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Morelli Family #7
Last Words
And they all lived happily ever after... maybe. Find out what happens in the final book in the Morelli family series! PLEASE This is a comprehensive series, not a set of standalones. The story starts in book one, Accidental Witness, and is unlikely to be enjoyed or understood if you have not read the whole series.
468 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2017
351 people are currently reading
771 people want to read
About the author
Sam Mariano
49 books4,843 followersFollow Sam Mariano on Facebook, Instagram (@sammarianobooks), or check out her Blog! If you need to email her, she can be reached at sammarianoauthor@gmail.com (but she is sometimes tardy about checking email. Mateo is very demanding).
Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)
All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)
Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!
Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)
All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)
Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
May 30, 2018
Warning this DOES contain spoilers
4.5 stars … I’m taking away half a star for the bad editing. Over the course of the series I noticed a LOT of mistakes and if I’m noticing it must be bad because I’m hardly a proof reader. Everything else gets 5 out of 5, plot, character development, etc. This really was a fantastic series and ‘The Last Words’ did it justice. Sam’s a rather unique writer in that I wouldn’t exactly describe her books as dark romance but they don’t fit into any other genre, they are a genre all their own with a mixture of mob romance, sexual violence, where the hero loses and the villain wins.
This series I would deem almost a serial, must be read in order, must not skip anything (although technically I think Surviving Mateo could be skipped since its misdirection). Once broken down the story follows a basic format Mia (heroine) falls into the path of Vince (hero) with Mateo (villain) determined to come between them, over the course of the first 4 novels it is abundantly clear this isn’t a redemption arc of Mateo or a HEA for our hero and heroine, it’s the story of the bad guy winning no matter how undeserving he may be. Along the way we meet a host of side characters with their own stories, Adrian, Elise, Francesca, Salvatore and Meg each of them play hero/heroine rolls in there self-narrated stories but are actually the side detail to the main plot.
Meg. So not a main character but still the most controversial one. I’ll start off by saying if you want more Meg gossip join Sam Mariano’s Facebook groups she wrote a whole pdf on Meg answering peoples most frequently asked questions. The gist of the document was this (all those who still hold out hope for a Mateo and Meg reunion please avert eyes NOW) so Mateo never felt any romantic feelings for Meg AT ALL EVER. In Surviving Mateo if she hadn’t had a physical resemblance to Mia she would never have become a maid let alone anything else, Meg is not now nor has ever been his type he likes emotionally vulnerable and clingy. Meg is neither. If Mateo had never met Mia, Meg would have never been in the story, never been a maid, never been in Mateo’s bed, never been anything except dead for her involvement with Antonio however unwilling. At the beginning of Surviving Mateo, Mateo has a problem he’s desperately in love with Mia but she’s still in love with Vince and Vince is constantly on guard around Mateo so Mateo only see’s Mia once a week at family dinner. This is all explained in Entrapment which I strongly suggest everyone read, because it’s fantastic. Then along comes Meg, who looks enough like Mia that he can pretend in bed but who is not his type, in an internal monologue Mateo says something to the gist of ‘just because I let you suck my dick doesn’t mean you mean anything to me’ which sums up his feelings for Meg at that time, but then Meg befriends Mia and suddenly Mateo is getting plenty of Mia time, she is even having sleep over’s and Meg becomes a lot more important to Mateo. She’s literally his direct route to Mia, so Mateo (evil genius that he is) comes up with a plan, Meg’s main motivator from Mateo is she wants security and he will give her that, he will say all the right things even if his actions don’t match his words and Meg’s ego will do the rest. Meg’s ego/opinion of herself is so high she could never even comprehend the idea that she isn’t important to Mateo and she will continue bringing Mia around and Mateo even if he doesn’t get to be with Mia will at least manage to be a part of her life. It is with this plan in mind that he asks Meg to marry him (he has no plan to actually ever marry her but an engagement signifies commitment even if realistically he’s not committed to her at all). Then everything changes, when Vince tells Mia he was in on the assassination attempt on Mateo, Mia’s romantic feelings for Vince start to dissolve and she starts to direct that affection towards Mateo, the extra scene in Twice Burned is when Mateo realises Mia loves him back and makes the decision to get her back but he has a few problems the biggest one being Meg. She’s pregnant and they are engaged, now this doesn’t matter to Mateo at all he would leave her on the spot but he knows Mia, he knows she absorbs guilt like a sponge if he were to dumb his pregnant fiancé for her, especially because Meg and Mia are best friends Mia will be consumed with guilt and self-loathing. So he devises his plan, Meg isn’t sexually possessive, as long as she believes her place to be secure she will tolerate/find some manner to enjoy anything he throws at her, and what he throws at her is sister wives. His plan is to bring Mia in with Meg’s permission wait awhile then phase Meg out, which is exactly what he does. This plan only works because Meg is both egotistical and shallow, Meg doesn’t believe she is either of these things so it doesn’t come across as noticeably in Surviving Mateo (because we are limited to Meg as the narrator) as it will in every novel after. But it is important to note that after the death of her husband and father of her child (even if he was a crappy one) she feels no sorrow but happily drinks wine planning her new life, she also pursues a relationship with Mateo in order to secure her position well before she falls in love with him and ignores Elise (a woman who has no reason to lie) when she tells her Mateo raped Mia in favour of believing a known liar (Mateo) and his biggest enabler (Mia). If Meg can ignore unpleasant truths she will until they are shoved down her throat there are many examples of her engaging in this behaviour 1)her failure to realise until Sal and Francesca’s wedding that Mateo and Mia are in love despite EVERYONE else having been aware of it for ages, 2)she never checks on Mia in Resisting Mateo despite being concerned Mateo was raping her, 3)her continued belief that Mia not her is the disposable one in there little threesome despite nearly everything Mateo said to her when he proposed the idea being disproven within a week, 4)the fact that Meg and Mateo’s sex life nearly evaporates once he has Mia and starts only having sex with Meg more as a reward when she assists him with Mia. Meg is just sticking her head in the sand which Mateo knew she would do, In chapter 20 of Last words Mateo is correct in his summery of Meg ‘the woman doesn’t stand for a dam thing’, she didn’t betray Mia out of jealousy or fear she did it to preserve her lifestyle. For all her grand talk about rape being her no go zone she told Mia’s crazy ex wear to find her, to everyone who says Meg didn’t know what she was doing or didn’t expect the results I say two things, first read the extra chapter in Coming Home were Meg states her preference is for Vince not to kill Mia but it would be cleaner if he did, secondly Sam Mariano in numerous interviews has stated Meg knew exactly what she was doing and that Mia in all likelihood would be seriously hurt if not killed. Furthermore Sam reiterates it was motivated by security after nearly 5 years with Mateo most of the love Meg had for him in Surviving Mateo has been eroded and she stays for the security he provides, as Mateo has stated numerous times he wears on people, Beth is the perfect example of this but everyone seems to forget about her by this stage Meg is nearly worn out. Meg has known for years that Mateo loves Mia more, that he gives Mia more attention and time, that Mateo and Mia have a more plentiful sex life, none of these things bothered her as long as she was able to maintain the illusion that she was the more valuable one to Mateo. This illusion is maintained because Mateo appears to abide by her no children with Mia rule (Meg made that rule because she felt as long as she had that area cornered she’d always be more valuable to Mateo, what she doesn’t know is it doesn’t matter to Mateo who mothers his children, giving him a child doesn’t make a woman any more important to him than a passer-by on the street, he bonds with the child once its born not the mother) what Meg doesn’t know is Mateo is only abiding by that rule because Mia doesn’t want to hurt Meg and it suits Mateo to have alone time with Mia without a child to disrupt their relationship as he states to Adrian but for Vince he could have waited another 5-6 years before he and Mia had children (Sam has stated he viewed Meg more as a surrogate, he always intended to raise any children she bore with Mia that’s why he is so insistent on Rosalie bonding with Mia, he isn’t opposed to Meg being involved much like Adrian is involved but in his head the parenting couple is Mia and himself). Eventually Meg is no longer able to continue the illusion she is the more important partner and that’s when she betrays Mia (her ah ha moment comes when she’s pregnant giving Mateo a son he needs and yet he still doesn’t want her, it’s the lightbulb moment when she realises being the mother of his children means nothing to him, which considering he murdered the first mother of his child she should have known that). Megs action isn’t desperate it’s calculated she had an entire week to change her mind, instead she sends her ONLY friend and stalwart supporter off knowing what awaits her, it’s cold and cutthroat to give Meg the best result. She breaks up with Mateo only because it has become clear to her that even with Mia gone she means very little to him but she’s still not racked with remorse over what she has done instead she now has to figure out what to do to protect herself from the consequences. It is for this reason she confesses to Mia, she doesn’t feel guilty but she needs Mia on her side so that she will protect her if Mateo ever finds out, If Mateo were to find out but Mia didn’t already know he could arrange an ‘accident’ for Meg and Mia would never even suspect him because she would never know he had any reason to want Meg dead. Sam recently stated if she was going to write these novels over she would remove Surviving Mateo and include Meg and Mateo’s relationship in Twice Burned from Adrian’s opinion not giving Meg any narration until Resisting Mateo, apparently she wanted to show the progression of a person turning into a villain. Meg is always the same person, she literally never changes certain aspects of her personality become more prominent the longer she is around Mateo. That’s what Sam was trying to highlight how a seemingly normal enough person could become a villain (and yes Meg lovers Sam wrote her as a villain not a heroine). Meg’s perspective in Last Words is very illuminating when Mateo confronts her she isn’t 100% sure he was talking about Vince issue, Sam says this is because Meg’s ego would have gotten her killed by Mateo long ago without Mia there to temper his more murder impulses, Meg’s arrogant and does things she knows she shouldn’t because she likes to envision herself as bad ass, she plays with the no cross line with Mateo and her ego makes her believe she can get away with it so but for Mia she’d already be dead many years previous. I won’t say whether she lives or dies when Mateo is through with her because everyone should just read the book but I will say Sam has firmly committed to NEVER writing another Meg like character ever again, her basis was that people who liked Meg failed to see the character Sam had actually written, they superimposed feelings or emotions or motivations Meg just didn’t possess. Here are the hard facts, Meg didn’t mind sharing Mateo at all, she had no problem with him loving and having sex with Mia more than her as long as her position was secure, her initial bad reaction was based on the fear he would replace her with Mia but once he (falsely) assured her that wouldn’t happen she had no problem with the arrangement until it became clear he no longer wanted her. There is also the implication although Sam has never confirmed this that similar to the way Mateo thought he was in love with Beth until he experienced the real deal with Mia, Meg was also like that with Mateo. At the beginning he wow’s her with him being so magnetic and the fabulous lifestyle, security, power (Meg is very attracted to power) but like Mateo Meg doesn’t know what love is, they never have any form of emotional connection but Meg being as shallow as a fish bowl has never experienced an emotional connection with anyone (very similar to Mateo) so easily gets swept up.
Second half of this novel deals with Vince our not so heroic hero. I liked Vince; he wants to be good but is hampered by his rivalry with Mateo, an explosive temper and generally being immature. Mia is magnetic, she draws in everyone around her so you can’t really fault him for his infatuation but a good deal of his desire has become a desire to best Mateo. He wants to be Mia’s prince charming rescuing her from the ogre, only problem Mia prefers this ogre warts and all. I didn’t like Carly she was just too accommodating and even if that’s what Vince needs it frustrated me, how can any woman okay knowing her partner is infatuated with another woman. Very very frustrating. I’m glad Vince survives despite becoming exactly what he always hated when he raped Mia I still wanted him to get a HEA and he has.
Overall the series was the progressive tale of how despite making every mistake possible the villain (Mateo) ends up getting the girl, no matter how undeserving. Elise and Adrian, Francesca and Sal, Carly and Vince all get HEA and Meg well read the book and find out what she gets …
4.5 stars … I’m taking away half a star for the bad editing. Over the course of the series I noticed a LOT of mistakes and if I’m noticing it must be bad because I’m hardly a proof reader. Everything else gets 5 out of 5, plot, character development, etc. This really was a fantastic series and ‘The Last Words’ did it justice. Sam’s a rather unique writer in that I wouldn’t exactly describe her books as dark romance but they don’t fit into any other genre, they are a genre all their own with a mixture of mob romance, sexual violence, where the hero loses and the villain wins.
