If you are looking for a romance book but don’t want to reread the same genre, you might want to consider a mafia romance. Mafia romance books can be extremely dark, violent, sexual, and full of triggers.
They take classic romance tropes and turn them into something completely new, filled with mayhem and bloodshed. For example, in mafia romance books, you’ll often see that a heroine is sold into slavery or captivity to a mafia member. Still, as love goes, the two often fall in love, with disastrous consequences for everyone involved.
However, there are so many mafia romance books, so choosing a good one to read can be difficult. After all, you can’t possibly read all of them. So today, we want to take a quick look at 12 of the best mafia romance books and what they are all about.
Best Mafia Romance Books
Savage Hero: A Mafia Romance
“Savage Hero,” written by Lily J. Adams, is the first of six books that involve the Mancini crime family, yet this is a stand-alone book, so you don’t have to worry about cliffhangers. Instead, this mafia romance concerns alpha males who will do anything in their power to protect and guard the loves of their lives.
“Savage Hero” is about our main character, who was imprisoned for burglaries and quickly roped into a life of mafia crime once freed from jail. He must work for the Mancini crime family, specifically for the Don, Mr. Mancini. In addition, our hero is tasked with protecting the mobster’s daughter, Gulia Mancini.
Our hero runs into a lot of trouble, as Gulia is wild, adventurous, fun-loving, and determined to hate our main character. However, our hero must protect her from harm at all costs, and she is in great danger at all times. In addition, our hero falls in love with Gulia Mancini, and this is where the real fun starts.
Painted Scars
“Painted Scars” is a relatively lightweight and relaxed mafia crime story. It is the first book in a larger series known as the Perfectly Imperfect Mafia Series. This first book is much lighter and less dark than the sequels, as the main focus is the love story between our hero and heroine, Roman and Nina.
Nina was forced to marry Pakhan, a leading figure in the Russian Bratva, a violent, ruthless, cold-blooded killer.
Nina must fake her marital bliss but quickly falls in love with another, Roman. Roman, the hero of the story, is determined to have Nina at any cost, and he is more than willing to take on the Russian Bratva to get her. Will our hero and heroine end up together, or will tragedy strike?
Ruining Dahlia
This is an enticing and action-filled mafia romance novel that is not for the faint of heart. Due to triggers, sexual content, extreme language, violence, and more, this novel is not recommended for young people.
It is a story about a young woman who was sold into sexual slavery into the Costa Nostra crime organization. She was moved to New York, where three members of the mafia—Gabriel Rossi, Raphael, and Julien—think they own her.
The three mafiosos compete in extreme ways to gain her affection, even though, due to her imprisonment, she doesn’t want any of them. We will find out whether Dahlia has the power to fend off and overcome her captors or if one of them will capture her heart. What makes things more interesting is that Dahlia begins to enjoy being fought over by the three men.
“Ruining Dahlia” is a stand-alone novel with no cliffhangers, so don’t worry about having to read another, although this is good enough to warrant a sequel.
Bound by Duty
“Bound by Duty” was written by Ivy Davis and is a thrilling novel about a woman who was forced to marry a true monster, a mafia boss. The choice was simple—let her father die or marry a mafia boss and be subjected to his whims and rage for the rest of her life.
Of course, our heroine chooses to save her father’s life, but not she is stuck in a loveless marriage that is full of regret, rage, violence, and more. It is up to our heroine to make the best of a bad situation; indeed, she does her best to crack open the hard outer shell of Dante Bernardi, her violent husband.
Interestingly, our heroine wants nothing more than to love Dante, despite his numerous shortcomings, yet he shuts her out, even though he was the one who forced her to marry him. “Bound by Duty” is the first in a three-part series, although you can read it as a stand-alone book. You might also like that there is a happy ending here.
Untamed Vixen
“Untamed Vixen,” written by Luna Pierce, is a super gritty and violence-filled mafia romance story about a woman who wants to be with several men—who doesn’t want to be tied down—but of course, things happen.
Our heroine enjoys hooking up with mafia members, but relationships shouldn’t happen. Although she does her best to keep feelings out of the equation, they keep sneaking in, and she finds herself steadily drawn toward certain mafia members.
Rival mafias find out she is seeing other mafia members, and this causes problems. She quickly becomes a pawn and a bargaining tool in a severely escalating mafia war. It’s about claiming the throne, but how our untamed vixen will fare is yet to be determined.
Lucien
“Lucien” is an enticing and riveting novel by Silvia Violet, one of the three Marchesi Crime Family Mafia Books. Our hero, if you can call him that, is Lucien. Lucien is the boss of the Marchese Crime Family.
Our heroine is madly in love with Lucien. At first, she is led into his office, forced to kneel down, beg for his mercy, and obey his every command. Lucien demands complete control and obedience, yet she can’t help but be drawn to him.
Lucien has many enemies, and despite his shortcomings, he vows to protect our heroine, which he does well. However, what doesn’t go so well is how he emotionally affects our heroine. She wants nothing more than Lucien, yet breaking her heart will always be an issue.
