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A review by lionellepmuls
Savage by Erin Russell
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.25
4 Ken Doll Stars ⭐
ARC Read: 30/01/2025
I received this ebook for free from the author and I'm leaving this review of my own accord. Thank you, Erin Russell for this gift. 🥰
What to expect from this book? 🤔🙃
🫶 Dark MM Adult Irish Mafia Romance 🫣 🥵🤌
🔥 Slow Burn
👉 Long Lost Step-Brothers
🌲 Off-Grid Hiding
👉 Forced Proximity
🤌 Only One Bed
👉 ER Nurse × Mobster Prince
🤲 Codependency
🥵🔥 Touch Him & Die
🤌 Size Difference
👉💣🎆 Touch Starved Meets Serial Hugger
⬇️Major Dirty Talk⬇️
😳↪️Needy/Obedient/Perfect Lil Slut
😳↪️Good Girl/Babygirl/Doll
🍆Twink Dom Top x Big Needy Bottom🍑
🥵 Feminization Kink
🔥 Pillow Princess
🥵 Degradation & Praise Kink
🔥 Breeding Kink
🥵 Edging
🔥 Rimming & Facefucking
🥵 Felching
🔥 Hands-Free Orgasm
🥵Spitting & Cum Swapping
🔥D/S dynamic
❤️🩹Rough Sex with Aftercare
💥Impact Play
😈Primal Play
🔥Light Bondage
💞 Caregiving
🔥Shower Sex
😭Lots Of Cuddles & PB&J Sandwiches
🦌 Adorable Petnames
👉 Bossy W/ Sexy Nerd Glasses x Blushing Tattooed Idiot
❤️🩹 Mental Illness
❤️🩹 Childhood Trauma
❤️🩹 Hurt/Comfort
👉 High-Angst
🖤 Murder & Mafia Typical Violence
Series: Sins Of The Banna #1
Cover: 5/5
Format: Ebook ARC
Story: 4/5
What a book!
This slow burn was so good.
Erin had me on edge for a good portion of the book with all that hot chemistry between Micah and Sav!
ARC Read: 30/01/2025
I received this ebook for free from the author and I'm leaving this review of my own accord. Thank you, Erin Russell for this gift. 🥰
What to expect from this book? 🤔🙃
🫶 Dark MM Adult Irish Mafia Romance 🫣 🥵🤌
🔥 Slow Burn
👉 Long Lost Step-Brothers
🌲 Off-Grid Hiding
👉 Forced Proximity
🤌 Only One Bed
👉 ER Nurse × Mobster Prince
🤲 Codependency
🥵🔥 Touch Him & Die
🤌 Size Difference
👉💣🎆 Touch Starved Meets Serial Hugger
⬇️Major Dirty Talk⬇️
😳↪️Needy/Obedient/Perfect Lil Slut
😳↪️Good Girl/Babygirl/Doll
🍆Twink Dom Top x Big Needy Bottom🍑
🥵 Feminization Kink
🔥 Pillow Princess
🥵 Degradation & Praise Kink
🔥 Breeding Kink
🥵 Edging
🔥 Rimming & Facefucking
🥵 Felching
🔥 Hands-Free Orgasm
🥵Spitting & Cum Swapping
🔥D/S dynamic
❤️🩹Rough Sex with Aftercare
💥Impact Play
😈Primal Play
🔥Light Bondage
💞 Caregiving
🔥Shower Sex
😭Lots Of Cuddles & PB&J Sandwiches
🦌 Adorable Petnames
👉 Bossy W/ Sexy Nerd Glasses x Blushing Tattooed Idiot
❤️🩹 Mental Illness
❤️🩹 Childhood Trauma
❤️🩹 Hurt/Comfort
👉 High-Angst
🖤 Murder & Mafia Typical Violence
Series: Sins Of The Banna #1
Cover: 5/5
Format: Ebook ARC
Story: 4/5
What a book!
This slow burn was so good.
Erin had me on edge for a good portion of the book with all that hot chemistry between Micah and Sav!
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
"Micah: He grinds up into me again. Not hard, just instinctive. Needy. Desperate, almost.
It lights a fire in me.
I’d burn the world down for him on a random Tuesday as it is, but it doesn’t help that right now he’s flicking every kink switch I have about getting a big, strong man looking vulnerable and submissive on his knees for me.
The part of my brain that had Tadhg categorized as “brother” is officially offline. The rest of me—who eats guys like him for breakfast—takes one look at him and sees a needy slut.
There has to be a middle ground. As long as I don’t let him get in his head.
“You’re my good boy, Tadhg.” Another shudder. “Does my good boy need to come?”
