Captive of the Crime Queen

Captive of the Crime Queen

Author	Persephone Black
Rating by Ravish Her Tales:	5⭐
Genre	Lesbian Dark Romance Romance LGBT Dark Queer Contemporary Crime Lesbian Fiction Fiction
Release Year	January 26, 2024
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Email:	persephone@persephone-black.com
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Review:

Mafia queens, forbidden romance, and a love story wrapped in crime and power—Captive of the Crime Queen delivers a steamy sapphic retelling of the classic Hades and Persephone myth, but with a darker, grittier edge. Persephone Black spins a tale of power struggles, revenge, and seduction, where the ice-cold queen of crime meets an innocent, sheltered woman—and, predictably, all hell breaks loose.

Right from the first chapter, the book sets up an intriguing dynamic: Aurora Verderosa, raised like a pawn in her father’s high-stakes game of debts and power, is about to be married off to Nero Imperioli, a man as dangerous as he is cruel. But just when it seems like she’s doomed to a life of misery, in swoops Hadria Imperioli—rebranded as the feared Hades of the Styx Syndicate—to claim not just her birthright but the bride, too. The wedding abduction? Absolute perfection. Dramatic, bold, and laced with tension.

A Captor, A Captive, and an Inevitable Obsession

Hadria is the quintessential "ice queen"—ruthless, enigmatic, and oozing untouchable power. She rules her world with an iron grip, and her name alone strikes fear into her enemies. But the moment she takes Aurora, cracks start to show in her perfect armor. Aurora, for her part, is everything Hadria shouldn't want: delicate, inexperienced, and supposed to be just another piece in Hadria’s long game. But the chemistry between them? Immediate.

And here’s where things get interesting. The usual trope in captor/captive romances is that the prisoner resists, fights, and slowly falls into something between Stockholm Syndrome and genuine love. Aurora, however, throws a bit of a curveball—she adapts surprisingly quickly. Maybe too quickly. One moment, she’s the fragile, naïve daughter of a crime lord, and the next, she’s sparring with Hadria’s people and embracing the criminal underworld. Don’t get me wrong—I love a good transformation arc, and seeing Aurora shed her damsel-in-distress persona is satisfying, but it feels like we missed a few emotional steps along the way. A little more struggle, a little more tension, and the payoff would have been even sweeter.

The Romance: Ice Queen Melting or Just Lukewarm?

Hadria and Aurora’s relationship is definitely a slow burn, but one that sometimes fizzles instead of igniting into a full-blown inferno. The push and pull are there—the temptation, the resistance, the eventual surrender—but I wanted more. When you promise a sapphic mafia romance dripping in power struggles and passion, I expect the steam factor to be through the roof. While the spicy scenes were good, they weren’t quite as elaborate as I’d hoped. Given the setup—powerful crime boss, willing captive, an environment ripe for a mix of tension, danger, and desire—I was expecting something a little more intense. Maybe some bondage, some power dynamics that leaned harder into the captor/captive angle. Something that fully leaned into the dark romance aspect rather than just flirting with it.

A Crime Syndicate That Could Have Been Explored More

While the focus is on Aurora and Hadria, the book also introduces the world of the Styx Syndicate and Elysium, the fortress-like estate where Aurora is kept. These are incredibly compelling elements—mercenaries, underground dealings, the war brewing between mafia factions—but they take a bit of a backseat in favor of romance. I wanted to see more of the crime side of this mafia romance. Hadria is introduced as this fearsome leader, but we don’t see her being particularly ruthless outside of a few moments. There’s an entire criminal empire at her feet, yet a lot of the book is spent at Elysium, waiting around and reflecting. A few more high-stakes action scenes, some blood-on-her-hands moments, and more tension between the warring factions would have added an extra layer of depth.

That Ending, Though…

The final chapters take a bittersweet turn, as Hadria, convinced that Aurora has chosen to leave, lets her go. It’s a heartbreaking moment because, for all her strength and power, Hadria doesn’t fight for Aurora in the way she should. And while I get the setup for the second book in the Underworld Duet, I wish the ending had been a little more explosive—a confrontation, a last-minute revelation, something that left my heart pounding rather than just feeling… sad.

Final Thoughts

Captive of the Crime Queen is a compelling read with strong characters, an intriguing premise, and a delicious enemies-to-lovers dynamic. It pulls off the “ice queen falls in love” trope well, and if you enjoy a romance tinged with danger and power struggles, this book delivers. However, it does leave some opportunities unexplored—particularly in deepening the crime elements and pushing the boundaries of its own dark romance premise. The steamy scenes, while satisfying, could have been bolder, and the pacing of Aurora’s transformation felt a little too fast. That said, if you love age-gap romances with a dominant, brooding crime queen and a captive who turns out to be not-so-innocent, this book is still a great pick.