When She Tempts

‼️ Spoiler Alarm ‼️

“Piccolina, you are my world. You are everything.”

After the events of the first book, Damiano decides to send Martina somewhere safe to protect her from the ongoing war ⚔️⚔️ Her safety is his priority because Martina is his greatest weakness. Giorgio Girardi is the man Dam chooses for the job, though Giorgio has his own secret reasons for accepting it 🙄🙄 Martina’s depressive and reckless attitude toward her own life immediately pisses Giorgio off, so he takes it upon himself to help her while she’s under his care. But things don’t go according to his plans once an undeniable attraction starts growing between them 🔥🔥

Giorgio and Martina were so much better than Damiano and Valentina. The first book didn’t fully live up to my expectations, so I went into this one cautiously, but I ended up enjoying it a lot more 💯💯 Despite being better than most irritating mafia men, Damiano was still a huge idiot who made countless mistakes. Was Giorgio any better? Honestly… not really. But his mistakes felt much more tolerable and forgivable 😅😅

Once upon a time, Martina was a girl full of sunshine and energy, but watching her friend get killed in front of her and being kidnapped twice completely dulled her light. She became a shell of who she used to be 😭😭 Her depression and emotional struggles were very clear to me, and I liked seeing her slowly put herself back together. And she was BOLD 🤯🤯 For someone as sheltered and inexperienced as she was, she never hesitated to push Giorgio’s buttons. I could never do that myself, and half the time I was getting secondhand embarrassment from her actions, but honestly, thank God she was brave or we would never have seen Giorgio’s restraint finally snap.

At first, I thought Giorgio was seeking revenge against Martina’s family, but it quickly became obvious that wasn’t the case. The real target of his hatred was the Don Sal they were all trying to get rid of. Later, we learn that Sal is actually Giorgio’s biological father and that Gio himself is the product of rape 😥😥 His mother’s cold and distant treatment made Giorgio grow up believing he was unwanted and unlovable. Her suicide shaped his entire future, and avenging her became the main purpose of his life.

”Your mind seduces me. Your body tempts me. A single glimpse of you, and I lose my train of thought.”

Gio’s feelings of unworthiness when it came to Martina, combined with his obsession with fulfilling his duty to his mother, pushed him into making some very stupid mistakes. I understood his reasoning, but that didn’t stop him from being an idiot until he realized his actions could cost him Martina forever 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ From the very beginning, I knew he was going to ruin things between them and eventually have to grovel for her forgiveness—and I was absolutely right. Groveling arcs are always so satisfying to read. I love watching arrogant, emotionally constipated men slowly fall apart once they realize they can’t live without the woman they hurt 🤣🤣

From the moment we met Polo, alarm bells started ringing in my head. Something about him felt deeply wrong, and I immediately knew he couldn’t be trusted 🚨🚨 Turns out my instincts were right, as always. I can understand Martina missing the obvious red flags, but how the hell did Giorgio miss them too? 🤔🤔 At least Polo eventually got punished for his actions.

As for the side characters, I didn’t like how Damiano reacted when he caught Martina and Giorgio kissing, but I respected him for refusing to force Martina into an arranged marriage. So he’s still fifty-fifty for me 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Meanwhile, I loved how Valentina helped Martina see things from Giorgio’s perspective. She genuinely helped them solve their problems faster 👍👍

As for Gemma and Ras… truthfully, I’m not excited for their book at all. Gemma already sounds like the type of character who’s going to give me a massive headache with her decisions 😑😑 Overall, When She Tempts was definitely a stronger sequel in The Fallen series. I’m not completely obsessed with this series, but I am still enjoying it enough to continue. See you in the next review 👋 👋