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A review by koistyfishy
Heartless Game by Jo Brenner
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5 Defenestration Stars โญ๏ธ
Spicy Rating: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
Spicy Rating: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ/5
โI donโt have to care about you to own you, Tovah Lewis. And I think itโs time to give you another demonstration. Now, open that smartass mouth so I can put it to use.โ
Okay, I'm obsessed. This is one of those books where you sit down to write a review and realise... You donโt even know what to say... because you're still sitting there in a stunned stupor, wondering what did I just read and why did I love it so much? It was twisted, wild, a little unhingedโฆ and I devoured it like I was a kid in a candy store.
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Tovah Lewis is hiding in plain sight. When she was a child, her mother, who worked as a maid for the Silver "mafia" family, ended up married to the bossโs best friend. He turned out to be abusive. One day, enough was enough... and he ended up dead. Now, Tovah is on the run. Trying to keep things on the down low as she and her mother need to stay off the Silver Family's radar for fear of retribution. Aside from this, Tovah is determined to take the family down, so she needs to get close to his son for dirt on his father. Isaac "Jones" Silver doesnโt know Tovah is the same little girl he used to love, the one who technically got away. All he knows is she has a secret tied to her nameโฆand that she haunts his every waking thought. When she threatens to expose the criminal dealings of his hockey crew, he turns the tables and threatens to out her real identity, which would put her and her mother in deadly danger. So to protect herself, Tovah agrees to move into his house and pretend to be his girlfriend... Except Isaac? Yeah, heโs not pretending.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
I wanted a dark, bully, hockey romance with a male lead who is completely obsessed with the girl, and this book delivered.
This book is trope soup IN THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY... Not the lazy kind of trope-dumping. But the kind that feels like Jo Brenner personally crawled into my brain and checked off every single thing that makes me go ga-ga! I had almost 100 highlights and 53 tropes and microtropes I identified and TRACKED BECAUSE I ADORE reading for tropes... I was... AM... FERAL and this book was pure serotonin!
Tovah Lewis is a firecracker! She is loud, brash, crazy and at times is borderline reckless in her actions, which can be frustrating at times when watching her. She uses this chaos as a mechanism to hide, and mask her past trauma. Because no one expects the spotlight-loving wild child to be a girl in hiding.
Isaac is a walking dichotomy of red and green flags. He is obsessed with Tovah, so much so that it's festeres like hatred... but as we all know, the line between love and hate is razor thin. He has no boundaries. He is your classic alpha male with a chameleon personality. The campus sees him as the golden retriever of the hockey team. He is sweet, responsible and level-headed with golden boy vibes. But underneath, heโs all sharp teeth and growls, and the only one who sees that darker side of him is Tovah.
Their dynamic is explosive and savage. He is intense, obsessed and possessive in the VERY BEST way, and the chemistry between them is wild and magnetic! It is spicy, filled with tension, and the back-and-forth banter and pushback between the two was absolute gold! AND HE GIVES HER SOUP WHEN SHE IS SICK!!!
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dark Romance
โถ Hate to Love
โถ Hockey Romance
โถ Forced Proximity
โถ Bully Romance
โถ Touch Her You Die
โถ College/University Romance
โถ Virgin FMC
โถ Captive/Captor
โถ Secret Identities
โถ Childhood Best Friends
๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ:
โข Squirting
โข Fun with Toys
โข Bondage
โข Primal Play
โข Degradation and Praise
โข Non Con/Dub Con
โข Edging
and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Spicy Locker Room time
โท Hockey Jersey "Heat"
โท "Not God... Me"
โท "Soup"
โท Came in his pants
โท "Good Girl"
โท Nicknames
โท Cages her with his arms
โท Touch Her You Die
Basically this book is what I wanted when I wanted it! It was dark, dirty, spicy and totally toxic!
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Tovah Lewis is hiding in plain sight. When she was a child, her mother, who worked as a maid for the Silver "mafia" family, ended up married to the bossโs best friend. He turned out to be abusive. One day, enough was enough... and he ended up dead. Now, Tovah is on the run. Trying to keep things on the down low as she and her mother need to stay off the Silver Family's radar for fear of retribution. Aside from this, Tovah is determined to take the family down, so she needs to get close to his son for dirt on his father. Isaac "Jones" Silver doesnโt know Tovah is the same little girl he used to love, the one who technically got away. All he knows is she has a secret tied to her nameโฆand that she haunts his every waking thought. When she threatens to expose the criminal dealings of his hockey crew, he turns the tables and threatens to out her real identity, which would put her and her mother in deadly danger. So to protect herself, Tovah agrees to move into his house and pretend to be his girlfriend... Except Isaac? Yeah, heโs not pretending.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
I wanted a dark, bully, hockey romance with a male lead who is completely obsessed with the girl, and this book delivered.
This book is trope soup IN THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY... Not the lazy kind of trope-dumping. But the kind that feels like Jo Brenner personally crawled into my brain and checked off every single thing that makes me go ga-ga! I had almost 100 highlights and 53 tropes and microtropes I identified and TRACKED BECAUSE I ADORE reading for tropes... I was... AM... FERAL and this book was pure serotonin!
Tovah Lewis is a firecracker! She is loud, brash, crazy and at times is borderline reckless in her actions, which can be frustrating at times when watching her. She uses this chaos as a mechanism to hide, and mask her past trauma. Because no one expects the spotlight-loving wild child to be a girl in hiding.
Isaac is a walking dichotomy of red and green flags. He is obsessed with Tovah, so much so that it's festeres like hatred... but as we all know, the line between love and hate is razor thin. He has no boundaries. He is your classic alpha male with a chameleon personality. The campus sees him as the golden retriever of the hockey team. He is sweet, responsible and level-headed with golden boy vibes. But underneath, heโs all sharp teeth and growls, and the only one who sees that darker side of him is Tovah.
Their dynamic is explosive and savage. He is intense, obsessed and possessive in the VERY BEST way, and the chemistry between them is wild and magnetic! It is spicy, filled with tension, and the back-and-forth banter and pushback between the two was absolute gold! AND HE GIVES HER SOUP WHEN SHE IS SICK!!!
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dark Romance
โถ Hate to Love
โถ Hockey Romance
โถ Forced Proximity
โถ Bully Romance
โถ Touch Her You Die
โถ College/University Romance
โถ Virgin FMC
โถ Captive/Captor
โถ Secret Identities
โถ Childhood Best Friends
๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ:
โข Squirting
โข Fun with Toys
โข Bondage
โข Primal Play
โข Degradation and Praise
โข Non Con/Dub Con
โข Edging
and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Spicy Locker Room time
โท Hockey Jersey "Heat"
โท "Not God... Me"
โท "Soup"
โท Came in his pants
โท "Good Girl"
โท Nicknames
โท Cages her with his arms
โท Touch Her You Die
Basically this book is what I wanted when I wanted it! It was dark, dirty, spicy and totally toxic!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content