The Emperor: A Forbidden Friends to Lovers Dark Romance (Dark Verse Book 3)

The Emperor" by RuNyx, the third book in the Dark Verse series, has me hooked. Dante and Amara's chemistry jumps off the page, and their relationship is just fantastic. The characters have real depth, which makes their story richer and more engaging. For me, this stands out as the best book in the series. The story keeps you guessing, with plenty of unexpected turns that'll have you glued to your seat. RuNyx's writing pulls you in, as always making this a definite five-star read.

I heard a lot of good reviews of this series and finally decided to give it a try and I don't regret my decision a bit. The series started off with a bang and I loved Tristan & Morana but I have to admit, I loved Dante & Amara a bit more than I loved them. Dante & Amara together were just chef's kiss ;-p"The perfect prince to the imperfect kingdom – even as he rebelled on the inside. He’d just learned to hide it better."Dante Maroni was the son of a mobster. He dealt with a big loss at a very young age but managed to thrive on it. I loved that despite facing a bad childhood, he wasn't the typical cold, rude and closed off made man. Infact, he was open, honest, strong, and soft when it came to Amara. He didn't hesitate to express his emotions and dealt with bad circumstances easily."We belong in different worlds. Girls like me don’t get happy endings with guys like him.”Amara was just an ordinary girl whose mother worked as a housekeeper in Dante's father's compound. She had always harboured a crush on Dante but never in her wildest dreams she thought that she would actually have a chance with him. I really liked her strength and how she dealt with her trauma. It was refreshing to see her grow throughout the street and that's on good character development. She was soft, forgiving, protective and had a spine of steel.“You’re not going to walk through life, Amara. You’ll dance through it. And I’ll remove anyone who tries to break your rhythm. I promise you.”Dante & Amara served the childhood friends to lovers trope and I was down for it! The plot was brilliantly executed and the romance was heartwarming. I loved how Dante went all soft and protective when something was bothering Amara. And Lulu, Amara's cat was just the highlight of the book. She was such a cute little furbaby!“You’re the beat to my heart, Amara.” “And you’re mine, she replied."However, when the author says there are some triggers in the book. Considering this is a dark romance, you should take them seriously and then decide if you can read that kind of stuff before picking up this book. Also, I'm very excited for the upcoming book in the series and hope we get some answers to the unresolved questions in this book.Overall, Dante & Amara were perfect. Their journey towards the much deserved HEA wasn't easy but it was blissful in the end. It was really good to see glimpses of Tristan & Morana! It's been a while since I read their book but I already miss all these characters so much, can the next book come out already?

My fav book in the series. If I ever come across Dante irl, I'm saying yes to everything. I could feel every ounce of feminism leaving my body when I finished this book. So much so, I got myself a tattoo for Maroni.The forbidden aspect of romance always gets to me!Lines that had me punching the bed:“We’re not a love story. We’re a tragedy in the making. There’s no happy ending for us. I feel that you have a better future ahead of you, and you should take it.”“You’re the queen on the board, Amara. You’re my most powerful piece, but my most vulnerable. They get you, they get me, and the game is over. So, I’ll do whatever I need to make sure they never get you. Even if that means hiding you like my dirty little secret for the time being.”Strong male lead with significant aura, warrior female lead, romance filled with fun and most important awesome twist and turns. This was exceptionally good.Can we also talk about how the writing was just poetic? *goosebumps*Dante and Amara are my chef's kiss to the sky and this book will always ALWAYS hold a soft place in my heart.

Dante Maroni IS THE MAN. NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO TOP HIM and Amara??? My God no words will ever describe how strong and brave she is. They both were just perfect.

I wanted to read Dante’s story for long and I am having withdrawal effects now. Which woman wouldn’t like a man like Dante in her life- so expressive, so caring, so loving and not to forget one who knows how to make his woman happy. The best thing about him was the way he respected Amara. Even when he was upset with her, he never raised his voice like the regular alpha heroes. He actually treated her like his queen.Now if we come to story so this Dante and Amara picks up the story from where Tristan & Morana had left and story ends at a point where a new character abt to come. I am so loving the synchronization of this series and that’s what is called a series in a true sense. Every story is a well thought through, intriguing and complicated and complete in its own way. Loved it thoroughly.

I was so excited for Dante and Amara's story and oh. my. god! I loved them! I am gonna be honest, I didn't really loveeee the book. I mean... Dante and Amara's lovestory is absolutely beautiful! The obstacles they faced, their characters, they might just be my most favourite couple of all time!What I had problem with was the plot. I genuinely felt that there should have been more focus on present than on the past. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the past wasn't necessary. It was. I love their past, and how it's written, because that mainly established their relationship. But I just wish there was more written about their present.Even though I really wish there was more, I did enjoy the book. A lot! 💕

I thought this would be the last book of the series to stop.But you are making me read all 5.Damn why your books are soo good

The book is amazing loved it. But the quality of the book not so good, double prints and pages too thin you can see text from the backside. Otherwise storyline, suspense, thrill and romance just 🫶🏻🤌🏼✨️

Okay so the smut in this book was perfect. Storyline was great. So many unanswered questions but I'm sure they are setting up to be answered in the next one. Perfect ending and I'm in love with these characters and storyline. The main 4 characters have such great backgrounds as if they exist in reality. Perfect Mafia read. As this is no longer a Romeo & Juliet style love, this one was a forbidden romance with friends to lovers and a long friends to lovers in deed. Always love a happy ending.