This series I would deem almost a serial, must be read in order, must not skip anything (although technically I think Surviving Mateo could be skipped since its misdirection). Once broken down the story follows a basic format Mia (heroine) falls into the path of Vince (hero) with Mateo (villain) determined to come between them, over the course of the first 4 novels it is abundantly clear this isn’t a redemption arc of Mateo or a HEA for our hero and heroine, it’s the story of the bad guy winning no matter how undeserving he may be. Along the way we meet a host of side characters with their own stories, Adrian, Elise, Francesca, Salvatore and Meg each of them play hero/heroine rolls in there self-narrated stories but are actually the side detail to the main plot.
Meg. So not a main character but still the most controversial one. I’ll start off by saying if you want more Meg gossip join Sam Mariano’s Facebook groups she wrote a whole pdf on Meg answering peoples most frequently asked questions. The gist of the document was this (all those who still hold out hope for a Mateo and Meg reunion please avert eyes NOW) so Mateo never felt any romantic feelings for Meg AT ALL EVER. In Surviving Mateo if she hadn’t had a physical resemblance to Mia she would never have become a maid let alone anything else, Meg is not now nor has ever been his type he likes emotionally vulnerable and clingy. Meg is neither. If Mateo had never met Mia, Meg would have never been in the story, never been a maid, never been in Mateo’s bed, never been anything except dead for her involvement with Antonio however unwilling. At the beginning of Surviving Mateo, Mateo has a problem he’s desperately in love with Mia but she’s still in love with Vince and Vince is constantly on guard around Mateo so Mateo only see’s Mia once a week at family dinner. This is all explained in Entrapment which I strongly suggest everyone read, because it’s fantastic. Then along comes Meg, who looks enough like Mia that he can pretend in bed but who is not his type, in an internal monologue Mateo says something to the gist of ‘just because I let you suck my dick doesn’t mean you mean anything to me’ which sums up his feelings for Meg at that time, but then Meg befriends Mia and suddenly Mateo is getting plenty of Mia time, she is even having sleep over’s and Meg becomes a lot more important to Mateo. She’s literally his direct route to Mia, so Mateo (evil genius that he is) comes up with a plan, Meg’s main motivator from Mateo is she wants security and he will give her that, he will say all the right things even if his actions don’t match his words and Meg’s ego will do the rest. Meg’s ego/opinion of herself is so high she could never even comprehend the idea that she isn’t important to Mateo and she will continue bringing Mia around and Mateo even if he doesn’t get to be with Mia will at least manage to be a part of her life. It is with this plan in mind that he asks Meg to marry him (he has no plan to actually ever marry her but an engagement signifies commitment even if realistically he’s not committed to her at all). Then everything changes, when Vince tells Mia he was in on the assassination attempt on Mateo, Mia’s romantic feelings for Vince start to dissolve and she starts to direct that affection towards Mateo, the extra scene in Twice Burned is when Mateo realises Mia loves him back and makes the decision to get her back but he has a few problems the biggest one being Meg. She’s pregnant and they are engaged, now this doesn’t matter to Mateo at all he would leave her on the spot but he knows Mia, he knows she absorbs guilt like a sponge if he were to dumb his pregnant fiancé for her, especially because Meg and Mia are best friends Mia will be consumed with guilt and self-loathing. So he devises his plan, Meg isn’t sexually possessive, as long as she believes her place to be secure she will tolerate/find some manner to enjoy anything he throws at her, and what he throws at her is sister wives. His plan is to bring Mia in with Meg’s permission wait awhile then phase Meg out, which is exactly what he does. This plan only works because Meg is both egotistical and shallow, Meg doesn’t believe she is either of these things so it doesn’t come across as noticeably in Surviving Mateo (because we are limited to Meg as the narrator) as it will in every novel after. But it is important to note that after the death of her husband and father of her child (even if he was a crappy one) she feels no sorrow but happily drinks wine planning her new life, she also pursues a relationship with Mateo in order to secure her position well before she falls in love with him and ignores Elise (a woman who has no reason to lie) when she tells her Mateo raped Mia in favour of believing a known liar (Mateo) and his biggest enabler (Mia). If Meg can ignore unpleasant truths she will until they are shoved down her throat there are many examples of her engaging in this behaviour 1)her failure to realise until Sal and Francesca’s wedding that Mateo and Mia are in love despite EVERYONE else having been aware of it for ages, 2)she never checks on Mia in Resisting Mateo despite being concerned Mateo was raping her, 3)her continued belief that Mia not her is the disposable one in there little threesome despite nearly everything Mateo said to her when he proposed the idea being disproven within a week, 4)the fact that Meg and Mateo’s sex life nearly evaporates once he has Mia and starts only having sex with Meg more as a reward when she assists him with Mia. Meg is just sticking her head in the sand which Mateo knew she would do, In chapter 20 of Last words Mateo is correct in his summery of Meg ‘the woman doesn’t stand for a dam thing’, she didn’t betray Mia out of jealousy or fear she did it to preserve her lifestyle. For all her grand talk about rape being her no go zone she told Mia’s crazy ex wear to find her, to everyone who says Meg didn’t know what she was doing or didn’t expect the results I say two things, first read the extra chapter in Coming Home were Meg states her preference is for Vince not to kill Mia but it would be cleaner if he did, secondly Sam Mariano in numerous interviews has stated Meg knew exactly what she was doing and that Mia in all likelihood would be seriously hurt if not killed. Furthermore Sam reiterates it was motivated by security after nearly 5 years with Mateo most of the love Meg had for him in Surviving Mateo has been eroded and she stays for the security he provides, as Mateo has stated numerous times he wears on people, Beth is the perfect example of this but everyone seems to forget about her by this stage Meg is nearly worn out. Meg has known for years that Mateo loves Mia more, that he gives Mia more attention and time, that Mateo and Mia have a more plentiful sex life, none of these things bothered her as long as she was able to maintain the illusion that she was the more valuable one to Mateo. This illusion is maintained because Mateo appears to abide by her no children with Mia rule (Meg made that rule because she felt as long as she had that area cornered she’d always be more valuable to Mateo, what she doesn’t know is it doesn’t matter to Mateo who mothers his children, giving him a child doesn’t make a woman any more important to him than a passer-by on the street, he bonds with the child once its born not the mother) what Meg doesn’t know is Mateo is only abiding by that rule because Mia doesn’t want to hurt Meg and it suits Mateo to have alone time with Mia without a child to disrupt their relationship as he states to Adrian but for Vince he could have waited another 5-6 years before he and Mia had children (Sam has stated he viewed Meg more as a surrogate, he always intended to raise any children she bore with Mia that’s why he is so insistent on Rosalie bonding with Mia, he isn’t opposed to Meg being involved much like Adrian is involved but in his head the parenting couple is Mia and himself). Eventually Meg is no longer able to continue the illusion she is the more important partner and that’s when she betrays Mia (her ah ha moment comes when she’s pregnant giving Mateo a son he needs and yet he still doesn’t want her, it’s the lightbulb moment when she realises being the mother of his children means nothing to him, which considering he murdered the first mother of his child she should have known that). Megs action isn’t desperate it’s calculated she had an entire week to change her mind, instead she sends her ONLY friend and stalwart supporter off knowing what awaits her, it’s cold and cutthroat to give Meg the best result. She breaks up with Mateo only because it has become clear to her that even with Mia gone she means very little to him but she’s still not racked with remorse over what she has done instead she now has to figure out what to do to protect herself from the consequences. It is for this reason she confesses to Mia, she doesn’t feel guilty but she needs Mia on her side so that she will protect her if Mateo ever finds out, If Mateo were to find out but Mia didn’t already know he could arrange an ‘accident’ for Meg and Mia would never even suspect him because she would never know he had any reason to want Meg dead. Sam recently stated if she was going to write these novels over she would remove Surviving Mateo and include Meg and Mateo’s relationship in Twice Burned from Adrian’s opinion not giving Meg any narration until Resisting Mateo, apparently she wanted to show the progression of a person turning into a villain. Meg is always the same person, she literally never changes certain aspects of her personality become more prominent the longer she is around Mateo. That’s what Sam was trying to highlight how a seemingly normal enough person could become a villain (and yes Meg lovers Sam wrote her as a villain not a heroine). Meg’s perspective in Last Words is very illuminating when Mateo confronts her she isn’t 100% sure he was talking about Vince issue, Sam says this is because Meg’s ego would have gotten her killed by Mateo long ago without Mia there to temper his more murder impulses, Meg’s arrogant and does things she knows she shouldn’t because she likes to envision herself as bad ass, she plays with the no cross line with Mateo and her ego makes her believe she can get away with it so but for Mia she’d already be dead many years previous. I won’t say whether she lives or dies when Mateo is through with her because everyone should just read the book but I will say Sam has firmly committed to NEVER writing another Meg like character ever again, her basis was that people who liked Meg failed to see the character Sam had actually written, they superimposed feelings or emotions or motivations Meg just didn’t possess. Here are the hard facts, Meg didn’t mind sharing Mateo at all, she had no problem with him loving and having sex with Mia more than her as long as her position was secure, her initial bad reaction was based on the fear he would replace her with Mia but once he (falsely) assured her that wouldn’t happen she had no problem with the arrangement until it became clear he no longer wanted her. There is also the implication although Sam has never confirmed this that similar to the way Mateo thought he was in love with Beth until he experienced the real deal with Mia, Meg was also like that with Mateo. At the beginning he wow’s her with him being so magnetic and the fabulous lifestyle, security, power (Meg is very attracted to power) but like Mateo Meg doesn’t know what love is, they never have any form of emotional connection but Meg being as shallow as a fish bowl has never experienced an emotional connection with anyone (very similar to Mateo) so easily gets swept up.
Second half of this novel deals with Vince our not so heroic hero. I liked Vince; he wants to be good but is hampered by his rivalry with Mateo, an explosive temper and generally being immature. Mia is magnetic, she draws in everyone around her so you can’t really fault him for his infatuation but a good deal of his desire has become a desire to best Mateo. He wants to be Mia’s prince charming rescuing her from the ogre, only problem Mia prefers this ogre warts and all. I didn’t like Carly she was just too accommodating and even if that’s what Vince needs it frustrated me, how can any woman okay knowing her partner is infatuated with another woman. Very very frustrating. I’m glad Vince survives despite becoming exactly what he always hated when he raped Mia I still wanted him to get a HEA and he has.
Overall the series was the progressive tale of how despite making every mistake possible the villain (Mateo) ends up getting the girl, no matter how undeserving. Elise and Adrian, Francesca and Sal, Carly and Vince all get HEA and Meg well read the book and find out what she gets …
March 6, 2019
I want my time back I spent reading this series. #teamMEG
#ihateMIA
#Mateocangooveracliff
#ihateMIA
#Mateocangooveracliff
June 18, 2018
Ahh! I have so many feelings! 😍😭😠😂 The biggest is that I'm sad this part of the story is over. I'm definitely reading the spin-off series soon though, because apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment. Full review to come.
May 20, 2024
7 books in less than a week. My mind is scrambled. This was such an epic series. I can’t put into words how twisted this was. Every page left me with more questions than answers. Unpredictable is the best way possible. I am a lover of unconventional romances and this was the pinnacle of unconventional. What a buck wild ride. Hands down one of my favourites series I’ve ever read.
November 14, 2018
Am I the only person that hoped that someone, ANYONE would just slit Matteo's f*#king throat? His hypocrisy knows no bounds. Everyone condemns Vince's actions (which are condemnable) but no one except Adrian calls Matteo out on his. IMO what he did to Mia in terms of both physical & psychological abuse throughout the series is far worse but everyone just ignores his actions.
June 23, 2021
My hatred of both Mia and Mateo is so great. They disgust me.
Mia, the ultimate enabling doormat. She allows herself to be controlled by Mateo and is dumb enough to like it. After all, he gives her expensive clothes, a mansion to live in and he is handsome. So who cares about stuff like, freedom, personality, friends, family, careers, choices, interests or hobbies? Not Mia, that's for sure. She is not allowed out of the house unless Adrian or Mateo are with her, she spends her days in her home looking at her clothes, playing with Mateo's children or having sex with Mateo. That's it. And she's young, so maybe that will go on for the next 50 years.
