Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this earc! One of my favorite reads of 2024, really captivating story.

The concept of the book Mob Queen by Erin Bledsoe was very interesting, as I love reading fictional stories based on the Mob and the lives of notorious gangsters. I also really liked the historical backdrop of this book as it takes place in Chicago in the 1930s. The story is told from the perspective of a real figure who was a part of the Mob; a woman named Virginia Hill who was a courier for the mob in Chicago in the mid-1930s and who had a highly tumultuous and abusive relationship with Bugsy Siegel, who was a well known mobster, I enjoyed the first half of the book in which Virginia's story about how she got involved with the Mob in the first place is told to the reader, but parts of it were slow and I did not care for all of the time in the book that was spent on Virginia's role at the race tracks. Towards the middle of the book, the pacing gets slightly better and picks up around the time Virginia meets Bugsy Siegel and begins a relationship with him. I found the ending to be a bit rushed and wished the author had spent more time on this part of the story compared to the beginning and middle of the novel. Overall, this was an okay read; I definitely thought I would have enjoyed it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This story is fascinating. Set in the 1930s, she thought she was leaving a horrible life in Georgia. She then finds herself living in Chicago, married to a mobster. I read deep into the night. Loved it!

I got an ARC from NetGalley . Wow I literally just finished this and I feel so many things. I’m sad that it’s over, I’m sad that it was true and I’m sad that she died how she did . (That’s not a spoiler it’s history- look it up). This book reads like an award winning black and white movie where the whole theater is silent because they are entranced! I would read it again and again

This was a fascinating concept for a historical fiction novel, I really enjoyed the use of the 1930s and was engaged with what was happening. The characters had that feel that I was looking for and enjoyed getting to go on this journey with the characters. Erin Bledsoe has a strong writing style and am excited to read more from the author.

Writing is fair, just not my preferred style. A lot of dialogue and inner thoughts but not much detail or description of characters, references, setting, etc. I enjoy writers that spend a little more time ‘world building’. Tries too hard from the start to create a mystery, but didn’t build the desire to be invested in it.
Story had lots of potential, unfortunately not executed to its best.

This is not Camilia Sapranos story, or Victoria Gotti if that's what your thinking oh no this is 1930's heyday mafia style and she wasn't no arm candy this woman was iin it- Virginia worked as a waitress at a mob favorite diner when her friend disappears, figuring one of them knows/had something to do with it she searches for answers getting in deeper and deeper and ends up involved with a man named Bugsy (i sont think a last name is needed) i love all mob related stuff so I enjoyed this - it was a take we don't get often women kn the mob, and thr cover is absolutely gorgeous

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

MobQueen #NetGalley

She called him Ben.

History knows him by his more notorious name, Bugsy Siegel.

If this was the 2020s, you’d say he stealthily slid into her DMs.

In this authors’s telling, they encountered each other at the race track. By then, Virginia Hill lived quite the life as she balanced her job at a Mob frequented restaurant with her side job at a Mob funded brothel. She still managed to remain on the outskirts of the Mob.

Then it all changed. Armed with determination and courage, her quest to locate a long lost friend tangled her further into the Mob’s.

Her quest threads this into a compelling read. Her relationship with Bugsy is both complex and violent.

Yes, her story is shaped by men’s actions and desires. But with this historical novel she leaves her stiellto footprint in American history.

Imagined dialogue and action scenes were excellent.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Blackstone Publishing, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I love a good book especially ones based on real life people or events. This book had me hooked from first page till the very last.

Erin Bledsoe takes a spinoff of what Virgina Hills life may have been like up close. Virginia Hill was a real life girlfriend to notorious mobster Bugsy. The author takes real life facts and all the unknowns into something you don't want to miss reading!

Virgina Hill finds herself escaping from her abusive father's hands into the hands of a man she marries who promises to take care of her. Sadly, he too fails to give her a safe home. With the help and courage from her new friend Madeline; Virgina takes the drastic steps (during this time frame) and divorces him. The two girls wind up waitressing at a Hotspot for mobsters. Madeline goes missing after falling for one. Madeline saved Virgina from her abusive husband. Now Virginia feels the need to desperately repay the friendship and find her friend. Searching for answers about Madeline's whereabouts means getting caught up.....for life in the mob. Virginia engages, entertains, falls for, helps commit crime all for one outcome; find her friend. What she didn't expect was to be good at being in the mob. Will she ever find her friend? This book is an excellent read of what it would be like to be a woman of power in the mob. Highly recommend

I was very excited about the subject matter of this book. However, the idea was better than the execution. The book was a very slow to start and seem to drag for the first part which took about more than half of the pages. The second half of the book seemed relatively rushed by comparison. It seemed to focus only on 1 small part of the main character's life and then leave the breeder hanging as to the rest of her life with a brief epil0gue at the end. I liked the idea of this book, and the writing was fine, but the plot seemed to drag for me.

I love a good 1930s set book. Make it about the mob and I'm instantly hooked. But this one was about a woman climbing the ranks and as the title suggests, becomes the mob queen. This was very well written and the time period was done accurately. I loved reading about a woman rather than a man working his way up in the 1930s mob scene. This is one of my top 10 ARCs of the year!