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Dark Prince Road #2
My Dark Desire
She’s his sweetest desire...and his darkest secret.
The task was simple.
Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.
Steal back my pendant. Slip out.
Problem number one?
America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.
Problem number two?
He decided to keep me. As the help.
Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt,
but he makes my skin burn.
Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel,
he thrives on the weaknesses of others.
Little does he know, he just met his match.
He may be American royalty.
But this peasant will rise to become Queen.
The task was simple.
Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.
Steal back my pendant. Slip out.
Problem number one?
America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.
Problem number two?
He decided to keep me. As the help.
Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt,
but he makes my skin burn.
Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel,
he thrives on the weaknesses of others.
Little does he know, he just met his match.
He may be American royalty.
But this peasant will rise to become Queen.
428 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2024
About the author
L.J. Shen
56 books49.1k followersL.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.
She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk's tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).
HEAs and groveling are guaranteed.
She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.
Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com
She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk's tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).
HEAs and groveling are guaranteed.
She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.
Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,743 reviews
March 16, 2024
4 stars
this whole book is ridiculously hilarious, and it did have its cringe moments like Book 1, but it's way better! I think I expected A LOT from Zach because he was badly outshined by Farrow.
❝I like your sense of humor. If I ever develop one, it would look something like yours.❞ — before starting, literally this is the best thing someone could say to you, in my opinion! 😭💗
⋆·˚ ༘ * Farrow Ballantine — she is literally the coolest girl I've read. She's so freaking relatable and the way she handled everything and didn't even give a fuck if anyone is confessing something 😂 The whole book, she called Zach and literally HIS MOTHER out on their bullshit because she's that feisty! When he confessed how he wanted her, she cringed and laughed! 🤦🏻♀️ I just know she's a badass, and her comebacks are damn good. Her character is really strong, and she actually had a personality that Dallas never had. Aaagghh I love her!!! I love her! 🥺
⋆·˚ ༘ * Zachary Sun — I seriously love your 'I-hate-everyone-but-Farrow' attitude, but ngl you were outshined 😭 AHHH I loved how attentive he was and how HORNY he became for Farrow. I already suspected this in Book 1, but AHHH HE WAS A VIRGIN!!!!certainly didn't move like one but he still was. He was pussy-whipped, and I seriously like his grumpy attitude and how he literally roasted each and everyone but didn't have the balls to say anything to Farrow! 🥺
– This whole book is pretty long, which it shouldn't be, and I was seriously at the point where I needed it to end. The story could've been finished in fewer pages, but it had a lot of extra scenes (which were funny tho). The smut is not great though 😭 I actually laughed a lot because this book is hilarious, and I enjoyed reading it.
Zach's whole trauma of NOT touching anyone because of his accident is seriously so cruel for him. I felt extremely sad for him while reading that scene. Ngl, the whole scene was cliche when he realized he can touch Farrow because MIRACLE 🤨 duh. They constantly went back and forth from enemies to lovers to enemies, and their banter is top-tier. It's funny TRUST ME 😭
❝I’m positive my mind did not conjure a con woman who knows how to play Go and walks around in see-through lingerie.❞
❝You missed a spot.❞
❝Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.❞
Farrow is seriously so nonchalant, didn't give a fuck about her dressing style and all. Also she's his maid, and it made the whole 'YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME – I LITERALLY AM' scenes really funny! 🤦🏻♀️😂 This whole Cinderella retelling is actually one I enjoyed because her sisters were so dumb, and Zach roasted them well!! 😭
❝Remember when you told me about the Lobster Telephone? You were right. Everyone has a favorite work of art. You’re mine.❞
Aside from the whole wedding dramas, Zach is literally obsessed with her, and I was dancing while reading each scene! His friends were so real for saying 'who's gonna tell him'.
🤺 He literally ran out in the rain for her even though he hadn't been out in the rain in 21 years because of the accident! 🥺
🤺 Went on a normal car with Farrow even though he uses military vehicles for safety.
🤺 Gifted her 23 pairs of shoes on her birthday for each of her birthday!
🤺 Realized he kinda ruined her birthday so he arranged a dinner with candles and her favorite dishes.
🤺 Watched romance movies just to get ideas to please her 😭
🤺 Followed her around the whole house just to make her have lunch with him.
🤺 Told her his embarrassing moments just to hear her laugh.
🤺 Traveled in an economy class 😂 because his mom took his PRIVATE JET, and he had to cancel his engagement just to be with Farrow!!!
❝You can pretend to enjoy another man’s company, but we both know that no one will ever come close to me.❞
And yes, the jealousy and possessiveness 🧎♀️
Now, lastly Oliver is left, and he's definitely with Frankie, but seriously he's wayyyyy too gross! A good friend but gross! I'm scared for his book 😭
• My Dark Romeo – 3 stars
• My Dark Prince – tbr
this whole book is ridiculously hilarious, and it did have its cringe moments like Book 1, but it's way better! I think I expected A LOT from Zach because he was badly outshined by Farrow.
❝I like your sense of humor. If I ever develop one, it would look something like yours.❞ — before starting, literally this is the best thing someone could say to you, in my opinion! 😭💗
⋆·˚ ༘ * Farrow Ballantine — she is literally the coolest girl I've read. She's so freaking relatable and the way she handled everything and didn't even give a fuck if anyone is confessing something 😂 The whole book, she called Zach and literally HIS MOTHER out on their bullshit because she's that feisty! When he confessed how he wanted her, she cringed and laughed! 🤦🏻♀️ I just know she's a badass, and her comebacks are damn good. Her character is really strong, and she actually had a personality that Dallas never had. Aaagghh I love her!!! I love her! 🥺
⋆·˚ ༘ * Zachary Sun — I seriously love your 'I-hate-everyone-but-Farrow' attitude, but ngl you were outshined 😭 AHHH I loved how attentive he was and how HORNY he became for Farrow. I already suspected this in Book 1, but AHHH HE WAS A VIRGIN!!!!
– This whole book is pretty long, which it shouldn't be, and I was seriously at the point where I needed it to end. The story could've been finished in fewer pages, but it had a lot of extra scenes (which were funny tho). The smut is not great though 😭 I actually laughed a lot because this book is hilarious, and I enjoyed reading it.
Zach's whole trauma of NOT touching anyone because of his accident is seriously so cruel for him. I felt extremely sad for him while reading that scene. Ngl, the whole scene was cliche when he realized he can touch Farrow because MIRACLE 🤨 duh. They constantly went back and forth from enemies to lovers to enemies, and their banter is top-tier. It's funny TRUST ME 😭
❝I’m positive my mind did not conjure a con woman who knows how to play Go and walks around in see-through lingerie.❞
❝You missed a spot.❞
❝Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.❞
Farrow is seriously so nonchalant, didn't give a fuck about her dressing style and all. Also she's his maid, and it made the whole 'YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME – I LITERALLY AM' scenes really funny! 🤦🏻♀️😂 This whole Cinderella retelling is actually one I enjoyed because her sisters were so dumb, and Zach roasted them well!! 😭
❝Remember when you told me about the Lobster Telephone? You were right. Everyone has a favorite work of art. You’re mine.❞
Aside from the whole wedding dramas, Zach is literally obsessed with her, and I was dancing while reading each scene! His friends were so real for saying 'who's gonna tell him'.
🤺 He literally ran out in the rain for her even though he hadn't been out in the rain in 21 years because of the accident! 🥺
🤺 Went on a normal car with Farrow even though he uses military vehicles for safety.
🤺 Gifted her 23 pairs of shoes on her birthday for each of her birthday!
🤺 Realized he kinda ruined her birthday so he arranged a dinner with candles and her favorite dishes.
🤺 Watched romance movies just to get ideas to please her 😭
🤺 Followed her around the whole house just to make her have lunch with him.
🤺 Told her his embarrassing moments just to hear her laugh.
🤺 Traveled in an economy class 😂 because his mom took his PRIVATE JET, and he had to cancel his engagement just to be with Farrow!!!
❝You can pretend to enjoy another man’s company, but we both know that no one will ever come close to me.❞
And yes, the jealousy and possessiveness 🧎♀️
Now, lastly Oliver is left, and he's definitely with Frankie, but seriously he's wayyyyy too gross! A good friend but gross! I'm scared for his book 😭
• My Dark Romeo – 3 stars
• My Dark Prince – tbr
March 6, 2024
4.5 ⭐ (ARC Review)
This was really good, and I enjoyed it so much more than I had hoped.
============================
MCs:
- Zach (33)
- Farrow/Fae/Little Octopus/Octi (22/23)
Background:
This is a modern-day Cinderella retelling, and the MCs initially met at a party.
Zach's mom hosted a soiree so that he might meet possible brides. She's been hounding him to get married and lead a life beyond his businesses. However, Zach's not interested in doing so but is willing to put up with it. At this event, Farrow's stepfamily (mom and sisters) were invited too. She hid in the trunk to enter the venue because she had a plan that had nothing to do with the party.
When her father died, her witch stepmother sold some of his personal belongings, one of which was a pendant purchased by Zach's family. So her brilliant plan was to get inside the house and steal it. Unfortunately for her, she got caught snooping and was interrogated by the man of the hour for a few minutes before he invited her to play Go (a strategy board game) with him. They reached a stalemate, and for some reason, Farrow (or rather her "functioning brain", his words) piqued Zach's interest. He wanted to continue their game because, for the first time, another human made him excited. But she's not interested, and she ran away, successfully escaping him.
After Zach figured out Farrow's real reason why she was there uninvited, he looked for her and later found her. Since he's still fascinated, he kind of blackmailed her into being his hired help. There was initial resistance from Farrow, but Zach made his point, and she negotiated her terms, and they eventually came to an agreement.
============================
Farrow. This girl had me cracking up so much with her sass and sarcasm. 😂 I really enjoyed reading about how her mind works and the thoughts running through her head. She was so independent, strong-willed, and had a warm personality. Despite all she went through, this woman didn't lose her spark or fight. The confidence and resiliency she showed in this story honestly amazed me. I don't know how she was able to survive everything that happened to her and her stepfamily. Most of all, I do love that she's not spineless and isn't afraid to hold her ground.
Zach. I feel bad for the reason why he stopped feeling things and got averse to human touch. It was traumatic, especially for a kid. It also didn't help that after that incident, his mom sort of became a shell of the person that she used to be. And this "brokenness" carried on until the present time in the book. But when Farrow came into his life, everything seemed to suddenly seem less dull, and for the first time, he felt alive. So in his own way (sometimes unhinged but mostly swoony), he made every effort to keep that kind of warmth and light in his life.
Since this is the first time for him to feel these emotions, he's at a loss for how to navigate them. He did some push-and-pull stunts that I somehow understood but still bothered me. He can't fully grasp the obsession he's developing for her, so there are times he'd act like an OTT caveman but then avoid her for days only to come back begging for her attention. To be fair, he's not a jerk, but he needs time to process these things, hence the silent retreat for a few days.
Have I mentioned he likes to beg? Because he did it multiple times in this story. 😂 Farrow definitely knows how to stand her ground and wouldn't let Zack walk all over her, and he's a simp (p*ssy-whipped, his words) for her. So when he tells or asks her things in a not-so-nice way, she won't cave in unless he does it with manners. And man, does he do it shamelessly. 🤭
While these two seem so perfect together, Farrow's class is something that makes it impossible for them to be together. Classism is included in the trigger warning, so I kind of expected this. Zach's mom doesn't want Farrow for him. If we were talking about social status, she's at the bottom of the list, and Zach's mom won't have any of that.
Anyhoo, they ultimately work things out. I got secondhand embarrassment from how it was done, but other readers might find that swoony. 😅 But overall, I had fun reading it, and it was truly heartwarming how they have supported and improved one another to be the best versions of themselves. When all was said and done, what they had was a truly well-deserved HEA. 💖
Some quotes from the book:
Book info:
PS. I really liked the male cover. I mean, if that was Zach, well, Farrow got one fine man. 🤭
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was really good, and I enjoyed it so much more than I had hoped.
============================
MCs:
- Zach (33)
- Farrow/Fae/Little Octopus/Octi (22/23)
Background:
This is a modern-day Cinderella retelling, and the MCs initially met at a party.
Zach's mom hosted a soiree so that he might meet possible brides. She's been hounding him to get married and lead a life beyond his businesses. However, Zach's not interested in doing so but is willing to put up with it. At this event, Farrow's stepfamily (mom and sisters) were invited too. She hid in the trunk to enter the venue because she had a plan that had nothing to do with the party.
When her father died, her witch stepmother sold some of his personal belongings, one of which was a pendant purchased by Zach's family. So her brilliant plan was to get inside the house and steal it. Unfortunately for her, she got caught snooping and was interrogated by the man of the hour for a few minutes before he invited her to play Go (a strategy board game) with him. They reached a stalemate, and for some reason, Farrow (or rather her "functioning brain", his words) piqued Zach's interest. He wanted to continue their game because, for the first time, another human made him excited. But she's not interested, and she ran away, successfully escaping him.
After Zach figured out Farrow's real reason why she was there uninvited, he looked for her and later found her. Since he's still fascinated, he kind of blackmailed her into being his hired help. There was initial resistance from Farrow, but Zach made his point, and she negotiated her terms, and they eventually came to an agreement.
============================
Farrow. This girl had me cracking up so much with her sass and sarcasm. 😂 I really enjoyed reading about how her mind works and the thoughts running through her head. She was so independent, strong-willed, and had a warm personality. Despite all she went through, this woman didn't lose her spark or fight. The confidence and resiliency she showed in this story honestly amazed me. I don't know how she was able to survive everything that happened to her and her stepfamily. Most of all, I do love that she's not spineless and isn't afraid to hold her ground.
Zach. I feel bad for the reason why he stopped feeling things and got averse to human touch. It was traumatic, especially for a kid. It also didn't help that after that incident, his mom sort of became a shell of the person that she used to be. And this "brokenness" carried on until the present time in the book. But when Farrow came into his life, everything seemed to suddenly seem less dull, and for the first time, he felt alive. So in his own way (sometimes unhinged but mostly swoony), he made every effort to keep that kind of warmth and light in his life.
Since this is the first time for him to feel these emotions, he's at a loss for how to navigate them. He did some push-and-pull stunts that I somehow understood but still bothered me. He can't fully grasp the obsession he's developing for her, so there are times he'd act like an OTT caveman but then avoid her for days only to come back begging for her attention. To be fair, he's not a jerk, but he needs time to process these things, hence the silent retreat for a few days.
Have I mentioned he likes to beg? Because he did it multiple times in this story. 😂 Farrow definitely knows how to stand her ground and wouldn't let Zack walk all over her, and he's a simp (p*ssy-whipped, his words) for her. So when he tells or asks her things in a not-so-nice way, she won't cave in unless he does it with manners. And man, does he do it shamelessly. 🤭
While these two seem so perfect together, Farrow's class is something that makes it impossible for them to be together. Classism is included in the trigger warning, so I kind of expected this. Zach's mom doesn't want Farrow for him. If we were talking about social status, she's at the bottom of the list, and Zach's mom won't have any of that.
Anyhoo, they ultimately work things out. I got secondhand embarrassment from how it was done, but other readers might find that swoony. 😅 But overall, I had fun reading it, and it was truly heartwarming how they have supported and improved one another to be the best versions of themselves. When all was said and done, what they had was a truly well-deserved HEA. 💖
Some quotes from the book:
“I’m not yours.”
“You will be.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I always get what I want...And I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.”
****************************
“What do you want in return?”
Everything, I thought. I want everything you have to give and beyond. Every inch of you. Every smile. Every laugh. Every breath. Every touch.
****************************
“You don’t actually like her, do you?”
No, I don’t like her. I more than like her. I’m tragically obsessed with her.
****************************
“You’re always beautiful, Farrow Ballantine, but you are especially beautiful when you’re at my mercy.”
****************************
“Remember, Octi. You can date whomever you want and sell yourself stories about moving on from me, but I will always be the one to f*ck you. The one to make you c*m. The one to own every inch of you.”
****************************
“You’re my good luck charm, Farrow Ballantine. Even the universe knows I need you.”
****************************
“It made me thrilled. Before Farrow, I’d forgotten how to be happy. I would give anything to bring her back.”
****************************
"You slipped into my life pretending to be a problem and turned out to be my solution. My salvation.”
****************************
“Are we endgame now?”
“Baby, we’re not only endgame. We’re in our own goddamn league."
****************************
“I figured out why I love you.”
“And why is that?"
“You’re my home.”
“I figured out why I love you,” I countered.
“And why is that?”
“You make my soul breathe fire, my beautiful dark desire.”
Book info:
PS. I really liked the male cover. I mean, if that was Zach, well, Farrow got one fine man. 🤭
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 21, 2024
– 3.5 stars
i only read this because 1. i'm lowkey obsessed with the cover and 2. i heard the 33 year old hero is a virgin and he is in fact a virgin and hates touch. zacharyfarrow were giving walmart christiangianna, but i take it cuz the obsessed boy vibes were immaculate 🤣
i only read this because 1. i'm lowkey obsessed with the cover and 2. i heard the 33 year old hero is a virgin and he is in fact a virgin and hates touch. zacharyfarrow were giving walmart christiangianna, but i take it cuz the obsessed boy vibes were immaculate 🤣
“Laugh again,” I ordered.
Her delicate brows crashed together. “Make me, then.”
“Impossible. I have no sense of humor.”
“Develop one.”
March 4, 2024
MY REVIEW AND OTHERS can also be found on my blog: ╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS
❀ 𝐌𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄 ❀ Is the second full length (Cinderella fairy tale retelling) romance book within the (Dark Prince Road) series co written by L.J. Shen & Parker S. Huntington. Spoken in 'dual perspectives' ❥ Zachary Sun & Farrow (Octopus aka Octi) ❥
Hey my names Kat and I’m addicted to reading 👋 As soon as this hit my kindle, game over, life on hold, do not disturb and this was inhaled faster than a racehorse, I barely came up for air!
So as the story goes, like a thief in the night she went on a suicide mission to retrieve something that belonged to her deceased father which by rights then belonged to her, only for it to be in the hands of Zac. The plan seemed simple enough...Until she got caught in the act that is. running away like a ship in the night she loses converse shoe which is the only thing he has to track her down, which he easily does. So then to get her out from under the wicked stepmother and her daughters he devises a plan with a few stipulations making her his housekeeper.
I have never giggled so much, know so much about octopuses, swooned so much and fell so fast for both our characters.
'𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒐. 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆, 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝑮𝒐 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆, 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒙 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏.'The banter between these two was chefs kiss, I couldn't get enough. He was like the 'Tin Man' learning at a young age that to touch, to feel hurt, he became the 'Ice Man' untouchable, and in some ways unloveable. Human connections were beyond him, human touch was unbearable, but with her he slowly started to thaw which wrung all those mushy feels out of me.
