Forced Vows (Syndicate Rules #5)

Lucy Monroe

Blurb:

RÓISE

The last thing I want is to marry into the mafia, but I'll do anything to protect my vulnerable younger cousin. My one choice left is who I give my body to for the first time. Fate plays a cruel trick when my club hookup turns out the be the underboss I'm supposed to marry.

MICELI

I will do anything for la famiglia, including marrying the niece of the Irish mob boss. Even after the most intensely passionate encounter of my life. I'll never forget the beautiful woman who gave me her virginity in a one-night stand, but when I meet her two months later, she's introduced as my future wife. I should be relieved. I'm not. I'm furious. How dare she risk her safety and offer what should have been mine to a stranger?

Themes: Contemporary, Mafia

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

We always wonder what would happen if you were to be the one person that hits that one-in-a-million chance and hope that it is for a good reason, but one never imagines it will happen in quite the way it happens for Róise when she tries to spread her wings for the first time and finds herself in a whole different kind of gilded cage. Lucy Monroe began this adventure of dark Mafia romances recently and I have to tell you that I was doubtful I was going to enjoy it, because honestly, while I’ve read some dark romances, Bikers have been my limit when it comes to the criminal element for the most part. But Ms. Monroe definitely has a way of presenting a whole new side of the mafia and their counterparts in other cultures that makes me really wonder if what I’ve always known was true. This latest installment is just another example of her bending my mind and making me question my ideas of the shades of gray when it comes to right and wrong. Róise and Miceli are definitely hot and their romance takes many interesting and dangerous twists and turns, filled with laughter, heat, love and the growth of two characters that have to come to terms with hard truths as they lose their hearts. I am dying to find out who will be next in this series to lose their hearts (secretly hoping it is Helios and that we get to learn more about the Portland Greek boys) but I know whatever comes our way it’ll be sexy and darkly intense.

Róise Shaughnessy is being forced into a marriage with a high-ranking member of the Italian mafia, at the demand of her uncle, the leader of the Irish mob, if she wants to protect her cousin. But she won’t go down quietly and she won’t go into it as a virgin like they think, so she sneaks away from her guards for one night of adventure and sexual fantasy with a gorgeous Adonis across the country where the mafia can’t reach her. Miceli De Luca is willing to marry the mob princess for the sake of la famiglia but when he finally meets his intended he is blown away to learn she is the sexy woman that snuck away from his bed after a night of wild passion and has not left his thoughts since. Faced with the truth of their night together, Róise and Miceli have to come to terms with their intense feelings for one another and their future together and find a way to live with their new fate, but it will not be an easy adjustment. With enemies and those that are determined to make the transition as difficult as possible, Róise and Miceli both have misgivings and each must accept that sometimes fate has a bigger hand in a person’s life and that sometimes one night can lead to the most important connection and the greatest love that they have ever felt. If they allow themselves to let go of their hang-ups and misbeliefs, they might be able to find their HEA, but long-held beliefs are difficult to overcome and only together will they be able to accept their new way of life.

Róise is definitely the kind of woman that makes any alpha male’s life terrifyingly exciting, because as much as they don’t want to admit it, women like her are what keeps them on their toes. She is very young for sure, but she is by no means immature, forced to grow up quickly after the loss of both her mother and father at a young age to the common violence of a mob life. She managed to keep a lovely kind of innocence and verve for life, one that keeps her smiling even through the darkness of certain experiences and she is able to find fun in even the most unlikely of times. I loved seeing her sparring with not only her uncle and the Miceli’s brother—the Don of the Italian mafia no less—but mostly with Miceli himself as she forced him to accept her just as she is. She always brightened the darkness that he cloaked himself in and pushed him out of his comfort zones so that he would see how good she was for him, finally making him accept that his heart needed to embrace her in order for them to have any chance at a future together. Even when she was in a dangerous situation she managed to hold her own, kicking butt and taking names and saving herself instead of being the typical damsel in distress. I loved that she made those around her accept her demands instead of caving to the men in her life, she made them see her as, if not an equal, then at least a seen member of their lives and one with a voice. Her sass, sweetness, love, and caring made her the perfect match for Miceli’s darkness and scarred heart.

Miceli was the flip side of Róise’s coin for sure, his dark to her light, but he also had his moments of loving and caring that remind us that while he is a scary Italian mafioso, he is also a loving son and brother. He presents an image to the world, one of being emotionless and hard that would have terrified a lesser woman, but Róise forces him to show her the true depths of the man. His dark heart is by no means hard, but instead holds secrets that when uncovered shows the tortured soul inside that, if he’d been born to another family, would have made him into an entirely different man. It’s obvious that his generational inheritance of being a made man required him to lock away his heart long ago, but with Róise he can finally open it again and she will protect it without him having to be exposed. He is a loving brother to his siblings and their spouses, a caring son to his mother, but the true measure of his love comes when he finally accepts his need for Róise and he offer her his heart. I loved seeing him large and in charge as he shows his enemies his ruthless side of course, protecting those he cares for, mainly his new bride-to-be, but there were definitely moments I wanted to slap him in the head (much like Róise). I was terribly surprised with the direction poor Miceli’s life took in this story as a result of events within the Mafia, but I can see how, with Róise at his side, he will make the transition he is forced into beautifully and I look forward to seeing him in his new role in future stories. All-in-all you could say that Miceli is a typically sexy, dangerously alpha, and beautifully complex dark hero who manages to make me want to take my own adventure into the world of the many shades of gray to find me a sexy bad boy.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to go through an unwanted, arranged marriage, in this day and age, Forced Vows certainly gives us an intriguing look into one direction that things could take. Lucy Monroe leads her characters on an interesting and dangerous adventure of lust, anger, deceit, and ultimately understanding as they get to truly know one another and find love in the most unexpected of places. Róise never imagined that the one night she spent in the arms of her dream lover would come back to haunt her when she meets the man she is going to be forced to marry, but as long as everyone holds true to their promises, she thinks she can escape the marriage with her heart intact. Miceli is determined to show the little minx that has infected his mind and body that she is his, forever, but in order to do so, he first has to survive long enough to get her to the alter, and keep her in his arms as well. With enemies at every turn attempting to tear them apart, misunderstandings causing passionate fights that could break them, and so many differences, it truly will be a miracle if their agreement is ever fulfilled into a true relationship—but never underestimate the power of passion and love. The heat between these two is hot enough to burn through a rainforest and leave nothing in it’s path and burns hot from the first moment they are together until the last page. I was a little disappointed that the book ended before the actual wedding ceremony (c’est le vie), but did enjoy that the timeline seemed to have overlapped quite a bit with the last book (Brutal Capo), so maybe the next story will do the same and the wedding will happen in that one. Whatever comes next (Helios? Hint hint, nudge nudge) I know I will be the first one signing up to read and review because I am dying to find out what is coming now that so much has changed in the world of these folks, and I wouldn’t turn down whatever I get. Lucy Monroe has definitely changed my mind about these sexy Mafia men and I will be reading many more of them in the future, because honestly the power and sexual intensity is right up there with bikers and I am learning so much. Another great read with all the passion, love, and magic I always expect from Lucy.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.