His breath stutters. He hesitates, like he’s not sure if this is a trick.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, you can come. You can have anything you want. You have me. I’m not going anywhere.”
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
"Micah: He grinds up into me again. Not hard, just instinctive. Needy. Desperate, almost.
It lights a fire in me.
I’d burn the world down for him on a random Tuesday as it is, but it doesn’t help that right now he’s flicking every kink switch I have about getting a big, strong man looking vulnerable and submissive on his knees for me.
The part of my brain that had Tadhg categorized as “brother” is officially offline. The rest of me—who eats guys like him for breakfast—takes one look at him and sees a needy slut.
There has to be a middle ground. As long as I don’t let him get in his head.
“You’re my good boy, Tadhg.” Another shudder. “Does my good boy need to come?”
His breath stutters. He hesitates, like he’s not sure if this is a trick.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, you can come. You can have anything you want. You have me. I’m not going anywhere.”
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Genre/Trope:Adult/MM Romance/Dark Romance/Hurt-Comfort/Step Siblings/Let's Play Doctor/Mafia Problem/Very Tempting Roommate/Size Difference/Dirty Talker/Forbidden Encounter/Fighters Fight/High Angst/Forced Proximity/Breeding Kink/Feminization Kink/Hot Conjuring Horror/LGTBQIA Plus/Love MM/Off Grid Attraction/Possessive Caveperson/Very Possessive Alpha/New Authors/Erin Russell/ARC
Trigger Warnings: Refrenced/Historical/Off-Page: Child Abuse (Physical & Emotional); Intimate Partner Violence (Not Between The MCs, Pertains To Side Characters, Not Romanticized); Illegal Drug Use; Alcohol Abuse; On-Page: MCs having sex with other characters (no cheating,pre-relantionship, consensual) Including Brief Heterosexual Sex; Consensual Relantionship Between Former Stepbrothers (Beginning At Adulthood); Severe Depression; Suicidal Ideation; Character Actively Comtemplating Suicide With A Firearm; Panic Attacks; Vomiting; Graphical Medical Procedures/Descriptions/Injuries; Torture (Physical, Brief); Organized Crime; Homophobia & Homophibic Insults; Consensual & Positive ex: "My Perfect Slut"; Trauma Recovery/PTSD; Prescription Medication Withdrawal; Sex Without Condoms.
Plot: 5/5
POV: 3
Trigger Warnings: Refrenced/Historical/Off-Page: Child Abuse (Physical & Emotional); Intimate Partner Violence (Not Between The MCs, Pertains To Side Characters, Not Romanticized); Illegal Drug Use; Alcohol Abuse; On-Page: MCs having sex with other characters (no cheating,pre-relantionship, consensual) Including Brief Heterosexual Sex; Consensual Relantionship Between Former Stepbrothers (Beginning At Adulthood); Severe Depression; Suicidal Ideation; Character Actively Comtemplating Suicide With A Firearm; Panic Attacks; Vomiting; Graphical Medical Procedures/Descriptions/Injuries; Torture (Physical, Brief); Organized Crime; Homophobia & Homophibic Insults; Consensual & Positive ex: "My Perfect Slut"; Trauma Recovery/PTSD; Prescription Medication Withdrawal; Sex Without Condoms.
Plot: 5/5
POV: 3
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
"Sav: But he doesn’t give me the chance, because he seems to come to some decision before leaning in and kissing me again. Just like before, his kiss is firm and demanding, making me open up to him immediately in a way that makes my stomach bottom out like an elevator in freefall.
(....)
He breaks the kiss eventually with a contented little hum, and I already want to find a way to get him to make that noise again. Something about it makes me vibrate with satisfaction."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Main Characters:
5/5 - Micah Alexander, nickname: Bambi, 30s, cis-man, he/him, ER Nurse, very bossy, always right, caretaker
5/5 - Sav, name: Tadhg, nickname: Savage, petname: Doll 30s, cis-man, he/him, next to the throne in the Irish Mafia, going through a bad time, stubborn, in his head, natural submisive, will do anything to protect Micah
Normally, I'm not a big fan of slow burns, but this one... the wait was totally worth it! So, so hot! Micah can dirty talk!
He made Sav blush and be beautifully submissive. Swoon!
Micah was a wonderful surprise for me with all that bossiness. I love him and Sav so much!
Their story was incredibly intense.
The love they have for each other felt so real.
Their struggles, obstacles, and traumas... the message this story conveys is profound and beautiful (and kinky... phew, this book was on FIRE!).
Did you check out those tropes? WOW, I was literally blown away by how hot this book was. I was not prepared!!!
