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Parker S. Huntington stole my heart with Devious Lies. That book quickly became one of my favorite books of the year. Unfortunately, I still waited a few weeks to read Asher Black. If I’m being honest, it was because I was afraid that it was going to have a heavy emphasis on the Mafia and have an extremely dark tone that I wasn’t in the mood for. But imagine, my surprise when I finally got around to reading Asher Black and I was completely and utterly captivated by it.

The story centers on Lucy and Asher. After being dragged to a nightclub by her new roommate, Lucy stumbles across a shady business deal in the bathroom hallway. She does what any reasonable person would do- she contacts the police. Unbeknownst to her before making the call, one of the parties involved in the deal was Asher Black- former mafia hitman, billionaire CEO, and New York’s most eligible bachelor. Out of fear, Lucy spends the next couple of weeks fearful that she is going to be killed by the mafia. That is until Asher Black shows up in her college class with a proposal. The shady business deal that she interrupted, was him setting up an arrangement with a woman so that he could have a fake finance to win his company back. And since she ruined it, Lucy now finds herself fake engaged to Asher Black.

I really loved this book. I devoured this book in one setting. It was everything and more. I think one of my favorite things about this book, besides the characters, was that it wasn’t as dark and gritty as I had thought it would be. It’s light and funny. And when it does deal with dark subjects, it does it in a respectful manner.

Also, the writing was outstanding. Parker S. Huntington has a way with words and knows how to write amazingly good dialogue. In addition, she knows how to dive into a character’s mind. This book is told only in the POV of Lucy. And the author captured and created this wonderful human who is brilliant, funny, witty, and human. Lucy is the average American’s representation in the world of the gritty mafia world. She would react to a situation and I would like “yup, I would totally do that.”

All the characters are amazingly beautiful and human. It was hard not to fall in love with Asher. He’s supposed to be this gritty and tough character, but he’s so sweet, caring and thoughtful. He had a strong connection and loyalty to his found family. He allowed himself to be extremely vulnerable with Lucy in the beginning and it always felt that he had her best interest at heart. He’s not the typically Alpha male mafia type and I think that’s why I enjoyed him so much. He didn’t force Lucy into anything.

Like mentioned earlier, I had read Devious Lies way before diving into this one. This is the first book that Parker S. Huntington has published and it’s set in the same world as Devious Lies. Lucy and Asher make an appearance and it breaks my heart that I didn’t appreciate their appearance there. I went back and reread their scene and it was gold. They are an outstanding duo.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I enjoyed it and wouldn’t put it past myself to reread it in the future.

Final Analysis

Parker S. Huntington knows how to tell a great story with an outstanding romance. Per usual, she excels with Asher Black and this mafia strongly intertwined with a fake relationship trope.