Callie Sheridan's father had arranged her marriage to Brendan Halloran to consolidate the Sheridan family power in Boston's underworld. Callie had never met her intended, so she sneaks into his club, and witnesses something that makes her sick to her stomach, but when she tries to go out, Brendan surprises her; he's extremely violent, she has to defend herself, which turns out to be the death of Brendan, literally. Callie flees home, fortunately unnoticed. When it becomes public that her fiancé is dead, Callie's father strikes another alliance: she now must wed Teague O'Malley, of the third warring mob family. Neither Teague nor Callie like the life they're trapped in, fortunately they're instantly attracted to each other, which will make the forced union more palatable. There's just one tiny problem: to avoid a bloodbath, Teague needs to catch Brendan Halloran's killer...

Had I realised THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is a "mafia romance", I would not have picked it up, as it is not a genre towards which I gravitate, thus I will try to remain as objective as possible. Ms. Robert paints a pretty accurate picture of the milieu, and she certainly doesn't sugarcoat the ugliness and violence inherent to the underworld. The three warring families -- the Hallorans, the O'Malleys, and the Sheridans -- are all very different from each other, and all very interesting characters in their own right. What I found interesting is that the majority of the children of the mobsters are involuntary players in the game; they are trapped in the life merely because of the circumstances of their birth. Carrigan O'Malley was quite a fascinating character, and as females characters go, I liked her better than Callie. Granted Callie starts off by making a dreadful mistake, but I didn't get the impression of someone born into the mob lifestyle; she retained that deer-caught-in- the-headlights vibe throughout the book, whereas Carrigan seemed more authentic. On the other hand, I absolutely adore Teague! I would have expected a "mob hero" to be your usual alpha-domineering-controlling type, but he is a lovely character and a real gentleman; he hates the hand he was dealt, but he takes action. I wasn't too crazy either about the insta-lust between Callie and Teague; it felt a bit too convenient. As neither wants this marriage, I would have preferred if the attraction had manifested itself a bit later on.

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT features quite a bit of action -- in and out of the bedroom -- it is a very well written, quick read, appealing characters, and fans of mafia romances will be delighted, as it is the first book of the brand new The O'Malley series. I'm looking forward to the next book featuring Carrigan O'Malley and James Halloran, both of whom I loved; it should be quite interesting.