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mnhockeymomreads's review against another edition
4.0
Fragile Longing by Cora Reilly
This book has been HIGHLY anticipated for me....the release was pushed back a couple of times so when it actually released a day earlier than planned I was sooo excited!!! At the same time it’s a hard book to review and summarize without giving too much away!!!
While this is considered a stand alone the characters are part of The Outfit mafia based in the Midwest. So if Cora’s mafia books are new to you, I would recommend starting with the Bound series!
After Danilo’s first fiancée is unable to marry him due to a kidnapping and other events he is promised to her much younger sister, Sofia. One of the two was excited, the other was not. But given the mafia world, they both came to accept their fate.
While the majority of the book taking place prior to Sofia & Danilo’s marriage. Given some Cora’s past books, I was not prepared for that. But reflecting, I think it was for readers to fully understand what the characters experienced in the years leading up to their marriage.
I was hoping that the Danilo we had met in previous books would be different from the private Danilo, and Cora did not disappoint there. He was genuine and worked at a marriage. He didn’t just give lip service and expect her to warm his bed. Sofia also matured a great deal throughout, and I appreciated how she made him work to gain her trust and affection.
I’ll be honest, this book is getting mixed reviews. It seems you love it or hate. Because so much of the book is prior to their marriage, I constantly had to remind myself just how YOUNG Sofia was during much of the story. She was promised to Danilo at age 11. At one point she was giddy about getting a cell phone, and he’s an underboss. Their lives were SOOOO completely different.
I do wish there more of the book focused on when they were actually married and more on the business side of his job. Of course, I wish his sister, Emma and her brother, Samuel played a more prominent role in this book, but I understand that would have been hard given they are getting their own book. I adored their story and still recommend it!
This book has been HIGHLY anticipated for me....the release was pushed back a couple of times so when it actually released a day earlier than planned I was sooo excited!!! At the same time it’s a hard book to review and summarize without giving too much away!!!
While this is considered a stand alone the characters are part of The Outfit mafia based in the Midwest. So if Cora’s mafia books are new to you, I would recommend starting with the Bound series!
After Danilo’s first fiancée is unable to marry him due to a kidnapping and other events he is promised to her much younger sister, Sofia. One of the two was excited, the other was not. But given the mafia world, they both came to accept their fate.
While the majority of the book taking place prior to Sofia & Danilo’s marriage. Given some Cora’s past books, I was not prepared for that. But reflecting, I think it was for readers to fully understand what the characters experienced in the years leading up to their marriage.
I was hoping that the Danilo we had met in previous books would be different from the private Danilo, and Cora did not disappoint there. He was genuine and worked at a marriage. He didn’t just give lip service and expect her to warm his bed. Sofia also matured a great deal throughout, and I appreciated how she made him work to gain her trust and affection.
I’ll be honest, this book is getting mixed reviews. It seems you love it or hate. Because so much of the book is prior to their marriage, I constantly had to remind myself just how YOUNG Sofia was during much of the story. She was promised to Danilo at age 11. At one point she was giddy about getting a cell phone, and he’s an underboss. Their lives were SOOOO completely different.
I do wish there more of the book focused on when they were actually married and more on the business side of his job. Of course, I wish his sister, Emma and her brother, Samuel played a more prominent role in this book, but I understand that would have been hard given they are getting their own book. I adored their story and still recommend it!
whyemmawhyyy's review against another edition
3.0
Danilo was annoying while Sofia was way too whiny. That's all you need to know.
Please please please write a love story for Emma and Sofia's brother
Please please please write a love story for Emma and Sofia's brother
once_upon_a_storybook's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Really a disappointment. I love Cora Reilly books and she’s one of my favorite authors but this was just a let down. I love a good age gap romance but this was just not it, like most of the book the FMC was quite literally a child and literally there is no character development when it comes to her, and she couldn’t understand why the MMC didn’t want her when she was a literal child when she was promised to him. Also how easily she forgave the MMC, he honestly deserves nothing. The whole book he’s pining for the FMC sister and she even uses that to get him to try to sleep with her. This couple was just a mess from beginning to end😒
yazzy101's review against another edition
3.0
Ok so I gotta admit I was a little disappointed by this book. I really wanted to love it and therefore was disappointed when it didn’t reach those expectations.
