Crow (Boston Underworld, #1)

by A Zavarelli

Okay this one kind of snuck up on me. The characters felt sort of wooden to start with - I didn't hate them but they just felt flat. But this progressively got better until the ending was just action packed and tense and adrenaline filled.

I really came to adore Mack. She was so brave and fierce and broken but determined and just fantastic. I also loved that she was willing to choke people out. And that she was a trained MMA fighter. I would've liked to see more of it as well. I also liked how she handled herself with regards to being shot at. She obviously had a hard life and some bad experiences and familiarity with violence, guns and gunshot wounds, etc - but it was nice that when she was shot at she could admit her own fears and limitations. And I loved the banter between her and Ronan. Ronan was awesome.

Crow was fantastic - I liked that he seemed more like a forever type than a one night stand. Like he wasn't just randomly hooking up with women all the time (well maybe he was but it didn't read like he was) but if not actively looking for love - open to the possibility. I really liked that because Mack totally wasn't. It seemed like a nice role reversal. Well sort of. I mean she did want security and that but she also seemed to have stopped believing it was even an option before Crow slowly brings her around to the idea of needing/having other people. I liked that the love between them was slow - they felt instant attraction but they were still working their own goals for most of the book.

One thing I didn't like was that she was a virgin. It felt false that as a virgin she'd be willing to play the role of stripper. Kind of seems stupid really to go into a place you're likely going to get sexually assaulted if not outright raped as a virgin. The human trafficking plot was sad and tragic. I felt so sorry for those girls and it makes me sad to think of women that are currently in that situation.

This was primarily romance than mob though. There was some stuff about different outfits and a mole but there were no real details about enterprises and raids and whatever.

So yeah surprising little gem. 4 stars.