A review by misshannah
Grieved Loss by Adelaide Forrest

2.0

This is my least favorite of the series. You can have a strong male lead who's dark and dangerous without having him

Spoiler

straight up kidnap, coerce, and rape his love interest

. Not attractive, and not cool. Mafia men in general are not good role models, but even in this genre there's opportunities for a truly strong man to admit his mistakes, apologize, and be selfless. I get Ryker is supposed to be unhinged and he is, but he should have been condemned and punished for his actions by his friends and Calla, not praised and coddled.

I don't have triggers, but this frustrated me. I hate when authors shaft their female leads. You build up this expectation of a "Bellandi woman" throughout the series who's opinionated, powerful in her own right even when powerless, and doesn't take anyone's shit. Yet when it comes down to it, Calla

Spoiler

becomes some wanton slut who forgets her kids, her values, and whatever else her character was supposed to be when faced with a muscly man with a big dick

. Not for me, fam.