Format: eBook
Author: Lisa Cullen

Bought by Mafia Daddies by Lisa Cullen was a fast-paced read that I managed to finish in only four reading sessions.  While there were definitely parts I enjoyed, there were also quite a few moments where I wanted to reach into the book and shake some sense into the main character.

Frankie enters an auction to sell her virginity because she needs money to help her mother, only for Jonathan, Devin, and Alex to purchase her together.  Why starts as an arrangement quickly becomes much more complicated as feelings develop and Frankie discovers exactly what kind of men she's become involved with.

The relationship between the four of them moves extremely fast.  At times, it felt like they went from strangers to unable to live without each other before I had enough time to really feel that emotional progression.  There is also a lot of sex.  Sometimes it worked with what was happening in the story, while other times I felt the sexual scenes interrupted plot developments that I was more interested in seeing explored.

Frankie herself was probably my biggest source of frustration.  There were moments when I understood her decisions, especially when emotions overwhelmed her.  There were other moments when her lack of awareness about her own safety drove me crazy.  When you're actively being targeted, wandering away from the people protecting you without telling them where you're going probably isn't the greatest survival strategy.

That said, I appreciated that she wasn't written as though she suddenly developed perfect instincts simply because she was in danger.  Someone who hasn't spent their life learning to watch their surroundings isn't necessarily going to start thinking that way overnight.

I also enjoyed getting pieces of Jonathan, Devin, and Alex's individual histories and personalities through their different POV chapters.  Alex in particular had more resistance to what was developing between them, which gave his feelings for Frankie some conflict that I wish had been present a little more throughout the relationship.

The later chapters finally brought the danger surrounding Frankie to the forefront, although some of the decisions leading into the climax were painfully predictable.  I saw trouble coming before the characters did.  The eventual confrontation was resolved a little too cleanly for my taste, but I appreciated that it wasn't unnecessarily stretched across several chapters simply to prolong the drama.

The epilogue was a nice conclusion.  I especially appreciated that Cullen addressed what happened to the mafia family under its new leadership rather than simply giving the characters their happily ever after and ignoring that part of their lives.  They didn't magically become law-abiding citizens, but there was an acknowledgement that things changed.

Overall, Bought by Mafia Daddies was entertaining and extremely easy to fly through.  The pacing was sometimes too fast for me, the romance developed faster than I would have preferred, and Frankie occasionally made me question where she'd misplaced her common sense.  Still, there were other moments when I understood exactly where she was coming from, and I enjoyed enough of the characters and story to keep turning the pages.

Sometimes I understood Frankie.

Sometimes I wanted to shake her.

That's probably the best summary of my reading experience.