The O'Malley's is a brand new Katee Robert series to me; I know it's been out there for a while but I totally missed it the first time around. I requested it on NetGalley and when my wish was granted I jumped in blind. For those, like me, who are new to this series, it appears that each book follows an O'Malley sibling as they inevitably fall in love. This family is a crime family in the Boston area and all of the siblings feel the obligations that come with being an O'Malley.



In Dark Succession, we mainly follow the arranged marriage of Teague O'Malley and Callie Sheridan. Their fathers have arranged this union to unite their families against a third crime family, in the hopes of keeping a stranglehold on their areas. This union is the second attempt at marrying Callie off and when this arrangement is announced it begins a war with the family she was first promised to (I feel so icky typing those words). The rest of this novel follows these two and shows us how different they are from their fathers, how even surrounded by bad deeds, they want to do good ones, and of course, it follows their inevitable descent into love, despite the strangeness of being married off.

This novel seems to be the set up novel. We get a lot of information about the families and their dynamics, the hint at the histories of the dislike exchanged between families, and it basically gives us the lay of the land for the next several books. Even with all of this, the story wasn't bogged down with too many details and it moved at a nice pace. It was also interesting with how many points of view we got--at various points we got to peek in the thoughts of not only our main characters but the characters who will likely be our main characters in book two, James and Carrigan. I wasn't expected it and it was a pleasant surprise.



I've not read every single thing Katee Robert has written, but I've read quite a bit and this was a little different than what I expected. Not bad different, just different. It definitely read like something that was written many years ago and not because it was not well done, just that the sensibilities of that time in the romance world are very clear now that we're years away from that time (if that makes sense?). Anyway, it was a good read that provided days of escape from the insanity that is our world today.

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒚 Katee Robert
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

EXCUSE ME?! Okay Hold on. Here we go!

Teague isn’t exactly prideful when it comes to his family, to put it lightly. ESPECIALLY when he finds out his father has ordered him to marry Callista in an attempt to form a business alliance. When he meets her, see’s the marks on her body, and realizes how much deeper those marks actually go, things start to change.

Unfortunately for Teague, Callie is keeping a dark secret…. That could get him killed.

"𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

OKAY! Let’s all scream together… One.. Two… no but really, This entire entanglement had me screeching from the rooftops! I loved learning about these mafia families. It’s not a trope I explore often, but I am so glad I took a chance with this one.

The secondary characters were just as fantastic as our main FFM and MMC. All the accusations and chaos on top of the romantic aspects really bumped my reading experience up a notch. Callie and Teague’s banter and (sometimes brutal) honestly really helped me connect to them!

If you enjoy 𝗠𝗮𝗳𝗶𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, or 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲, or Katee’s writing in general, I would definitely recommend!



*Review will be posted to Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon on pub day!

I enjoyed some of the author’s other books. This one, I just wasn’t finding myself invested. I’ve never been much for gangs/mafias and I think that must be a large part of it. It is well written with good pacing and kept me mostly-there through the 13% mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

This book was a wild ride from the first page to the last.

Fast paced, and we get inside the heads of multiple characters, not just Callie and Teague, which I loved. I have a feeling on how the next book will be set up, and I cannot wait.

This is a dark mafia romance, so definitely check for the trigger warnings.

With chemistry that burns through the pages, the author did such an exceptional job of making these morally grey characters so lovable. Especially the side characters. Teague’s siblings are so intriguing.

Katee Robert’s writing continues to be absolutely binge-able, as I cannot seem to put her books down.

This book was my first introduction to Mafia romance and it did not disappoint people! This book gave readers a romance to shake your soul but also a plot line that will leave you afraid of the dark. I've always been a fan of Katie Robert and this book proves why. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to get into Mafia romance for the first time!

Not for me. This was literally a case of instalove. The MCs were in the same room for all ten seconds before they were all over each other. I don’t love a long build but this was way too quick!

The whole forced marriage to sustain control over territories also seemed implausible for this book being based in current day.

Thank you @readforeverpub for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Succession is a reissue of Katee Robert’s O’Malley mafia series, this is first book that was called The Marriage Contract. I read this originally years ago and on reread remembered why it started a mafia binge for me.

Teague O’Malley and Callie Sheridan are from rival Boston mafia families and their arranged marriage will unite the families pushing out the third one. After these two meet, they realize they are actually both looking for the same thing, a partner that wants peace and not a violent mafia war. Of course there is mafia drama, kidnapping, mistaken identity banging, guns, over protective fathers and death.

On my reread I liked Callie and Teague, they have chemistry and the spice is spot on. The introduction of the other siblings worked to set up the additional books, even a few chapters from Calligan’s POV to lead into her book with James.

If you are looking for mafia romance that isn’t too dark but steamy that keeps you guessing, I would recommend this one.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own. Dark Succession has a publish date of May 9, 2023

Another winner from Katee Robert! I wasn't sure what to expect going into the book, but her character-driven narrative helped solidify my love of this book.
My only critique would be the ending. I don't want to give anything away, but it felt rushed.

I really liked the concept of this book - two rival families vying for power arrange a marriage between their children, Teague and Callista. I did feel like there were a lot of characters and it was hard for me to get into. I think I fans of mob/mafia stories would enjoy this more than I did.

This was a great series starter. There lot of characters to contend with, as there are three families involved and multiple POVs. But this story is very much Teague and Callie's story and I really enjoyed their relationship.

There was a lot of angst, a lot of drama, and a lot of romance and spice. I'm looking forward to where this series will go from here.

This was a reread of one of my favorite mafia series. This feels a little unlike Katee's work in that its less steam and more story, but it works so well. I love this story of family doing their best for each other and themselves under unique circumstances. The arranged marriage between Teague and Callie was absolutely unwanted. But the sparks between them were instant and hot like fire. As they navigate their mafia families, impending war and their own growing love, I just kept turning pages. I can't wait to continue rereading this series!

Katee Robert’s Dark Succession begins the O’Malley’s mafia series. If you love arranged marriages, murder, intrigue, controlling families, and of course lots of steam, this romance is for you.

Callie Sheridan knows that as a Boston mafia princess, her marriage will be a strategic one. How else will her father and his rivals cement their allegiance? After a series of traumatic events, she ends up engaged to Teague O’Malley, who she’s never met. Teague loves his siblings, but hates the way their father controls their lives. When the pair are introduced at their engagement party, sparks fly. Aside from instant attraction, Teague immediately feels protective of Callie. With their families backing them into a corner, they have no choice but to marry quickly. But can their marriage also be for love? Or will the dark secrets they are hiding tear them apart?

Dark Succession is a rerelease of The Marriage Contract, but this was my first time reading it. It contains everything I love in a Robert’s romance, especially the conspiracies and intrigue. In fact, if you replace the mafia families with modern Greek gods, you can see the inspiration for her Dark Olympus series. And while both Callie and Teague are decidedly “good” characters, I’m looking forward to reading about more morally gray characters like James and Carrigan in the next book.

I enjoyed Dark Succession. I’m not a huge mafia romance fan, but Katee Robert has a way of drawing me in with non-stop action, interesting characters and lots of steam. I’m already attached to Callie, Teague and the rest of the O’Malleys, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So good right off the bat. I love a good slow burn and build up but sometimes I just want it right away and this book gave it right away. I especially liked that we didn’t have to wait long for the action (shootings) to happen.

One thing I didn’t like was the amount of POV’s we got. I feel like it would’ve been fine honestly with just Teague & Callie’s.
Also, I feel like their acceptance of each other was a bit fast, but this did not ruin the book.

Overall, a good book (not my favorite by Katee Robert, but still good!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Callie is in a bind. She may have accidentally fallen for her fiancé. Their marriage is one of partnership between powerful Mafia houses. But that doesn't meant they can't actually fall for each other, right?

There were so high points in this for me and some not so high points.
First, I liked Callie and Teague. They were very similar to each other in that they don't agree with a lot of the things their families do. I also enjoyed Callie being a bad ass. She pushes for more control and power in her family.
The spice is on point, as it always is with Robert.

What I didn't really like:
There are a lot of characters that are followed. I know that this is setting up for a longer series, but the attention was pulled too much from Callie and Teague which gave the book an instalove feeling. I wanted more with them, more drama, more angst, more falling for each other.

All in all, this was a good read and I will still continue on with the series!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a first time read for me by Katee Robert. I always hear people raving about her on TikTok so when I had the opportunity to read this book I was all in!! I found the story sexy, interesting and captivating. There is action and mystery that makes the story even more enjoyable! Some may not like the fact that this is a bit of an insta-love but that wasn't a problem for me. I love a good insta-love story. I would definitely recommend this book and I can't wait to read the other books in this series.




Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

This was exactly what I needed. I was reading something kinda heavy so this book was great! I loved Callie and Teague so much. Teague had a soft heart from the beginning instead of being cold and hardened by life while Callie was strong while still being able to be vulnerable. Katee Robert doesn't disappoint!
As I have said before, I am unintentionally going through Katee Robert's backlist and enjoying pretty much every minute of it.

Teague O' Malley and Callista Sheridan are forced into a "business" alliance only to meet each other and realize they do want each other. As they get closer, the more trouble they are in because Callie's keeping a secret from everyone. When her secret is discovered, will they survive?

4/5 Stars

This book was so good and had my attention from the beginning! Reminded me a little bit of Romeo and Juliet with fighting and wars between families. There's violence, fighting, death, love, and spice! All of the good aspects in a book! While the beginning kicked off with a bang, the middle was a little slower for me but picked up again with the last 40% of the book. I would definitely recommend reading this book overall though! The unexpected romance that bloomed between the two main characters was sweet and adorable to read.

3.5 ⭐️

when it’s an arranged marriage but then they fall for each other >>

———————-

This one started off a little slow for me, but I really did enjoy the dynamic between Callie and Teague. I wanted moooooreeeeee of them!

I hope that the rest of the series continues with them and we get to see more as they work to bring their families to the legal side of things 👀

Thank you Forever Romance and Netgalley for my gifted arc in exchange for an honest review!


I’m a huge fan of Katee’s Dark Olympus series, so I was excited to read another series!! I loved getting to know the O’Malleys and look forward to Carrigan’s book next. There are so many characters, so it took a little bit of time to keep all the families straight. I really needed a family tree at the beginning! I loved Teague and how Callie could hold her own. There is lots of darkness and sadness in the book, but also so many happy moments!

This was one of my first forays into dark/mafia romances and I am a huge fan! I went ahead and bought the next book in the series because I loved this one so much. Teague and Callie were SO spicy. I love the marriage contract trope and the suspense was perfect, as well. I'm excited to hop into the rest of the series!