'𝒁𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅.'These two were perfectly imperfect but perfect for each other!
The storyline was so unique, all the feels, the swoons, these two authors mesh so well together and I hope we see them co-writing again in the future.
March 30, 2024
"I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming."
Zachary Sun is American Royalty.
He is a collector.
Of all things exquisite and hard to get.
Has always been able to figure things out. Especially people.
Until her.
Until Farrow Ballentine.
"The deal isn't an offer. It's your only choice to survive."
Farrow Ballentine had a simple task.
Sneak in. Steal the pendant. Sneak out.
At least she thought it would be simple.
Until Zachary Sun caught her.
And until he decided to keep her.
"If Zachary Sun wanted my complete submission, he's have to rip it from my bloody hands."
I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
"I collect beautiful things, and she's my latest addition."
Zachary Sun made a deal with Farrow Ballentine. He helps her escape her family and she comes to work for him. Simple right? But with Zachary Sun - anything he wants, he gets. No exceptions. But will that be true for Farrow as well?
"I did not like to be outsmarted. No, let me rephrase - I was not used to being outsmarted."
OK to put it simply - I LOVED THIS BOOK.
Omg this book had no right to be as hilarious as it way because I was motherfucking cackling thank you very much and also the romance!!! AND THE SPICE!!!
This is an amazing dark retelling of Cinderella with all the right elements!!
"Even if Zach Sun were the devil, I'd willingly let him drag me into darkness. I was Persephone, eagerly following him into the underworld."
First, we have Farrow Ballentine. Your "Cinderella". You know that meme "I'm not your average Cinderella, I'm your Bad Cinderella" and we all cringed as a collective? (niche reference I know but bear with me). If Farrow Ballentine made that exact same speech I would be lining up to have her use me as a foot stool I swear to you right here right now. She is that bitch and I love her. I want to be her. She is my spirit animal. First off, not taking shit from anyone, we love to see. Putting Zach in his place, we love it. And THE COMEBACKS!!! OMG Farrow quickly became one of my favorite FMCs because she can banter with the best of them. And she also fences!?!?!?! And has a backbone!!
As you can see I'm obsessed and so is Zach thank you very much.
"'Hope not.' Farrow picked up her rag and resumed scrubbing. 'My wet dream is to have him fire me.'" - ICONIC
"If you can't handle me at my worst, then I've got news for you. My personality will only deteriorate from here on out." - ME!!!
Now. Zachary Sun. Something about the "I get everything and anything I want and I want you" just works so fucking well. I mean I will fold so quickly it's not even funny. Farrow is a stronger woman than me because I would have been a fold up chair at a birthday party people I swear. The ice is melting realness right here. And the National Geographic Octopus facts!!!! I loved Zach's character. The family obligations he felt and the whole storyline with his parents I legit wanted to hug the dude but I totally know it would go like this:
"I want to hug you so bad."
"Get out."
And I am ok with that because it is iconic and it is the moment and luckily we have Farrow to put him in his place and as I always like to quote: "WALK HIM LIKE A DOG SIS WALK HIM LIKE A DOG" especially after Oliver's thing with dog leashes but that's a different book 😏😏
"I always get what I want. And I want you like I've never wanted anything in my life."
"Fuck, it was addictive. She was addictive."
The authors made an AMAZING PLAYLIST!!! But because I'm me these are the songs that I added also 😘😘
(Link - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oD... )
🎶 "Killing Butterflies" - Lewis Blissett
🎶 "American Money" - BORNS
🎶 "Bookends Theme" - Simon & Garfunkel
🎶 "King For A Day - Acoustic" - Matthew Grant
🎶 "Numb" - Linkin Park
🎶 "Big Bad Wolf" - Roses & Revolutions
🎶 "Fighter" - Christian Reindl, Power-Haus, Dream Harlowe
🎶 "Masquerade" - Lindsey Stirling
🎶 "Money (That's What I Want)" - Cheryl K
🎶 "Vigilante Shit" - Taylor Swift
🎶 "Rich Kids" - Bea Miller
🎶 "Mind Games" - Sickick
🎶 "Sit Still, Look Pretty" - Daya
🎶 "RUNRUNRUN - Sped Up Version" - Dutch Melrose
🎶 "Anarchy" - Lilith Czar
🎶 "You Don't Know Me" - Elizabeth Gillies
🎶 "Playground" - Bea Miller
🎶 "Pardon My French" - Gabi Sklar
🎶 "Chandelier" - Sia
🎶 "Knife Under My Pillow" - Maggie Lindemann
🎶 "Monster" - Lady Gaga
🎶 "Way Down We Go" - KALEO
🎶 "Devil Doesn't Bargain" - Alec Benjamin
🎶 "I'm Her" - Natalie Jane
🎶 "Never Say Die" - Neoni
🎶 "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" - Lorde
🎶 "PLEASE" - Omido, Ex Habit
🎶 "No Mercy" - Austin Giorgio
🎶 "Morally Grey" - April Jai
🎶 "Love The Way You Hate Me" - Like A Storm
🎶 "Devil Saint" - Luma, Yuppycult
🎶 "Beauty" - Layto
🎶 "Killer" - Valerie Broussard
🎶 "PIECES" - Elley Duhe
🎶 "pSyChOsIs" - Mitchel Dae
🎶 "Don't Make Me" - MALINDA
🎶 "Money, Money, Money" - ABBA
🎶 "Maneater (Live)" - Andrew Barth Feldman
🎶 "That's My Girl" - Fifth Harmony
🎶 "Arabella" - Arctic Monkeys
🎶 "Cinderella" - The Cheetah Girls
🎶 "Harder To Breathe" - Letdown.
🎶 "Cross My Heart I Hope U Die" - Meg Smith
🎶 "vicious" - Tate McRae
🎶 "Bury Me Face Down" - grandson
🎶 "Blood // Water" - grandson
🎶 "Desire" - MEG MYERS
🎶 "Candy" - Doja Cat
🎶 "Antidote" - Braeker
🎶 "Lose Control" - Teddy Swims
🎶 "I Want It All" - Cameron Grey
🎶 "Addicted" - Saving Abel
🎶 "Cravin'" - Stileto, Kendyle Paige
🎶 "Taste" - Ari Abdul
🎶 "Human" - Rag'n'Bone Man
🎶 "obsessed" - zandros, Limi
🎶 "In The Shadows" - The Rasmus
🎶 "older sped up" - Isabel LaRosa
🎶 "Hot N Cold - Acoustic" - The Baseballs
🎶 "Water" - Tyla
🎶 "Fairytale (Violin)" - Joel Sunny
🎶 "WOW" - Zara Larsson, Sabrina Carpenter
🎶 "Falling" - Chase Atlantic
🎶 "traitor" - Olivia Rodrigo
🎶 "do you really want to hurt me?" - Nessa Barrett
🎶 "Young And Beautiful - DH Orchestral Version" - Lana Del Rey
🎶 "Rain" - Sleep Token
🎶 "Drive You Insane" - Daniel Di Angelo
🎶 "Do It For Me" - Rosenfeld
🎶 "You Put A Spell On Me" - Austin Giorgio
🎶 "Fire On Fire" - Sam Smith
🎶 "Tell Me You Love Me - Rock Version" - Demi Lovato
🎶 "Make Me Feel" - Elvis Drew
🎶 "I'm Dangerous" - The EverLove
🎶 "NFWMB" - Hozier
🎶 "STUPID IN LOVE" - MAX, HUH YUNJIN
🎶 "Lover - First Dance Remix" - Taylor Swift
🎶 "Beautiful Things" - Benson Boone
And OMG dirty talk central that's all I'll say and show of course (I brought proof your honor!!!!):
"Kindly shove your fingers into your mouth and taste what my mere existence does to you."
"I want to nail you through the wood until you become a permanent fixture in it."
"The fucking world coming to an end couldn't stop me from making you come."
And for the cherry:
"You will. You'll take every inch like a good girl."
🥿 Tropes 🥿
🧹 Dark Fairytale Retelling (Cinderella)
🧹 Forced Proximity
🧹 Tragedy
🧹 Revenge
🧹 Deal
🧹 Maid
🧹 Possessive and very protective
Book Edit - https://www.instagram.com/p/C4LgE2qot...
Zachary Sun is American Royalty.
He is a collector.
Of all things exquisite and hard to get.
Has always been able to figure things out. Especially people.
Until her.
Until Farrow Ballentine.
"The deal isn't an offer. It's your only choice to survive."
Farrow Ballentine had a simple task.
Sneak in. Steal the pendant. Sneak out.
At least she thought it would be simple.
Until Zachary Sun caught her.
And until he decided to keep her.
"If Zachary Sun wanted my complete submission, he's have to rip it from my bloody hands."
I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
"I collect beautiful things, and she's my latest addition."
Zachary Sun made a deal with Farrow Ballentine. He helps her escape her family and she comes to work for him. Simple right? But with Zachary Sun - anything he wants, he gets. No exceptions. But will that be true for Farrow as well?
"I did not like to be outsmarted. No, let me rephrase - I was not used to being outsmarted."
OK to put it simply - I LOVED THIS BOOK.
Omg this book had no right to be as hilarious as it way because I was motherfucking cackling thank you very much and also the romance!!! AND THE SPICE!!!
