Title: Vendetta (Blood for Blood #1)
Author: Catherine Doyle
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Chicken House
Pages: 352
Source: Bought

Overall: 5 Stars 

Summary:

Blood Will Spill, Hearts Will Break: With a fierce rivalry raging between two warring families, falling in love is the deadliest thing Sophie could do. An epic debut set outside modern-day Chicago.

For Sophie, it feels like another slow, hot summer in Cedar Hill, waitressing at her family’s diner and hanging out with her best friend Millie. But then someone moves into the long-abandoned mansion up the block--a family of five Italian brothers, each one hotter than the last. Unable to resist caramel-eyed Nicoli, Sophie finds herself falling for him -- and willfully ignoring the warning signs. Why are Nic's knuckles cut and bruised? Why does he carry an engraved switchblade? And why does his arrogant and infuriating older brother, Luca, refuse to let her see him? As the boys' dark secrets begin to come to light, Sophie is confronted with stinging truths about her own family, too. Suddenly, she's torn between two warring dynasties: the one she’s related to and the one she's now in love with. She'll have to choose between loyalty and passione. When she does, blood will spill, hearts will break. Because in this twisted underworld, dishonor can be the difference between life and death. 

My Thoughts: 
I absolutely love to read NA and adult romances centered around families involved in organized crime, but I very rarely come across them in YA literature. I hope you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Catherine Doyle's Vendetta. With a plot description including Chicago, Italian names like Nicoli and Luca, and a family with a dark reputation, I instantly thought, "YA mafia romance! YES, FINALLY!". I've been highly anticipating Catherine Doyle's YA debut ever since then, so I was thrilled when Vendetta turned out to be everything I'd hoped for and more. 

In the sleepy, small town of Cedar Hill, located on the outskirts of Chicago, nothing new really happens, that is, until Sophie's father rocked their community a year ago when he committed a shocking crime one night. Since then, Sophie and her mother are treated like social pariahs and live with her uncle, trying to make ends meet. Sophie's only plan this summer is to work as a waitress at her family's diner and hang out with Millie, the only friend who stuck by her side when Sophie's world fell apart. But Sophie's life is forever changed again with the mysterious arrival of five handsome brothers, who move into a long-abandoned mansion close to her home. 

Despite the warnings from her uncle and a family friend, Sophie finds herself falling for Nicoli, the youngest of the brothers, who's sweet and charming temperament warms her heart. As they grow closer though, she doesn't understand why Nicoli's older brother, Luca, always seems to disapprove her very presence. Luca loves to infuriate Sophie, but she's unafraid to stand her ground against him. We'll have to wait and see if Catherine Doyle proceeds with any romantic entanglements because there was definitely some chemistry underlying Sophie and Luca's argumentative exchanges.

As lies are exposed and secrets are revealed, right and wrong are no longer so clear to Sophie. Nicoli and his brothers are much more dangerous than they first appear, and her own family is not as innocent as she once contently believed. Catherine Doyle's Vendetta is an intense, addictive, and suspenseful introduction to the Blood for Blood trilogy. I absolutely can't wait to read the sequel! The threat of danger is not over for Sophie and her star-crossed romance is just beginning...