💚Sworn in Deceit (The Anithero Syndicate 1) by Victoria Lum-review💚

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 6, 2026

He can destroy anyone—except the woman he’s sworn to deceive.

Elias Kent is Chicago’s most dangerous fixer—a man who plays chess with human lives and always wins. Beneath St. Michael’s Cathedral, in the catacombs hidden under the city, he lives for one thing: revenge against the secret criminal empire known as The Association.

Lana Anderson was supposed to be leverage—until the enemy closes in. Elias makes an impossible bargain: an arranged marriage that will shield her old-money family…and buy him access to the inner circle.

Lana thinks Elias is the villain who betrayed her world. She vows she’ll survive his cage long enough to destroy him.

He swears he hates her—until obsession becomes an insatiable hunger he refuses to feed. Instead, he watches her. Controls the rooms she enters. Keeps distance like it’s a weapon…because the moment he touches her, she becomes his weakness—and weakness can get them killed.

Then Lana finds the clues he never meant her to see—and realizes the man she married is hiding more than secrets.

With danger closing in and the city igniting, Elias must choose: vengeance…or love.

In a city built on secrets, falling for your enemy is the deadliest vow of all.

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REVIEW:Sworn in Deceit by Victoria Lum is a fast-paced enemies to lovers, dark romance filled with drama, spice and angst. Prepare yourself readers, this one is a good one. As always with any dark romance, check your trigger warnings before reading.

Elias is dark and morally grey in all the best ways. He has secrets, he tells lies, he is dangerous, he is everything a man with ties to the mafia should be. Lana is the opposite, sunshine, light and goodness, when they meet when they are teens, they have a romance neither of them ever saw ending. But tragedy happens and they are torn apart, now after years apart, they are reunited again, although Lana doesn’t know who Elias is or that he is the boy she used to love. Elias however has always been watching her, weaving himself into her life in the background. When Lana becomes a target to some really bad people, it’s Elias that must keep her safe. She is forced into a marriage with a man she claims to hate, but all the while she has no idea what power he really holds.

Elias is a monster in the dark, but one that you want to cozy up to for comfort when things get scary. He’s the guy you think you can’t stand, but secretly pine for. Elias and Lana make such a good pair, Elias needs a little softening, and Lana needs some protecting, and not just from the Syndicate. They may start their marriage under dire distress, but it quickly turns into something they would both fight for. Ms. Author writes a tale of intrigue and drama, of slow burn spice and high angst mystery, together Elias and Lana build a new future together.

copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah