A Cruel Arrangement (Kings of New York)

“You run and I’ll burn the world down for you.”

In Tijan’s new mafia romance, A Cruel Arrangement, book 2 in the Kings of New York series, prepare to be taken by Ashton Walden in this suspenseful read. After an intense start, Molly finds herself in jeopardy of losing her place, only to be at the mercy of her childhood crush turned mafia king—Ashton Walden. But can she get past the tragedy that binds them? Ashton won’t give her a choice in the matter.

“Molly was mine. She was either my target, my mark, my woman, or my cross to bear. Any and all ways I split it, she was mine.”

Overall, this rating is for romantic suspense, great world building, action-packed, steaminess, and character development. If you enjoy dark mafia love stories, then I recommend the Kings of New York series. I look forward to reading additional works by the author.

Happy Release Day to Tijan!

BRB while I track down a signed copy so I have a matching set bc…This book…! This series! I loved diving into the Kings of NY and after I finished Jess & Trace’s story, I just knew I was ready to dive into Ashton & Molly’s.

“‘I can’t do it. I can’t let you go. You’ve become the reason. You’re no longer the woman I’m going to use to end this war. You’re the reason for this war because if anyone hurts you, touches you, I’ll un@live them all. Are you hearing me? All of them.’” 🫠

I loved Ashton and Molly both. Their dynamic was so much fun to read about. The push & pull between them was perfection. The budding romance was keeping me on my toes and the mystery/plot unfolding had me on the edge of my seat. I felt like I was in the story with the characters.

You know a book duo is good when you finish and immediately want to start over again. I will definitely be reading this series again.

This mafia book was different than others I’ve read and I really enjoyed Tijan’s take on these mafia heads. I really enjoyed both books. The twist had me SHOOK. I highly recommend this book duo to mafia lovers, especially ones who are just dipping their toes into mafia romance.

☆☆☆☆.5/5
🌶🌶🌶/5

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆:
- mafia romances
- forced proximity
- enemies to lovers

"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 . 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔."

When I saw I got approved for this ARC by Tijan, I was so excited! After reading A Dirty Business last year, I knew I HAD to continue the series, so I'm super grateful I was selected to read this 😍

This is book 2 in the Kings of New York series, and I definitely would recommend reading A Dirty Business first since some of the events from the first book do play a role in this book. After an unexpected crime happens in Molly's business, she ends up unconscious and waking up in Ashton's home. In order to gain her livelihood back, Molly is going to have to earn it by agreeing to Ashton's cruel arrangement.

"𝑵𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕."

Tijan is one of those authors who writes inticing mafia romances that leave you hanging on every word. From the very beginning, I was so entranced with the mystery shrouding this entire story and I NEEDED answers! Page after page just kept building up to this reveal and I refused to put it down until I knew what happened.

Molly characterizations made me love her so much! Her tenacity to do what she wanted regardless of what anyone said, her fierceness to protect those she loved, and her comedic nature all made her such a likeable character. And then there's Ashton. His broody, dark demeanor was the complete opposite of Molly but they fit together so well 😮‍💨 he wasn't afraid to protect what was his and I loved him 😍

The suspense, drama, and mystery will keep you sucked in from cover to cover and you won't regret reading this!