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Honestly so soooo good !
I was not really interested in the characters in the previous books but damn I was so wrong !
Loved it from start to the end.
If you love crazy, brat, spanking, possessive MC with a loooot of tension and spice, this book is for you.
It’s also a quick read ~
Cora Rose did it again ❤️
I was not really interested in the characters in the previous books but damn I was so wrong !
Loved it from start to the end.
If you love crazy, brat, spanking, possessive MC with a loooot of tension and spice, this book is for you.
It’s also a quick read ~
Cora Rose did it again ❤️
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Honestly so soooo good !
I was not really interested in the characters in the previous books but damn I was so wrong !
Loved it from start to the end.
If you love crazy, brat, spanking, possessive MC with a loooot of tension and spice, this book is for you.
It’s also a quick read ~
Cora Rose did it again ❤️
I was not really interested in the characters in the previous books but damn I was so wrong !
Loved it from start to the end.
If you love crazy, brat, spanking, possessive MC with a loooot of tension and spice, this book is for you.
It’s also a quick read ~
Cora Rose did it again ❤️
Book #7 of Unexpected series by Cora Rose features Diablo and his bodyguard, Skylar. Diablo, the other half of twin sons of mob boss finds himself the target of Elio (I would imagine another bad guy). I’ve read most of the books in this series, but I must be honest and say I don’t remember them. It does make me want to read them again though if only to reorientate myself with everyone.
Anyway, Diablo is a hacker who made Elio’s life a living hell because he set his sights on Angel, Diablo’s twin brother. This, then escalated into an all-out war. Enter Skylar, an ex-marine tasked to protect Diablo at all costs. While I’m usually a fan of enemies to lovers trope, Diablo and Skylar’s relationship just annoyed me. Diablo was always unnecessarily cantankerous and while Skylar’s neanderthal attitude matches Diablo’s energy, it was exhausting to read.
But if mafia MM is your cup of tea, put the kettle on.
Anyway, Diablo is a hacker who made Elio’s life a living hell because he set his sights on Angel, Diablo’s twin brother. This, then escalated into an all-out war. Enter Skylar, an ex-marine tasked to protect Diablo at all costs. While I’m usually a fan of enemies to lovers trope, Diablo and Skylar’s relationship just annoyed me. Diablo was always unnecessarily cantankerous and while Skylar’s neanderthal attitude matches Diablo’s energy, it was exhausting to read.
But if mafia MM is your cup of tea, put the kettle on.
⭐︎3.5 Stars Rounded Up⭐︎
I was a little bit unsure how to rate this, but eventually settled on 3.5 stars.
I was excited for this, and it didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped it was going to be.
Diablo is...a lot to take. Especially the first half of this book. He was relentless in his brattiness and never really let up except for a few moments here or there. He was determined to be as annoying as possible.
And I get it to an extent. He didn't get much attention from his father his whole life - mother dead awhile ago, it seems like - and with Diablo's personality, not getting the love and attention he needs leads to how he is now. I get all that.
Doesn't make him any less annoying. Especially when he never changes it, not really. He is who is he is...and that's a fucking annoying shithead, really.
It did bring my enjoyment of this down considerably. I thought, or was hoping, that eventually he'd...let up a little. That he'd eventually have his bratty moments, but be more real and vulnerable with Skylar.
Which, in his way, he kinda did near the end. The reason I'm rounding up instead of down with this is because while he didn't let up the brattiness, he did soften up some with Skylar. Not as much as I would have liked, and he kept up the front that Skylar always saw past and that he knew Skylar saw past, so I didn't really get why he kept at it when it was just them alone, but still, he did show vulnerability at times. And softened in at least some way. It became like his "I hate you's" were actually "I love you's" that he couldn't say.
I do wish we had gotten there. We kinda do. Skylar says it at the end, and we know Diablo feels the same, but he doesn't say it. I guess when he can't even say it to his brother, Angelo (aka Angel), who he's closest to outside of Skyler, it makes sense he doesn't say it. But...I would have liked Skyler to be the exception to him being unable to say it *sigh* oh well.
Now, to me it also gets points off because I don't think there was enough build up to get to the "I love you" stage, but I at least was feeling something between these two by the end.
This book actually took a long while to get them past the beginning stages, and then we don't get much once they're past those beginning stages. I would have wanted less of the beginning stages and more of them really getting into their romance.
I really enjoyed Skylar as a character, though, so this gets points for that. I also didn't quite feel that much chemistry at first between these two - some, but not a ton - until around 68% when they have penetrative sex for the first time. It was...really fucking hot. And they made kissing an art form. In that way, the build up was worth it. I guess this could have just been a little longer, to see them really getting to that "I love you" stage.
