Neva Altaj

My Review

This was one of the most powerful additions to this series so far! I absolutely LOVED this book. It just won my heart so quickly and loved how powerful their love was. I adored such a protector in our hero and how much he would defend Nera with his dying breath. Nera was such an impactful heroine too. I just couldn't get enough of her strength and resilience. What she is willing to do to protect her little girl, really humbled me because I am not sure I could have gone to the lengths that she did. We see her come into her own strength when she had her little one to protect.

The romance aspects between these two just FIRED me up emotionally and even spiritually in some ways. How they learn to fight for each other in different ways I was immediately drawn to. I also couldn't get enough of seeing the way that they lean on each other. Even though they go through some hardships they also never stop believing in each other. And even though there is a secret baby trope in this one, I really enjoyed how it was handled. At first I was a bit nervous, but the author pulled it through in a way that I could vibe with and loved that she didn't keep it a secret long.

Overall if you love a good stalker romance or can't get enough of a good mafia that will have some solid twists and turns, you most definitely need to read this one! You won't regret it!… (mer)

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.5

First Impressions
Silent Lies is the eight installment in the "Perfectly Imperfect" series. I really had a fun time with this series and I was thrilled when this one was released this past week. I also love how majority of these books the author places in some style of disability and that you never see in mafia romance and I have found the way that she handles it to be intriguing. In this book, our hero has partial deafness and there are certain sounds that make his ears hurt. I also found his match to be quite colorful. Her personality was quite fun although I did struggle a bit with her as I would have liked to see more background dimension to her character. The story itself was superb and if you are a fan of arranged marriages, then this book is for you. It has one of my favorites that I have read for mafia romance.

First Line
"Its the blond one, you idiot," I mumble and reach for the bottle of beer on the coffee table.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Drago
Drago is the leader of his family and will do anything to protect them. He lost his sister in a explosion including his parents.

The Heroine: Sienna
Sienna knows the value of what it means to be a twin. She hides her pain from her past with colorful colors and glitter.

Summary
Drago is highly feared and has made a reputation. But he once had a friendship with the Castro Nostra and the Don wants an alliance but also wants to know what is actually happening with Drago's field of vision. So he arranges an alliance with his top men's sister....Sienna. Sienna is brilliant with languages and after two months he sets up a marriage between Drago and Sienna. Sienna's job is to spy on her husband and his activities and communicate it to the Don. But what Sienna never counted on was to fall hard for her husband. He is her opposite in every way but there is something more to him that she is fascinated by and wants to know deeper on. But she is keeping secrets from him. Drago isn't one of the most smartest men in the mafia world for nothing. He knows his wife is a spy and learns it very quickly....the question is what does he do with her and can he ever trust her with himself?

What I Loved
AWW! this book just melted my heart and I do think this is one of the stronger in the arranged marriage setups for this series. I had so much fun with this dynamic and seeing these two learn each other was wonderful. Of course, they are complete strangers but they are both highly intelligent and hide their pain in different ways. I really got a kick out of seeing how different these two are but them building a connection to each other just makes it work just right. I also wasn't sure what to expect with the heroine spying on the hero but it was well played out. I also thought that the hero's reaction was perfect and it also showcases his level of intelligence and I appreciated seeing that factor. We also see the way that the hero shows his devotion to his wife and its going to melt your heart, I guarantee it. And some of it is just in the little things that he does for her. The heroine is quirky and a bit strange but has a very colorful personality and not the type of character that you normally see in a mafia romance so it added some fresh air to this series. We also have some close family bonds within this story that just adds more dimension ot the story.

What I Struggled With
So the one thing I struggled with is the lack of character depth we could have seen from the heroine. There were these moments that made you feel we would understand why she is so colorful but to be honest it wasn't fully transparent in this one. Its hinted at but not really revealed or explored and if that had happene then this story would have had more depths to it. And the heroine is a bit crazy and I don't want to say she is stupid or anything but the next part is a spoiler. So basically there is a attack on their home, hero is gone, and she is told to stay in the bathroom where she is safe. She knows how to shoot but doesn't know if she can kill anyone and doesn't really have training in this sort of scenario. So what does she do? She just goes storming downstairs ready to take on all the bad guys *cringes and covers eyes* yes she is a bit dumb here. Just saying.

Overall View
Silent Lies is a wonderful romance that digs deep into relable issues of pain and healing, its a story of connection among strangers and finding yourselves and embracing all parts of your partner and accepting them as they are...

Favorite Quote(s)
“Because the most sparkling one is already in my possession, and her glow can’t compare to any rock.”

“Your coat doesn’t serve its purpose,” he whispers in Serbian, his voice is husky and glides over me like liquid honey, “because you’re fucking perfect, Sienna. More beautiful than anyone I’ve ever known.”

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Dark Romance, Romantic Suspense
Character Types: Mafia, Tortured Hero, Disability
Themes: Danger/Suspense, Espionage, Laughs and Giggles
Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Opposites Attract, Grumpy/Sunshine

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A mix of both

Song This Book Inspires
Love Power by Idina Menzel

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can read as standlones if needed

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.… (mer)