Ruthless Royalty (Willow Bridge Academy Book 1)
About
Chiara
I never asked for this life. One day I’m just a normal girl; the next, I’m the step-daughter of a dangerous man, shipped off to Willow Bridge Academy—where the curriculum might as well include Advanced Blackmail and Intro to Extortion.
I wasn’t born into the mafia world—my only crime was having a mother who fell for a Bratva Pakhan. Now, I’m playing pretend in a viper’s nest where bloodlines and alliances draw the line between survival and downfall.
My first day and I’m already toe-to-toe with Giovanni Basile, the notorious Cosa Nostra Prince. With his smug smile and infuriating charm, he thinks he can scare me into submission.
He’s decided I’m his new project, but he’ll learn soon enough—sparks fly when steel strikes flint, and I’m not about to smolder quietly
Giovanni
There’s a new player at Willow Bridge Academy, and she’s nothing like I expected.
Chiara.
Even her name is a challenge flung in front of me, a fiery beauty who doesn’t realize the danger of crossing a man like me. When she dared to challenge me on her first day, she didn’t just capture my attention—she caught me off guard.
Most girls fall at my feet, but she stands tall, daring me to knock her down. It’s infuriating as much as it’s intriguing. She thinks she can play in our dark world without getting dirty.
Now, making her life hell has become my new favorite pastime, not because I hate her, but because I can’t have her. She thinks she can handle the world of the mafia? I’ll show her just how ruthless my world can be.
Ruthless Royalty is book 1 of 5 in the Willow Bridge Series and can’t be read as a standalone.
Praise for this book
I honestly couldn’t put this book down when I read it the first time and ended up reading it a second time. I’m already waiting with anticipation for the second book in this series!
Chiara is a fantastically strong, smart, and sassy female lead whose life is turned upside down when she finds herself abruptly thrust into the mafia world and all but forced to attend Willow Bridge Academy, a university for the up-and-coming children of the criminally inclined. Giovanni happens to be one of those children; he isn’t too thrilled with the sudden appearance of a newcomer who knows practically nothing of his world and is allowed to hold power—a point he aims to draw attention to at every turn.
Because Chiara isn’t from their world, she tests the Crowns’ patience while simultaneously testing her own previously held ideas about the world while learning to adapt to her new life. What she finds is not what she expects but is, instead, absolutely what she needs—even if she doesn’t want to admit it to anyone, let alone herself.
Okay I am officially hooked and I don’t know how long I can patiently wait for the rest of Willow Bridge to come out. 😅🙌 Ruthless Royalty is the first of 5 books in the series.
This book was a perfect Mafia romance with a good amount of spice and chaos. We follow FMC Chiara and her evolving life being thrown into a mafia family and the romance that ensues.
My top highlight of this book is what a freaking bad ass Chiara is. She is a fierce woman with strong dominance that I don’t often see in many dark romance novels. At the same time, she is also somewhat relatable as she is a normal woman who had led a very normal life.
I also loved how emotional this book felt. I am not one to normally cry while reading, but for some reason this book had me holding back tears for probably at least the last quarter of the book. I couldn’t help but feel caught in the midst of the roller coaster of events that were unfolding.
I have to admit at some parts of the book I felt that some of the romance was a little far fetched but I am not a hopeless romantic so I think that is just my own problem. This book would definitely be spot on for anyone who is more of a romantic. Either way, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into romance novels. I’d also like to emphasize that this book could be read as a standalone. However, I think after reading it you will also be extremely eager waiting for the next to come out. 😉