**spoiler alert** The synopsis for this book is disingenuous. Mouthy assistant by day, unbeknownst to h, her boss is her partner at a sex club by nigh**spoiler alert** The synopsis for this book is disingenuous. Mouthy assistant by day, unbeknownst to h, her boss is her partner at a sex club by night. That's the basic setup. However, she has a traumatic past and only joined the sex club so she can get comfortable talking to men again. So nothing naughty happening between them. It does allow them to fall in love though which was sweet.
I don't know if I fully bought how quickly they seemed to fall for each other but they did. He helps her with her issues, he falls first and eventually she realizes she's fallen for him too. It takes her a bit to get over the whole boss AND a mob boss too.
No virgins No condoms No OW drama OM drama No cheating No separation No 3rd act breakup HEA Epilogue
Safety - It's safe in regards to cheating and such. The OM drama is related to her traumatic past. Her ex was super obsessed with her and abusive. He was drugging her and raping her near the end of their relationship. When she realizes what was going on she ran from him. He pops back up and H deals with him. ...more
**spoiler alert** I was really surprised when I came to GR and discovered I had read this trilogy before. I read them as the 3 individual books. I sho**spoiler alert** I was really surprised when I came to GR and discovered I had read this trilogy before. I read them as the 3 individual books. I shouldn’t have been surprised because I stay caught up with Natalie Bennett and her ever changing release schedule pretty well.
Even more surprising is that I didn’t remember a single thing about these books. A few elements here and there seemed familiar but the major plot points were completely unfamiliar. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed for my apparently abysmal memory or if Natalie Bennett should be embarrassed for writing an entirely forgettable trilogy.
If you are a regular reader of Natalie Bennett you probably know the score. Lots of mystery, very few answered questions, brash hero who bulldozes the heroine. I’m not complaining. I apparently like all that well enough to read all her books.
This is supposed to be sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling. I can see some of the similarities but they aren’t huge in the story.
The first and second book take place while the characters are seniors in high school. There’s not really so much bullying as there is bulldozing on the hero’s part. He just swoops in and claims her…sort of.
After having read the entire trilogy (twice, apparently) I can say this doesn’t make a lot of sense. The first book opens on them having sex and you find out it took place 2 years ago, or 1 year ago depending on whichever time the author remembered. It was either 1 or 2 years ago. The heroine, Rhia,doesn’t know his name at the time. He’s wearing a wolf mask. 1 or 2 years later he is quick to let her know it was him that took her vcard.
Now, are either H or h celibate after their tryst? No. Did this irk me? Yes. He slept with 3 girls (author later says 1) while waiting to claim Rhia. Are they important? No. Do we ever discover why he waiting to claim Rhia? No, we do not. We never get a number of partners for Rhia but one was definitely his cousin whom she was dating at the time he finally decides to claim her. The cousin makes a quick exit from the story after that.
At the end of the second book Judas (H) lets Rhia leave him. Why? We never learn this information. They are apart for 7 years. SEVEN. Why? We also never learn this information. Are either celibate during the SEVEN year separation? Nope, of course not. Do any other partners they had during the separation have any bearing on the story? No.
Why?? Just why? Why the separation? Why the lack of celibacy? Huge deal is made about fidelity and staying faithful but not when they are apart. Apart for NO REASON. At least, give us a reason for the separation.
**spoiler alert** I can't believe it but I actually loved this book. I was not expecting that. Zoe Blake is a bit hit and miss for me, I generally *li**spoiler alert** I can't believe it but I actually loved this book. I was not expecting that. Zoe Blake is a bit hit and miss for me, I generally *like* most of her books but there have only been a few that I've *love*. I have such a hard time finding 5 stars reads for me since last spring. That is crazy to me. I've never been one to bestow 5 stars all willy-nilly but before I would generally find 1-2 a month. The entirety of last year I had less than 10. This year, I'm only up to 9 including this book. It feels like a victory when I find one. - Edit, actually this book makes my 8th five star read of the year.