You keep being that perfect pillow princess Sav and let Micah treat you like the precious needy doll you are!
Sav and Micah's journey was hard but worth every page.
5/5 - Micah Alexander, nickname: Bambi, 30s, cis-man, he/him, ER Nurse, very bossy, always right, caretaker
5/5 - Sav, name: Tadhg, nickname: Savage, petname: Doll 30s, cis-man, he/him, next to the throne in the Irish Mafia, going through a bad time, stubborn, in his head, natural submisive, will do anything to protect Micah
Normally, I'm not a big fan of slow burns, but this one... the wait was totally worth it! So, so hot! Micah can dirty talk!
He made Sav blush and be beautifully submissive. Swoon!
Micah was a wonderful surprise for me with all that bossiness. I love him and Sav so much!
Their story was incredibly intense.
The love they have for each other felt so real.
Their struggles, obstacles, and traumas... the message this story conveys is profound and beautiful (and kinky... phew, this book was on FIRE!).
Did you check out those tropes? WOW, I was literally blown away by how hot this book was. I was not prepared!!!
You keep being that perfect pillow princess Sav and let Micah treat you like the precious needy doll you are!
Sav and Micah's journey was hard but worth every page.
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “Who do you belong to?” I pause my ministrations to ask him.
“You.”
His voice is so soft I can barely hear him over the water falling around us. I push two fingers into his softened hole and then join them with my tongue for a minute, enjoying the way he clenches around me.
“I'm sorry what was that?”
“You, Bambi.” He's a little louder this time.
“Perfect, doll. That's it.”
(...)
My babygirl needs to get out of his head a lot of the time, and I can help him with that.
I let myself drift, losing track of time as I continue to fuck into him over and over while telling him what a perfect slut he is for me. How tight his little snatch is. How I wish I could have my hands on him all the time.
And he moans, and begs, and comes apart in my arms.
“Do you need my cum, doll?”
“Please, Bambi.” His voice is hoarse, now.
“Good girls deserve to be filled up,” I whisper in his ear, snapping my hips against his as I pick up the pace.
I reach around and feel that he’s more than half-hard now; his cock stiffer and pointing at the ground where he’s angled over at the waist.
“That’s it, doll. Are you going to get the floor wet for me? Spill yourself everywhere when I fill you up?”
Tadhg doesn’t answer, he just makes a raw, anguished sound as I gently shuttle my hand over his erection, pressing my fingers into all the little sensitive spots that I know make him shiver. The velvet heat of his skin is such an overwhelming sensation, it pushes me the last little bit I need until I can’t hold back my own orgasm anymore.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I say in a broken whisper as I jerk my hips forward a few more times and finally spill my seed deep inside of him. I don’t let my hand stop working him over, though. I’m grinding deep into him, putting as much pressure on his prostate as I can and enjoying the breathy ah-ah’s he’s making until he finally clenches around me and seems to come with his whole fucking body."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “Who do you belong to?” I pause my ministrations to ask him.
“You.”
His voice is so soft I can barely hear him over the water falling around us. I push two fingers into his softened hole and then join them with my tongue for a minute, enjoying the way he clenches around me.
“I'm sorry what was that?”
“You, Bambi.” He's a little louder this time.
“Perfect, doll. That's it.”
(...)
My babygirl needs to get out of his head a lot of the time, and I can help him with that.
I let myself drift, losing track of time as I continue to fuck into him over and over while telling him what a perfect slut he is for me. How tight his little snatch is. How I wish I could have my hands on him all the time.
And he moans, and begs, and comes apart in my arms.
“Do you need my cum, doll?”
“Please, Bambi.” His voice is hoarse, now.
“Good girls deserve to be filled up,” I whisper in his ear, snapping my hips against his as I pick up the pace.
I reach around and feel that he’s more than half-hard now; his cock stiffer and pointing at the ground where he’s angled over at the waist.
“That’s it, doll. Are you going to get the floor wet for me? Spill yourself everywhere when I fill you up?”
Tadhg doesn’t answer, he just makes a raw, anguished sound as I gently shuttle my hand over his erection, pressing my fingers into all the little sensitive spots that I know make him shiver. The velvet heat of his skin is such an overwhelming sensation, it pushes me the last little bit I need until I can’t hold back my own orgasm anymore.
“Fuck, you’re perfect,” I say in a broken whisper as I jerk my hips forward a few more times and finally spill my seed deep inside of him. I don’t let my hand stop working him over, though. I’m grinding deep into him, putting as much pressure on his prostate as I can and enjoying the breathy ah-ah’s he’s making until he finally clenches around me and seems to come with his whole fucking body."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Side Characters: 5/5
Tristan's Medical Glossary at the end was hilarious and very entertaining. I can’t wait to read his and Ford's book. But I think I’m going to go in reverse order in the series and read Gunnar and Tobias first (Running Feral), because I'm also desperate to know more about them!
