Vow of Deception: A Dark Marriage Mafia Romance (Deception Trilogy)

I don’t even know what to say, Adrian’s and Lia’s story has intrigued me since the previous books, but this wasn’t what I expected, this story surprised me a lot, it has so much mystery and suspense that you don’t understand a thing about what you are reading when you think you are starting to figure out what is going on something threw you off and proves you don’t actually know this book is one of those where you can not stop reading because you want to know what the hell is happening, I am greatly impressed and surprised with this because I loved how different this story is from the previous ones, and that end like wtf!!!! Thank god I am reading this while Rina has finished the whole universe because the cliffhanger at the end would have killed me otherwise, I completely recommend this book and can not wait to to know what is happening and why because this book leaves you with more questions than answers.

My god it felt good to be back in the world of Rina Kent. I had gotten sidetracked a few years ago waiting for the next release and then I started discovering new authors and you know how that goes.. BUT we are getting right back up on that horse. So here comes another vague yet detailed review because I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t read this yet 😂 . Let me start by saying that I loathe miscommunication and being non communicative in general.. having said that I absolutely loved this book and this ended up being my favorite trilogy of Rina’s that I’ve read so far. . Adrian needs Winter to play the part of his wife who is no longer with us, but he has a list of standards she must meet and she fails at almost every turn. There was so much push and pull between these two and yet at times it felt as though Adrian was an immovable force who expected our leading lady to completely bend to his will. Oh wait.. that’s exactly how it goes. Perception is everything in this book and he is perceived as heartless and ruthless man who cares very little for the opinions of others. He deals in facts and is always ten steps ahead of everyone, only he miscalculated when it came to her. . This first book has a lot of mystery and intrigue. Seriously, it was a cluster f— at times but in the best way; I was hoping I was right about the plot twist and it was everything I needed it to be and I can’t wait to go back and read my breadcrumbs. . Like anything I recommend, I strongly suggest you check your trigger warnings for this is a Dark Mafia Romance.

This review is for bk1 of a trilogy of books. Since the story does deal with alot of characters from other books it can get confusing.

“I’ll meet you over and over again if I have to.” Adrian's comment above pretty much sums up the storyline but ...

Now i did DNF this 55% into the first one but i will say after reading Reina's (All The Lies/ All the Truths ) & Rai's ( Thorne of Power/ Thorne Of Vengeance ) & all the Royal Elite ( havent read Seb/Naomi books (Red Thorn/Black Thorn ) yet but they seemed to be more of a side story) I did decide to read Adrian/Lia story as their children are important to the Legacy Of Gods Series which starts w/ God Of Malice which deals w/ the books mentioned above & Rina Kents Royal Elite Bks (7 bks ) characters childrens. I also suggest reading the Empire of Desire books which tie both Royal Elite & Reina/Rai/ Adrian's story into it.

SPOILERS BELOW

Adrian is first introduced in Rai's books & you learn a little bit about Lia & meet her in that bk. At the end of Rai's bks Lia comes to Rai and ask her to help her run from Adrian so Rai hides her at a safe house. Jeremy who is Adrian/Lia son is mentioned in Rai's bk.

This story drops you right into Adrian & Lia (Winter) story ( right after Rai ends) & leans heavy on Lia's mental illness ( may have been caused by an accident she had as a ballerina) & alcohol issue . Adrian deals alot with the Russian Bratva ( Rais group ) but also deals w/ other groups ( many of them in Rai's bk) . It starts out w/ Winter ( actually Lia ) who is homeless in NYC & she if found by Adrian who basically talks to her & offers her a deal to act as his dead wife ( Lia- who is actually herself ) bc they look alike. Some things happened to essentially make her agree with this plan & she would also be Jeremy's mother. She goes through almost all of book 1 thinking that she's Winter and she finally realizes at the end of the book that she's actually Lia because she remembers bits & pieces. There was an assassination attempt against Adrians when he was getting married to Lia . ( & more attempts also) In book 1 you find out that Lai was some how a part of this attempt. This assassination attempt was also mentioned a little bit in Rai's bks briefly. End of bk1 Igors Birthday party is at Sergei home. Rai is visibly pregnant to give you the timeline of the whole book universe. Lia is kidnapped by someone at the party who calls her the Duchess & they told her that she needs to finish her mission & shoot him. Then the person just leaves her on the side of the road. Lai has no idea what they are talking about. They text her some. She starts hallucinating & thinks she sees Lia in a hospital bed in the guest house. So she text the person trying to escape and its a guy named Luca who comes & he talks about her hallucinating & how shes not doing the mission then she has a flashback to her wedding with Adrian & realized she is in fact Lia and the book ends .