The Maddest Obsession

The Maddest Obsession is set within the world of dark mafia romance, a subgenre that draws on the real-world codes and power structures of the Italian American Mafia, or Cosa Nostra. Historically, organizations like the Cosa Nostra have operated under a strict code of conduct that emphasizes loyalty, silence (omertà), and a rigid patriarchal hierarchy. Within this framework, women were often treated as assets, their marriages arranged to forge alliances and consolidate power, as seen in the strategic unions between historical crime families like the Gambinos and the Castellanos. This insular, male-dominated world provides the ideological foundation for tropes that would otherwise be hard to fit into a contemporary romance, including the arranged marriage plot and the heroine whose struggle for autonomy drives the narrative.

The Maddest Obsession, for example, uses this context to create its central conflict. Gianna is trapped by her family’s expectations, and her initial arranged marriage to Antonio reflects women’s historical status as pawns in Mafia politics. Her father’s assertion that she has a “duty to this family” echoes the real-world pressure placed on women within these organizations (228). Christian, while not a “Made Man” himself, is closely associated with the Mafia and embodies the genre’s archetypal antihero, whose control and violence are products of this criminal underworld.