I really enjoyed the chemistry between Var and Vivian. I enjoyed how hard she tried to avoid their burgeoning relationship and I LOVED how determined he was to have her at any cost. I adore that kind of devotion in a MMC. Var is a top notch book boyfriend, imo. Vivian was a pretty entertaining heroine too.
Fast burn, they get it on for the first time around 15%.
No virgins Major push away from h No OW drama No real OM drama No cheating No sex scenes with others No 3rd act breakup No separation HEA Epilogue
Ugh, Sweet Cruelty was one of my top reads of 2021. This seems to be a theme lately. A book was in my top reads of 2021 and**spoiler alert** 2.5 Stars
Ugh, Sweet Cruelty was one of my top reads of 2021. This seems to be a theme lately. A book was in my top reads of 2021 and now the newest book in the series was a big old disappointment. I'm super over it.
The best part of the earlier books in this series was how the scary Russian guys immediately claimed the heroines. How have we come so far from that?
So this starts out with the heroine (Phoebe) literally crashing her her car into the hero (Mac). He ends up needing to claim her because she spiessome weapons in his damaged vehicle. He was probably gonna keep her anyway but that solidified the deal.
He's practically rescuing her from her abusive homelife but she's thick headed so she fights it. That got on my nerves so badly and it normally doesn't. I like a resistant heroine that has to be chased but she was fighting to go back to an abusive situation. WTF? It made zero sense. Then when she gives in it feels like it comes out of nowhere. She just suddenly has this revelation that she loves him out of nowhere. Talk about jarring.
This is an obnoxiously slow burn. They don't end up having sex until 75%. There are numerous spicy bits starting at only 11% but it's all boring foreplay. Ugh.
Virgin h His sexual history is vague but he's got that reformed manwhore vibe Push away from h Dub con No OW/OM drama No sex scenes with others No 3rd act breakups No separation HEA Epilogue sets up next book/couple
Safety - this is safe, no OW/OM drama, no cheating. She fights the relationship every step of the way though. It's tedious....more
**spoiler alert** Whew, it is totally possible for RK to write a book she doesn't completely ruin around 70%. After the last two books, I really began**spoiler alert** Whew, it is totally possible for RK to write a book she doesn't completely ruin around 70%. After the last two books, I really began to doubt it. I mean, God of Malice was pretty amazing but she totally fumbled God of Pain and God of Wra%th, for me anyway. Rina Kent is frustrating to me because she's so inconsistent with her writing.
I had pretty low expectations for Landon. We saw he was apparently a RAGING manwhore in the previous book, so I feared this would be rife with OW drama. It's not! There's a smidge but it's really minor and doesn't play a big role in the story. Even the Landon we see in the beginning of this story wasn't particularly impressive to me. When he started to turn the corner though he won me right over. His obsession and devotion to Mia rolled off the page beautifully. I almost felt sorry for him after she tried to ditch him. I loved his possessiveness and jealousy. He wanted no one else to have her attention.
Mia was an ok heroine. I don't have much patience for "tough" heroines because they are often written so poorly. Mia's "toughness" wasn't over the top beyond the first few chapters.
Near the end when we discover the identity of Mia's kidnapper 11 years ago was typical RK absurdity that made no sense at all. I don't even care at least she didn't fuck this up the way she did books 2 and 3.
Medium burn, there are several foreplay scenes that don't go anywhere earlier in the book (starting around 22%) but they don't bang until 46%
Virgin h MASSIVE former manwhore H No condoms (she's on birth control) No real OW drama No OM drama (but he's super jealous) No sex scenes with others No cheating Small separation when she tries to break up with him HEA Epilogue
Safety - so he was a raging, gross manwhore previously. His slutty endeavors are brought up a few times. We only see one OW he's been with. She comes onto him but he isn't interested. Mia witnesses one such occasion and she runs off angry and jealous. He was a douche in the situation but nothing happened, he seemed to be trying to provoke h but it backfires.
