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thebookdisciple's review
If you love the classic tale of falling in love with your sadistic captor, Falling for the Villain is your new jam! Donovan is man who knows what he wants and takes it. He then forces it to submit. In this case, he wants Juliet.
I'm not going to lie, Donovan was not an easy character to like. He really is a sadist and enjoys punishing Juliet to the point of drawing blood. This is a dark story and one that won't appeal to everyone. Donovan just has very few redeeming qualities. However, Juliet does fall in love with him, and I am not one to judge. If she loves him and is okay with the relationship they have/he demands, then more power to them both. It is certainly NOT something I would be okay with, but the story isn't about me!
The first half of the story is very dark. I was so angry at Donovan for behaving the way he does, and made at Juliet for taking it. Sure, she "stands up to him" a little, but I struggled with her acquiescence overall. I felt like I needed to understand. You do get some of those answers regarding the why which makes both characters a little more understandable as the story progresses. But, it is hard to understand some of the things Donovan does to Juliet and even harder to understand why she allows it. Again-not my cup of tea. So, if you are okay with dark theme romances, I hope you will give Falling for the Villain a try! It might be a little out of your comfort zone but you could love it. In this case, I am not rating the book because I feel it would be unfair. Personally, this was a bit much for me, but it is well written. I don't want disinterest in the subject matter leading to a lower rating indicate that the book is "bad".
I would be remiss if I didn't add an additional note regarding the cover. I hate it. I don't know why, but it seems super bland and perhaps a bit cheesy? I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I wouldn't pick up the book based on the cover.
- POV: 1st
- Tears: no
- Trope: dom/sub, kidnapping,
- Triggers:
Spoiler
Very dark; descriptions of physical violence the hero does to the heroine; Master/pet relationship, dubious consent - Series/Standalone: standalone
- Cliffhanger:
Spoiler
no - HEA:
Spoiler
yes (not my kind of HEA, but to each their own)
dark romances like Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters, Raze by Tillie Cole, Degradation by Stylo Fantome...then you will probably like Falling for the Villain!
Falling for the Villain
See full review on The Book Disciple
booksofpsalm_s's review
3.0
Dark romance
I've read RVD books before but M. Robinson is a new author to me. And I know the blurb had said that this is a dark romance and even RVD has said that this is different from her other books and it's a lot darker but I still preordered it because I was curious. And I realized that this is a bit out of my comfort zone. There are some scenes that I'm still debating if I'm okay with. Although, I can't say that I'm not curious to read more on this genre.
Triggers: kidnapping, dub con
I've read RVD books before but M. Robinson is a new author to me. And I know the blurb had said that this is a dark romance and even RVD has said that this is different from her other books and it's a lot darker but I still preordered it because I was curious. And I realized that this is a bit out of my comfort zone. There are some scenes that I'm still debating if I'm okay with. Although, I can't say that I'm not curious to read more on this genre.
Triggers: kidnapping, dub con
emifalfirdaant's review
2.0
2nd Reading: 23rd June 2021
Rating: 2 out of 5
BIG NO EVERYONE!
I had high expectations while reading the premise. The premise sounds pretty decent until you read the story. The story just starts with Juliet, our female MC, was kidnapped by Donovan, a man who prepares pet to be sold to their masters. It started okay and it's getting weird and weirder with Juliet. She's just straightly annoying. She acts so mighty and powerful and suddenly cried and begged. It's also disturbing, especially Donovan's past. TOO FUCKING DISTURBING!
Really if the real Stockholm syndrome can make people like Juliet, I'd better die if I were kidnapped too! The love in this relationship is just NO. It's a complete mess. I don't know what I'm going to say about this book and the mafia gangs also pretty stupid in this book. How the hell they can't find Juliet until months????
Why I even pick this book...
Rating: 2 out of 5
BIG NO EVERYONE!
I had high expectations while reading the premise. The premise sounds pretty decent until you read the story. The story just starts with Juliet, our female MC, was kidnapped by Donovan, a man who prepares pet to be sold to their masters. It started okay and it's getting weird and weirder with Juliet. She's just straightly annoying. She acts so mighty and powerful and suddenly cried and begged. It's also disturbing, especially Donovan's past. TOO FUCKING DISTURBING!
Really if the real Stockholm syndrome can make people like Juliet, I'd better die if I were kidnapped too! The love in this relationship is just NO. It's a complete mess. I don't know what I'm going to say about this book and the mafia gangs also pretty stupid in this book. How the hell they can't find Juliet until months????
