On one hand, there were things about this dark romance that I really enjoyed--the characters, in single moments, were believable and worth engaging with (with the caveat that this will probably only be the case if you Like dark romance), and the story itself was fast-paced with a good balance of action and steamy romance. The protagonist's child might have been a little flat, but then again, she wasn't present a huge amount, so that didn't bother me all that much; she was believable when she was present, and in this case, that was enough for me. I will say that, along with the caveat about this being a dark romance, I feel I need to mention the male protagonist here is a far bit darker than most, and we see the violence of his world. The gore involved in him being mafia might be a bit much for some readers, though I actually didn't mind it since these books more often have male protagonists who are Said to be dark, but don't show a hint of it. Definitely not the case here.

That said, my big problem here was with the male protagonist, Andrew. I can't even call what happened insta-love, because it wasn't that, but I will call it insta-obsession. From the moment he met Amy, he had to have her. No build-up, no explanation, no rationale or attempt to explain the sudden, life-charging, all-or-nothing obsession. He just Had to have her. Now, if this had been a pattern with him (which wouldn't be the case, or it would have been a very different man, book, and genre), that might make sense. Serial killers HAVE to have particular victims all the time, and their rationales may or may not make sense. But in this case, where he seems to have been an in-attached and driven man prior to meeting her, totally disinterested in a wife, let alone a child... well, we needed something. Anything at all really. Anything to explain why, as soon as he sees her, he's utterly obsessed with making her his. The more his obsession (because there's no other way to describe it, even from his lips) was harped on, also, the more distracting the issue was. Readers can't help wondering, 'Wait, when did he get so obsessed with her, and why?' The answers: "Immediately upon seeing her" and "We have no earthly clue".

So, would I read another book by these authors? I might. I have another one lying around already, also from this series, and this was a fast and relaxing enough read that I'll probably pick it up. But, at the same time, I really can't recommend this whole-heartedly, engaging as various scenes were, and as strong as other aspects of the book were. ( )