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allyreadsromance's review
3.0
3.5 Stars!
I am a fan of mafia and assassin romances! I love dark romances with a HEA! This story had a lot of emotion, and each character had depth in being super messed up!
The narrator did a fantastic job.
Here is my warning with this book; this is dark erotica. Not a dark romance. The abuse and injustice the characters lived through were so hard to listen to. Then to have a relationship that is mostly angry, punishing, sex was a little too much for me!
This was heavy on bdsm and dubious consent. There were no safe words but the heroine enjoyed playing sub even through tears and hurt. Also, I don't think I've read a book with so much booty sex (3+ scenes) and each time very descriptive, and some out of punishment😳 Combine that with all-out belt whippings and I don't know how she sat down🤦🏼♀️ This one was a little too hardcore for me!
The interactions between the two were light and funny at times, and Julien was wickedly funny and sarcasti for a mercenary! There were aspects of the story I enjoyed! But I need something lighter after this one!
I am a fan of mafia and assassin romances! I love dark romances with a HEA! This story had a lot of emotion, and each character had depth in being super messed up!
The narrator did a fantastic job.
Here is my warning with this book; this is dark erotica. Not a dark romance. The abuse and injustice the characters lived through were so hard to listen to. Then to have a relationship that is mostly angry, punishing, sex was a little too much for me!
This was heavy on bdsm and dubious consent. There were no safe words but the heroine enjoyed playing sub even through tears and hurt. Also, I don't think I've read a book with so much booty sex (3+ scenes) and each time very descriptive, and some out of punishment😳 Combine that with all-out belt whippings and I don't know how she sat down🤦🏼♀️ This one was a little too hardcore for me!
The interactions between the two were light and funny at times, and Julien was wickedly funny and sarcasti for a mercenary! There were aspects of the story I enjoyed! But I need something lighter after this one!
beckyrendon's review
3.0
when you aren't worried you're gonna die! Deviant is a total dark dream with an HEA. The Dom assassin who likes to play before he does his work...yeah I'm totally up for that. The innocent victim running from her own "family"...until one voyeuristic moment. Once she sees him, she can't unsee him...unfortunately for her!
One peeping tom moment transforms her life forever.
It took me awhile to get used Philip's "female" voice. He made an effort and I appreciated that it was just that the Italian Grandma occasionally sounded Irish that threw me for a loop. His Mia voice was generally consistent but occasional sounded more Julian. Overall, you were able to tell who was speaking as long as the book had your focus. I had to rewind a couple times because I was driving and it didn't seem to add up. In general it was a fun listen and I would totally be up for more Julian and Mia shenanigans but we both know their lives aren't going to be the same kind of busy anymore!
#audiobookobsessionreviewer
One peeping tom moment transforms her life forever.
It took me awhile to get used Philip's "female" voice. He made an effort and I appreciated that it was just that the Italian Grandma occasionally sounded Irish that threw me for a loop. His Mia voice was generally consistent but occasional sounded more Julian. Overall, you were able to tell who was speaking as long as the book had your focus. I had to rewind a couple times because I was driving and it didn't seem to add up. In general it was a fun listen and I would totally be up for more Julian and Mia shenanigans but we both know their lives aren't going to be the same kind of busy anymore!
#audiobookobsessionreviewer
halffast's review against another edition
2.0
Hit man/mercenary abducts a female witness, who turns out to have a price on her head. The book never really came together for me. Wish Mia had grown more of a backbone. It was so dumb of her to run away from Julien after he’d confessed to the secret deal with Cash. I didn’t mind the dubcon and rough sex, and I liked that Julien pushed her a bit to acknowledge her feelings (albeit not in a healthy way). But while Julien was very clear about his wants and setting boundaries, he didn’t encourage Mia to do the same. They never ended up having a mature conversation about Mia embracing her darker desires, which I think would have improved the believability of their emotional connection.
kimah74's review against another edition
5.0
Positively sinful!
Wow!! What an awesome book. I absolutely loved it! Julien, oh my alpha male sadist...and Mia a little spit fire with bite when needed. I really liked the story and the character development. Personally I really like the dynamic between Julien and Mia...hmmm. Great author!
Wow!! What an awesome book. I absolutely loved it! Julien, oh my alpha male sadist...and Mia a little spit fire with bite when needed. I really liked the story and the character development. Personally I really like the dynamic between Julien and Mia...hmmm. Great author!
krandall99's review
4.0
This book was a pleasant surprise. It is a dark romance but with a twist. I have to say that I was completely surprised by this book.
tab2004's review against another edition
1.0
I will freely admit I do read Natasha Knight and have liked a lot of her books. Yes she does recycle some things
-girl is virgin or inexperienced/male is basically a man whore
-there is always dubious consent/non-consent
-anal sex which of course comes with no prep
-he's fucked up from his childhood
-she knows she should be hating him but she just can't resist - :[
-there is always both POV's which I do appreciate as a reader
I can handle a lot of that shit as long as the female is at least not a doormat and has some sense of pride/self worth. But the girl in this book doesn't. She literally watches him fuck two other women, one of which he murders! and she still wants to be with him. Its a whole other level of fucked up even a dark reader like me can't fathom. Too me he's no better then the asshole who raped her as a kid!
