Empire of Royals #2

ALC and Book provided by Podium Entertainment 

Author: Emilia Rossi 

Narrators: Lee Daniels and Teddy Hamilton

Thanks, @podiumentertainment for the copies and the goodies! 

Juliet lives a very quiet life in her small world in NYC. Due to her agoraphobia, her world is restricted to the bookshop she manages, her tiny studio apartment and the nearby bagel shop. Everything changes when a man bursts into the shop late one night when she’s doing inventory. Who the hell is this man and why isn’t she terrified of him?

Romeo is the second in command  of the Italian Mafia in NYC. That’s his life and all he cares for. He’s known as a playboy and  is not interested in anything long term for reasons of his own. But then, irony of ironies, he runs into a literal Juliet. One he can’t keep away from. He crashed into her store to run away from the Albanians chasing him… only to find the love of a lifetime. But his life comes with unspeakable dangers…

The audiobook is narrated in duet by Lee Daniels and Teddy Hamilton. Lee (new to me) is an absolute delight and I’ll definitely look for more of her work. She gives us a sweet, innocent, guarded and broken Juliet, but she also gives us very nuanced performances as the other female characters. Teddy in a dark role never ceases to amaze me. One of the nicest people in the industry and he gives us the very morally gray and self-proclaimed monster in Romeo. A true testament to his amazing talent. Great audio! 

What you get: a sweet, broken heroine with pink hair, a Mafia second in command obsessed with her, friends to lovers with an unorthodox meet-cute, found family, accepting people as they are, Shakespearean coincidences, jaw dropping revelations, a made man who crochets to relax, a cute cat, family reunions (good and bad) and a bloody but swoony HEA. 

Representation: mental health rep (agoraphobia), secondary character uses mobility aids

Content notes (including but not limited to): criminal activities, blood, gore, torture, mentions of r@pe, agoraphobia, murder, self-harm (cutting) on page

Story

Narration