Reviews

Nero by S.J. Tilly

juniebear0's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

sierramistay's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

thisistaylort's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.75

***SPOILERS*** (I couldn't get the tags to work with the bullet points)

Nero is my second foray into mafia and I get the appeal, I really do. The MMC is protective, a little possessive, slightly obsessive, and committed to taking care of the heroine. It's pure escapism. I didn't even mind that Nero is also just fucking nuts. I set this book down several times from pure shock. 

But this book had PROBLEMS. Violence aside, what made me most uncomfortable were the hard and fast rules about how men and women should be, and how they should interact:

• Like Payton is so gleeful about not longer being a virgin anymore
• I wil never get the appeal of MMCs who are that rough with the FMC? Be as unhinged as you want in your business dealings, but be gentle with the heroine 
• What’s with the Carlton hate? He’s a nice guy, we need more nice guys  
• The whole Nikki sabotage subplot and subsequent punishment doesn’t sit well with me

Additional issues: 

• One of the reasons I picked this book was for the plus-size representation, but sometimes the comments Payton made didn't seem authentic. More like what a skinny person thinks a fat person would think instead 
• Does Nero realize he can just pick a last name? 

This book really lost me in the last fourth. The author does okay (3 stars) with inner character development, relationship development, and sexy times but introducing more characters and a more complex plot? Nope. Everyone and everything becomes a caricature. It would have been better to avoid the whole kidnapping plot and share domestic scenes or something instead. 

 
Final complaints: 

• They went to Belize for their honeymoon?! I wouldn't even go to Belize for my honeymoon. (Nothing against Belize, but I don't think that's where the super rich are vacationing)
• And the super rich certainly aren't vacationing at the Grand Canyon. Nor are they giving/receiving  BJs in broad daylight there. 

There are reasons I didn't DNF this book though: 

• Nero kept doing/saying/thinking things that were unexpected. He didn't struggle with himself more before deciding to be with Payton. He was all in fro the get go. He got major brownie points for worrying about Payton liking his decor, then hiring an interior decorator for her, and getting her a dog. Like he's a little sensitive. 
• The age gap actually makes sense! Like I can believe that this mafia god with a crime empire is 40 
• I appreciated the author’s admission of how crazy and unrealistic this story was.

At the 3/4 mark I was tempted to get KU again to keep reading the series, but thank god I finished this first. Crisis averted. But also, don't be surprised if you see me reading King one of these days. 

caitlingrayx3's review against another edition

1.0

Dnf

jhuggy18's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bookish_cahdii's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

This was my first SJ tilly book and i really liked it. I loved the plus-size representation. This book has serious insta-love so if you don't like that, probably don't read it. I don't always like instalove, but this is a mafia romance. The whole book is a fantasy and I'm here for it. I think Nero and Payton are exactly what the other needs. I loved the spice. There's also some dubcon. I wouldn't say it's a slow book (cos I breezed through it), but not much actually happened in the first half of the book. It was just a build up of the romance. It was at 80% that it got really exciting and there was a lot of screaming and jumping about on my part 😂. I hope there's a bit more action in the other books in the series. The olny other mafia romance i've read is the Chicago Ruthless series by Sadie Kinkaid, and while i love those books, the mafia bits aren't quite as action packed as this. this one had strike teams and snipers and everything. I'm excited to read the rest of the books in the series.

gquartin's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

zoebrankin's review against another edition

3.75

Nonsense but I fucking loved it 

intostarlight's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

You know…I was loving it until 65%. Then it turned super insta-lovey and I started rolling my eyes. HOWEVER Nero is absolutely obsessed and I lived for it. I do love my book men OTT. Is the book dark? Kind of, at spots, but the in between left me wondering what book I was reading. I’ll give it to SJ Tilly though, those violence scenes were good! I loved the idea of a stalker dark romance and when this started I really enjoyed it, the whole waking up and Nero has broken in to her house and is just chilling on the lounge with her was great. But then the insta-lovey stuff started happening and I started losing interest. Honestly, I enjoy her Darling series much more though. But with that said, I still enjoyed it and I will continue the series. 

nickierkt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75