“Where Reckless Hearts Whisper” Review: A Dark Mafia Romance Series Finale
“Where Reckless Hearts Whisper” (Book 4) by Victoria Holliday - ARC Review - I received an advance reader copy of this book, but this review reflects my honest, unbiased opinion. Receiving an ARC did not influence my rating or review in any way.
The series is complete. THE SERIES IS COMPLETE! Four books, 1,474 pages, and infinite levels of delight. Truthfully, the first book shocked the hell out of me. It’s good. Too good. It’s “Wait, why have I never heard of Victoria Holliday before now?” good.
With this final sister installment I can safely and confidently say this is one of the best Mafia Romance series out there.
Where Dark Hearts Devour—⭐ 4.25
Where Wild Hearts Dance—⭐ 4.0
Where Quiet Hearts Scream—⭐ 4.0
Where Reckless Hearts Whisper—⭐ 3.5
“I let her foot rub up against my dick. I let my stepsister rub her foot against my dick.”
In order to tell you about “Where Reckless Hearts Whisper” I need to briefly tell you more about the series to date. And you do need to read the previous books to appreciate this last installment.
Series Summary: A dark mafia romance series centered around a barely-in-the-mafia family who becomes a centerpiece in the organization when the oldest daughter is betrothed to the next-in-line don. Her father runs the docks and new don wants it. She dallies with her bodyguard, who is her fiance’s brother, and [some spoiler stuff] happens. This high profile marriage arrangement elevates the family in name and participation, exposing all the daughters (there are 4) to new members of ‘the family’ and business associates. Each daughter has a book.
Why You’ll Enjoy This Series:
Dark mafia romance with emotional depth
A complete series. And a finale that resolve long-running character arcs
High-stakes romance rooted in loyalty and power
Morally gray characters and dangerous devotion
Very real inner demons that are battled and conquered: loss, grief, self-harm
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“He reaches a hand between us and paws at my clit.”
“Where Reckless Hearts Whisper” Overall Rec: ⭐ 3.5 Liked it. A good finale to the series.
Tropes: Close Sister Bond, Arranged Marriage, Organized Crime, Gang Wars, Taboo Relationship, Forbidden Love Interest, Opposites Attract, Age Gap, Protective MMC, FMC is a Smut Writer, Family Business, Virgin FMC, Playboy MMC, HEA
FMC: Bambalina—youngest daughter, baby of the family, 18 years old, goes by “Bambi” in books 1-3, wants an identity upgrade to be age appropriate, asks to go by “Lina”
MMC: Nicolo—a made man, cousin to the new don, nearly 30 years old, and Lina’s new stepbrother.
The Review:
It’s lighter, smuttier, and more frivolous than the previous books. There’s angst, but not despair or self harm like we saw in book #1 and book #3, respectively.
Less tragic, more everyday inner turmoil compared to the other books. Lina is the youngest - the death of her mother wasn’t a turning point for her in the same way it was for her sisters. Instead her hangups center around the loss of her father to another marriage.
The taboo relationship with her stepbrother is less taboo than was intended. It’s not like they took baths together. Or grew up through puberty and “the change” together. They knew the other’s name. And ran in the same crime circles.
Lina wasn’t as dynamic as the other sisters. Everyone had a role to play in the family: She was the spoiled brat. And she played it well. But she was about as deep as a rain gauge.
Lina was desperate to grow up, but she seemed so directionless in how to make it happen. I think that’s why she was so agreeable to the arranged marriage. She finally saw a path to how she could contribute to her family in a tangible way. This was her line in the sand and I respected her for it. But it came so late in the book that I’d already written her off. I’m sorry, Lina.
She’s a classically delusional 18-year-old with a touch of narcissism. She would manifest her forbidden pining for Nicolo into smut featuring him, but it wasn’t hot no matter how dedicated she was or how much she touched herself to the memories. When pen met paper, it was a recitation of events with less affect than you’d expect. “Ava’s father had just announced he’d re-married. Her heart was broken.” Nothing figurative or fancy. Just saying it like it is. Great for medical records. Not for a love story. But Nicolo ate it up when he discovered her diary, acting like it was brilliant prose. It reminded me of Hans when he ate the awful zucchini cookies. He hated them, but because she made them he ate the whole batch.
Nicolo was a fierce protector. LOVED him. This is a man who has seen some shit, knows some shit, created some shit. And we’re lucky his diabolical mind was working for us, not against us.
It ends with an HEA, but needs another Epilogue.
Final Thoughts: It’s a quick read (about 400 pages but it’s easy to get into), it answers all of the questions posed in the series, it ties up loose ends, and it doesn’t taint your love of the other characters or books. It does open a question in the Epilogue that isn’t resolved, but you won’t lose sleep over it. Read it. Read the whole series.