The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori – mafia romance with forbidden trope

The Sweetest Oblivion, a mafia romance with forbidden trope is filled with attraction and possessiveness… and it did not work for me.

Synopsis

She’s a romantic at heart, living in the most unromantic of worlds… Nicknamed Sweet Abelli for her docile nature, Elena smiles on cue and has a charming response for everything. She’s the favored daughter, the perfect mafia principessa… or was. Now, all she can see in the mirror’s reflection is blood staining her hands like crimson paint. They say first impressions are everything…

In the murky waters of New York’s underworld, Elena’s sister is arranged to marry Nicolas Russo. A Made Man, a boss, a cheat—even measured against mafia standards. His reputation stretches far and wide and is darker than his black suits and ties.

After his and Elena’s first encounter ends with an accidental glare on her part, she realizes he’s just as rude as he is handsome. She doesn’t like the man or anything he stands for, though that doesn’t stop her heart from pattering like rain against glass when he’s near, nor the shiver that ghosts down her spine at the sound of his voice. And he’s always near. Telling her what to do. Making her feel hotter than any future brother-in-law should.

Elena may be the Sweet Abelli on the outside, but she’s beginning to learn she has a taste for the darkness, for rough hands, cigarettes, and whiskey-colored eyes. Having already escaped one scandal, however, she can hardly afford to be swept up in another. Besides, even if he were hers, everyone knows you don’t fall in love with a Made Man… Right?

Review

The Sweetest Oblivion is a mafia romance that follows Elena Abelli, nicknamed Sweet Abelli, a hopeless romantic raised in the cold, unromantic world of mafia families. Ever since the mistake she made six months ago that ended with an innocent man being killed because of her actions, Elena has been drowning in guilt.

Her life becomes even more restricted as she waits for the inevitable fate of being married off to strengthen her father’s position and business. But when her sister Adriana’s engagement is announced and Elena meets her fiancé, Nico Russo, for the first time, she feels alive again. She hates him, yet cannot resist the pull she feels toward him.

Nico, known as Ace, is one of the youngest and most ruthless dons in the mafia world. Aware of Elena’s reputation, he originally had no interest in marrying a woman who attracted attention from every man in New York, so accepting Adriana’s hand seemed like the easier choice. But the moment he sees Elena, he realizes she is far more than just her nickname, and resisting her becomes impossible. While the Russos are notorious for cheating and breaking promises, breaking this engagement could easily ignite a gang war.

The forbidden attraction between Nico and Elena definitely had potential, and I was curious to see where the story would go with it.

Now let me start with this: I really did not like The Sweetest Oblivion. There honestly isn’t much plot here. What I wrote in the summary above is basically the entire story, and nothing beyond that feels properly developed. The only real mystery is Elena’s past, what happened six months ago, why she ran away, and how the man with her ended up dead. And even that reveal is dragged until the last 10% of the book.

Until then, we mostly get small glimpses into Elena’s family and her life, while Nico remains more of a fantasy mafia man built on rumors, power, and a controlling attitude rather than an actual fleshed-out character.

Most of the story revolves around Nico and Elena meeting through Adriana’s engagement, feeling instant attraction, hiding it badly, and constantly circling around each other while their families hate one another. Adriana’s affair becomes another source of drama, with Elena helping her sister cover it up while simultaneously trying to suppress her own attraction toward her future brother-in-law.

Honestly, there were moments where Elena herself kept crossing boundaries just to get Nico’s attention. Eventually Adriana’s own actions break the engagement, which ties Elena to Nico instead. That alone takes up almost half the book.

After that, the story becomes heavily focused on the spicy scenes, which I honestly would not have minded if there had been emotional development alongside them. But the romance felt entirely built on physical attraction.

I kept waiting to learn more about Nico beyond the intimidating mafia image, but all we really get is information about his past affair with the cook and the bizarre detail about him sleeping with his stepmother, who is the same age as him. Other than that, he is controlling, disrespectful, possessive, and surprisingly the only time I fully agreed with him was during the climax when he lost his temper over Elena’s actions.

That entire climax drama felt unnecessary, especially because it was all tied to Elena trying to rid herself of guilt in the most frustrating way possible. What confused me even more was why she kept hiding the fact that she never actually loved the man who died because of her. Nico spends most of the book believing that dead man mattered deeply to her, and she just lets him continue thinking that.

To be honest, both characters acted idiotic most of the time. They were jealous, immature, and incapable of having one proper conversation. Nico intentionally used the cook to make Elena jealous, while Elena kept wearing the dead man’s ring and refused to let go of it. Neither of them trusted each other, and the constant misunderstandings became exhausting instead of entertaining.

While I understood Elena’s fears about men and the kind of world she lived in, I still could not understand many of her choices. We are constantly told she is close to Adriana, yet she repeatedly flirts with Nico while he is still engaged to her sister. She also completely lacked self-respect for me. She is extremely submissive, docile, and passive throughout the story, and honestly she became everything I personally do not enjoy in a female lead.

As for the romance itself, I never felt an emotional connection between Nico and Elena. Nico being willing to do anything for her is not enough to convince me of love. The relationship was built on possessiveness, lust, jealousy, and spicy scenes rather than genuine emotional intimacy.

Ironically, the last 25% of the book was the part I enjoyed the most because it finally brought tension, drama, and answers. But even then, the reveal surrounding Elena’s past felt underwhelming because it had been hyped for too long without enough substance. Instead of a shocking revelation, it felt like the book spent hundreds of pages making us assume what happened only to later confirm that, yes, our assumptions were correct all along.

Overall, The Sweetest Oblivion just did not work for me, and I do not think I will continue the series. At this point, if I pick up another mafia romance, it needs to give me far more than just attraction, possessiveness, and endless spicy scenes pretending to be love.

Book Links

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Have you read this or any book by the same author?
What’s your fav mafia romance?

Just in case you missed,,,

• The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori – mafia romance with forbidden trope
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – warm and heartbreaking fiction
• Why Good Wives Didn’t Hit the Same as Little Women – Classic Book Review

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