Marry Me Not: An Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance (House of Ferraro Book 2)

A TOP 25 AMAZON BESTSELLER!

She was his unwanted fiancée. Now she’s the wife he craves but can never possess.
I always knew I’d return to New York one day—step back into my family’s world, marry a man my brother chose, and carry out my duty. I just never imagined that man wouldn’t want a wife—least of all me.

Cosimo Ferraro is cold. Controlled. Untouchable. A ruthless mafia prince who doesn’t believe in letting anyone inside his impenetrable walls.

His words are cruel, his dismissals cutting. Yet every time we’re in the same room, his gaze finds me… and refuses to let go.

The pull between us is impossible to ignore. But Cosimo fights it—and me—with everything he’s got.

That’s when his world fractures. His father is murdered. Suddenly the man who wanted nothing to do with me needs me to help him seize the throne he was born to take.

Six months, he promises. Six months of marriage before he’ll set me free.

But six months is long enough for everything to burn—his control, my defenses, and the line between what’s real and what was supposed to be pretend.

Marry Me Not is book 2 in House of Ferraro, a series of interconnected standalones following the Ferraro brothers, where dark and sensual romance plays out against a backdrop of family secrets and mafia intrigue.

Tropes: Mafia romance ~ Arranged marriage ~ Forced proximity ~ Morally gray hero ~ Slow burn ~ Innocent heroine

There is no OW drama in this book.

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Gabrielle Sands is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of dark romance and mafia romance. With seven published titles across three series — and her eighth releasing in 2026 — she writes the kind of dangerous, addictive love stories that keep readers up way past their bedtime.

Her books are known for morally grey heroes, forbidden love, slow-burn tension, and heroines who never back down. Whether it's an arranged marriage, enemies-to-lovers heat, or a possessive anti-hero who’ll burn the world down for the woman he loves — Gabrielle delivers high-stakes romance with emotional depth and serious steam.

The Fallen Series

Four interconnected standalones following powerful mafia men and the women who bring them to their knees. Features enemies-to-lovers, age gap romance, forced proximity, and arranged marriage tropes.

Fallen God Duet

A spinoff duet that begins as a small-town neighbor romance and shifts into a full-throttle mafia love story.

House of Ferraro Series

Interconnected standalones following the Ferraro brothers, where dark and sensual romance collides with family secrets and mafia intrigue. Featuring forbidden love and arranged marriage.

If you love authors like Cora Reilly, Neva Altaj, Sadie Kincaid, and Danielle Lori, you’ll feel right at home in Gabrielle’s worlds.

Before becoming an author, Gabrielle spent nearly a decade in business. She loves to travel and often writes her favorite destinations into her books. She currently lives in Portugal with her husband and daughter.

The chemistry? Addictive. The tension? Immaculate. The "just one more chapter" syndrome? Very, very real. - Goodreads Reviewer

This book had me giggling, kicking my feet, and smiling like an idiot, and it reminded me exactly why I love reading so much. - Goodreads Reviewer

The slow burn to end all slow burns, the tension between these two was absolute perfection! - Goodreads Reviewer

Watching this powerful man slowly-but absolutely hopelessly-fall in love with the woman who was only supposed to be his fake wife with an expiration date was endlessly entertaining and incredibly romantic. - Goodreads Reviewer

Absolute perfection. I adored every single thing about this book from page 1 through to the last word. This is the best arranged marriage I have read hands down. - Goodreads Reviewer

Marry Me Not by Gabrielle Sands is a dark, sensual mafia romance built around an arranged marriage, forced proximity, family loyalty, power, grief, and a slow-burning attraction between two people who initially want nothing to do with each other. It is the second book in the House of Ferraro series and follows Cosimo Ferraro and Fabiana “Fabi” as they are pushed into a marriage that neither expects to become real. The novel was published on July 30, 2026, and can be read as a standalone, although the first book, Be With Me, provides additional context about the Ferraro family.

At the beginning of the story, Fabiana knows exactly what is expected of her. She has been raised to understand that family obligations come before personal desires. One day, she will return to New York, re-enter her family's world, and marry the man chosen for her.

She accepts this duty, even though she does not particularly like the idea of an arranged marriage.

What she does not expect is Cosimo Ferraro.

Cosimo is a powerful and intimidating figure within the Ferraro family. He is cold, controlled, ruthless, and determined to keep everyone at a distance. Marriage is the last thing he wants, and he makes his feelings toward the arrangement very clear.

He especially does not want Fabiana.

From their earliest encounters, Cosimo attempts to push her away. His words are harsh, his manner distant, and his attitude seems designed to make Fabiana reconsider the entire arrangement.

But there is an immediate contradiction between his words and his behavior.

Although Cosimo insists that he wants nothing to do with Fabiana, he cannot seem to ignore her. His attention repeatedly returns to her, creating an attraction that neither of them is prepared to acknowledge.

Fabiana, meanwhile, is stronger than Cosimo initially assumes. She is not simply a passive woman waiting to be married off. Although she understands her family's expectations, she has her own personality, interests, boundaries, and desires.