She breaks up with him at 57% but he doesn't really accept it. He immediately starts his campaign to get her back. She goes home for a few days near the end and he follows her. ...more
**spoiler alert** Someday I'm going to learn to have permanently low expectations for Rina Kent. How is God of Malice so good and the two books that f**spoiler alert** Someday I'm going to learn to have permanently low expectations for Rina Kent. How is God of Malice so good and the two books that follow it so disappointing? How do you fumble the ball so hard?
This is marked for spoilers, so proceed at your own risk.
I was really digging this one until about 70%. Funny, that's where she fucked up God of Pain too. Of course, she fucks up this one differently. There are not ONE but TWO third act breakups in this book. That's so fucking disappointing. One is bad enough, two is just embarrassing.
Jeremy is definitely a bit rough around the edges but he grew on me as the book progressed, well - until 70%. Sadly, he never won me back over even though he won the doormat...I mean... heroine back over twice. One of the best parts about this book was how jealous Jeremy is over Cecily's crush on Landon. Even though she's long over the crush, he still burns with jealousy. It's a basic misunderstanding on his part but it was nice to see the H being all jealous and uncertain instead of the poor heroine feeling that way. He's a big old stalker too, which was a plus overall.
There is some pretty mild OW drama here. Maya Sokolov has the hots for Jeremy. We get one scene of her "hanging on him" and one scene where she's allowed to go so an injured Jeremy while Cecily is turned away. Jeremy also pokes at her jealousy at one point asking her while they are fucking if she wants him to go fuck OW. Dick move. Jeremy is seriously only obsessed with Cecily though so there was never a chance for Maya to get in there.
Jeremy's hatred and jealousy of Landon spans practically the whole book. Cecily is 100% cured of her crush on Landon though. I get why Jeremy was still so pissy about it but he had nothing to worry about it.
This is somewhat of a fast burn. She loses her v card at 33%, there are two other spicy scenes that don't go all the way earlier in the book (12% and 25%).
Virgin h H's sexual history is vague, he gives manwhore vibes but I've read way worse No condoms (she's on the pill) Heavy on the primal play and CNC - which aren't actually the same thing despite RK asserting that they are the same Mild OW drama Some OM drama No cheating No sex scenes with others TWO 3rd act breakup, the first one has a vague x weeks? long separation HEA/HFN Epilogue only goes out like 2 months into the future since these books are ongoing and overlapping
Safety - The h definitely had a huge crush on OM (Landon). Her getting into the primal play situations was to set up an encounter with OM but Jeremy intercepts. She gets over the crush pretty quickly but Jeremy still carries intense jealousy throughout.
I described the OW stuff up above already.
As for the breakups - ugh. They are what made me drop my rating here. The first comes at 70%. He's been MIA for 2 weeks dealing with lots of stuff and she tells him to stop playing with her feelings. He's all "you have feelings for me? good, so this will crush them" and he leaves her. To her this is permanent. We are told LATER - he never intended it to be permanent but I call bullshit. It doesn't matter what his intentions were because to Cecily - it was over.
Breakup #2 - they are having blowout fight over Landon. She has finally revealed her first time coming to the Heathens mansion was to spy for Landon. He loses his mind. She works up the nerve to tell him she loves him again and he rejects her AGAIN at 90% into this god-forsaken book. She goes onto get attacked and H shows up to save her after a lengthy heart to heart with dear old dad. The h is drugged and the attacker doesn't really get anywhere before he's murdered by H. The "grovel" for this is told to us rather than shown. She wants nothing to do with him but for two months he hangs around her family and friends wherever she is so he can be close to her even though she won't even hardly look at him. It ends up being resolved because his bodyguard tells her that Jeremy is dying and going to switzerland for treatment. So she comes running to forgive him. ...more
**spoiler alert** No. Just no. I’m surprised I read this entire book. I have no patience lately bad pacing but this whole ass book is so poorly paced **spoiler alert** No. Just no. I’m surprised I read this entire book. I have no patience lately bad pacing but this whole ass book is so poorly paced in the name of this author being able to justify a trilogy. That’s just sad, pathetic and gross. Greedy too. Yuck.
