Bound by Duty

Another great Mafia-Dark Romance by Cora Reilly! This one involves Dante – The Boss – Cavallaro, who lost his wife four years ago and Valentina, who also lost her husband. Dante thought this would be a marriage of convenience just for the simple fact that he didn't want any emotional connection with his current wife because he still loves his dead wife and he thinks that she wouldn't either because she lost her husband a little under a year. This arrange marriage has to be done so he could be Capo of Chicago, much to Dante's dismay. Dante is a very cold person and is very emotionless towards Valentina which ticked me off because Valentina is a very loyal and kind woman who is harboring a secret that could expose everything including her dead husband. That secret is that her marriage to Antonio, her deceased husband, is just for show, Antonio is gay and was in an relationship with an outsider. Talk about breaking all of the rules of the Mafia Code. The biggest secret of them all is that she and Antonio never consummated their marriage...she still is a VIRGIN! I really felt for Valentina, a woman who was married to a man that had a loving relationship with another man to being currently married to a man that is doing the same thing (but still remains faithful) and Valentina has had enough. She wants to finally be intimate with a man and she actually wants a real marriage with real feelings and I was rooting for her! I love Valentina as the heroine in this book. She's strong minded, independent and stubborn and she gets her way. A lot of twists and turns in this story and boy were there good twists and turns. Dante and Valentina's relationship progressed in this book and finally able to understand Dante's ways and you kinda feel for him as well. Valentina finally melts Dante's cold persona and he opens up to Valentina. She finally has the marriage she always yearned for. This book can be read as stand alone but personally, you're depriving yourself of a great book before and after Bound by Duty. I absolutely love love this book and can't wait for Bound by Hatred! Gianna and Matteo's story.