Broken Fighter by Maggie Cole

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Wanting to get caught up in Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars series, I immediately jumped into book 2, Broken Fighter. Jenn (The Book Refuge) is hosting a live show with Maggie Cole on July 31st. I've been wanting to read her books since Jenn first talked about them. I originally wanted to start her during the Mafia Romance Readathon, but ran out of time. The live show finally put a fire under my butt and made me want to get to as many of her books as possible. Thankfully there's only 4 out right now, but the 5th book comes out August 1st. I applied this book to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt trope outside comfort zone. I don't want to spoil too much, but since we are aware in the first book, this book has the surprise pregnancy trope, which I'm not too fond of. Also hiding the relationship, although it made a little more sense than usual being their both connected to different mafia families.

Broken Fighter focuses on middle brother Boris and Nora. We see them as a couple in the previous book, but this book starts in the past and kind of shows the breadth of their relationship, starting when they're both in their late teens. There's a couple time skips to move forward in time line to get to the main events that progress their relationship. As we've learned, Boris and the Ivanovs are kind of connected to the bratva, but Boris is the main person still connected to them. He still has a deal with the head to meet once a year and do whatever he wants. Nora is sister to the non-mafia O'Malleys, but they do get dragged into the mafia side from time to time. Since they have the name and relations other crime families still come for them. The Italian Rossis start coming for the O'Malleys and specifically Nora and this gives them the final push to go all in.

This book was a little bit of a let down for me. While I overall enjoyed the writing and story once again, I felt a little bit bored. As I mentioned before, there's a lot of time skips. There's small ones mid-chapter that are days or weeks. Then at a new chapter there's a months or years time jump. It just felt too much for one book. We didn't even really catch up to the present time set up in the first book until about 70% through. I wanted to see more of the current time and less of the will-they-won't-they stuff for most of it. I did enjoy how protective and confident Boris was about his love for Nora. There was also too much hypocrisy from her family about Boris being Russian. It just came from everyone, even his best friend and Nora's older brother Killian. I expected it from the higher ups in her family, but not from everyone. Then the later parts where we're more in the present time felt rushed to me. Less than 30% to set up the next little bit just wasn't enough. I almost wish that some of the earlier parts of their relationship was a prequel novella to this and then we could focus on the more current storyline. I just was left feeling a little "blah" at the end of the book. Also, I didn't like when Nora freaked out on the girls during her wedding dress fitting. I understand why she was being protective of the guys, but I also feel like she could've been at least as understanding as the guys about how much it is to take in a process for someone not used to their lifestyle. It just seemed a little out of character to me. But she's pregnant so it was kind of blamed on that. Which I felt was a little bit of a cop out.

Even though I'm intrigued to read the next book, I didn't jump into it right away. I just wasn't in the mood to move on. I know that the couple teased met in the first book so we won't go back in time too much, but there will be some back tracking. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in before the live show later this month. We'll see where my mood takes me!

Have you read Broken Fighter?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Broken Fighter, Maggie Cole, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 416 pages, published in 2021

Ruthless Stranger by Maggie Cole

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After finishing Blindsided, I was kind of in a little bit of a funk and was debating what to read next. I ended up deciding I need a change of pace a little bit. I had wanted to read at least the first book in Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars series, Ruthless Stranger, by the end of the month. She's going to be doing a interview with Jenn (The Book Refuge) on July 31st. I was also able to apply this read to the Summer of Swoon prompt bearded hero on cover for board 2. And can I just say, thank goodness I chose this book.

Our hero is Maksim, a Russian with ties to the bratva. He's not a member but his mother created ties when they were suffering after his father's death. Maksim in is Las Vegas for his brother's bachelor party. Also in Las Vegas is Aspen who was surprised by the trip as a girl's day celebration for her divorce. There are conversations about getting back in the saddle that Maksim overhears and they end up having a scorching couple nights. One of the conditions however is that Aspen is blindfolded. They both leave Vegas feeling such a strong connection to each other, but not knowing who each other are. As things happen in romancelandia, they end up finding each other since Maksim is having property issues he bought from the city and Aspen is the employee set to help them. They immediately recognize each based on their voice and scent.

I absolutely loved this. First off, Maksim is in his 40s and Aspen in in her late 30s. It was nice reading a romance about older couples once again. There was a little bit of misunderstanding between them, but it came from some split-second assumptions and didn't last very long (thankfully). Outside of that, they really pushed for honesty and communication between them. Yes it broke down a little at times, but they both put in the work to try to keep themselves open and honest with each other. While I didn't like where the miscommunication led, I also understood how it was setting up things to come in the overall plot of the series. I also really liked Aspen's friends, although Skylar was a little bit over the top for my tastes. She was just at 110% all the time and I would've like to see more intimate moments between the four of them. 

Another thing I absolutely loved was Maksim being all in for Aspen. He was so protective and caring towards her and I fell for him along with Aspen. When she pushed back against so many gifts, especially the expensive ones, he described why he wanted to give her the best so eloquently. Sometimes with the super rich or mafia heroes it can come across a little manipulative but not here. I really loved this and am intrigued to read more in the series. I felt a connection more towards Hailee in her friend group and am hoping that she gets a book as well. There are a couple relationships set up and teased in this book, so I can't wait to get to them.

I'm a little sad I wasn't able to get to Ruthless Stranger during the Mafia Romance Readathon. I don't know why I waited so long to get to it, but maybe now was the right time. I feel like I could've gone in a book slump but this helped me not do so. Hopefully I can get to a couple more before the live show later this month!

Have you read Ruthless Stranger?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ruthless Stranger, Maggie Cole, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 398 pages, published in 2021