The Mastermind

Zara Cox

Mafia Rivals Series, Book 2

344 pages, Kindle Edition

July 8, 2025, by Boldwood Books

Dark secrets, fast cars, filthy lust…your new mafia romance obsession 🖤🏎️ Ruthless Underboss. Clever Mastermind. Sworn Rival.

Just a handful of reasons why I should hate Cesare Salvatore, heir to the Salvatore Sicilian mafia throne. Other reasons? His insanely gorgeous face. How hot he looks in his Formula One race suit. The feral look in his eyes when he’s pounding his enemy into the ground… But as a Mancinelli, I abide by one family Stay away from the Salvatores.

Betrayal. Forbidden Attraction. Vendetta Ignited.

Cesare believes there’s a traitor in his crew…put there by me. He’ll uncover the truth by any means, including blackmailing me into his bed. What he doesn’t know is I’ve crushed on him since high school; have craved his blood-stained hands on me since one mistake sparked a lust-hate relationship. Discovering he’s equally hot for me risks re-igniting a family vendetta and unearthing brutal decades old secrets many have been killed for. Can we stop before sparks turn to inferno? Because if it does? Forget Romeo & Juliet. Our forbidden attraction will destroy empires.

An enemies-to-lovers dark mafia story full of dark secrets, fast cars, filthy lust and deceit. Perfect for fans of Kylie Kent, Sadie Kincaid and Penelope Sky.

4 Stars

I am a sucker for a good mafia romance. Always have been and always will be. Zara Cox definitely caught my attention with The Mastermind. 

We may start off a little bit on the slow side, but let me tell you, we definitely pick it up for a fast pace edge of your seat story.  Mafia meets Formula One racing. Not only are they rivals by their family names, they’re  arrivals on the track as well. Cesare Salvatore is a race car driver and the heir to his family legacy. Maddelena Mancinelli is the daughter Mancinelli family head and over sees the running of their racing team. The two arrivals by birth, but yet have this crazy irresistible attraction to one another.  Their relationship borders on hate and lust. When they find out, they have a mole on their team, Cesare goes to every length to get to the bottom of what is going on. Even if that means taking the one person that he feels, he can get the answer answers from. Maddelena is one tough cookie, she will see toe to toe with the best of them. yet she has two weaknesses, one feeling things for a man that she should never want to and something completely beyond her control, which could totally destroy her family.

I really enjoyed The Mastermind. Zara Cox puts a nice twist on the typical mafia romance. The addition of F1 racing almost made this book move at break next speed once we got going.  It’s a darker modern day inspired by Romeo and Juliet type of story that caught me off guard in the best possible way.