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Retellings and Dark Romances | Mini Romance Reviews

May 20, 2021

It’s time for some more mini romance reviews – it’s been a while since I’ve done some. So today I’m sharing my thoughts on Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight and A Touch of Darkness (Hades & Persephone #1) by Scarlett St. Clair. These are both recent romances that I have read this year, and both of them were a little out of my comfort zone.

While I love reading retellings, especially mythology bases ones, I haven’t read many that are also romances as well. And while I have read on the darker side of romance, Den of Vipers is way darker than I have read before. Anyway, let’s get into it.

Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight

Pages: 654
Publish date: July 10th 2020
Publisher: –
ASIN: B08818YQB5
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel—The Vipers.

They run this town and everyone in it. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses.

Yes, sold me.

They own me now.

I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant. These men, they look at me with longing. Their scarred, blood-stained hands holding me tight. They want everything I am, everything I have to give, and won’t stop until they get just that. They can own my body, but they will never have my heart.

The Vipers? I’m going to make them regret the day they took me.

This girl? She bites too.

Den of Vipers:

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked Den of Vipers up. I saw it floating around the bookish community, especially the romance community and it caught my eye. Like I said I haven’t read many dark romances before, but I wanted to give this one a go. And while I did really enjoy it, this book is not for everyone.

This is a dark, complicated, reverse harem romance that has some very questionable moments. Den of Vipers by K.A Knight follows Roxy as she is thrown into the world of the Vipers. Into their complex, messy world. She doesn’t know what to do with herself. Roxy wants out. She wants to be free, but soon she starts to feel at home. The power starts to creep up on her, the violence. Soon Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel aren’t just the men that are keeping her, but so much more.

Photo by Ed Leszczynskl on Unsplash

As I’ve said Den of Vipers is not for everyone. It’s not for most people really. It’s explicit, harsh and doesn’t hold back. The characters and grey, but more on the dark side of life. Some things happened throughout the story, that if they happened in real life – I would hate. However, in the context of the book – it sorta works.

I really enjoyed all the protagonist of Den of Vipers. Roxy is hard and doesn’t take shit from anyone. Ryder is the leader and the protector, Garrett is the one that is dark and mysterious but will scare you. Kenzo is one of the more ‘normal’ vipers. And then there is Diesel, who I can’t even begin to explain Diesel.

If you aren’t used to dark romances, reverse harem’s and very complicated characters and stories this is not for me. Please don’t just dive into this book. It’s not an easy read. There were times where I had to just put the book down and rejig my brain. But if you enjoy reading dark things – it’s a great read. Just be ready for it.

Overall Den of Vipers was an intense, dark read that I wasn’t expecting to like as much as I did. There are things that happened that took me a while to comprehend, but this is a dark romance that doesn’t shy away. The romance was interesting and not something I’ve delved into reading much. If you are looking for something different and entertaining then this is for you. If you are looking for something dark and questionable, then this is for you.

A Touch of Darkness (Hades & Persephone #1) by Scarlett St. Clair

Pages: 299
Publish date: May 23rd 2019
Publisher: –
ASIN: B07S9HLL34
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shrivelled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist.

Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favourite bets are rumoured to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.

The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows—and it’s forbidden.

A Touch of Darkness:

Mythology-based retellings are my favourite, hands down. Because of that, A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair was an easy pick up for me. It’s a modern romance between Hades and Persephone retelling, what more can I ask for? I’ve read a few modern mythology retellings here and there, but not a whole lot, so this was still new to me. And I loved it.

A Touch of Darkness follows Persephone as she tries to find her place. Instead of her powers flourishing, she kills. She can’t keep things alive. Now in the mortal world, she tries to keep in the shadows as a journalist. Then she makes a deal with the devil – with Hades. Now in contract with Hades, Persophone needs to create life in the Underworld, or she will be stuck there forever.

