Enemies to Lovers • Age Gap • Slow Burn Sapphic Mafia Romance
She was my father's shadow. His secret. The one woman I was never supposed to want.
MIA
I returned to the Salvatore villa for a funeral, not a reunion. My father is dead, his empire is crumbling, and the woman who made herself indispensable in a house that was supposed to be mine is still haunting these halls.
Matelda is everything I was taught to hate: beautiful, calculating, and far too comfortable in a life she was never entitled to. I came to reclaim my legacy and drive her out.
I didn't expect the heat between us to be more dangerous than the war outside our gates.
MATELDA
I've spent years building a life out of marble and secrets. I survived the Salvatore men by becoming untouchable — but I wasn't prepared for Mia.
She has her father's eyes and a fury that threatens to burn down everything I've sacrificed to protect. In this world, love is a liability and desire is a death sentence.
But as the shadows close in, the girl I should be pushing away is the only one standing between me and the grave.
Some wars are fought with guns.
Some are fought in silence.
The most dangerous ones are fought in the space between hate and love.
Book One of The Matelda Series.
Contains: explicit sapphic romance, organized crime, age gap, slow burn, enemies to lovers.
BIOGRAPHY Jossef S. is a contemporary author of atmospheric sapphic fiction and literary romance. Known for a lyrical, evocative prose style, Jossef explores the intricate tension of the "unspoken"—where power, legacy, and desire collide in the shadows of silence.
Specializing in high-stakes romantic suspense and deeply emotional character studies, Jossef’s work often features popular tropes such as age-gap dynamics, enemies-to-lovers arcs, and the agonizing tension of a slow-burn attraction. Whether navigating the dangerous corridors of a sapphic mafia empire in the Matelda series or capturing the poignant "almosts" of a forbidden coming-of-age journey in The Girl Who Collected Moths, Jossef’s stories are defined by their internal depth and haunting beauty.
Based in the Mediterranean, Jossef draws inspiration from sun-drenched landscapes, crumbling architecture, and the complex resilience of women who refuse to be defined by the secrets they keep.
For readers who crave intense chemistry, literary quality, and wlw (women-loving-women) stories that linger long after the final page, the worlds of Jossef S. offer an unforgettable escape into the heart of longing.