This is an amazing dark retelling of Cinderella with all the right elements!!
"Even if Zach Sun were the devil, I'd willingly let him drag me into darkness. I was Persephone, eagerly following him into the underworld."
First, we have Farrow Ballentine. Your "Cinderella". You know that meme "I'm not your average Cinderella, I'm your Bad Cinderella" and we all cringed as a collective? (niche reference I know but bear with me). If Farrow Ballentine made that exact same speech I would be lining up to have her use me as a foot stool I swear to you right here right now. She is that bitch and I love her. I want to be her. She is my spirit animal. First off, not taking shit from anyone, we love to see. Putting Zach in his place, we love it. And THE COMEBACKS!!! OMG Farrow quickly became one of my favorite FMCs because she can banter with the best of them. And she also fences!?!?!?! And has a backbone!!
As you can see I'm obsessed and so is Zach thank you very much.
"'Hope not.' Farrow picked up her rag and resumed scrubbing. 'My wet dream is to have him fire me.'" - ICONIC
"If you can't handle me at my worst, then I've got news for you. My personality will only deteriorate from here on out." - ME!!!
Now. Zachary Sun. Something about the "I get everything and anything I want and I want you" just works so fucking well. I mean I will fold so quickly it's not even funny. Farrow is a stronger woman than me because I would have been a fold up chair at a birthday party people I swear. The ice is melting realness right here. And the National Geographic Octopus facts!!!! I loved Zach's character. The family obligations he felt and the whole storyline with his parents I legit wanted to hug the dude but I totally know it would go like this:
"I want to hug you so bad."
"Get out."
And I am ok with that because it is iconic and it is the moment and luckily we have Farrow to put him in his place and as I always like to quote: "WALK HIM LIKE A DOG SIS WALK HIM LIKE A DOG" especially after Oliver's thing with dog leashes but that's a different book 😏😏
"I always get what I want. And I want you like I've never wanted anything in my life."
"Fuck, it was addictive. She was addictive."
The authors made an AMAZING PLAYLIST!!! But because I'm me these are the songs that I added also 😘😘
(Link - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4oD... )
🎶 "Killing Butterflies" - Lewis Blissett
🎶 "American Money" - BORNS
🎶 "Bookends Theme" - Simon & Garfunkel
🎶 "King For A Day - Acoustic" - Matthew Grant
🎶 "Numb" - Linkin Park
🎶 "Big Bad Wolf" - Roses & Revolutions
🎶 "Fighter" - Christian Reindl, Power-Haus, Dream Harlowe
🎶 "Masquerade" - Lindsey Stirling
🎶 "Money (That's What I Want)" - Cheryl K
🎶 "Vigilante Shit" - Taylor Swift
🎶 "Rich Kids" - Bea Miller
🎶 "Mind Games" - Sickick
🎶 "Sit Still, Look Pretty" - Daya
🎶 "RUNRUNRUN - Sped Up Version" - Dutch Melrose
🎶 "Anarchy" - Lilith Czar
🎶 "You Don't Know Me" - Elizabeth Gillies
🎶 "Playground" - Bea Miller
🎶 "Pardon My French" - Gabi Sklar
🎶 "Chandelier" - Sia
🎶 "Knife Under My Pillow" - Maggie Lindemann
🎶 "Monster" - Lady Gaga
🎶 "Way Down We Go" - KALEO
🎶 "Devil Doesn't Bargain" - Alec Benjamin
🎶 "I'm Her" - Natalie Jane
🎶 "Never Say Die" - Neoni
🎶 "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" - Lorde
🎶 "PLEASE" - Omido, Ex Habit
🎶 "No Mercy" - Austin Giorgio
🎶 "Morally Grey" - April Jai
🎶 "Love The Way You Hate Me" - Like A Storm
🎶 "Devil Saint" - Luma, Yuppycult
🎶 "Beauty" - Layto
🎶 "Killer" - Valerie Broussard
🎶 "PIECES" - Elley Duhe
🎶 "pSyChOsIs" - Mitchel Dae
🎶 "Don't Make Me" - MALINDA
🎶 "Money, Money, Money" - ABBA
🎶 "Maneater (Live)" - Andrew Barth Feldman
🎶 "That's My Girl" - Fifth Harmony
🎶 "Arabella" - Arctic Monkeys
🎶 "Cinderella" - The Cheetah Girls
🎶 "Harder To Breathe" - Letdown.
🎶 "Cross My Heart I Hope U Die" - Meg Smith
🎶 "vicious" - Tate McRae
🎶 "Bury Me Face Down" - grandson
🎶 "Blood // Water" - grandson
🎶 "Desire" - MEG MYERS
🎶 "Candy" - Doja Cat
🎶 "Antidote" - Braeker
🎶 "Lose Control" - Teddy Swims
🎶 "I Want It All" - Cameron Grey
🎶 "Addicted" - Saving Abel
🎶 "Cravin'" - Stileto, Kendyle Paige
🎶 "Taste" - Ari Abdul
🎶 "Human" - Rag'n'Bone Man
🎶 "obsessed" - zandros, Limi
🎶 "In The Shadows" - The Rasmus
🎶 "older sped up" - Isabel LaRosa
🎶 "Hot N Cold - Acoustic" - The Baseballs
🎶 "Water" - Tyla
🎶 "Fairytale (Violin)" - Joel Sunny
🎶 "WOW" - Zara Larsson, Sabrina Carpenter
🎶 "Falling" - Chase Atlantic
🎶 "traitor" - Olivia Rodrigo
🎶 "do you really want to hurt me?" - Nessa Barrett
🎶 "Young And Beautiful - DH Orchestral Version" - Lana Del Rey
🎶 "Rain" - Sleep Token
🎶 "Drive You Insane" - Daniel Di Angelo
🎶 "Do It For Me" - Rosenfeld
🎶 "You Put A Spell On Me" - Austin Giorgio
🎶 "Fire On Fire" - Sam Smith
🎶 "Tell Me You Love Me - Rock Version" - Demi Lovato
🎶 "Make Me Feel" - Elvis Drew
🎶 "I'm Dangerous" - The EverLove
🎶 "NFWMB" - Hozier
🎶 "STUPID IN LOVE" - MAX, HUH YUNJIN
🎶 "Lover - First Dance Remix" - Taylor Swift
🎶 "Beautiful Things" - Benson Boone
And OMG dirty talk central that's all I'll say and show of course (I brought proof your honor!!!!):
"Kindly shove your fingers into your mouth and taste what my mere existence does to you."
"I want to nail you through the wood until you become a permanent fixture in it."
"The fucking world coming to an end couldn't stop me from making you come."
And for the cherry:
"You will. You'll take every inch like a good girl."
🥿 Tropes 🥿
🧹 Dark Fairytale Retelling (Cinderella)
🧹 Forced Proximity
🧹 Tragedy
🧹 Revenge
🧹 Deal
🧹 Maid
🧹 Possessive and very protective
Book Edit - https://www.instagram.com/p/C4LgE2qot...
March 18, 2024
♾️⭐️
“𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞.”
Incredible. Fucking incredible. 😭😭 easily one of my new favourite books of all time, already know I’m going to be rereading this until I die (not to be dramatic but also to be dramatic).
This book is a punch in the face MASTERPIECE. Every single page, up to the last 500th is iiiiiiinsaaaaane. And I’m not just talking about the plot, the spice, the tropes but for a nerd who studies writing craft, story structure, and character depth it’s a mighty wet dream.
Parker S Huntington and L.J Shen made it look like light werk but the godamn blood sweat and tears that must have gone into writing this book is easy to see, and I’d be so fucking proud if it was mine 🥹 the authors note states ‘niether of us has written a book like this’ and I get it!!!
It’s a billionaire Cinderella retelling romance that these two women WIPED THE FLOOR WITH.
Everything made sense, the story moved as a result of what the characters wanted, their deepest desires, their greatest flaws and tragic backstory’s. Each chapter Zach and Farrow pulled back another layer, exposing vulnerabilities that made them so relatable 😭 doesn’t matter where you come from, what path you’ve walked in life, how much money you have, pain is the one emotion we can all identify with!!! They were interesting, FUNNY and so so likeable despite being the complete opposite, they WORKED and brought out the best in each other. They healed each other. And THAT is what elevates a romance imo 😭 characters who change and evolve each other, who find themselves as a result. UGH CHEF KISS MATE.
Farrow - Feisty, driven, dedicated, I WISH every FMC was like her 😭 she took zero crap from anyone, had a backbone made of steel, but equally vulnerable shouldering so much pain 😞 I will bawl my eyes out for any character who feels lost and lonely in this world, unwanted and so I rooted for her happy ending right from the start. THE FOUND FAMILY for her 😩😭 her friendship with Dallas, too good!
Zac - where do I even begin with this man 😩😩😩 the things he said. The things he did. All for Farrow. His fuck around and find out attitude, his dedication, love, POSSESSIVENESS wrote me off. Just when I didn’t think he couldn’t get any deeper he did.
And his trauma was the star of the show for me👏🏻. The uniqueness of it 🫠 usually it’s the FMC harbouring pain triggered by something in her past and the MMC swoops in to save her, when this time it was both characters. Not only that but his suffering, his inability to touch people was so different, it shaped his ENTIRE personality, it influenced every decision that he made which then progressed the plot and I stg that is everything I bang on about in my reviews 😭😭😭 if the characters aren’t moving the plot forward then wtf is the point.
