Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Attraction
SERIES: Mobsters & Billionaires
AUTHOR: Kelly Fox
NARRATOR: Declan Winters
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 47 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2023
BLURB:
rom USA Today best-selling author Kelly Fox comes a new kind of mafia romance!
I’m a mob boss. And I’m in love with a virgin. I run a high-end escort service, and Ford is a nervous, perfectly bow-tied, sexily bespectacled money nerd. It doesn’t make any sense, this attraction between us.
Even as he keeps me at arm’s length, he’s never left my orbit. We’re moth and flame, inexplicably drawn to each other’s darkness and light.
Hell, I’m becoming a better man because of him.
I’ve joined him for Manhattan’s charity gala season, and the more I get to know him, the more I fall for his sharp wit, unique style, and hard-won confidence. I’ll be as patient as I need to be to win him over.
The one thing I’m not willing to do, however, is let the man who put the fear in his eyes get away with it.
I don’t care how powerful or wealthy he is—I will tear down the world to make Ford feel safe enough to love me.
Attraction is a mafia romance that features a new kind of mob boss, a billionaire with exquisite taste, and a found family made entirely of morally gray do-gooders.
As with all of my murder swoon romances, there are no cliffhangers, and the HEA is guaranteed.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series and so it does contain spoilers for the first two books. CW for attempted violent sexual assault.
Luca Stefano is a mafia don who is trying to be a better man. His friendship with an unlikely group of billionaires is setting him on a different path – not that he wanted to be anything like his father anyway. Frod Bradley is a financial genius. He is part of the band of brothers that are made up of three billionaires, a mafia don and his brother, his head of security and another mob guy who got out. They have a regular Wednesday night poker night and all have become very close. Ford and Luca have danced around each other for a while.
Ford hasn’t had an easy past. He plays things close to the vest and he definitely doesn’t want Luca to find out that he’s still a virgin. But then his a$$hole ex treats him quite badly (as he is wont to do) at a charity event that they are all attending. This put Luca in a fury. He knew Ford was skittish, but now he’s really concerned as to why. As they get closer, it’s clear that Ford has some real issues and some PTSD. When he and Luca move their relationship to the physical some triggers Ford and Luca is bound and determine to punish whoever has done this to Ford – made him afraid to accept physical affection and love from another person (despite have quite the epic toy collection).
Luca is willing to take things at Ford’s pace and Ford is a bit stunned to be sure. But he knows that under that hard mafia exterior, Luca has a heart of gold. He’s trying to do things to make the world a better place. So they agree to attend the charity season functions together. And all is going pretty well until a masked ball for the mob leadership. Things go sideways and Luca finally finds out who hurt Ford. It’s not pretty but it’s necessary.
Ford is finally free of this past. There are some pretty surprising twists too that shed new light on a lot of people. The rest of the gang is there to help clean up the inevitable messes – particularly Hopper (whose book is next – YEA!!!). Despite a rough start, Ford and Luca realize they are in this for the long haul 🙂
This book was a bit of a change of pace with Luca and Ford having a bit of a slow burn relationship. Then things get a bit crazy with the rival mob families of the Byrnes and O’Sheas and the surprise identity twist that throws a bit of a monkey wrench into a lot of plans 😉 This is definitely a case of opposites attract, but Ford and Luca just seem to fit together. Luca is not who he appears to be. Although he has a hard reputation, he’s definitely a teddy bear when it comes to Ford. He’s also got some cleanup work to do with his billionaire friends. It’s clear that he is falling hard for Ford and he doesn’t want to spook him. I loved how tender he was with Ford and how much he respected his boundaries and wanted to make sure he didn’t trigger him. When we find out what happened to Ford in the past, it’s quite shocking and Luca protects what is his. Ford handles things better than he thought he ever would thanks to Luca’s support and love. Together they figure out how to move on and have their HEA. I cannot WAIT for Hopper’s book to see how all this gets resolved. Recommended.
Declan Winters does an outstanding job here of performing this story. The story itself is at a 4, but Mr. Winters narration adds a whole new level of enjoyment. He’s so pitch perfect with both Ford and Luca here and I felt their pain and uncertainty and love and respect for one another. Luca is really afraid of pushing Ford. Ford is afraid of a lot of things but he’s not afraid of Luca per se. He does get bit freaked out a time or two, but he accepts the help he needs to move on. All of the characters are simply brilliant here. This is definitely a case where I think the Audio performance really adds another delicious layer to this engaging story of a couple that doesn’t work on paper, but definitely works in the flesh 😉 On to book 4!
RATING: 
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