The Last Boss' Daughter by Sam MarianoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A mafia story with grit and determination!
I’ve read Sam Mariano’s books before so reading this book was a no-brainer, especially when I saw it was a mafia story. Having read the first few pages on Amazon, I couldn’t wait to get started and it was moved quickly to the top of my TBR.
Whilst based around the mafia, and especially a mafia principessa, this story is more one of survival and redemption. Having lost her father, a mafia boss, Annabelle De Luca is now buried in a loveless marriage with a made man who works for her mother’s new husband. Forced to marry him at 18, although she never voiced her vows, Annabelle lives on a diet of avoidance, slavery and grief. Not only did she lose her father when he died, she also lost her mother’s love and since then she has stumbled through life determinedly trying to avoid her husband and to survive each day.
On the anniversary of her father’s death each year, Annabelle visits a place that holds fond memories for her with her father. With a swing and an apple and a few words spoken aloud, Annabelle tries unsuccessfully to understand why her life has turned out as it has. This year, Annabelle finds unusual activity at the yard she visits and after an impromptu meeting with what appears to be security guards, Annabelle comes face to face with one of her father’s old friends. Warned away, after a rather interesting encounter with one of the guards, Liam, a man who momentarily reignited her life force, she heads home, but this time she is not alone.
Liam follows the girl who intrigued him whilst he had her pushed up against a tree. Rather than being scared, or crying, she teased and taunted him and left him somewhat dumbfounded. When she returns home, he realises that all is not right in her life. When he sees her fighting off a man in her bed, he realises that he needs to keep her safe, if albeit from a remote and unnoticed distance. After things turn very ugly for Annabelle one night, Liam steps in and although Annabelle is delighted to see that he hasn’t forgotten her, his intervention starts a chain of events that neither could have foreseen. With Annabelle now watched 24/7, she is even more trapped within her life and ever fearful of her future. Liam is the only man who can save her but with him unable to come near, Annabelle struggles to find a way to escape.
When her step-father realises that she’s been cheating (in his mind) on her husband, she is brought into the family home and kept against her will. Liam is at a loss as to what has happened to Annabelle and knows that he must find a way to rescue her, and even at the detriment of the job his is tasked to do. The story concludes in a battle of epic proportions between the rival mafia bosses and in order to save Annabelle, Liam knows he must also hurt her, possibly beyond reproach. Can Annabelle and Liam ever find their HEA and can Annabelle live with Liam knowing exactly who and what he is?
This was a relatively slow developing story but is still one to be enjoyed and savoured. Annabelle clearly finds herself in a position that she can’t escape from and with depression and loneliness her only companions, she deals with what life throws at her in the only way she knows.
Definitely a story to be enjoyed by mafia book fans and one that is recommended.
This ebook was kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
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