There was so much internal and external conflict keeping Farrow and Zach apart, the stakes were staking, like I’m not being funny but this book is basically a crash course in character development and growth 😭 this is how it’s done and it just kept hitting and hitting!!!!!
Few last things:
1. The men’s group chat = SENT ME
2. OLIVER is hilarious and the way I feel about a funny man has me all kinds of excited for his book
3. It’s a billionaire romance Cinderella retelling, can be read as a standalone altho I do recommend reading My Dark Romeo first
4. My only critique was one spicey scene made me feel sick LOL in the woods (if ykyk) I didn’t find that sexy at all but am I fuck knocking stars off for that, spice is entirely subjective 🤣🤣🤣 the quality of this book overall though? Not up for debate.
Safe to say I LOVED IT a fierce amount, this will SO SO hard to beat for me and a top read of 2024 🥹
“𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?”
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞.”
Incredible. Fucking incredible. 😭😭 easily one of my new favourite books of all time, already know I’m going to be rereading this until I die (not to be dramatic but also to be dramatic).
This book is a punch in the face MASTERPIECE. Every single page, up to the last 500th is iiiiiiinsaaaaane. And I’m not just talking about the plot, the spice, the tropes but for a nerd who studies writing craft, story structure, and character depth it’s a mighty wet dream.
Parker S Huntington and L.J Shen made it look like light werk but the godamn blood sweat and tears that must have gone into writing this book is easy to see, and I’d be so fucking proud if it was mine 🥹 the authors note states ‘niether of us has written a book like this’ and I get it!!!
It’s a billionaire Cinderella retelling romance that these two women WIPED THE FLOOR WITH.
Everything made sense, the story moved as a result of what the characters wanted, their deepest desires, their greatest flaws and tragic backstory’s. Each chapter Zach and Farrow pulled back another layer, exposing vulnerabilities that made them so relatable 😭 doesn’t matter where you come from, what path you’ve walked in life, how much money you have, pain is the one emotion we can all identify with!!! They were interesting, FUNNY and so so likeable despite being the complete opposite, they WORKED and brought out the best in each other. They healed each other. And THAT is what elevates a romance imo 😭 characters who change and evolve each other, who find themselves as a result. UGH CHEF KISS MATE.
Farrow - Feisty, driven, dedicated, I WISH every FMC was like her 😭 she took zero crap from anyone, had a backbone made of steel, but equally vulnerable shouldering so much pain 😞 I will bawl my eyes out for any character who feels lost and lonely in this world, unwanted and so I rooted for her happy ending right from the start. THE FOUND FAMILY for her 😩😭 her friendship with Dallas, too good!
Zac - where do I even begin with this man 😩😩😩 the things he said. The things he did. All for Farrow. His fuck around and find out attitude, his dedication, love, POSSESSIVENESS wrote me off. Just when I didn’t think he couldn’t get any deeper he did.
And his trauma was the star of the show for me👏🏻. The uniqueness of it 🫠 usually it’s the FMC harbouring pain triggered by something in her past and the MMC swoops in to save her, when this time it was both characters. Not only that but his suffering, his inability to touch people was so different, it shaped his ENTIRE personality, it influenced every decision that he made which then progressed the plot and I stg that is everything I bang on about in my reviews 😭😭😭 if the characters aren’t moving the plot forward then wtf is the point.
There was so much internal and external conflict keeping Farrow and Zach apart, the stakes were staking, like I’m not being funny but this book is basically a crash course in character development and growth 😭 this is how it’s done and it just kept hitting and hitting!!!!!
Few last things:
1. The men’s group chat = SENT ME
2. OLIVER is hilarious and the way I feel about a funny man has me all kinds of excited for his book
3. It’s a billionaire romance Cinderella retelling, can be read as a standalone altho I do recommend reading My Dark Romeo first
4. My only critique was one spicey scene made me feel sick LOL in the woods (if ykyk) I didn’t find that sexy at all but am I fuck knocking stars off for that, spice is entirely subjective 🤣🤣🤣 the quality of this book overall though? Not up for debate.
Safe to say I LOVED IT a fierce amount, this will SO SO hard to beat for me and a top read of 2024 🥹
March 12, 2024
this book had no business being THAT long! 93 chapters + epilogue is OVERKILL 💀🤡
Also, the first chapter made me really dislike the heroine as she was behaving as an infuriating stupid girlie and even after she became better, I didn't sympathize with her at all 🤷🏼♀️
The hero was the only character having potential, but it was quickly killed for the smut...which wasn't that great to begin with? 👉👈
In all honesty, I wanted to dnf this book SO. MANY. TIMES! 😭😭😭 Probably should've done it, and yet I suffered through all this nonsense for a predictable finally. So what does it really say about me? 🙈😅
Also, the first chapter made me really dislike the heroine as she was behaving as an infuriating stupid girlie and even after she became better, I didn't sympathize with her at all 🤷🏼♀️
The hero was the only character having potential, but it was quickly killed for the smut...which wasn't that great to begin with? 👉👈
In all honesty, I wanted to dnf this book SO. MANY. TIMES! 😭😭😭 Probably should've done it, and yet I suffered through all this nonsense for a predictable finally. So what does it really say about me? 🙈😅
Want to read
February 8, 2024IT'S ZACH'S BOOK!!! he's such an asshole and this book will be so ridiculous... I NEED IT NOW
Want to read
March 11, 2024I think I'm going to hold off on reading this one. I guess it really is 800 some pages? I read some reviews for the book.
Update: I guess book 2 will be Zach's book. A goodreads friend had an update for the book. I looked on Amazon and saw a synopsis. I thought it would be Oliver and Frankie's book bc it seemed like there was set up for a book for them. I'm glad it's Zach's book instead of Oliver's. I liked Zach in My Dark Romeo. I like the emotionless guys that fall hard for their lady. I know Zach's mom was after him to get married.
I hope this book isn't really 817 pages long bc that is what goodreads had listed. I don't like when a book seems never ending.
What you need to know: (what LJ Shen said)
Complete Standalone
Thick AF
Dark Cinderella retelling
Damaged Hero to the Extreme
WARRIOR HEROINE
Enemies to Lovers on steroids.
Ya'll, she is the HELP
The cover is pretty:
Synopsis that I saw on Amazon:
She’s his sweetest desire...and his darkest secret.
From Wall Street Journal bestsellers Parker S. Huntington and L.J. Shen comes a tantalizing forbidden romance between a broken Prince Charming and a disgraced Cinderella.
The task was simple.
Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.
Steal back my pendant. Slip out.
Problem number one?
America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.
Problem number two?
He decided to keep me. As the help.
Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt, but he makes my skin burn.
Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel, he thrives on the weaknesses of others.
Little does he know, he just met his match.
He may be American royalty.
But this peasant will rise to become Queen.
Authors’ Notes: My Dark Desire is a standalone double-grump romance between a broken billionaire and a feisty maid unafraid to fight back. It is set in the decadent Dark Prince Road world.
I don't know if this will be Oliver's book or Zach's book. I liked Zach. I'll need to look up safety info if it's Oliver's book bc he was a mega manwhore that needs a hazmat team to come deep clean his house. He would send d*ick pics to women too and had to have Zach clean up his messes. Oliver likes Dallas's younger sister Franky. I'm assuming maybe Oliver and Franky will get a story together. I'm sure Franky will be more of a handful than Dallas. Dallas's father decided to give Franky more freedom to try to make it up to Dallas for selling her off. Sometimes too much freedom might not always be a good thing. I'd like an update on Romeo and Dallas and to actually see them as parents.
Update: I guess book 2 will be Zach's book. A goodreads friend had an update for the book. I looked on Amazon and saw a synopsis. I thought it would be Oliver and Frankie's book bc it seemed like there was set up for a book for them. I'm glad it's Zach's book instead of Oliver's. I liked Zach in My Dark Romeo. I like the emotionless guys that fall hard for their lady. I know Zach's mom was after him to get married.
I hope this book isn't really 817 pages long bc that is what goodreads had listed. I don't like when a book seems never ending.
What you need to know: (what LJ Shen said)
Complete Standalone
Thick AF
Dark Cinderella retelling
Damaged Hero to the Extreme
WARRIOR HEROINE
Enemies to Lovers on steroids.
Ya'll, she is the HELP
The cover is pretty:
Synopsis that I saw on Amazon:
She’s his sweetest desire...and his darkest secret.
From Wall Street Journal bestsellers Parker S. Huntington and L.J. Shen comes a tantalizing forbidden romance between a broken Prince Charming and a disgraced Cinderella.
The task was simple.
Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.
Steal back my pendant. Slip out.
Problem number one?
America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.
Problem number two?
He decided to keep me. As the help.
Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt, but he makes my skin burn.
Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel, he thrives on the weaknesses of others.
Little does he know, he just met his match.
He may be American royalty.
But this peasant will rise to become Queen.
Authors’ Notes: My Dark Desire is a standalone double-grump romance between a broken billionaire and a feisty maid unafraid to fight back. It is set in the decadent Dark Prince Road world.
I don't know if this will be Oliver's book or Zach's book. I liked Zach. I'll need to look up safety info if it's Oliver's book bc he was a mega manwhore that needs a hazmat team to come deep clean his house. He would send d*ick pics to women too and had to have Zach clean up his messes. Oliver likes Dallas's younger sister Franky. I'm assuming maybe Oliver and Franky will get a story together. I'm sure Franky will be more of a handful than Dallas. Dallas's father decided to give Franky more freedom to try to make it up to Dallas for selling her off. Sometimes too much freedom might not always be a good thing. I'd like an update on Romeo and Dallas and to actually see them as parents.