Why I even pick this book...
matillie's review
1.0
I thought my week couldn't get any worse because Good Girls was cancelled until I read this book
I either didn’t like the characters or didn’t care about them at all. The heroine is an idiot, the hero has no personality, and the side characters are irrelevant. I found the inner monologues and dialogue to be super cringey. This is definitely a dark read, as it was advertised, but it was so dark that I couldn’t like the hero at all.
Donovan (H)
Donovan is a slave trainer. He basically takes kidnapped women and breaks them down using BDSM to make them completely submissive to their “master”. Donovan kidnaps Juliet (h), a mafia princess, and is trying to train her to be his slave.
In the first few chapters he whips her to the point of blood being drawn, he cuts her hair and dyes it because he “prefers blondes”
He allows another slave trainer (and business partner) to take her to use for himself. In the process he whips her and if Donovan didn’t interrupt, she would have been raped. He claims to “love her” yet allows this guy to toy with him???
A speck of dust has more personality than Donovan and I honestly don't need to write anything else on him because what's written speaks for itself.
Juliet (h)
I genuinely keep bad for this girl because she’s insanely naïve and blinded by Donovan’s dick. This guy kidnaps her, whips her, and sexually assaults her yet she refuses to acknowledge how wrong this is. In fact, she likes it.
She ignores what her therapist is telling her and then tries to justify Donovan's actions by saying it’s “because of his past”, PUH-LEASE. She also acts like her existence doesn’t matter unless it’s with him
exhibit a)
exhibit b)
Juliet also spews some shit about him “saving her”? From what?!?! She claims that her family keeps her prisoner or something, but I never read any context supporting this and on top of that, isn’t Donovan ACTUALLY keeping her prisoner??? He kidnapped and doesn’t allow her to leave the house and in the beginning, locked her in her room for days without food until she submitted to him.
Hold on this is the best part. Juliet offers to help Donovan with his business by taking care of other slaves. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HER?! THESE WOMEN ARE BEING KIDNAPPED AND SEX TRAFFICKED, SAME WAY SHE WAS, AND SHE WANTS TO HELP THEM STAY IN THAT SITUATION?! Oh my god this made me so mad especially because these other women won't be as lucky as her dumbass because the fuckers purchasing these women are evil, evil people.
Master/pet
Donovan calling her pet and Juliet calling him Master made me so uncomfy. I mean this is probably a me thing, but here are some example of this...
I either didn’t like the characters or didn’t care about them at all. The heroine is an idiot, the hero has no personality, and the side characters are irrelevant. I found the inner monologues and dialogue to be super cringey. This is definitely a dark read, as it was advertised, but it was so dark that I couldn’t like the hero at all.
Donovan (H)
Donovan is a slave trainer. He basically takes kidnapped women and breaks them down using BDSM to make them completely submissive to their “master”. Donovan kidnaps Juliet (h), a mafia princess, and is trying to train her to be his slave.
In the first few chapters he whips her to the point of blood being drawn, he cuts her hair and dyes it because he “prefers blondes”
He allows another slave trainer (and business partner) to take her to use for himself. In the process he whips her and if Donovan didn’t interrupt, she would have been raped. He claims to “love her” yet allows this guy to toy with him???
A speck of dust has more personality than Donovan and I honestly don't need to write anything else on him because what's written speaks for itself.
Juliet (h)
I genuinely keep bad for this girl because she’s insanely naïve and blinded by Donovan’s dick. This guy kidnaps her, whips her, and sexually assaults her yet she refuses to acknowledge how wrong this is. In fact, she likes it.
My therapist said it was Stockholm Syndrome that I was experiencing. I told her to eat shit and stopped going to her the very next day. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what I was going through. They didn’t know one damn thing about Donovan and what he’d been through.
She ignores what her therapist is telling her and then tries to justify Donovan's actions by saying it’s “because of his past”, PUH-LEASE. She also acts like her existence doesn’t matter unless it’s with him
exhibit a)
I wasn’t me.
I was his.
Owned.
exhibit b)
“What if he doesn’t want me, though? What if he turns me away?”
“What if he does?” Mom asked. “Then what?”
“Then…” I sobbed. “My life is over.”
Juliet also spews some shit about him “saving her”? From what?!?! She claims that her family keeps her prisoner or something, but I never read any context supporting this and on top of that, isn’t Donovan ACTUALLY keeping her prisoner??? He kidnapped and doesn’t allow her to leave the house and in the beginning, locked her in her room for days without food until she submitted to him.
Hold on this is the best part. Juliet offers to help Donovan with his business by taking care of other slaves. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HER?! THESE WOMEN ARE BEING KIDNAPPED AND SEX TRAFFICKED, SAME WAY SHE WAS, AND SHE WANTS TO HELP THEM STAY IN THAT SITUATION?! Oh my god this made me so mad especially because these other women won't be as lucky as her dumbass because the fuckers purchasing these women are evil, evil people.
