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r1vana's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
These men have infected me. Changed me. And I can't ever go back to who I was before.
This is a RH romance to be but in this book it’s solely MF.
Tiktok made me read this one.
One night FMC sees Marcus at a club. His eyes are the first thing she notices; one is brown and the other green.
Later on, as she got bored of the club vibes, she leaves behind and sees Marcus with 2 other guys. And they are also really attractive. But instead of approching them and make her move, she goes to the other way. But when a man with a gun appears, pointing towards the three guys, mostly Marcus, her first instinct was to block the bullets… three of them. Which leads to heavy bleeding and loss of a limb. Now two years later, she is still haunted by that night. She didn’t expected to see one of them saving her from mugging. Ryland saves her and tells her that they(all 3) have been following her since that night and protecting her.
She is confused and easily turned. Which makes her extremely conflicted. Her body says one thing; her brain the other; her heart another…. Her dreams went from traumatic to horny land:
Marcus Constantine has invaded my dreams since the night I stopped three bullets meant for him. But now that he's invaded my life too, it feels like he's everywhere. Like he's in my fucking head, in my soul, tearing me apart from the inside out.
Since she now knows of them, they become more present in her entourage: the club she works at, grocery store, mall, et cetera.
Marcus is fucking with my life.
He and his two shadows are growing more and more bold.
They're no longer going to be satisfied with just following me around, showing up at the library or the bar. They're insinuating themselves into my life, messing with shit that isn't theirs to touch.
I don't really care about Natalie, but that was my battle to fight. My shit to deal with.
Anger rises up inside me, burning away the confusion and panic.
I'm done.
So fucking done with this.
-
At first, her attraction was mainly on Marcus, since he is the only one stalking his claim and actually making moves. There were a lot of questions that she kept thinking of…
This is a RH romance to be but in this book it’s solely MF.
Tiktok made me read this one.
One night FMC sees Marcus at a club. His eyes are the first thing she notices; one is brown and the other green.
Later on, as she got bored of the club vibes, she leaves behind and sees Marcus with 2 other guys. And they are also really attractive. But instead of approching them and make her move, she goes to the other way. But when a man with a gun appears, pointing towards the three guys, mostly Marcus, her first instinct was to block the bullets… three of them. Which leads to heavy bleeding and loss of a limb. Now two years later, she is still haunted by that night. She didn’t expected to see one of them saving her from mugging. Ryland saves her and tells her that they(all 3) have been following her since that night and protecting her.
She is confused and easily turned. Which makes her extremely conflicted. Her body says one thing; her brain the other; her heart another…. Her dreams went from traumatic to horny land:
Marcus Constantine has invaded my dreams since the night I stopped three bullets meant for him. But now that he's invaded my life too, it feels like he's everywhere. Like he's in my fucking head, in my soul, tearing me apart from the inside out.
Since she now knows of them, they become more present in her entourage: the club she works at, grocery store, mall, et cetera.
Marcus is fucking with my life.
He and his two shadows are growing more and more bold.
They're no longer going to be satisfied with just following me around, showing up at the library or the bar. They're insinuating themselves into my life, messing with shit that isn't theirs to touch.
I don't really care about Natalie, but that was my battle to fight. My shit to deal with.
Anger rises up inside me, burning away the confusion and panic.
I'm done.
So fucking done with this.
-
At first, her attraction was mainly on Marcus, since he is the only one stalking his claim and actually making moves. There were a lot of questions that she kept thinking of…
"Why do you care?" I whisper.
"Why?"
"You saved my life," he murmurs.
"It was an accident."
"You saved my life," he repeats more emphatically. "Every day since then, every fucking heartbeat, I owe to you. For two and a half years, my heart has continued to beat because of you. Do you know how many heartbeats that is, Ayla? One hundred million."
"That's a stupid way to measure time.”
"I think it's the only way.”
"You're here to repay the debt? Is
that it? How? How can you pay back a hundred million heartbeats?"
'"I can't."
"Then what do you want?"
"You, Ayla. I want you.”
