Possessive Enemy

This is Book 8 in the Kings of Mafia series by Michelle Heard and I just—

Book. Eight.

EIGHT.

And somehow we’re still doing the same formula like it’s a family tradition???

I don’t even know why this isn’t a separate second-gen series at this point, but okay. We’re here. I showed up. Regretfully.

Because usually? I enjoy Michelle Heard’s brand of ridiculous. It’s over-the-top, unhinged, dramatic in a way that makes you laugh and side-eye at the same time.

But this one?

This one made me uncomfortable.

📚 Plot + Vibe Dump (aka controlled chaos summary)

We’ve got Nina Pavlova—daughter of Boris the Bastard (because that is his government name as far as I’m concerned).

This man is not just trash—he is landfill.

He literally trades his daughter’s body as payment to a man named Anton (Anton the Asshole™), which leads to Nina having a daughter, Simi, who is then used as leverage to control her.

She only gets to see her child TWO HOURS a day… if she complies.

Yeah. That’s the setup.

Now the plan? Nina is supposed to seduce Georgi Torrisi so he can be kidnapped and tortured.

Enter Georgi—Bulgarian, adopted into the Torrisi family, mafia-adjacent, and currently in Bulgaria to handle business.

And what follows is a whirlwind of violence, chaos, trauma… and then somehow—

Love???

In FIVE DAYS???

I’m sorry… what???

💀 Character Crimes Section

Georgi (MMC):

Sir… absolutely not.

– Playboy five minutes ago

– Witnesses trauma and immediately says “I’m in love”

– Falls hard and fast with zero emotional groundwork

– Not equipped AT ALL to handle a deeply traumatized woman

And that’s the issue.

You cannot take a character who was just living his best reckless life and suddenly make him emotionally capable of supporting a survivor of prolonged abuse and assault.

That’s not growth. That’s whiplash.

Nina (FMC):

This is where it gets difficult.

– Survivor of extreme, ongoing abuse

– Living in constant fear (and it shows)

– Motivated by protecting her daughter

And her reactions? Felt real.

She’s afraid. Of everyone. Especially men. Even 75% into the book, she’s still operating from that trauma—which MAKES SENSE.

So then why are we forcing romance and spice into this???

There’s no space for healing. No therapy. No real emotional processing.

But we’re supposed to believe in love???

It made the intimate scenes feel… off.

Uncomfortable. Rushed. Unearned.

🔥 Spice Rating (13Pages Scale)

🌶️🌶️🌶️ = Okay… I See What You Were Doing

But honestly?

The spice didn’t hit because the emotional foundation wasn’t there.

Optional tag: “this should’ve been handled with more care”

📊 Book Rating (13Pages Scale)

⭐⭐ = Why did I do this to myself

🧨 Final Verdict (signature sass paragraph)

Here’s the thing.

I expect chaos from Michelle Heard. I expect ridiculous plots, over-the-top violence, obsessive MMCs, and questionable decision-making.

That’s part of the brand.

But this?

This needed more care.

You cannot take a storyline rooted in this level of trauma and then rush the emotional arc just to fit the usual formula. The timeline didn’t work, the romance didn’t feel earned, and the MMC wasn’t built to handle the weight of the story.

And while Nina does get her revenge—which I appreciated—the journey there felt uneven and full of gaps.

Also… can we PLEASE talk about the grammatical errors???

Twenty-plus books in and we’re still fighting for basic proofreading???

Mafia money but no spellcheck???

Be serious.

💬 Signature Outro Line

This book made choices. I did not agree with them.