DNF 49%

(1.5) snoozefest with no build up and maddox was a loser

Like, had higher expectations for sure. It was good, tho the ending was kind of weird. Wanna read the continuation of their story asap.

The Queen of Mafia Romance is BACK!!

I'm a huge Cora fan, her Mafia books I can reread all the time.
I couldn't wait to get my hands on By Sin I Rise part one, when a book has to be split into two parts you just know its gonna be an amazing read. And it doesn't disappoint either.

Marcella Vitiello is Luca's daughter when she is kidnapped for her fathers sins, all hell breaks loose.

Maddox "Mad Dog" White is after revenge, after witnessing his father and club brothers massacred by Luca Vitiello at the age of 5 years old all he can think of is killing Luca. So he kidnapps Marcella in hope that for exchanged Luca will hand himself over.

I will not spoil it but its such a ride. There is so much more to Marcella than the spoiled princess she is known for, she is her fathers daughter after all. She is strong.

Few characters I hated Maddox uncle the President Earl and club brother the creepy Cody. HATE THEM!!

Gray is an interested character I'm hoping we hear more about him in part two, he is Maddox's half brother.
Overall another amazing book by Cora and I can not wait for part two.

"Could true love be born in captivity?"

Marcella it's one of my favorite characters, she's hot and she knows it. I loved her secure of herself she was, her drive to be better and how caring she could be.

Maddox has the typical bad boy appearance with a very tragic and damaging past. I loved seeing all the facets of his personality.

We follow the story of Maddox and Marcella which come from two very different worlds. While Marcella grew up being sheltered from the bad things of the mafia, Maddox grew up with the worts parts of it, since he saw Luca Vitiello mafia boss and Marcella's dad kill his father in front of his eyes. Form that day he decided he will take revenge on his hands and make Luca Vitiello suffer like he made him suffer. Maddox decides to steal Marcella and take her to his MC headquarters to torture her and his father. What began as revenge became something more, something like love but was it? I loved reading their story and can't wait how it ends on the second part.

This is one of those very polarizing books for me. While the concept is there, I felt that it lacked the pow. Marcella, being the daughter of the Capo, did not want to bow down to her dad’s wishes and marry the man they picked for her. Maddox is out for revenge and for his MC club, she was the perfect target. For me, I could not connect very well to the characters in this one. I felt that I needed more fire from them. I very much enjoyed the push and pull and every little twist. I just felt it was a little flat for me. While this is part one, there is more coming so it ends on a slight cliffy. I am intrigued as to what the author has planned for these two in the second part though. Solid 3 and a half stars from me.

I have to start this by saying I haven't read Cora's previous books. I know, I know, some people might say I shouldn't have read this as if there isn't about one hundred books before, but guess what? I don't care.

What I have to say about Maddox and Marcella is easy: I liked them. They were a couple of good main characters, as far as I'm concerned. Maddox is a strong MC who seeks for revenge and Marcella is, according to other people, a spoiled princess. Sooner than later, we find out not everything is just black nor white, and we join the both of them in their pain.

I don't think there is a guilty person we can point at, which is one of my favorite things about mafia romance most of the times. Yes, Maddox' feelings towards Luca is fair. And Luca's actions, while dramatic, are also fair? I don't know, still think he overreacts a lot, but as I said, I haven't read his book. Nor I want to, to be honest.

Anyway, I can not wait for the next book, I think it's going to be great and even if I wish this was the end for Marcella and Maddox' story (one of the best endings I've ever read, sorry)... I'm hooked so I need to find out more about these two.

| ESPAÑOL |
Este es el segundo libro que leo de esta autora y muchas personas podrían entrar en duda de si en verdad es buena idea empezar tan tarde.

Maddox y Marcella fueron buenos personajes y en realidad me gustaron bastante; claro que tienen sus puntos débiles pero no los tomo como tales. Maddox busca venganza y Marcella es, según varias personas, una princesita malcriada. A lo largo del libro nos damos cuenta que no todo es completamente blanco o negro, y nos unimos a su sufrimiento, o al menos así me pasó a mi.

No creo que exista una persona en particular a la que podamos culpar por completo. Sí, hay varios antagonistas que agradeces que mueran pero aún así, hasta cierto punto puedo entender por qué realizaron ciertas acciones. Como bien dicen: la venganza nunca es buena, mata el alma y la envenena. O en este caso, te hace victimario de personas que no tienen nada que ver con ese acto que buscas vengar.

Comprendo totalmente por qué Maddox piensa cómo lo hace y la realidad de las cosas es que desearía que este libro terminara con ese final. Sin embargo, tendremos una segunda parte de más drama Vitiello. Oh well...

Yo dije que ya no iba a leer historias escritas por esta historia pero tendré que hacerlo, ya me emocioné con la segunda generación.

5 estrellas por el final tan hermoso que sé que no les ha gustado a muchas personas.

3.25 Stars
Due to all the bad reviews, I went in with really low expectations. After finishing the novel, I can say that it wasn't that bad. I thought I was going hate this novel but I didn't. I mean, it wasn't amazing but it wasn't awful either. Good enough to read, but not a must.

Things I didn't like:
-The "love" felt forced, unnatural, and untrue. It's more like infatuation.
-The violence/torture felt tamed compared to Cora Reilly's other novels.

Spoiler

They just cut off Marcella's earlobe. I was expecting the entire ear or maybe a finger or something. A tiny piece of earlobe that can be covered by an earring... really? Ah, yes these guys are so bad. They chose the least significant part of the body to cut off.

-Story lacks that spark/oomph