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A review by halffast
Beautiful Fiend by Lola King
4.0
Gang member dreams of becoming a professional MMC fighter and leaving her hometown, but when a guy from a rival gang blackmails her into working for them and subsequently becomes obsessed with her, it threatens her safety, her relationship with her family, and her chances of ever escaping gang life.
This book was an interesting and emotional mix of Romeo & Juliet, Untouchable by Sam Mariano, and a splash of MMA. It opens with a scene similar to Untouchable, which Caden (the MMC) films and later uses to blackmail Billie (FMC). Overall this book is darker than Untouchable, with loads more violence and uncomfortable sexual situations.
I really loved the chapters from Billie's POV as she balances gang politics with her hotheaded nature, the highs and lows of her MMA training, and an extremely complicated CNC relationship with Caden. The author did a wonderful job portraying Billie's inner strength as she acknowledged how broken she was, but forged ahead despite (or in spite) of everything she'd endured.
Caden is pretty unhinged, and while I didn't always agree with his motives or actions, I liked how hard he fought for Billie—even when she didn't necessarily want him to. The writing is a little shaky at times, but the plot moves along at a blistering pace and I found myself sucked into the story far more than the last several books I read.
Be warned that the book does contain some infidelity from the MMC, though I personally didn't consider it cheating because of the circumstances. (Hard to explain without spoilers, and it's also sort of heartbreaking.) But anyone who's super sensitive to that kind of thing may want to give this book a pass.
CW:
This book was an interesting and emotional mix of Romeo & Juliet, Untouchable by Sam Mariano, and a splash of MMA. It opens with a scene similar to Untouchable, which Caden (the MMC) films and later uses to blackmail Billie (FMC). Overall this book is darker than Untouchable, with loads more violence and uncomfortable sexual situations.
I really loved the chapters from Billie's POV as she balances gang politics with her hotheaded nature, the highs and lows of her MMA training, and an extremely complicated CNC relationship with Caden. The author did a wonderful job portraying Billie's inner strength as she acknowledged how broken she was, but forged ahead despite (or in spite) of everything she'd endured.
Caden is pretty unhinged, and while I didn't always agree with his motives or actions, I liked how hard he fought for Billie—even when she didn't necessarily want him to. The writing is a little shaky at times, but the plot moves along at a blistering pace and I found myself sucked into the story far more than the last several books I read.
Be warned that the book does contain some infidelity from the MMC, though I personally didn't consider it cheating because of the circumstances. (Hard to explain without spoilers, and it's also sort of heartbreaking.) But anyone who's super sensitive to that kind of thing may want to give this book a pass.
CW: