GrowlHe’d never had something to himself, never even dared to dream about owning something so precious. He was the unwanted bastard son who’d always had to content himself with the leftovers of others. And now they’d given him what only a few weeks ago had been out of his reach, someone he wasn’t even allowed to admire from afar, one of their most prized possessions. Thrown at his feet because he … because he was who he was, because they were certain he would break her. He was her punishment, a fate worse than death, a way to deliver the ultimate punishment to her father who had displeased them so greatly.
Cara
She had always been the good girl. It didn’t protect her.
She didn’t know his real name. People called him Growl to his face, and the Bastard behind his back. Both were names he couldn’t possibly have chosen for himself. His eyes were empty, a mirror to throw back her own fear at her. He was a brutal hand of the Las Vegas Camorra.
And now she was at his mercy.
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Okay, huge surprise for me, that book. My first thought after the first three chapters? Who, the hell, are those people? I truly thought that I had mistaken books.
But ladies, it all becomes clear in the middle of the book and it is a good thing. Thanks to that it’s dark, mysterious and ugh, so hot! Dark because it is not about arranged marriage or affection that made the characters be with themselves.
It is really a nice story. A plot is surprising in a few places (typical for Cora, if you ask me), the man is actually very likeable after all. He has a strong backstory that made me cry a bit, actually. And the heroine… well, Cara is more likeable than previous heroines, if you ask me.
But still… there was something about her that I didn’t like. Telling you what would require using examples and those are true spoilers, so you just have to trust me on this point.
That book shows how Cora is evolving with her writing skills. It’s darker, hotter and very tempting. Because of the heroine, some of you may feel confused at some moments, but overall? You will like it. Believe me on this one.
Out of all the books in this series, this is the only one I couldn’t quite connect to. While I enjoyed Growl’s story and his disconnect from his half-brothers, I couldn’t really get on board with him and Cara.
As of 2019, a new version has been introduced with corrections and a small epilogue which I found a lot better than the original so if you’re one of the few people who read the original and hated it, reading the new version may make you like it a tad more.
The new version made me appreciate Growl and Cara’s relationship so much more and now they’re one of my favourite couples!
I hope to see more of Growl’s character in the upcoming books!
Growl and Cara open a new mafia for us now we know the Camorra the Las Vegas mafia, and show us that they are more ruthless and cruel than Chicago and New York, Growl is literally the Monster of the Camorra, he kills and tortures without mercy all They fear and underestimate him, they think that being serious and reserved is stupid, Cara was a rich girl destined to become the wife of someone important but by a fate move ends up being given to Growl, but contrary to what everyone expected (which was he destroyed her) he decided to take care of her and protect her, she had never had anything so beautiful, so valuable and his, so she would not let anyone hurt her or take her from him, the relationship between the characters flows a little slow although the physical It is faster, but it is fine since it allows you to believe that he really falls in love with her and makes her his priority, although her feelings for Growl are very strong, her prejudices do not let her see that it is I go more, something so big and strong that I can no longer control it, the truth is that the book like all of the series I really liked and I recommend them, the series loves it and I can not wait to continue with the other.
‘Bound by vengeance’ was the book everyone was waiting for, for a very long time. We had to wait until 2017 to read it. Was the book worth the wait? Well, I liked the book and the story certainly held my attention until the end but with a few changes, I think it could have been better. I’m a little bit disappointed that after all this waiting, the ending felt a little bit rushed.
Cara’s father works for the Las Vegas mafia. Which means that she had a very sheltered childhood, protected from all dangers. But now she has come to an age where it’s common for the young daughters of the mafia men to get married. The husband get chosen by their fathers and that’s also the case with Cara. Cara’s father has chosen an important mafia man for Cara. Being the obedient daughter, Cara will marry him. Does she love him? No but that’s almost never the case in such marriages. But sadly, Cara’s father makes a mistake by trusting the wrong man. A mistake that gets him killed and Care a prisoner of the most dangerous man in the Las Vegas mafia. A man known by the name ‘Growl’. An assassin for the mafia, a man known for having no feelings, no mercy and no conscience. Sometimes living is a bigger punishment then being dead.
