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REVIEW: Always The Villain by Brea Alepou & Skyler Snow

Vitale Brothers: Always The Villain – Brea Alepou & Skyler Snow
Cesare Vitale
Man. Myth. Legend.
Or at least thatโs how the world views me.
Theyโre not wrong; I would give anything to take back my throne. To have power again. Even if it means breaking all of my already weak familial ties.
Until I meet the one man that makes me pause.
Raphael is everything I have never wanted to admit I crave. Someone who sees the monster and still wants me just the same. But there’s more to Raphael than meets the eye. Can he be trusted?
In the midst of Vitale chaos Iโm forced to ask myself something Iโve never doubted before. What’s more important?
Power? Or love?
Book 6 in the Vitale Brothers series. This will be the final book.
Does Daddy Vitale really need a redemption story?
Vitale Brothers is a dark mafia romance series by writer duo Brea Alepou and Skylar Snow. The series follows the brothers as they navigate love and crime. The family is led by the eldest Benito (Say I Do) who has the unenviable job keeping his chaotic half-brothers, Gin (Paid In Full) and his twin Paolo (Never Say Never), Enzo (Take Me Apart), and Blake (End It All) in line.
Always The Villain is the final book starring the infamous Cesare Vitale, whom we all know is a deadbeat bastard out to oust Benito from power. All the brothers except Blake hate the old man, the youngest Vitale having fonder childhood memories of his father and so still wants a reconciliation.
Much younger at 26 to Cesare’s 54, Raphael is so dangerously obsessed with Cesare, he became a sex worker just to ensnare the man. When he has him in his clutches, he sinks his claws deep and doesn’t let go, the goal being to make Cesare dependent on him. As the story progresses, we learn why.
Apart from his obsession, there’s not much to Raphael. It is shown he likes revealing clothes and dresses similarly to Harlow. But where Harlow is fiery and feral, Raphael is hollow, his threats no bite at all. It’s not lost that father and son have similar love interests, a nod to apples not falling far from trees but if Benito and Harlow had nuclear-level heat, Cesare and Raphael are a wet rag.
Sure, the plot is mostly rough sex, humiliation kink, and dirty talk, but that’s all there is. I don’t feel a genuine spark. Their connection reads more like Raphael servicing a client, especially with Cesare calling him “whore” all the time.
Cesare has no appeal either. I’m not expecting him to suddenly turn into a new leaf just because he caught feels. Heck, his sons didn’t miraculously turn into saints either. It’s just that I don’t feel his feels. I’m not remotely convince he’s going monogamous just because he likes dick now. He is also given a sob story and a kitten but no, those are not enough to redeem the old man.
So this is a totally unecessary book. That Cesare’s sins are handwaved that easily is anti-climactic and lazy. However, him returning to the bossom of the family leads to full-on Vitale mayhem which I enjoy. The best parts of the book are the brothers and it’s worth the slog just to read their scenes.
Always The Villain is a story of power, lust, and obsession. A futile attempt to redeem a bastard and a meh romance that fails to ignite, overall, never mind this Vitale.
Rating:
2.5 Stars โ far from hate but not quite a likeSoundtrack: Always The Villain
Album: Michael Grant & The Assassins
Artist: Always The VillainVitale Brothers is an all-time favorite series and I agree with some readers that it should have ended with the glorious Paolo reveal in Never Say Never. It’s best to read the books in order, starting with the intense Enzo possessiveness in Take Me Apart, the hilarious Gin shenanigans in Paid In Full, the fiery Benito bloodlust in Say I Do and the take-it-or-leave-it Blake brattiness in End It All.
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ALWAYS THE VILLAIN: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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REVIEW: Godless by L. Eveland

The Ferrymen: Godless – L. Eveland
His bite marked me. His kiss ruined me. His return damned me.
LORENZO
I was built to killโflawless, heartless, and loyal only to the man who made me. Now he’s my next target.
When a rare Judas Coin forces me to hunt Dionysus, I need his son: Rafael. A fallen priest I marked with my teeth years ago.
I donโt need a partner. I donโt need a conscience. But Iโm stuck with both. And every moment we spend together reminds me what it feels like to want something I was never meant to have.
RAFAEL
I was damned the moment he touched me.