Mafia Madman
“Mafia Madmen” was written by Mila Finelli, a New York Times bestselling author. This can be read as a stand-alone book, although it is better if you first read “Mafia Darling” and “Mafia Mistress.” The story is about a feisty, loud, and brash heroine combined with a cruel, filthy, and hot hero.
Our main characters are Gia and Enzo. Gia is a mafia princess who wants nothing more than to get out of mafia life. She has dreams of being a fashion designer, but an affair with a mafioso derails her plans.
The mafioso is none other than Enzo, a man who had his life ruined and now plans his revenge on the man who destroyed it. Enzo is set on using Gia as his weapon to bring down the man who took everything from him. But will Enzo use Gia as a tool of destruction, or will he end up falling in love with her?
Den of Vipers
If you are looking for a violent, raunchy, and hot mafia romance novel, “Den of Vipers” by K.A. Knight is a perfect read. However, be aware that this book contains extreme violence and sexual content, foul language, and many triggers.
Four men, Diesel, Ryder, Garrett, and Kenzo, are a part of the same mafia family that runs the small town they reside in. Our heroine is sold into slavery to them due to her father’s debts. So it was watching her father die or pay off his debts with her body and freedom.
These four mafiosos now own her, and she is at the mercy of their whims. However, each of these four men is in love with her, and they compete for her affection. However, this competition doesn’t take long to boil down to violence and heartbreak. If you are looking for a reverse harem novel where the men compete for the woman, “Den of Vipers” is a great read.
His Prisoner
“His Prisoner,” written by Misty Winters, is a steamy and love-filled mafia romance novel, an enemies-to-lovers story. This is the first of three books in the Moretti Crime Family Series, although it can be read as a stand-alone. Some readers will like that this book has no cheating, no cliffhangers, and has a happy ending.
Antonio, a mafia boss, is cruel and ruthless yet has a soft side. Mia is an innocent young woman who has always wanted an exciting life.
However, she did not expect to be sold into captivity by her father, who had to pay off his gambling debts. Mia sees how possessive, fierce, and violent Antonio is yet cannot help but fall in love with him. Although some sexual and violent triggers are present, you can still expect a happy ending.
Cruel Saints
Cruel Saints was written by Michelle Heard, a USA Today bestselling author with many other gripping romance novels under her belt. This is a stand-alone novel, so you don’t have to worry about cliffhangers.
This is also a full-length novel about an arranged marriage between a mafioso and an innocent young woman. Be aware that this book contains a number of triggers, both sexual and violent, and it is pretty raunchy in general. This is an 18+ book that is not meant for young audiences.
Lucian becomes the head of the Cotrini family once his father dies. He is forced to take the throne, which is where our heroine comes in. She is a part of the only other large crime family in the area—the only real threat to Lucian.
However, a new threat, a third group, soon emerges, which forces Lucian and our heroine’s father to make a deal. The two families will unite as one and stand against a common enemy, and this union will be created by marrying our heroine to Lucian.
At first, our heroine is not pleased about this. Then, however, she slowly falls for Lucian, where things get interesting.
Mafia Monster’s Forced Bride
“Mafia Monster’s Forced Bride,” written by Sam Crescent, is a thrilling stand-alone mafia romance novel about a forced bride. The heroine is the daughter of a crime lord.
However, her father is having problems with the Greco mafia. To keep the peace between their two criminal organizations, she is forced to marry the son of the Greco family’s crime leader, Roman. Roman is known for being cold, cruel, and violent, and he does not want a wife, especially an outsider who is not part of the family.
Alex, our heroine, is not afraid to tell Roman how she feels or what she thinks of him, and of course, this causes issues. Roman tries to get his friends to seduce her to prove that she is not as innocent as she looks, but to no avail.
Although Alex doesn’t like him much at first, she is also loyal, and soon enough, Roman is ordered by his father to make her fall in love with him, at which point he must also protect her from his enemies. So it would seem that although Roman is cold and cruel, he is a totally different person around Alex.
Owned By A Sinner
“Owned By a Sinner,” written by Michelle Heard, is a stand-alone Irish mafia romance novel. Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of many great novels. However, this book is rated as 18+, as it contains much triggering content, mainly sexual and violent.
Our young heroine will do anything to look after her father, no matter the job. However, although she thinks she has found her dream job, she quickly discovers there is more than she bargained for, and she ends up working for an Irish crime family.
Liam Byrne is the head of the Irish mafia, and when he returns home from a long trip, he sees what is happening to our heroine and proceeds to do everything he can to take care of her. As the novel progresses, the two fall deeper in love. Liam is and always will be a mafia boss, and whether or not our heroine’s love can overcome this is questionable at best.
Conclusion
These 12 thrilling, gripping, and steamy mafia romance novels are sure to get and keep your attention. If you’ve never read this type of book before, we recommend going with a stand-alone book, not a series.