Master/pet
Donovan calling her pet and Juliet calling him Master made me so uncomfy. I mean this is probably a me thing, but here are some example of this...
"You can undress me, Juliet."
"Pet."
"Excuse me?"
"I like it when you call me pet."
"I am your fucking home. I'll kill you before I let you forget it, so what is your punishment, pet?"
Because in my books? Heroes can go screw themselves.
Give me war.
Give me destruction.
Give me sweet death.
Give me Donovan.
My master for eternity.
smonro's review
2.0
I love Rachel's book but I just couldn't with this one, it was really frustrating and too Stockholm syndrome for me, when she asked to help prepping the other slaves I just couldn't
allyssascott's review
2.0
Dark, twisted, and unlike anything I have read by these two authors. Faint of heart need not read!
This is a captive romance and while I enjoyed pieces of it – this just didn’t check all the boxes for me. I love a powerful and dominant hero but when that hero [Donovan] literally calls the heroine [Juliet] a “pet” and at one point even has her on a leash – it just wasn’t my kind of love story. I think some will absolutely love the spiciness this book brings to the table – but spicy scenes are not enough to keep me engaged in the story [or enough to build up the romance between the two main characters] Towards the end we start to get some explanation as to why Donovan is the way he is, and his connection to Juliet but at that point, I just felt like it was too late in the story. I wanted to see more of the development between them emotionally, not just physically.
The writing itself was excellent and everything I’ve come to expect from M. Robinson and Rachel Van Dyken. I really enjoyed the twist at the end and the shift of power between Donovan and Juliet. I love a dark romance, but I just felt like the romance missed the mark! While this one wasn’t for me – I can’t wait to see what these two authors do next. I love that they are willing to try something different and push the boundaries of their writing.
This is a captive romance and while I enjoyed pieces of it – this just didn’t check all the boxes for me. I love a powerful and dominant hero but when that hero [Donovan] literally calls the heroine [Juliet] a “pet” and at one point even has her on a leash – it just wasn’t my kind of love story. I think some will absolutely love the spiciness this book brings to the table – but spicy scenes are not enough to keep me engaged in the story [or enough to build up the romance between the two main characters] Towards the end we start to get some explanation as to why Donovan is the way he is, and his connection to Juliet but at that point, I just felt like it was too late in the story. I wanted to see more of the development between them emotionally, not just physically.
The writing itself was excellent and everything I’ve come to expect from M. Robinson and Rachel Van Dyken. I really enjoyed the twist at the end and the shift of power between Donovan and Juliet. I love a dark romance, but I just felt like the romance missed the mark! While this one wasn’t for me – I can’t wait to see what these two authors do next. I love that they are willing to try something different and push the boundaries of their writing.
heather_whit's review
5.0
Where does one begin to express what they are feeling after reading this book? I will tell you they start off by stating how freaking amazing this book is. I will say this book is on the darker side and does contain what some may consider hard triggers. With that being said this book will keep you enthralled from the very first page. We start out with a bang and we go non-stop until the very last page.
Juliet is a strong sassy a little bit naive young mafia princess. She finds herself in the sadistic hands of Donovan. Now Donovan he gives the word obsessed a whole new meaning. He knows when he first lays eyes on Juliet that she will be his. Neither one of them is prepared for the turbulent road that they need to travel to find their HEA.
This story will take you on a dark and twisted journey and is not for the faint of heart. Your feelings will be all over the place. You will feel rage, hurt, happy, vengeance, and ultimately you will feel thier love.
Juliet is a strong sassy a little bit naive young mafia princess. She finds herself in the sadistic hands of Donovan. Now Donovan he gives the word obsessed a whole new meaning. He knows when he first lays eyes on Juliet that she will be his. Neither one of them is prepared for the turbulent road that they need to travel to find their HEA.
This story will take you on a dark and twisted journey and is not for the faint of heart. Your feelings will be all over the place. You will feel rage, hurt, happy, vengeance, and ultimately you will feel thier love.
readingwithmomears's review
4.0
I will admit I was unsure at first how I would like this book but this dark romance was not what I expected in a good way.
booksknownoage's review
5.0
Is it possible to like a book even though you know deep down you shouldn't, like this book was full of triggers and don't get me wrong the triggers didn't bother me, what bothered me was that I should be bothered and I'm not!!! I actually devoured this book like my life depended on it wanting to know how it all played out and play out it did, with a twist and a bang.
M and Rachel write a riveting, fast paced captive romance wrapped up in pages of spice that i truly couldn't get enough of.
M and Rachel write a riveting, fast paced captive romance wrapped up in pages of spice that i truly couldn't get enough of.
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