Ties that Bind Us by Nicole Knight Published by W by Wattpad Books on April 15, 2025
Genres: Romance
Pages: 386
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
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In this steamy mafia romance from newcomer Nicole Knight, Ava Moretti has the night of her life after a chance encounter with a handsome stranger. But when he turns out to be her mafia family’s sworn enemy and her father insists they marry for the good of the business, Ava has a decision to make that will change her life forever.
From strangers to lovers, from enemies to family, from mafia princess to . . . mafia wife?
Ava Moretti is a mafia princess with a fiery personality and an aversion to doing what she's told. Nick Caponelli is next-in-line to lead the Caponelli mafia—he’s used to getting exactly what he wants. When they meet by chance one night, neither has any idea they are from rival crime families. After a night of passion, they are supposed to part ways and never see each other again. But fate has bigger plans, and soon Ava must make a decision that will change her life forever. What comes first: love or family?
For fans of Ana Huang, Rhenna Morgan, and L.J. Shen Nicole Knight’s steamy, intense, and action-packed mafia romance begins the Caponelli saga, in which Ava Moretti must face both her dreams and her fears as she weds mafia boss Nick Caponelli.
Read if you like:
- Mafia romance
- Enemies to lovers
- Arranged marriage
My thoughts:
Ties That Bind Us is an enjoyable, if mediocre, read. This mafia romance failed to meet it’s full potential but still managed to keep me hooked until the very last page.
If you’re new to mafia romance and looking for a good starting point, this might be the one for you. I’d call this one mafia light. It’s not too violent or bloody but still with the elements of the mafia. To be honest, the mafia part of this wasn’t very fleshed out and took a backseat to the romance until it was needed to further the plot.
The romance between Nick and Ava started strong, fizzled in the middle, but came back around in the end. I loved the chemistry between them from the moment they locked eyes across the bar. Their one night stand was the hottest part of the book (and the only real spice in this one). Unfortunately, Ava was quite hot and cold with Nick after that and the back and forth got annoying. There was a lot of drama caused solely by Ava’s unwillingness to allow Nick to communicate with her. She jumped to conclusions rather quickly and refused to see reason after that.
Ava’s character was one of my least favorite things about the story. She wasn’t written well and there were times when her actions and personality didn’t match how she was previously described. Other than Nick, I felt that way about most of the characters. They would be described one way and then act in the exact opposite way. They writing could have used some work.
Overall, Ties That Bind Us was an enjoyable enough read but not something I would revisit. While far from being a bad book, the writing and characters lacked development and I was left feeling rather unsatisfied in the end.
TL;DR
Ties That Bind Us was a thoroughly addicting read, if a little poorly written. A quick read that was hard to put down. Some spice, but minimal. Lots of rather predictable drama. Not great but a fun read if you’re a fan of mafia romance.
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