Cruel Surprise (Dark Mafia / Arrange Marriage) by BB Hamel-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 28, 2025

My one night stand just crashed my wedding…
And put a bullet in my groom.

I got pregnant. Now I’m ruined. At least that’s what my family says.

My only option is to marry a stranger and salvage what’s left of my reputation.

I’m willing to do it… until Mass Cardone decides to take back what’s his.

Mass is a monster ripped from my darkest nightmares. He’s a beautiful beast in designer suits with a body like an athlete and a stare that makes me break. His commands topple governments. His hands are drenched in blood. Every word from those beautiful lips cuts straight to my core.

We spent one night together and he gave me the best gift possible: my daughter.

But I don’t want him anywhere near my baby.

There’s nothing I can do when he drags me to his private island and forces me to be his wife.

Mass is keeping secrets while pulling me deeper into his lair. I’m trapped in his bed, but I can hear screams beneath the floorboards.

If I can’t escape soon, my daughter will grow up in a prison, and I’ll be that psychopath’s plaything for the rest of our days.

•••••

REVIEW:CRUEL SURPRISE by BB Hamel is a stand alone, contemporary, adult, dark Mafia, arranged marriage romance focusing on forty-two year old, underworld crime Lord Massimo ‘Mass’ Cardone, and twenty-three year old, Mafia princess/ single mother Allie Russo.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Mass and Allie) CRUEL SURPRISE follows approximately two years after a one night stand in which Allie was left a single mother, never knowing the truth about the man with whom she would one day fall in love. Fast forward to present day, Mass abducts Allie and her daughter moments before she was about to marry an older man, an abduction that reveals there is more to our hero than anyone could have ever known. Massimo Cordone is one of the five most powerful underworld crime bosses known as the Dragons, a position that now threatens our story line heroine. A private island fortress, personal guards, and a new life find Allie in the middle of a fight for power, a fight that will see the people she has grown to love not only be betrayed but betrayers themselves.

The world building follows several intersecting pathways as Massimo Cordone’s empire is threatened by a ghost, a Russian crime lord who is determined to take his place at the top. With his family and island targeted, Massimo must become the aggressor before he loses everything he loves.

The relationship between Mass and Allie begins as a one -night stand, forced marriage in the face of an upcoming war. Massimo is determined to claim our heroine and his daughter but someone else is taking aim, intending to take down our story line couple. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, powerful and sometimes questionable secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to Massimo’s housekeeper Satya, his second in command Lucy; Allie’s brother Gabe, and their father Francesco Russo. The requisite evil has many faces.

CRUEL SURPRISE is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is twisted, dramatic and edgy; the romance is seductive and spicy ; the characters are dark and determined. CRUEL SURPRISE ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Own a copy

Reviewed by Sandy