Unspoken Devotion by Chelsea Burton Dunn

Carmen and Leo, the youngest children of members of the local mafia, grew up as neighbors. They were raised to be able to defend themselves as needed, and though they did have a good childhood, each sought a life that did not involve joining the mafia themselves. After Leo returned home having been honorably discharged by the military, he was able to once again spend time with the girl he had secretly loved for years, who also happens to be secretly in love with him. But when his father uses Carmen as a means to forge an alliance with the Irish Mafia, Leo and the rest of his family need to find a way to stop her unwanted marriage from happening without alerting his dad to their plans. But can they find a way to stop it from happening without starting an all-out mafia war?

I read a review copy of this book and really enjoyed it. But I do need to warn readers that it comes with a number of trigger warnings. This book contains themes of sex-trafficking, rape, violence, and abuse. It is is not suitable for younger readers as it does contain some graphic (consensual, not rape) sex scenes.

Despite the tough themes, this is primarily the story of two people who have fallen in love, and two families who want to allow them to be together, despite Leo's father’s plan for her. Overall, I believe that the story is very well-written and if the themes won’t trigger you, one that I believe a lot of readers will enjoy. We do not “see” a rape itself happen in this book, and though there is a great deal of violence that takes place, as well as an awareness of sex-trafficking, that seems to be a secondary part of the story, and not a primary focus of it. I believe these themes were delicately handled.

The characters are all strong and smart individuals, and while they may live morally-grey lives as part of a mafia family, they do come across as good people rather than villains to be hated. In most cases, their own lives were decided by factors other than what they may have wanted, though the decisions made were their own.

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