Reviews with content warning for Blood - Does It Hurt?

Man, I was expecting to LOVE this… but I just didn’t. It wasn’t all bad but I never felt the strong attachment I usually do for the characters and their relationship. The “enemies” part in this one was really strong… like a TRUE enemies-to-lovers, so I’ll give it that. But I just wasn’t jiving with it for some reason…

The imagery and vibes, though… as usual, were immaculate. 👌🏼
She knows how to paint a picture and make you feel like you’re jumping into the book and that was my favorite part, getting to go back to this island and lighthouse every time I came back to read.

Enzo was… while rightfully mad about what had been done to him, he felt pretty irredeemable in my eyes at the same time. Like bro, can we not just be adults and ask questions have a proper sit down when someone wrongs us? Nope we have to assault them and try to drown them while getting our jollies off (that scene will now live in my brain forever as it has for everyone before me and all that come after me - no pun intended). His character just… wasnt likable to me at the end of the day.

Sawyer was a hot freaking mess of a person who came from shitty circumstances and an understandable distrust for other humans. Sawyer was also a terrible person who took from others and manipulated her way through life because she could not someone conceive another way to survive.

I was pretty interested in the other story and could not read fast enough when it came to the end and FINALLY finding out what happened to his family. His poor daughter but… let’s be honest, she was never going to be able to live a normal life or survive independently as a part of society.

I liked a LOT of parts of this story but there IS absolutely a reason it took over a month for me to read it.

But listen, if H.D. Carlton wanted to write a book about shoveling horse shit… I’d probably read it. 🤠

Tropes:
Enemies-to-Lovers
Forced Proximity

Content Warnings

agnesreads2042's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

Content Warnings

carinreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Loved this book soo much. My first dark romance and definitely will not be my last

Content Warnings

feuermotte's review against another edition

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See whilst I enjoyed the other books by the author, I've now learned that in these "dark romances" I draw the line at reading smut with scenes of sexual assault that move towards near attempted murder.

Content Warnings

vreyna20_2004's review against another edition

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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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Before I get into it I’m just gonna talk about H.D Carlton’s writing progress. This was way better than the Cat & Mouse duet. I said it. As much as I enjoyed Adeline’s progression that story was just not that great compared to this one. Enzo is a superior man yeah he dumped Sawyer’s head in shark infested water BUT he had a reason to do things unlike Zade who just did it for the hell of it. Every time Enzo would talk I would start giggling and kicking my feet he was determined to die for Sawyer when trying to escape the island he even gave her a reason to keep living.

Anyway onto the review. This book has an intriguing plot if there was no romance/spice I still would’ve rated it high just because of the story of Sylvester and his only living child. I teared up when Kacey appeared to Sawyer and Enzo with a rotten mouth due to Sylvester sowing her mouth shut and the fact that he made her eat through a tube made my heart break. She used herself to save Enzo even if it meant she would die. And Sawyer’s story of her escaping her brother after killing him when he tried to rape her yet again I would never be able to think of Maruchan socks normally because of that one scene. I also loved reading Enzo’s story and the reason why he loves sharks and the ocean he just felt like a realistic human being. I also enjoyed Sawyer’s character and her comments for a situation so severe she made things so lighthearted and funny I enjoyed it more because of her.

The spice did not disappoint but knowing it’s H.D Carlton I’m not surprised. I, however, enjoyed the spice in this one since in the Cat and Mouse duet I found myself asking if this morally okay unlike this one plus I enjoyed it more than Zade and his constant god complex. I can’t pick which spice scene I enjoyed the most since everything is forever in my mind.

If I’m being honest the romance (not sex) wasn’t that obvious to me. They were mostly banging which usually I’ll be like “okay we get it can yall stop fucking and get romantic” but for this type of story I didn’t mind it nor did I care since they were trying to escape alive it does feel like they have a trauma bond relationship but it was still cute in its own weird way.

Content Warnings

twalton95's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was equally parts disturbed and intrigued!

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