I have been foaming at the mouth to share this book review with you, eep! Kath Richards has become one of my all-time favorite authors since I read the first book in her Morelli Family mafia rom-com series earlier this year. It was an absolute honor to be added to her street team and to receive an ARC for book two in the series, A Love Most Brutal.
First, a little about the book:
“Maxim Orlov is running out of time. At 38 years old, he’s spent the last decade trying to turn the Orlovs into a respectable crime family, but if he doesn’t make an heir, and quick, his horrid cousin is the next in line. With two failed engagements under his belt, Maxim is starting to feel desperate.
Meanwhile, Mary Morelli is floundering. As the youngest daughter and top enforcer of the Morelli crime family, Mary is a force to be reckoned with, but she’s beginning to crumble under the weight of trying to keep her sisters’ growing families safe. In a fit of anxiety, Mary comes up with the perfect solution: marry the Russian. The calculated union will be mutually beneficial, offering protection and power both ways, and conveniently passionless. To cement the deal, she vows to him that she will never, ever fall in love with him.
Maxim has been watching Mary for months, both fascinated and thrilled by her. A no-feelings-attached marriage to Mary Morelli is like a dream, but keeping his heart neutral proves harder than he expected as she worms her way under his skin and into his life. Can their marriage remain a business deal without feelings getting in the way?”
Some tropes that might sell this book for you further if the blurb did not:
-arranged marriage
-YEARNING (Maxim Orlov, the man that you are)
-mental health rep
-stabby heroine (we stan Mary Morelli’s rights and wrongs)
-age gap
-need to make an heir (*wiggles eyebrows*)
-hurt/comfort (and we love how soft they are for each other even if they’re stubborn beans who refuse to admit it)
I MEAN WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT ME TO SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK??? Truly, if nothing I’ve shared so far makes you want to read it, you might as well just close out of this review. (But don’t actually, because it’s my life mission to have everyone read this series, so maybe I can convince you yet!)
One of my favorite things about Kath Richards’ books is the way she writes her characters. All of the main characters and important side characters are likeable and relatable. You feel for them, you laugh with them, you cry with them, and you root for them from page one. They’re brutal and make questionable choices to protect the ones they love, and yet you still want them to win, still want them to fall in love, still want them to have their happily ever afters. (To be honest, I think that’s one of my personal favorite things about the mafia romance genre in general: it always asks the question, how far are you willing to go for the people you love? And I think that’s such a fascinating thing to explore in fiction.)
Mary Morelli describes herself as unlikeable and untolerable, all hard edges, sharp as a knife. But underneath it all is the biggest, softest heart, and the fact that Maxim sees that and loves that about her PLUS all her jagged edges…gah. I’m getting emotional just typing this. Their romance was quite literally everything. Both have hurts and traumas, and sometimes those traumas rear their heads and clash with one another. But no matter what happens, no matter how many arguments they have, they put in the work to understand one another and help each other through it. Bit by bit, they start to lower their walls and discover that maybe they don’t have to face all of their problems alone. Maybe they have room in their hearts to let each other in after all.
Okay yes, now I’m just waxing poetic, but I NEED YOU GUYS TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I LOVE THESE TWO OKAY?!?!? They are everything.
When I read book one of the series, I could not stop talking about it for weeks. I bought it for all my friends that I knew would read it. I talked about it to my partner nonstop. I cornered one of my housemates (bless her heart) and made her listen to me rant about the tension and emotion of one singular scene (that I can’t talk about because #spoilers) and how it was probably one of the best things I’ve read in my entire life. When I signed up to get an ARC for book two, I was incredibly excited but thought — man, how is Kath going to top the first book? It’s too perfect.
And top it she did — it went above and beyond any expectations I had. 🙂
So yeah, you guys. If you’re in the mood for a mafia romance series where the women run the mafia, there are tight-knit family bonds, literally ALL of the characters are exceptional, and you get happily-ever-afters, the Morelli Family mafia series by Kath Richards is definitely for you!
A gazillion stars. Chef’s kiss. No notes.
(Now please go read this book so we can fangirl about it together!!!)
Dystopian & Fairy Tales 
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