The hero is an asshole. The heroine is duller than dull. He forces her to marry him. Acts like a douchebag to her for 80% of the book. She’s surrounded by assholes except for his mother and sister.
He’s weak and can’t accomplish anything. He’s supposed to be looking for answers and protecting her. He fails at both.
They finally fuck at 80% and it’s underwhelming. In a final TSTL act she runs off and gets her dumb ass kidnapped.
This book was a pleasant surprise! I languished for the better part of 2023 in a horrendous book slump. I don’t want to jinx myself but I th4.25 stars
This book was a pleasant surprise! I languished for the better part of 2023 in a horrendous book slump. I don’t want to jinx myself but I think I’m finally past it. The last few books I’ve read have been good, this included.
If it would have had just a bit more edge to it I think it’d have been 5 stars. I really loved the H. The heroine was definitely a Mary Sue but I enjoyed her anyway. She is abused by her older stepbrother, the parents are dead. So stepbrother is in charge of her. She catches the attention of one of the heads of the mob families.
He moves pretty well to secure her to him with a surprise wedding. That was the best part. She’s very submissive so she doesn’t resist the marriage. They even consummated the marriage that night though she asks him to wait for their first kiss until she’s fallen in love with him. It doesn’t take long. He’s pretty perfect and super sweet with her.
He’s definitely one of those cinnamon roll heroes for her only. To everyone else he’s a hardened mob boss.
The story ends up being pretty low angst which I liked. There’s some conflict near the end but H never doubts h which I also appreciated. It would have been easy for H to blame her and ruin the story.
She’s a virgin He’s definitely not, very probably a former manwhore - he promises fidelity to her. No OW/OM drama No cheating No scenes with others No separation though h briefly runs near the end, he collects her back quickly HEA
Safety - this was safe to me. He does spend a lot of time at a strip club he owns but we never see him interact with any strippers or anything. His sexual history is vague but it definitely gave manwhore vibes from his past. The h seems unbothered by the strip club thing. She trusts his fidelity. ...more
**spoiler alert** This was a pretty solid read overall. The h had some physical limitations from being hit by a car years prior. She worked at a casin**spoiler alert** This was a pretty solid read overall. The h had some physical limitations from being hit by a car years prior. She worked at a casino as a blackjack dealer. H was her boss and definitely stalking her.
He sees an opportunity to strong arm her into marriage and takes it. He lost a bit after that. He was so hot and cold with her. There’s an element of mystery that hangs deep into the story and I was tired of it but the big reveal. I didn’t even think it was that shocking.
After H finally comes clean with everything I liked him more because he finally stopped intermittently pushing her away. That was getting tedious.
Medium burn, I think he takes her vcard around 55%
Virgin h His sexual history was very vague No OW/OM drama No cheating No scenes with others No separation HEA
**spoiler alert** I read this entire book just for it to end with him being blackmailed into marrying an OW. I know this is a romance and ultimately i**spoiler alert** I read this entire book just for it to end with him being blackmailed into marrying an OW. I know this is a romance and ultimately it will be an HEA for Ivan and Cora but I’m not interested in seeing the hero fake engaged or married to any OW. Fuck that. ...more
**spoiler alert** I definitely liked this one better than the first book. That almost never happens. In fact, I was pretty lukewarm about the first bo**spoiler alert** I definitely liked this one better than the first book. That almost never happens. In fact, I was pretty lukewarm about the first book so I didn’t even think I’d read further. Why did I? I got sucked in by a Facebook ad and decided to throw caution to the wind. In this case, I don’t regret it.
The story had a lot of different elements but I enjoyed most all of it. You’ve got H manipulating h into falling for him only to pull away once he’d snared her. Not all the way but enough to keep her wanting. That was a bit obnoxious because she was such a doormat.
Then after he misses the birth of their child I wished she’d had more backbone with him. Two months later she’s kidnapped and ends up with amnesia. He doesn’t find her for two years and she has no memory of him or their son much less the life before.
She ends up getting the memories back not too long after he takes her back. I was a bit underwhelmed at the response. She didn’t really make him grovel long but I suppose he gets some credit for the two years of her missing and what he felt during that time.
