Princess Eva Rose

****I want to thank Riverdale Avenue Books and Netgalley for the privileged of this Arc copy in exchange of an honest review.***

Please let it go on the record that I wanted to like this book very much. The concept just drew me in and I really like the cover. However this book and I had our issues, like big deal breaker issues.

Sophie is this poor girl whose father was in organized crime, he was a hardened criminal who killed people in such violent ways that one time he came home covered in blood and 6 year old Sophie saw him. He was killed in a violent altercation by another mafia member and Sophie has tried her best to distance herself from the Family ever since. Joey's momma recommends Sophie, who is a massage therapy to him because he had some issues with his knee and so they meet. 

This girl has some serious issues and she is obviously subconsciously attracted to men in the organized crime world because her father was part of that world. Sophie is also 30 but acts like a teenager and Joey even goes so far as to use "little girl" as an endearment which is fitting because her emotional capacity is that of a child. 

The author tried to add a BDSM flavour to the story but I was creep out by how it was approached because without any previous discussion Joey spanks Sophie to discipline her because she lied to him. Correct me if I'm wrong but BDSM has nothing to do with anger and everything to do with pleasure so Joey spanking Sophie in anger, and without a safe word, is not what BDSM is about but instead adds an abusive layer to this co-dependent relationship. I did however enjoy the way the author wrote the sex.

I feel like this book would have benefited from a tighter plot and an emphasise in a fully consensual relationship between Sophie and Joey instead of the grey area that was depicted in the book.