Cora Reilly

Cora Reilly Standalone novels

• Not meant to be broken
• Seduced by the escort 

Cora Reilly

Cora Reilly's Series reading order

Born in blood mafia chronicles

• Bound by honor #1 ~ My review
• Bound by Duty #2 ~ My review
• Bound by love #2.5
• Born by hatred #3 ~ 
• Bound by temptation #4
• Bound by vengeance #5

Extraordinaire

• Voyeur extraordinaire #1
• Lover Extraordinaire #2

Bound by Duty (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles Book Two) By Cora Reilly

Buy Link: Bound by Duty

Dante – The Boss – Cavallaro’s wife died four years ago. On the verge of becoming the youngest head in the history of the Chicago mafia, Dante needs a new wife and Valentina was chosen for the role. 
Valentina lost her husband, too, but her first marriage had always been for show. When she was eighteen, she agreed to marry Antonio in order to hide the truth: that he was gay and in love with an outsider. Even after his death, she kept his secret, not only to preserve the honor of a dead man, but also to protect herself. But now that she’s about to marry Dante, her castle of lies threatens to crash. Dante is only thirty-six but already feared and respected in the Familia, and he’s notorious for always getting what he wants. Valentina is terrified of the wedding night that might reveal her secret, but her worries prove unfounded when Dante shows her the cold shoulder. Soon her fear is replaced by confusion and indignation. Valentina is tired of being ignored. She’s determined to get Dante’s attention and desire, even if she can’t get his heart that still belongs to his dead wife. 

Bound by Duty is the second novel in the born in blood mafia chronicle series. I loved the first one that much I immediately went straight out and bought the second. I don't usually spend what I did on an ebook, but this was so worth it. 

Valentina is in the first book. We meet her briefly at Aria and Luca's wedding, so I was surprised she got a book of her own, especially when the other books in the series is about Aria's sisters, Gianna, and Lilly. I was going to skip, but something stopped me and I'm so glad it did because I found it hard to put the book down. 

Valentina is a great character. She's strong, independent and funny. I think that's what Dante needed as he also lost his last wife, like Valentina lost her husband. 
This book surprised me more than Aria and Luca's, I don't know if it's because I didn't expect much or what, but I loved it just as much. Valentina's last marriage was a lie. She was married to Antonio who was gay, so they never actually had the proper wedding night. So getting married again she was hoping Dante would rectify that. Then he doesn't make a move on their wedding night and Valentina starts making advances, but they all seem to get shot down until she admits she's a virgin. 
Anyway, the two aren't exactly close, Dante is mourning over his late wife still and doesn't want another weakness in his life as he'll be the new capo soon enough. But then Valentina changes it all, slowly. At times I didn't feel like it worked between them and couldn't understand why she kept trying. But just like Luca, Dante was another strong, alpha male and I warmed to him. It couldn't be helped. I like who he was to her in a sense, but then sometimes I didn't. It was confusing. 

There are a lot of twists and turns that will have you gasping, I did NOT expect what happened to happen. 

Also, we meet Bibi, who we meet briefly in the first book, but not much was said. All we know is she married an older man three times her age and was not happy. He raped her repeatedly, but because they were married the men in the family didn't call it rape. 
Bibi and Valentina are best of friends and family, so we read more about Bibi story. I'm not joking there were parts I literally heaved thinking of the stuff she went through. I hated her husband with a passion and honestly wish she would stab him in his sleep. I really did hate him. He was a mean sadist. 

The story plot to the book was brilliant and I didn't feel like this one ended too quickly for my liking. It was perfect. I can't wait to start the third book which is Gianna and Matteo story, Luca's brother. 