And as bad as Mia is, then there is the disgusting Mateo. He spies on his entire family. Kills his own family members too. (Sorry Joey, but at least you missed the Sister Wives part) Worse killed poor Beth. Like, maybe she only got with a cop and tried to rat you out, because she wanted to leave you, and you wound't let her leave. Sorry, all the comments about Beth being selfish and mean don't convince me, because nothing says more about being selfish and mean, than killing women who want to leave you. And of course, his pure hatred and cruelty toward Meg. The mother of his children and a woman who saved his life. Did she mess up, and want to get rid of Mia? Yes, but it still took her 4 freakin years of being pulled along and lied to before that time came. So, here we have the guy who killed his ex (for wanting to leave, cause she no longer loved him) and felt he was justified in keeping Meg in a dungeon, making her give birth without pain relief and plotting to kill her. Besides those things, he is a rapist, he never allows his housekeeper, Maria freedom for a vacation, nor is Maria allowed to quit. Poor Maria. He also at one point wanted to kill Cherie, because she yelled at Mia. And beat Vince half to death, after stealing his girlfriend. Oh, and Mia isn't allowed to have male friends or visit her mother much, because Mateo says so.
Ugh. Mateo is gross. He makes my skin crawl, whenever a sex scene comes up between him and Mia I have to skip forward, because those two are not sexy. And they may think they are in love, but they are not. Mateo's view of a loving act for Mia is not killing her best friend or her ex boyfriend. Or not making her have an abortion. This is what he gifts her.
Vince. I really liked him in the first book, but his character just gest ruined so Mateo and Mia can be the good guys. I have a hard time believing he still wanted Mia 4-5 years later. That is a long, long time. I did like Carly though. She was worth 1000 Mia's. So at least Vince has her.
My only hope for a secret ending is Roman (Meg's son and Mateo's heir) grows up in 30 years and takes over his dad's empire and kills all the people that kept Meg locked up in a dungeon.
Mia, the ultimate enabling doormat. She allows herself to be controlled by Mateo and is dumb enough to like it. After all, he gives her expensive clothes, a mansion to live in and he is handsome. So who cares about stuff like, freedom, personality, friends, family, careers, choices, interests or hobbies? Not Mia, that's for sure. She is not allowed out of the house unless Adrian or Mateo are with her, she spends her days in her home looking at her clothes, playing with Mateo's children or having sex with Mateo. That's it. And she's young, so maybe that will go on for the next 50 years.
And as bad as Mia is, then there is the disgusting Mateo. He spies on his entire family. Kills his own family members too. (Sorry Joey, but at least you missed the Sister Wives part) Worse killed poor Beth. Like, maybe she only got with a cop and tried to rat you out, because she wanted to leave you, and you wound't let her leave. Sorry, all the comments about Beth being selfish and mean don't convince me, because nothing says more about being selfish and mean, than killing women who want to leave you. And of course, his pure hatred and cruelty toward Meg. The mother of his children and a woman who saved his life. Did she mess up, and want to get rid of Mia? Yes, but it still took her 4 freakin years of being pulled along and lied to before that time came. So, here we have the guy who killed his ex (for wanting to leave, cause she no longer loved him) and felt he was justified in keeping Meg in a dungeon, making her give birth without pain relief and plotting to kill her. Besides those things, he is a rapist, he never allows his housekeeper, Maria freedom for a vacation, nor is Maria allowed to quit. Poor Maria. He also at one point wanted to kill Cherie, because she yelled at Mia. And beat Vince half to death, after stealing his girlfriend. Oh, and Mia isn't allowed to have male friends or visit her mother much, because Mateo says so.
Ugh. Mateo is gross. He makes my skin crawl, whenever a sex scene comes up between him and Mia I have to skip forward, because those two are not sexy. And they may think they are in love, but they are not. Mateo's view of a loving act for Mia is not killing her best friend or her ex boyfriend. Or not making her have an abortion. This is what he gifts her.
Vince. I really liked him in the first book, but his character just gest ruined so Mateo and Mia can be the good guys. I have a hard time believing he still wanted Mia 4-5 years later. That is a long, long time. I did like Carly though. She was worth 1000 Mia's. So at least Vince has her.
My only hope for a secret ending is Roman (Meg's son and Mateo's heir) grows up in 30 years and takes over his dad's empire and kills all the people that kept Meg locked up in a dungeon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2018
Don't bother buying
What a crap series. I really don't know why I stuck with it. The girls are stupid and brain washed. I give the entire series a 2.5 due to the extremely long monologues, stupid girls that love their rapists and a ton of other crap.
What a crap series. I really don't know why I stuck with it. The girls are stupid and brain washed. I give the entire series a 2.5 due to the extremely long monologues, stupid girls that love their rapists and a ton of other crap.
June 5, 2022
Sigh… how does Sam Mariano get me to read this series
And love this book after the sister-wives situation that I disliked? Magic lol.
This book is unique in that it gives us 5 POVs. Yes. You read that right. F-I-V-E: Mateo, Mia, Meg, Vince, and Carly. Who’s Carly? I’ll get to her in a minute.
This starts off right after Mia’s confession about Meg’s betrayal- she explains her part in Vince’s kidnapping of Mia, where he then impregnated her 😬 and. MATEO. IS. P!SS€D 😅😬. No one betrays Mateo. No one 😬 and there are consequences for the betrayal. Good thing Mia has a soft heart- she’s the one that helps balance out Mateo’s crazy.
What I liked/loved-POSSIBLE SPOILERS
—the different POVs. I can’t remember the last time I read a book (that wasn’t fantasy) where there were this many POVs. I liked knowing things the characters didn’t 😉
—the BANTER- ERMAGOD! The dinner scene when Meg comes out of the dungeon to eat was EVERYTHING 😂. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been laughing. But. I. Could. Not. Help. Myself 😂😂💀💀💀😅😅😅. I’m horrible 🤣🤣🤣. I highlighted so many things that might seem like nothing but totally tickled my pickle 🙃
—the twists and turns. Of course I was surprised when a few things happened. I was like 😳 and then 😱… and finally 🤯. Lol. Good job SM. You blew my mind with a few things 👀
—how manipulative Mateo is. This man. He is the d€v!l 😈 but I can respect how he thinks. The way he’s molded the people around him have made them all paranoid and question their sanity. Bahahahaha. I love it 🙃. But yet… I also feel bad 😬😅. Welp… oh well 🤣
—Adrian’s sage advice, even his second-husband role to Mia. I love this man lol (but don’t even try to get Elise jealous. She’ll cut a b 😅). When Mateo is about to go off the fails, he’s there to calm him down 👏🏻 but he’s not the only one 👀
—Mia’s quiet manipulation. Look. It may SEEM like she’s a meek, submissive mouse, but this woman holds more power in her ring finger than the common man has in his dominant hand 👀. She has a big heart and she wants people to be happy… but she also knows the rules and the way things need to play out… and she’ll do whatever it takes to get things in order 😅
—Vince+Carly. Listen. I know many people hated him in book 6, but this man hasn’t had the best life and had a tough upbringing. I felt bad for him 😬🫤. It’s not his fault he grew up in a world where Mateo is his “boss”. I mean. I think I’d go crazy too 😅. He deserves a woman in his life, and Carly was pretty darn amazing
—the smexy times. We mostly see Vince and Carly. I didn’t mind that at all 💅 ESPECIALLY the CNC scene 🥵🔥😈. We get some FTB Mateo/Mia scenes as well (and a decent full ish one towards the end), but the Carly/Vince ones were 🔥🔥🔥🥵🥵🥵. I somehow felt like they were more compatible as a couple, intimacy wise, than Mia and Vince in the early books, which is a good thing 🙃
—the Vince/Mateo show off. Oh godddddd… I almost pulled all my hair out during these scenes… the tests… the buildup… the breakdowns… the way Mateo lost it… oh my gosh… how anyone survived is a miracle 😬😅 they just know how to push each other’s buttons 🙃
—Rafe. ‘Nuff said. I can’t wait to read the Vegas Morelli series 👀
—the angst. It’s SM. Of course I’m gonna love this. My nerves were on edge throughout the book 👀
What I didn’t love/wanted more of:
—I wish we got more of a longer epilogue for Vince and Carly. I wanted more detail on their lives 🥺🫤. Ugh. There’s a lot I could say in this, but this review would be super long. Honestly, I just wanted to hug Vince a lot. Poor guy. He deserves an HEA
Overall, I loved it 😈
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd
-violence
-CNC
-the h touches OM when she’s in a desperate situation
-no c0nd0ms
And love this book after the sister-wives situation that I disliked? Magic lol.
This book is unique in that it gives us 5 POVs. Yes. You read that right. F-I-V-E: Mateo, Mia, Meg, Vince, and Carly. Who’s Carly? I’ll get to her in a minute.
This starts off right after Mia’s confession about Meg’s betrayal- she explains her part in Vince’s kidnapping of Mia, where he then impregnated her 😬 and. MATEO. IS. P!SS€D 😅😬. No one betrays Mateo. No one 😬 and there are consequences for the betrayal. Good thing Mia has a soft heart- she’s the one that helps balance out Mateo’s crazy.
What I liked/loved-POSSIBLE SPOILERS
—the different POVs. I can’t remember the last time I read a book (that wasn’t fantasy) where there were this many POVs. I liked knowing things the characters didn’t 😉
—the BANTER- ERMAGOD! The dinner scene when Meg comes out of the dungeon to eat was EVERYTHING 😂. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been laughing. But. I. Could. Not. Help. Myself 😂😂💀💀💀😅😅😅. I’m horrible 🤣🤣🤣. I highlighted so many things that might seem like nothing but totally tickled my pickle 🙃
—the twists and turns. Of course I was surprised when a few things happened. I was like 😳 and then 😱… and finally 🤯. Lol. Good job SM. You blew my mind with a few things 👀
—how manipulative Mateo is. This man. He is the d€v!l 😈 but I can respect how he thinks. The way he’s molded the people around him have made them all paranoid and question their sanity. Bahahahaha. I love it 🙃. But yet… I also feel bad 😬😅. Welp… oh well 🤣
—Adrian’s sage advice, even his second-husband role to Mia. I love this man lol (but don’t even try to get Elise jealous. She’ll cut a b 😅). When Mateo is about to go off the fails, he’s there to calm him down 👏🏻 but he’s not the only one 👀
—Mia’s quiet manipulation. Look. It may SEEM like she’s a meek, submissive mouse, but this woman holds more power in her ring finger than the common man has in his dominant hand 👀. She has a big heart and she wants people to be happy… but she also knows the rules and the way things need to play out… and she’ll do whatever it takes to get things in order 😅
—Vince+Carly. Listen. I know many people hated him in book 6, but this man hasn’t had the best life and had a tough upbringing. I felt bad for him 😬🫤. It’s not his fault he grew up in a world where Mateo is his “boss”. I mean. I think I’d go crazy too 😅. He deserves a woman in his life, and Carly was pretty darn amazing
—the smexy times. We mostly see Vince and Carly. I didn’t mind that at all 💅 ESPECIALLY the CNC scene 🥵🔥😈. We get some FTB Mateo/Mia scenes as well (and a decent full ish one towards the end), but the Carly/Vince ones were 🔥🔥🔥🥵🥵🥵. I somehow felt like they were more compatible as a couple, intimacy wise, than Mia and Vince in the early books, which is a good thing 🙃
—the Vince/Mateo show off. Oh godddddd… I almost pulled all my hair out during these scenes… the tests… the buildup… the breakdowns… the way Mateo lost it… oh my gosh… how anyone survived is a miracle 😬😅 they just know how to push each other’s buttons 🙃
—Rafe. ‘Nuff said. I can’t wait to read the Vegas Morelli series 👀
—the angst. It’s SM. Of course I’m gonna love this. My nerves were on edge throughout the book 👀
What I didn’t love/wanted more of:
—I wish we got more of a longer epilogue for Vince and Carly. I wanted more detail on their lives 🥺🫤. Ugh. There’s a lot I could say in this, but this review would be super long. Honestly, I just wanted to hug Vince a lot. Poor guy. He deserves an HEA
Overall, I loved it 😈
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd
-violence
-CNC
-the h touches OM when she’s in a desperate situation
-no c0nd0ms
September 27, 2020
If I could give this a 0 rating or negative I would. I came across this author after reading untouchables and thought what the heck, I love a good mafia book, but boy... She went from book 1, glorifying rape of a teenager to stockholm syndrome in the next few books when we find out such idiot tstl teen is in love with her older rapist. Also, said idiot teen is also sleeping with both the cousin and the rapist . Then, she introduces, another emotionally unstable , stoic , egotistic character into the mix , who, contrary to her trying to villainize the woman, is better suited for her counterpart , Mateo because (uh.. age?, no rape, no love triangle, same dissociative personality). Then, she gets pregnant. Good... why not keep them together and then delve deeper into the very thing this genre is about? It's a Mafia story, is it not? But, no we get rape, after rape, after rape. Glorified and ignored. All the women were idiots all the men crazy, psychopath. Its like this is all about sexual abuse and a bunch of pedophiliac men lusting over a teenage girl. She was 18 for god sake. Could there not be any one living human woman in her 20's not involved with your relative that you could have written for him to fall into love with? Maybe someone from an opposing Mafia family to make it more interesting?
This is a romance book (last I checked the classification), but there is no romance. How is the readers suppose to believe that there is any emotions or romantic correlations in this book when everyone is just raping, or coercing the relationship? I get this is fiction and I'm all for it, but this book just keeps traveling down the road of sexual assault book after book... It gets disheartening to continuously read it and then not think about how the fact that the majority of your readers are females.
And then there is this issue of having this guy dispose the women he "supposedly" loves (ie. Beth, to some extent Meg) because he doesn't really care for them anymore? They bore your damn offspring! And yet, you give him a HEA with his teenage lover , who mind you was carrying another child , a product of RAPE too. At some point, you would think that that girl/kid MIA (dumber than a doorknob, or course , she's a teen, probably not even cognitively developed yet!!) would suffer from all that trauma because NO damn 18 year old in her right mind is strong enough to withstand this type of abuse. Rape, getting abused, almost getting killed, raped, pregnant by her rapist. But, no , we focus on giving him sister wives instead!
Ugh... I think this just got me all warped up. Granted, I didn't read Adrian's book and skipped the story of Francesca, but still... this is just too sick and twisted, which mind you, I have read a good deal of dark books. But this, this is just beyond the scope of my imagination. Not because of the darkness, but because the characterization of each character leaves no room for redemption, man or woman. YOU have absolutely no HERO or HEROINE in this story and no romance, no real story about the mafia (its inner workings, nothing. ) Nothing but a bunch of sick twisted things to constantly showcase sexual abuse as if its something to fantasize about.
This is sad, because despite the sexual assault in the "untouchable" book, there was redemption, and development of the characters so we can see and hopefully understand beyond that and while that is not my favorite book, it was a good, solid book that I enjoyed, thoroughly. This series, was just garbage.
This is a romance book (last I checked the classification), but there is no romance. How is the readers suppose to believe that there is any emotions or romantic correlations in this book when everyone is just raping, or coercing the relationship? I get this is fiction and I'm all for it, but this book just keeps traveling down the road of sexual assault book after book... It gets disheartening to continuously read it and then not think about how the fact that the majority of your readers are females.
And then there is this issue of having this guy dispose the women he "supposedly" loves (ie. Beth, to some extent Meg) because he doesn't really care for them anymore? They bore your damn offspring! And yet, you give him a HEA with his teenage lover , who mind you was carrying another child , a product of RAPE too. At some point, you would think that that girl/kid MIA (dumber than a doorknob, or course , she's a teen, probably not even cognitively developed yet!!) would suffer from all that trauma because NO damn 18 year old in her right mind is strong enough to withstand this type of abuse. Rape, getting abused, almost getting killed, raped, pregnant by her rapist. But, no , we focus on giving him sister wives instead!
Ugh... I think this just got me all warped up. Granted, I didn't read Adrian's book and skipped the story of Francesca, but still... this is just too sick and twisted, which mind you, I have read a good deal of dark books. But this, this is just beyond the scope of my imagination. Not because of the darkness, but because the characterization of each character leaves no room for redemption, man or woman. YOU have absolutely no HERO or HEROINE in this story and no romance, no real story about the mafia (its inner workings, nothing. ) Nothing but a bunch of sick twisted things to constantly showcase sexual abuse as if its something to fantasize about.
This is sad, because despite the sexual assault in the "untouchable" book, there was redemption, and development of the characters so we can see and hopefully understand beyond that and while that is not my favorite book, it was a good, solid book that I enjoyed, thoroughly. This series, was just garbage.
December 1, 2017
Not even the man of steel has anything over this writer or epic ending to a fabulous series. I’m not ready for this one to be over...when having a bird's eye view of the most dysfunctional crime family. The villains are heinous, but so addicting! Whether you're rooting for the most hot ruthless bastard Mateo, who is so cruel, evil and sly but has his moments…..trust me ladies he does.... meeeeeeeeeeeow!
Lusting after the encompassing Vince, who's known for his hot headed ways, unstableness and unpredictability.
You can never get enough! Adrian is just Adrain, need I say more….all that power, charisma and sexy ass charm! Do you think Elise would take offense if I nabbed him for myself? My favorite was Carly, she was the epitome of strength.
Everyone has an agenda. The lies and deceit never stops and just when you think everyone might get along, the backstabbing and two facedness continues. Mateo will always be the greatest villain, you’ll love to hate. The entire series has made me laugh, cry, go on a ranting spree and fall hopelessly in love.
Thank you so much Sam for generously gifting me with these treasured ARC’s and saving me countless hours of boredom. Thank you Morelli family for being exactly who you are, the good bad and downright ugly…...gosh I so want more!
September 13, 2020
I really hated how this series went. It was like a five star book started then took a high dive to the floor.
If you don't want spoilers... Stop reading.
I really, Really, REALLY hate how Meg was treated. The poor girl thought that she was the main sister wife (Ugh). Fine, she was trying to get rid of the distraction. But honestly, Mia was fucking annoying as hell. Violated over and over and over again. Lusted over by like a hundred guys. And...AND! Meg was lied to the whole time by Mateo and Mia. Mateo kept telling Meg that she was the one but turns out he was luring Mia in and was getting ready to kick Meg out (who is prego by the way). So the dark and dangerous guy, turns out to be an everyday loser cheating SOB. Thought this was a dark mafia trope. Ended up being my best friend and my fiancee are fucking trope. Where the fiancee and the best friend are the good guys. (Que?)
If you don't want spoilers... Stop reading.
I really, Really, REALLY hate how Meg was treated. The poor girl thought that she was the main sister wife (Ugh). Fine, she was trying to get rid of the distraction. But honestly, Mia was fucking annoying as hell. Violated over and over and over again. Lusted over by like a hundred guys. And...AND! Meg was lied to the whole time by Mateo and Mia. Mateo kept telling Meg that she was the one but turns out he was luring Mia in and was getting ready to kick Meg out (who is prego by the way). So the dark and dangerous guy, turns out to be an everyday loser cheating SOB. Thought this was a dark mafia trope. Ended up being my best friend and my fiancee are fucking trope. Where the fiancee and the best friend are the good guys. (Que?)
June 29, 2021
Nope, I just could not read this. This is Vince's love story with another girl. we also see the family: adrian, elise, Francesca and her husband, meg, the kids, mia, and matteo.
Matteo has a girl with his late wife, 2 babies with Meg, and one with Mia* Vince's boy* and is not happily married to Mia, as nothing happened.
They all have their HEA and I feel like my brain just died. I hate them!
Matteo has a girl with his late wife, 2 babies with Meg, and one with Mia* Vince's boy* and is not happily married to Mia, as nothing happened.
They all have their HEA and I feel like my brain just died. I hate them!
July 1, 2018
Overall: 2.5 stars
1st part (Mia): 4 stars
2nd part (Vince): 1.5 stars
I have such mixed feelings about this book. All of these characters are incredibly fucked up in their own ways. The 1st part of the book, mainly from Mia's POV, was good. Mateo was up to something and I couldn't figure out what. I like him when he's being devious. It was great to see Meg knocked off her high horse. She was an idiot to think she ever held sway over Mateo the way she did. The signs were clearly there; she was too stupid to see it. However that situation did not turn out the way I'd hoped. I'll explain more about that later.
The second part which was the largest part was mainly from Vince's POV. Initially I liked Vince. I shipped him and Mia in the first book. I hoped he'd get his shit together. He had the potential to be a decent guy, until he enacted his get Mia back plan in the penultimate book. Since then I don't give a fuck about him. It was painful reading over half of a book about him getting his HEA. He's still an unstable, selfish asshole. I did like Carly. It made no sense to me that she genuinely was a good person and detested the horrible things the Morellis did but so easy forgive Vince for the horrible shit he did. He was no better than his family. The only difference is he wasn't manipulative like them. Vince was pathetic. In a way he got what he deserved. He was manipulated until the end unbeknownst to him.
I was a little bloodthirsty going into this. On that score this book failed majorly.
1st part (Mia): 4 stars
2nd part (Vince): 1.5 stars
I have such mixed feelings about this book. All of these characters are incredibly fucked up in their own ways. The 1st part of the book, mainly from Mia's POV, was good. Mateo was up to something and I couldn't figure out what. I like him when he's being devious. It was great to see Meg knocked off her high horse. She was an idiot to think she ever held sway over Mateo the way she did. The signs were clearly there; she was too stupid to see it. However that situation did not turn out the way I'd hoped. I'll explain more about that later.
The second part which was the largest part was mainly from Vince's POV. Initially I liked Vince. I shipped him and Mia in the first book. I hoped he'd get his shit together. He had the potential to be a decent guy, until he enacted his get Mia back plan in the penultimate book. Since then I don't give a fuck about him. It was painful reading over half of a book about him getting his HEA. He's still an unstable, selfish asshole. I did like Carly. It made no sense to me that she genuinely was a good person and detested the horrible things the Morellis did but so easy forgive Vince for the horrible shit he did. He was no better than his family. The only difference is he wasn't manipulative like them. Vince was pathetic. In a way he got what he deserved. He was manipulated until the end unbeknownst to him.
I was a little bloodthirsty going into this. On that score this book failed majorly.
August 21, 2019
I hate this entire series. Meg and Vince are villain so that Matteo and Mia can get together and be happy. I never hate main character more in my life and felt so sorry for Meg. I have never deleted any ebook faster than this series in my life and i never ever wrote bad review about any book even the crappiest one that i ever came across but this series just make me so angry. I like the author and i doubt i will ever touch her other book in my life.
March 8, 2022
God...this series was a torture for me to finish....ive always liked Vince since 1st book...hated mia since she betrayed Vince for Mateo...how Vince turned out.. its NOT his fault....yet he was been faulted...the only reason I started reading this series coz Untouchable book blew my mind away...so I was hoping this series will do the same..but nop...im damn dispointed...poor Vince...
March 8, 2022
0/0.5 stars
One of the most disturbing (and not in the good way) and disgusting series I've ever read.... "hero" is a rapist, female lead is the worst female character I've ever seen... everyone else is a doormat to the "hero"... Adrian is the only salvage character in the series... never reading another book from this author again... nope. I'm done
One of the most disturbing (and not in the good way) and disgusting series I've ever read.... "hero" is a rapist, female lead is the worst female character I've ever seen... everyone else is a doormat to the "hero"... Adrian is the only salvage character in the series... never reading another book from this author again... nope. I'm done
January 31, 2019
3 It was an okay conclusion stars
I’ve been putting off this book because I knew a huge chunk of it would have Vince and frankly I’m just about over him.
The book is broken into three parts.
The first part is about Mia, Mateo and Meg.
The first part for me was 4.5 stars. It was really engaging and I couldn’t put down the put. I had no idea what was going to happen and I was interested in everyone’s POV. Meg is pregnant with Mateo’s child and she’s due in two weeks. She’s staying in Mateo’s prison and I was loving it. Mia is pregnant with Vince’s child and you just FEEL for the girl. It was a good read.
The second part is 100% about Vince and a new girl he meets.
I had ZERO interest in this part. He was so obsessed with Mia and to watch him trying to get over her and go with this new girl was just sad. I forced myself to read this part so I could follow the book, but I started to skim. I was not into it.
The 3rd part of the book has all the cast and it was decent, but it wasn’t as engaging as the first part of the book for me. I guess I was mostly interested in Mia and Mateo dynamics to be honest and any POV without them I wasn’t interested.
This series has been an up and down roller coaster for me. I loved some books and I struggled through a few. Regardless I am happy to move forward to the spin off series and read Rafe’s book!
I’ve been putting off this book because I knew a huge chunk of it would have Vince and frankly I’m just about over him.
The book is broken into three parts.
The first part is about Mia, Mateo and Meg.
The first part for me was 4.5 stars. It was really engaging and I couldn’t put down the put. I had no idea what was going to happen and I was interested in everyone’s POV. Meg is pregnant with Mateo’s child and she’s due in two weeks. She’s staying in Mateo’s prison and I was loving it. Mia is pregnant with Vince’s child and you just FEEL for the girl. It was a good read.
The second part is 100% about Vince and a new girl he meets.
I had ZERO interest in this part. He was so obsessed with Mia and to watch him trying to get over her and go with this new girl was just sad. I forced myself to read this part so I could follow the book, but I started to skim. I was not into it.
The 3rd part of the book has all the cast and it was decent, but it wasn’t as engaging as the first part of the book for me. I guess I was mostly interested in Mia and Mateo dynamics to be honest and any POV without them I wasn’t interested.
This series has been an up and down roller coaster for me. I loved some books and I struggled through a few. Regardless I am happy to move forward to the spin off series and read Rafe’s book!
March 13, 2020
I'm so glad Vince got his HEA 🥰
I still feel a bit sad for Meg, she's not really going to have the best life but at least she's with her kids I guess
I'm still not a massive fan of Mateo, he's not really redeemed himself to me and he's so hypocritical when it comes to Mia, he's hurt her more than anyone!
Not sure I'm mentally ready to read the books from his POV, but maybe it might make me like him a bit more 🤔
I loved this series but man am I glad to be off the Morelli Mansion train, looking forward to the Vegas series 😍
I still feel a bit sad for Meg, she's not really going to have the best life but at least she's with her kids I guess
I'm still not a massive fan of Mateo, he's not really redeemed himself to me and he's so hypocritical when it comes to Mia, he's hurt her more than anyone!
Not sure I'm mentally ready to read the books from his POV, but maybe it might make me like him a bit more 🤔
I loved this series but man am I glad to be off the Morelli Mansion train, looking forward to the Vegas series 😍
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
Last Words (Morelli Family #7)
By Sam Mariano
4 Stars
Please note…You must read the first 6 books in this series before diving in to this one. You won’t be disappointed…go ahead and get reading <3
This book is written in 3 parts. Each part being equally important. Standing on their own. When I opened this book, I was saddened a bit because this series is ending with this book. How will I know how to act at upcoming family dinners? I won’t be wearing a new dress anymore picked out by Mateo <3
What we get though in this final book is closure on all parties involved in this messed up family. Some make it to the final pages, some are not as fortunate. We have some really hot bedroom scenes, of course! What we also have is a great story of a family that has worked its way into my heart. I will have a hard time not getting any more of this great series.
Sam Mariano did a great job on this series and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
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By Sam Mariano
4 Stars
Please note…You must read the first 6 books in this series before diving in to this one. You won’t be disappointed…go ahead and get reading <3
This book is written in 3 parts. Each part being equally important. Standing on their own. When I opened this book, I was saddened a bit because this series is ending with this book. How will I know how to act at upcoming family dinners? I won’t be wearing a new dress anymore picked out by Mateo <3
What we get though in this final book is closure on all parties involved in this messed up family. Some make it to the final pages, some are not as fortunate. We have some really hot bedroom scenes, of course! What we also have is a great story of a family that has worked its way into my heart. I will have a hard time not getting any more of this great series.
Sam Mariano did a great job on this series and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
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November 30, 2017
"I can't help grinning, privately amused, as I conclude, 'I'm her favorite villian."
These characters, especially Mateo, have weaved themselves so far into my soul after 7 books, that they felt like I was right in the pages with them. Each one has a personality so pronounced, vivid, and entertaining that I was absolutely hooked from the very beginning. This one did not disappoint, showcasing 3 parts featuring multiple POV's for one wild conclusion!! So many things resolved, most of which I didn't even see coming, white knuckled my kindle in a few parts, giggled in others, and got lost in the scorching hotness of these couples...some we've met before, and others brand new.
"When I go to sleep, she fills half my dreams. The other half? Nightmares that remind me why I can't have her."
Even though I find myself getting annoyed and yelling at these characters through my kindle because I would be so engrossed and not remember they can't hear me, they were true to themselves and their incredibly frustrating, yet endearing selves the entire time. I wouldn't dare give anything away, but the ending isn't as you would think, but ties everything together and gives justice to this series, where often not everything is as it seems. The Author crafts a whole world here, and I've spent many nights lost in the world of the Morelli's and have loved every second!!
"She's somehow happy living in the dark with monsters, even though she's all light."
It has been an utter joy having the ability to review this series and this book is no exception. I thank the Author for the opportunity.
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
These characters, especially Mateo, have weaved themselves so far into my soul after 7 books, that they felt like I was right in the pages with them. Each one has a personality so pronounced, vivid, and entertaining that I was absolutely hooked from the very beginning. This one did not disappoint, showcasing 3 parts featuring multiple POV's for one wild conclusion!! So many things resolved, most of which I didn't even see coming, white knuckled my kindle in a few parts, giggled in others, and got lost in the scorching hotness of these couples...some we've met before, and others brand new.
"When I go to sleep, she fills half my dreams. The other half? Nightmares that remind me why I can't have her."
Even though I find myself getting annoyed and yelling at these characters through my kindle because I would be so engrossed and not remember they can't hear me, they were true to themselves and their incredibly frustrating, yet endearing selves the entire time. I wouldn't dare give anything away, but the ending isn't as you would think, but ties everything together and gives justice to this series, where often not everything is as it seems. The Author crafts a whole world here, and I've spent many nights lost in the world of the Morelli's and have loved every second!!
"She's somehow happy living in the dark with monsters, even though she's all light."
It has been an utter joy having the ability to review this series and this book is no exception. I thank the Author for the opportunity.
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
August 31, 2018
Zavallı Vince. Olan hep bu çocuğa oldu. Seriyi kendisinin HEA'ı ile sonlandırdık ama gel gör ki hâlâ bilmediği şeyler var.
Mateo ve Rafe de beni yine sinir etmeyi başardılar gider ayak. Ama bu, Rafe'in serisini okumama engel olmayacak tabi ki.
Ayrıca tek favorimi de Adrian ilan ediyorum.
Mateo'nun hastalıklı zihninde neler yaşandığını öğrenmek için onun bakış açısından yazılmış novella ile seriye son vereceğim.
Ardından rahat bir nefes alabilirim!
Mateo ve Rafe de beni yine sinir etmeyi başardılar gider ayak. Ama bu, Rafe'in serisini okumama engel olmayacak tabi ki.
Ayrıca tek favorimi de Adrian ilan ediyorum.
Mateo'nun hastalıklı zihninde neler yaşandığını öğrenmek için onun bakış açısından yazılmış novella ile seriye son vereceğim.
Ardından rahat bir nefes alabilirim!
March 5, 2022
reread-March 5th, 2022
edit: reread- March 16th, 2021
I finally finished this novel after originally dnfing, and I'm glad I did. My first reading experience made me so distraught, as I'm super attached to all these characters, even sociopathic Meg, so the things that happened in this novel were hard for me to accept. I looked at it with fresh eyes this time around though (and also skimmed the more emotionally painful bits), and I'm happier with where Meg ended up this time. Knowing she's at least safe, and has a job, and can see her children gives me a semblance of peace.
She really screwed over Mia, who I also love, so I can better understand Mateo's cold hatred of Meg this time around. I mean, he also is a sociopath. He wasn't exactly going to be forgiving of the woman who hurt the love of his life. Still, I hope we get a Meg focused book in the future before Sam writes the second generation Morelli series. She's so evil and walled off and complicated. I'd love to see her meet her match in someone. (hey, female villains need love too!) I love Mia's never ending sweetness and loving personality for Mateo, but Meg needs someone who's a good contrast to her calculating, ambitious nature, just like Mia is a good contrast to Mateo's villainy. I mean, if Vince can get a happy ending, she should too.
Speaking of Vince, I now really like him. I'm glad he's happy with Carly. It's SO funny that she's a psych major and when she inserts herself into the life of the Morelli's is able to easily point out their obvious dysfunction. It's also funny that Mia herself is a psych major but STILL can't see any of the problems with their lifestyle. (or maybe she does see but just doesn't care, she's a complex character that way, though you can't tell at first)
Mateo was, as always, amazing. I loved that that when I finally read his POV in this novel, it made me like him more, not less. That doesn't always happen when an author lets the male lead share his thoughts. Sometimes it just doesn't feel like the same character once you get into their head, but not with Mateo. Probably my second dark romance hero of all time. Even when he's being evil and conniving, I still can't help but love him. His crazy antics in this novel really blew my mind.
Before, I gave this book two stars. Now I'm going to leave my rating blank. This often happens when I get overly invested in a favorite series. There's at least one book in the series I can't put down but have too many complicated feelings for to actually give a rating. Last Words is that kind of book. I have too much empathy for Meg to enjoy her downfall, but too much love for Mateo and Mia to not see it as justified.
DNF @ 40.
I never thought I'd give up on this series, but this book was not enjoyable to me. I didn't want Meg and Mateo to get together, but I've always had a soft spot for her character, so seeing her lose everything in this novel, even if she maybe deserved it, just bummed me out. I know she's a villain, but I love a good villain. And the guys in this series have also done terrible things. I don't see why Meg can't be redeemed as well. She did betray Mia, her only friend, but I love that she's a goofy opportunist. She's such a contrast to Mia's character. All the male leads in this series are sociopaths. I think Meg is too but she doesn't have the ability to connect as well as them. In any case, this story has run its course. I'm over it. And besides, in the second half of this book, Vince narrates. I hate Vince.
Maybe I'll read Dante's book, though. He's kind of interesting.
edit: reread- March 16th, 2021
I finally finished this novel after originally dnfing, and I'm glad I did. My first reading experience made me so distraught, as I'm super attached to all these characters, even sociopathic Meg, so the things that happened in this novel were hard for me to accept. I looked at it with fresh eyes this time around though (and also skimmed the more emotionally painful bits), and I'm happier with where Meg ended up this time. Knowing she's at least safe, and has a job, and can see her children gives me a semblance of peace.
She really screwed over Mia, who I also love, so I can better understand Mateo's cold hatred of Meg this time around. I mean, he also is a sociopath. He wasn't exactly going to be forgiving of the woman who hurt the love of his life. Still, I hope we get a Meg focused book in the future before Sam writes the second generation Morelli series. She's so evil and walled off and complicated. I'd love to see her meet her match in someone. (hey, female villains need love too!) I love Mia's never ending sweetness and loving personality for Mateo, but Meg needs someone who's a good contrast to her calculating, ambitious nature, just like Mia is a good contrast to Mateo's villainy. I mean, if Vince can get a happy ending, she should too.
Speaking of Vince, I now really like him. I'm glad he's happy with Carly. It's SO funny that she's a psych major and when she inserts herself into the life of the Morelli's is able to easily point out their obvious dysfunction. It's also funny that Mia herself is a psych major but STILL can't see any of the problems with their lifestyle. (or maybe she does see but just doesn't care, she's a complex character that way, though you can't tell at first)
Mateo was, as always, amazing. I loved that that when I finally read his POV in this novel, it made me like him more, not less. That doesn't always happen when an author lets the male lead share his thoughts. Sometimes it just doesn't feel like the same character once you get into their head, but not with Mateo. Probably my second dark romance hero of all time. Even when he's being evil and conniving, I still can't help but love him. His crazy antics in this novel really blew my mind.
Before, I gave this book two stars. Now I'm going to leave my rating blank. This often happens when I get overly invested in a favorite series. There's at least one book in the series I can't put down but have too many complicated feelings for to actually give a rating. Last Words is that kind of book. I have too much empathy for Meg to enjoy her downfall, but too much love for Mateo and Mia to not see it as justified.
DNF @ 40.
I never thought I'd give up on this series, but this book was not enjoyable to me. I didn't want Meg and Mateo to get together, but I've always had a soft spot for her character, so seeing her lose everything in this novel, even if she maybe deserved it, just bummed me out. I know she's a villain, but I love a good villain. And the guys in this series have also done terrible things. I don't see why Meg can't be redeemed as well. She did betray Mia, her only friend, but I love that she's a goofy opportunist. She's such a contrast to Mia's character. All the male leads in this series are sociopaths. I think Meg is too but she doesn't have the ability to connect as well as them. In any case, this story has run its course. I'm over it. And besides, in the second half of this book, Vince narrates. I hate Vince.
Maybe I'll read Dante's book, though. He's kind of interesting.
November 30, 2023
So somehow this is missing a review and I am pretty sure I wrote one but I swear Goodreads loses my reviews sometimes.
So Last Words was a very interesting installment and to be honest I know it didn't quite pack the punch I was hoping for but I honestly don't even remember my issues other than this one had problems in it that just didn't quite work for me. I really wasn't a fan of the ending especially with our main couple in the series and I didn't really like how Vince's girl lied to him and never ended up being honest with him. It was actually very blurred in the background and her actions are a pretty big deal so I honestly wasn't a fan because the TRUTH always comes out eventually. And I really felt for Vince not being able to be a part of his child's life at all. That was super heartbreaking for me to see. And just wasn't a fan of some actions by Mia in this one especially in how she responds to the reveals in the first 1/3 of the story. This one just didn't quite satisfy me in the end. It had some fun moments of course and really thrilled me but at the end of the day, it just didn't quite work for me like I had hoped. But I am still intrigued by this family and the series even if the finale with this main couple didn't quite work for me in the end.
So Last Words was a very interesting installment and to be honest I know it didn't quite pack the punch I was hoping for but I honestly don't even remember my issues other than this one had problems in it that just didn't quite work for me. I really wasn't a fan of the ending especially with our main couple in the series and I didn't really like how Vince's girl lied to him and never ended up being honest with him. It was actually very blurred in the background and her actions are a pretty big deal so I honestly wasn't a fan because the TRUTH always comes out eventually. And I really felt for Vince not being able to be a part of his child's life at all. That was super heartbreaking for me to see. And just wasn't a fan of some actions by Mia in this one especially in how she responds to the reveals in the first 1/3 of the story. This one just didn't quite satisfy me in the end. It had some fun moments of course and really thrilled me but at the end of the day, it just didn't quite work for me like I had hoped. But I am still intrigued by this family and the series even if the finale with this main couple didn't quite work for me in the end.
December 1, 2017
I don't want to say goodbye!
Oh my word... This conclusion is fantastic. One of the things that never fail to impress is Sam's ability to keep all the stories for each character straight! Because, let's be honest, there is A LOT going on in Morelli world!
That being said, book seven surpassed my high expectations just as all of the previous books have. It definitely ended exactly how it should've. Did everything perfectly end how we might have wanted it? Not at all. But that only serves the genuineness that the whole series has followed from book 1.
Sam, you're freaking brilliant. Honestly, I cannot even grasp how well you crafted the minds and motives of your characters. The plotting and deception, the logic and reasoning, just every aspect of how their minds work was so well thought out and delves incredibly deep. It's slightly terrifying ;)
I'm so blessed to have found this author and series! It's been a heck of a ride!
Entrapment and her spin-off books are going to have to wean me off of the main characters, but I'm excited to see what more Sam has up her sleeve!
Oh my word... This conclusion is fantastic. One of the things that never fail to impress is Sam's ability to keep all the stories for each character straight! Because, let's be honest, there is A LOT going on in Morelli world!
That being said, book seven surpassed my high expectations just as all of the previous books have. It definitely ended exactly how it should've. Did everything perfectly end how we might have wanted it? Not at all. But that only serves the genuineness that the whole series has followed from book 1.
Sam, you're freaking brilliant. Honestly, I cannot even grasp how well you crafted the minds and motives of your characters. The plotting and deception, the logic and reasoning, just every aspect of how their minds work was so well thought out and delves incredibly deep. It's slightly terrifying ;)
I'm so blessed to have found this author and series! It's been a heck of a ride!
Entrapment and her spin-off books are going to have to wean me off of the main characters, but I'm excited to see what more Sam has up her sleeve!
September 25, 2022
I really didn't know how to rate this book. I was so excited to read the HEA for Mateo and Mia, but unfortunately this was basically Vince's book. 3/4 of this book was about Vince. I know a lot of people feel bad for him, but I don't. He never treated her right and blamed her for what Mateo did to her in the first book. Then actually kidnapped and forced himself on her. Don't feel bad for him at all. I was extremely bored through most of the book.
Yet I gave it 4 stars because of Mateo's manipulation and what an evil genius he was.
Loved seeing Meg get hers. I loved reading Mateo's POV and I am happy get a book with his POV. Not sure if I care about reading Dante's book because I don't really like him but we will see. I do love Rafe's character though.
Yet I gave it 4 stars because of Mateo's manipulation and what an evil genius he was.
Loved seeing Meg get hers. I loved reading Mateo's POV and I am happy get a book with his POV. Not sure if I care about reading Dante's book because I don't really like him but we will see. I do love Rafe's character though.
March 20, 2021
Love Meg she deserves her own book and be treated right
Read
November 24, 2021Worst series ever. Never ever read it.
February 25, 2019
(FYI - this is a spoilery review of bits of the whole series, but isn't going to be much help if you're seeking a more complete breakdown of the book's plot. Sorry! And not sorry for the digressions, but I have helpfully marked where they are so they're easily skippable.)
I have super-loved the Morelli series, and it’s been an unexpected pleasure, given I can only take small doses of Dark Romance. I’ve suspended a lot of my ‘nope, don’t wanna’ personal romance reading preferences (i.e. rapist heroes, criminals doing murder and stuff, cheating and polyamory, characters unapologetically becoming MORE evil, victim blaming and shaming, pretending heroines aren’t in PTSD or Stockholm Syndrome or having a mental health break, or mentioning and disregarding it, heroines pretending it’s not economic/emotional/psychological/physical abuse because the guy is sexy and rich, inaccurately describing laziness and dithering as submissiveness, etc), because I pretty much fell in love with Mariano’s style. I think she’s put in some much appreciated efforts to show her heroine’s soft power, and has highlighted the problematic issues Mia has faced as a heroine who falls in love with her rapist, and manages to make me not care about it, and find ALL their sex scenes sexy. She’s played her mafia characters are violent killers whose business is money lending. She’s made it clear that human trafficking is evil and not part of the mafia business. There’s no hint that they’re dealing in drugs or stolen weapons, and they mostly just kill or maim each other or anyone who probably should have realised mafia involvement is super risky. In fact, I think the only characters (so far) who haven’t been super shady are Maria and Cherie. And I’m pretty sure Cherie’s shadiness is due for a reveal. Hopefully she’s a violent ninja assassin.
I am NOT ashamed of myself. Reading these books has been wonderfully dark-side cleansing, and my stern principles concerning appropriate behaviour remain uncorrupted.
There’s a lot of good writing from Mariano, and some not-so-good. At times, there isn’t a lot of plot. The series story arc is the Mia/Mateo relationship and it doesn’t completely carry the series page count. More external threats might have helped. Cutting a couple of books (or books worth of page count) would definitely have helped. At times, editing could have been a lot better. I usually skip past the misplaced, missing or duplicated wording, but it does come up. Across the series, I think the Adrian/Elise and Francesca/Salvatore books suffered because while they progressed the overall story arc, they didn’t seem to drop in the right places. And finally: while Mariano is clear-eyed on Mia and Mateo’s character flaws, she’s a little too in love with them as creations.
Mia is more interesting than your usual ‘normal girl heroine who is inexplicably the magnet for every alpha bad man’ but it’s sometimes a close call. She maintains a stubborn innocence and a stubborn blindness to Mateo’s villainy. Her ‘don’t kill anyone I like/have liked’ morality is … questionable. Again, there’s no point applying any normal reading rules to this series. If you got stuck on Mateo moving from non-consensual stuff to rape in the first book (and his other abusive to mildly toxic behaviours) you’re unlikely to have kept reading. I’ve enjoyed his wrongness. He could maybe have benefitted from more challenges to his supremacy, but he remained convincingly hot. And the dynamic with Adrian is just … weird. It’s frequently called out, but there’s this awkward ‘where’s your wife, she’s babysitting’ undertone that NEVER goes away. Elise in her own book was largely silent, and has remained so. I can’t completely work out what the point of giving her a protagonist role in the series was. Her only job is child minding so Mia can have plenty of sex, hang with her buddy Adrian, shop, look pretty so more alpha bad men can fall for her, and remind Mateo that he can’t kill everyone because its mean.
The first half of this book is more Mia/Mateo, and finishing the Meg arc, and then it switches to Vince. Vince, by any other metric, does not ‘deserve’ even half a book. He’s a surprising choice for romance protagonist, and a frustrating one because he has zero growth. Vince started out as a kind of nice boyfriend with mixed feelings about being a mafia criminal. He’s wrecked by Mateo’s successful power plays, and by his inability to support Mia when Mateo rapes her. Vince never really loses that sense of entitlement to Mia. He cannot escape feeling that she has unforgivably wronged him, but he still wants her and thinks he can get her back. This book follows a failed and final attempt to take her, but the obsession is still there. Even in the later Vegas books, it’s pointed out that he’s STILL sulking about his lack of access to his rape victim and his rape baby. And, doing so in front of his wife. Who has NO opinions when she’s not POV but is in the room when it comes up. It’s kind of interesting, because we’re not (thank goodness) expected to consider him redeemed and forgiven but simply as a character who has (for the most part) successfully made the attempt to get himself out of a criminal organisation, and mostly makes the healthy choice of staying away from his obsession.
I liked Carly. Possibly one of her best features is that she didn’t want to sleep with Mateo. It’s so refreshing that not everyone did. I’m not convinced that she’s getting a good romance. I get that Vince has some decent money and wants the same sort of things out of life that she does. He seems enough in love with her that they can be comfortable together, but we already know he’s only above average at sex stuff, so he could still die and no one would care. I’d be happy if he died. I’d be happy if Meg died too, and Elise, because she doesn’t do anything. I’d be DEVASTATED if Maria died. That woman deserves a proper fun early retirement to a pretty house by a beach somewhere, where she can have family visits and a devoted retired accountant lover. I’m dirty at Mia who only cares about the survival and happiness of hot young people. However, I’m pretty happy that Mariano keeps the annoying characters alive, on the basis that simply killing them off is easy. Even the characters who ‘win’ in these books deserve to be uncomfortable in their HEAs.
*** SKIPPABLE DIGRESSION ***
It’s like Mateo is evil Arthur and Mia is damaged Guinevere and Adrian is sad Lancelot and Elise is Elaine. And Meg is a useless Morgan La Fey. And Vince is Mordred! Am I on to something here? I know the relationships between characters don’t quite work, and the central tension of Arthur and Guinevere’s childlessness is completely swapped out, but the parallels keep coming. It’s like instead of doing that angst, they decided they’d simply deal with the romantic tensions and do a PR job of turning it into an amusing anecdote, so no one ended up trying to burn Mia at the stake while Mateo pops off to have wars and seek the Grail.
Mateo’s father almost works as Uther, maybe? I can’t get a Merlin, though, or anyone who equates to Carly. Maybe Nimue if she was sent after Mordred because there isn’t a Merlin. Can mostly fit Francesca and Salvatore as Lot and Morgause, but I really fall apart if I try working out the Vegas people. Closest is probably Rafe as Gawain and Sin as Galahad, but without the whole dying a virgin because that was a Grail success requirement. Or is Sin Gawain and Rafe the Green Knight? Ohhh …
Arthurians forever! Now I need to find a modernised take that I meets a level of pickiness I cannot even BEGIN to articulate, and has good sexy times. It’s out there somewhere!
*** DIGRESSION COMPLETE! ***
Carly’s still got the big secret, that the start of her relationship with Vince was at Mateo’s instigation, and while Mariano has made the decision to not put that smoking gun on the table, it’s still there and it undercuts a ‘good’ future happiness. I like that actually, Vince doesn’t deserve untempered happiness. Unfortunately, Carly was an interesting enough character who deserved better. Still, maybe she’ll get to do a magic thing and imprison him in a tree someday.
She’s a sort of halfway point between an Elise and a Meg. Not as plot-remote as Elise. Not quite as icy as Meg, but still reserved and calculating, with a courtier’s charm. By the way, that Arthurian segue is partially in response to Meg’s Anne Boleyn analogy, because stuff you, Meg. I stopped liking the character enough to think her clever.
The event of Meg is interesting: she got a full on romance with Mateo, which ultimately seems to have been based on her ability to be sexy and amusing. She’s managed to ensure her survival, but she’s so clearly on the outer. There is zero mention of her in the Vegas books. I’d really liked her chill in her book, but I think that was when I thought there was an undercurrent of deeper feeling. That’s completely undone in later books: she stagnates. I can’t completely deny that she demonstrates remorse and has the redemptive moment that’s undercut/lacking in Vince’s story. It’s a bit grey for me whether Mateo was as much in love with her as he seemed to be at the end of her book, although ultimately what Mariano has gone for is an intense passion that burned out, leaving very little in its wake. This is NOT the stuff of agreed romance rules, and I’m ambivalent about it.
I do like the way her descent into the antagonist role is partly caused by Mia. Mia continues the sister wife set up because she doesn’t want Mateo to have an excuse to kill Meg. That she suspects he could find one is a perfect way of showing that she’s aware of Mateo’s villainy, but also serves to make her that little bit murkier as the supposed gentle heart of the series. Mateo continues occasionally having sex with Meg because she’s fun and sexy. He could have perhaps told her he no longer wanted her a lot sooner (and acted upon it, dammit) but since his main game is with Mia, Meg ends up as their pawn, and is incapable of seeing the full dynamic.
*** SKIPPABLE DIGRESSION ***
I also really like that the sister wife thing didn’t work. I would LIVE for a reverse harem story where the heroine decides she doesn’t want the whole boy band, just the sexiest one. I’m probably the only one, but I’d get a kick out of a scene where the heroine sweetly explains to the 3-4 other men that they were temporarily fun but she can’t see any future with a bunch of shallow stereotypes.
*** DIGRESSION COMPLETE! ***
Meg’s ‘crimes’ against the series protagonists cannot be compared to Vince’s, but she gets less happiness on the basis that she has less capacity for love. Carly’s capacity for love (as demonstrated by her devotion to her sister Laurel) seems greater than Meg’s. Meg clearly has affection for her daughter Lily, but not much is made of her relationship with her children. I can’t work out whether she’s in denial over Mia’s subtle and successful long game in usurping the ‘primary mother’ role … or too stupid to pick up on Mia’s tactics. Mia is a fantastically unreliable narrator, she’s very skilled at pretending things simply go her way ‘somehow’ without any conscious effort.
And this is the kind of thing I love in any series: the development of these convoluted character dynamics, and the freedom to take a book heroine and turn her into a villainous minor character. I’m ok that Mia and Mateo are the only characters happy enough in their relationship to qualify as a customary romantic HEA (ok, Francesca and Salvatore too).
I’m not overly horrified that Vince gets half a book and a qualified happy ending. I’d describe it as … pleasantly annoyed. It feels really unusual for an epic romance … which, in the most traditional sense, this isn’t. It’s not really what I’d categorise as erotica either – not enough kink variety in the sex scenes. They’re all hot though, and engaging enough that they don’t feel repetitive.
*** LAST DIGRESSION - I'M DONE! ***
There’s some similarity to the super old and trashy Juliette Belzoni series, the Marianne books which follow the romantic adventures of a woman who takes off after she kills her rapey husband, becomes Napoleon’s mistress, has a true love who only turns up occasionally, and enters into at least one new sex relationship per book. I’m a little nostalgic for those books, but they aren’t readily available now. They were already in the cheap bin at 2nd hand shops when I read them as a teen. Possibly they’re floating around on Ebay, but I’m pretty sure they’d make me impatient if I tried to collect and read them all. However, if Mariano were ever to do a modernised take, with tighter plotting and a limited number of heroes, I’m down for it.
I have super-loved the Morelli series, and it’s been an unexpected pleasure, given I can only take small doses of Dark Romance. I’ve suspended a lot of my ‘nope, don’t wanna’ personal romance reading preferences (i.e. rapist heroes, criminals doing murder and stuff, cheating and polyamory, characters unapologetically becoming MORE evil, victim blaming and shaming, pretending heroines aren’t in PTSD or Stockholm Syndrome or having a mental health break, or mentioning and disregarding it, heroines pretending it’s not economic/emotional/psychological/physical abuse because the guy is sexy and rich, inaccurately describing laziness and dithering as submissiveness, etc), because I pretty much fell in love with Mariano’s style. I think she’s put in some much appreciated efforts to show her heroine’s soft power, and has highlighted the problematic issues Mia has faced as a heroine who falls in love with her rapist, and manages to make me not care about it, and find ALL their sex scenes sexy. She’s played her mafia characters are violent killers whose business is money lending. She’s made it clear that human trafficking is evil and not part of the mafia business. There’s no hint that they’re dealing in drugs or stolen weapons, and they mostly just kill or maim each other or anyone who probably should have realised mafia involvement is super risky. In fact, I think the only characters (so far) who haven’t been super shady are Maria and Cherie. And I’m pretty sure Cherie’s shadiness is due for a reveal. Hopefully she’s a violent ninja assassin.
I am NOT ashamed of myself. Reading these books has been wonderfully dark-side cleansing, and my stern principles concerning appropriate behaviour remain uncorrupted.
There’s a lot of good writing from Mariano, and some not-so-good. At times, there isn’t a lot of plot. The series story arc is the Mia/Mateo relationship and it doesn’t completely carry the series page count. More external threats might have helped. Cutting a couple of books (or books worth of page count) would definitely have helped. At times, editing could have been a lot better. I usually skip past the misplaced, missing or duplicated wording, but it does come up. Across the series, I think the Adrian/Elise and Francesca/Salvatore books suffered because while they progressed the overall story arc, they didn’t seem to drop in the right places. And finally: while Mariano is clear-eyed on Mia and Mateo’s character flaws, she’s a little too in love with them as creations.
Mia is more interesting than your usual ‘normal girl heroine who is inexplicably the magnet for every alpha bad man’ but it’s sometimes a close call. She maintains a stubborn innocence and a stubborn blindness to Mateo’s villainy. Her ‘don’t kill anyone I like/have liked’ morality is … questionable. Again, there’s no point applying any normal reading rules to this series. If you got stuck on Mateo moving from non-consensual stuff to rape in the first book (and his other abusive to mildly toxic behaviours) you’re unlikely to have kept reading. I’ve enjoyed his wrongness. He could maybe have benefitted from more challenges to his supremacy, but he remained convincingly hot. And the dynamic with Adrian is just … weird. It’s frequently called out, but there’s this awkward ‘where’s your wife, she’s babysitting’ undertone that NEVER goes away. Elise in her own book was largely silent, and has remained so. I can’t completely work out what the point of giving her a protagonist role in the series was. Her only job is child minding so Mia can have plenty of sex, hang with her buddy Adrian, shop, look pretty so more alpha bad men can fall for her, and remind Mateo that he can’t kill everyone because its mean.
The first half of this book is more Mia/Mateo, and finishing the Meg arc, and then it switches to Vince. Vince, by any other metric, does not ‘deserve’ even half a book. He’s a surprising choice for romance protagonist, and a frustrating one because he has zero growth. Vince started out as a kind of nice boyfriend with mixed feelings about being a mafia criminal. He’s wrecked by Mateo’s successful power plays, and by his inability to support Mia when Mateo rapes her. Vince never really loses that sense of entitlement to Mia. He cannot escape feeling that she has unforgivably wronged him, but he still wants her and thinks he can get her back. This book follows a failed and final attempt to take her, but the obsession is still there. Even in the later Vegas books, it’s pointed out that he’s STILL sulking about his lack of access to his rape victim and his rape baby. And, doing so in front of his wife. Who has NO opinions when she’s not POV but is in the room when it comes up. It’s kind of interesting, because we’re not (thank goodness) expected to consider him redeemed and forgiven but simply as a character who has (for the most part) successfully made the attempt to get himself out of a criminal organisation, and mostly makes the healthy choice of staying away from his obsession.
I liked Carly. Possibly one of her best features is that she didn’t want to sleep with Mateo. It’s so refreshing that not everyone did. I’m not convinced that she’s getting a good romance. I get that Vince has some decent money and wants the same sort of things out of life that she does. He seems enough in love with her that they can be comfortable together, but we already know he’s only above average at sex stuff, so he could still die and no one would care. I’d be happy if he died. I’d be happy if Meg died too, and Elise, because she doesn’t do anything. I’d be DEVASTATED if Maria died. That woman deserves a proper fun early retirement to a pretty house by a beach somewhere, where she can have family visits and a devoted retired accountant lover. I’m dirty at Mia who only cares about the survival and happiness of hot young people. However, I’m pretty happy that Mariano keeps the annoying characters alive, on the basis that simply killing them off is easy. Even the characters who ‘win’ in these books deserve to be uncomfortable in their HEAs.
*** SKIPPABLE DIGRESSION ***
It’s like Mateo is evil Arthur and Mia is damaged Guinevere and Adrian is sad Lancelot and Elise is Elaine. And Meg is a useless Morgan La Fey. And Vince is Mordred! Am I on to something here? I know the relationships between characters don’t quite work, and the central tension of Arthur and Guinevere’s childlessness is completely swapped out, but the parallels keep coming. It’s like instead of doing that angst, they decided they’d simply deal with the romantic tensions and do a PR job of turning it into an amusing anecdote, so no one ended up trying to burn Mia at the stake while Mateo pops off to have wars and seek the Grail.
Mateo’s father almost works as Uther, maybe? I can’t get a Merlin, though, or anyone who equates to Carly. Maybe Nimue if she was sent after Mordred because there isn’t a Merlin. Can mostly fit Francesca and Salvatore as Lot and Morgause, but I really fall apart if I try working out the Vegas people. Closest is probably Rafe as Gawain and Sin as Galahad, but without the whole dying a virgin because that was a Grail success requirement. Or is Sin Gawain and Rafe the Green Knight? Ohhh …
Arthurians forever! Now I need to find a modernised take that I meets a level of pickiness I cannot even BEGIN to articulate, and has good sexy times. It’s out there somewhere!
*** DIGRESSION COMPLETE! ***
Carly’s still got the big secret, that the start of her relationship with Vince was at Mateo’s instigation, and while Mariano has made the decision to not put that smoking gun on the table, it’s still there and it undercuts a ‘good’ future happiness. I like that actually, Vince doesn’t deserve untempered happiness. Unfortunately, Carly was an interesting enough character who deserved better. Still, maybe she’ll get to do a magic thing and imprison him in a tree someday.
She’s a sort of halfway point between an Elise and a Meg. Not as plot-remote as Elise. Not quite as icy as Meg, but still reserved and calculating, with a courtier’s charm. By the way, that Arthurian segue is partially in response to Meg’s Anne Boleyn analogy, because stuff you, Meg. I stopped liking the character enough to think her clever.
The event of Meg is interesting: she got a full on romance with Mateo, which ultimately seems to have been based on her ability to be sexy and amusing. She’s managed to ensure her survival, but she’s so clearly on the outer. There is zero mention of her in the Vegas books. I’d really liked her chill in her book, but I think that was when I thought there was an undercurrent of deeper feeling. That’s completely undone in later books: she stagnates. I can’t completely deny that she demonstrates remorse and has the redemptive moment that’s undercut/lacking in Vince’s story. It’s a bit grey for me whether Mateo was as much in love with her as he seemed to be at the end of her book, although ultimately what Mariano has gone for is an intense passion that burned out, leaving very little in its wake. This is NOT the stuff of agreed romance rules, and I’m ambivalent about it.
I do like the way her descent into the antagonist role is partly caused by Mia. Mia continues the sister wife set up because she doesn’t want Mateo to have an excuse to kill Meg. That she suspects he could find one is a perfect way of showing that she’s aware of Mateo’s villainy, but also serves to make her that little bit murkier as the supposed gentle heart of the series. Mateo continues occasionally having sex with Meg because she’s fun and sexy. He could have perhaps told her he no longer wanted her a lot sooner (and acted upon it, dammit) but since his main game is with Mia, Meg ends up as their pawn, and is incapable of seeing the full dynamic.
*** SKIPPABLE DIGRESSION ***
I also really like that the sister wife thing didn’t work. I would LIVE for a reverse harem story where the heroine decides she doesn’t want the whole boy band, just the sexiest one. I’m probably the only one, but I’d get a kick out of a scene where the heroine sweetly explains to the 3-4 other men that they were temporarily fun but she can’t see any future with a bunch of shallow stereotypes.
*** DIGRESSION COMPLETE! ***
Meg’s ‘crimes’ against the series protagonists cannot be compared to Vince’s, but she gets less happiness on the basis that she has less capacity for love. Carly’s capacity for love (as demonstrated by her devotion to her sister Laurel) seems greater than Meg’s. Meg clearly has affection for her daughter Lily, but not much is made of her relationship with her children. I can’t work out whether she’s in denial over Mia’s subtle and successful long game in usurping the ‘primary mother’ role … or too stupid to pick up on Mia’s tactics. Mia is a fantastically unreliable narrator, she’s very skilled at pretending things simply go her way ‘somehow’ without any conscious effort.
And this is the kind of thing I love in any series: the development of these convoluted character dynamics, and the freedom to take a book heroine and turn her into a villainous minor character. I’m ok that Mia and Mateo are the only characters happy enough in their relationship to qualify as a customary romantic HEA (ok, Francesca and Salvatore too).
I’m not overly horrified that Vince gets half a book and a qualified happy ending. I’d describe it as … pleasantly annoyed. It feels really unusual for an epic romance … which, in the most traditional sense, this isn’t. It’s not really what I’d categorise as erotica either – not enough kink variety in the sex scenes. They’re all hot though, and engaging enough that they don’t feel repetitive.
*** LAST DIGRESSION - I'M DONE! ***
There’s some similarity to the super old and trashy Juliette Belzoni series, the Marianne books which follow the romantic adventures of a woman who takes off after she kills her rapey husband, becomes Napoleon’s mistress, has a true love who only turns up occasionally, and enters into at least one new sex relationship per book. I’m a little nostalgic for those books, but they aren’t readily available now. They were already in the cheap bin at 2nd hand shops when I read them as a teen. Possibly they’re floating around on Ebay, but I’m pretty sure they’d make me impatient if I tried to collect and read them all. However, if Mariano were ever to do a modernised take, with tighter plotting and a limited number of heroes, I’m down for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2023
4.25/5 ★★★★☆
“𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚?”
“𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡? 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙮? 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙚𝙜𝙤, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚.”
♡
I love Mateo and Mia individually. But definitely a lot more so, together. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 any third-wheels.
And infinitely more so, with kids involved!
So I definitely enjoyed this book. Finally no more Meg. (Well, some Meg. But Meg, in 𝘯𝘰 capacity, in no shape or form, capable of ever coming between Mateo and Mia anymore.
𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.
So, here goes---
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 -- Adult Mafia Romance
TRIGGER WARNINGS --- Several. But this is Book 7 of this series. If one reaches this far, hell, even of one finishes Book 1, then they can definitely handle (and enjoy!) this book.
𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 -- The writing was good, as always. Typical S.M. style which I can't help but thoroughly enjoy.
Dark, yes. But that's just how she is and just how her readers like her to be.
This book was fragmented into 3 parts.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 1 -- Story of Mateo and Mia and how they dealt with Meg's betrayal. Another mindboggling loyalty-test whipped up by the crazy-King Mateo Morelli.
Like Mateo, I was sad at the test results. But it is what it is.
You can't have everything. Even if you're the King of Chicago Mob.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 2 -- Story of Vince and Carly and how Vince finally allows Love to re-enter his life amidst constant paranoid thoughts and self-sabotaging acts.
I was happy for him. The guy really has suffered a lot over the course of this Saga. He deserves some love and happiness (even if there are certain lies mixed in.)
As Mateo likes to say, "Lie to people sometimes. They'll thank you for it." And Vince definitely lucked out with Carly, because of those lies.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 3 -- Story of Vince's return to Chicago (with Carly in tow, of course) for his horrible father's mob funeral. Mateo and Mia reveal to Vince the truth behind Dominic's birth and 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘮!
Everyone loves Baby Dom!
And of course, where there's Mateo, there's a nefarious loyalty-test. This time focussed at Vince. Thank god the guy passes! Barely, but he does. By the skin of his teeth (I never understood that expression tbh), but he passed!!!
HEA all around!
𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 --
➷ Mateo's love for Mia and Mia alone.
➷ Mateo on daddy-duty! Especially with Baby Dom!
➷ Rafe's interactions with Mia! (Like I still have NO idea what really went down! I have so many questions!!! And Carly's sister?! What's up with that!? No. I'm NOT a happy reader with THAT particular pairing. Just no!)
➷ Vince-Carly Superman-Lois Lane parallels!!!
➷ Vince and Baby Dom! Every. Time.
𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 -- I sure liked this book A. Lot. More. Than most that came before it. For the simple fact that... Mateo-Mia and no B. S. complications!
Vince deserved his HEA and I liked reading about him and Carly but honestly Part 2 of the book dragged for me.
1 and 3 were awesome!!!
“𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚?”
“𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡? 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙮? 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙚𝙜𝙤, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚.”
♡
I love Mateo and Mia individually. But definitely a lot more so, together. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 any third-wheels.
And infinitely more so, with kids involved!
So I definitely enjoyed this book. Finally no more Meg. (Well, some Meg. But Meg, in 𝘯𝘰 capacity, in no shape or form, capable of ever coming between Mateo and Mia anymore.
𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.
So, here goes---
𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 -- Adult Mafia Romance
TRIGGER WARNINGS --- Several. But this is Book 7 of this series. If one reaches this far, hell, even of one finishes Book 1, then they can definitely handle (and enjoy!) this book.
𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 -- The writing was good, as always. Typical S.M. style which I can't help but thoroughly enjoy.
Dark, yes. But that's just how she is and just how her readers like her to be.
This book was fragmented into 3 parts.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 1 -- Story of Mateo and Mia and how they dealt with Meg's betrayal. Another mindboggling loyalty-test whipped up by the crazy-King Mateo Morelli.
Like Mateo, I was sad at the test results. But it is what it is.
You can't have everything. Even if you're the King of Chicago Mob.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 2 -- Story of Vince and Carly and how Vince finally allows Love to re-enter his life amidst constant paranoid thoughts and self-sabotaging acts.
I was happy for him. The guy really has suffered a lot over the course of this Saga. He deserves some love and happiness (even if there are certain lies mixed in.)
As Mateo likes to say, "Lie to people sometimes. They'll thank you for it." And Vince definitely lucked out with Carly, because of those lies.
𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 3 -- Story of Vince's return to Chicago (with Carly in tow, of course) for his horrible father's mob funeral. Mateo and Mia reveal to Vince the truth behind Dominic's birth and 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘮!
Everyone loves Baby Dom!
And of course, where there's Mateo, there's a nefarious loyalty-test. This time focussed at Vince. Thank god the guy passes! Barely, but he does. By the skin of his teeth (I never understood that expression tbh), but he passed!!!
HEA all around!
𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 --
➷ Mateo's love for Mia and Mia alone.
➷ Mateo on daddy-duty! Especially with Baby Dom!
➷ Rafe's interactions with Mia! (Like I still have NO idea what really went down! I have so many questions!!! And Carly's sister?! What's up with that!? No. I'm NOT a happy reader with THAT particular pairing. Just no!)
➷ Vince-Carly Superman-Lois Lane parallels!!!
➷ Vince and Baby Dom! Every. Time.
𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 -- I sure liked this book A. Lot. More. Than most that came before it. For the simple fact that... Mateo-Mia and no B. S. complications!
Vince deserved his HEA and I liked reading about him and Carly but honestly Part 2 of the book dragged for me.
1 and 3 were awesome!!!
January 16, 2018
This series took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I feel so emotionally drained rn. I don't usually write reviews but I just had to rant somewhere, so, please bear with my 'not so experienced' review writing skills.
I started reading this series from the second book- surviving Mateo, I never read ''accidental witness'' and maybe that is the reason why I could never connect with Mia and till the very end hoped that somehow Mateo would realize his mistake and choose Meg over Mia. Also, I believe that Mateo judged Meg way too harshly in the end, I mean I get it that what Meg did was very bitchy (but hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?). Mateo was an ass to Meg (a sexy one though, no seriously, he literally wouldn't have gotten away with half the shit that he did if he wasn't this hot). He was actually disappointed when Meg didn't shoot him because he wanted to kill Meg(?) Wait, WTF! Did he forget that
-Meg took a bullet to save Mateo,
-Meg didn't say a thing when he sort of raped her to punish her and why because that would just pile up to Mateo's guilt,
-Meg allowed Mateo to go on with the sister wife thing because she loved Mia and Mateo and didn't want to deprive them of happiness,
-Meg never complained when Mateo spent most of his time with Mia. In the first two months, he was literally with Mia the whole time.
I don't get why all the Morelli men went gaga about how sweet and loving Mia is when she didn't hold a grudge against Meg, did they forget that Meg was the one who despite of going through pregnancy harmones allowed a relationship between Mia and Mateo, the man she was madly and completely in love with (c'mon you can't doubt her dedication and love after reading "surviving Mateo"), without being a bitch about it. In fact, I believe that Mia was hurt about Mateo killing Vince and all but she stayed upset with Mateo because of the amount of attention she got at the time.
Meg's hurt wasn't focused on, at all, in the fifth book, because the author wanted to shift the focus on Mia since apparently she wanted her to become the main h. I also do know that Meg is just a character of a novel, but, since I got so emotionally involved with this series and with Meg, I could literally feel Meg's pain. And think logically, a real human female would definitely have been affected at some level after she went through what Meg went through. I was disappointed when Meg didn't do a thing about the way Mateo treated her. The Meg I knew, the no bullshit Meg (from the second book) would either have left Mateo or would have fought for him.
Meg did what she did after Mateo openly insulted her and stopped caring. Meg was never once bitchy in 5 years. Towards the end, Meg could've easily killed Mateo (or at least could have tried to) and it would have been justified if she would have, because of the horrible way Mateo treated her (and I'm not only referring to the dungeon part here but he's been treating Meg like shit since Mia came back in his life). Don't get me wrong, I love Mateo (who wouldn't! that asshole can not, not be loved) but he never deserved Meg, no one in this book does, but I really hope she gets a book with Rafe (because he's presently the best option for her).
I would still give this book 4 stars because I've never been so emotionally affected by a series but I'll take a star obviously because of Meg.
I started reading this series from the second book- surviving Mateo, I never read ''accidental witness'' and maybe that is the reason why I could never connect with Mia and till the very end hoped that somehow Mateo would realize his mistake and choose Meg over Mia. Also, I believe that Mateo judged Meg way too harshly in the end, I mean I get it that what Meg did was very bitchy (but hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?). Mateo was an ass to Meg (a sexy one though, no seriously, he literally wouldn't have gotten away with half the shit that he did if he wasn't this hot). He was actually disappointed when Meg didn't shoot him because he wanted to kill Meg(?) Wait, WTF! Did he forget that
-Meg took a bullet to save Mateo,
-Meg didn't say a thing when he sort of raped her to punish her and why because that would just pile up to Mateo's guilt,
-Meg allowed Mateo to go on with the sister wife thing because she loved Mia and Mateo and didn't want to deprive them of happiness,
-Meg never complained when Mateo spent most of his time with Mia. In the first two months, he was literally with Mia the whole time.
I don't get why all the Morelli men went gaga about how sweet and loving Mia is when she didn't hold a grudge against Meg, did they forget that Meg was the one who despite of going through pregnancy harmones allowed a relationship between Mia and Mateo, the man she was madly and completely in love with (c'mon you can't doubt her dedication and love after reading "surviving Mateo"), without being a bitch about it. In fact, I believe that Mia was hurt about Mateo killing Vince and all but she stayed upset with Mateo because of the amount of attention she got at the time.
Meg's hurt wasn't focused on, at all, in the fifth book, because the author wanted to shift the focus on Mia since apparently she wanted her to become the main h. I also do know that Meg is just a character of a novel, but, since I got so emotionally involved with this series and with Meg, I could literally feel Meg's pain. And think logically, a real human female would definitely have been affected at some level after she went through what Meg went through. I was disappointed when Meg didn't do a thing about the way Mateo treated her. The Meg I knew, the no bullshit Meg (from the second book) would either have left Mateo or would have fought for him.
Meg did what she did after Mateo openly insulted her and stopped caring. Meg was never once bitchy in 5 years. Towards the end, Meg could've easily killed Mateo (or at least could have tried to) and it would have been justified if she would have, because of the horrible way Mateo treated her (and I'm not only referring to the dungeon part here but he's been treating Meg like shit since Mia came back in his life). Don't get me wrong, I love Mateo (who wouldn't! that asshole can not, not be loved) but he never deserved Meg, no one in this book does, but I really hope she gets a book with Rafe (because he's presently the best option for her).
I would still give this book 4 stars because I've never been so emotionally affected by a series but I'll take a star obviously because of Meg.
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