Author: S.J. Tilly
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Publish Date: January 13th, 2026
Pages: 368
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Spice: 3 out of 5
Genres: morally gray, smut, dark romance, mafia romance, contemporary
Content Warnings: on-page violence, death and kidnapping, past emotional trauma and abuse, stalking, dubious consent
“THE STREETS RUN RED WHEN YOU TOUCH WHAT’S HIS—AND SHE. IS. HIS.”
Review:
Payton and Nero’s story was basically one of my secret fantasies in a nut shell. The story starts out with her relaxing at home, having a chill night in, watching TV and eating popcorn. Then all of a sudden, this mysteriously handsome man with dark hair, dark brows, and dark eyes, dressed in a dark suit with a killer demeanor appears in her living room. Unannounced, uninvited, but not… unwelcomed.
While Payton was shocked and surprised, especially with her balcony being on the second floor, she wasn’t totally afraid. Payton has a traumatic past of her own. She didn’t have the best relationship with her mom growing up, which resulted in her leaving home at age 17. Her stepfather was abusive towards her and her mom, which also contributed to her jumping out into the world so young.
Given all that Payton has endured, she’s very delicate. She seems warm and bubbly in this story, but also a bit anxious and maybe even hyperaware, which I can understand given her past trauma.
Nero isn’t a stranger to trauma neither. He grew up without a real identity, family structure or any sort of emotional attachment. He eventually reveals to Payton that he doesn’t even have a last name.
It was clear that he longed for family and a sense of belonging, which he mentions is what led him to getting involved with the mafia. So when he comes across this precious doll named Payton, he immediately becomes infatuated, intrigued and completely obsessed with her. Actually, he became totally unhinged behind her. So much so, he’s willing to burn the whole city to the ground if anything ever happened to her.
And those were his words… not mine.
While this book didn’t leave me feeling the emotional wreckage that I always crave when reading these books, Payton and Nero’s connection won me over. I was feeling a bit neutral for first half of the book.
Payton’s character was open from the beginning. Everything about her was laid out on the table for the reader to see and feel. On the other hand, Nero had some emptiness with a bit of mystique that kept you wondering. But as the story progressed, he opened up more and became more comfortable being vulnerable with Payton.
In addition to Nero’s vulnerability towards the end, there was also an action scene that made me focus so hard, my whole body froze for a minute. This was one of the moments in the book that showed just how deep his love is for Payton and how safe she feels with him.
I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars because the first half of the book didn’t really move me. As I mentioned before, I was a bit neutral. It seemed like most of the spice occurred in the second half and I do believe the scenes could’ve been either more graphic, more descriptive, more frequent or all three!
The research says the books in this series can be read as standalones, but there was an interaction between Nero and King that had me wanting to jump straight into the next book to eventually find out what that was about.
I plan to purchase the next book in the series, KING, and see what that one is about.
Thank you for reading this review and stay tuned for the next one!
Curious for more? Indulge in the full story on amazon: NERO by S.J. Tilly
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