Firstly, I’ll admit I thought this book would have a way different plot. I thought they’d be married pretty early on and throughout their marriage deal with Danilo’s anger towards Remo and Fina. Thinking about it now I don’t really know why I expected him to be so angry after like 10 years while waiting for Sofia to come of age. Like that’s a really long time to be count up in a moment. Basically what I’m saying is that I expected this book to be a lot more about Danilo falling in love with Sofia. But like the vast majority of it was Sofia comparing herself to her sister. There wasn’t really much more to Sofia’s story besides her not really ever getting over it. Danilo was pretty much the same expect he was also cute with his sister. Like Sofia literally spent the book obsessing over Danilo - a man she didn’t actually know and maybe spend a total of like the parties with during the almost 10 years between Fina being kidnapped and her wedding; or comparing herself to said sister. It was just a lot.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I want more mafia stuff in these books. Like honestly without seeing the guy in these books being a dangerous badass like I might as well be reading any other romance book. Like there wasn’t even mention of a gun, or shitty parenting, or anything like that in this book. Like Luca wouldn’t sleep without a gun, Mateo always had knives on him, the Falcones literally had fightclub and were constantly working out or going to work. Like where is all that in this book. I get the outfit is trying to be more political or whatever, but I felt Danilo’s rage was the perfect excuse to fuck some shit you. You know.
I will admit tho I did like the relationship Danilo and Sofia developed at the end of the book. The seemed to really work at being together and sharing thing and working for their love together. It was quite sweet. It was a little abrupt tho. It seemed almost like Danilo didn’t need to work to hard to get Sofia to trust him again or get over the whole Fina thing or whatever. Like I feel like he needed to grovel a little more. Especially with the way Sofia’s first time went. I just felt it was lacking a little. Like they jumped from Sofia being obsessed then kinda hating him, then him not even giving any shits about her to being basically in love with her. Like I think I wanted her to hate him a little longer and for them to fall slowly after he’d work to make it better.
I will admit I loved most of the side characters. Anna was pretty cool, though I felt like she knew more about everything then she should since she’s even younger than Sofia. Like she seemed weirdly wise and grown up, it was a little weird for someone who was never older than 17 throughout the book. And I loved the sibling seems with her and her brother and sister. They were the best.
I also really liked Emma. She was adorable and I really want her to be happy with Samuel, but he seemed like he was so upset with the arrangement he wouldn’t even give her a chance. And that kinda sucked. Like I get it’s arranged but like would should at least be friends or try to be. She was really sweet and I already know she deserves better. And I loved the relationship she had with Danilo. They were so cute together. You could tell he just loves her so purely and her him. Like there was no sibling rivalry, it was just them wanted the other to be happy.
I could probably go on and on but I won’t. Overall a good book. But could and probably should have been way better.
Firstly, I’ll admit I thought this book would have a way different plot. I thought they’d be married pretty early on and throughout their marriage deal with Danilo’s anger towards Remo and Fina. Thinking about it now I don’t really know why I expected him to be so angry after like 10 years while waiting for Sofia to come of age. Like that’s a really long time to be count up in a moment. Basically what I’m saying is that I expected this book to be a lot more about Danilo falling in love with Sofia. But like the vast majority of it was Sofia comparing herself to her sister. There wasn’t really much more to Sofia’s story besides her not really ever getting over it. Danilo was pretty much the same expect he was also cute with his sister. Like Sofia literally spent the book obsessing over Danilo - a man she didn’t actually know and maybe spend a total of like the parties with during the almost 10 years between Fina being kidnapped and her wedding; or comparing herself to said sister. It was just a lot.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I want more mafia stuff in these books. Like honestly without seeing the guy in these books being a dangerous badass like I might as well be reading any other romance book. Like there wasn’t even mention of a gun, or shitty parenting, or anything like that in this book. Like Luca wouldn’t sleep without a gun, Mateo always had knives on him, the Falcones literally had fightclub and were constantly working out or going to work. Like where is all that in this book. I get the outfit is trying to be more political or whatever, but I felt Danilo’s rage was the perfect excuse to fuck some shit you. You know.
I will admit tho I did like the relationship Danilo and Sofia developed at the end of the book. The seemed to really work at being together and sharing thing and working for their love together. It was quite sweet. It was a little abrupt tho. It seemed almost like Danilo didn’t need to work to hard to get Sofia to trust him again or get over the whole Fina thing or whatever. Like I feel like he needed to grovel a little more. Especially with the way Sofia’s first time went. I just felt it was lacking a little. Like they jumped from Sofia being obsessed then kinda hating him, then him not even giving any shits about her to being basically in love with her. Like I think I wanted her to hate him a little longer and for them to fall slowly after he’d work to make it better.
I will admit I loved most of the side characters. Anna was pretty cool, though I felt like she knew more about everything then she should since she’s even younger than Sofia. Like she seemed weirdly wise and grown up, it was a little weird for someone who was never older than 17 throughout the book. And I loved the sibling seems with her and her brother and sister. They were the best.
