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Wicked Altar

A Dark Irish Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance (The McCarthy Family Legacy)

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Wicked Altar

By: Jane Henry
Narrated by: Kai Kennicott, Wen Ross
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About this listen

I've hated Cavin McCarthy since the day he made me cry in a school closet.

He was my tormentor. My nightmare. The cruel boy who turned my name into a punchline and my life into hell.

Now? He's my fiancé.

An arranged marriage neither of us wanted, brokered by families who deal in blood and power. I'd refuse if I could. But my sister is dying, and the McCarthy's hold the key to saving her life.

So I'll walk down the aisle. I'll say the vows. I'll become Mrs. Cavin McCarthy.

But I'll never forgive him.

Except... the monster I remember isn't the man standing before me now. The boy who destroyed me has become someone who fights for me. Protects me. Touches me like I'm something precious instead of broken.

And when his hands are on my throat, his voice rough in my ear, I'm not thinking about revenge anymore.

I'm only thinking about surrender.

TROPES: - Bully - Enemies to Lovers - Arranged Marriage - Mafia - Obsessed Hero - Neurodivergent Heroine - Miscommunication - Calls her “My wife” - Anti-Hero - Bad Boy/Good Girl - Band of Brothers - BDSM - Family Saga - Virgin Heroine - He falls first - He builds her a room of her own - He notices her anxiety

©2026 Jane Henry (P)2026 Jane Henry Crime Fiction Romantic Suspense
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Another fabulous Mafia romance from Jane.
What would you do to save your sister. Would you look to the bully who made your life a misery at school.
Cavin and Erin find themselves thrown into a situation neither wants, both have an ingrained dislike from their school days. They find themselves thrown together and as Cavin begins to realise his tormentor from all those years ago is not what she seems, he starts to realise her strange behaviour masks something she can't control.
The forced proximity soon builds new understanding of both the past and the present for our unwilling pair.
A tale set among the Irish Mafia, it gives us passion, danger, betrayal, while outside forces work to destroy everything Erin and Cavin have built between them. As always with Jane's characters you will be on the edge of your seat, unwilling to stop listening until the last page.
I have to confess at this point the narrators were not my favourite thing about this book, the Irish accents were off. That said I have still given them 5 stars as they did bring the story alive, having previously read the fantastic book, listening to these two people brought a whole new depth to the story. If you like a steamy, danger ridden Mafia romance I definitely suggest you dive head first into this.

A deliciously dark mafia romance

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To start with, although I did like the story overall, the representation of female neurodivergence is extremely narrow and stereotypical (I'm an autistic woman who doesn't like patterns and numbers - shock horror - and this is actually much less common in autistic women than it is for autistic men). There's a lot of repetition in the dialogue surrounding How much the FMC hates the MMC...how much the MMC hates the FMC blah blah in the first half of the book. But my main criticism is the FMC's Irish accent is absolutely awful. Shameful really. It sounds more like the FMC is doing an attempt at Cornish/West Country and failing abysmally. I like both these narrators usually but not doing these accents...there are actual Irish voice actors out there and others who can actually do a decent accent. I hate to be so scathing, but it's the truth. I say this as a British person with a strong Irish background and family, so maybe I'm more particular, but this interpretation of an Irish accent from the fmc is so poor it's offensive to be honest.

Terrible terrible accents

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Listener received this title free

This is the first book in a new series by Jane Henry all about the Irish Mafia and the McCarthy family..
I honestly did enjoy the story but it did take me a while to get into it at first.
I am not completely sure why,..I just couldn't put my finger on it,but as the story progressed it got better and I became hooked.
Cavin McCarthy and Erin Kavanaugh hate eachother they went to school together and Cavin along with his friends bullied her.
Erin was a bit of nerd,very smart,followed the rules and was seen as little miss perfect so she was a target for Cavin and his friends.
Now all grown up they still don't like one another,but unfortunately for them they are dragged into an arranged marriage.
Cavin was in prison for a few months,fights in an underground boxing ring and is a head of his family's affairs..NO-ONE messes with him or the McCarthy's.
Erin on the other hand is a bit quirky and has anxiety,it doesn't mention if she is autistic but it certainly sounds like she is.
She works for her family doing the books she is great with numbers,but her parents prefer her sister..But her sister is sick and needs specialist treatment and the McCarthy's may be able to help them with that.
Erin and her sister have a good relationship which I am glad about,sometimes in stories like this were one sister is seen as the favourite they have the sisters as enemies.But it was nice that Erin and her sister loved eachother very much so it was heartbreaking that she was very ill.
I actually thought it was kind of sweet the way Cavin and Erin slowly but surely get to know one another..Cavin is super possessive which Erin starts to like because for once someone thinks she is important.Sparks definately fly with them and intimately they are as hot as hades..
I like the way Cavin let Erin in and trusted her with family buisness he regards them as a team and I loved that.
There is alot going on in this book between the romance there is the sick sister,Mafia stuff,someone trying to kill Cavin,The club shenanighans,the fighting ring and family drama....But it all fits together perfectly and so do Cavin and Erin.
The narrators for this book are really Amazing Kai Kennicott and Wen Ross done an excellent performance as Erin and Cavin..I thought that their Irish Accents were done very well and I enjoyed listening to them.
I think that this will be a very action packed,steamy series from Jane Henry and I will be looking forward to more books to listen to from Jane Henry.
4 1/2 stars.

Great listen.

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