Happy Holidays! Hope everyone is doing alright and looking forward to the new year. Did you get any good books from Santa??
This review contains minor spoilers because I simply cannot explain my many thoughts about this weird book without spoiling it.
I’m not attracted to men.
Or so I thought before I slammed into Nikolai Sokolov.
A mafia heir, a notorious bastard, and a violent monster.
An ill-fated meeting puts me in his path.
And just like that, he has his sights set on me.
A quiet artist, a golden boy, and his enemy’s twin brother.
He doesn’t seem to care that the odds are stacked against us.
In fact, he sets out to break my steel-like control and blur my limits.
I thought my biggest worry was being noticed by Nikolai.
I’m learning the hard way that being wanted by this beautiful nightmare is much worse.
Let me preface this review by saying that this is the first book I’ve read by Rina Kent, and I started with book 5. However, it was advertised as being a standalone…
Why Two Stars?
I found it challenging to settle on a rating for this book. If I assess it critically, it’s a 0/1 star, but when I view it through my smut-loving, dark-romance, red-tinted shades, it only reaches a 2? However, considering I read the entire book and somewhat enjoyed it, should it be a 3? Absolutely not—there’s just too much bizarre stuff happening, so I’ve brought it back down to 2 stars. Usually my go-to rating when I’m unsure of what I’m doing is 3 stars, but seriously—there was just too much unforgivable writing and strange-ass happenings to let it slide.
Bran & Niko
Let me start by saying, I really thought I had found a great book going into the first chapter. Brandon was extremely relatable:
“I’ve just never been good with choices. Don’t appreciate them. Don’t care for them. Would rather no be presented with one.”
like same Brandon..same
So, the plot is plotting and I’m enjoying it, although it’s a bit confusing since I haven’t read the previous books. The whole Kings U and Heathens elements aren’t explained super well, but that’s on me for starting with book 5.
Then comes Nikolai’s chapter, and I’m left wondering, just what? It’s at a ‘wash my eyes out’ level of bad. Why was this even written? What does it contribute to the book, especially in terms of character development? Because the only thing it seems to have developed is my dislike for Nikolai. And it didn’t stop there; throughout the entire book, he talks incessantly about his private parts, or ‘Kolya,’ as if it isn’t the silliest thing ever.
The author did a somewhat good job of developing Brandon, creating a genuinely complex character grappling with mental health issues. However, they just throw in Nikolai, an extremely annoying baby mafia heir who can’t even kill one person without getting help from his daddy.
Other Annoyances
The timeline. This was a big one from me: Why are meeting each others’ families after dating less than a year? Was it less than a year? Very unclear unless I just missed it.
The random dad POV chapter.
The writing. The dialogue.
The stereotypes and cliches.
Putting the quote, “The drug in me is you” and not adding the song to the playlist.
Should you read it?
Honestly, this book has received surprisingly high ratings for reasons I don’t quite understand, but I managed to finish the entire thing in about three days. If you don’t mind a very juvenile writing style and cringing every ten minutes, then you will enjoy this book.
In conclusion, I find myself bamboozled by TikTok recommendations once again. If anyone knows of any books similar to this but better, please let me know.
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While I agree that the writing needed some heavy work, it would have been best if given specific examples. Also, his name is Nikolai.
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Thank you! I fixed the names. And yes, I probably should have given more specific examples. I might have been trying to keep it somewhat spoiler-free… honestly, I don’t remember since it’s been a while since I read and reviewed this book.
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