Growl knows what he is. He’s a man that survived a terrible childhood and he made sure that as an adult, people can’t hurt him anymore. He doesn’t care that this means that he’s alone all the time. It’s just the way it is. He never expected to get a gift from his boss and certainly not such a previous one. He has seen Cara on a party but he never though she would be his one day. But now he has her, he owns her and he wants her but he knows that she could be a danger for him. Because he may be the bad guy in this situation but she makes him feel things that he never felt before and everyone knows that feelings can get you in trouble and in this situation trouble could get him killed in the end!
Both, Cara and Growl, want things in life but one thing they both want is revenge. But what will happen to them when they get their revenge? Is revenge worth losing love for?
So let me start with the things that I liked about this story. I must confess that I couldn’t put the book down. The writing style of this story was fluent. Maybe strange to say but I liked Growl. He was a bad, cold man but he had his own principles. He kills and hurts people for a living but never just for fun. He was protective of Cara and I really liked that. So what about Cara? I missed a bit of emotions there.
One of the things that really surprised me was the fact that there were a lot of writing mistakes in the book. I can’t remember having this problem with Cora Reilly’s other books.
I would have LOVED an epilogue in this book and also some extra scenes about how Growl got out of the last situation. I missed some extra information at the end. It was a little bit over too soon.
Overall, the writing rhythm was there but the intense emotions just weren’t there for me . This book reminded me of a bit of ‘Bound by duty’ where I had the same feeling. Good but not fantastic.
“You are worth more than anything I’ve ever owned or will ever own.”
It been a while since I read the previous book in this series, but this book could be easily read as a complete stand-alone. If I remember correctly the main characters in this book haven’t made an appearance in the previous books (I am not sure though).
In the beginning I didn’t really like Cara. She came across as a bit stuck-up, and those type of people tend to annoy me. It was all about image and what other people would think about her, which gets old pretty quick. Growl was mysterious and I was intrigued by him because I have a thing for broken anti-heroes. He wasn’t as dark as I expected him to be. He was a loner who was seen as a monster by everyone. I found him to be very considerate. His story was heartbreaking but I wasn’t sucked into the story as much as I wanted to, so I didn’t fall in love with him.
Growl’s love for Cara was in my opinion much stronger than her feelings for him. I wanted to be able to see them grow more as a couple. I really missed the connection between them. That made it impossible for me to rate this book higher than 3 stars, even though I loved the plot. On Amazon it says that the print length is 207 pages, which is way too short for me. I need more pages to fully connect to the story. Especially the ending was rushed. This book was an okay addition to the series. I am looking forward to the next book. Hopefully I will be able to connect better with the characters.
Bound By Vengeance is book five in The Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles by Cora Reilly. She is the unquestioned queen of Mafia romance and one of the most talented authors I ever came across in this book world. Her stories are the best form of escape! Every time she announces another book I can’t wait to one-click and lose myself in another story from her. She portrays the harsh, violent Mafia world like nobody else. When I read her stories I don’t only feel like a bystander, I feel like I’m a part of it.
Growl is known as the quiet man with the ugly scars and many tattoos. Being a bastard son he’s never been loved or wanted. His harsh upbringing has made him into a monster, a killing machine without emotions under the leash of Benedetto Falcone, the capo of the Las Vegas Camorra. As a reward for his well done job as their enforcer, he’s given someone he wasn’t even allowed to dream of or admire from afar: Cara, the noble, beautiful daughter of one of Falcone’s most successful Casino managers.
Now the shy, well behaved young woman is at the mercy of a man who is supposed to break her. A life with Growl is meant to be Cara’s worst punishment for her father’s betrayal. But for Growl owning someone as innocent and perfect like her feels like the biggest treasure.
After Falcone kills her father and takes her mother and sister as hostages, all Cara wants is revenge. But in order to get it, she needs some help. Can she make the man she feels a forbidden pull to agree to help her? And will Growl risk it all for a woman who’s never meant to be his?
