Alfie: Part I (This Life Universe)
Cara Dee
Part 1 of 2 • Second Chances • Irish Mafia • Family • Hurt/Comfort • Age GapTwo broken hearts, pent-up anger, the right amount of Philly grit, painful yearning, and the complete inability to move on… This is Alfie and West’s love story. It begins in the wreckage they created.Mom always warned me when I was a kid. Remember, mijo, stay away from the Sons of Munster, she’d say, wagging her finger at me and all. They were bad. They were mobsters. Then we’d head into church, and she’d hold my hand almost as tightly as she clutched the secret of who my biological dad was.Since I’d been a bit of a screw-up all my life, it only made sense for me to blow it out of the park when I finally gave up on my marriage years and years later. Then again, who could blame me? I had two success stories—my kids. I loved them to pieces. But the man I shared them with—the love of my life—was moving on. I was also done pretending to be someone else, I was sick of the lies, and…to be honest, I was going through an identity crisis.So, to hell with it. Since West wasn’t taking me back, maybe the Sons of Munster would accept me.----------------Alfie belongs in the This Life universe by Cara Dee. However, Alfie and West’s story has been written so it can be enjoyed to its full extent as a standalone.
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**I am a member of the review team for Cara Dee; I received an electronic ARC of this book through BookSprout- thank you!**
Cara Dee returns to the boys of Philly with the newest installation in her Sons of Munster mafia series, Alfie Part I. While the world of the Sons of Munster intersects, this book can be an entry point to the series. Readers follow Alfie and West, who have gone through a divorce but are still coparenting together. Alfie (best friend to Kellan, who had his own book) is lost without West in his life as a partner. He is utterly convinced West is the only one for him, even if he didn't like who he became trying to fit in with the trust fund kids and upper class parties that West was born into. Alfie turns to the family that he had always denied for West's sake- he's going to become a Son. Not just their assistant scheduling appointments. He wants a family. Finnegan O'Shea didn't become head of the Sons of Munster by being stupid or reckless, but he's curious about the cousin he didn't know he had in Alfie, and family means everything. To Alfie and to the Sons.
For the record, I absolutely hate the second chance trope, but Cara Dee can apparently do no wrong as every time she's written it, I'm fully invested in the pair. Likewise, I don't like stories where children are big features, but none of my normal rules seem to apply to Cara Dee. All of the Sons put a huge focus on family in whatever format that they've built it, and that does include children. Their presence enhances the relationships of their parents and other family members rather than detracting or distracting.
The Sons of Munster series is somewhere in between The Game series and the Auctioned series in angst levels. It is obvious that Alfie and West are meant to be together, but it is also obvious why they divorced. There is a clear path forward where they come together again, and this seems to be inevitable, but it's also very clear that they will have to earn their relationship back. I like that there is a balance struck between simplicity and effort expenditure. Alfie and West have to choose each other. That's simple. But it isn't, because it never is. And it will hurt. But it will be worth it.
The ending was a cruel cut off, though well-placed, and doubtless the Sons will live rent free in my head until Alfie Part II is released.
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