Recent Reads: Vows of Betrayal by Jessa York

Vows of Betrayal by Jessa York  

Series: The Sovrano Mafia Empire Book 1
Publication Date:  June 12, 2025

 

Format: Ebook
Source: Freebie during Stuff Your Kindle day

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Stefan

I promised myself.

I’d never touch her again.

A woman like her will never fit into my world.

No.

A woman like her will never—want—to fit into my world.

And something deep inside of me wants that for her.

Normal.

Nice.

Ordinary.

Because there is nothing normal, nice, or ordinary about my world.

Letting her go is the only thing I can do.

It may just be the one and only selfless thing I’ve ever done in my life.

But—when I see her about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder—I’m suddenly left with only one choice.

Whether she likes it or not.

Review: 

I grabbed this as a freebie and decided to give it a try since it was on the shorter side at novella length (140 pages). I knew going in that it was the start of a series, but given the length, I was expecting more of a prequel-style introduction.

Instead, the book jumps right into the deep end, with Stefan encountering Francesca at an auction before flashing back in time. I kept expecting the story to circle back to that opening scene by the end and give us some resolution, but instead it ends on a cliffhanger.

Overall, I thought the story was fine, and there was a fair amount of spice pretty quickly. I enjoyed Stefan and Francesca's banter and playful interactions, and I liked getting to meet some of the family members. There’s actually a lot packed into the 140 pages, but I found myself wanting more time with the characters and the story. Everything moved pretty quickly, and I think a little more development would have made it more satisfying.

I know it’s book one and there are more in the series but I’m not sure this one hooked me enough to pick up the next books.