Gossip Girl meets The Sopranos in this fast-paced drama about a teenage mafia heiress who would do anything to avenge her family, even join forces with her handsome enemy.
Inside the tony suburb of Scarsdale is New York’s worst-kept secret: The mob runs everything, and the Nicastro family is at the center. Seventeen-year-old Tasha Nicastro lives a life of glitz and glamour, but she has no idea her family harbors a dark truth.
Tasha might look like your classic high school mean girl, but behind the designer clothes is a sharpshooter who knows how to bring anyone to their knees. The only person who has ever gotten under her skin is her former best friend, Leo Danesi, the youngest son of the Nicastro family’s rivals. After Leo returns to New York older and more handsome, Tasha thinks he’ll be the worst of her problems—until the life she thought she knew takes a violent, shocking turn. When her father and beloved older sister are murdered before her eyes, Tasha learns the dark truth: Her family runs the most powerful Mafia branch in New York, and now she’s set to inherit it all.
Tasha vows vengeance on the mysterious new mob behind the hit, but she can’t do it alone. She needs someone who already knows the underground world to help track them down. And that person is none other than Leo, the heir to his own family’s dangerous empire.
But Tasha is a Nicastro. She’s been raised in the company of killers, and there’s absolutely nothing she won’t do to avenge her family. That is, if the enemy doesn’t put her in gold chains first.
Perfect for fans of:
Gossip Girl meets Mafia story as a teen heiress inherits her father's mafia legacy and the first thing on her to do list is to find his murderer... but that means getting help from her former crush who also happens to be from a rival mafia family.... who her father put a hit on when they were younger, talk about complicated. Tasha Nicastro always thought her family's wealth came from her father being an upstanding citizen.... until he is gunned down at her party along with her sister and she is suddenly told that he has been grooming her to become the heir to his mafia kingdom all along. Tasha doesn't know the first thing about running a mob but what she does know is that she wants revenge and she'll do anything to find her family's killer.... even team up with the one person she knows she should hate, her former crush and childhood friend, Leo Danesi. It doesn't help that Leo is also the heir to a rival mob family... a family that her father had placed a hit on... and had orchestrated the murder of Leo's father. Leo and Tasha have a complicated history, but Leo has a secret, he's still in love with Tasha and can't say no to her, and if helping her find the hitman who is coming for her family means he can potentially stop a killer from going after his family as well, why not. Plus it can give him time with Tasha and keep her ex boyfriend Ravi out of the picture. Tasha and Leo delve deeper and deeper into the mob world... but the closer they get to the truth the more danger they will be in and betrayal is always closer to home than either of them know.... can they make it out alive? Okay this was so much fun because it definitely leaned heavily into the Gossip Girl with a touch of mafia mystery. Leo, my sweet sweet Leo, he was so in love with Tasha it was adorable. The romance was really fun and I am a sucker for childhood friends to enemies to lovers. THAT ENDING.?!?!?! Please tell me there is a book two and we get it soon because I NEED A BOOK 2 TO FIX THAT ENDING. This was as if Blair and Nate from Gossip Girl but put in mob romance, like it sounds weird but it absolutely works. Tasha isn't afraid to scheme and do whatever is needed to get what she wants while Leo is caring, supportive, and an investigator that has her back. This was such a fun read and I can't wait for the next book (please I'm begging).
*Spoiler: Tasha's sister faked her death and murdered her father. She is the current mob boss that Tasha has been trying to find. Leo's brother Carter was working with Tasha's sister. Leo and Tasha hook up and tell each other their feelings. Tasha confronts her sister and apprehends her with the help of the other mob family... only by agreeing to marry Ravi (who she no longer loves). The book ends with Leo finding out that Tasha is engaged to Ravi as he walks away. *
Release Date: March 18, 2025
Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)
*Thanks Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