The spice kicks off super early after the arranged marriage. Like 3%! After she goes missing though about midway they don’t reconnect physically til like77% or something like that.
Safety - in the beginning she’s sees a former girlfriend KISS HIM on the mouth at THEIR WEDDING. He throws her out and makes a dismissive apology. Later he says the OW’s name in his sleep and they fight. He’s defensive ...more
**spoiler alert** Well, I read this in one sitting. That used to be my norm but a never ending book slump has changed that big time. Could the cursed **spoiler alert** Well, I read this in one sitting. That used to be my norm but a never ending book slump has changed that big time. Could the cursed slump finally be broken? I think, maybe?! It’s been so long I’m afraid to hope!
This was excruciatingly close to five stars for me. It didn’t quite get there but it got in the ballpark for sure.
Tyrant was crazy posessive and OTT perfect. Seriously. Top notch H. Occasionally his crazy veered into unappealing territory but it was thankfully brief. I don’t want my H to legitimately want to hurt h and he did there for a minute, thankfully he didn’t go there.
Lots of blood play and breeding stuff in here. Some somnophilia too. Tyrant is a grade A stalker.
Unfortunately the heroine is a drag. I rarely dislike heroines but she was really not for me. You’ll understand if you read this.
Ultimately, the way the story is told was also a negative. Chronological order would have been preferred. The chapters long flashback in the middle of the book was obnoxiously placed. Flashbacks- in general - are obnoxious. Just fucking tell it in order.
With different storytelling and H not veering into unpleasant territory this would have been 5 stars even with an annoying heroine. Alas, close is all it can be. Still a great story!
Safe between H/h. No cheating or scenes with others. No om drama. Sorta very mild OW drama
There is an OW who wants H and is meddling about in subtle ways. You don’t even know it’s her till the end and you had no idea throughout. Obviously her attempts are unfruitful....more
I’m not sure why but I thought this series was complete. I can’t think of a specific reason I thought that though. In any **spoiler alert** 3.25 stars
I’m not sure why but I thought this series was complete. I can’t think of a specific reason I thought that though. In any case, I was surprised to see this book!
Despite not really enjoying punishment tropes or spanking heavy books, I’ve liked this series a lot. The first and fifth book are my favorites but two and four were also solid great reads. For me, there was too much focus on the punishment aspect in book three but I didn’t hate it. The same is true of book six here. This book seemed much more interested in the punishment trope than the actual spicy bits. To some they may be one and the same but not for me. I tolerate the spanking to get to the spice.
Heavy focus on the DD/lg here. These all have age gap but not daddy kink specifically. That’s also not my thing but I don’t mind it.
Ultimately, I liked this one okay. I liked it better than book three. However, I disliked the h here. I enjoy h’s who need to be chased which is why I enjoy this series so much - however this one was too hard shelled to bring the vulnerability I like.
Faster side of medium burn, he steals her vcard at 37%. As with most of this series that details are somewhat *dubious*
He’s intensely jealous and that was my favorite part of the book. He has to keep chasing her and he keeps finding men behind doors he expects to find her (it’s all innocent) . Eventually he literally rips a door off its hinges.
Virgin h Push away from h No OW/OM drama No cheating No scenes with others No separation HEA Epilogue
**spoiler alert** I’ll admit, I was frustrated with the first book in this series. Particularly the format the author chose to relay the story, going **spoiler alert** I’ll admit, I was frustrated with the first book in this series. Particularly the format the author chose to relay the story, going from past to present every other chapter. Flashbacks are the worst, the first book is mostly one long flashback with small bits in the present.
I’m pretty much unable to write a review without spoilers so proceed at your own risk here. Spoilers abound below.
This book is told entirely in the present with the exception of the first chapter which is a prologue. There is a long history between Alexei and Alina so there was a lot to tell. This book is short in both time covered and actual length. It packs an unusually angsty punch though and makes up for the lack of spice in the first book.