The male character is a deviant but so much more. He's an abusive, twisted, piece of shit that I was hoping might actually die at the end not get a HEA. One dead brother is no excuse for the sick vile things he does. Deviant is almost too nice a name for him. I love dark but only when its righted with some type of light. This book has none.
-girl is virgin or inexperienced/male is basically a man whore
-there is always dubious consent/non-consent
-anal sex which of course comes with no prep
-he's fucked up from his childhood
-she knows she should be hating him but she just can't resist - :[
-there is always both POV's which I do appreciate as a reader
I can handle a lot of that shit as long as the female is at least not a doormat and has some sense of pride/self worth. But the girl in this book doesn't. She literally watches him fuck two other women, one of which he murders! and she still wants to be with him. Its a whole other level of fucked up even a dark reader like me can't fathom. Too me he's no better then the asshole who raped her as a kid!
The male character is a deviant but so much more. He's an abusive, twisted, piece of shit that I was hoping might actually die at the end not get a HEA. One dead brother is no excuse for the sick vile things he does. Deviant is almost too nice a name for him. I love dark but only when its righted with some type of light. This book has none.
carleneinspired's review against another edition
4.0
You can find more of my reviews at Carlene Corrupted and Carlene Inspired.
She's been watching him for three days. Three days of rough sex with his mark before he kills her and then she'll be next. Julien doesn't do witnesses and he'll take out some frustrations on the innocent girl watching through the window before getting rid of her too. At least that was the plan until two men show up prepared to take her out as well. Turns out Mia St. Rose has a price on her head thanks to her newly free step brother. Mia is willing to submit to Julien if it means keeping her life for a little while longer. Just long enough to convince Julien she can pay him more to keep her alive. While on the run she see's just how bad he really is, how devious, but she also sees him, the pain and vulnerability he's got inside. Sleeping with the devil may not be so bad, because there's no way she's letting her step brother touch her again.
I ended up with this book when I went on one of my one-click sprees on Amazon. I didn't read the synopsis, I just saw the cover and quantity of reviews and bought it. Sometimes I end up with great books, sometimes they obviously suck. In this case, I am feeling so guilty about how darn much I enjoyed this book. There were absolutely times I felt uncomfortable just reading the words, but other times I was sitting there fanning myself. It's dark, but not nearly as dark as it could've been. It absolutely is a forced seduction novel and you'll know if it's a book you will want to finish or leave behind within the first 15%.
Julien, our anti-hero, is exactly like the male on the cover and he most definitely is a deviant. You aren't going to like him, at least not at first. He crosses every moral line that exists and keeps Mia alive and safe from her brother, but requires her total submission while he's doing so. You will wonder what the heck Mia sees in him, but what makes this book a romance isn't the BDSM relationship between the characters, but the emotional developments between the H and h. The sex is hot and heavy, there are times it is definitely about pain and punishment, but there is a lot of history that goes into who each character is and why the kink works for them. The personal histories that leaves them both vulnerable really make them work together, because Mia wants to see him as good when he's all about the hunt, the kill, the sex, and the pain. I really enjoyed the two separate story lines, one of romance and redemption and the other of the assassin saving the innocent for his own gain. It was all about the lesser of two evils and which path kept Mia alive longer. I liked the interactions between the characters and the unique voices of the secondary characters. There is also a lot of action and suspense in this book, far more than I expected, and while some of it was really easy to guess, it still was interesting.
I struggled with Mia as a character, for a girl that's been on the run so long she sure is dumb. I get that past catches up to you, but someone who gets caught peeping on sex has got to have done other things that were noticeable. Plus, she never seemed brave or capable of making personal decisions, so I had a hard time believing she'd been capable of taking care of herself while hiding. Then there's Julien, who was excellent as a dark, emotionless assassin, for the first 50%. At one point I felt him sliding more into the emotional and brooding hero role instead of being the sexy, dark killer out for his own good. I get the emotions developed between Mia and Julien, but I started seeing the assassin part as just his job instead of as who he really was. I wanted him to be bad and still work for Mia, because hello his bad side is what I loved. The ending just didn't work for me and I ended up imagining it playing out in a different way.
With plenty of chemistry and salacious scenes, Julien and Mia make for one intriguing couple. Deviant is a perfect mesh of erotica and suspense and Natasha Knight weaved just the right amount of sex scenes with true substance to make this a novel you won't be able to put down. The writing is excellent and full of engaging action.
She's been watching him for three days. Three days of rough sex with his mark before he kills her and then she'll be next. Julien doesn't do witnesses and he'll take out some frustrations on the innocent girl watching through the window before getting rid of her too. At least that was the plan until two men show up prepared to take her out as well. Turns out Mia St. Rose has a price on her head thanks to her newly free step brother. Mia is willing to submit to Julien if it means keeping her life for a little while longer. Just long enough to convince Julien she can pay him more to keep her alive. While on the run she see's just how bad he really is, how devious, but she also sees him, the pain and vulnerability he's got inside. Sleeping with the devil may not be so bad, because there's no way she's letting her step brother touch her again.
