You basically get what the synopsis promises here, my fellow mafia romance book loving friends. The storyline unfolds at a very leisurely pace with events happening in a mostly predictable, slow motion kind of way, at least until about the 70% mark, when the action picks up.

Vince, the hero, is taking care of business while at the same time trying to stay on the outskirts of his uncle’s mafioso business. He needs the don’s loyalty/protection to keep a constantly getting into trouble family member safe. Naturally, that comes at a price Vince isn’t very happy about one day having to pay in full.

Cassie, is the pretty but wears geeky glasses heroine, who gets amnesia conveniently right after witnessing a mob murder. Vince’s feelings for her complicate things, and, well, you’ll have to read the rest to find out for yourself. I’m not going to say much more because the last 30% was the pivotal point where the plot finally took off.

If you don’t mind a very leisurely paced mob themed romance, you might want to check into this one. For me, it was just an average read.

Title: Taking Care of the Target, Author: Cindi Madsen, Pages: 465, stand-alone, mafia theme, no cheating, no love triangle, no OW/OM drama, some violence, non-virgin main couple.

(I received a free advanced reader copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. No type of compensation was given to this reviewer. There is no relationship/affiliation between the reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)

This is my first read by this author and I did like the story of Cassie and Vince. In this story we have Cassie working as a waitress at an Italian restaurant. Vince is the manager at the Italian restaurant that she work with and ends up liking him a lot. Unfortunately for her, she witnesses a murder and Vince is ordered to take her out. Wile Cassie is fleeing from the scene when she is hit by car and develops amnesia. Vince realizes that no matter what the order was, he could never hurt Cassie, the woman he was falling in love with. This was a likable read but it did slow down in some places and then picked backed up. It took me some time to finish as the pacing was not that steady. All in all not a bad read and Vince and Cassie get their HEA.

Great book with a fantastic storyline. A page turner that keeps you interested.

Cassie has worked at Rossi's for a while now and gone to school as well, it's taken her longer because of her father's medical bills but she's trying. She has a huge crush on Vince, the manager, and the owner's nephew.

One day while working there she sees something she isn't supposed to and has an accident that takes her memory away. Vince is watching out for her which gives him time to get to know her. Then the fireworks start.

Will they be able to be together or will what she saw end any possibility?

Wow, did I love this book. It had everything one could hope for the bad boy, the sweet innocent girl, amnesia, and mafia. Vince DeMarco has done everything he can to stay out of his uncle's mob business. He even runs the legitimate side of things as restaurant manger. Cassie is a waitress who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing a mob hit. Running away she hits her head and gets amnesia. Vince agrees to take care of the lose end, only problem is his crushing is turning into love that wont be ignored. Can Cassie and Vince make it work, even when the truth comes out?

suspense, action, romance and some really great steamy scenes - this was the perfect romance!

3.5 stars -
This was a cute story, but to be brutally honest there were times when it really dragged for me. I liked both Cassie and Vince and enjoyed their developing relationship amid the high stakes circumstances, but it really felt that we spent too much time watching things develop.
I enjoyed the romantic suspense element, but would have appreciated a slightly faster pace.

I love Cindi Madsen, and I was excited to read her foray into romantic suspense - Taking Care of the Target.

Cassie witnesses a mob murder, hit by a truck and loses her memory. Wow. Vince reluctantly works for his uncle who is a mob boss and lives on the fringes to his family’s “business.” He is ordered to deal with the threat that Cassie could be. Problem is he’s attracted to Cassie and the only he can see a way to keep her safe if her memory do not return.

There is a lot of action and suspense in Taking Care of the Target, and you will be on the edge of your seat to see how Cassie and Vince’s story plays out. The romance takes a back seat because there is a lot going on, but I think that is what makes romantic suspense good and want readers expect.

This is a difficult review to write. I wanted to love Cindi Madsen's new release, Taking Care of the Target, but I had a hard time reading it. The writing was good -- I just never connected with the characters or the mob-related story. I tried several times. I would put it down, and then come back later to see if it was a mood I was in or something. Sadly, I just wasn't pulled in enough by a third of the way through to care about what was going on or to have a desire to finish reading it. I wish that wasn't true. I have no doubt Taking Care of the Target will speak to other romantic suspense reader, but it just wasn't for me.

Taking Care of the Target is my first book by Cindi Madsen and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read very many mob base love stories so I was looking forward to something new. This book did a great job at capturing my attention from the start. Vince and Cassie were very endearing characters.
Vince was sexy, protective, and a good guy. I loved that Vince was so protective of his brother and Cassie. I also loved that even though he was good he could be bad if that's what it took to protect the ones he loved. Cassie was quirky, charming, and cute. She was kinda shy maybe a little nerdy but so likable she really made this book.
Vince and Cassie made a really cute couple. They had some major chemistry and a strong connection. I loved them both and I really thought their relationship was very sweet. I was rooting for them the whole way. Vince's brother Bobby was very likable. I loved how Cassie took to Bobby and was supportive of Vince helping his brother when he got in trouble. I hope Cindi Madsen writes a book for Bobby. The mob part of the book was interesting but not as much as Vince and Cassie's relationship. I really liked the flow of the book and for the most part I was hooked. There was just one thing I didn't like and it's the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 and that was the part of the book that Vince and Cassie were apart. I felt it was too long. There was just too many pages of reading where the couple I became invested in were not together and I just didn't want to read about it. Other than that I really loved the book and I will be reading more books by Cindi Madsen.

A slow-building suspenseful story!

Cassie is a waitress at Rossi's Restaurant, a mob front, when she witnesses a murder. While running away from the scene, she gets into an accident that wipes all of her memories of her time in New Jersey. Vince's uncle is the mob boss owner of Rossi's restaurant and sends him to get rid of the only witness to his crime. Vince has been interested in Cassie since she started at Rossi's and is reluctant to have her be his first kill. When he discovers that Cassie has no memories of him or his family, he protects her and keeps close to see if she'll ever regain her memory. What will happen if she remembers that the guy she's been dating is part of a crime family?

This book was slow to start for me but once I got through the first few chapters I couldn't put it down. In the beginning, Cassie seemed the shy, nerdy type but once she started opening up, she was witty and hilarious. I was laughing at her quick one-liners and quips throughout the whole book. I was surprised by how much I liked Vince. He was sent to kill Cassie but he was thoughtful and protective of her from beginning to end. I didn't connect with the main characters as much as I could have which might be because there are so many side characters and alternate POV present in the story. With that being said, I was pulling for Vince and Cassie and couldn't wait to get to the end to see how their story would end.

*This is my voluntary review of an Advance Reader Copy*

3.75 stars--TAKING CARE OF THE TARGET by Cindi Madsen is a stand alone, romantic suspense story focusing on waitress Cassie Dalton, and restaurant manager Vince DaMarco.

Vince is the nephew of one of New Jersey’s mob bosses but refuses to get involved in the ‘illegal’ side of the business. His attraction to waitress Cassie Dalton finds our hero battling his allegiance to the family, and his need to protect Cassie when a shake down goes wrong. Cassie will be the prime witness in a murder but an accident will leave our heroine without any memory, and Vince DaMarco is sent to ensure that Cassie doesn’t survive to testify. What ensues is the relationship between Cassie and Vince, and Vince’s struggle to keep Cassie one step ahead of the mob.

The relationship between Cassie and Vince is slow to build as Vince is all about protecting the woman with whom he is falling in love. Vince has been ordered to kill Cassie before her memory returns but our hero finds himself Cassie’s personal security fearing his uncle will call in someone else to finish the job. Cassie is unaware of her previous friendship with Vince, and Vince has yet to tell Cassie the truth. The attraction between Cassie and Vince is palpable; their chemistry is intense; the $ex scenes are mostly implied.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Vince’s troubled brother Bobby, and their uncle Carlo Rossi. We are introduced to a number of friends, law enforcement, acquaintances, employees, and members of the Rossi crime family-most of whom are very loyal to Carlo Rossi.

TAKING CARE OF THE TARGET is a slow building story line as Vince struggles between duty and love. The premise is suspenseful; the characters are dynamic and colorful; the romance is emotional and passionate. TAKING CARE OF THE TARGET is a spirited and intimate look at two people whose lives are thrown together by circumstance and the mob.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

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This book had it all! I enjoyed the story and characters. The many unexpected turns in this book kept me on the edge the whole time. Loved the ending!

Good one Cindi Madsen!! ;)

I was very excited about Taking Care of the Target, the plot sounded very different from what I would expect from Cindi so I was very curious and I think the result was great, a book that has romance but there's also action and intrigue. Plus if you're a fan of Cindi's book you can't miss this.

Our main character Cassie, works at an Italian restaurant , she's very shy, she doesn't really have friends and is just by herself since her father died. She's very shy, she also has a big crush on her coworker Vince Da Marco, but whenever he's near her she becomes really nervous, so flirting with him seems something impossible. But the day they find themselves talking, even flirting is the day that will change her life. Oblivious to her, the restaurant serves as a front for a mob boss, who just happens to be Vince's uncle. Cassie witness a murder and in trying to escape suffers an accident and wakes up days later in a hospital with no recollection of what happened.

