The Devil Is in the Details

by B. O'Brien

There were elements of this story that tipped it over into the realms of thriller more so than romance, but that’s is not to say that the book is devoid of romantic connection, far from it.

Daniela has a past firmly entrenched in the New York Italian Mafia, daughter of a major player within the crime family she promised her dad when he was sent to prison that the life that was taking him from her wouldn’t feature anywhere in her future, that she would keep her distance from the mafia that had blighted their relationship.

But could she stay out of their clutches or would her connections keep her tethered to the past?

Nothing about Daniela was easy to get to grips with, she was a complex and cleverly crafted character, the author didn’t hold anything back when developing the details, she had her life almost compartmentalised or so it seemed to me, to the outside world she was the perfect wife and mother but nothing could be further from the truth, because while she adored her children, her marriage is a broken sham and has her wishing for something more from life.

When she is given the opportunity to undertake an action that might just see her father released from prison, she has a choice to make but it is far from an easy decision…because the impact will not only be far reaching but potentially it could be privately devastating!

Ryan is Daniela’s best friends husband and he is also a cop but when he is highlighted as her mark, her target so to speak I wondered exactly where she was going to be able to draw a line because there is only so much she was ever going to be able to discover without using her finely honed talents in the field of seduction

As you can imagine the connection between the two of them meant that there was always going to be more than a little angst tickling along beneath the storyline but that plays a very close second the mystery and suspense that not only surround the secrets that Ryan is keeping but Daniela also.

Can Daniela get Ryan to reveal the truth?

I think the book had a lot going for it but I would have to say that I found it a little stilted at times, it seemed slow to give up its storyline and at time that was frustrating, but that might have just been done to the fact that I am not the most patient of readers, I wanted to see how it was all going to play out and I wanted to know it all now…so I suppose I have no-one to blame but myself for my frustrations.

I thought the author did a good job of showing that not everything is how it seems and at times, good people do bad things for reasons that only they can justify…or at least try too.

I would like to say that this was entertaining, but please accept that while in my opinion this falls squarely into the crime/thriller genre it certainly has one foot firmly planted in the romance camp.