Considering how absolutely dark this book gets (it is a dark mafia romance after all), the love between Dante and Amara is so damn pure and beautiful, I can't.The Emperor spans several years, detailing the love story of our two mains from the very beginning, amidst their respective childhoods.Once again, I am in awe of how RuNyx manages to seed and nourish such a healthy, beautiful relationship between Dante and Amara amidst all of the darkness and evil that surrounds them. Is their relationship perfect? No. Do they both make mistakes? At times, yes. But that's what makes this relationship all the more exquisite - because it's believable.The devotion between those two, the way their hearts quite literally beat for each other... all the swooning from my end. I couldn't get enough of them. Their chemistry is off the charts (also, can I just say that we stan Dante MF-ing Maroni for being the literal king of 0r@1, because JFC, boy. IYKYK)The ongoing conflict/mystery surrounding the Syndicate - introduced in the first two books - continues into the third and the plot only thickens as more horrific truths are brought to light. I'm anxious to see where all of this leads in future installments.The introduction of Alessandro "Alpha" Villanova was excellent. I'm already intrigued by this man and eager for more of him. The unexpected connection between him and Dante was a twist I did not see coming, but considering their shared history, I love that these two have chosen to become allies. Very much looking forward to reading The Finisher, just to see where all of this goes.Once more, I also find myself impressed (and extremely grateful) for the way RuNyx writes/handles trauma, depression, and anxiety. I don't quite know how she manages it, but she ends up speaking a language I can understand viscerally every time in each one of her books and it leaves me feeling seen. But what I love even more is how she takes these characters that have these very real struggles, and she makes them so strong. And not in the usual way some well-intentioned authors do where strength ends up equating to kick-assery. No.RuNyx knows that strength comes in many different forms, and the versions of strength we get from Amara, Dante, Tristan, and Morana gives me life. If you know, you know. And if you can't see it for yourself when you read these books, then that is a great pity because you are seriously missing out.This book was absolutely beautiful. I loved it. It was the perfect balance of angst, yearning, passion, tension, anxiety, heartbreak, and a love so pure, it makes my chest hurt. So good. this book is so, so good.

Me encanta apresar que tengo que estar traduciendo párrafo por párrafo.Espero que en un futuro sus libros se traduzcan y comprar los libros en papel.

I really expected a perfect book, but I managed to exceed all my expectations.The whole development of the story, the knowledge of the characters, understanding who they are, who they become from teenagers to the present day, was wonderful.The story is not tiring, because this is the wonderful thing about this author. The way she conducts the whole plot involves and leaves you glued to each page, afraid of missing something important.And the characters, I don't even know how to describe them.Amara, an incredible force, a pure soul who suffered so much but did not withdraw. Her love for Dante, from a young age, when he couldn't even imagine. Her friendship with Vin, her struggle to get through hell, even though there was always something trying to pull her back. A real queen.And Dante, what a man. A mobster, a bad guy, a man who has darkness inside him. But the most incredible thing, without any fear of loving, without any fear of showing that you love, without fear of fighting to have your queen beside him. No more women, no broken men who need to belittle the girl to feel better. No. He honors her once he finds out how important she is to him. He fights with all his might, so that she can rule alongside him, and when it does, he is not afraid to show everyone who she is to him.The story is full of mystery, with a lot of action, many very shocking scenes, many hots scenes but within the measure, a lot being revealed and many that still need to be clarified. The author leaves us captivated by everything, and just wanting even more. The difference of this book to the previous ones, is that Dante is an open man, different from Tristan, and for that reason, I cannot compare any story, because for me the two have an intensity in different ways. But the one with more dialogues and more feelings.And speaking of Tristan, who is in love with him, will have many doses of Morana in this book. We can kill a little bit of homesickness for these two and know a little more about his friendship with Dante.Incredible book, Runyx only surpasses itself in each book released and I am suffering, because I want much more. I want Vin, I want to know how everything is going to play out, I want more from Apha (intriguing character). I want more from this class.Read, I find it very difficult for any other book to overcome this one this year for me. I'm sure it will be my best reading of the year.Perfect!

The Emperor is the first dark mafia romance that I read and it's the third book of The Dark Verse series.I wasn't sure of what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised.It's interesting how the story is written because it's start when the characters are kids and we get to see them grew up into adults and see them through each steps of their relationship which I appreciated because it made me understand them better.Their love for each other is truly magical and Dante protectiveness and sweetness toward Amara, despite is mafia boss status is what I love the most in the book.Amara is the strongest women ever, I'm really impress with the way she overcome her extremely traumatic experience.Dante and Amara trust for each other is impressive and all the years they had to hide made them strongest together at the end.The writing is well balance between Amara and Dante's relationship and the investigation they are working on which is why I had to read the other books in the series.