Growl and Cara couldn’t have been more different but they made so much sense together. He was a quiet, reserved man who preferred the company of his dogs to people. He doesn’t trust anyone except them. But that suddenly changes when he meets Cara. She fascinates him like nobody else. Her beauty and good manners make him feel unworthy of her. But at the same time it makes him want to be better for her, to earn her. I loved how Cara broke the walls around Growl one by one, getting to know the man beneath the monster. A man who could be kind and considerate. It made my heart melt like ice cream how Cara really saw Growl. She didn’t look past him or through him. In her eyes, he was worth a better future and most of all redemption. The best part of this book was watching love bloom between them like a delicate flower. It was a beautiful slow burn.
“Not much scares me anymore… But this, between us, it does. My emotions, they scare me.”
I’ve read the old version of Bound By Vengeance a while back and re-read the edited one plus epilogue now. It did make a difference to me, because Cora Reilly made some necessary changes that improved my reading experience. The story flowed now better and we even got a short epilogue at the end, that truly made me happy. I’m upgrading my rating therefore to 5 stars. Thank you dear Cora for going back and giving these two the story they deserved!
Updated review + rating after the book was re-published:
First of all let me emphasize how much I’ve loved and enjoyed this addictive series. I’ve been hooked on it since the first book. Thanks to Cora Reilly’s amazing writing I immersed myself completely in the cruel, merciless and bloody world of the Mafia. I loved the thrilling storylines which often made me gasp, scream and cry. The heroes are complex and multi-layered. They are in equal parts good and bad guys you can’t but fall madly and deeply for despite their flaws. The heroines are no doormats. They may be physically weaker but they are strong and resilient in their own ways and thus should never be underestimated.
The old version of Bound by Vengeance was in dire need of good editing because of many grammar and spelling mistakes and switching between POVs in the middle of a chapter. These mistakes have all been rectified in the new version. Some scenes were rewritten and more detailed and certain dialogues were extended thus giving the book more structure und depth. Cora’s decision to take the book down in order to revise it was definitely a very smart move that paid off.
Cara is the oldest daughter of a respected Camorra family. She has lead a sheltered and prestigious life. Cara is predestined to become the wife of a highranked Mafia member and the mother of his children. But instead of that she is given to Growl as a punishment for her father’s sins and betrayal. A fate worse than death. Now she is an outcast to the society she once belonged to. And what she wants is revenge. Growl is the Las Vegas Mafia leader’s best and most feared assassin. Born as an unwanted bastard child he had to face a life full of suffering and torture. But this didn’t break him, on the contrary. It made him strong, ruthless and cold blooded – a monster. Growl knows that some things are simply not in the cards for him. That’s why he is content with a simple life and the leftovers he has been given. Until the moment his boss throws a precious gift at his feet – the beautiful and innocent Cara. A princess with porcelain skin, soulful eyes and hair like silk. A noble woman he could only have admired from afar is now his to take. They were sure that he is going to break her. What they didn’t know was that Cara is going to awake a part of Growl he thought he has lost forever.
I absolutely adore Cara. She is a courageous, smart and caring young woman. I loved that she spoke her mind freely and wasn’t the usual obedient and demure daughter of a mobster. Although Growl was intimidating she didn’t shy away from him. Cara wanted to get to know him and to understand what made him the ruthless and feared Enforcer of the Camorra. Growl has such a tragic and sad past. Your heart is going to break for him when you find out what he went through. But behind that brutal facade hides a man still capable of compassion who thinks that he is undeserving of love and happiness which couldn’t be more far from the truth. Cara was fighting her physical attraction to Growl at the beginning but when she discovered the real man behind the tattoos and scars she wasn’t able to protect her heart from falling for him.
Reading this story after it has been re-edited felt very different from the first time. It finally seemed like the potential of it has been fully exploited. It made me so happy that Cora gave us a short but super sweet epilogue which was unfortunately totally missing in the first version. It was all in all a great and highly entertaining read that evoked a myriad of emotions inside of me. I’m thankful that Cora Reilly has decided to revise Cara and Growl’s book because they deserved nothing less than a story worth 5 stars!
Love this series!
Great book. Editors s/b shot!
I could not get into this book for some reason it took for ever to read, and I just could not relate to it until the end of the book when they reunited in NY.