Simon & Schuster Children's acquires 'gripping' YA mafia romance trilogy from Catherine Doyle

Simon & Schuster (S&S) Children’s has acquired a "gripping" YA mafia romance trilogy from Catherine Doyle. UK and Commonwealth English-language rights for three titles—Vendetta, Inferno and Mafiosa in the Blood for Blood series—were acquired by Rachel Denwood, managing director, from Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

The series was previously published between 2016 and 2017 by Chicken House and is a Romeo and Juliet-meets-The Godfather story, and will be published with new covers and bonus chapters.

All three titles will publish simultaneously in paperback on 2nd January 2025. Special editions with sprayed edges will be available exclusively at Waterstones.

The synopsis reads: "The trilogy follows 17-year-old Sophie Gracewell, whose quiet life in the Chicago suburbs is turned upside down with the arrival of five mysterious Italian brothers. Irresistibly drawn to bad boy Nic, Sophie finds herself falling into a dangerous criminal underworld governed by powerful families. As her own dark family secrets come to light, blood will spill and hearts will break."

Denwood said: "Catherine Doyle’s Blood for Blood trilogy is thriller-romance gold. Over the years, well-versed YA fans have professed their love and admiration for these addictive mafia romances and Simon & Schuster are now poised to bring Vendetta, Inferno and Mafiosa to a whole new generation of readers. The launch of the trilogy [...] is a key pillar of our strategy to build Cat as a major YA author-brand in the years to come."

Doyle said: "Having launched my career as a YA author, the Blood for Blood trilogy has always held a truly special place in my heart. I couldn’t be more excited to reintroduce this thrilling mafia romance to new readers under the helm of S&S, and with a gorgeous set of new covers and exclusive bonus content."