About 7 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 16 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
In contemporary New York, Elena Abelli’s mafia family expects obedience, and an earlier scandal has already cost her father’s favor. Her sister Adriana’s arranged marriage to crime boss Nicolas Russo brings Elena into close contact with a man whose arrogance angers her and whose attention she finds difficult to resist. Acting on that attraction would mean risking another scandal within a family that closely controls her choices.
Reader notes
Sexual tension, possessiveness, and explicit sex shape this dark mafia romance, the first book in the Made series. Its forbidden attraction is bound up with controlling behavior and unequal power; abuse and strong violence are substantial parts of the story.
How it reads
Writing style
Conversational · Descriptive · Direct
Tone
Dark · Intimate · Romantic · Tense
Structure
Linear
Driven by
Character · Relationships
Point of view
Multiple viewpoints
Setting
New York
Reading complexity
Writing
2 / 5
Ideas
2 / 5
Structure
2 / 5
Background knowledge
1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
Writing
How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas
How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure
How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge
Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity
Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Steamy: a few explicit scenes. Sexual tension and possessiveness shape the romance, with Elena drawn to Nicolas despite his arranged marriage to her sister.
What difficult content should I expect?
Strong abuse and violence are substantial parts of the story. The central attraction involves controlling behavior and unequal power, alongside strong sexual content and strong language.
Do I need to read the earlier books first?
No, it is the first book in the Made series. Elena’s attraction to her sister’s intended husband introduces the romance within her controlling mafia family.
What kind of romance is it?
A dark, tense mafia romance centered on forbidden attraction in contemporary New York. Elena’s family expects obedience, and her attraction to Nicolas risks another scandal while bringing her desires into conflict with her family’s control.
How long is it?
386 pages in the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2018 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform · 2018 · paperback. ISBN 9781721284443.
How long does it take to read The Sweetest Oblivion?
About 7 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 386-page CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Danielle Lori
Danielle Lori writes dark mafia romances centered on attraction under pressure, with criminal hierarchies and family obligations narrowing her characters’ choices. Her prose is direct and conversational, often using charged dialogue and prolonged antagonism to develop relationships shaped by secrecy, obsession, and unequal power. In The Sweetest Oblivion, a forbidden attachment grows within a New York engagement arranged by family expectations. The Maddest Obsession extends its central pursuit across years, setting Gianna’s volatility against Christian’s compulsion to impose order. The Darkest Temptation moves from a search for family answers to captivity at a remote estate, where shifts between menace and intimacy keep control and autonomy in constant dispute.
