Cora Reilly has done it again! I am a massive fan of the Born in Blood series, those I’ve read so far, and this book has followed in the footsteps of its predecessors. Bound by Vengeance follows the relationship between Growl and Cara, who are both part of the Camorra, the Las Vegas-run mafia. At a social event, we start with Cara being the typical mafia princess, prim and proper. Here, we first see Growl lurking in the corner. As with most books with a love interest, Cara and Growl lock eyes with each other and cannot look away; they even get a small moment alone together! The twist comes not long after this when we find out that Cara’s father, an underboss, has betrayed the capo and is killed; Cara is then gifted to Growl as a punishment for her father’s crimes. However, we find out that Growl has started to develop a soft spot for Cara, so he never harms her physically. The story then follows the ups and downs of Mafia life. Cara, who is now so angry at what has been done to her family, will stop at nothing to get revenge for her father’s death and her family’s hostage situation. To get this revenge, she manages to convince Growl to help her and take out the other people who have harmed him in his life, too.
One of my favourite things about this book is that there isn’t a third-act breakup. In some books, I do like this type of format; however, for this book, I am glad that there wasn’t one. For me, it wouldn’t have made sense for there to be a breakup considering that Growl would do anything for Cara. Although we do have a section of the book in which, spoiler alert, Cara thinks that Growl is dead, there is no actual “breakup.”
Overall, the formatting of this dark romance was one of my favourites as there were good story progressions as well as character progression; it felt like the relationship between Cara and Growl was gradual, and the small moments they had together really did build up to a beautiful relationship between the two of them.
This book had me grasping at straws as to which new surprise was waiting around the corner. If you are looking to get into dark romance/mafia romance, then this is a good starting point. With easy-to-read chapters and constant suspense, you’ll never be left wondering why you picked this book up.
Rating: 4.5/5
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