these books are so funny they rly have me on the floor sometimes. i love that there's never a plot but then 80% comes around and for some reason russians happen 😂 just 'russians' in the vaguest sense lmao. no but this one was GOOD!! 🤡🤡 i liked it!! matteo is my smitten bb and Gianna is a whole ass mess, my fav combo. matteo saying he wants to slice up some guys brain so he doesn't possess memories of Gianna anymore 😂😂 ok so the h walks in on them doing the deed and by then the MCs have kissed and cuddled in bed soo... the fu-? and you know what his reason was? well, he was thinking about his needs apparently. 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). Same with Aria, she may love Gianna, but I don't think she would really help her escape. That had potential to end really bad, and I don't think she would really risk that. Especially since Luca would be the one who would have been hurt by that. I'm so confused by the sheer number of readers who apply standards of your normal, consensual real-life romantic relationships to Cora's mafia books when it's clear they have zero relevance to how arranged marriages in her work. 💀💀

Like the previous two books, this one is sprinkled with some editing oversights. There are enough instances of these grammatical mistakes to be noticeable, but not so many that the story is ruined. Each of the books in this series are stand-alones, so they can be read separately, but I honestly feel you should read the first book because the characters in the first book do make appearances in this one too. Maybe love is a risk, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take and as you said, it’s not a choice. I never thought I would, never thought I could love someone like that but I fell in love with you. I fought it. It’s the first battle I didn’t mind losing.”♤ On the other hand, Matteo was a nice and refreshing surprise. He was fun and had a great sense of humor. He was also shamelessly devoted to Gianna, standing by her side long after others would have given up on her. Matteo's character was more than I had ever expected, in all the best ways.

Bound By Duty by Cora Reilly Summary

I can’t deny you something that you don’t have the right to take in the first place. My body doesn’t belong to you. It’s mine.” I think there’s a huge difference between the kind of trouble I stir up and the trouble you cause.” I dunno. You would think that after reading a million Harlequins i would not be so critical, but I am. Gianna hates everything her life represents. As a daughter of a Don, obedience is key. And being stubborn and defiant seems to be her downfall. All this fiery redhead has ever wanted is to be free. Instead she finds herself betrothed to her nemesis. I really liked Matteo's character. He was completely enamoured with Gianna, and wanted her to trust him.

The plot is really interesting as Valentina’s secrets from her former marriage are revealed and she is allowed to work in one of the family owned casinos. She also takes her best friend position to Bibi to the max… go girls! Gianna was a much better main character than Aria was and I have to say I enjoyed that the book's plot wasn't about taking one's virginity. This one was also told in 2 povs, so I did get more insight into the crime aspect of this series, but it really wasn't enough. I'm looking for a STORY here, and endgame to this crime business. The Russians are causing trouble. Ok... but why? What's this leading too? FYI, it's not leading anywhere. Again, the organized crime is but a wallflower in this story when it deserves to be fleshed out way more and keep me interested. I'm looking for the bigger picture and the author continues to gloss over details to placate the story without actually doing anything. Regardless, I was expecting this to be super gritty and visceral and...just more than it was, I guess. I felt like instead of building and showing relationship development, Reilly just made it all about sex and Aria's virginity, which I thought left a lot of potential on the table.Grace Parker, one of Luca’s old girlfriends/plaything. She’s the daughter of a New York senator who’s on the payroll of the Mafia. Overall the book was amazing!! One star reduced because of the cheating part. Luca and Aria are one of the best mafia couples I've met. I wish I had a sister like Gianna or Aria, their interactions were unbearably cute and filled with fierce sister energy. Not them already missing each other after only a couple of days spent apart. 😂🥺

Fiore Cavallaro, who ruled over the Chicago Outfit and with it the crime in the Midwest. Aria's father was only the Consigliere, the adviser to Fiore - Fiore's the Boss. And this is exactly why I loved this book so much. We're talking about true soulmates here! I loved, loved, loved these two together! Matteo was so patient with Gianna and he had such a great sense of humour. I like men like Matteo, so funny and easygoing (apart from the killing of course). He was as different from Luca as Aria is from Gianna and this is another reason this book worked for me. I loved Luca so much, but I didn't want his brother to be like him. A young girl who wants out of this life and the smiling assassin who loves a challenge. He just hadn't banked on the fact she'd make good on her threats. But as a man obsessed, there is no place she can hide, because these two are made for each other. Si este libro fuera solo de Matteo juro que le doy las 5 estrellas y me duele en el alma darle esta calificación, pero Gianna me arruinó toda la lectura yo sabía que lo iba hacer pero no a que nivel.

Many of Shakespeare’s works examine the duty children and younger generations within a family owe their parents, or the older generation—in Hamlet, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice, for example, Shakespeare interrogates filial duty, familial honor, and the difficulties of seeing a parent’s will through. In Romeo and Juliet, however, Shakespeare turns this interrogation on its head. While a child’s honor-bound duty to his or her parent is complex, to say the least, in the world of Hamlet and King Lear, in Romeo and Juliet, it is portrayed outrightly as an absurd, punitive, and even cruel demand. Romeo and Juliet are bound to honor their families’ hatred of one another—when each learns who the other is after falling in love at a party at the Capulets’ home, they are crestfallen to realize that they are enemies by default. Of course, Romeo and Juliet are not, as individuals, each other’s enemies—but the codes of honor their parents have thrust upon them demand that they hate one another simply out of duty. As Romeo and Juliet secretly conspire to shirk that duty, surrender to their love for each other, and marry in great haste, Shakespeare points out the ridiculousness of feuds and grudges like the one between the Capulets and Montagues—ancient resentments whose root cause no one alive can even remember. Shakespeare shows that it is the very fact that Romeo and Juliet’s love is forbidden which spurs their passion—as young teenagers, they long to get in trouble and defy their families, and marrying one another is the ultimate transgression against their parents’ wills. I’ll try to be the best husband I can possibly be, which probably is still much less than you deserve.” But to be honest as much as I loved Gianna in the first few books, in this I was a bit annoyed with her. As much as I admire her fiery spirit and bitchy attitude, the way she treated/thought when Mateo got shot made me mad as hell. Gianna is an untamed young woman... She despised the world that she was force to be raised and she wants to escape from this kind of life... She long to be free from everything that she knows... From the first moment, she is drown to Matteo but she's never going to admit it!!! Romero (17/18? // 20), Luca’s second bodyguard? Cesare and Romero will be responsible for Aria's safety after she and Luca gets married.

The reason as to why I prefer shy and reserved female characters to popular nowadays "badass" heroines at any time of the day is mostly due to how the latter are being written. Make love to me. Just today. I know you don’t love me. Pretend, just for tonight. Hold me in your arms for once.” and one more sidetone: i'm happy for aria and all, i'm sure it ain't easy carrying the mantle of the tightest pussy on planet earth, but she might have a condition and need to visit a doctor soon...... i'm concerned to say the least) this book was essentially 200 pgs of me going 'just put it in luca👿' so we can all get on w our lives He think that he can tamed her and he wants Gianna to be his by any cost. He enjoyed every interaction with her and he can see how her body reacted near to him... Although the plot of the book seemed to largely revolve around when Aria would finally have sex with her husband, I have to say that it was an engaging and thought-provoking story. I absolutely fell in love with these characters, despite their less than ideal start. I hung on every word and was up into the early morning hours reading this story.I’ve always liked morally grey characters, but there’s something different about reading this type of archetype within this particular setting, since it almost seems so close to real life. Lines are completely blurred. Their justifications now become your justifications. You weirdly understand their motives and character.