I also really liked Emma. She was adorable and I really want her to be happy with Samuel, but he seemed like he was so upset with the arrangement he wouldn’t even give her a chance. And that kinda sucked. Like I get it’s arranged but like would should at least be friends or try to be. She was really sweet and I already know she deserves better. And I loved the relationship she had with Danilo. They were so cute together. You could tell he just loves her so purely and her him. Like there was no sibling rivalry, it was just them wanted the other to be happy.
I could probably go on and on but I won’t. Overall a good book. But could and probably should have been way better.
romancebookaddict's review
3.0
I was hoping for a-little more angst, a bit more trouble :). But overall I enjoyed it
marureviere's review against another edition
2.0
slight spoilers ahead
The story is pretty much about the hero and heroine getting engaged and the h already pining for the H even when she was still young; the hero, of course *eye roll*, slept around for years until they got married, but then the hero finally started to notice heroine when she got older and fell in lust. They got married, had sex, had children. The end. I yawned and lost interest at some point.
My main issue with this book (and, to be honest, in most of Cora Reilly's works) is not even about the hero sleeping around, though it's really annoying; I'm still disgusted with what transpired on Twisted Hearts. Anyway, my chief problem is the lack of romance. Where is their connection aside from sex? Where are the emotions? The chemistry? Wasn't this supposed to be romance? Well, where is it? I mean, feelings were mentioned but it's not really present in the story? It wasn't convincing enough. Hell, it wasn't convincing at all. Sophia was infatuated with Danilo and hero-worshipping him for some reason that still escapes me (I wouldn't even call it love) and Danilo developed attraction towards her more than halfway through the story, but he wasn't in love with her either. They rarely even had any interactions aside from very brief and inconsequential ones throughout the years that they were engaged, but then when they got married and started talking here and there and eventually had sex, Danilo realized that he was head over heels for her? And this happened in the last 90% of the book if I'm not mistaken. Whut. Huh? That's it?
This honestly had no substance and not memorable. The characters were flat and lackluster. Plot was underdeveloped. The writing and flow of the story felt mechanical, and this amplified my great struggle to connect with the characters. All in all, this particular book simply did not work for me, unfortunately.
I'm still holding out hope that I'd like Ms. Reilly's future works though (I really enjoyed Twisted Pride, mostly because of Remo and the not-so-prevalent archaic beliefs that his family has), so I would still read the ones that she'd eventually write. Maybe I would have better luck with them.
The story is pretty much about the hero and heroine getting engaged and the h already pining for the H even when she was still young; the hero, of course *eye roll*, slept around for years until they got married, but then the hero finally started to notice heroine when she got older and fell in lust. They got married, had sex, had children. The end. I yawned and lost interest at some point.
My main issue with this book (and, to be honest, in most of Cora Reilly's works) is not even about the hero sleeping around, though it's really annoying; I'm still disgusted with what transpired on Twisted Hearts. Anyway, my chief problem is the lack of romance. Where is their connection aside from sex? Where are the emotions? The chemistry? Wasn't this supposed to be romance? Well, where is it? I mean, feelings were mentioned but it's not really present in the story? It wasn't convincing enough. Hell, it wasn't convincing at all. Sophia was infatuated with Danilo and hero-worshipping him for some reason that still escapes me (I wouldn't even call it love) and Danilo developed attraction towards her more than halfway through the story, but he wasn't in love with her either. They rarely even had any interactions aside from very brief and inconsequential ones throughout the years that they were engaged, but then when they got married and started talking here and there and eventually had sex, Danilo realized that he was head over heels for her? And this happened in the last 90% of the book if I'm not mistaken. Whut. Huh? That's it?
This honestly had no substance and not memorable. The characters were flat and lackluster. Plot was underdeveloped. The writing and flow of the story felt mechanical, and this amplified my great struggle to connect with the characters. All in all, this particular book simply did not work for me, unfortunately.
I'm still holding out hope that I'd like Ms. Reilly's future works though (I really enjoyed Twisted Pride, mostly because of Remo and the not-so-prevalent archaic beliefs that his family has), so I would still read the ones that she'd eventually write. Maybe I would have better luck with them.
jamiesbookaddiction's review
1.0
Ok so here's the thing...I knew this book was going to be bad before I read it. The premise was already there in Bound by The Past and Twisted Pride. And guess what...it was awful!
This entire freaking book was Sofia being a whiny, cry baby, you want my sister, immature little girl. Seriously, she was a little girl. Who in the hell wants to read a MAFIA book with a whiny female. The first 50% of this book was her trying to be her sister and pining for this guy that wants her sister...blah blah. Let's not forget, we've already read the first 25% of this book in two other books (note the third time, yeah, it's too much).
We get Danilo crying about Remo and his revenge and Serafina...whine, whine. Seriously, how are we supposed to look at this guy as a mature underboss? LOL, oh, that's right, WE CAN'T!!!