Now heโs back with blood on his hands and a contract on my fatherโs head.
I should run. Pray. Turn him in.
Instead, Iโm hiding him in church basements, watching him bleed for me. Kill for me.
Lorenzo is temptation wrapped in violence, a sinner sculpted in scars.
And the more I fall, the further I drift from the God I once served.
If redemption is still possible, Iโll find it in himโor burn beside him trying.
GODLESS is a dark, high-heat MM romance about assassins, fallen priests, and what happens when the devil you fear becomes the only one who makes you feel alive.
Godless by L. Eveland, the second book in The Ferrymen series, expands its John Wickโstyle world of assassins steeped in Greek mythology. This time, the story follows Lorenzo, Lucaโs best friend from Ruthless.
Once a feral child muzzled like an animal, Lorenzo was bought and trained by the South American Director Dionysus. His rather memorable childhood encounter with Rafael, Dionysusโs son, resurfaces twenty years later when Lorenzo is ordered to kill a cardinal. Rafael, now a priest, is sent to hunt the assassin, only to discover itโs Lorenzo.
The dying cardinal hands Lorenzo a Judas Coin, binding him to kill whoever ordered the hit, which turned out to be Dionysus himself, the man who raised him. Failure means death, but killing a regional director is equally fatal. Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, Lorenzo must also convince Rafael that the cardinal is tied to child trafficking. Reluctantly, the two join forces, pursued by Pantheon and Vatican agents, as they uncover a high ranking traitor.
When Lorenzo was introduced in Book 1, he was a drag race watching diva with fabulous hair. Here, he barely had time for a beauty regiment while fleeing from safehouse to safehouse with Rafael, Diego, and Jasper. We get glimpses of his playful side, had no qualms seducing a priest, but he’s mostly serious. He seems like a different person, understandable given their dire situation.
Rafael, ooh the good father brought all the angst and the pining, devastating and deliciously heart-melting. Not much Catholic guilt, he quickly abandoned his faith when he felt betrayed, a.k.a his mother’s and brother’s untimely deaths, things he was taught were lies and that he was sentenced to death for questioning orders.
He then turned all that intensity into a ferocious obsesession of Lorenzo, the only true thing in his life, discovering a biting kink he’s eager to explore. They were primal and savage that even right out in the middle of a storm they were a nuclear explosion. They didn’t even catch pneumonia. Their transition from enemies to lovers, building the trust, the teamwork and passion was fast but done convincingly,
The villain is as hateful and manipulative as in the first book. I hated that he used eagles for his evil machinations. It might be triggering for some but just know these magnificent birds did not have a happy ending.
The most thrilling part was Rafael and Lorenzo having to survive a labyrinth and defeat the bad guy for Lorenzo’s sentence to be reversed. It was a claustrophic and deadly experience, they were in pitch dark, lost their map and chained together at the ankles. However, it was never explained why the bad guy could somehow see in the dark.
The plot barely lets Rafael, Lorenzo, and their friends rest, moving fast, throwing curveballs, and keeping me intrigued with Pantheon politics. The mysterious head of the Pantheon, Zeus, has yet to make his appearance but his schemes have far-reaching consequences. We might finally see him in the third book.
Godless is a story of betrayal from the highest places and choices between lesser evils. Overall, it delivers an eye-opening mission, an all-consuming truth, and earth-shattering decisions.
Rating:
4.5 Stars โ perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Godless Soul
Artist: Sad Lovers & Giants
Album: HeadlandP.S.
The Ferrymen books is best read in order.
Witness the Pantheon’s top assassin burn the world for a plant-daddy therapist in Ruthless,
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GODLESS: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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PROMO BLITZ: The CEO And The Mountain Man by Kelly Fox
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RELEASE BLITZ: Be My Ruin by Davidson King
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RELEASE BLITZ: Home Ice by Saxon James (Giveaway)
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AUDIO BLITZ: Voss by Crea Reitan
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COVER REVEAL: Be My Ruin by Davidson King
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COVER & EXCERPT REVEAL: Home Ice by Saxon James (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Penalty Shot by Crea Reitan
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RELEASE BLITZ: Gentry by Ashley James





























