Book Review | Twisted Loyalties

I needed a bit of escapism so I went my usual route of mafia romance.

Twisted Loyalties
Cora Reilly

Fabiano was raised to follow in his father’s footsteps as Consigliere of the Chicago Outfit – until the man abandons him. Left to fend for himself, Fabiano is forced to fight for a place in the mafia world. As a ruthless street fighter, he quickly earns his place as the new Enforcer of the Las Vegas Camorra – a man to fear.

Leona wants to build a decent life for herself, away from her drug-addicted mother. But soon she catches the attention of a dangerous man – Fabiano Scuderi. Staying out of trouble and living a normal life are near impossible with a man like him.
Leona knows she needs to avoid Fabiano, but men like him aren’t easy to shake off. They always get what they want.

Fabiano cares about only one thing: the Camorra.
But his attraction to Leona soon puts his unwavering loyalty to the test. Is Leona worth risking everything he’s fought for, and ultimately his life?

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It has been a good few years since I have read a Cora Reilly book and I decided that I may as well dip my toe back in since I needed some escapism. I was interested to read this one because Fabiano is featured in the Born in Blood series, as he is the younger brother of the characters in that series, so I was curious to see how he ended up with the Camorra.

Whilst I enjoyed finding out about Fabiano and how he survived leaving Chicago, I have to say the main storyline I found a little lacklustre. I was anticipating Fabiano as a grown-up to be compelling and someone that I was excited to get to know, unfortunately, this story didn’t really make him shine, since a lot of his character is based around the romance between him and Leona I think this is why it’s not quite what I expected.

I didn’t find Leona the most interesting character ever, I admired her survivor spirit and that she is willing to get her hands dirty, but there was something about her that just didn’t gel for me. Obviously, because of this, I didn’t find the romance quite as enthralling as I hoped, don’t get me wrong it was still a fun read, but not the usual kind of read in one sitting can’t put it down that I’m used to from this author.

Even though the romance wasn’t the most swoon-worthy, this book sets up the rest of the series and one thing is for sure the Falcone brothers seem like a captivating bunch and I am looking forward to reading more about them. Twisted Loyalties was entertaining and it was the escapism I was looking for, didn’t quite hit the same mark as some of this author’s previous work but I am still looking forward to the next book in this series.