Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Chrism Press
Publication Year: 2022
3.5 Stars
This book was definitely a different take for Miss White and I enjoyed the look at the 20’s!
Knowing Roseanna, of course this book has outstanding descriptions and as a fashion designer and seamstress, I enjoyed greatly the nods to all of the fashion aspects of the day!
It’s honestly a story I related to more than I thought I would. We live in a world of darkness and while intertwined with it in different ways, we are called to live in the world but not of it, and that aspect of the story as all three characters navigated this in different ways definitely tugged at the heartstrings!
Roman is trying to live out of the world, but ends up living from it. Sabina is in and of and finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. And Lorenzo has done his best to live out and away from the world that is his and finds that this has cost him more than he could have realized.
It’s definitely a hard story to read at times. While steeped in reality, this book feels like a heavy cup of black tea that has been brewed too long but that you can’t help drink anyway, the bitter flavor permeating your tongue, but the tea still soothing you as it does. The plot twists, and depth of the story kept me turning pages!
Having roots in my heritage of Italian and even catholic backgrounds, I did like how Roseanna was able to display the realities of their culture, but also gave her character a closer relationship with the Lord, and what it looked like to serve Him as a catholic. The details were immaculately done.
Something that was both a struggle for me as well as a plus was the way that Roseanna addressed physical attraction between the main characters. She showed the reality of what a struggle it can be, but I was grateful and applauded the fact that her characters chose the right choice to save themselves for marriage and their dedication to being honorable in that respect, despite the struggle. It was nice to see an author show the realities that it IS a struggle, but also show how living in that honorable way is not only achievable, but that it is beneficial.
CONTENT ADVISORY and potential SPOILERS: Rated as MODERATE according to the Book Cave Rating System. Something that I didn’t love is how far she went at times describing the lasciviousness of O’reilly’s character. I felt that it could have been simmered down a little bit and still given the desired effect. While there is no swearing, all of the other content matches with the rating listed above. The bordello’s of the Italian culture are mentioned a lot and have a large part to play in the story so mistresses, prostitution, etc. not only has some key scenes, but also some key characters. I do applaud Roseanna for the tactfulness that she used, however, I would not recommend it for younger readers as a result and would recommend the age range should be 18+. Violence in relation to the mob also takes place and again is described with tact, as are some kissing scenes, physical attraction, one fade to black scene, and mentioning of prostitutes, prostitution, nudity, and lascivious lifestyles, drinking, bars etc. There was one scene in particular with O’reilly and a prostitute that went to far for my liking.
If you enjoy books set in the 20’s and some darker aspects to those stories, or are interested in prohibition or the start of the Chicago mobs, then you will enjoy this book!
Have you read any books about the 20’s? What are your favorites?
