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A review by thebritishbibliophile
Envy by Eva Charles
5.0
'A perfect ending to a trilogy that has been phenomenal from the beginning. All three books are a must read this year, and Envy is just the icing on the delicious, sinful cake'
Thank you to Grey's Promotions for sending me an ebook Advanced Reader Copy for me to read and leave an honest review.
-------------------
Where to start, where to start. I read a lot in a year and quite often back to back when ebook ARCs all come at the same time, so sometimes books slip unintentionally through the cracks here and there. Not this book. Not this series, in fact. From the start, the series landed with a bombshell with Greed and kept on imploding and exploding right until Envy came to a close. All three books are from Eva's ' Sinful Empire series.
'My dark prince. My greatest temptation. My husband.'
Usually as I have said in past reviews for both Greed and Lust, I would not pick up a book that would end on a cliffhanger (as Greed and Lust both did), but I could feel from reading Greed's blurb that this was a series to be well worth the investment of the dreaded cliffys. The way that this series was pitched as a whole greatly appealed to me, and I was very much looking forward to diving into someone whom I hadn't read before at that stage.
'Antonio Huntsman isn’t the prince of childhood fairy tales. He’s savage and dangerous. The ruthless king I need. The beast I crave.'
After reading each book, the hunger to see how it all ended only grew. Despite considerate warnings and trigger warnings of dark themes and scenarios throughout each book, obviously getting the ball rolling with Greed, none of that put me off to even get to the point of considering DNF-ing either Greed, Lust or Envy. The dark, emotionally taxing, frustrating and harrowing parts interwoven within these books only made me cheer Eva on for writing about them in the first place. Antonio and his world is far from morally grey, he's firmly set in the dark and dangerous category--we all know where we lie with him and the world he was born into--, but for some those elements might have been off-putting. Not for me. The difficult parts of his personality along with the dark, scary and dangerous parts of the Mafia world were one of the many things that made this series unputdownable. I can understand for those who have been in situations similar to parts within these novels, how it can be difficult to read about, but there is always a reason behind why an author does what they do and if you read all the way through Envy and read Eva's message at the end, you'll understand too, why I'm sitting here applauding her for writing what she has, how she has.
'Together we’ll fight the monsters. The demons threatening to tear us apart. The villains who will stop at nothing to destroy everything. Our family. Our valley. Our love.'
Envy brings to a close a story that defines the rollercoaster romance genre, Mafia trope included. Just when things look like they've got a way towards a HEA, BOOM , another plot twist comes up that is both as surprising as it is enjoyable. Eva managed to keep me on my toes throughout this book as I worked my way towards the ending, and right up until crunch time, I was still very much on the edge of my seat. Antonio is still very much as Antonio as he was when we met him in Greed--but as Eva states--, considering who he is and the role he takes on in his world and in the Mafia, it would make zero sense to make him almost angelic and book-boyfriend perfect by the time the Epilogue rolls around. (And what an epilogue this was, oh my heart!). I love who he is, and who he is in the end thanks to Daniela. The two of them have been on quite the harrowing journey both respectively on their own, and together. But it was well worth reading through all the moments that left me gasping, tearing up & crying buckets, biting my lip and swooning over the steamy bits.
Though I am very much sad to say goodbye to these characters, their world and their journey, I'm incredibly thankful and grateful to have been reading these books and finding not one, but three books that have made both my 'must read' and 'top read' lists. I very much hope to add these books to my bookcase someday, because I have a feeling I will be re-reading this trilogy for many years to come.
'There will be no mercy. We will take no prisoners. I pray we make it out alive.'
I would recommend this series to anyone who loves a good steamy, mafia-filled, angsty, age-gap romance that ticks all the boxes and then some.
See you soon, Antonio and Daniela. I'm not done with you two yet!
Five stars for Antonio, Daniela & for Eva Charles!
Thank you to Grey's Promotions for sending me an ebook Advanced Reader Copy for me to read and leave an honest review.
-------------------
Where to start, where to start. I read a lot in a year and quite often back to back when ebook ARCs all come at the same time, so sometimes books slip unintentionally through the cracks here and there. Not this book. Not this series, in fact. From the start, the series landed with a bombshell with Greed and kept on imploding and exploding right until Envy came to a close. All three books are from Eva's ' Sinful Empire series.
'My dark prince. My greatest temptation. My husband.'
Usually as I have said in past reviews for both Greed and Lust, I would not pick up a book that would end on a cliffhanger (as Greed and Lust both did), but I could feel from reading Greed's blurb that this was a series to be well worth the investment of the dreaded cliffys. The way that this series was pitched as a whole greatly appealed to me, and I was very much looking forward to diving into someone whom I hadn't read before at that stage.
'Antonio Huntsman isn’t the prince of childhood fairy tales. He’s savage and dangerous. The ruthless king I need. The beast I crave.'
After reading each book, the hunger to see how it all ended only grew. Despite considerate warnings and trigger warnings of dark themes and scenarios throughout each book, obviously getting the ball rolling with Greed, none of that put me off to even get to the point of considering DNF-ing either Greed, Lust or Envy. The dark, emotionally taxing, frustrating and harrowing parts interwoven within these books only made me cheer Eva on for writing about them in the first place. Antonio and his world is far from morally grey, he's firmly set in the dark and dangerous category--we all know where we lie with him and the world he was born into--, but for some those elements might have been off-putting. Not for me. The difficult parts of his personality along with the dark, scary and dangerous parts of the Mafia world were one of the many things that made this series unputdownable. I can understand for those who have been in situations similar to parts within these novels, how it can be difficult to read about, but there is always a reason behind why an author does what they do and if you read all the way through Envy and read Eva's message at the end, you'll understand too, why I'm sitting here applauding her for writing what she has, how she has.
'Together we’ll fight the monsters. The demons threatening to tear us apart. The villains who will stop at nothing to destroy everything. Our family. Our valley. Our love.'
Envy brings to a close a story that defines the rollercoaster romance genre, Mafia trope included. Just when things look like they've got a way towards a HEA, BOOM , another plot twist comes up that is both as surprising as it is enjoyable. Eva managed to keep me on my toes throughout this book as I worked my way towards the ending, and right up until crunch time, I was still very much on the edge of my seat. Antonio is still very much as Antonio as he was when we met him in Greed--but as Eva states--, considering who he is and the role he takes on in his world and in the Mafia, it would make zero sense to make him almost angelic and book-boyfriend perfect by the time the Epilogue rolls around. (And what an epilogue this was, oh my heart!). I love who he is, and who he is in the end thanks to Daniela. The two of them have been on quite the harrowing journey both respectively on their own, and together. But it was well worth reading through all the moments that left me gasping, tearing up & crying buckets, biting my lip and swooning over the steamy bits.
Though I am very much sad to say goodbye to these characters, their world and their journey, I'm incredibly thankful and grateful to have been reading these books and finding not one, but three books that have made both my 'must read' and 'top read' lists. I very much hope to add these books to my bookcase someday, because I have a feeling I will be re-reading this trilogy for many years to come.
'There will be no mercy. We will take no prisoners. I pray we make it out alive.'
I would recommend this series to anyone who loves a good steamy, mafia-filled, angsty, age-gap romance that ticks all the boxes and then some.
See you soon, Antonio and Daniela. I'm not done with you two yet!
Five stars for Antonio, Daniela & for Eva Charles!