While I liked this read, I just didn't fall in hard love with it! I had some issues with the overall "theme" and progression. For me this was a modern day Romeo and Juliet a la Italian Mafia!

The Barsanti's and the Galante's. Two of the five strong Italian families deep in the business. This book starts with a BOOM and establishes a rivalry for the ages.

Both families have their pride. Both families have their precious. Genevieve "Genna" Galante is the ice princess of the Galante's. Not in the know of the family business, she is basically under lock and key yet has no real purpose in her 18 years old self. She is the typical rich, bored girl needing some fun and attention. The Barsanti's have Matteo, the oldest and the rightful heir to it all. He is smart and he is biding his time before he can just fade away. He too isn't interested in the business but is suffocated by familial obligation.

Sounds like the perfect match right?

Strangers who meet and "click." Strangers who are immediately attracted to one another. Strangers who find insta-love in an elevator, then smoking hot sex at "The Place," lol!

"We spent an hour together this morning trapped in a box with no way out. And you know what I realized that hour?" "What?" "I kind of liked a world where it was just you and me”

Well, we know this is a problem right? A Barsanti and a Galante? NO WAY IN THIS LIFETIME! With each family primed to kill the other this will never work. There is no happy ending in sight for Genna and Matty. Will family obligation and unwritten respect keep true love apart? How much blood will be shed before the feud is over? This is the biggest rivalry in NYC...LOVE has NO place here!

Overall, fairly predictable. I wasn't looking for a fun family handshake and welcome to the family kinda reunion, but I was hoping for a bit more strife. I mean Primo and Roberto are in the BUSINESS, they know all right? They don't know their kids are fornicating like rabbits? How are mortal family enemies hanging in each other's turfs and not shooting up joints? Also, I mean hot smoking sex equals forever love? No way, not after being told your whole life that they are the enemy. At least Genna was skeptical....Matty, too clean and too normal! Also, the ending...WTF? ummm, where did everyone go? What the hell is going to happen now?

I suppose I will catch up with this again in hopes to get some answers!

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2

By Any Other Name is a fantastic mafia rendition of Romeo & Juliet. The vibe of the story was the perfect feel of a forbidden love, and a family who wants nothing more than their rival dead.

The heat between Matty and Genny was palpable, and the tension of them being found out had my stomach in knots.

While it felt on the edge of insta, I was still really invested. And I didn’t mind so much because this was based on Romeo & Juliet, who are the definition of insta. I mean, didn’t they get married the day after they met? The conflict of Matty and Genny being found out kept me completely entranced, even if I craved some stronger push and pull. They jumped into their relationship just like Romeo & Juliet—well, minus the marriage.

The Galantes and the Barsantis are two of the five mafia families in New York. In the prologue, there’s the death of one Galante son, and the feud begins.

"The only good Barsanti is a dead Barsanti," he'd said. "You see one, you run the other way."

I think the thing I loved about this story was that my heart hurt for both sides. I sympathized with both of them, and didn’t want either to lose. The conflict of their families finding out and the suspense of what would happen, had my heart racing more than once.

But with a feud, there are deaths. And there were. No family got out unscathed.

Oh, Matty. Don’t get me started on him. I’m not a lover of sweet heroes. God, but there was just something about him that I LOVED. He wasn't too sweet and a pushover. No, he was perfectly made.

“I risk coming here, because one of us has to take that risk. One of us has to be willing to take the chance.”

He was one-hundred percent real. He could exist in this human world where us romance lovers want to believe there are 6’4 perfectly sculpted men roaming around. He was courageous, devoted to the women in his life, charismatic, and so in love with Genny.

The relationship between the characters was one of my favorites. Especially the two families’ rivalry. I don’t know why, maybe this is a cavewoman thing, but I kinda love to see two men fight. Or maybe that’s a psychotic thing? Don’t know.

“If she were a delicate ice sculpture, this stunning man was a strong marble statue.”

Yes, I did feel there was a little insta. But they were off the charts together. Their chemistry flew off the pages, and their first moment was damn hot. I loved them as a couple and thought they complimented each other nicely.

I’m not a lover of third person, and the story was written that way. It felt a little distant, and it was often annoying as I was reading. I kept getting confused on who “he” was and which “she” they were talking about. A personal preference for me, and a slight thing that I didn’t enjoy.

The chemistry between the characters was spot on, the family rivalry was suspenseful and nerve-wracking, and the emotions flew off the pages. I loved the forbidden Romeo & Juliet theme, and the passion between Matty and Genny. If you like mafia, forbidden love, and sweet heroes, then definitely give this one a try.

This was a pretty good read. Genevieve "Genna" Galante is the daughter of Primo Galante, notorious boss of the Galante crime family, her life is dictated by a certain set of rules that she never follows. Matteo "Matty" Barsanti never wanted anything to do with the family business but as the first son he is expected to. This book read like a mafia version of Romeo & Juliet. The Galantes and the Barsantis are two of the five mafia families in New York. In the prologue, there’s the death of one Galante son, and the feud begins. The chemistry between the characters was hot and I liked Matty right away. Genna grew on me in the beginning I thought that she was a spoiled princess. When the feud between the two families start again these two don't let it stop them from loving each other. I have read this author's work before this book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

OK........I appear to be all alone in my review of this book, but it just didn't read like a typical gritty, heart-stopping, gripping, alpha mafia story from one of my absolute favorite authors. It appears that it was one of her earlier written books (2013) and it seemed too immature and young for a typical J M Darhower story. But I loved the ending and I will always read every one of her books.....I just sort of missed her " usual dirty, gritty" writing.