Emilia Emerson/Rossi has easily become one of my favorite authors in 2024. This year alone I’ve read 5 of her books and have had such different experiences with each one! Emerson/Rossi is proving that she has range as a writer, and isn’t afraid to try out new storylines or diversify her characters. 

His Tesoro was my first time meeting Emilia Rossi, the mafia romance writer, after reading four of Emilia Emerson’s omegaverse books back to back. I can definitely understand why she decided to keep two pen names for her writing, and can’t wait to watch both of her voices in these romance genres develop. 

My one minor complaint, and I’m getting it out of the way early so I can gush for the rest of this, is that the writing felt a bit disjointed. The chapters felt a little too short, and we didn’t get to sit in on scenes for as long as I would have liked. Another thing working against me with this book is my prior understanding of the author’s writing style from her omegaverse books. I felt myself comparing the two, and wondering why instead of a 6 or 7 page spicy scene we’d get a page or two (this didn’t only occur during spicy scenes it’s just my best example at the moment). It felt like the author was cutting herself off a bit, perhaps cutting scenes to fit a specific word count, instead of letting them mature and expand in a way that I’m familiar with from her omegaverse books.

I have seen this author write some pretty dark scenes and was fully prepared for this novel to deliver some deranged plot twists. Compared to some other mafia and dark romances I’ve read this story was relatively tame. I think this will become my go to, a great recommendation, for people who are curious about mafia romance and want to dip their toes into the shallow end. The rival mafia bosses, traitors within the ranks, and clandestine weapons deals were all very on brand mafia business, with the occasional act of in cold blood violence sprinkled in and depicted on the page. 

Where this book thrives, in my opinion, is the disability representation. This author has become a go to for representation that has a happily ever after in a way that does not dismiss or magically cure the main characters. In this story our FMC has hypermobile ehlers danlos syndrome. I was pleasantly surprised to realize this as someone who shares the FMC’s condition. I loved the very obvious work, research, and care that was put into covering all aspects of this condition with regards to daily life, mobility aids, service animals, medications, physical therapy, and dynamic disabilities. 

It was so nice to watch our FMC learn to regain her power while embracing her differences. It’s further proof that in the right environment people can thrive. Our MMC does everything in his power, which as the Mafia Don is a fuck ton of power, to ensure our FMC has everything she needs for her health and to improve her overall quality of life.

There were so many swoon worthy moments in this story. One of my favorites I feel like is too big of a spoiler to talk about in detail now, but just know if a man ever did this for me I’d be his forever. No questions asked. Our MMC researched his wife’s condition, took the time to speak to a dungeon master about roping her safely, and found out which sorts of pillows would be the most supportive for her to keep her pain down during their spicy times. Once he learned more about our FMC he anticipated her wants and needs, while still keeping an open line of communication between them and ensuring consent was always discussed beforehand. 

I cannot understate how nice it is to see your own physical condition or disability represented in a character who is just as worthy of love and respect as someone who is able bodied. I think in the right hands of the right readers this story will be a gateway to a lot of healing. I think for readers looking for a tame approach to mafia romances in general, or a taste of kink/bdsm/dom/sub dynamics, this is a very good place to start. I get so happy any time I have the chance to read one of Emilia’s books, and I can’t wait to read whatever she puts out next.