed romantic suspense
• Series with interconnected character potential

If you’re craving a dark Vegas mafia romance with obsession, protection, and high-stakes revenge, this is absolutely worth the read.