|| 3.5 stars ||

My opinions here are a bit mixed. On the one hand, I did enjoy this book, but I also found it surprisingly underwhelming.

Something that bugged me was that the relationship between Nico and Elena definitely felt more like ‘lust’ than 'love' for a very long time.
I only began to see the love more towards the end, but by that point the tension had almost completely disappeared, so I wasn’t even sure which phase I preferred: The tension or the love?
I wish there had been more of a mix of both of those things at the same time. That's definitely something I felt was missing for me.

I do have to admit that I loved Nico’s possessiveness. It was so poignant and intense. He was so greedy when it came to Elena’s attentions; not wanting to share her physically but also not emotionally. He wanted her to love nobody but him: past, present or future.
Which is, of course, not exactly healthy, but… it’s just hot in books okay! My feminism and morals can sometimes simply fly right out the window, allowing me to merely enjoy the ride.

Nonetheless, I did need Elena to be a little tougher, stand up for herself and push back more. I feel like she was far too much of a doormat, especially when it came to her relationship with Nico. She let him get away with everything. He never had to grovel or anything close to that. I was honestly waiting for it to happen at some point, but it never came. Quite disappointing.

Now, when it comes to Nico, I really needed more from him in general. We hardly ever got to read from his POV, and even then, he rarely seemed to show us his emotions or inner thoughts at the beginning. Near the end, he opened up more, though.
Anyway, I truly think this book would have been so much better if the POV had been split fifty-fifty between Nico and Elena: more interesting, more swoon-worthy, more everything that made this book enjoyable.

Honestly, the thing I hated most, was the constant miscommunication happening in this book: Elena thought Nico didn’t really want her and was still sleeping with other women, while Nico thought Elena was in love with another man. This resulted in both of them remaining completely closed off towards the other.
Meanwhile, in reality, both were only into each other and no one else. A simple conversation could have cleared everything up between these two and it was annoying when this didn’t happen for the length of almost the entire book. Frustration definitely bubbled up inside of me.

Long story short, this book was enjoyable, but flawed in multiple ways.
I wouldn't say anything about this story was done perfectly, but most of it was done adequately enough for it to be an okay read.

I didn't regret reading this, and I actually think the chances are high of me picking up the sequel. Hopefully the things I think could be improved will be done better in the next book!

After all, I can see a lot of potential with this series: the mafia dynamic, the family ties, the characters, the possessiveness/jealousies, the writing-style. It all truly has very high potential.
It just needs a little more depth when it comes to the romance and everything would be great!


'Made' series:
1. The Sweetest Oblivion - 3.5 stars
2. The Maddest Obsession - 4.0 stars
3. The Darkest Temptation - 4.0 stars