The "threat" didn't really feel like a threat either. In this, Skylar is having to take Diablo from safe house to safe house that his mobster father owns because this guy called Elio, who took advantage of his brother Angel and who Diablo retaliated against through hacking, as no one hurts his sweet brother Angel and gets away with it.
Only, now the guy is after him. And we don't get any type of threat from the guy until the climax. It's just these two, in a house after house, and their antics together, and then a random new bodyguard Casey out of the blue (who I suspect might be the LI for Angel if he gets a book? I bet he is. But that's really the only reason he's there. Doesn't make much sense otherwise.) until all the sudden he's a problem.
It more like the Elio threat was just a way to get these two alone for an extended period of time than any actual legitimate part of the plot. So that plot point felt weak and underutilized. And with how many times Diablo escaped/almost escaped/tried to escape the little houses he was confined to, like maybe he could have almost got killed by Elio being close on their tale and then they get away to another safe house after that.
It would also teach Diablo the lesson to actually listen to Skylar and he wasn't just doing it for funsies.
Instead he learns that lesson too late at the climax. Thankfully it all turns out okay. But Diablo was so annoyingly careless with his and Skylar's life just to be obstinate and I wanted him to reap a bit of what he sowed.
Also, while the sex was absolutely hot, heed that this is dub-con. While Diablo absolutely wants it and it's part of his character to pretend he doesn't care about anything, ever, in his life, he and Skylar never discuss the consent.
And he acts like he doesn't want it, and Skylar goes ahead and fucks him anyway. Which, yeah, he does truly consent behind the lies he insists on, but there's no verbal confirmation of it, which is where the dub-con comes in.
And there's a particular scene near the end where if it was anyone but Diablo, and it wasn't an established part of their dynamic, it would just be straight up non-con. I know with who these characters are, that they aren't actually good people (especially Diablo. But Skylar is willingly working for a gangster, so....he's more in the gray area as well) and they aren't exactly educated in informed consent.
Which is fine, but if you're someone who needs clear consent/enthusiastic consent in your romance books, this might not be the one for you.
As it is, it is really hot, and going into this knowing the consent isn't discussed at all, I can just enjoy it for what it is.
So overall, this could have been improved. And honestly, if the last third of this hadn't been so enjoyable, I probably would have just given this 3 stars. That was what it was shaping up to be, honestly.
Enjoyable at times at first, but nothing to write home about. The first half especially is a bit of a slog to get through. Not only because not much is happening, but not much is happening on top of Diablo being fairly insufferable a lot of the time. It was fine at first, but got old real fast.
But, the last third of the book really came through. The chemistry was on point, the fucked up way they connected, was good. The thing that gets Diablo to bend slightly is...it's fucked up, but works for them. It's so Diablo and Skylar, which you'll get if you read this.
And again, while Diablo didn't soften as much as I wanted, wasn't as vulnerable and real with Skylar as I wanted, he did soften somewhat, which did wonders for lessening my annoyance with him.
So overall, this was enjoyable. Worth a read. Definitely not the strongest in this series, and disappointing in some ways. But it comes through in the end, especially that last third of the book.
I wonder who the next book will be about. Hopefully Angel. He seems so sweet, I want a man (potentially Casey?) to worship him as he deserves.
Can't wait!
I was a little bit unsure how to rate this, but eventually settled on 3.5 stars.
I was excited for this, and it didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped it was going to be.
Diablo is...a lot to take. Especially the first half of this book. He was relentless in his brattiness and never really let up except for a few moments here or there. He was determined to be as annoying as possible.
And I get it to an extent. He didn't get much attention from his father his whole life - mother dead awhile ago, it seems like - and with Diablo's personality, not getting the love and attention he needs leads to how he is now. I get all that.
Doesn't make him any less annoying. Especially when he never changes it, not really. He is who is he is...and that's a fucking annoying shithead, really.
It did bring my enjoyment of this down considerably. I thought, or was hoping, that eventually he'd...let up a little. That he'd eventually have his bratty moments, but be more real and vulnerable with Skylar.
Which, in his way, he kinda did near the end. The reason I'm rounding up instead of down with this is because while he didn't let up the brattiness, he did soften up some with Skylar. Not as much as I would have liked, and he kept up the front that Skylar always saw past and that he knew Skylar saw past, so I didn't really get why he kept at it when it was just them alone, but still, he did show vulnerability at times. And softened in at least some way. It became like his "I hate you's" were actually "I love you's" that he couldn't say.
