Disclaimer: This rating reflects my personal opinion. Please read the trigger warnings carefully before continuing.
Rating:🔥🔥🔥
Standalone or Cliffhanger: Standalone (The Made Series)
Language: English
⚠️ Trigger & Content Warnings (click here)
- Arranged marriage
- Recreational drug use, off page
- Murder
- Blackmail
- Gun violence
- Murder
- Misogyny
Vibe
I like the cover, it is mafia based and the idea of a standalone trilogy sounded promising. Let's have a look.
My Thoughts
I learned one thing from this book: Mafia stories aren’t really my thing — at least not like this. Reading felt surprisingly slow for me, and the pacing never really picked up the way I expected it to.
What frustrated me a lot was the lack of character development. She loathes him, yet at the same time feels fascinated and drawn to him. He wants her at all costs and starts tormenting her in different ways. In theory, that dynamic sounds intense — but in execution, it felt rather shallow to me, just with darker elements layered on top.
I did enjoy the erotic parts of the story. The physical tension worked well, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately, the tension that initially built up faded quite quickly the further I got into the book — maybe too quickly.
One other aspect I genuienly liked was Elena’s inner conflict. Her struggle between being the obedient daughter and woman she is expected to be, and her rebellious, real self felt very relatable to me.
I learned one thing from this book: Mafia stories aren’t really my thing — at least not like this. Reading felt surprisingly slow for me, and the pacing never really picked up the way I expected it to.
What frustrated me a lot was the lack of character development. She loathes him, yet at the same time feels fascinated and drawn to him. He wants her at all costs and starts tormenting her in different ways. In theory, that dynamic sounds intense — but in execution, it felt rather shallow to me, just with darker elements layered on top.
I did enjoy the erotic parts of the story. The physical tension worked well, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately, the tension that initially built up faded quite quickly the further I got into the book — maybe too quickly.
One other aspect I genuienly liked was Elena’s inner conflict. Her struggle between being the obedient daughter and woman she is expected to be, and her rebellious, real self felt very relatable to me.
Conclusion
One aspect that didn’t work for me was the overall misogynistic tone of the story. The way female characters were portrayed — being “protected” on the surface, yet treated as assets to be traded for business purposes — felt excessive and uncomfortable to me.
I also struggled to connect with the plot. If there was a clear overarching storyline beyond the relationship dynamics, I personally didn’t feel it strongly enough to stay invested.
This book might work better for readers who enjoy lighter Mafia romances with a strong erotic focus and who are less bothered by these underlying dynamics.
One aspect that didn’t work for me was the overall misogynistic tone of the story. The way female characters were portrayed — being “protected” on the surface, yet treated as assets to be traded for business purposes — felt excessive and uncomfortable to me.
I also struggled to connect with the plot. If there was a clear overarching storyline beyond the relationship dynamics, I personally didn’t feel it strongly enough to stay invested.
This book might work better for readers who enjoy lighter Mafia romances with a strong erotic focus and who are less bothered by these underlying dynamics.
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