I was heavily anticipating this sequel to A Beauty so Cruel and whilst it didn't come out as a 4 or 5 star I did still really enjoy it, I just found there were a few things that personally didn't fit for me. This is a dark romance book so please check the extensive list of TWs at the bottom of this review as this book covers some content which people may find triggering.
Okay so I got my HEA and I am HAPPY about that x100000. I just wasn't 100% on board with how we got to it. I did personally feel as if the tone of the book didn't match up to that of the first book, almost felt like I was reading from a different author but it wasn't all over bad because this book also had a very different message/pot to the first one. This one focused heavily on redemption and forgiveness, and in the mafia world that's hard and a tough feat to achieve so I also kind of understand why the tone was different. Also we know a very obvious thing about Dahlia which in the first book we did not so that also explains the different tone/writing style.
I really loved Dahlia and her strong character in the first book and whilst that was definitely still present in this book, I did feel sometimes like it was forgotten. There were a few decisions she made I didn't personally fell went with what we knew of her character. 
BUT VLAD. That man. Totally not an appropriate human being in real life but omg he melts my heart in this. I adored that there was one scene where the author purposefully made him not communicate his feelings with Dahlia but then we were SHOWN exactly how he felt by his actions in the next chapter.
A few of the character interactions allowed me to really sit back and think, and even discuss them with my friend and I love when a book makes you think about things so that was great. 
My biggest downside at the time of reading was that I felt Dahlia kept being made to suffer "one more thing" and it didn't feel necessary to me, and actually made me  little uncomfortable. However I do acknowledge that in hindsight, it felt like it fit the story and is the main reason this book is a higher rated 3 star but just not quite 4 star.

Overall, a good duology, if you are okay with the triggers, and definitely a memorable, dark retelling of beauty and the beast.


TWs:
Rape (graphic)
Physical Assault
Kidnapping
Pedophilia
Sexual Assault against a child
Murder
Mention of human trafficking but not explicit
Violence/blood