The writing is exceptional and the editing and grammar are on point. There is nothing to distract from the amazing story line the author unfolds as the book goes on. Max Butcher, notorious bad boy as the community knows him. He is not a relationship type of guy and is proud of it. He is known for his reputation of fighting/boxing. Will this all change when Cassidy comes into his life or will he keep her at an arm's distance. This group is a safe environment, where readers c Welcome to Some Like It Hot!, a group for those of us who love to read and write romantic fiction. That's not to say there's not some hot scenes, but this whole thing was just so depressing that it made it so hard to care about the smut or the actual storyline.

Georgia Hart and Rupert Channing narrate this audiobook and I really enjoyed their performances and were fantastic in bringing the Ballerina and the Butcher Boy to life! I relish the elevated romance within The Duet as the lines between love, desire, and obsession begin to blur creating an eruption of forbidden passion and ecstasy. Max and Cassidy's relationship is the type of love story that you love to hate, innately they know its bad for them, but like a slut for punishment, they pursue it anyway because in the immortal words of Cassidy, "avoiding conflict to prevent a battle, can often start a war on your heart."It's a solid 4.5 star read for me. There were a few issues that I just wanted to point out before swiftly moving on to the good stuff.

But, there was also a lot that I disliked. I have nothing against a pregnancy plot line, but the way it was done here was unpleasant, AND unrealistic. Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Book Sirens and am leaving a review voluntarily. I may be a silly little girl to him, but he's intent on protecting, possessing, and claiming me in every way-his little piece of purity.Cassidy goes on a double date as a favour to her best friend Toni, she ends up hitting it off with the guy and they start making out. Only someone is watching them and isn’t happy about what is happening!! The best time to read a book depends on your personal schedule and preferences. Here are some suggestions: stars. The blurb for this book says it can be a stand-alone – that’s a lie. You’d be very confused if you read this without having read Our Thing: The Ballerina & The Butcher Boy Complete Duet and Her Way. This book has Sweet, Spice, drama, angst, love, fear, trauma, good girl/bad boy vibes that hook you in and keep you to the very last word. At which point you will clamor for book 2.

His world is going to intoxicate her. The dangerous men that he calls family will want to use her, tutu and all. That being said, it's a dark age gap romance so it wasn't all that uncomfortable and still a pretty enjoyable read. The writing style flowed well with me. I genuinely loved the dialogues and even the inner monologues. The author has also managed to hook me on to the story from the first chapter. I think I would have got a few more references and understood the depth of a few more characters if I read the previous books but despite not reading them the story wasn't unnecessarily complicated or painfully dull. I was enjoying both the h and H's love story and what actually happened with the h. if you did enjoy this book, good for you, i’m not here to take away from your experience with this bookEarly morning: Some people find that reading in the morning helps them start their day with a positive and productive mindset. One trope I can’t stand and avoid at all costs is the pregnancy trope. The pregnancy usually takes over the storyline, and the lovers seems to lose themselves and their spark and what makes them “them”, but I pushed through and I’m glad I did. The author made sure the characters stayed true to themselves throughout the whole story, and ya know what? I didn’t mind the pregnancy one bit! In fact, it added to the story in such a good way, and I wouldn’t change a thing! All the while Nikki has continued with the over arching narrative from the previous books telling a tale of politics, lies, corruption and the Cosa Nostra. The best part of it is that it's set in Australia, which is way too rare, especially considering how many Aussie authors dominate indie dark romance. There are SO many books where characters will say Aussie slang, but it's supposed to be set in America, so it's just distracting and takes you out of the story. I don't get why authors do that! Just set it in Australia! We Americans will still read it! So, this author DID do that, and props to her. It makes the setting feel unique, and interesting.

Anyway, onto the story: Clay is 35, newly the head of the local mafia, and the mayor of the District (the fictional Australian city where these books are set). He’s married, but for arranged mafia reasons, he and his wife don’t have a sexual relationship. I actually love this part of the book - since his wife isn’t an evil OW who’s an obstacle to his relationship with the heroine. She wants good things for him and supports it! I want Aurora to live her best lesbian life, and be a mafia queen. I have so many words to say about this book but I find it hard to express how amazing it is. I won’t be giving any spoilers in this review because you just need to read it to believe it. I think I cried through the last 5 or so chapters. And I’m not a huge crier at all. I felt like the author completely tore me apart with her words. She made me feel like I was right their with them through this journey. I cried and laughed with them, I felt their sadness and pain. You will go through it all with them. I was so sad at the end, not because the book made me sad but because I could have read their story for days. I’m glad this isn’t the end of this series and we get Bronson’s story next. Just keeping my fingers crossed we don’t have to wait too long. I honestly do not know what "evil genius mastermind" class Nicci Harris took but I need to book a spot because this series is deceptively clever. The build-up of Cassidy and Max's relationship is a refined agony, honed throughout the previous book and unleashed with a ferocity only Nicci could create. Cassidy is an astounding ballerina who is making a name for herself, all while she crushes on Max Butcher from afar. But now she finds she has his attention and she is loving it. But his world is dark and for someone like her it's unsafe. The deeper they fall together, the deeper she dives into his world. While in real life I appreciate Cassidy’s family’s concerns about how controlling Max came off, but when I’m reading these types of books I leave my feminism at the door and choose to see his “overbearingness” as “protective” 😌 He probably didn’t help his case by snapping at anyone who tried to come between them, including her siblings… Their dynamic may not have seemed balanced but they were each other’s anchors and it was actually so beautiful to see. The events that take place at the end were so bittersweet which was only driven home but Nicci’s letter afterwards! Max’s letter made me cry and Nicci’s kept those tears flowing 😭 I miss this couple so much already and I hope we still get to see a lot of them throughout the rest of the series 🥺I thought the mafia business was just enough - not so much that in took over, but enough to make it believable You're an asset. Leverage. This is what they do. It's the long game. It doesn't look that bad at first, which is how you miss it. It's a favour. It's a kindness. It's a sponsorship. But then they have claws in every part of your life and one day, you sit up and wonder how you’d gotten in so deep. . ." Max is wow. Lols. I have no words. He is by far one of my favourite book boyfriends. He's sexy, powerful, dangerous. Sweet, romantic, and a listener/compromises. Well, as long as you're Cassidy."" - Author Miranda Grant. The story-building and writing is sharp with just the right amount of humor to balance out the dastardly setting that is the district. As with her previous book, Nicci Harris focuses strongly on the theme of family. Her depiction of the mafia and the commitments and struggles of those "in" the lifestyle are raw and honest. Max is the until alpha-hole - tall, dark, and hot as hell. He and his brothers are known as bad news around town, but when Cassidy catches Max’s attention, it’s all she can do to remain en pointe. As for Max, well, he makes no secret about the fact that he doesn’t do monogamy. But the more he sees (or even thinks about) Cassidy with anyone else, the more Max starts re-evaluating his priorities.