1.38k reviews for:

Looking forward to more

Great start to the series. Enemies to lovers, step brother and brothers best friends. The twists and turns of this book keeps you on your toes and keeps you guessing. I have a guess on who Ted is and can't wait to see if I'm right. You can tell the guys are growing some, but not sure if they are maturing enough. Only time will tell.

puzzyfussy's review against another edition

3.0

This book has everything I love and hate in a dark romance:
Love- obsessed mmcs, explicit noncon/ dubcon scenes, danger from inside and outside the house.
Hate- dumb fmc, miscommunication, stupid fmc, everyone being ridiculously good-looking, did I mention a fmc who is dumb af and makes idiotic decisions?

kina11111111's review against another edition

3.75

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kathrynjean97's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional 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: Yes

For my first dip into the dark reverse-harem genre, I'm certainly not disappointed. This is the kind of book you read for the smut, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a mostly cohesive and genuinely interesting story in between the gratuitous and frequent sex scenes.

VIBES

💥 Dark romance
💥 College setting w/ Mafia-esque frats
💥 Enemies to lovers (eventually)
💥 Forbidden/taboo romance (stepsiblings)
💥 Secret competition
💥 Stalker mystery plot
💥 Reverse harem

🗨️ Multiple POV
🗨️ First-person, present tense

THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)

The Good:
✅ First and foremost, the competition between the boys ticked all the jealousy and degradation and manipulation boxes I didn't know I had.
✅ Killian, Tristian, and Dimitri/Rath all had distinct personalities and relationships with Story.
✅ Story had an actual, if someone thin, MO for putting herself at the boys' mercy, and it made her easier to like. Rather than being a two-dimensional character only there for the boys' pleasure, she feels like a real player in the game.
✅ Ms. Crane... she's so sassy and brutal and I'm so glad SOMEONE in this damn book recognises that the Lords are really just a bunch of angry, entitled 20-something yr old dudes and is game enough to take them down a notch.
✅ On that note, Story putting Tristian and Killian in their fucking places!! Specifically, regarding Tristian

being protective of his little sisters as if he's not a literal fucking rapist

and Killian

being angry at Story for not being his as if it's not entirely his own fault

.
✅ No third act breakup/relationship drama but rather some actual third act storyline drama + an ending that had me shooketh and whispering 'oooooooooh interesting' to my Kobo.

The Bad:
❌ Look, I know I'm reading a book about frat boys being RoYaLtY and having concubines/sex slaves (ymmv) but the MISOGYNY in this book was not it. The boys treat the girls like glorified sex dolls and the GIRLS just backstab and bully each other. I was hoping for a liiiiiiiittle bit of feminine solidarity here.
❌ Story starts out as a pick-me girl until she is... picked, I guess.

5.0 🌶️
→ explicit
→ manipulative and dubious
→ plentiful

Spicy Chapters:

Prologue, 6, 9, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, 25, and 31.

Kinks & TW's:

Non-con, dub-con, aggressive MC, exhibitionism (at school, at their parents' house), voyeurism (hidden cameras), somnophilia.

FAVOURITE QUOTES

"She didn’t seem inclined to attend dinner with the sentient manifestations of Satan’s genitalia. Can’t say I blame her. You’ve got the personalities of an anal itch. Don’t know how I stand it."
_____

"You brought your glorified sexual assault victim to teach your little sisters about... what? Standing up to assholes? Bringing them down? Shaking it off?" I shake my head. "Jesus, Tristian, Shakespeare couldn't write this kind of irony."
_____