Persephone was a great protagonist. With all the retellings I have read, there hasn’t been many that had her as the main character. So it felt like a fresh start for me. There were many bumps for her, but I enjoyed that a lot. I loved that I didn’t love her right from the start. She is complicated, sometimes a mess but that is what makes her such a good protagonist.

I adore the first meeting between Persephone and Hades. It was hot, mysterious and left me wanting more. The tension between these two was fantastic! I wanted more and more. I also really enjoyed the banter between the two of them. The back and forth. Because of all this, the romance was fantastic and something that I really enjoyed reading.

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

While there were things that happened that were predictable – I don’t hate that. I like that I can guess things and figure out what’s going to happen next. But this didn’t take away from the book at all. It actually made me want to continue reading even more.

Overall, A Touch of Darkness is a great read. Like most books it has, its issues, however, I enjoyed the characters, the plot and the romance. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. I already have book 2 and I’m hoping that I can get to it soon. Hades and Persephone are fantastic together and I’m intrigued to see where the story is taken. This is a hot and sexy modern retelling that keeps the reader wanting more.

Have you read either Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight or A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair? What did you think of them? Are you planning on reading them? What are some of your favourite dark romances? What are some of your romance mythology retellings? Let’s Chat!

For more dark romances check out my reviews on Hades Hangman series by Tillie Cole and Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling. For more retellings check out some of my favourite retellings and the 5 reasons why I love The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Series Review: Sinful Wallflowers by Stacy Reid

Mar 14, 2021

A little while ago I was asked to review the second book in the Sinful Wallflowers series by Stacy Reid and it sounded fantastic. So I picked up the first book My Darling Duke before I started the second. And let me tell you I had a fantastic time, so today I thought I would share my thoughts and feelings on My Darling Duke and The Wicked Marquess. Let’s Go.

My Darling Duke (Sinful Wallflowers #1) by Stacy Reid

Pages: 377
Publish date: December 31st 2019
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
ISBN: 9781640637450
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Miss Katherine Danvers is a desperate wallflower. Her family is on the brink of financial ruin, and it is up her to save her mother and sisters from a life of indignities. So she transforms herself into the incomparable Kitty Danvers, the fiancée of the enigmatic and reclusive Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton—once dubbed the mad, bad, and dangerous catch of the Season.

Ten years ago, society and the woman Alexander Masters loved called him a monster, after a tragic accident left him scarred and confined to a wheelchair. His heart exists in cold, lonely exile until he learns he has a fiancée—a deceptive, clever, and utterly intriguing woman he’s never met. Miss Danvers will now learn the consequences of engaging herself to the beast, for Alexander is determined to make her his. Soon, they are involved in a chase, a clash of wills, and though he once vowed to never love again, he burns for the enchanting Miss Danvers. And denying his heart may cost him an exquisite love that happens only once in a lifetime.

My Darling Duke:

I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this one. I hadn’t heard too many things about Stacy Reid, but she had been on my tbr for a little while. And then I started reading this one and couldn’t stop. My Darling Duke was such a fantastic historical romance that hit all the right spots. I also adored the fact that also has disability representation!

My Darling Duke follows Miss Katherine Danvers who will do anything to save her family, including becoming the fiancée of Alexander Masters, Duke of Thornton. But he doesn’t even know it. Alexander hasn’t existed in society for ten years. After an accident that left him both scarred and confined to a wheelchair. Then he learns he is to be wed. So he returns to society to meet this Kitty Danvers.

I seriously loved this book and I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. I knew going in that the plot sounded like something I would enjoy, and there is disability rep so that already had my attention. From the start, I adored the characters both Kitty and Alexander was just fantastic. Totally different from one other but they fit each other so well.

Photo by Sara Darcaj on Unsplash

Kitty was such a light throughout the book, she would do anything for her family even if it meant that it would hurt herself. But I also loved how brave she was. Alexander was rough and moody, but as the novel went on the reader can see his gentler side.

