REVIEW: Sweet Vengeance by Riley Hart (Sins of the Father #2)

SWEET VENGEANCE

Sins of the Father - Book Two

by Riley Hart

Release Date: October 8, 2025

Review

Is a marshmallow mobster a thing? Because Cillian gets pretty darn gooey for Ollie, even if he tries to pretend it’s just casual and he’ll never do love.

Cillian’s story breaks my heart. Irish mobster or not, he deserved to have a father present and loving in the face of losing his mother. Even if he does have the most incredibly loving and loyal friends.

Cillian refers to Ollie as ‘kitten’, and it’s perfect because he is adorably fierce, unapologetic and brave. I mean, he willingly calls the mobsters ‘mini-mob’ to their face!!

The relationship these two develop is truly special and is built on understanding, passion and need. This includes the acceptance of the incredibly close friendship Cillian and Rory share. Which was done fantastically, by the way.

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Synopsis

Cillian

I can’t figure out why I’m so intrigued by Ollie Gibson.

He’s nothing like me—soft where my world is hard, sweet and kind while I’ve grown up around violence.

But there’s a fire to him that sparks the one inside me, loyalty that calls to me, and bravery I respect even if it gets him in trouble.

When Ollie’s hurt and we don’t know if the men who attacked him will come back for more, I can’t stop myself from claiming him. There’s nothing I won’t do to protect him, even go behind his back for vengeance.

I crave him—both the sweetness and the fire, the innocence and the dirty boy he turns into under my touch.

I’ll kill for him, turn my world upside down for him, share my pain and secrets with him. Ollie helps me deal with it all—even the drama with my father.

It’s supposed to be temporary. I’m not supposed to want more, but I’m determined to keep him, and for a reason I can’t understand, Ollie wants me too.

The future lawyer and the criminal. The Good Samaritan and the killer. We’re living between two worlds, this place where vengeance can be sweet and our differences don’t matter. But we both know it can’t go on like this forever. If the violence of my world doesn’t tear us apart, one day Ollie will walk away…and I don’t know how to let myself lose him.

Content Warning: Sweet Vengeance contains discussions and grief over the loss of a parent, violence, darker themes, drug use, and morally gray characters with no redemption arc. This is still a Riley Hart romance though, so you can expect a happily ever after for our guys. Please read the note in the beginning of the book for a more detailed content warning.

About Riley Hart

Riley Hart has always been known as the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She won her first writing contest in elementary school, and although she primarily focuses on male/male romance, under her various pen names, she’s written a little bit of everything. Regardless of the sub-genre, there’s always one common theme and that’s…romance! No surprise seeing as she’s a hopeless romantic herself. Riley’s a lover of character-driven plots, flawed characters, and always tries to write stories and characters people can relate to. She believes everyone deserves to see themselves in the books they read. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her reading or enjoying time with her awesome family in their home in North Carolina.

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