The Power of a Woman by Gina Whitney and Leddy Harper

A Mafioso romance that was as honest as it was harsh.

Two young people, one from each of the two most powerful mafia families in New York, never destined to be together but what does desire know about being curtailed by convention and expectation.

In this case we had Jordana Albanese and Stefan Giannotti, treading a path towards a love that was strewn with pitfalls, lined with danger and destined to take them both to their very limits.

But family demands and expectations weigh heavy on them both but for Jordana she faces a decision that might just put paid to any happiness, and all in a bid to save her brother’s life.

Jordana is perfectly well aware that her brother has crossed the wrong man but little did she know that when she approached Zeke in an attempt to ensure that the revenge exacted wouldn’t be terminal, what exactly he would expect from her.

Now I get the whole Mafia being bad guys and not being able to be seen to be anything other than the crime lords that there are but I was taken aback by the fact that Zeke demanded Jordana for a week in return for expunging her brother’s debt.

Did he know what was going on between her and Stefan and was this more of a point scoring exercise between the ranks of the Giannotti family?

 I loved the dynamic of the families, the connections and the deceit. I was blown away by the tenacity that Jordana exhibited, the determination that she wouldn’t be looked over merely due to the fact that she was a woman. This mafia daughter had bigger asperations but that also meant that she also had bigger obstacles to overcome and the more voracious opponents to defeat.

As Stefan and Jordana grow closer, can the inner sanctum of the families, the history of their pasts and the brutal truth of the world they live in allow what they have to flourish or are they destined to fall and fail at the hands of others.

Will the internal dynamics and family politics be their undoing?

This had more hidden in the tank than I had anticipated but neither author was willing to show their hand too soon and it made for a story that I simply devoured.

The writing was pitched perfectly, it was concise and elaborate but most of all it was colourful, it left nothing behind in pitch or tone and that approach meant that I was able to see the story in all its glory.