My Review:New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert continues her smoking-hot series about the O'Malleys—wealthy, powerful, and full of scandalous family secrets.
Carrigan O'Malley has always known her arranged marriage would be more about power and prestige than passion. But after one taste of the hard-bodied, whiskey-voiced James Halloran, she's ruined for anyone else. Too bad James and his family are enemy number 1.
Hallorans vs. O'Malleys—that's how it's always been. James should be thinking more about how to expand his family's empire instead of how silky Carrigan's skin is against his and how he can next get her into his bed. Those are dangerous thoughts. But not nearly as dangerous as he'll be if he can't get what he wants: Carrigan by his side for the rest of their lives.
I liked this one. I think my first GR status update was that I was not expecting so much plot -- I hope that doesn't sound awful but usually when a shirtless guy is on the cover of a book, there may not be a lot of history or plot that isn't forward momentum for the romance. Not so, here -- in fact, for me, there may have been a few too many details about the backstory, and about the two mob families to which the two MCs/love interests belong. This has almost a Romeo and Juliet feel -- definitely forbidden romance. I liked James a lot and the chemistry between he and Carrigan was real so I'm not exactly able to pinpoint why this isn't a higher rating for me. I did feel like this took forever to read and, again, maybe was too long because of all the plot/backstory/history that did not move the romance forward. That being said, this was still an enjoyable read.
I would recommend this to fans of this series and fans of contemporary romance that has a bit of an edge! Katee Robert definitely knows how to write steamy scenes! The Wedding Pact comes out today April 26, 2016, and you can purchase HERE!
She could go home, climb in a bath, and hope that would be enough to soak away her misery. Or she could take this man's hand and run away from reality for awhile. Really, it was no contest. Carrigan slipped her hand into his, "Where we going?"
"Crazy, lovely. We're going crazy."
I'm sad you didn't love this book more, but I also understand where you're coming from. The plot and the history is definitely a huge part of the whole series.
ReplyDeleteSorry this wasn't the best, but at least you didn't hate it! :)
Lovely review, Eva!
It definitely could have been my mood too -- this was right when I needed to read a ton of ARCs prior to starting my TRC re-read -- I liked it a lot and would definitely read more by the author (I did buy book #1) ! :)
DeleteHmmm yeah, I could see how something like this would feel weighed down with plot, especially if you were expecting something more light.
ReplyDeleteJust curious: did you read #1? The characters are intro'd there, so it may have helped. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this series, but it does interest me. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI love contemporary but this one sounds pretty middle of the road. I'll have to think about this one. Thanks for this review!
ReplyDeleteHonestly if it has a hot shirtless guy on the cover I'm not looking for a ton of plot either lol! Not saying that's bad, but it would be annoying if I was looking for a more fluffy read. Great review!
ReplyDeleteForbidden romances are usually a hit. And those abs! Yum!
ReplyDeleteoh I LOVED this one. I love romances with an edge. And Robert did great with the plot here.
ReplyDeleteArranged marriage and forbidden romance are my favorite tropes, but I haven’t picked up this series mostly because of mafia aspect. But Nick assured me that mafia element is not heavy, so I’ll probably read it. I wonder if it wasn’t a higher rating for you because you were expecting a straightforward romance. Great review, Eva!
ReplyDeleteI really need to read this series. I have both of the books. I tried to read the first one, but I couldn't get totally sucked into it so I put it aside temporarily. I think it was a mood thing. This one sounds good though!
ReplyDeleteI have this for review, too. Can you tell I'm a little behind? Lol. I'll be sure to lower my expectations a little. I might skim a little if the details/backstory gets to be too much. Glad to hear you enjoyed it overall. :)
ReplyDeleteoh I am so behind because of my TRC re-read! But it's worth it!!
DeleteI'm with Nick, Eva. I'm sorry you didn't like this one more than you did! I think because I had read the first book, I knew going in it was more plot/detail heavy. It caught me unawares in the first book, but I was actually really interested in the families and how they functioned.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you'll enjoy the first book when (if?) you go back and read it!
I read the synopsis before reading your review and thought that the book had Romeo and Juliet vibes and then you said that in your review! Haha! This sounds like it would be a fun read!
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