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Sav: "Do you trust me? He’s the only person I trust. I don’t even trust myself, but I trust him.
(...)
Micah kisses me again, just as deeply as before. His hips are in between my legs, and for some reason the fact that he’s fully dressed while I’m completely bare-ass naked isn’t making me feel exposed and vulnerable. It feels right.
Like I’m spread out for him to take whatever he wants. Which sounds fucked up when I articulate it in my head. But the thought of him taking gives me a deep sense of peace that I’ve barely even glimpsed in my previous life."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Humor: Low Focus
Angst: High Focus
Steam Level: 4/5
Romance: High Focus
Cheating?No
The Ending: 5/5
HEA/HFN? HEA/HFN
Angst: High Focus
Steam Level: 4/5
Romance: High Focus
Cheating?
The Ending: 5/5
HEA/HFN?
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “That’s it, doll. All you have to do is kneel. You’re already perfect for me, just as you are. You don’t need to do anything but let me take care of you like you deserve.”
Something about the honeyed voice he’s using seems to carry those words directly into my soul.
(...)
"Sav: His fingers drag over my slick crack first, spreading my cheeks, then both of his thumbs slip into my stretched and sloppy hole to tug it as wide as he can. I squirm, the sensation on the perfect knife-edge of that pleasure-pain that he gives me so well, and then I hear the sound of him spitting and feel wetness landing inside me.
Something about that feels like a more profound sense of ownership than anything that’s happened until this point. I shiver and go even more boneless in his hands than before.
“Perfect,” he whispers again, tugging one more time at my rim to see me gaping open for him."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “That’s it, doll. All you have to do is kneel. You’re already perfect for me, just as you are. You don’t need to do anything but let me take care of you like you deserve.”
Something about the honeyed voice he’s using seems to carry those words directly into my soul.
(...)
"Sav: His fingers drag over my slick crack first, spreading my cheeks, then both of his thumbs slip into my stretched and sloppy hole to tug it as wide as he can. I squirm, the sensation on the perfect knife-edge of that pleasure-pain that he gives me so well, and then I hear the sound of him spitting and feel wetness landing inside me.
Something about that feels like a more profound sense of ownership than anything that’s happened until this point. I shiver and go even more boneless in his hands than before.
“Perfect,” he whispers again, tugging one more time at my rim to see me gaping open for him."
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Favorite character? Both MCs
Would I read more of this author? Yes
Would I recommend this series?Yes
Enjoyment: 5/5
This is my 1st book by Erin Russell
Total Books I've Read: 331
Reading Challenge 2025: 15/150
Would I read more of this author? Yes
Would I recommend this series?Yes
Enjoyment: 5/5
This is my 1st book by Erin Russell
Total Books I've Read: 331
Reading Challenge 2025: 15/150
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹Q🖤u☠️o❤️🩹t🖤e☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “Oh, my love,” I whisper, stroking soft fingers down his cheek and over his swollen lips. “Don’t ever think that again. Promise me. You weren’t weak because you didn’t have some giant confrontation. If you’d made it any worse, he would have killed you. I didn’t need you to tell your father anything. I don’t need anything from that man. Not one damn thing. The only thing I needed was for you to come home to me, which you did. Letting me save you was the strongest thing you could have done.”
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Micah: “Oh, my love,” I whisper, stroking soft fingers down his cheek and over his swollen lips. “Don’t ever think that again. Promise me. You weren’t weak because you didn’t have some giant confrontation. If you’d made it any worse, he would have killed you. I didn’t need you to tell your father anything. I don’t need anything from that man. Not one damn thing. The only thing I needed was for you to come home to me, which you did. Letting me save you was the strongest thing you could have done.”
🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹🖤☠️❤️🩹
Sins Of The Banna Series:
1. Savage - Micah & Savage's Story - 4 Stars
👇👇👇👇
Interconnected Series - Possum Hollow:
1. Stupid Dirty - Silas & Cade's Story
👉2. 68 Whiskey - Tristan & Ford's Story
👉3. Running Feral - Gunnar & Tobias's Story
Expected On 26/04/2025:
4. Hollow Point
!! I don't equate fiction stories to real life. It's a matter of personal taste and what you are willing or want to tolerate in the books you read. We all have different opinions and preferences when it comes to the kind of books we enjoy, so it's important to respect and remember that it's just a book!!
Hope this review was helpful.
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault
Mentions of sexual assult to side character