This book was previously known as the marriage pact. After the first book, we know that the O’Malley’s and Halloran‘s who always arrivals now both hate each other, even more because of their respective deaths in their families. Karagen, O’Malley and James Hallaron have an instant chemistry, and they cannot resist one another. It’s fascinating to see how the relationship develops and how they both try hard not to fall for each other but at the same time can’t stop themselves. the complications of family and the family businesses make everything feel like it’s heightened in the book. I love this book and the next in the series is just as good.

Katee Robert has me in a chokehold. I will read everything she writes in this is no different. The characters in this story captivated me in such a different way than her other series have. I will literally her grocery list if she would allow it.

I really love this author & this series great! I’m so glad I was able to get a chance to read this one! I loved that Carrigan & James were enemies, who couldn’t stay away from one another! Carrigan was such a vibe! She’s the oldest girl. Speaking her mind(not to her father) and enjoying life until her father said she must choose a husband! James is now the heir to his family buisness even though he doesn’t want it. James is tough but does have a heart. And he wants Carrigan! Nothing will stop him from getting her. I really loved these two and how they fought for what they wanted! This was such a good mafia romance with all the steam! Plus all the drama! I can’t wait for the next one!

Katee Robert is a master of romance but even she can't make me love a mafia romance. I love the 'who did this to you' troupe, but something about these are so melodramatic I just can't get behind them.
I'm sure this is a well written romance, just not the romance for me!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Carrigan O'Malley has always known her arranged marriage would be more about power and prestige than passion. But after one taste of the hard-bodied, whiskey-voiced James Halloran, she's ruined for anyone else. Too bad James and his family are enemy number 1.

Hallorans vs. O'Malleys—that's how it's always been. James should be thinking more about how to expand his family's empire instead of how silky Carrigan's skin is against his and how he can next get her into his bed. Those are dangerous thoughts. But not nearly as dangerous as he'll be if he can't get what he wants: Carrigan by his side for the rest of their lives.

I was provided an ARC for this book from Netgalley.

Not my most favorite from Katee Robert, but she never fails in delivering the BEST spice. It reminds me of a modern day Romeo & Juliet retelling. I honestly didn't think I would like it as much as I did. The pace is fast and it will wreck your emotions. Although I would not re-read this, I would recommend for a quick read if your looking for mafia spice. :)

Fun to revisit some of Katee Robert's backlist, though this wasn't my favorite of hers -- a bit too much macho/possessive protective energy, YMMV!

Thank GOODNESS book 2 in this series goes right to Carrigan and James. No joke, if I would have had to wait after the way things between them started in Dark Succession there would have been a tantrum.

I mentioned in my review for the first book that the O’Malley series is my new go-to Mafia romance recommendation. If anything changes with the second part of the series it’s just this: I love it even more now. Carrigan and James as a couple were it for me. The instant attraction to immediately betraying each other? Lovers to enemies to lovers is just peak tension and I ate it up. Book 3 can’t come out fast enough because I need to have the full series on my favorites shelf!

(4.25 rounded down to a 4)

Heated Rivals by Katee Robert is a dark mafia romance novel and the second book in The O'Malleys series. We follow multiple POV characters but have a deeper focus on two: Carrigan and James.

Carrigan O'Malley always knew she would have to marry for politics, not love. Now her father has only given her the month until her next birthday to choose a husband from a list. As a second son, James didn't expect to run the Hallorans. And though there may be peace at present, war is always brewing between the families.

This book was previously published as The Wedding Pact. I've really been liking the designs on the new alternative covers from Forever.

Let me start out by saying that I love Katee's books, I support her on Patreon. So I'm probably a little biased.

But y'all... this was great and I inhaled it within 24 hours. I liked it better than the first book, and I'm so excited to keep reading in this series!

I was already here for Carrigan and James from our interlude with them in the first book in the series, Dark Succession (previously published as The Marriage Contract). As in all of her books, consent is shown really well here, which I always appreciate.

We peek into the lives of a few of the other O'Malley siblings here. Sometimes their chapters dragged a bit for me, but I appreciate the conceit that this story is about a group of siblings and I do like checking in on them and watching their growth.

Tropes in this book include: enemies to lovers, forbidden love

CW: abusive father, sibling death (on page), guns, blood, assault, murder, torture (mentioned), firearms, sexual assault (brief), abduction (mentioned)

Such a solid mafia romance. I devoured this entire series. Katee Robert will also be an easy to read author for me

I absolutely loved the first one in this series and was so excited for this book. It just unfortunately fell flat for me. There was so much going on that I felt confused pretty much the entire time. The relationship also didn’t feel natural.

Love Katee Robert's books! Her writings and stories always leave me satisfied and wanting more by her!

Just finished the book and there are so many thoughts running through my mind right now!

I truly devoured this one. As a mafia/dark romance girlie, this book had absolutely everything that I adored! Enemies to lovers, forbidden romance, the hottest smut, and a mind-blowing finale. Perfection.

I’m so ready to read the next one, and the fact that this is an interconnected series is just *chef's kiss*.

This mafia romance is hot and definitely worth the read. These two opposing sides wind up falling in love. Cariggan and James are definitely worth reading about. This book is excellent. Worthy of those who love enemies to lovers and mafia. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

The second in the O'Malleys series picking up with Carrigan and James. Loved their chemistry in the first book and their history and their families rivalry makes a future with them impossible.
Carrigan is being forced to marry someone from her father's list. But James is the only one that listens to her and values her. But he's the enemy and if she goes with him she will be a traitor.
🔥🔥🔥

Thank you readforeverpub for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

“𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.”

Heated Rivals is book 2 in The O’Malley Series and follows Carrigan O’Malley and her family’s rival James Halloran. After falling for these two and their fiery chemistry in book 1, I had high hopes for this book and Katee Robert definitely delivered! Heated Rivals was so much more enjoyable for me than the first book as it focused more on just Carrigan and James and was much easier to follow. This book was full of action, forbidden love, and the spice was amazing! 4.5⭐️

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕠 𝔼𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥:
💋Enemies to lovers
💋Mafia
💋Forbidden love
💋Romeo and Juliet vibes
💋Multi POV
💋Dirty talking MMC

“𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.“

“𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫, 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭. 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭.”

“𝐇𝐞’𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦.“

“𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.”

Being a big fan of Katee I enjoyed this book just like the rest. It had the drama that keeps you on your toes. The spiciness that drys your mouth. A forbidden romance that'll have you rooting for them.

I requested this book right away without knowing that this book was the second book of a series. For me it was pretty hard to connect to the story, I assumed that the story continued from the previous book. I would like to advise everyone to read the first book before reading Heated Rivals to understand better. The plot was pretty slow for the first few chapters but it gradually increased. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Forever for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an eARC from NetGalley and Forever in exchange for an honest review. Carrigan O'Malley has known she was destined for an arranged marriage her entire life, but now that the day to choose a husband is almost here, she feels the freedom slipping from her fingers even faster than ever. And in that freedom, she can't help but think of him, the best she ever had, who happens to also have been her kidnapper and a family enemy... James Halloran has been forced into the top position in his wealthy family and he is struggling to hold onto his humanity, resisting becoming the monster his father is. He needs to focus on getting the family business in line and settled after all the upheaval but finds himself searching out the one thing he can't have: Carrigan O'Malley. Will they be able to give into their magnetic attraction? Or will her upcoming marriage and families being enemies deny them each other?

This is a rerelease of The Wedding Pact in the O'Malley series. Just like Dark Succession, I was a goner from the moment I picked up this book. No one does enemies to lovers like Katee Robert. The undeniable attraction and sexual tension flowed through every page. Carrigan is a pillar of strength with carefully curated masks that she wears as needed. She doesn't need a man to save her, and James is the only one who seems to see that. These two were made for each other and their introduction in the previous book set this up perfectly. Somehow James is possessive, with consent, which is probably the hottest thing ever. I would recommend this to fans of enemies to lovers, mafia, and steamy romance.

I love anything by Katee Robert, especially the Dark Olympus series, but this read was just okay. I might have gone in with higher expectations, but I was hoping to devour this book just like I did her other ones. The read was good, at times interesting, but I found that it was slower than I would have liked. Also, this was advertised as a standalone but there were so many references to events that had happened in the previous interconnected standalone that I felt lost. Overall it was a good book, but I was hoping for better.

4.5 stars - I couldn't put it down!

Our favorite families are back with more death, drama, and plenty of heat. James Halloran can't get Carrigan O'Malley off his mind, after holding her prisoner when everything between their families went down. He's the very last man she wants to see again...so why is she unable to resist him?

Mafia stories are either a hit or miss for me, and this series definitely keeps me on my toes, immediately wanting to start the next book as soon as it ends. A perfect blend of the cold-hearted side of mafia and the love you can find with the right person, even an enemy.