Review: Grabano Style
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 4, 2014
The Beautiful People (The New Mafia Trilogy #1)By: E.J. Fechenda4/5 starsNatalie Ross is a college senior majoring in Art and is looking forward to grad school so she can get a master’s degree in art and be a teacher to help support her dream of creating art. In need of a job, she turned to her brother for help. Her brother, Grant, head of security at a club named Crimson, gets her a job waitressing but saddles her with all sorts of warnings to not get too involved with the staff, that this job is only temporary for her last semester, summer at the latest and to stay away from Dominic.Natalie assumes that her brother is just being over protective as per the norm since their father abandoned their family, when they were kids. Her promise to stay away from everything hardly lasts through her first shift, and is abandoned during her second, once she meets Dominic.Dominic Grabano is the nephew of the most powerful mob boss in Philadelphia and is learning the ropes because he will take over one day. He has been a player in the past, but feels totally different with Natalie, and they start dating much to the chagrin of Grant, who is a soldier and hitman for the Grabano family. Natalie knows nothing of the mob ties.Dominic gets tired of having to evade the truth and lie to Natalie about his family. However, the way that he introduces her to the truth is shocking and terrifying. Now, Natalie is a liability to the Grabano’s and is given an ultimatum by Uncle Marco, the mob boss. She will either keep quiet or both her and her brother will be killed.Through learning this information, she has all of her choices for the future ripped away from her. No longer can she leave Philly and go to art school. But since she is in love with Dominic, she decides to make the best of the circumstances and live and love deeply.However, the mafia lifestyle is not all rainbows & sugar. Which Natalie learns the hard way, through a series of violent events. Now the life that she was building with the man she loves, no longer seems glamorous, despite the money & family connections. She begins to feel trapped, like her life is now in a stalemate. But if she leaves, she is risking not only her life, but her brothers as well.How do you find yourself and put your hopes and dreams first, when that will not only sign your death warrant, but that of the person who has been your savior, protector, friend and some of your only family in the world?