The Next 365 Days

Lipinska’s third 365 Days mafia romance (after This Day) takes the series to places darker than ever before, exploring a messy, violent love triangle between heroine Laura and a pair of rival mob bosses. After being kidnapped by Spanish crime lord Marcelo Nacho Matos—a man Laura unexpectedly came to care for—in the previous installment, Laura is happily reunited with her Sicilian husband, Don Massimo Torricelli, but injuries she sustained in the tumult cause her pregnancy to end in miscarriage. Massimo is at first solicitous and then increasingly cruel as Laura recovers, steadily destroying their relationship—especially after Laura mistakenly calls Massimo Nacho. As Laura contemplates divorce and debates whom she loves most, she discovers that she’s pregnant again—but which man is the father? Lipinska creates taut suspense throughout with gritty mafia politics, larger-than-life characters, and a fast-paced plot, but the always unbalanced central relationship comes off as more abusive than ever here, and multiple rape scenes make this difficult reading. Erotic romance fans will need to have a high tolerance for violence to get through this one. Agent: Kimberly Whalen, Whalen Agency. (Sept.)