The more Cosimo tries to dismiss her, the more clearly she demonstrates that she will not allow herself to disappear into someone else's plans.

This creates the novel's central romantic tension.

He does not want a wife. She does not want a husband who does not want her. Yet neither can ignore the attraction developing between them.

For a time, Fabiana considers ending the engagement. If Cosimo is so determined to reject the marriage, perhaps there is no reason for either of them to continue with it.

Then everything changes.

Cosimo's father is murdered.

The death creates a dangerous power vacuum within the Ferraro family. Cosimo suddenly finds himself in a position where he must fight to claim the authority he was born to inherit. His family's internal politics become unstable, and his personal future becomes inseparable from the struggle for power.

The man who previously wanted nothing to do with marriage now realizes that a stable alliance may be necessary.

Fabiana becomes important to him in a way neither expected.

Cosimo proposes a solution: they will marry, but only for six months.

After six months, he promises, they can separate and Fabiana will be free.

It is supposed to be a practical arrangement.

A temporary marriage.

A political solution.

A way to stabilize Cosimo's position while keeping emotional complications under control.

But the arrangement contains a dangerous flaw.

Six months is a long time to live beside someone you are desperately trying not to love.

The couple are forced into close proximity, and the boundaries between the arrangement and genuine intimacy begin to disappear.

Cosimo continues trying to maintain control. He has spent his entire life building emotional walls, and Fabiana repeatedly challenges them simply by refusing to be intimidated by him.

She sees qualities in him that others may not see.

At the same time, she refuses to excuse his cruelty or allow his power to determine her worth.

This makes Fabiana an important counterbalance to Cosimo. He is accustomed to controlling situations and people, while she gradually demonstrates that emotional strength does not require physical or political power.

Their relationship develops slowly.

There is attraction, but also resistance.

There are moments when they move toward one another, followed by moments when one or both retreat.

The marriage is supposed to be temporary, which makes every moment of genuine intimacy more complicated. If they acknowledge their feelings, they risk turning a carefully controlled arrangement into something neither knows how to manage.

The novel therefore uses the fake-to-real marriage dynamic to build its central romantic tension. The couple begins by pretending that the relationship is temporary and practical, but their emotions increasingly refuse to follow the rules they established.

Cosimo's transformation is particularly important.

At first, he believes emotional distance is a form of protection. If he remains cold, nobody can hurt him. If he refuses to depend on anyone, nobody can betray him.

But grief following his father's murder exposes how fragile that strategy really is.

Power does not protect him from loss.

Control does not protect him from grief.

And emotional walls do not prevent him from developing feelings for Fabiana.

The more time he spends with her, the harder it becomes to maintain the idea that she is simply part of a political arrangement.

Fabiana also undergoes an important transformation. She begins the story prepared to fulfill her family's expectations. She understands duty and sacrifice, but her relationship with Cosimo forces her to question how much of her life should be determined by other people's decisions.

Her growing confidence becomes an important part of the story.

She gradually learns that fulfilling family obligations does not require abandoning herself.

The novel's arranged-marriage premise therefore becomes more than a romantic device. It raises questions about choice, duty, independence, and identity.

What happens when two people enter a relationship because their families expect it?

Can something imposed from the outside become emotionally genuine?

And if love develops inside an arrangement neither person originally wanted, can the couple eventually choose each other freely?

These questions give the romance much of its emotional depth.

The mafia setting adds another layer of danger. Cosimo's family operates within a world shaped by organized crime, power struggles, loyalty, violence, and family alliances. Their personal relationships cannot be separated completely from the larger political structure around them.

Cosimo's father's murder is therefore not merely a personal tragedy. It becomes a threat to the family's stability and to Cosimo's position.

He must determine whom he can trust.

He must understand who benefits from his father's death.

And he must protect his position while navigating the complicated relationship with Fabiana.

This gives the novel a mystery element alongside the romance. Cosimo's struggle to understand what happened within his family creates an external conflict that mirrors his internal one.

Externally, he is fighting for power.

Internally, he is fighting against his own feelings.

The two conflicts become increasingly connected.

As Cosimo investigates the circumstances surrounding his father's death, Fabiana becomes more involved in his world. Their marriage gives them a reason to remain together, but the danger surrounding them also makes separation increasingly difficult.

The more threatened Cosimo becomes, the more protective he is of Fabiana.

This introduces another familiar dark-romance dynamic: the powerful, emotionally guarded hero discovering that the woman he intended to keep at a distance has become the person he most wants to protect.

But Fabiana is not merely a protected figure.

She repeatedly proves that she can challenge Cosimo, question him, and stand her ground.

Their arguments and moments of banter become part of their growing connection. Their differences initially create conflict, but eventually those same differences become complementary.

Cosimo is rigid where Fabiana is more emotionally open.

He is controlled where she is expressive.

He is accustomed to command, while she increasingly insists on being heard.

Their relationship works because neither completely submits to the other's personality.

Instead, they gradually force each other to change.

The slow-burn structure is essential to this development. Their attraction does not immediately become a stable relationship. They repeatedly attempt to convince themselves that the marriage is temporary.