I think the disability rep was really well executed in My Darling Duke. Especially for a historical romance. It was fantastic to see and I loved that he got to see both the struggles with living with a disability, but also the highlights. And that life isn’t just about it. Alexander was both physically and mentally scarred and Kitty doesn’t fix him. But she helps him on the path of healing himself.

Overall, I loved reading My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid. It was fantastic and a great introduction not into this world but into Stacy Reid, who I will be reading again soon. Kitty and Alexander were adorable and perfect together and I loved seeing them fall in love. This is a fantastic historical romance. And I think you should pick it up for sure.

Her Wicked Marquess (Sinful Wallflowers #2) by Stacy Reid

Pages: 383
Publish date: December 29th 2020
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
ISBN: 9781682815199
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Miss Maryann Fitzwilliam is too witty and bookish for her own good. No gentleman of the ton will marry her, so her parents arrange for her to wed a man old enough to be her father. But Maryann is ready to use those wits to turn herself into a sinful wallflower.

When the scandal sheet reports a sighting of Nicolas St. Ives, the Marquess of Rothbury, climbing out the chamber windows of a house party, Maryann does the unthinkable. She anonymously claims that the bedchamber belonged to none other than Miss Fitzwilliam, tarnishing her own reputation—and chances of the dastardly union her family secured for her. Now she just needs to convince the marquess to keep his silence.

Turns out Nicolas allows for the scandal to perpetuate for his own reasons… But when Maryann’s parents hold fast to their arranged marriage plan, it’ll take a scandal of epic proportions for these two to get out of this together.

Her Wicked Marquess :

After finishing My Darling Duke I know that I had to start on the second book as soon as I could and I’m so glad that I did. This was a blast to read and while in the same world as My Darling Duke, it had a different tone and that was really great to see.

Her Wicked Marquess follows Miss Maryann Fitzwilliam, whose parents want her to marry someone more than twice her age. But Maryann has a plan. When it’s reported that Nicolas St. Ives is seen climbing out of chamber windows, Maryann admits it’s hers. With her reputation now tarnished, she hopes her parents while let this marriage go. But it’s not always that easy.

I adored Maryann and Nicolas together. They were serieusly fansastic togehter. I was laughing and cheering for them the whole book. I loved the banter, the connection and everything else between these two and I loved seeing them together. It didn’t really matter if it was a romantic scene or not. They were just fantastic on the page.

Maryann was a fantastic female protagonist. I loved her so much. She knew that she didn’t want her parents to decide who she married and she stood by that. Maryann stood up for herself. She was prepared to ruin herself. I also love that she gave Nicolas a run for his money it was fantastic. Nicolas was also fantastic. He was hard to love at first, but it didn’t take me long for me to fall in love with him.

I think Her Wicked Marquess was the perfect sequel to My Darling Duke. While you don’t have to read the first book to understand the book. I highly recommend that you do. I love how friendships are explored in both of them and I can’t wait for book three.

Overall, I loved Her Wicked Marquess as much as the first book. The romance was clever and smart. While the characters were intriguing and had fantastic banter. The romance was spot on. It was sexy and innocent at the same time, and I loved seeing Maryann and Nicolas fall for one another. It was just a fantastic read and a perfect sequel.

And that is it for this post. If you couldn’t tell, I loved both of these books and think you should pick this series up for sure. Also a little while ago I had the lovely chance to interview Stacy Reid where we talked all about romance and more. You can check out the interview now.

Have you read the sinful wallflowers series by Stacy Reid? What did you think are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling

Jan 1, 2021

Dead Man Walking (The Fallen Men #6) by Giana Darling

Pages: 542
Publish date: 27 December 2020
Publisher: –
ASIN: B08RDSGPV1
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

A killer.
A criminal.
A psychopath.
The Irish enforcer for The Fallen Men MC is everything good girls are taught to stay away from.
Only, I found myself inexorably drawn into his dark gravitational pull. I wanted to know what it would be like to walk beside the human personification of Death and hold his hand, feel his kiss, and maybe even earn his undying love.
But Priest McKenna is older, cold as ice, and notoriously unfeeling.
So what are the odds that a dead man walking would come to life for little, insignificant me?
When a serial killer begins to target the women of Entrance, BC, and The Fallen suffers another terrible blow, Priest resolves to hunt down the killer himself.
And when the murderer sets his eyes on me?
My very own psychopath steps between me and certain death, thrusting us into an intimacy I prayed we would never recover from.