March 13, 2024
My Dark Desire melted my brain.
I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.
I devoured this!! I feel like I've just binge-watched 8 seasons of a 90s soap-opera, with better technology but the same amount of clichés and CRAZYY.
⚔Melodramatic: 4000/100%
⚔Unhinged characters: 54/100%
⚔Cringe-factor: 28/100%
⚔Cheese-factor: 40/100%
⚔Enemies to lovers 80/100%
⚔Octopus facts:🐙🐙🐙🐙/🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
⚔Trashy: Fuck yeah!!
⚔Entertaining: ABSOLUTELY
I loved it!!
4.75/5✨
I liked this even more than the first one. It was hilarious, emotional and heart-warming.
And I adored Zach and Farrow's romance. The chemistry and banter between them was🤌😘
I have to say tho, there were moments throughout this story that had me rolling my eyes so hard that I worried I would pull a muscle. Some of these side characters were so ott, and I honestly think a couple of them should come with warning labels. That being said, I still loved them!😂♥︎
Constance, however? Not so much. We have other more obvious villains in this book, like the step-monsters, for example. But Constance is the one that I have the most beef with. I got that she was also still grieving for her husband, and struggling with anxiety after what happened, but she was so selfish and unlikable!! And I hope she steps on Lego's every week for the foreseeable future. Sorry, not sorry. I really couldn't stand her.😡
❝You missed a spot.❞
❝Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.❞
Overall, I really enjoyed this chaos. And I'm looking forward to the next one!
I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.
I devoured this!! I feel like I've just binge-watched 8 seasons of a 90s soap-opera, with better technology but the same amount of clichés and CRAZYY.
⚔Melodramatic: 4000/100%
⚔Unhinged characters: 54/100%
⚔Cringe-factor: 28/100%
⚔Cheese-factor: 40/100%
⚔Enemies to lovers 80/100%
⚔Octopus facts:🐙🐙🐙🐙/🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
⚔Trashy: Fuck yeah!!
⚔Entertaining: ABSOLUTELY
I loved it!!
4.75/5✨
I liked this even more than the first one. It was hilarious, emotional and heart-warming.
And I adored Zach and Farrow's romance. The chemistry and banter between them was🤌😘
I have to say tho, there were moments throughout this story that had me rolling my eyes so hard that I worried I would pull a muscle. Some of these side characters were so ott, and I honestly think a couple of them should come with warning labels. That being said, I still loved them!😂♥︎
Constance, however? Not so much. We have other more obvious villains in this book, like the step-monsters, for example. But Constance is the one that I have the most beef with. I got that she was also still grieving for her husband, and struggling with anxiety after what happened, but she was so selfish and unlikable!! And I hope she steps on Lego's every week for the foreseeable future. Sorry, not sorry. I really couldn't stand her.😡
❝You missed a spot.❞
❝Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.❞
Overall, I really enjoyed this chaos. And I'm looking forward to the next one!
Read
March 9, 2024DNF @ 40%….
I actually liked the H & h, storyline and writing so far, unfortunately one of the side characters is so hard to stomach.
Ollie/Oliver - every single chapter so far has multiple references to his EXTREMELY active sex life. And I’m assuming he’s the hero for the next book so I have no clue why they would write him in such a disgusting way. I get that it’s passed off as comedy but my word…. Absolutely no one in the world deserves to end up with someone like him.
40% in and these are some of the references made with regards to him that I can remember:
Actively hosts and participates in orgies at his house.
Has made multiple sex tapes.
Had a dickpic used as a piece of evidence in a court.
Spent the night taking the virginities of multiple women at a party the H hosted.
There’s a scene where he bumps into a man he participated in a “5some” with.
References made to him populating the earth.
Actively sleeps with married women.
And I stopped reading when he said he’s planning on “working his way through a 20 women tennis team”….
There’s so much more references and it’s clearly written in a ‘comical’ way but I’m not being dramatic when I tell you that it’s eluded to so much in this book. This book is almost 800 pages on my kindle and I’m sure a good reason for the length of this book is the accommodations made to showcase the absolute depravity of Ollie. I’m shocked at the choice they made especially since this H is a virgin and the previous was celibate… like, why??? What in the cuckquean were they thinking???
I actually liked the H & h, storyline and writing so far, unfortunately one of the side characters is so hard to stomach.
Ollie/Oliver - every single chapter so far has multiple references to his EXTREMELY active sex life. And I’m assuming he’s the hero for the next book so I have no clue why they would write him in such a disgusting way. I get that it’s passed off as comedy but my word…. Absolutely no one in the world deserves to end up with someone like him.
40% in and these are some of the references made with regards to him that I can remember:
Actively hosts and participates in orgies at his house.
Has made multiple sex tapes.
Had a dickpic used as a piece of evidence in a court.
Spent the night taking the virginities of multiple women at a party the H hosted.
There’s a scene where he bumps into a man he participated in a “5some” with.
References made to him populating the earth.
Actively sleeps with married women.
And I stopped reading when he said he’s planning on “working his way through a 20 women tennis team”….
There’s so much more references and it’s clearly written in a ‘comical’ way but I’m not being dramatic when I tell you that it’s eluded to so much in this book. This book is almost 800 pages on my kindle and I’m sure a good reason for the length of this book is the accommodations made to showcase the absolute depravity of Ollie. I’m shocked at the choice they made especially since this H is a virgin and the previous was celibate… like, why??? What in the cuckquean were they thinking???
March 24, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Considering that I ended up DNF-ing the first book, it was a pleasant surprise that this one was sooooo much better. I don't know. It's like it was written by other authors compared with the first one 😂.
Anyways, it wasn't perfect. There were still some awkward things here and there, but more tame, logical, and realistical, compared with the first book. I cringed at their reconnection scene. It wasn't quite as cute as it should have been 😅. Plus, the book was a tad too long. The pace was too slow sometimes, especially the last 20-30%.
I liked both the main characters and how their relationship developed. There was drama, mainly because of both their families. This being a Cinderella retelling, everyone can imagine what kind of drama was implied.
The plotline with his mother and the arranged wedding was quite annoying. I'm not happy how that part ended. I really wanted that "fiancée" to receive more of what she deserved. She was absolutely blant and annoying.
His mother annoyed the crap out of me, but from the little I know of their culture, it's understandable. That's why I chose to ignore her by the time they reached their final confrontation. As he should have done!!
I liked their HEA. It's exactly what I imagined for them. No fuss with the wedding. It suited them both. They healed each other 🥹🥰.
Now, I don't think I'll continue with the next book. It will probably be Oliver's book, and I really hope that the exaggerated manhohoho profile that was made for him in these first two books is fake. Because he was REPULSIVE!!! Not funny, not quirky, definitely NOT HOT, just pure yuck. 🤪
⚫️ contemporary Cinderella retelling / billionaire MMC / poor and neglected FMC
⚫️ V MMC: He couldn't touch anyone, and he didn't want to actually; of course, until he met the heroine 🥹🥰
⚫️ traumatic/tragic past for both of them
⚫️ possessive, very jealous, and protective MMC
⚫️ drama, drama, drama, and betrayals everywhere
⚫️ the couple from the first book appears here, and they are actually adorable and supportive, especially with the FMC
⚫️ no cheating, HEA, epilogue
.
.
.
.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Considering that I ended up DNF-ing the first book, it was a pleasant surprise that this one was sooooo much better. I don't know. It's like it was written by other authors compared with the first one 😂.
Anyways, it wasn't perfect. There were still some awkward things here and there, but more tame, logical, and realistical, compared with the first book. I cringed at their reconnection scene. It wasn't quite as cute as it should have been 😅. Plus, the book was a tad too long. The pace was too slow sometimes, especially the last 20-30%.
I liked both the main characters and how their relationship developed. There was drama, mainly because of both their families. This being a Cinderella retelling, everyone can imagine what kind of drama was implied.
The plotline with his mother and the arranged wedding was quite annoying. I'm not happy how that part ended. I really wanted that "fiancée" to receive more of what she deserved. She was absolutely blant and annoying.
His mother annoyed the crap out of me, but from the little I know of their culture, it's understandable. That's why I chose to ignore her by the time they reached their final confrontation. As he should have done!!
I liked their HEA. It's exactly what I imagined for them. No fuss with the wedding. It suited them both. They healed each other 🥹🥰.
Now, I don't think I'll continue with the next book. It will probably be Oliver's book, and I really hope that the exaggerated manhohoho profile that was made for him in these first two books is fake. Because he was REPULSIVE!!! Not funny, not quirky, definitely NOT HOT, just pure yuck. 🤪
⚫️ contemporary Cinderella retelling / billionaire MMC / poor and neglected FMC
⚫️ V MMC: He couldn't touch anyone, and he didn't want to actually; of course, until he met the heroine 🥹🥰
⚫️ traumatic/tragic past for both of them
⚫️ possessive, very jealous, and protective MMC
⚫️ drama, drama, drama, and betrayals everywhere
⚫️ the couple from the first book appears here, and they are actually adorable and supportive, especially with the FMC
⚫️ no cheating, HEA, epilogue
.
.
.
.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 14, 2024
Tropes: age gap, enemies to lovers, boss/employee, Cinderella story
Feels: 1/5
Steam*: 2.5/5
Kinks: n/a
Angst: medium
HEA: yes
Pairing: MF
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: violent death of parent witnessed by child, survivors guilt, grief, virgin MMC, unsafe sex, ptsd, morning after pill
Zach is 33 and a billionaire. His father died saving his life in a car crash and it traumatized Zach very deeply. He spent hours with his father's corpse trapped in the car pressing against him and bleeding on him. He can't stand to touch another human's flesh ever since then, he's never had sex or been in a relationship. Zack is also a really intellectual and cold character. He feels a lot of obligation towards his mother so he agrees to let her find him a wife, but he does not intend it to be a real marriage.
Meanwhile, Farrow is 23. She is literally a Cinderella retelling. Her father died 2 years ago and she lives with her stepmother and two evil stepsisters and slaves away as their maid. The family is struggling for money because they live luxuriously, so prized family possessions of her father's get sold behind her back. Farrow is particularly upset about a pendant that was sold. She figures out it was sold to Zach and she sneaks into a party of his. She's caught sneaking around by Zach and they end up bantering and playing a very competitive board game (Go). Zach is impressed by her skill and intelligence. She runs away and he chases after her. She escapes. He only realizes the next day after looking at security footage that she was trying to steal from him. He hunts her down and he hires her to be his maid for 6 months. He has two motives, one he wants to make her pay and be under his control and two he is actually attracted to her which hasn't happened before and he thinks that he might be able to get over his phobia about touch if it's with her.
They interact and they push past Zach's boundaries. Soon they are having sex, but it has a time limit and it's mutually agreed that she's helping him get over his phobia and he's helping her with legal expenses as she tries to get out from under her stepmother's thumb. Zach proceeds to getting engaged to the woman his mother wants him to marry. Farrow knows about it, and knows he has no physical feelings for her and that it's a business arrangement, but it still hurts her.
There were a few things that were enjoyable about this book but overall I did not like it. I enjoyed the character of Farrow for the most part. She was a refreshing strong female who owned her sexuality. I loved when she took Zach down a peg or two. It was a little coincidental that she had expertise in so many areas in common with Zach, but it was nice that she did have strengths. I loved how she stood up for herself to a whole bunch of different characters and especially Zach. The side characters particularly Dallas and the men's group chat added some nice comic relief. There was a period of time from like the 65% until the 80% mark where I felt like the relationship was in a positive space for the most part and there were feelings on both of their sides that were developing.
But for most of the book characters and the direction of the plot / relationship we're extremely aggravating. My biggest concerns were the million little moments where Zach was an ass to her, and how at the end of the book there's this 30-day cool down. Where they don't see each other and everything that happens then is so artificially timed to create tension about whether he'll be able to get back to her in time to meet up when the 30 days are over. It was just so cheesy. Here's some things I didn't like:
- At 47% mark - it was her birthday and Zach threw a party that she wasn't invited to, and announced his engagement to another woman on her birthday. And everyone else ignored her birthday. She was asked to do unnecessary repetitive cleaning and treated in a condescending you are the help way. But at the end of the night even after treating her like such s***, he did know that it was her birthday all along and he had left presents in her bedroom. Presents don't make s***** behavior magically better! And really I hate it when people are deliberately cruel to the birthday girl on her birthday and she wallows in misery. It's overused, it's trite, it's annoying.
- At 51% mark - Zach doesn't understand why she was not one over by the birthday presents he gave her. He internally monologues over how he expected her to be grateful, so grateful that she would come to his room at night and have sex with him. And he gets lost in his sexual fantasy for a moment. He's such a f****** creeper. And he can't be kind for the sake of being kind?! He wants sex out of it as a reward. By this point in the book, he should do better!
- After her ignoring him for a while because he's in the doghouse with her, he manipulates her to force her to see him. Telling her he has an important update about her legal situation. This fuckery is so manipulative. He's tracking her down because he's selfish and he wants his toy back.
- While Zach respects her intelligence and skills, he systematically and consistently disregards her feelings and thinks he's bought the right to use her as an experiment. Yeah she's had sexual relationships before and avoided a deep relationship because she doesn't trust relationships after witnessing her father and stepmother. But he just puts her in this box of loose woman and tramples on her feelings and treats her as temporary and disposable, and talks to others about how disposable she is and how she means nothing to him. Yeah later on he gets possessive of her and has feelings for her. But he still spent 70% of the book using her and being really insensitive to her feelings and humanity.
- All these little moments where Zach was such an unfeeling dick, engaged to another woman and just using Farrow... I honestly wanted Farrow to just go out to a club or have a date and just have sex with somebody else. She deserved to let loose, have something fun for herself and feel good. And I'm the type of reader that really likes monogamy and it for me possessiveness, so it says something that I thought Zach didn't deserve her exclusivity.
- I don't like when authors throw in the phrase "who did this to you?" Just because they want to make the readers swoon. I don't like being manipulated as a reader. The authors had the FMC and the MMC both say this to each other a few pages apart. Don't overuse this phrase!
- Why do people keep in their employ/lives, people that betray them and aren't loyal, aren't looking out for the best interests? And why is it always women who are these people that betray them? It's insulting, it's not a very feminist portrayal of women.
- All this travel and time sensitivity so that he can meet their deadline of meeting up after 30 days is absolutely ridiculous. This is artificial drama. Billionaires could have made things happen in 5 minutes and there wouldn't have been all this drama and tightness of the timeline. The amount of effort and nonsense that Zach had to go through to end his engagement was ridiculous and made me lose respect for him as an alpha character.
Some notable moments:
"“If it makes you feel any better, I participated in some Go competitions when I was there.” His lip curved up in a snarl. “Why would it make me feel better?” “When I annihilate you.” “Now who’s being cocksure?” “Please, Zach. There’s only one dick in this room, and I think we both know that it’s you.”"
"“What was she thinking?” “She was thinking that you’re engaged-to-be-married to someone else, and she doesn’t want your fucking pity presents.” Oliver sprawled over a massage table in the middle of my office, unfamiliar with the concept of boundaries. “It’s called a spine, Zach. Some people have it.”"
"Zach: You’re letting him TOUCH you? Zach: Are you fucking kidding me? Zach: Meet you out front in two minutes. We’re leaving. Farrow: You are not the boss of me. Zach: FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, I LITERALLY FUCKING AM."
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.
Feels: 1/5
Steam*: 2.5/5
Kinks: n/a
Angst: medium
HEA: yes
Pairing: MF
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: violent death of parent witnessed by child, survivors guilt, grief, virgin MMC, unsafe sex, ptsd, morning after pill
Zach is 33 and a billionaire. His father died saving his life in a car crash and it traumatized Zach very deeply. He spent hours with his father's corpse trapped in the car pressing against him and bleeding on him. He can't stand to touch another human's flesh ever since then, he's never had sex or been in a relationship. Zack is also a really intellectual and cold character. He feels a lot of obligation towards his mother so he agrees to let her find him a wife, but he does not intend it to be a real marriage.
Meanwhile, Farrow is 23. She is literally a Cinderella retelling. Her father died 2 years ago and she lives with her stepmother and two evil stepsisters and slaves away as their maid. The family is struggling for money because they live luxuriously, so prized family possessions of her father's get sold behind her back. Farrow is particularly upset about a pendant that was sold. She figures out it was sold to Zach and she sneaks into a party of his. She's caught sneaking around by Zach and they end up bantering and playing a very competitive board game (Go). Zach is impressed by her skill and intelligence. She runs away and he chases after her. She escapes. He only realizes the next day after looking at security footage that she was trying to steal from him. He hunts her down and he hires her to be his maid for 6 months. He has two motives, one he wants to make her pay and be under his control and two he is actually attracted to her which hasn't happened before and he thinks that he might be able to get over his phobia about touch if it's with her.
They interact and they push past Zach's boundaries. Soon they are having sex, but it has a time limit and it's mutually agreed that she's helping him get over his phobia and he's helping her with legal expenses as she tries to get out from under her stepmother's thumb. Zach proceeds to getting engaged to the woman his mother wants him to marry. Farrow knows about it, and knows he has no physical feelings for her and that it's a business arrangement, but it still hurts her.
There were a few things that were enjoyable about this book but overall I did not like it. I enjoyed the character of Farrow for the most part. She was a refreshing strong female who owned her sexuality. I loved when she took Zach down a peg or two. It was a little coincidental that she had expertise in so many areas in common with Zach, but it was nice that she did have strengths. I loved how she stood up for herself to a whole bunch of different characters and especially Zach. The side characters particularly Dallas and the men's group chat added some nice comic relief. There was a period of time from like the 65% until the 80% mark where I felt like the relationship was in a positive space for the most part and there were feelings on both of their sides that were developing.
But for most of the book characters and the direction of the plot / relationship we're extremely aggravating. My biggest concerns were the million little moments where Zach was an ass to her, and how at the end of the book there's this 30-day cool down. Where they don't see each other and everything that happens then is so artificially timed to create tension about whether he'll be able to get back to her in time to meet up when the 30 days are over. It was just so cheesy. Here's some things I didn't like:
- At 47% mark - it was her birthday and Zach threw a party that she wasn't invited to, and announced his engagement to another woman on her birthday. And everyone else ignored her birthday. She was asked to do unnecessary repetitive cleaning and treated in a condescending you are the help way. But at the end of the night even after treating her like such s***, he did know that it was her birthday all along and he had left presents in her bedroom. Presents don't make s***** behavior magically better! And really I hate it when people are deliberately cruel to the birthday girl on her birthday and she wallows in misery. It's overused, it's trite, it's annoying.