The six-month deadline hangs over everything.

Every moment of happiness carries the knowledge that it is supposed to end.

Every moment of intimacy raises the possibility that one or both of them will eventually be hurt.

The deadline therefore becomes almost another character in the story.

As the months pass, the question changes from “Can they survive six months together?” to “What will happen when the six months are over?”

This is where the emotional stakes become much higher.

The marriage was supposed to provide freedom.

Instead, it begins to make separation unbearable.

Fabiana's presence also gradually changes Cosimo's understanding of what strength means. He has always associated strength with control, intimidation, and emotional restraint. Fabiana introduces another form of strength—honesty, resilience, compassion, and the ability to remain emotionally open without surrendering one's independence.

Cosimo's feelings become increasingly difficult to hide.

The man who initially wanted Fabiana to end their engagement begins to recognize that losing her would be far more painful than marrying her ever was.

This reversal forms the emotional core of the romance.

The story also explores grief. Cosimo's father's death forces him to confront emotions that he would rather suppress. His response to grief is complicated by his position within the family. He cannot simply mourn privately; he must simultaneously demonstrate strength and fight for authority.

Fabiana becomes one of the few people capable of seeing the vulnerability beneath his controlled exterior.

Her presence gives him an emotional outlet that he did not know he needed.

At the same time, Cosimo's grief helps Fabiana understand him more deeply. The coldness she initially interprets as cruelty begins to reveal layers of fear, responsibility, and emotional self-protection.

This does not erase his darker qualities, but it makes him more human.

The novel's morally grey hero is therefore not presented as an uncomplicated romantic ideal. Cosimo belongs to a violent world and makes difficult, sometimes morally questionable choices. The attraction between the characters exists alongside danger, manipulation, and power rather than in a world untouched by them.

That contrast is characteristic of dark mafia romance.

The relationship is intense precisely because the characters are surrounded by circumstances that are anything but safe.

Fabiana's own growth becomes increasingly important as she stops apologizing for having needs and expectations. The author describes her as quietly strong, emphasizing that her greatest development involves learning to stop making herself smaller for other people's comfort.

This makes her journey one of self-respect as well as romantic love.

She does not simply need Cosimo to love her.

She needs to understand that she deserves to be chosen freely.

That distinction becomes crucial because an arranged marriage can satisfy an obligation without satisfying the heart.

The emotional question is therefore not whether Cosimo and Fabiana can remain married for six months.

It is whether, after six months, they will still choose each other when the obligation disappears.

The story's tension ultimately comes from watching two people move from obligation toward choice.

What begins as a family arrangement gradually becomes personal.

What begins as political theater becomes emotional truth.

What begins as a temporary marriage becomes a relationship neither wants to lose.

The mafia conflict provides danger and suspense, but the deeper conflict is emotional. Cosimo must decide whether to continue protecting himself through isolation or risk becoming vulnerable to someone he genuinely loves.

Fabiana must decide whether she is willing to remain in a relationship that began without her choosing it—and, if she stays, whether she can demand that it become something she chooses for herself.

The novel's romantic payoff comes from this shift.

The question is no longer simply whether Cosimo and Fabiana will fall in love.

It is whether they can transform a marriage created by duty into one sustained by genuine choice.

Ultimately, Marry Me Not is a story about two people who enter marriage believing it will be temporary and discover that their feelings have made permanence impossible to ignore.

Cosimo begins as a man determined not to have a wife.

Fabiana begins as a woman prepared to fulfill an obligation.

Both believe they understand the boundaries of the arrangement.

Neither anticipates how quickly those boundaries will collapse.

Their relationship develops through resistance, attraction, vulnerability, grief, danger, and gradual trust. The result is a slow-burning romance in which the emotional stakes become increasingly important as the six-month deadline approaches.

The novel also reinforces the idea that love can be transformative without being simple. Loving someone does not erase their flaws, their past, or the dangerous world surrounding them. Instead, it forces them to confront parts of themselves they would rather avoid.

Cosimo must confront his need for control.

Fabiana must confront her habit of putting duty before herself.

Together, they discover that a relationship cannot survive indefinitely on obligation alone.

It needs choice.

It needs trust.

It needs vulnerability.

And ultimately, it needs two people willing to say that they want each other even when they no longer have to.

Marry Me Not is therefore a compelling combination of arranged-marriage romance, mafia intrigue, forced proximity, slow-burn attraction, family conflict, grief, and emotional transformation. The official description identifies its central tropes as arranged marriage, mafia romance, a morally grey hero, forced proximity, a fake-real marriage, slow burn, and a “he falls first” dynamic.

At its heart, however, the story is about something more universal than mafia power or romantic tension.

It is about the difference between being bound to someone and choosing them.

Cosimo and Fabiana begin their relationship because other people have decided their future.

They end up confronting a much more difficult question:

What happens when the marriage you never wanted becomes the love you cannot imagine losing?

That question gives Marry Me Not its emotional pull and makes the story not merely about an arranged marriage, but about two guarded people discovering that real love begins when duty ends and choice finally becomes possible.