This is more what I expect from Anna Zaires stories and it feels good to be back. Alex is intensely obsessed with Alina. His desire for her is absolutely visceral on the page. He’s ruthless in his conquest. He’s still blindingly jealous even of his own brother.
Alina is a pushover for him. She wrestles internally with defiance but caves in immediately when he touches for her. They have intense chemistry.
I don’t usually think Anna writes huge cliffhangers but this is more cliffhanger-ish than most. We end with a pregnancy and diagnosis of brain cancer. This *is* a romance novel so Anna Zaires obviously isn’t going to kill off Alina without enraging her readers, I’m not super excited about what lies ahead for this unfinished story. I wish this had been a nice neat duet.
I re-read the Molotov Obsession duet right before this, it was a solid lead in to this book since we first meet Alina in that duet.
The spice here very much dubcon/noncon. No cheating, scenes with others or separations between them. This is a safe read. ...more
**spoiler alert** I started this book over a month ago but struggled to get myself to come back to it. That was dumb. This book is so good and I’m gla**spoiler alert** I started this book over a month ago but struggled to get myself to come back to it. That was dumb. This book is so good and I’m glad I finally came back to it after I got over the hump.
I think my biggest hurdle is the book starts off with a prologue and the h, Val, being a 9 year old child. I’m not against prologues but I *hate* flashbacks ...more
I mostly enjoyed this, it wasn’t perfect but overall it was a good read. We have a very determined H, a monster who’s set on marr3.5 stars bumped to 4
I mostly enjoyed this, it wasn’t perfect but overall it was a good read. We have a very determined H, a monster who’s set on marrying the h for revenge but quickly decides he’s going to keep her forever.
I appreciate how ruthless he was in his determination. He’s also determined to knock her up so he controversially tampers with her birth control. I get why this is a sensitive subject and I would NEVER condone or want this to happen to anyone IRL, I do adore it in my romance novels.
I didn’t rate it higher because the story gets hung up for a good bit on the wedding day. Like it’s trekking along and then the wedding day feels like it goes forever. There is a lot of important stuff on the wedding day but I was so tempted to start skimming.
There are some really complex family dynamics here. In my opinion, it’s overly complicated but whatever. I think the reader would be well served if there was a family tree provided somewhere in the back materials. I got hung up a bit trying to make sure I understood how the relations existed.
Cover 3.5/5
Story 3.5/5 Heat 2/5 Angst 3/5
Slower burn, the wedding night happens around 67%, there’s some steam before that but no sex.
No condoms No virgins Push away from h No real OW/OM drama No separation No cheating between H/h No scenes with others No cliffhanger HEA Epilogue
Safety - I consider it safe. H only has eyes for h, even when insignificant OW flirt. The h is a widow, her dead husband cheated on her with a mistress.
Merged review:
3.5 stars bumped to 4
I mostly enjoyed this, it wasn’t perfect but overall it was a good read. We have a very determined H, a monster who’s set on marrying the h for revenge but quickly decides he’s going to keep her forever.
I appreciate how ruthless he was in his determination. He’s also determined to knock her up so he controversially tampers with her birth control. I get why this is a sensitive subject and I would NEVER condone or want this to happen to anyone IRL, I do adore it in my romance novels.
I didn’t rate it higher because the story gets hung up for a good bit on the wedding day. Like it’s trekking along and then the wedding day feels like it goes forever. There is a lot of important stuff on the wedding day but I was so tempted to start skimming.
There are some really complex family dynamics here. In my opinion, it’s overly complicated but whatever. I think the reader would be well served if there was a family tree provided somewhere in the back materials. I got hung up a bit trying to make sure I understood how the relations existed.
Cover 3.5/5
Story 3.5/5 Heat 2/5 Angst 3/5
Slower burn, the wedding night happens around 67%, there’s some steam before that but no sex.