But whenever they kissed or full on make out in public, both Theo or/and Ryland are witnessing it all.
-
At the end of the book, FMC realizes that they are in a gang where ina group of 13 guys only one can inherit the position of the richest man in the city(since he has no heir): "There are only three ways out," Ryland adds quietly. you either die, hand over your life and allegiance to someone else.
or you win.”
Ayla is a tough girl. Being a foster child doesn’t help either. Money runs low all the time. In order to hide her trauma, she had tattoos: I got the ink done for me. As a way of reclaiming my
broken body. Of making it mine again.
The presence of the three guys in her life had brought a lot of confusion and a lot more dreams or nightmares? Attraction and revulsion.
Pleasure and pain. Desire and fear.
Not gonna lie, her mouth is a potty mouth. She is not afraid of talking back even though she knows how sketchy they are. And her banter/talkbacks with Marcus are entertaining; she uses sarcasm to hid her hidden trauma: "If you're looking for my hymen, it's long gone already,"
A slow, predatory smile spreads across his face. As he drops his head, lowering his voice. "I don't want your
hymen, Ayla."
"No?"
"Then what do you want?"
"Everything.'
-
I mean this guy actually has tattoo of the day she got shot. As a dark romance reader, I am conflicted. Am I turned on or creeped out. Probably both, in this scenario: The markings on his fingers aren't random symbols. They don't spell out "love" and "hate" or some shit like that.
They're numbers.
The month, day, and year of the night I was shot.
Theses mens are feral. I mean we only get to see Marcus, but god damnnn;
His gaze is still locked on my face, consuming my features with hungry focus, and for the first time, I think I can truly feel the weight of the years he's spent watching me.
Obsessing over me.
Craving me.
I may not know this man, but in a strange way, he knows me. Maybe better than anyone else I've ever met.
-
At first Ryland’s attractions to Ayla wasn’t present. He was always detached to her. Like she was a vermin; but she learns the truth, I think he won’t: Ryland's eyes flicker as they meet mine. "No. You're like a
fucking drug, Ayla. We spent two and a half years hovering on the periphery of your life, but the moment we stepped into it that night, the moment we got close… it was like a barrier came down that was impossible to put back up. It was the first fix And we kept coming back for more.”
Theo on the other hand seems to be a golden retriever with hidden guns; that’s probably how Ayla feels; He's my calm in the storm that is Ryland and Marcus, the one whose voice and touch always soothes and
never hurts.
Because the kiss they share was very intimate.
"Sometimes I want to break you, angel. Sometimes I want to break you apart just to see what's inside.”
If we see this book from a romance perspective, I would say it was mainly Ayla and Marcus: He's always doing this. Breathing me in like I'm his oxygen. [..] “Poke around all you want. What's mine is yours.”
We love a man that knows his priority.
But that ending?!?! Cliffhanger!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Cursing, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape and Religious bigotry
victoriavoshel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was immediately drawn into this series, and when I finished this book I LEPT up to buy book #2. That was a killer cliffhanger, but I don't hate it one bit. I think the situation and the characters are immersive and I personally want to hug them all (I think they could use it).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Gun violence
kclingerman's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
The main focus of the book is sex- with no rationality as to when. The characters could be running for their life and still find a way to stick it in. It makes absolutely no sense as to why the author thought that in the most CONFUSING times to add intense sex scenes. Someone could be bleeding out- they're fucking. Someone could be under the influence- they're fucking. Every dream? Involves sex. This is character based, but definitely not in the sense of their minds, but their bodies.
The real power struggle is the author trying to balance plot, character development, steamy scenes, emotional trauma, depth, you name it, they're trying to add it.
But it's like dumping every flavor of soda into your fountain drink only to realize you filled it to the brim with ice and left no room for the intended content.
The real power struggle is the author trying to balance plot, character development, steamy scenes, emotional trauma, depth, you name it, they're trying to add it.
But it's like dumping every flavor of soda into your fountain drink only to realize you filled it to the brim with ice and left no room for the intended content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol