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A review by geekxgirl
Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly
4.0
3.5/4 Stars
I wasn't sure I would like this one after my experience with Cora's other story Fragile Longing but wow...like night and day.
This book was lovely. Not particularly dark or even heavy on the Mafia aspect. It was more a backdrop with obvious mentions but no ride along into the actions, so to speak.
I found the hero Cassio fascinating. He came across as the typical aloof and cold mafia man but there was far more to his personality. If anything, growing up in the life hardened him very early and stole what was left of his childhood. So he became the serious Cassio we see throughout this whole book.
Cassio for me was a wonderful hero. He didn't seem to have the harsh or sharp edges I expected. Or if he did the author didn't present them as anything but slightly blunted. He obviously was formidable and not one to disrespect. He was underboss after all. But underneath all that he was still a young man who had been dealt a terrible card with his personal life. His first wife was unspeakably awful in personality but also to him. Their relationship was a formality and regardless of how he tried she didn't even attempt to hide her hatred of him. And then for their children to be caught in the middle...what a mess.
All I can say is I'm shocked he didn't kill his first wife. I wouldn't have bated an eye. She absolutely deserved it.
But what might've made Cassio the loveliest was his love for his children. How he took the time to care for them and be an actual father was beautiful. Not many mafia books carry the same tone where the big bad mafia man is see actually cuddling his baby or changing diapers. It gave him a very soft side that was hard to resist.
What surprised me most and kept my interest at the beginning was the heroine Giulia. She was resilient and optimistic but not ridiculously so. Only freshly eighteen when she married Cassio she could have wilted under the pressure of her new life as his wife and stepmother to his children but she didn't. She seemingly surprised everyone including Cassio. I loved her attitude and her inner strength. I adored that she didn't simply snap back or argue but spoke calmly and with a level head when up against Cassio's anger or dominance. She was intelligent and witty and was determined to find her way in her new life and she did. She refused to let him change her into someone she wasn't nor crush her spirit.
I really loved their journey together. I felt they truly did come to love one another. It didn't feel too soon and thank God it didn't feel too juvenile from Giulia's side. Given her age the author could have wrote her in a way that made their relationship feel inappropriate and in turn could have shown Giulia in a poor light. But she simply acted like a young woman still maturing and finding her way. And I appreciated that it was true to her age and circumstances but also that we didn't have to follow some young woman daydreaming about the hero and falling in love after having sex once or twice. It happens all too often in stories such as these and I honestly am so pleased that's not how Giulia was portrayed.
If it hadn't been for the hero fixating on her age during the first half of the story I would have forgotten she was only eighteen tbh. Her age played a bigger factor in the story than I think was necessary. I understood why Cassio was so uncomfortable with it in the beginning but as he spent more time with Giulia I found it tiresome that he had to make remarks about her giggle being that of a teenage girl or how she smiled at him. It seemed more a hangup on his end and I think the story would've been just fine leaving his discomfort with it behind earlier on.
Otherwise I enjoyed this a whole lot. I might reread it in the future tbh. I do wish we had a few more time jumps toward the end. We went from first year of marriage right to nine years later. I didn't hate it but a paragraph or two marking the passing of time with spotlight on two years later, 5 years later etc would've been a nice touch and not felt so big a jump to make. Makes you feel like we lost out on all the cute milestones and them falling deeper in love, ya know?
Update: So, it's been a couple days since I read this and looking back I realized just how bland and boring it was. Was it interesting? Sure, but overall it was massively lacking in feeling and emotion. This sort of story should grab you by your emotions and keep you hooked. But it did none of that. I still liked it but honestly after checking out CR's other books and their reviews I'm realizing this is a regular thing for her writing style and that's just disappointing.
So, I'll take the win with the fact I did like this one even if it was uneventful and rather boring.
I wasn't sure I would like this one after my experience with Cora's other story Fragile Longing but wow...like night and day.
This book was lovely. Not particularly dark or even heavy on the Mafia aspect. It was more a backdrop with obvious mentions but no ride along into the actions, so to speak.
I found the hero Cassio fascinating. He came across as the typical aloof and cold mafia man but there was far more to his personality. If anything, growing up in the life hardened him very early and stole what was left of his childhood. So he became the serious Cassio we see throughout this whole book.
Cassio for me was a wonderful hero. He didn't seem to have the harsh or sharp edges I expected. Or if he did the author didn't present them as anything but slightly blunted. He obviously was formidable and not one to disrespect. He was underboss after all. But underneath all that he was still a young man who had been dealt a terrible card with his personal life. His first wife was unspeakably awful in personality but also to him. Their relationship was a formality and regardless of how he tried she didn't even attempt to hide her hatred of him. And then for their children to be caught in the middle...what a mess.
All I can say is I'm shocked he didn't kill his first wife. I wouldn't have bated an eye. She absolutely deserved it.
But what might've made Cassio the loveliest was his love for his children. How he took the time to care for them and be an actual father was beautiful. Not many mafia books carry the same tone where the big bad mafia man is see actually cuddling his baby or changing diapers. It gave him a very soft side that was hard to resist.
What surprised me most and kept my interest at the beginning was the heroine Giulia. She was resilient and optimistic but not ridiculously so. Only freshly eighteen when she married Cassio she could have wilted under the pressure of her new life as his wife and stepmother to his children but she didn't. She seemingly surprised everyone including Cassio. I loved her attitude and her inner strength. I adored that she didn't simply snap back or argue but spoke calmly and with a level head when up against Cassio's anger or dominance. She was intelligent and witty and was determined to find her way in her new life and she did. She refused to let him change her into someone she wasn't nor crush her spirit.
I really loved their journey together. I felt they truly did come to love one another. It didn't feel too soon and thank God it didn't feel too juvenile from Giulia's side. Given her age the author could have wrote her in a way that made their relationship feel inappropriate and in turn could have shown Giulia in a poor light. But she simply acted like a young woman still maturing and finding her way. And I appreciated that it was true to her age and circumstances but also that we didn't have to follow some young woman daydreaming about the hero and falling in love after having sex once or twice. It happens all too often in stories such as these and I honestly am so pleased that's not how Giulia was portrayed.
If it hadn't been for the hero fixating on her age during the first half of the story I would have forgotten she was only eighteen tbh. Her age played a bigger factor in the story than I think was necessary. I understood why Cassio was so uncomfortable with it in the beginning but as he spent more time with Giulia I found it tiresome that he had to make remarks about her giggle being that of a teenage girl or how she smiled at him. It seemed more a hangup on his end and I think the story would've been just fine leaving his discomfort with it behind earlier on.
Otherwise I enjoyed this a whole lot. I might reread it in the future tbh. I do wish we had a few more time jumps toward the end. We went from first year of marriage right to nine years later. I didn't hate it but a paragraph or two marking the passing of time with spotlight on two years later, 5 years later etc would've been a nice touch and not felt so big a jump to make. Makes you feel like we lost out on all the cute milestones and them falling deeper in love, ya know?
Update: So, it's been a couple days since I read this and looking back I realized just how bland and boring it was. Was it interesting? Sure, but overall it was massively lacking in feeling and emotion. This sort of story should grab you by your emotions and keep you hooked. But it did none of that. I still liked it but honestly after checking out CR's other books and their reviews I'm realizing this is a regular thing for her writing style and that's just disappointing.
So, I'll take the win with the fact I did like this one even if it was uneventful and rather boring.