Dead Man Walking:

I received an earc of Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling for review in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I have a lot of feelings about this book, and even now nearly a week after I’ve finished it. I’m still not sure how I feel. I haven’t read many dark romances. My experience of reading this band of romance is very small. So I don’t have much to compare it to. This isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s dark, questionable and something I would not want to happen in real life. But it’s also intriguing, damning and sexy. It’s a great addition to this series and adds another layer to all the characters.

As soon as I heard that this was going to be Priests and Bea’s book I was super excited and intrigued. They are such different characters and before this book, we didn’t know too much about them. Priest is very closed off and we only get a few little things about him here and there. And Bea, we might have seen her grow up, but she was a side character for a lot of it. Dead Man Walking follows their journey. The ups and downs. The rough patches. And both of them going through a hell of a lot. At first, they don’t seem like a good pair, but as the novel goes on. It makes sense.

Photo by Tamas Munkacsi on Unsplash

Priest is a very interesting character. As soon as he was introduced in the series, he caught my eye. And as it went on I wanted to know more about him. Priest likes to kill. He does it and will do it again. And that makes him such a hard character to love. He has had a hard life and it’s turned him into someone that doesn’t feel and when he does it’s mostly angry. But because of all this, it makes him intriguing and I just wanted to keep on reading Dead Man Walking. The reader can see Priest come to not only understand himself, the man that he has become, but those around him too. Priest isn’t for everyone, and there are times where I had to pull myself back as well, but I still wanted to know more.

Bea was this fantastic mix of sweet and dark. I really enjoyed this side of a female character. We don’t often see it, especially in MC romances. But the reader can see a side of Bea that is dark and dangerous even. But then there is this sweet side that shines through. She is the sunshine in their group and I loved that. And as Dead Man Walking goes on and things intensify Bea grows and the reader can see her both stand-up for herself and for Priest.

The romance had its ups and downs for me. I think that there was so much chemistry between Bea and Priest that it jumped off the page. I liked seeing them become comfortable with one another and break those walls downs. Priest walls were built over many years and even being part of The Fallen Men didn’t break those. But Bea slowly but surely picked at them and broke it down little piece, by little piece. Like I said before I don’t read many dark romances, and their romance was not conventional. There were a few times that I have to pull myself out and just take a break. But I didn’t hate it either.

Photo by Valerie Elash on Unsplash

The plot for Dead Man Walking was so intriguing and interesting. Like the rest of the book, it was dark and dangerous and kept me hooked. It was so interesting and at first, I didn’t know what to think of it. But as the book went on everything fell into place and just made sense. Dead Man Walking was intense. There were so many moments that were fast-paced and kept ongoing. I have found that a lot in MC books and I think it’s a fantastic mark of it.

Giana Darling did such a fantastic job in Dead Man Walking. She had two very different characters and she was able to make them both interesting, intriguing and real. The MC world in books isn’t always. There is a fine like and this dabbled in the dark side.

Photo by Max Muselmann on Unsplash

Overall, I have a lot of feelings about Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling. This book isn’t for the faint-hearted. Well, none of this series is. But while the series started off somewhat light, as the books went on things got much darker. And Dead Man Walking is dark. Priest is not an easy protagonist to get along with. He isn’t someone that you can fall in love with immediately or at all really. But that made for such an interesting combination, with Bea. Dead Man Walking explores the notion of darkness and light, of good and bad. And the grey in between. If you like you dark and even sadistic romances, then this one is for you.

Have you read Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling yet? What did you think? Have you read any of The Fallen Men Books. You can check out my review of the first four books in the series as well as Inked in Lies for more.