Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the copy of 365 Days.
I requested this from NetGalley on a whim, I will fully admit to watching this movie when it did come out. So now I am reading and reviewing the written source material “for science.”
“The sexy and deeply romantic internationally bestselling novel that inspired the blockbuster movie.
Laura Biel and her boyfriend are on a dream vacation in beautiful Sicily. On the second day of their trip, her twenty-ninth birthday, she is kidnapped. Her kidnapper is none other than the head of a powerful Sicilian crime family, the incredibly handsome, young Don Massimo Torricelli, who is determined to possess her at all costs. Massimo has his reasons. During an earlier attempt on his life, a vision appeared before his eyes: a beautiful woman, identical to Laura. After surviving the attack, he vows that he will find the woman in his vision and make her his own. No matter what.
For 365 days, Massimo will keep Laura captive in his palatial estate and attempt to win her heart. If she doesn’t fall in love with him during this time, he will let her go. But if she tries to escape at any point, he will track her down and kill her entire family.
Soon Laura develops a fascination with her handsome and powerful captor. But as a precarious, risky relationship forms between them, forces outside their control threaten to tear them apart…”
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: I know so many of us romance readers love mafia books. So if you are looking for one with a nice balance of enjoyable characters you are going to care about and some good steam, do not read 365 Days. I did not like Laura or Massimo very much and I see how uncomfy this book can make many readers. If you want good mafia romance I would highly recommend either Giana Darling’s Anti-Heroes in Love duet or any of the books in Katee Robert’s O’Malley world including the Bastard’s Betrayal.
- Setting: The setting is mostly Italy. I am biased when I say that I love Italy. Yet I do think more could have been done with this setting. I did enjoy time on the yacht, that was sure fun.
- Pacing: I have to start off by complaining about the translation. Reading this was quite rough. I got used to it after a while but I should not have had to. I do not know if the book reads better in its original Polish or if the writing itself is just not very good. It made me put the book down for a few months and only pick it back up again when I received an ARC of book two. I also found it hard to get into because I had already seen the movie. Once I was further into it and things began to differ, I was a bit more entertained.
- Romance: We all knew this book would be pretty damn steamy. Some of the scenes read even more steamy than how they were depicted on screen. The movie almost had to hold back from depicting things as is. In terms of a healthy relationship or even having a desire to cheer these two on, I really did not like them.
365 Days receives two out of five stars.
Thank you again to NetGalley and Atria for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
