eww pls no knife 🤮 I am already traumatized by Mrs. Shen's infamous chisel that was really unnecessary 🤢, in their defense they used the non-sharp side 🤣🤣🤣 I can't.... I didn't give it 5 stars, because I didn't really like the fact that Dante had genuinely been in love with his first wife. I'd been hoping, before reading the book, that his first marriage had been one of convenience and that it was guilt, for not having loved her, that had tormented him so much whenever he thought of her. The star of the book was definitely Valentina. I love the way she handled the situation dead wife situation. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. Her persistence pays off at the end. I loved that Val was allowed to work at the Casino and wasn't just a trophy wife. For her and only for her 2.75 stars. Sometimes I think you hurt me on purpose to keep me at arms-length. When will you finally move on? Your wife has been dead for four years, it's time you stop pitying yourself and realize that life goes on. When will you stop clinging to the memory of a dead woman and realize there's someone in your life who wants to be with you?" No matter how much Dante tried to keep Valentina at a distance, he couldn't fight his growing desire for her forever. Especially after their daughter Anna was born, Dante finally realized that he couldn't live in the past any longer. He had to embrace his second chance at happiness and concentrate on the future!

Also, Dante admitted that he basically wines and dines with men who go home and beat and rape their wives and children but what can he do.. they are his associates and he needs to keep them for their skills. *pukes some more*And my biggest issue with the whole book. This one probably takes a little less than half of the entire book, and it's again Twisted Pride from different POV. We got Twisted Pride, then Twisted Pride retold from Nino's and Kiara's POVs and now through Dante's and Val's POVs. While I liked Twisted Pride, I don't think that we needed to read it in so many different POVs, it's getting too much. Yes, I did expect that this book would reflect on it, but I did not expect that that would happen to this extent.

This book follows Dumbass Cavallaro (some people call him Dante) (H) and Valentina Aresco Cavallaro (h). They were side characters in the first book. Both of them are widowed and marry each other for strategic reasons. Mister Dumbass is the Capo of the Chicago Outfit and the only emotional range he's capable of is from this "😐" to that "😑". when he says "I did it for you, Val." that's THE love declaration of the century. Do yourself a big favor and don't read this. I mean it, don't go anywhere near this... thing. Such a waste of time. First of all, I don't like the cover. The author changed covers for every book of the Famiglia series and I prefer the old covers and that patterns for the book cover.And it beautifully paints why Dante and the Outfit are my least favourite by this author. Dante's book was the second in the series, and to me, it did not establish him as a character I enjoyed reading about. And ever since the Outfit was in the position of the *bad* guys. The other side. And it is now hard to again get him as the *hero* (very loose term in this series), and the *heroes* (or maybe protagonists would be better?) of the previous books are the bad guys. He's the most underestimated Capo, because his tales of infamous cruelty aren't sung far and wide. But perhaps that's because he's cunning enough to shield his worst actions from the eyes of others. When he was just 19, Dante had murdered sister's fiancé and framed it on the Bratva:

Now, why is this even a different book? It's almost the same event of Bound by Duty from Dante's perspective. It could have been done in the same book with a dual perspective. We don't need a new book with same story, the same dialogue just from a different perspective. There are a few events that we haven't seen before but that didn't make up for the book. Dante is too weak for a capo. I think there will be a very complicated situation regarding Anna and Santino. I also don't like how Danilo controls every aspect of Sofia's life. Samuel and Emma seems interesting but I don't have any expectation from Cora Reilly anymore because she has been publishing disappointing books continuously in this year. As much as I'm dragging Dante, he wasn't half as bad. I liked him better than Luca, but it's just hard to connect to someone who is constantly described as an "cold fish" and has one face expression (on a good day maybe two). His actions made him more humane than Cora Reilly's other mafia heroes. He comes across as the most superficially cold and distant H, but I think he's the one with the biggest heart. Luca will always be my favourite and I'll never quite be able to find those barbaric and uncouth Camorra guys equally attractive, but Dante is the closest second best ever !

Publication Order of Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles Books

Yeah, it's true that he loved his first wife, but that sad admission at the end explained so much for me! After losing his wife, Cassio is left to take care of two small children while trying to establish his rule over Philadelphia. Now he needs a mother for his children, and someone who can warm his bed at night. Val is portrayed as strong, smart, capable. She gives Dante business advice. She can be cunning and driven and she has shown loyalty to Bibiana by helping her escape domestic abuse - but that was all happening in her previous book. This book was suppose to be about the couples not their maternal/paternal life. Yea it's cute that they have kids but man calm down. And why do they have such ridiculous names.... Flavio lmaooo. Tho Orlando still takes the cake for worst name. Out of the Capos / Mafia Leaders, Dante is the wisest and the most intelligent. Some of you thought either the Famiglia or the Camorra are stronger. To me, Chicago Outfit is the strongest. Many questioned Dante's leadership because of his decisions. He isn't perfect and he committed a lot of mistakes throughout and may considered as betrayal. Yet he did it for good intentions. He has morals and he can masks his emotions. At first, he's not the best husband to Valentina but she sets him straight. We are all frustrated when he didn't say the "L" word. He's not a fan of PDA and likes to keep his love for Valentina privately.

So Dante thought about Carla at 65% “...I’d never forget her and what had happened...” dude its been years you have 2 kids with Val lets forget her!! With shaking hands, I prepared the syringe. Hands that were always steady no matter what happened. Not now. “I love you, Dante.” I swallowed. “And I love you, will always only love you, Carla.” I liked that through her whole pregnancy gianna didn’t change and that even if she changed her mind it wasn’t rushed or miraculously done, but at the same time i hated that she gave them a child because they didn’t want one so to change your characters just to be able to write about their kid is annoying, and pls authors have to stop thinking women can only have a happy ending if there’s a child involved 😭Every character seemed bland and boring. I don't know how Cora managed to make all her characters lose their appeal, turning this instead into some kind of fairytale. I only enjoyed Matteo, who despite everything is still my charming psycho. Tall, muscled and devilishly handsome, Xavier is the lov’ em and leav’ em kind of guy. He never forgets a girl’s name because he never bothers to remember it in the first place. Luca might be one of the most sought after men in New York thanks to his good looks, wealth and predator-like charisma that radiates power, but the society girls throwing themselves at him don’t know that the bad boy aura isn’t just a game; blood and death lurk beneath Luca’s striking gray eyes and arrogant smile. A handsome exterior often hides the monster within; a monster who can just as easily kill as kiss you. Except that Gianna and Mateo are not teenagers, they are two adults (31 and 38 I think), they have been married for 13 years, who decided not to have children (although they never did anything definitive not to have them), which is okay, not all women have to be mothers, nor do all couples have children, so I don't understand why the author decided that it was a good idea for them to have a child when clearly they DON’T wanted a baby, especially Gianna who even at the end of the story says "If I cuold live my life again i'd still decide not to be a mom, it's not my mission in life and it won't ever be", so why betray the essence of your characters like that, I just do not get it. She resents the life forced upon her by her family until everything she took for granted is ripped from her. Where she’s now, her name doesn’t bring awe, only pain and humiliation.