Mafia Romance That I Just Read

First of all, the featured picture is one I took while in traffic last week. There are two couples driving motorcycles with side cars. The woman behind’s sidecar contains a dog with goggles for his eyes and ears. He was so ADORABLE. The picture isn’t great, but hopefully you can see.

Hunger Pains, my short story, is up for preorder and will be available on October 30th. It should be up on all your favorite sites, except Google Play. I need to work on that. It’s a tasty bite and hopefully you’ll all enjoy. There will be another novella (not set in any of my worlds) coming up after that!

In positive news, I have obtained the rights back to my Horngate Witches books. That means I can republish and I’ll be able to write more in the world! I’m not sure when, but it will come next year I think. I also have the rights back to my Path Novels, and they are definitely coming next year.

Okay, so let me talk about this Mafia book. I have been hesitant to read  a mafia romance. I have a hard time figuring out how to like characters involved in illegal activities that often hurt innocent people, and who are often violent for selfish or ignoble reasons. I decided to read this one because it was free and the premise was interesting.

Basically the set up was that this young woman has been silent for six months after her father murdered her mother and she’s terrified of her mafia father who will certainly kill her if she reveals what she knows, and only her silence has been keeping her reasonably safe so far. Only now she’s being offered up as a bride in a mafia merger marriage. Of sorts. She’s got a younger brother who her father is also threatening if she misbehaves. The bridegroom chooses her to marry because she’s mute and therefore won’t bother him and annoy him. Clearly he was not the reason I wanted to read. I was more interested in the premise of the father and his threats and how the daughter was going to expose him. I figured the romance would play out okay.

If I had to evaluate this book, I’d put it at around a 2 or 3, and that’s mostly because this book hit on my pet peeves. The Groom is kind of a dick. Now for certain, he’s mafia, so that’s supposed to mean ruthless and in control and Mister Domination and supercilious and all that sort of thing. Of course he’s magnetic and gorgeous and all the women love him. What makes him a dick is he’s sure he’s in charge and that he knows better than she does what’s good for her, and he pushes her to do something that endangers her. Sure, he’s irritated with himself, but not enough to really apologize or not do it again. And the love arc just sort of totally overlooked the whole ruthless mafia thing. By that I mean there’s never an acknowledgement that she’s in a permanent cage, even if it’s a pretty cage with hot sex. He treats her like she’s an object and a possession, and he infantilizes her.

Meanwhile, she’s overall a really good character. She’s strong, but I hate that she has to apologize because he doesn’t like something or he tells her to do something or not to and she’s just supposed to obey him and when he’s an asshole, she’s the one who has to suck up. This is my pet peeve territory.

I have to wonder if it was because of the heavy reliance on the mafia tropes. And it was sort of tropish/cliche as far as that goes. The Italians, the Irish, the Albanians, and so on.

I’m kind of doubting I’ll read another mafia story soon. I just don’t like the way that women are treated like objects and wthout agency and the hard–to-breathe-through patriarchy. It’s just too vomitous for words. I’m not sure that’s a word, but today it is.