Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Extradition

SERIES:  Mobsters + Billionaires Book 1

AUTHOR:  Kelly Fox

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  308 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 23, 2022

BLURB:

Fun fact: You can take the man out of the Mafia, give him an MBA, and put him in a Manhattan high-rise, but some part of him will always be a mobster. Which probably explains why I told off my billionaire CEO in front of the entire company.

After a video of our exchange goes viral, I can either let my father’s men toss Rand Wolfe’s disrespectful ass into the Hudson or help him escape. Long story short, I’m hiding out in the billionaire’s penthouse with my father’s extradition order hanging over my head.

Only…Wolfe’s nothing like I thought he’d be. This wealthy, powerful man is surprisingly human, and his alpha-hole façade falls apart completely when we’re alone.

God, he comes alive under my hands.

With other families getting involved and my father’s threats looming in the background, am I mob enough to save the man I’m falling for?

Extradition is a Manhattan romance that features an ex-mobster with a heart of gold, a billionaire who’ll take control in the boardroom but likes to give it up in the bedroom, and a snarky cast of criminals, reprobates, and other corporate types.

This is the first book in the Mobsters + Billionaires series. #dangerswoon

REVIEW:

Kelly Fox’s latest super sexy MM romance, Extradition, the first book in her new Mobsters + Billionaires series, uses an addictive formula for its premise: take one bad boy, Joe Portelli, add in one rich guy, Rand Wolfe, and get a powerfully addictive story greater than the sum of its parts.  That’s because these two multi-dimensional, highly endearing characters go against type.  The unexpected aspects of Joe and Rand add up to an explosive romantic combination that we greedily consume.

In this equation, Joe Portelli is the mobster — presumably the prototypical violent, organized crime family member.  But he’s far from that.  He’s brilliant and independent, having worked his ass off to get his MBA on his own to lead a legitimate life away from the illegal mobster activities of his family.  While Joe has embraced horror and violence in the past and certainly doesn’t hesitate to use it again to protect those he loves, it’s a part of himself that he hates. Joe has a heart of gold and wants to make people’s lives better.  Unlike his mobster counterparts, Joe puts the interests of others before his own.  Case in point: he blows up his whole life, putting a price on his head, to save Rand from a swift, inevitable death, likely by a bullet between the eyes.

Rand Wolfe is the billionaire in the equation — presumably selfish, privileged, and entitled. When the story opens with Rand, CEO of his family’s prosperous sporting goods company, spewing his father’s corporate “alpha wolf” garbage to his employees, it would seem that the prototype holds.  But not for long because Joe, an employee at the time, calls bullshit.  Literally.  He finds himself telling Rand off and handily putting him in his place in front of the whole company.  But when the exchange goes viral, Rand’s posturing starts to fall away.  We see that Rand’s pulled on the cloak of his father’s greed and vitriol, but beneath it lies a sweet, surprisingly innocent man who’s desperately lonely and wants someone to love and understand him. But Rand doesn’t know how to be anything but what his vile, selfish father tells him to be. Strong. Unyielding. In charge.  

As such, Rand’s attempt to “apologize” to Joe turns into a confrontation where Rand cluelessly insults and then pisses off Joe, and the members of Joe’s mob family, who are much less benevolent than Joe is about the slights.  Joe saves Rand in more ways than just the obvious physical rescue from the mess Rand created.  Joe peels back the façade concealing who Rand really is and the type of corporate leader he wants to be.  He also recognizes a more profound need in Rand – one that runs entirely against the corporate CEO image Rand’s expected to portray. Joe helps Rand acknowledge what he needs and then gives it to him, which results in some five-alarm-fire-worthy scenes. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥  

Extradition is a fantastic book, checking all the boxes: action, adventure, suspense, humor, found family, heat with a side of kink, and of course, a sweet & spicy romance between two complex, dynamic, endearing men.  Ms. Fox exhibits her stellar writing skills with wry, witty banter and sharply written dialogue.  She’s also able to convincingly depict a violent confrontation in one scene, juxtapose it with a tender, vulnerable interaction between Joe and Rand in the next, and then seamlessly weave it together.

Ms. Fox also provides colorful side characters, including Sherry, Rand’s assistant and voice of raw, unfiltered truth, Grayson, Rand’s “butler”, Edgerton, Rand’s head of security, and Luca, the mafia don.  Admittedly, certain aspects of the plot feel a bit convenient, if not predictable, but it doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of this engaging story.

I highly recommend Extradition.  It will steal your attention away from real life for a blissful few hours with Joe and Rand, two men who will steal your heart.  I’m eager to see what happens between Edgerton and Rand’s best friend Mads in book two, Protection, due out later this year.

RATING: 

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