Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White

Sabina Mancari never questioned her life as the daughter of Chicago’s leading mob boss until bullets tear apart her world and the man she thought she loved turns out to be an undercover Prohibition agent. Ambushes, bribes, murder, prostitution—all her life, her father sheltered her from his crimes, but now she can no longer turn away from the truth. Maybe Lorenzo, the fiancé who barely paid her any attention in the last two years, has the right idea by planning to escape their world. But can she truly turn her back on her family?

All his life, Lorenzo’s family assumed he would become a priest, but he has different ideas—marrying Sabina and pursuing a career in the law. Despite his morals, he knows at the core he isn’t so unlike his mafiosi father and brothers. Has he, in trying to protect Sabina, forced her into the arms of the Prohibition agent bent on tearing her family apart? How can they rebuild what has so long been neglected and do it in the shadow of the dark empire of the Mafia?

Let me begin by saying that I have been a fan of Roseanna M. White’s for a VERY long time. I started out with her Culper Ring series back when it had just come out, and the rest is history. However, I have to say, I haven’t read anything quite like Shadowed Loyalty until now, by her or anyone else. The stories of the mafia are so interesting, and yet still so dark and saddening. I know this sounds naive of me, but I never realized just how sordid the mafia was. Consequently, this story was very enlightening and I found myself despising Sabina’s father from the very beginning.

And then there was Lorenzo. Honestly, it took quite a while for him to grow on me. While he was choosing to live a different life than the one in which he was raised, and I applaud him for that, he was still so very blind at the start! He just seemed so caught up in his own thoughts and his own beliefs of the way things were or should be and that kept him from seeing things that were right in front of his face, especially with Sabina.

Despite the shortcomings of both Lorenzo and Sabina—characteristically, not in the way that they were written—I truly grew to love them the more I got to know them. This novel was fantastically done. Though I’ve never encountered a story Roseanna has written that is anything but perfection. There was romance, suspense, unexpected twists and turns, faith, really everything you could want in a novel. I highly recommend this story to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction (and even if you’re not you should still try it. You never know, you may enjoy it).

Rating: 5 bookshelves

Recommend: Yes!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.