5*

Bound By Honor (Born in Blood mafia chronicles Book One) By Cora Reilly

Buy Link: Bound By Honor

Born into one of the leading Mob families in Chicago, Aria Scuderi struggles to find her own path in a world where no choices are given. Aria was only fifteen when her parents betrothed her to Luca – The Vice – Vitiello, the oldest son of the head of the New York Cosa Nostra to ensure peace between the two families. 
Now with eighteen, the day Aria has been dreading for years is looming dangerously: her wedding to Luca. 
Aria is terrified of marrying a man she hardly knows, especially someone like Luca who got his nickname ‘the Vice’ for crushing a man’s throat with his bare hands. Luca might be one of the most sought after men in New York thanks to his good looks, wealth and predator-like charisma that radiates power, but the society girls throwing themselves at him don’t know what Aria does: that the bad boy aura isn’t just a game; blood and death lurk beneath Luca’s striking gray eyes and arrogant smile. 
In her world a handsome exterior often hides the monster within; a monster who can just as easily kill as kiss you. 
The only way to escape the marriage to Luca would be to run away and leave everything she’s ever known behind but Aria can’t bear the thought of never seeing her family again. 
Despite her fear, she decides to go through with the marriage; Aria has grown up among predators like Luca and knows that even most cold-hearted bastards have a heart and she has every intention of working her way into Luca’s. 

I came across Bound by honor, purely by luck. I was unsure at first, but reading a few other reviews I was soon swayed and I was hooked from the very first page. 

Aria is the eldest of her siblings. she's the mature one, the sensible one and the one in the most control. Her other siblings are Gianna, who is a rebel with a smart mouth, then there is Lilly who is the flirt, giving all the men a hard time. they have a little brother too but I've forgotten his name, but he's so adorable and protective of Aria. When it's announced that she will be married, at the age of fifteen he goes mad at Luca. It was so cute. 

Anyway, Aria is petrified of Luca. He's the next in line to take over the Familia. The wedding isn't held until she's of age. Even then she doesn't know Luca. He hasn't been in her life at all since they were announced to be married. They both carried on and led their own lives. 

For some reason I was drawn to Luca from the very beginning. He's this cold killer with a cold mask, but when it came to Aria he was so different. He never showed he cared to her, but you could feel his protectiveness throughout the book. 

On their wedding night their traditions are, what can only be described as disgusting. They are supposed to take their wife's virginity, then in the morning the wives of the rest of the family come up to get the blooded sheets, where they will take them down to present to the men in the family. Then they sit and eat breakfast while looking over at it. It's gross and minging. 

Only, you'll be surprised by Luca and his actions on his wedding night. I'm not giving anything away but the book was completely unexpected. 

I was unsure at first whether I'd still enjoy it when I found out how the other men treat their women, but then Luca changed all that for me. 

I loved how the author didn't jump right in with the great sex. She drawn it out. The pain, hell, the whole experience of Aria losing her virginity was so believable. You would honestly think it was real. The author did a fantastic job with that part of the book. It wasn't rushed and took them a long while to even prepare for it. She was really scared. It didn't help that on her wedding day an ex girlfriend of Luca's scared Aria shitless with a comment about him 'fucking her bloody'. 

The only part I think other readers may not like is that he cheats at the beginning of their marriage. Aria finds them and isn't happy because she genuinely wants to make her marriage work, but she just doesn't want to jump in and lose her virginity to him that quickly. 

She forgave him pretty much straight away. Which is another thing I didn't like. It just gave example of the way Gianna, her sister paints her. As a push over. 

The only thing that I will tell you, because I know most people will disagree with the cheating is that Luca had his reasons. 

Because Aria was so scared of him, so hesitant with him he presumed she wanted him to be intimate with someone else. In their family that is how things work. Most men have mistresses. 

When he found out after that she really wanted their marriage to work he honored his vows to her. 

All in all the book is freaking amazing. I loved every single minute of it. I was a little disappointed with how cut short the ending felt. It seemed like it was rushed and everything happened so quickly then it was over, the end. So that was the only downside. 

Apart from that, the chemistry between the Luca and Aria are off the charts. I really enjoyed reading about them and how they progressed as a couple. Aria really did hit the husband load when she married Luca, it could have been worse. 

5* And the author truly does deserve this. 

(Note: There are a few errors throughout the book, but every one was easy to ignore)