I do wish we had gotten there. We kinda do. Skylar says it at the end, and we know Diablo feels the same, but he doesn't say it. I guess when he can't even say it to his brother, Angelo (aka Angel), who he's closest to outside of Skyler, it makes sense he doesn't say it. But...I would have liked Skyler to be the exception to him being unable to say it *sigh* oh well.
Now, to me it also gets points off because I don't think there was enough build up to get to the "I love you" stage, but I at least was feeling something between these two by the end.
This book actually took a long while to get them past the beginning stages, and then we don't get much once they're past those beginning stages. I would have wanted less of the beginning stages and more of them really getting into their romance.
I really enjoyed Skylar as a character, though, so this gets points for that. I also didn't quite feel that much chemistry at first between these two - some, but not a ton - until around 68% when they have penetrative sex for the first time. It was...really fucking hot. And they made kissing an art form. In that way, the build up was worth it. I guess this could have just been a little longer, to see them really getting to that "I love you" stage.
The "threat" didn't really feel like a threat either. In this, Skylar is having to take Diablo from safe house to safe house that his mobster father owns because this guy called Elio, who took advantage of his brother Angel and who Diablo retaliated against through hacking, as no one hurts his sweet brother Angel and gets away with it.
Only, now the guy is after him. And we don't get any type of threat from the guy until the climax. It's just these two, in a house after house, and their antics together, and then a random new bodyguard Casey out of the blue (who I suspect might be the LI for Angel if he gets a book? I bet he is. But that's really the only reason he's there. Doesn't make much sense otherwise.) until all the sudden he's a problem.
It more like the Elio threat was just a way to get these two alone for an extended period of time than any actual legitimate part of the plot. So that plot point felt weak and underutilized. And with how many times Diablo escaped/almost escaped/tried to escape the little houses he was confined to, like maybe he could have almost got killed by Elio being close on their tale and then they get away to another safe house after that.
It would also teach Diablo the lesson to actually listen to Skylar and he wasn't just doing it for funsies.
Instead he learns that lesson too late at the climax. Thankfully it all turns out okay. But Diablo was so annoyingly careless with his and Skylar's life just to be obstinate and I wanted him to reap a bit of what he sowed.
Also, while the sex was absolutely hot, heed that this is dub-con. While Diablo absolutely wants it and it's part of his character to pretend he doesn't care about anything, ever, in his life, he and Skylar never discuss the consent.
And he acts like he doesn't want it, and Skylar goes ahead and fucks him anyway. Which, yeah, he does truly consent behind the lies he insists on, but there's no verbal confirmation of it, which is where the dub-con comes in.
And there's a particular scene near the end where if it was anyone but Diablo, and it wasn't an established part of their dynamic, it would just be straight up non-con. I know with who these characters are, that they aren't actually good people (especially Diablo. But Skylar is willingly working for a gangster, so....he's more in the gray area as well) and they aren't exactly educated in informed consent.
Which is fine, but if you're someone who needs clear consent/enthusiastic consent in your romance books, this might not be the one for you.
As it is, it is really hot, and going into this knowing the consent isn't discussed at all, I can just enjoy it for what it is.
So overall, this could have been improved. And honestly, if the last third of this hadn't been so enjoyable, I probably would have just given this 3 stars. That was what it was shaping up to be, honestly.
Enjoyable at times at first, but nothing to write home about. The first half especially is a bit of a slog to get through. Not only because not much is happening, but not much is happening on top of Diablo being fairly insufferable a lot of the time. It was fine at first, but got old real fast.
But, the last third of the book really came through. The chemistry was on point, the fucked up way they connected, was good. The thing that gets Diablo to bend slightly is...it's fucked up, but works for them. It's so Diablo and Skylar, which you'll get if you read this.
And again, while Diablo didn't soften as much as I wanted, wasn't as vulnerable and real with Skylar as I wanted, he did soften somewhat, which did wonders for lessening my annoyance with him.
So overall, this was enjoyable. Worth a read. Definitely not the strongest in this series, and disappointing in some ways. But it comes through in the end, especially that last third of the book.
I wonder who the next book will be about. Hopefully Angel. He seems so sweet, I want a man (potentially Casey?) to worship him as he deserves.
Can't wait!
I’ve never disliked characters more… Diablo’s bratty act made him insufferable. Absolutely nothing endearing with no desire to see if he turned it around.
The way Diablo likes to protect his brother is amazing. I loved this book. I loved Skylar and Diablo are so good. I loved this book.