Review of Bound by Duty by Cora Reilly
*contains topics/scenes such as murder that may trigger some*
Premise: Book two in the Born in Blood Chronicles, Bound by Duty follows the story of Valentina and Dante Cavallaro who is the boss of the Chicago Outfit. These two are put into an arranged marriage after both of their respective first spouses have died. Dante is still very much attached to his first wife and has trouble forgetting her. Valentina never loved her first husband and she bares a secret about him that she promised to take to the grave. Desperate for her second marriage to work out, Valentina tries to break the cold hard exterior of Dante without much success.
My thoughts: I really liked this book and Dante and Valentina’s relationship was more complex than Aria and Luca’s. I admit, Dante’s character is a little harder to love and warm up to for some reason. (I think it’s because he can’t forget his first wife and there’s always a feeling deep down that makes me feel like he won’t ever forget her???) I think I could have loved Dante more if we got a little more of him and his thoughts in a dual POV. I loved and disliked Valentina’s character at times. I loved how she was strong and smart and didn’t just want to be a trophy wife and I like how Dante agreed with her on that, but she sometimes came off as a little desperate and clingy at times. I understand where she’s coming from but maybe if those times were more limited, I’d love her even more. Sometimes, I wanted to shake Dante so he could come to his senses and realize he has a great wife beside him. This book had action and dialogue that kept me on the edge of my seat and it was pretty fast paced which I appreciate. This book had some crazy plot twists that kept me very entertained and the secret that Valentina is carrying was revealed pretty early on.
Cons: Like I mentioned before, Valentina got slightly clingy but I didn’t mind it too much.
Final Thoughts: This was a great book and I would recommend it to people who like mafia/mob romances or is wanting to get into them. I really like Cora Reilly’s writing style and the whole vibe of her books. This had an amazing and sweet HEA that made me swoon. It was a great book, so I highly suggest you check it out!
Buy on Amazon here and check it out on Goodreads here
