I am so conflicted trying to review and rate this. I, like many, picked this up because I kept seeing people laud this MMC as just as good if not bettI am so conflicted trying to review and rate this. I, like many, picked this up because I kept seeing people laud this MMC as just as good if not better than Zade.
Yeah, so just like how their names are on opposite ends of the alphabet (Aero vs Zade), they are not comparable at all lol. Do yourself a favor and REMOVE that expectation from your mind before you pick this up.
That aside, this book is meant to be a stalker dark romance with a cult-like religious backdrop and a good girl turned bad storyline. I have to say: it did what it set out to do, while touching on a shit ton of kinks along the way.
Aero is perhaps the most unhinged and feral MMC I've read in a while and I reveled in it. Where many love the morally grey, this man is morally black and unapologetically so. He does what he wants, takes what he wants, and treats others the way he wants. He's OTT J/P while still allows mild sharing to happen (honestly a big shocker lol).
Briony is your classic devout Christian good girl, on the track for holiness, but obviously derailed when her stalker turned savior enters her life. I couldn't get invested in their relationship for most of the book, but I think after their club scene together (IYKYK), I was more on board. There's something quite satisfying seeing a woman embrace her sexuality and defend her man the way he knows best.
The plot felt like a stretch and the writing felt forced. There's a reveal about Briony's age that didn't have to be in here and I had to suspend my disbelief for her training arc. Okay I had to suspend my disbelief for a lot of this. And while I'm at it, I really hate what Briony attempts in the epilogue in regards to Aero's trauma.
But outside of that, the smut was steaming. And there's a lot of it.
Sooooo I did have a fun time reading this. I ended up liking the couple at the end, but the journey was a rough one. I wanted to love it, but I can't say I did. Pick this up if you want some depraved dark stalker romance with lots of quoted scripture, don't expect it to be like the Cat and Mouse Duet (Haunting Adeline + Hunting Adeline), and maybe check out the laundry list of CW in case there's things that bother you.
Rating 3.5 rounded up to 4 out of 5 stars. ...more
This book was a behemoth and completely exhausted me.
The good: I really enjoyed that this series was told in multiple perspectives. I love getting inThis book was a behemoth and completely exhausted me.
The good: I really enjoyed that this series was told in multiple perspectives. I love getting into Danny, Leon, and Kai's heads. The smut was delectable and the overall plot was really interesting! This for sure isn't an easy story, the characters go through the ringer but patience and perseverance is a virtue. We all make it in the end and I'm happy about the way this book wrapped up and the HFN this throuple got.
The bad: This dragged a bit in the middle and felt repetitive. Like I said before, this book exhausted me. It was a freaking journey and the stakes were raised with every obstacle thrown in the characters' way. I was annoyed at how lax Danny and Leon were when they were on the run with all their leaving their safe space WITHOUT weapons. Y'all are top of your class mercenaries and are slipping up this bad?
But seeing two OTT JP MMCs learn to play nice and worship their woman was so fun. I really hope to see more of these three in the future! Along with updates about Koen. Ugh I love Shadow Grove. ...more
I wanted to start 2023 with a bang, so I picked this up as my first book of the year.
And a bang it was. Literally. One of the guys in this f*cks the I wanted to start 2023 with a bang, so I picked this up as my first book of the year.
And a bang it was. Literally. One of the guys in this f*cks the fmc with a gun. :) And to top it off, he has doesn't let his come drip out of her, he's always pushing it back into her after relations hehe. What would be a red flag irl, makes me feral in books.
I KNEW this would be good. This is the third series taking place in Shadow Grove and it focuses on The Guild, an organization of mercenaries for hire. I was surprised that we got multiple POVS but I'm happy about it. Danny is a badass; Leon and Kai are both possessive AF in different ways. Leon's more on the covet and protect side, Kai is the OTT possessive type. There's mutual pining in the beginning and a little bit of Stockholm syndrome at the end. In typical TJ manner, this also ends in a cliff hanger ;_;
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning and there's an out of nowhere comment about an Asian man's build in this, it came off weird to me ngl because no one else's ethnicity is mentioned?? idk. Other than that, I'm stoked to continue with the next book!
Okay when an author takes the time to list out the trigger warnings before the book starts, you should take the time to read the warnings. Seriously. Okay when an author takes the time to list out the trigger warnings before the book starts, you should take the time to read the warnings. Seriously.
This book is dark, so freaking dark, but so freaking GOOD.
I love dark romance, I love dub/non-con, I love "toxic", possessive mmc who are obsessed with the fmc, I love when the mmc cuts off and gifts the fmc the hands of her last hook up because the only person who can touch her is the mmc. Red flags? Sorry, I'm color blind, I only see green.
This is my first stalker romance and my goodness did it deliver. I love Zade; he is this hacker vigilante with big dick energy (figuratively and literally). His morals are spot on, it's just the way he goes about upholding his morals is questionable...because murder is frowned upon in society. So him killing a lot of people is bad, but he only kills pedophiles and sex traffickers, which is...good?
This is the dilemma our fmc, Addie/Adeline/little mouse, faces. She gets off on fear (like actually gets turned on when she's scared) and feels guilty and initially hates the way her stalker makes her feel. She wants to paint him as this bad guy because he's STALKING HER and KILLS PEOPLE, but she's attracted to him and can justify his murderous tendencies. I just lol trying to write that out. I was frustrated with her at some points but if those parts didn't exist the story wouldn't have been as good. Overall, the atmosphere the book creates and the smut eclipses those frustrations anyways.
I'll also never look at a gun the same way again, tbh. Probably my favorite scene....more
Jess | jadecanread
>
Books:
gun-play
(4)
Loading...
