I was really nervous to read this book because of the plot but my curiosity won the battle and I just ended reading it all at once (as I did with all Cora's books). I didn't have big expectations and here it goes my review (a VERY long review):
Firstly, for me, the best part of the book is Marcella's personality. I love that she isn't just a stereotyped bad girl or just a spoiled and futile princess; she has dreams, ambitions and is very smart and strong and the depth of her character is very crucial. In contrast, I felt like Maddox didn't had the same construction and his character was much more superficial, specially because his only and one thought was Luca.
Honestly, I really hate the kidnapping plot in general and in this book it was no different. It was hard to read the scenes of Marcella being humiliated and hurt by the MC and I was so scared for what else they would do. My heart was pounding in the part where Earl cut her ear. The "salvation" (with much necessary quotation marks) was the fact that Maddox never wanted to hurt Marcella in any way, but YET she got hurt both physically and mentally and he waited forever to realise that his MC was rotten to the core and Marcella was in danger with them.
Another thing that bothered me was the way their relationship was developed. I felt like the lines between "He/she is the enemy, I'm gonna seduce her for advantage" and "I love you and would die for you" were very abrupt and there were lots of terrible moments (like the way she lost part of the ear one night and was having sex with Maddox like nothing was wrong in the next morning). I really hope this changes in the next book.
Last but not least, I need to talk about the Vitiellos. Even with not many scenes, we can see how deeply they care about each other and the faith Marcella had in her father was amazing. I was glad to see Luca being such a good father and actually letting Marcella gets involved with the Famiglia business (another thing I want to be more explored). And let's talk about the way Amo was ready to give his position of next capo to his sister even if he was prepared for it his whole life (their relation is everything). I'm ready to see the Vitiello siblings prosper and rule New York fully (and if course, seeing Amo all grown up made me more anxious for his and Greta's book).
In general, it was a okay reading with ups and downs and nothing more. Let's wait for part II.