Machiavellian

Gangsters of New York, Book 1

By: Bella Di Corte

Narrated by: Kae Denino, Armen Taylor

Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

I hungered to be seen.

There were three things I knew about Capo Macchiavello:

• He was gorgeous.
• He was reclusive.
• He was considered one of New York's most savage animals.

And he wanted me as his wife. A simple arrangement - you do for me, I do for you. Nothing owed, no expectations. Except for one: never leave.

Life was never that simple, though. By the age of 21, I was parentless, jobless, and homeless, and I had come to learn the hard way that nothing was ever free. Even kindness comes with strings.

Capo might've been the only man to ever see me, but I had made a vow to myself: I would never owe anyone anything. Most of all, the man I called boss.

I killed to stay hidden.

Mariposa Flores thought she owed nothing to no one, but she owed everything...to me, the ghost the world had once called the Machiavellian Prince of New York.

Machiavellian is the first of three books set in the savage world of the Gangsters of New York series.

©2020 Annie Welch (P)2020 Spectrum Audiobooks

Loved It! Listened to it twice!

I loved everything about this book, the storyline was a bit different from the usual Mafia books I would read/listen to, and I felt it was well paced, and when I got to the end of the book, I was wishing it wasn't the end yet. Lol.

I read some reviews and yes the word Mari would use "fuck-a-me" was a bit annoying but it was a part of her childhood and past and part of her personality, so I didn't mind it all too much.

Loved the narration also! I think they both did an excellent job!

This will definitely be a re-listen over and over!

Good Book But...

I like the book but I really had a hard time with the female narrators voice. half the time she sounded like a immature child and the rest she needed to clear her throat that was the worse for me I cannot stand that shit it's a petpieve of mine and then she sounded like and old woman. It was pretty bad.
Not hot or sexy at all. And the way this woman was described in the book she just didn't seem attractive at all so that voice didn't help not one little bit. Just had a really hard time with the female aspect of this book over all.

Awesome!!!! Butterfly Mafia

excellent. no other words need to be said.
listen to this book! Can't wait for the other books

Almost there but not quite!

It was definitely a good story plot but I felt like it could definitely use a lot more detail. The main character seemed almost a little too childish and the story felt like it passed over quite a few details and felt rushed. I had a hard time getting through it but definitely the story plot.

Please Choose Narrators Wisely

Terrible choice for female narrative.
Story line was good, as was the male narrative. I would have been happy with only the male narrator doing the entire book's narration.

omg that voice!!!

the fact that the male voice actor is raspy and quiet when he has dialog and then louder when its just his inner voice because of the characters Injury, that little detail made this book for me sooo good its a perfect mafia romance book!!!!

Absolutely love

Omg I absolutely love this story the twist and turns kept me up all night couldn't put it down I lov e the two narrators they made the story come alive even laughed a few times

Mafia Fairytale

I really enjoyed Machiavellian it is kind of like a Mafia Rags to Riches Fairytale. Mariposa is very quirky and I laughed a lot through this book. The story is quite long and not as dark as I expected but it was unique and able to capture my attention until then end. Bella Di Corte is a new to me author and I would definitely be willing to try more of her books in the future.

Absolutely brilliant book

Story of perseverance in a dangerous world. Love laughter and pain. Capo and his patience to get the love of his life and protect it at all cost. Mariposa is the women ignored and starved of food and protection.
Great book couldn’t put it down it completely captured me from beginning to end. narrators were fab brought the characters to real life. Highly recommend x❤️

Machiavellian — WOW!

This is a story about a young homeless woman (Mariposa) and the wealthy, connected “stranger” (Capo) who takes an interest in her well-being. For a long time, we’re not exactly sure about his motives, especially after he suggests an unbelievable formal agreement between them.

The main story line about the relationship between Capo and Mariposa is complex enough on its own. Then the book weaves in various back stories about Italian mobster relatives, the estrangement of some family members, the murder of a brother, other criminal families, and vast empires of ill-gotten riches, and you have one multi-layered book. In fact, one story line is not resolved and revealed to us until late in the epilogue. Fun!

For those who love the action and suspense in mafia/crime books, there is plenty of this as well. The various characters range on one end from kinda bad guys who have a mix of legitimate and illegal business interests and who also have some redeeming qualities; all the way to the other end, with despicable, amoral, sadistic bastards that are beyond all hope.

There is a lot of violence (of course) and one horrific rape in this book, but for those who are sensitive to these topics, there is very little detail of the actual events. We know that these events occurred in the past, but we’re spared most of the gory details. The sex scenes are pretty tame as well.

I loved this book. There was very good character development, and the suspense of unresolved themes was really well done. The author made us understand the main characters’ histories and motivations, and eventually we come to like them and cheer them on.

I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy both the mafia/crime and romance genres.