No condoms No virgins Push away from h No real OW/OM drama No separation No cheating between H/h No scenes with others No cliffhanger HEA Epilogue
Safety - I consider it safe. H only has eyes for h, even when insignificant OW flirt. The h is a widow, her dead husband cheated on her with a mistress....more
I think in my history of rating and reviewing books I’ve given a good few 4.5 star ratings but I’ve only bumped the ratings**spoiler alert** 4.5 stars
I think in my history of rating and reviewing books I’ve given a good few 4.5 star ratings but I’ve only bumped the ratings up to 5 stars instead of down to 4 stars twice. I’m a tad stingy with 5 star ratings because I need to be wowed to give them. This felt pretty close to 5 stars but it isn’t just quite there - however it felt wrong to bump down here. I rate based on my enjoyment of the book rather than how “good”it is.
My absolute favorite author in this universe is Sam Mariano and her craft is unparalleled. She somehow writes the exact stories I didn’t even know I wanted or needed. I’ve never read Layla Simon before but there are Sam Mariano vibes here. It’s not with the finesse and polish that Sam has but the framework is there, the idea is there and the vibe. The execution is not quite flawless but I feel the potential here. Some of the setups and situations here don’t feel authentic and my disbelief wasn’t fully suspended and that is largely why I rated it 4.5 stars. The vibe was so reminiscent of Sam’s work in certain places that I really loved the experience anyway. There will be spoilers, likely major ones, beyond this point.
So you’ve got Lachlan (H) and George- short for Georgina (h). H is a gangster’s son, h is the daughter of a pathetic gambling addicted POS. Lachlan is on an errand to collect moneys owed when he crosses paths with George. H is amidst a phone argument with his girlfriend (Kari) who’s canceling a dinner date with his family when H decides he’ll be taking George to the dinner as his date as a sort of FU to his bitchy girlfriend and to clear the debt h’s father owes. George isn’t a huge fan of this plan but has little choice in the matter. A fairly Sam Mariano-esque noncon/dubcon night follows the dinner.
With H having a girlfriend this gave a lot of Even If It Hurts vibes. The girlfriend is awful and h is refreshingly authentic and innocent. The relationship with the unwanted girlfriend is headed toward an arranged marriage and while Kari doesn’t really want Lachlan any more than he wants her she is possessive of him and is sees him as better than her other options outside of marrying him. Kari is not impressed with the George situation, as you can imagine.
Lachlan’s obsession with George starts to grow steadily. He feels an affection for her for being so wildly different than Kari. George is resistant to the relationship which makes Lachlan unhappy. He tries to wrangle her into another dubcon situation and she’s not going along with his expectations. There’s a tense bullying scene that he makes her clean his shoes with her tongue that happens in view of about 15 people. It had some intense sexual overtones. In spite of the humiliating situation h begins to feel guilty for not just being grateful that H took care of these other debts for her father and instead of thanking him she rejected him and thusly followed the bullying punishment. It’s a bit baffling but similar to the thought process of some of Sam’s heroines.
The h goes to apologize and more shenanigans with H follow - which she immediately regrets. He does have a hateful girlfriend who is threatening to hurt her if she doesn’t stay away from H.
We get another flash of Sam Mariano with Lachlan here. He begins a campaign to manipulate h to bend to his will. It’s not nearly as skilled as one of Sam’s master manipulators but it’s pretty good and it, of course, works like a charm.
Once he’s got George where he wants her the story gets a bit dicey. It’s not bad by any means but the ultimate wrap here ends up being a bit too easy - in my opinion. We’re given some high stakes about H having to capitulate to his father and be with Kari and mix in a few other bumps but the wrap up for it was ultimately fairly easily resolved and maybe a bit too pat. We see both Kari and Lachlan’s father acting in ways that aren’t fully in line with what we’ve seen previously. The author does try to justify the behavior change for Lachlan’s father but it didn’t quite feel right and Kari’s character change felt further off to me.
I know this has been pretty spoiler-ish but I didn’t include the specifics of the manipulations and such (there are other spoiler reviews on good reads that definitely have more of those details if you want them too).
⚠️Safety⚠️ - this is safer than it sounds. We know from Lachlan’s thoughts that he feels no affection for Kari. He and Kari did have a sexual relationship that was mostly oral because Kari’s father expected her to be a virgin at their wedding. It’s clear Lachlan slept with whomever he pleased which Kari didn’t like but she couldn’t stop him. I think she also fooled around with others but had to preserve her virginity. She began to push for them to have sex anyway but Lachlan resisted.