Even at 95%, Danilo says "what about what I want?" and Sofia thanks it's her sister. OMG!!
I'm honestly about to walk away from this series. If you are going to do age-gap, great. The females need to be strong. Have a backbone. And please for the love of all that's holy, please spare us all the thoughts of a whiny, immature teenager.
This entire freaking book was Sofia being a whiny, cry baby, you want my sister, immature little girl. Seriously, she was a little girl. Who in the hell wants to read a MAFIA book with a whiny female. The first 50% of this book was her trying to be her sister and pining for this guy that wants her sister...blah blah. Let's not forget, we've already read the first 25% of this book in two other books (note the third time, yeah, it's too much).
We get Danilo crying about Remo and his revenge and Serafina...whine, whine. Seriously, how are we supposed to look at this guy as a mature underboss? LOL, oh, that's right, WE CAN'T!!!
Even at 95%, Danilo says "what about what I want?" and Sofia thanks it's her sister. OMG!!
I'm honestly about to walk away from this series. If you are going to do age-gap, great. The females need to be strong. Have a backbone. And please for the love of all that's holy, please spare us all the thoughts of a whiny, immature teenager.
bibliophile90's review against another edition
4.0
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**
Cora Reilly is one of the best Mafia Romance authors whose books I had the pleasure of reading. I haven't read many Mafia Romances the last couple of years, because after a while they kind of start to sound the same. However, I trust Cora to come up with a way to elevate this subgenre. She hasn't disappointed yet, and I really hope she won't with her future releases. In Fragile Longing we follow Danilo, who was supposed to marry Serafina, who is the heroine Sofia's older sister. However, she has run away to the enemy and now Sofia is given to Danilo in her sister’s stead. Sofia had been crushing on Danilo for a long time, but it was an innocent crush that young girls have. Danilo is just doing his duty and isn't really that happy in the beginning. In the first half of the book we see Sofia doing her best to attract his attention, which Danilo ignores/rejects. Then it is time for their arranged marriage to take place, and because of an incident Sofia's puppy love has been ruined.
I really enjoyed seeing Sofia grow in this book, she started out as an eleven year old girl and ended up a confident young woman. She started out feeling like consolation prize, and that Danilo still had feelings for her sister. She didn't feel enough and tried her best to create the perfect image she thought people wanted. I was happy when she gave up and found her true self. Danilo was pretty broody and distant in the beginning, so I loved when I saw another side to him with Sofia. Seeing them getting to know each other and falling in love was beautiful. The ten year age-gap didn't bother me, we see Sofia grow up in this book and I enjoyed the person she became. The character development was amazing and I loved these two together. The side characters were also great and I can't wait for some of them to get their own book. I think lovers of Cora's books/mafia romance will enjoy this book a lot. The intimate scenes were so sexy and steamy, and I just couldn't get enough of them. I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters, and I wish it was longer. But Cora blessed us with a beautiful epilogue which satisfied my craving for more.
Cora Reilly is one of the best Mafia Romance authors whose books I had the pleasure of reading. I haven't read many Mafia Romances the last couple of years, because after a while they kind of start to sound the same. However, I trust Cora to come up with a way to elevate this subgenre. She hasn't disappointed yet, and I really hope she won't with her future releases. In Fragile Longing we follow Danilo, who was supposed to marry Serafina, who is the heroine Sofia's older sister. However, she has run away to the enemy and now Sofia is given to Danilo in her sister’s stead. Sofia had been crushing on Danilo for a long time, but it was an innocent crush that young girls have. Danilo is just doing his duty and isn't really that happy in the beginning. In the first half of the book we see Sofia doing her best to attract his attention, which Danilo ignores/rejects. Then it is time for their arranged marriage to take place, and because of an incident Sofia's puppy love has been ruined.
I really enjoyed seeing Sofia grow in this book, she started out as an eleven year old girl and ended up a confident young woman. She started out feeling like consolation prize, and that Danilo still had feelings for her sister. She didn't feel enough and tried her best to create the perfect image she thought people wanted. I was happy when she gave up and found her true self. Danilo was pretty broody and distant in the beginning, so I loved when I saw another side to him with Sofia. Seeing them getting to know each other and falling in love was beautiful. The ten year age-gap didn't bother me, we see Sofia grow up in this book and I enjoyed the person she became. The character development was amazing and I loved these two together. The side characters were also great and I can't wait for some of them to get their own book. I think lovers of Cora's books/mafia romance will enjoy this book a lot. The intimate scenes were so sexy and steamy, and I just couldn't get enough of them. I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters, and I wish it was longer. But Cora blessed us with a beautiful epilogue which satisfied my craving for more.