A. Lynn
Lexie
Rubies and Revenge
Zarina Gallo has been a good mafia princess her whole life. Since she was a teen, she’s schemed with her parents, flirted her way into favorable terms, and learned the shape of power at their knee. She never imagined they’d turn that power against her.
And then her parents announce her betrothal to Marcus Accardi, the brutal prince of another Cardinal Family and a man. Zarina slams her foot down. She’s gay. Her parents know this, but they refuse to listen. Desperate, she proposes a fake engagement to the only queer gangster in town, Andrea Tamayo, to buy her enough time to take her power back, with or without her parents.
Andrea Tamayo has been a good gangster for most of her life. She’s led a band of queer misfits, brokered contracts with the Cardinal Families, put her head down and worked hard. But it’s a facade she’s cultivated to hide her true intentions—revenge on the family that betrayed her and left her for dead.
When the princess and sole heir of that family, Zarina Gallo, gets down on one knee and asks for help only Tamayo can give, she can’t let the chance for revenge pass her by. Tamayo accepts, a thousand times yes. For the next three months, she’ll force Zarina to her knees, make her beg, and then ruin her and the Gallo name for good.
Together, Zarina and Tamayo enter a game of politics and violence that threatens to make or break them. And Marcus Accardi is aiming to do more than break.
A Cardinal Families Novel, Book One
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tropes
triggers
- fake engagement
- subverted mafia arranged marriage
- rivals to lovers
- good girl
- fighting as flirting
- brat x tamer
- femme x masc
- found family
- D/s undertones
- graphic descriptions of violence and assault
- attempted kidnapping
- attempted forced marriage
- D/s power dynamics
- racial microagressions
buy HARDCOVER
Rubies and Revenge includes mature content and ends on a cliffhanger.
Out Now!
Sapphires and Snakes
Zarina Gallo has been pushed to the brink. Her family betrayed her. Her lover can’t save her. And she’s not about to be a powerless damsel in Italian leather heels. If Marcus Accardi wants to marry her, he’ll have to drag her down the aisle in handcuffs.
Andrea Tamayo is steps away from grasping the revenge she’s chased for a decade. Revenge on the Gallos, her fake fiancée’s family, and all they took from her. She can’t allow the warmth that floods her chest when Zarina smiles, frowns, exists in her vicinity, to deter her. Not when this is everything she’s worked toward.
When their goals collide, they both must choose between love, legacy, and revenge. And there’s no telling who will cry mercy first.
A Cardinal Families Novel, Book Two
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tropes
triggers
- fake engagement
- subverted mafia arranged marriage
- rivals to lovers
- good girl
- fighting as flirting
- brat x tamer
- femme x masc
- found family
- D/s undertones
- graphic descriptions of violence and assault
- manipulation tactics (gaslighting, etc.)
- D/s power dynamics
- racial microagressions
Sapphires and Snakes includes mature content.
Coming November 6, 2025
