Painted Scars

Painted Scars is a 2022 dark contemporary romance by Neva Altaj and the first book in the Perfectly Imperfect series.

The two leads are established in opposition. Nina is married to the Pakhan, the head of a Russian Bratva, as part of a bargain she did not design, and she has settled into the work of appearing content while she is frightened and looking for a way out. Roman is a man who takes what he wants, and he wants her; watching her perform the part of a devoted wife only increases his determination, and partway through he decides the deal no longer holds.

Painted Scars is the entry point to the Perfectly Imperfect series, a set of standalone mafia romances: the setting supplies the danger, the arranged marriage supplies the form, and the relationship carries the book. Nina's narration is why it reads as a psychological story rather than a crime story, because the reader is inside the performance she is putting on for her husband and for everyone watching the marriage. The book is written for readers who want the danger of the setting without the tragedy of it, and the question is how two people who began as a transaction stop pretending.