Review: Isaac: MM Mafia Romance (Light & Shadow Book 1) by N. N. Britt

Rating: 3.75🌈

Im a fan of the dark mafia romance trope, including a sub group where one of the main characters is an undercover agent and the other is the mafia boss or something similar.  So when I ran across an author I hadn’t read before and this series with a great cover, I had to check it out. 

I normally have an issue with stories where the law enforcement officers or their agencies don’t come across as being particularly realistic. Especially when the agent is undercover and there’s intelligence and support staff involved. Having a writer take this element and treat it carelessly usually takes me out of the narrative.

But N. N. Britt chooses to go a different route from the beginning and state upfront that her goal isn’t a “gritty authenticity” but instead a love story about “passion, betrayal, and redemption.” She’s not incorporating real basic law enforcement protocols here, let that be understood. The author is letting the reader know that upfront. So don’t go looking for any.  She also places her trigger warnings in the description, which I like. 

So a reader is well informed before they read the book. No looking for something that the author never said you should expect to find. And don’t. 

What I did find was a good story. Dramatic, half a tale actually, about a two men starting towards a relationship in a highly dangerous situation and unstable world.  

Britt sets it up as the undercover agent gets his assignment with a minimum of intelligence and time frame to get in and get the job done. 

Special Agent Dallas Bradley has his doubts but accepts the job and his target. And becomes Hawk.

His target is the recently released from prison, Isaac Thoreau, the son of a notorious crime boss. His crime? That involves the fact his father is no longer the crime boss but he is. 

Isaac had a brutal, abusive relationship with his father that’s revealed in past memories throughout the story. A new mafia boss in an unsettled state, Isaac is someone whose layers are constantly being peeled off.  The two person perspective narrative helps create the complex connection/relationship that’s building between them. 

The hellhounds, the bodyguards surrounding Isaac, are memorable in their own right, especially Jeremy.  He helps cut into some of the more overly descriptive passages and wordy thought processes of Hawk/Dallas with his concise statements and ill-concealed dislike for the agent in disguise. 

To read the book you have to “go with the flow “ narratively speaking and not look at the mafia, law enforcement, or legal systems for any realistic scenarios.  Like Britt said, it’s not there. There’s plenty of emotional moments, action sequences, and doubts of self awareness to make the storylines work.

Britt does get overly descriptive and sometimes makes the passages a bit repetitive in the wordings chosen but she’s telling a passionate love story, one that will have its end in the second book, Dallas. 

I enjoyed this, it’s entertaining but not so dark that it feels realistic or that dramatic as much happens “off the page “.  I’m definitely heading to the next book to see how the characters and plot plays out.

Great cover.

Cover Design by Sarah Kil

Light & Shadow series:

Isaac #1

Dallas #2

Forbidden #3 – different set of characters 

Buy link

        Isaac: MM Mafia Romance (Light & Shadow Book 1)

    

Blurb 

In the heart of Sin City, two men on opposite sides of the law collide in a dangerous game of power, passion, and betrayal.

Isaac Thoreau, the son of a notorious crime boss, has spent nine years behind bars for his father’s murder. Driven, cunning, and unfeeling, he’s now back to claim what’s rightfully his. But when an enigmatic security guard named Hawk is hired to work at his nightclub, Isaac finds himself distracted… and inexplicably drawn to Hawk, despite his best efforts to resist.

Special Agent Dallas Bradley’s mission is clear: infiltrate the Hellhounds and bring their leader, Isaac Thoreau, to justice. Posing as Hawk, Dallas is determined to uncover the secrets of the Thoreau criminal empire. But as he delves deeper into Isaac’s world, the lines between right and wrong blur, and soon an undeniable attraction grows between the two men, forcing Dallas to question everything.

Walking away before he’s compromised would be the smart choice, but Dallas can’t resist Isaac’s magnetic pull, even if it means risking his life.

As love and duty clash, only one question remains: will Isaac and Dallas survive the fallout?

***

Isaac is the first installment of the Light & Shadow Duet. It can not be read as standalone. This is a dark MM mafia romance that explores various sensitive subjects like violence, abuse, PTSD, etc.