From the point that Lachlan met George he didn’t have sexual contact with any other person, including Kari. (He confirms this to h) Kari is still the girlfriend though so they are together at school and he puts his arm around her and such. We are given a couple of instances of “token kisses” that I think are supposed to be like pecks on the lips or something. I didn’t love that.
The h has a platonic date to a formal dance with her friend Keanen under Lachlan’s watchful eye. When a drunk Keanen gets too handsy later Lachlan stabs him....more
I didn’t see this one coming. I read a few BJ Alpha books earlier this year. The first one I read, one of her very early bo**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars
I didn’t see this one coming. I read a few BJ Alpha books earlier this year. The first one I read, one of her very early books, was bizarrely, insanely terrible. The next attempt was a duet and I didn’t retain the details but it was also pretty terrible, though her writing skills had improved. Here we are and I’m actually surprised it was written by the same person. The writing here is a substantial improvement.
This book has popped off quite a bit in my dark romance groups today and everyone had all the nice things to say. I found myself being pulled in and then I saw the magic world. *Grovel*.
A decent grovel is so hard to come by. Readers who thirst for a proper grovel typically have to make do with scraps. So telling me there’s a grovel is a sure way to end up on my kindle.
I’m a mood reader but dark romance is my preferred genre. I don’t read a ton of taboo stuff because my brain rails against **spoiler alert** 2.5 stars
I’m a mood reader but dark romance is my preferred genre. I don’t read a ton of taboo stuff because my brain rails against suspending my disbelief for it. I think it possible to read and maybe like a book that fails to suspend your disbelief but it’s definitely more of a challenge.
This is not a book I would have normally chosen. The taboo element here is HEAVY. If you really enjoy dark taboo reads then you are in for a treat. When I decided to read this I didn’t actually realize it was as taboo as it is. There will major spoilers going forward. I marked this as a spoiler review and I’m not playing. Spoilers abound below.
Okay, so when I borrowed this from KU I had the initial impression it was like stepsiblings. I based my decision to read it on a Facebook reader group recommendation. I don’t recall of the original poster mentioned it being a sibling thing or not, if they did I didn’t notice. I was grabbing it for different reasons. It was dark, fast burn, obsessed H, captive AND the poster felt it was unlikely to remain on Amazon for very long based on the noncon content. Who doesn’t want to read a banned book before it gets banned? I was sold. Do I think it will be banned? Honestly, I think so. It’s pretty unapologetic and approaches the entire taboo/noncon stuff with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop.
I realized quickly it was actually half siblings. Then late in the book you discover that’s it’s actually full siblings. Surprise!
This book does have an HEA. The H proclaims loudly throughout his love and devotion to h. Understandably she takes most of the book to return his affection. They do end up together happily and consensually with the help of some Stockholm syndrome, of course. However, despite the HEA and H’s proclamations of love this book isn’t really romantic. Definitely dark and taboo erotica with talk of love but little actual romance.
This started out a bad foot. The first scene with H is him in a meeting with his mafia dudes and he’s getting a blow job right there in the middle of it. The OW he’s using has the audacity to complain about his treatment so he throws her out. I didn’t need to see H with his dick in OWs throat to understand the mob boss had not pined away in celibacy waiting for the right time to claim his unwilling sister. Dark romance or not H having dick inside OW *on the page* is never welcome. This is one circumstance you should really just fucking tell and not show and let’s not forget there are other ways to show me that don’t actively involve having Hs dick in an OW on page. Good fucking grief. I should have probably just quit here.
The Hs actions don’t match his words. He treats the h very poorly in the beginning. She’s literally chained naked, spread eagle to a bed for over 2 months and raped several times a day. There’s some acknowledgment of how detrimental to her health this is but it’s extremely unrealistic in how much worse shape she’d actually be in if this were the case. She has some weakness and pins and needles feeling but is functional again after a massage ...more