Roseanna M White’s new book, Shadowed Loyalty, is set in 1920’s Chicago and takes a look at this unique era of history from a fascinating perspective. Sabina Mancari has lived her whole life knowing her father is a Mafia leader, but she’s been blind to the true darkness that hovers all around her. When those blinders are suddenly ripped off and she’s faced with the truth of her father’s crimes, along with other hard realities she’s ignored, her world is turned upside down. Then a complicated and emotional journey for our heroine ensues, full of family drama, murder investigations, and conflicting loyalties.
This book is unique in that Sabina and the hero already have an established relationship before the book opens. Their love story is more one of reconciliation after misunderstanding and forgiveness after mistakes. Different from the typical Historical Romance, but enjoyable and ultimately satisfying nonetheless! There is a bit of a love triangle for a while… I know some readers don’t enjoy that, but don’t let this trope scare you away from reading the book!
As always, Roseanna has crafted secondary characters that feel as well written as our main characters, and interwoven beautiful spiritual threads that make the reader reflect on the message being conveyed. My favorite quote that I just had to bookmark was, “The job of a candle was to shine despite the fact that the darkness could never comprehend it.” I felt it perfectly summed up the theme of the story—shining light in the darkness, forging a path through the night, no matter how thick and unyielding that darkness is. ❤️?✨
4/5 Stars!
**I received a copy of this book for review from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own**
Sabina Mancari never questioned her life as the daughter of Chicago’s leading mob boss until bullets tear apart her world and the man she thought she loved turns out to be an undercover Prohibition agent. Ambushes, bribes, murder, prostitution-all her life, her father sheltered her from his crimes, but now she can no longer turn away from the truth. Maybe Lorenzo, the fiancé who barely paid her any attention in the last two years, has the right idea by planning to escape their world. But can she truly turn her back on her family?
All his life, Lorenzo’s family assumed he would become a priest, but he has different ideas-marrying Sabina and pursuing a career in the law. Despite his morals, he knows at the core he isn’t so unlike his mafiosi father and brothers. Has he, in trying to protect Sabina, forced her into the arms of the Prohibition agent bent on tearing her family apart? How can they rebuild what has so long been neglected and do it in the shadow of the dark empire of the Mafia?
Shadowed Loyalty, set amid the glitz and scandal of the Roaring Twenties, examines what love really means and how we draw lines between family and our own convictions, especially when following one could mean losing the other.
