Unwilling Pawn
by Measha Stone
My review:
If you had the pleasure of enjoying the ‘Mafia Brides’ series by Measha Stone, then when you saw she had a new book available, you grabbed it just like I did. In “Unwilling Pawn” we get to meet a whole new Polish mafia family and it’s an extremely entertaining experience.
Christian is the head of the Kaczmarek Family. He’s a cold-hearted man and a brilliant strategist whose single-minded focus is the continual strengthening of his family’s position in New York City and Chicago. When it becomes apparent to him that marriage to the inexplicably enticing Amelia would be not only a way to satisfy his lust for her, but would also be a clever tool to impact the power dynamics that affect his Family, then he unilaterally decides that’s what’s going to happen. It doesn’t matter at all to anybody that Amelia is tired of being nothing but a pawn in men’s games of power and influence. All she wants is to be left alone to give piano lessons and enjoy her music. Instead, she’s forced to marry Christian, a man she knows only wants to control her and not to love her.
I thought the author did an excellent job subtly building layers into the characters. Be aware that there is domestic discipline in this story, as well as some very dubious consent. Hang in there because Christian definitely redeems himself, although it’s rather late in the story when he does so. Remember that this is not a guide to dating or to actual D/s relationships; it’s fiction.
There are lots of secrets that get revealed by the end of the story, so you’ll definitely want to pay attention to all the different characters and the relationships between them. Among the secondary characters are a couple from the previous series, who make very brief appearances here. It seems that Christian’s siblings will be having their stories told, and that his brother will be up next. I’m looking forward to it already.