Not the most enjoyable read but this was one of the best book club discussions we\\\'ve had in quite some time. People had strong opinions about the characters in the book and some of the decisions they made.

We chose one short story from the book, "A Good Marriage" to read and discuss. People found the story compelling and we had an interesting discussion about the ethical dilemma presented in the story.

This book is highly rated on Goodreads so maybe my expectations were too high. Part of my issue with the book is that I've just spent the last few month reading through the Game of Thrones series and I felt that this book was kind of a poor imitation of that series. There is a character that seems to be a dead ringer for Tyrion Lannister and many of the elements seem to be very similar to the style of George R.R. Martin. I found some of the writing to be trite and I was irritated that so many characters had "catch phrases" i.e. Leonello with "Dio" and Carmella with "Santa Marta" and "Mouths closed and hands moving". Much of it just seemed corny to me, especially after reading the works of Diana Galbaldon and Phillippa Gregory in the past, which are of a similar genre. On a positive side, the book made me want to discover more about the Borgia family drama. In that respect, the author did bring me into the story.