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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶.25
Heat/Angst: 🔥🔥.5
Narrating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
First, I want to say what a start to this trilogy. Be prepared that if won't start where you think it should or would, at the beginning of their story/journey. This book starts after Rai and Kyle's books. When Lia shows up at Rai's place asking for help to escape. It starts, I believe, a few months after that b/c it starts Rai as 3 months pregnant in this book, and right before Kirill becomes Pakhan. Hopefully, you won't be confused like I was at the beginning of this book.
Tropes:
- Russian Mafia
- Dark Romance
- Amnesia
- Marriage of Convenience (seems like)
- BDSM
- Age-Gap (6 years)
- Lies, Manipulation & Secrets
- Hidden Obsession/Possessive MMC
- Morally Grey Hero
- CLIFFHANGER
This story starts with a murder and Adrian finding a woman named Winter who looked just like his wife Lia. He pretty much conned her into coming home with him to pretend to be his dead wife and mother to his son, Jeremy. Winter was a homeless drunk who was just trying to forget the memory of her dead daughter and past career that was ruined. Adrian basically told her she didn't have a choice or the murder of the guy would be pinned on her and she would go to prison. So pretending to be Lia or prison was her options.
Now, along the way, you start to see and question if Winter was really Lia. Adrian would punish her every time she said her name was Winter, not Lia, when they were alone. Adrian punished her for a lot of things, like back taking, scoffing, saying ok, not listening, and a lot more. But it wasn't punishment to hurt her. It was BDSM and Winter got off during it. Adrian only did things during punishment that got her off.
You could tell that Adrian was trying to make her Lia and behave like she would. Yet, she did things differently than the real Lia would. Like how she acted with Jeremy and would mother him. She wanted to dress differently and act differently. You could tell that she was slowly bringing Adrian out of his shell a little bit.
There are so many things that Adrian needs to tell her. Like, why he ignores her when they are around members of the brotherhood (mafia). She is Adrian's weakness, but he doesn't want them or anyone to know that he actually cares for his wife. What he actually told the mafia about Lia isn't that great. They both need to be honest with each other, and it would solve so much. Especially when she gets her memories back at the end of this book.
You will start to question who Lia is. If Winter is really her, or is she really upstairs in the guesthouse. Winter's nightmares/night terrors are a twist on her memories, and she thinks she's going crazy. Jeremy hates when his mom turns into a "ghost" of herself. You'll question how many times has this actually happened in the past and what is Lia running away from. I hope they both get their crap together and realize who is important and who really isn't before it's too late and something bad happens. Lia isn't actually who you think she is either. By the end of this book, you'll question everything.
The narrators of this book were amazing as always. Jason Clarke always does an amazing job in Rina Kent's books and others he's done. I love how accents when he uses them. He does a Russian accent so well. His voice is very yummy to listen to. Desiree Ketchum always does an excellent job in anything she narrates. I've listened to quite a few of the books she's narrated, and I could listen to her read all day. These 2 together sounded so well. I've listened to other books with these 2 narrating, and they always sound so good together.
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶.25
Heat/Angst: 🔥🔥.5
Narrating: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
First, I want to say what a start to this trilogy. Be prepared that if won't start where you think it should or would, at the beginning of their story/journey. This book starts after Rai and Kyle's books. When Lia shows up at Rai's place asking for help to escape. It starts, I believe, a few months after that b/c it starts Rai as 3 months pregnant in this book, and right before Kirill becomes Pakhan. Hopefully, you won't be confused like I was at the beginning of this book.
Tropes:
- Russian Mafia
- Dark Romance
- Amnesia
- Marriage of Convenience (seems like)
- BDSM
- Age-Gap (6 years)
- Lies, Manipulation & Secrets
- Hidden Obsession/Possessive MMC
- Morally Grey Hero
- CLIFFHANGER
This story starts with a murder and Adrian finding a woman named Winter who looked just like his wife Lia. He pretty much conned her into coming home with him to pretend to be his dead wife and mother to his son, Jeremy. Winter was a homeless drunk who was just trying to forget the memory of her dead daughter and past career that was ruined. Adrian basically told her she didn't have a choice or the murder of the guy would be pinned on her and she would go to prison. So pretending to be Lia or prison was her options.
Now, along the way, you start to see and question if Winter was really Lia. Adrian would punish her every time she said her name was Winter, not Lia, when they were alone. Adrian punished her for a lot of things, like back taking, scoffing, saying ok, not listening, and a lot more. But it wasn't punishment to hurt her. It was BDSM and Winter got off during it. Adrian only did things during punishment that got her off.
You could tell that Adrian was trying to make her Lia and behave like she would. Yet, she did things differently than the real Lia would. Like how she acted with Jeremy and would mother him. She wanted to dress differently and act differently. You could tell that she was slowly bringing Adrian out of his shell a little bit.
There are so many things that Adrian needs to tell her. Like, why he ignores her when they are around members of the brotherhood (mafia). She is Adrian's weakness, but he doesn't want them or anyone to know that he actually cares for his wife. What he actually told the mafia about Lia isn't that great. They both need to be honest with each other, and it would solve so much. Especially when she gets her memories back at the end of this book.
You will start to question who Lia is. If Winter is really her, or is she really upstairs in the guesthouse. Winter's nightmares/night terrors are a twist on her memories, and she thinks she's going crazy. Jeremy hates when his mom turns into a "ghost" of herself. You'll question how many times has this actually happened in the past and what is Lia running away from. I hope they both get their crap together and realize who is important and who really isn't before it's too late and something bad happens. Lia isn't actually who you think she is either. By the end of this book, you'll question everything.
The narrators of this book were amazing as always. Jason Clarke always does an amazing job in Rina Kent's books and others he's done. I love how accents when he uses them. He does a Russian accent so well. His voice is very yummy to listen to. Desiree Ketchum always does an excellent job in anything she narrates. I've listened to quite a few of the books she's narrated, and I could listen to her read all day. These 2 together sounded so well. I've listened to other books with these 2 narrating, and they always sound so good together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Outing, Abandonment