Beautifully Savage Butterfly (Mafia Bound Book 2) by K.M. Neuhold; Narrated by Nick J. Russo & Declan Winters

Beautifully Savage Butterfly is the second installment of K.M. Neuhold's Mafia Bound series. When violent men meet their match and the obsession is foreplay.


From the blurb:

Being savage in the ring is one thing. The way Elio Moretti craves my violence outside the ring is another.


I feel like I’ve been fighting my whole life, and tapping out has never been an option.

I can live with owing money to the Morettis. I can even live with the constant guilt that my brother is the one paralyzed in a hospital bed while I live his dream. What I can’t live with is Elio Moretti, second in command to the infamous crime family, showing up to all my fights, sitting in the front row, watching me like he can’t look away, and barging into the locker room to patch up my wounds and invade my space.

The Morettis are monsters. Vicious, brutal sociopaths. So, why is Elio so eager to get on his knees for me?

He’s as desperate to give up control as I am to take it, but is giving in to these primal urges enough of a reason to sell my soul?

He claims there are worse people in this city than his family, and the deeper I get dragged into his world, the more true that’s starting to seem. Can I really fall in love with a Mafia underboss? Is it even possible to walk away?


SNik's review:

Second in series (Mafia Bound), can be read as a standalone but might be best if read in order. Light BDSM. Dual POV. 

Rage is all that fills Orion, in the MMA ring, paying his debt to the mafia, visiting his brother in the hospital, and dealing with the local mafia underboss that keeps coming to his fights. Sure Elio can handle his own fights with his fists or with a gun, but he dreams of Orion being the one man that can be his equal while also making Elio submit. 

From different backgrounds both men have nerves of steel, and they both are familiar with violence and as they embrace that side of each other something special blooms between them. I appreciated that it didn’t feel like a major power imbalance given Elio’s position and wealth, Orion holds his own and accepts that part of Elio’s life as well as being comfortable with his own personal confidence. They are super steamy together, and while I missed more of an emotional connection, I did think they worked together and thoroughly enjoyed this story.


Molly Otto's review:

Nick J Russo & Declan Winters are paired up once again to bring Elio & Orion to life. Nick brings us Elios' strength and vulnerability to life in a way that is really only one he is able. Declan shows us that Orions unwavering strength and dominance in the way he speaks, knowing that even when Elio is being his bratty self, Orion is in charge.

Book 2 of KM Neuhold's mob series is just as if not more powerful than the debut. She shows us that even with her normal lighter humor, she can bring it just as powerful to a darker world. As usual, the intimate times are powerful and engaging even with this darker edge. I'm glad to see her expand her writing chops to this side. I am looking forward to seeing more of this family and the dynamics they have in and out of their mob family.


Beautifully Savage Butterfly is currently available as an audiobook, e-book, and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription