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agrippinaes's review
2.0
Rating: 2 stars
What I Liked: I really couldn’t stop reading this book once I got into it. There was definitely something really engaging about the writing style and the plot. The main pairing had good chemistry and I thought some of the sex scenes were well-written. The emotional side of their relationship worked okay for me and I felt their bond more towards the end of the book.
What I Didn’t: I had a lot of issues with it. One is the pacing, which is all over the place: it starts really fast and moves along at a similar pace until about the halfway point, when things slow down a lot before speeding up again before slowing down a lot.
But the major issue I had was the way women were treated in the book.
But the major one is the way that domestic violence is presented. The hero’s father figure, Aidan, is shown to be an unstable person who is prone to fits of violence and it’s established early on that he once hit his wife, Magdalena, who responded by nearly killing him. This whole thing is presented as a bit of a girl power moment as it taught him a lesson to not hit his wife. There’s a few other points like this about Magdalena’s character. This is a separate complaint, but whilst I’m here, Magdalena was one of the most annoying characters in a book like this I’ve ever read, thoroughly unlikeable but the novel presents her as if she’s some kind of bad ass when most of the “badass” stuff she does just comes across as cruel and bullying.
Also, the major one is the coercion at the start of the book.
The other thing was I had a hard time believing this book was actually set in New York. I’m not 100% sure, but I really got the impression that the author was British from the phrasing, some of the swearing and slang terms. I get that the characters were of Irish descent, but I would say that very little of it read as Irish - it seemed more English to me. It was just a bit distracting for me.
Overall: Being honest, there were stretches of this book I found myself enjoying, but the vast majority of it felt like a real mishmash and a bit clumsy. It was all over the place and I think it needed a really hefty edit. But some of the content was just offensive and a bit odd.
Would I Recommend It?: I don’t think so.
Would I Read Something By The Author Again?: No.
Content Warnings:
What I Liked: I really couldn’t stop reading this book once I got into it. There was definitely something really engaging about the writing style and the plot. The main pairing had good chemistry and I thought some of the sex scenes were well-written. The emotional side of their relationship worked okay for me and I felt their bond more towards the end of the book.
What I Didn’t: I had a lot of issues with it. One is the pacing, which is all over the place: it starts really fast and moves along at a similar pace until about the halfway point, when things slow down a lot before speeding up again before slowing down a lot.
Spoiler
I think this needed a good edit - there’s a lot of filler, especially in the second part, which I think is to cover the fact that the heroine, Aoife, is seriously injured at the halfway point and can’t have sex for 12 weeks; the author, in my opinion, uses this space to cover the wider plot but it did impact the pacing of the romance book as they spent less time together as a couple.But the major issue I had was the way women were treated in the book.
Spoiler
I get it: it’s a mafia romance, I’m not going to find anything particularly progressive in the vast majority of books in this category. However, there was a real range of views presented in this book. Finn, the hero, has some very unprogressive views about the position of women and so do most of the men, but he also sort of doesn’t as he’s happy for her to run a bakery (I say sort of doesn’t as this is how the novel presents how he feels about his own views on women’s rights); Aoife refers to being feminist sometimes but there’s never really a point in the book where she challenges any of these ideas.But the major one is the way that domestic violence is presented. The hero’s father figure, Aidan, is shown to be an unstable person who is prone to fits of violence and it’s established early on that he once hit his wife, Magdalena, who responded by nearly killing him. This whole thing is presented as a bit of a girl power moment as it taught him a lesson to not hit his wife. There’s a few other points like this about Magdalena’s character.
Spoiler
The revelation she killed Aoife’s mother as a case of mistaken identity was a cool twist but I hated how it played out and the book seemed to want me to feel sympathy for Magdalena but I had absolutely none.Also, the major one is the coercion at the start of the book.
Spoiler
I’ve read books with similar premises before but I was shocked by how far the author was willing to take this part of the plotline. The scene where they have sex for the first time in particular was weird and uncomfortable - the usual emphasis on the hymen in a really gross and inaccurate way, for example.The other thing was I had a hard time believing this book was actually set in New York. I’m not 100% sure, but I really got the impression that the author was British from the phrasing, some of the swearing and slang terms. I get that the characters were of Irish descent, but I would say that very little of it read as Irish - it seemed more English to me. It was just a bit distracting for me.
Overall: Being honest, there were stretches of this book I found myself enjoying, but the vast majority of it felt like a real mishmash and a bit clumsy. It was all over the place and I think it needed a really hefty edit. But some of the content was just offensive and a bit odd.
Would I Recommend It?: I don’t think so.
Would I Read Something By The Author Again?: No.
Content Warnings:
Spoiler
Violence, gun violence, torture, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, sudden parental death, hit and run.hetvixcv's review
3.0
I liked this A LOT. Honestly this is my first book by this author and I was not sure if I should read it cause I read some not-so-good reviews, but I’m so glad I did!!
I liked the characters and they did have a strong background story and that kept me on my toes throughout. I know there’s a lot of inner monologue and the author is just introducing the characters for this series in this book, I still loved getting to know all of them and seeing their relationship with the mcs of this book. This is an insta-love and though it did feel unrealistic I didn’t mind it, I liked it.
Although it is a mafia book, it doesn’t revolve around violence and stuff, it’s more about the romance and I kinda liked that. I love the side characters and I’m gonna continue reading this series. Read it if you want an easy mafia romance.
I liked the characters and they did have a strong background story and that kept me on my toes throughout. I know there’s a lot of inner monologue and the author is just introducing the characters for this series in this book, I still loved getting to know all of them and seeing their relationship with the mcs of this book. This is an insta-love and though it did feel unrealistic I didn’t mind it, I liked it.
Although it is a mafia book, it doesn’t revolve around violence and stuff, it’s more about the romance and I kinda liked that. I love the side characters and I’m gonna continue reading this series. Read it if you want an easy mafia romance.
wallflower_bookthoughts's review
4.0
What a whirlwind of a romance between Finn and Aoife I mean from that initial interaction to their actually getting married. This book was good but I do think it was longer than it needed to be. I think there were too many chapters about Aoife being shot than there were about actually resolving the conflict.
elenorisabel's review
5.0
Highly recommend this on audible because Jacob Morgan narrating Finn just did something to me
katiereadingcorner's review
4.0
After reading some of the MC books by Serena, I thought it would be good to try the five points mob series, and I am glad that I did. I love mafia romance books at the moment and this one did not disappoint.
We are introduced to Finn when he is at work and has been given photos of a red head who won’t sell her tea room, so that the five points can demolish the building and put a new sky scraper, she has turned down several offers now and Finn is looking for dirt on her for leverage to get her to sell the space. But what Finn didn’t think of when he was handed this job was that he would find that this red head is his kryptonite. Everything about the way she looks is what Finn loves, he originally only asked for a few images, then he wanted more and more. Now he wants her building and her in his bed, that’s the new deal.
Aoife, has been going from day to day not interested in anything since her mother passed away, she adored her mother and it was her mothers idea to open a tea room, hence why she doesn’t want to sell up and she says she isn’t going down without a fight, that is until she finds out who is behind the company that wants to buy her space, no one says no to five points’.
Aoife is a curvy red head and doesn’t have much self confidence. She finds that Jenny her coworker is the one who gets all the guys and she is just left to go home on own each night. She can’t even get a guy to properly take her virginity. So why is Finn so interested in her? She doesn’t understand?
This was a great start to the series and I look forward to reading the rest of the five points series.
We are introduced to Finn when he is at work and has been given photos of a red head who won’t sell her tea room, so that the five points can demolish the building and put a new sky scraper, she has turned down several offers now and Finn is looking for dirt on her for leverage to get her to sell the space. But what Finn didn’t think of when he was handed this job was that he would find that this red head is his kryptonite. Everything about the way she looks is what Finn loves, he originally only asked for a few images, then he wanted more and more. Now he wants her building and her in his bed, that’s the new deal.
Aoife, has been going from day to day not interested in anything since her mother passed away, she adored her mother and it was her mothers idea to open a tea room, hence why she doesn’t want to sell up and she says she isn’t going down without a fight, that is until she finds out who is behind the company that wants to buy her space, no one says no to five points’.
Aoife is a curvy red head and doesn’t have much self confidence. She finds that Jenny her coworker is the one who gets all the guys and she is just left to go home on own each night. She can’t even get a guy to properly take her virginity. So why is Finn so interested in her? She doesn’t understand?
This was a great start to the series and I look forward to reading the rest of the five points series.
kelieff's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ladyblayde's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant!
This is hands-down the best mafia romance I've ever read (and I've read dozens)! Finns love for Aoiffe is the kind that makes you swoon. I cannot wait to read more of this world!
This is hands-down the best mafia romance I've ever read (and I've read dozens)! Finns love for Aoiffe is the kind that makes you swoon. I cannot wait to read more of this world!
revregtr's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
kaeliesreads's review
5.0
Book is very good
I can't wait to read the rest of the series and see what happens to the characters and I can't wait to see what happens With the crossover series as well.
I can't wait to read the rest of the series and see what happens to the characters and I can't wait to see what happens With the crossover series as well.
geekxgirl's review against another edition
DNF @ 20%
I really wanted to like this as I've enjoyed some of Serena's other work but hmm no. I had held out reading this since I'm still in the middle of reading her MC series and now I'm not sure why I bothered.
I'm a huge fan of mafia romance, the darker and grittier the better but this one just isn't sitting right with me. It has all the correct parts and some bits are flowing and are interesting but others not so much. I am not feeling Finn's possessiveness toward Aoife. And I LOVE me a possessive hero y'all, but his weird obsession with her just ain't feeling sexy to me. Add in Aoife and her idiotic submissiveness? And I do mean that. I'm fine witt the submissive attitude in the bedroom and even a little outside when it counts but she supposedly has a temper which I've yet to see and she was strong and stubborn enough to fight back everytime they tried to offer for her building her tea shop was in. Where that woman went? Who knows y'all! This chick stutters everytime she speaks to Finn and I can't NOT roll my eyes at this. She seems like a totally different woman in her inner thoughts, one who is strong willed and has some attitude or a backbone at least but with Finn she's stuttering her replies and doing absolutely every fucking think he demands.
I'm all for self preservation and knowing when to stand up for yourself but just because she knows he's apart of the Five Pointes mob she finds it acceptable to just lay down and do whatever her master decides. Pathetic. And her reaction about how he treated her after they'd had sex was a joke. I'm all for a woman embracing her feminity and sexuality and she was basking in it but it just didn't feel authentic with the type of woman we had been getting to know before Finn snatched her up and turned her into a lap puppy. And ad always Aoife is a curvy woman with big old tiddies and hips and so we have to read about it every few paragraphs.
Add in Finn's atrocious domineering and chauvinistic attitude about women and I'm done. I can handle a lot of that type of attitude from my darker and historical romances but something about Finn just ain't doing it for me. He's not sexy at all.
I really wanted to like this as I've enjoyed some of Serena's other work but hmm no. I had held out reading this since I'm still in the middle of reading her MC series and now I'm not sure why I bothered.
I'm a huge fan of mafia romance, the darker and grittier the better but this one just isn't sitting right with me. It has all the correct parts and some bits are flowing and are interesting but others not so much. I am not feeling Finn's possessiveness toward Aoife. And I LOVE me a possessive hero y'all, but his weird obsession with her just ain't feeling sexy to me. Add in Aoife and her idiotic submissiveness? And I do mean that. I'm fine witt the submissive attitude in the bedroom and even a little outside when it counts but she supposedly has a temper which I've yet to see and she was strong and stubborn enough to fight back everytime they tried to offer for her building her tea shop was in. Where that woman went? Who knows y'all! This chick stutters everytime she speaks to Finn and I can't NOT roll my eyes at this. She seems like a totally different woman in her inner thoughts, one who is strong willed and has some attitude or a backbone at least but with Finn she's stuttering her replies and doing absolutely every fucking think he demands.
I'm all for self preservation and knowing when to stand up for yourself but just because she knows he's apart of the Five Pointes mob she finds it acceptable to just lay down and do whatever her master decides. Pathetic. And her reaction about how he treated her after they'd had sex was a joke. I'm all for a woman embracing her feminity and sexuality and she was basking in it but it just didn't feel authentic with the type of woman we had been getting to know before Finn snatched her up and turned her into a lap puppy. And ad always Aoife is a curvy woman with big old tiddies and hips and so we have to read about it every few paragraphs.
Add in Finn's atrocious domineering and chauvinistic attitude about women and I'm done. I can handle a lot of that type of attitude from my darker and historical romances but something about Finn just ain't doing it for me. He's not sexy at all.