I ended up with this book when I went on one of my one-click sprees on Amazon. I didn't read the synopsis, I just saw the cover and quantity of reviews and bought it. Sometimes I end up with great books, sometimes they obviously suck. In this case, I am feeling so guilty about how darn much I enjoyed this book. There were absolutely times I felt uncomfortable just reading the words, but other times I was sitting there fanning myself. It's dark, but not nearly as dark as it could've been. It absolutely is a forced seduction novel and you'll know if it's a book you will want to finish or leave behind within the first 15%.
Julien, our anti-hero, is exactly like the male on the cover and he most definitely is a deviant. You aren't going to like him, at least not at first. He crosses every moral line that exists and keeps Mia alive and safe from her brother, but requires her total submission while he's doing so. You will wonder what the heck Mia sees in him, but what makes this book a romance isn't the BDSM relationship between the characters, but the emotional developments between the H and h. The sex is hot and heavy, there are times it is definitely about pain and punishment, but there is a lot of history that goes into who each character is and why the kink works for them. The personal histories that leaves them both vulnerable really make them work together, because Mia wants to see him as good when he's all about the hunt, the kill, the sex, and the pain. I really enjoyed the two separate story lines, one of romance and redemption and the other of the assassin saving the innocent for his own gain. It was all about the lesser of two evils and which path kept Mia alive longer. I liked the interactions between the characters and the unique voices of the secondary characters. There is also a lot of action and suspense in this book, far more than I expected, and while some of it was really easy to guess, it still was interesting.
I struggled with Mia as a character, for a girl that's been on the run so long she sure is dumb. I get that past catches up to you, but someone who gets caught peeping on sex has got to have done other things that were noticeable. Plus, she never seemed brave or capable of making personal decisions, so I had a hard time believing she'd been capable of taking care of herself while hiding. Then there's Julien, who was excellent as a dark, emotionless assassin, for the first 50%. At one point I felt him sliding more into the emotional and brooding hero role instead of being the sexy, dark killer out for his own good. I get the emotions developed between Mia and Julien, but I started seeing the assassin part as just his job instead of as who he really was. I wanted him to be bad and still work for Mia, because hello his bad side is what I loved. The ending just didn't work for me and I ended up imagining it playing out in a different way.
With plenty of chemistry and salacious scenes, Julien and Mia make for one intriguing couple. Deviant is a perfect mesh of erotica and suspense and Natasha Knight weaved just the right amount of sex scenes with true substance to make this a novel you won't be able to put down. The writing is excellent and full of engaging action.
mikaylab92's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
golden_like_dior's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
bookbruin's review against another edition
2.0
Audiobook Review
Overall 2.5 stars
Performance 3 stars
Story 1.5- 2 stars
I'm normally not a big dark romance reader, but have become a fan of Natasha Knight's books. She has a way of getting me invested in these broken anti-heroes that surprises me every time. I wanted to enjoy this one too, but unfortunately, Deviant was a miss for me. I knew going in that it was going to be a dark listen, but many situations in the book felt like they were there just for the shock value rather than actually adding anything to the story. Philip Alces did a good job narrating, but I didn't particularly enjoy his female voices and I thought his voice wasn't gruff enough to fully pull off our amoral hero.
The heroine, Mia, came across as too stupid to live, and all the hero, Julien, ever did in the book was have sex (with our h and OW in the beginning) or dole out punishments, which led to more sex. There are BDSM situations, forced seduction, and dubious consent in this one. It felt much more like Stockholm Syndrome rather than love and it was very hard to believe that Mia was always "dripping and ready" for Julien, after the things that he did to her. The main drama involving why Mia was on the run from her step family wrapped up really fast and was anticlimactic given how much build up there had been. Julien's 180 at the end made the epilogue feel disingenuous and though fans of dark romance/erotica may enjoy this one, Deviant just wasn't for me.
Overall 2.5 stars
Performance 3 stars
Story 1.5- 2 stars
I'm normally not a big dark romance reader, but have become a fan of Natasha Knight's books. She has a way of getting me invested in these broken anti-heroes that surprises me every time. I wanted to enjoy this one too, but unfortunately, Deviant was a miss for me. I knew going in that it was going to be a dark listen, but many situations in the book felt like they were there just for the shock value rather than actually adding anything to the story. Philip Alces did a good job narrating, but I didn't particularly enjoy his female voices and I thought his voice wasn't gruff enough to fully pull off our amoral hero.
The heroine, Mia, came across as too stupid to live, and all the hero, Julien, ever did in the book was have sex (with our h and OW in the beginning) or dole out punishments, which led to more sex. There are BDSM situations, forced seduction, and dubious consent in this one. It felt much more like Stockholm Syndrome rather than love and it was very hard to believe that Mia was always "dripping and ready" for Julien, after the things that he did to her. The main drama involving why Mia was on the run from her step family wrapped up really fast and was anticlimactic given how much build up there had been. Julien's 180 at the end made the epilogue feel disingenuous and though fans of dark romance/erotica may enjoy this one, Deviant just wasn't for me.