The Maddest Obsession (Made) Paperback – April 16, 2019

Are you in need of yearning, angst, obsession, insecurity, gentle enemies to star-crossed lovers? If so, this is the book you need. I wish I had read it sooner.The FMC, Gianna, may be my favorite FMC ever written. Unapologetically herself, struggling with trauma and anxiety, all while being the number one obsession of her favorite "Dirty Fed."The MMC, Christian Alister, is definitely up there as one of my all-time favorite MMCs. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, will keep him away from Gianna. Not time, space, misunderstanding, or even a rotation of husbands.The intensity of the love and pure gravitational attraction between these two jumps off the page. Their stories, individually and together, make your heart ache for them. Their quirks, their pure inability to mask themselves from each other, and a love story that spans years of their lives make this book one of my favorites this year.On top of all that, the compelling story structure the author used to carry us through their years-long "courtship" was incredible.

I was SUPER excited to read this book because I absolutely LOVED The Sweetest Oblivion. Though I thought this book was cute, it wasn't as good as the first book IMO. I loved Gianna and Christian, but it was just sooooo much back and forth before they finally got together. I definitely will still read the third book at some point in the future!

I’ve read all the books and waited to read this one last. This one is by far my favorite!!! I love how it brings hardships and coping. That things don’t have to be sunshine and rainbows. Things work if you want them to. Love Christian and perfect character development on all mcs.

THIS IS SPOILER FREE. READ IF YOURE ON THE FENCE ABOUT READING THIS OR ABOUT READING THE FIRST ONE. 😅Okay seriously. Let’s talk about this, guys.Part 1 of Review—Why Book is Great:This book was so brilliantly written. The whole development of these characters was clearly well thought out and plotted with great attention to detail.I’m assuming this is because the writer had to go back in time to tell these Characters’ stories and then weave it into the parts of book 1. And because of this, everything was carefully thought through and mapped out. This is a testament to how every writer should be mapping out these stories just like this before writing them— because LOOK AT THE QUALITY ACHIEVED!!Part 1.2– The Couple Dynamic:I haven’t been this blown away by a romance novel in a very long time. Christian and Gianna are almost like the GrumpyXSunshine trope, but Gianna doesn’t let people push her around. She is kind and optimistic but it’s mostly stemming from the trauma she’s experienced throughout her life.I’ve seen people disliking Gianna and There will be no Gianna slander on my watch. Make no mistake, she may come across as entitled and immature, but she is as 3 dimensional as a character can get. Her motivations follow her through the novel.Now, Christian. Man. He is the closeted cinnamon roll we all need in our lives. (What? Don’t we all love a semi sociopathic king? Only me? Okay.. lol) Just like Gianna he has experienced trauma, but his coping mechanisms aren’t like Gianna’s(hers being drugs and alcohol and optimistically risky behaviors) — his consist of mild OCD, hyper fixations, and shielding his emotions from others.Part 1.3– Mood Of Novel. Dark romance. Comedy:Now, I know the subject matter seems dark. There is killing and trauma and drug use and mental health issues — HOWEVER— this novel is not weighed down for longer than necessary. The BANTER. Jesus. The banter. It’s always enlightening when you read what actual great banter is and realize the other books you thought had great banter really were just meh. Bc that’s what happened here. The banter is so great. I actually was laughing out loud. And I’m from the generation of “lol” *keeps straight face*. Gianna is so funny. Her internal dialogue is great- but doesn’t feel like the jokes are forced or trying to make her quirky. And Christian- his dry-witty responses to her are sooo funny. Made me love him.This book has so many levels to it. I promise this is one of the lightest “dark romances” I’ve read. In terms of emotional weight I felt reading it. Because even when you find out the horrid details of their past traumas — their relationships brings you back to the surface of this witty adorable atmosphere. They react in ways that I’ve seen actual trauma victims react in terms of letting things roll off your back when possible - but having no choice but to succumb to triggers.Part 2– Critiques:The prose can still use work. Repeated phrases are always a Pete peeve for me. Like “vise grip on my wrist”- girl. There are so many other way to say this. Lol and “look of vehemence”. When writers use these same phrases to describe the same things over and over again it starts to feel like they’re using a template to write. But— with that being said, the character development and their relationship development is so good that I was able to over look that. Where it would’ve normally taken me out of the story- I was already so sucked into it that it didn’t affect me as much.I RECOMMEND SO MUCH! LolPart 3– Relationship to First Book:The crappy thing is that the first book was good. But just good. I would rate that at 3? The lead’s relationship was cute. I really like Ace and Elena. But the conflicts felt forced. Could’ve been solved with simple communication. the story was entertaining though.I wouldn’t recommend the first book to anyone though. I *WOULD* recommend the second(if you haven’t been able to tell by now)But in order to read this book you really need to read the first one. Which sucks because the first one doesn’t give the greatest impression of what the second book has to offer.***So, if you’re wondering if you should read this book YESS.Should you read the first one in order to fully grasp this book? YESSAfter you finish the first book and you’re like “eh. It’s okay” should you ignore that opinion and read this book anyways?Y U P lolOkay. That’s my rant. Whew. Lovely to see you again, Book Hangover. 😅

I thought book one was great and was nervous book two couldn’t compare… I was so wrong! My biggest issue with this book was the rushed HEA. We had back and forth, push and pull for 85% of book for the ending to be so rushed. The book kept my attention so I still gave it 5 stars. Just wish we had gotten a little more at the end. Still worth the read!

If you enjoy a lot of keeping true feelings hidden until the end and a really good slow burn then this is the book for you!!

I originally had planned to start with this book because it seemed to be the most interesting of the series, but after reading reviews, everyone insisted to start with the first to understand the characters and some context. Additionally, many reviews stated this one was wayyy better than the first. I have disagree with both of those opinions. I feel I could've easily have read this book and still undetstood it, even if I didn't have the context of the first and the first book was closer to 5 stars than this one.I now realize this author seems to just write in stream of consciousness, descriptive thoughts and feelings and not a lot of back and forth dialogue. That was one of my critiques with book 1,but that theme is repeated with this one.And this author seems to love slow burns with rushed HEAs. Not my favorite style at all. After all of the build up with Christian, even from book 1 to give us only a chapter or so of understanding why he is like he is and just the Epilogue of their HEA heels like we as the reader were cheated out of what could been a really good story and character development of him. I actually liked Christian, especially more than Gianna.For this to be a mafia book and him being in the FBI, there should've/could've been way more action, excitement, scandal, something going on. This is basically a regular slow burn romance with Italian and Russian names and phrases under the guise of a mafia book. This in itself makes it disappointing.Did not like Gianna, even since book 1. Her story is really not developed enough to understand her character.I did like their flirting, banter, humor, lust..so that's probably what earned the 3 stars.I am not sure if I will read the 3rd book in this series.