A review by idratherbereading542
Lords of Mercy by Angel Lawson, Samantha Rue

4.0

4.5 stars

- FMC: Story
- MMC's: Killian, Dimitri (aka Rath), Tristian
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Story, Killian, Dimitri, Tristian)
- Book Playlist (Royals of Forsyth University Series Playlist)

So close to being 5 stars for me but I’ll explain why it’s not quite 5 stars like the other 2 books in a minute…

Firstly, this series is an incredible read. I mean, that is as long as you like dark dark romances, have no triggers, are okay with a lot of taboos, good with a reverse harem relationship, and like lots of steamy sex mixed in with a lot of heart, an amazing story, and incredibly dynamic characters that grow throughout the series.

I’m blown away by the writing in these. Even though they are these super smutty taboo erotic novels, the writing team is seriously talented. The words flow beautifully, the pacing is spot on, the story is interesting, sex is hot.

But what really surprised me about these books is the characters. They start off in such dark and broken places and throughout their three books their characters grow and develop naturally and in such a heartfelt way. And speaking of characters, I can’t say enough about nutty Ms. Crane. God I loved her. She’s so no-nonsense and hilarious to boot with her filthy mouth bluntness. I almost died laughing when Tristian got up in arms about her not making a vegetable tray for a party in book 2 and she opens the fridge, pulls out a bag of baby carrots, throws it at him, and tells him to “knock himself out”. Lmao! She’s so great.

So I flew threw these books and this one was the lightest of all of them. The first two go to some very dark places and cover some very strong triggers. This relationship does not start off easy by any means. These four fight tooth and nail to get where they finally end up. But they do find their HEA in this one. And while there was outside drama, it was nice to see the relationships come full circle and finally find solid ground after so much hardship.

Now for my issues….

First, I was not into the “big brother”, “little sister” nicknames between Story and Killian. They are step siblings and while yes, that taboo can be hot sometimes, it seemed to rub this in and take it to an uncomfortable level. I could’ve done without it or at least not so frequently.

Second issue was that the book was SUPER long. Like 570 pages. It was enjoyable, but it’s unusual for an erotic novel to be so long. Having said that, I still thought the pacing was pretty good, although a few things probably could’ve been cut to size down the novel a little.

Last and biggest issue… I didn’t feel an equal connection between Story and all three guys. I don’t know if this was intentional. But, pretty much from book 1 it’s always seemed to me like Story is most in love with Dimitri. They have this incredible chemistry and bond together. And while the other two guys did form connections with Story, it didn’t feel like equal footing. I never fully warmed up to Killian, he’s kind of a creep. Lol (but he’s OUR creep haha). And his relationship with Story never felt that deep, but more of an excuse to be taboo. But the worst was poor Tristian. Despite his past indiscretions, I felt like he jumped through hoops to show Story love and affection like this sweet little puppy. He turned into such an affectionate and sweet guy. But her feelings for him always felt a little lukewarm to me. He’s always the odd guy out when they’re all sleeping together, she hardly ever chooses to sleep in his bed or single him out for sex alone, and he didn’t get nearly as much personal time with Story as the other two guys. I felt bad for him. He put his whole heart on the line and while I felt that Story grew an affection for him, it felt less personal and deep. This was just my own observations though, the novel does give them all a HEA together where they are in love and a family (which was super cute). Having said all that, Dimitri is the hottest and sexiest in my opinion. :) yum. Just saying. :)

P.S. For the record I TOTALLY figured out who Ted was in the first or second book. Boo-ya! It wasn’t super obvious, but I got it. :)