While he may be the nephew of a mob, Vince doesn't want anything to do with world. He has tried to keep his distance from Cassie, even though he has always liked her, but being who he is, who his family is, he doesn't want to risk getting to close. When his uncle wants to get rid of Cassie for fear of her speaking against him to the cops, Vince can't stay still and let them making her suffer so he volunteers to take care of it, but when he finds her and he discovers she has lost her memory, all the plans he had start to change, then he also starts spending time with her, he wants to keep her safe, and although he cares for her, he doesn't expect to fall in love.

Ok before I fangirl over Vince I have to say I loved the relationship between him and Cassie. While they do feel attracted to each other, it's not insta-love, and even when Cassie loses her memory Vince doesn't try to take advantage of it, he's actually very noble about it. I mean yes, he lies of who he is, but his need and desire to keep this girl he likes so much safe was just very endearing, and on that note yes I will say that I love Vince, because he was caring, protective, romantic too and he also has a bit of a bad boy so it's a perfect combo. Cassie was very sweet too, she's shy but she tries and wants to be more outgoing, quite likable.
We also have more characters introduced in the story, which I liked and it also works to make the story richer.

I would say there's some slow building in the story, and this helps keep the reader engaged. Also there was a point that made me suffer a lot, I think you'd know what it is if you read it, but that made me want to read faster because I was like: no way Cindi Madsen! you can't do this to me! so yeah hahaha I got a bit intense but I knew she would deliver. So yes, Taking Care of the Target was a great book and I'd absolutely recommend it!

I thoroughly enjoyed Cassie and Vince's story!!! Cassie was just a shy waitress at Vince's uncle's restaurant when she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Fleeing the scene, Cassie is hit by a truck and has amnesia and does not remember her time in New Jersey. Vince is put in a hard position because his uncle can not chance keeping Cassie alive. Too bad love conquers all when Vince and Cassie find themselves getting closer.

I had a hard time putting this book down! I really liked all the twists and turns of the story. I highly recommend!

I received an ARC of Taking Care of the Target from Killion Group via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

~Was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review~

I have been a fan of Cindi Madsen’s since I read her book “Cinderella Screwed Me Over” she did not disappoint with Taking Care of the Target.

From the very first chapter, it sucks you in until the very end!! Cassie is probably one of the kindest person that you could meet. She has been through a lot in her life. She works in a restaurant, where she is attracted to Vince, who basically runs the restaurant. She is unsure if he likes her too. During a normal shift, she accidentally sees something that she is not supposed to see. Now her life is in danger!

Vince…. I have no words on how to describe him…. he is just sexy, all around the perfect book boyfriend!!! He has liked Cassie from the first time he saw her…. but since she is in danger, is it because of him? Or maybe he should save her!

Taking Care of the Target will have you laugh, swoon, and you will be on the edge of your seat the whole time!

This was very enjoyable read. I loved the mafia aspect, those are always fun to read. This book kept me wondering what was going to happen next. A 4+ star read!

This was such an exciting book! I loved the action, the suspense, the forbidden romance...it was gripping and hard to put down.

Cassie Dalton is a shy, unassuming waitress when she is the accidental witness to a murder by the mafia. In her attempt to escape, she runs out into the road and is hit by a car. When she comes to, she has no memory of the last few years and muddles through day by day without knowing what she missed. Vince DaMarco is the mob boss's nephew and in love with Cassie. When his uncle calls for her to die, Vince knows he is the only one who can save her. Running from the FBI, who wants her as a witness, and the mob, who wants her in a grave, they move farther away from home and towards a very uncertain future.

I loved the chemistry between Cassie and Vince! It was really sweet how he didn't take advantage of her memory loss to make his move. It actually took quite some time for the sexy times to begin, and I found it both romantic and refreshing. Vince was a very confused character, at times wanting to be clean and stay out of mafia business, and at others he was calling cops pigs and explaining away his own past brushes with the law. Fighting between loyalty to his family and loyalty to the woman he loved was sad to read about, but I think the author did a great job. Cassie was a sweetheart and almost too good to be true for Vince. Virtually no flaws in her, which can sometimes be irritating but was welcome in her.

I look forward to reading more books by this author! Very enjoyable read, with an exciting plot and relatable characters.

Great story! It took its time and wasn't rushed, which can sometimes be the case with Romances.I loved Vince and Cassie.

a good fast paced read.

Taking Care of the Target was such a beautiful, unique, breathtaking, adventerous romance that had my heart sighing and my mind happy! I was worried at first this would be a dark romance and dark romances frighten me. I was completely blown away by how much I actually liked this story and I LOVED that it was anything but a Dark Romance. I liked the characters and I loved the plot! This book was so special and sweet, and action-packed, I soon won't forget it. Looking forward to the nect book by Cindi Madsen that is for sure. She has a new fan!