- At 51% mark - Zach doesn't understand why she was not one over by the birthday presents he gave her. He internally monologues over how he expected her to be grateful, so grateful that she would come to his room at night and have sex with him. And he gets lost in his sexual fantasy for a moment. He's such a f****** creeper. And he can't be kind for the sake of being kind?! He wants sex out of it as a reward. By this point in the book, he should do better!
- After her ignoring him for a while because he's in the doghouse with her, he manipulates her to force her to see him. Telling her he has an important update about her legal situation. This fuckery is so manipulative. He's tracking her down because he's selfish and he wants his toy back.
- While Zach respects her intelligence and skills, he systematically and consistently disregards her feelings and thinks he's bought the right to use her as an experiment. Yeah she's had sexual relationships before and avoided a deep relationship because she doesn't trust relationships after witnessing her father and stepmother. But he just puts her in this box of loose woman and tramples on her feelings and treats her as temporary and disposable, and talks to others about how disposable she is and how she means nothing to him. Yeah later on he gets possessive of her and has feelings for her. But he still spent 70% of the book using her and being really insensitive to her feelings and humanity.
- All these little moments where Zach was such an unfeeling dick, engaged to another woman and just using Farrow... I honestly wanted Farrow to just go out to a club or have a date and just have sex with somebody else. She deserved to let loose, have something fun for herself and feel good. And I'm the type of reader that really likes monogamy and it for me possessiveness, so it says something that I thought Zach didn't deserve her exclusivity.
- I don't like when authors throw in the phrase "who did this to you?" Just because they want to make the readers swoon. I don't like being manipulated as a reader. The authors had the FMC and the MMC both say this to each other a few pages apart. Don't overuse this phrase!
- Why do people keep in their employ/lives, people that betray them and aren't loyal, aren't looking out for the best interests? And why is it always women who are these people that betray them? It's insulting, it's not a very feminist portrayal of women.
- All this travel and time sensitivity so that he can meet their deadline of meeting up after 30 days is absolutely ridiculous. This is artificial drama. Billionaires could have made things happen in 5 minutes and there wouldn't have been all this drama and tightness of the timeline. The amount of effort and nonsense that Zach had to go through to end his engagement was ridiculous and made me lose respect for him as an alpha character.
Some notable moments:
"“If it makes you feel any better, I participated in some Go competitions when I was there.” His lip curved up in a snarl. “Why would it make me feel better?” “When I annihilate you.” “Now who’s being cocksure?” “Please, Zach. There’s only one dick in this room, and I think we both know that it’s you.”"
"“What was she thinking?” “She was thinking that you’re engaged-to-be-married to someone else, and she doesn’t want your fucking pity presents.” Oliver sprawled over a massage table in the middle of my office, unfamiliar with the concept of boundaries. “It’s called a spine, Zach. Some people have it.”"
"Zach: You’re letting him TOUCH you? Zach: Are you fucking kidding me? Zach: Meet you out front in two minutes. We’re leaving. Farrow: You are not the boss of me. Zach: FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, I LITERALLY FUCKING AM."
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2024
My Dark Desire is definitely a modern day Cinderella that is steamy beyond belief and so dang good! This is the Cinderella retelling we all need and deserve, especially us romance loving readers!
Zach and Farrow are the most unlikely pair. She’s common and unruly. He’s from money and very refined. They are polar opposite’s and yet no one has ever understood Zach like Farrow does. Zach is definitely rough around the edges but Farrow isn’t scared of his brutish was and often had fun walking the line of hate!
The final two sentences of this story slayed me in all the best ways and I am so happy that these two didn’t give up. This story is long and full of so much angst but the wait is worth it because Zach….is something else when it comes to the pleasure of Farrow.
I love this series because these men are wild and totally unhinged but I love how mushy they are inside when it comes to finally finding their person! I can not wait for the next book because I have a feeling it’s going to be explosive!
Zach and Farrow are the most unlikely pair. She’s common and unruly. He’s from money and very refined. They are polar opposite’s and yet no one has ever understood Zach like Farrow does. Zach is definitely rough around the edges but Farrow isn’t scared of his brutish was and often had fun walking the line of hate!
The final two sentences of this story slayed me in all the best ways and I am so happy that these two didn’t give up. This story is long and full of so much angst but the wait is worth it because Zach….is something else when it comes to the pleasure of Farrow.
I love this series because these men are wild and totally unhinged but I love how mushy they are inside when it comes to finally finding their person! I can not wait for the next book because I have a feeling it’s going to be explosive!
April 26, 2024
no, i don't think you understand... I'M OBSESSED
March 18, 2024
What can I say about this book...it's EXCEPTIONAL.
A modern day Cinderella, except she has a steel pine and a combative personality. And oh that mouth on her!! She gives the Prince Zach Sun as good as he dishes out. They're a perfectly matched pair of fencers. They lunge, parry and repost, unarming, attacking, disarming whenever they get an aoppertunity. Zach is dead against his heart following her shadow, but omg, Farrow Ballantine has his eyes glued to her at all times. *sigh* he's doomed!!!
• Filthy rich. • Open to a clinical arrangement. • And above all—obedient.
I did not tolerate love.
Couldn’t stand romance.
Actively loathed homo sapiens.
She's a mouthy, sassy girl, cleans floors on her knees but doesn't kneel for anybody. And Zachary likes full control.except she brings him to his knees proverbially.
“You’re my shot at normalcy. I’m fully invested in your life until I discard you.”
Who says romance is dead!!.
I love when shen doesn't hold back and studs her characters with thorns and bristles. It makes it all the more fun to see the heroines trim their claws and get closer.
I'm a big fan so I loved the book but even otherwise, this book had a lot of soul. Sentiments and sensitivity. A fresh change to see authors writing diverse characters and doing justice.
octi stars for lobster lovers
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A modern day Cinderella, except she has a steel pine and a combative personality. And oh that mouth on her!! She gives the Prince Zach Sun as good as he dishes out. They're a perfectly matched pair of fencers. They lunge, parry and repost, unarming, attacking, disarming whenever they get an aoppertunity. Zach is dead against his heart following her shadow, but omg, Farrow Ballantine has his eyes glued to her at all times. *sigh* he's doomed!!!
• Filthy rich. • Open to a clinical arrangement. • And above all—obedient.
I did not tolerate love.
Couldn’t stand romance.
Actively loathed homo sapiens.
She's a mouthy, sassy girl, cleans floors on her knees but doesn't kneel for anybody. And Zachary likes full control.except she brings him to his knees proverbially.
“You’re my shot at normalcy. I’m fully invested in your life until I discard you.”
Who says romance is dead!!.
I love when shen doesn't hold back and studs her characters with thorns and bristles. It makes it all the more fun to see the heroines trim their claws and get closer.
I'm a big fan so I loved the book but even otherwise, this book had a lot of soul. Sentiments and sensitivity. A fresh change to see authors writing diverse characters and doing justice.
octi stars for lobster lovers
Follow me on:
Email🌻 Bookbub 🌻 Twitter🌻 Instagram🌻 Blog🌻 Facebook🌻 Amazon 🌻
March 10, 2024
4.5⭐️
My Dark Desire is the 2nd book in the Dark Prince Road series. Zach is so obsessed with Farrow and the angst between the two was so damn good. I love this series so much the men in this series are crazy and unhinged in all the good ways. The text thread between the guys was hilarious. I loved seeing the past characters in the series. I can’t wait for Oliver’s book!
My Dark Desire is the 2nd book in the Dark Prince Road series. Zach is so obsessed with Farrow and the angst between the two was so damn good. I love this series so much the men in this series are crazy and unhinged in all the good ways. The text thread between the guys was hilarious. I loved seeing the past characters in the series. I can’t wait for Oliver’s book!
April 9, 2024
5⭐️
"I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming."
i honestly just loved this book so much, not only do i think it was written very well, which gripped me right from the beginning but so where the characters with so much detail and personality which ultimately made me connect with them a lot and lead to me adoring them both so much!
i felt so many emotions reading this book which i didn’t expect. it made me tear up, made me angry, happy, and had me laughing basically every other page and i can say i loved it allllll😭.
this book gave rich soap opera vibes and i literally couldn’t get enoughhhh, the story telling was so vividly that i felt as though i was watching all the events take place in front of my face which made the reading experience all the better in my opinion!! the “dark cinderella”aspect was absolute perfectionnnn. i loved how the authors put their little twist on it and i have to say, i literally couldn’t get enough!
farrow balentine. i love, love, loved her she was so relatable and she made me laugh so many times throughout this book which is something i look for in the books i read. the way she always spoke her mind and how she didn’t care in the slightest that zach was this rich, powerful and arrogant man, she said what she had to say regardless and knew how to put him in his place which was definitely one of the many things that made me really love her character😭. she’s become one of my fav fmcs ever!! her sassiness and her comebacks served every. single. timeee.
Beside me, Zach tensed, his expression morphing into granite. His pinky touched mine. His. Pinky. Touched. Mine. And that was enough to ignite the entire world into flames.
zach sun. he is THE grumpy mmc and i ATE THAT UPP. it was the way that he kept fighting his feelings for farrow until he physically just couldn’t anymore and i was obsesseddd. his character development was amazing, i feel like farrow came into his life to heal him from his past trauma and he did the same thing for her which was so beautiful. when he finally stood up to his mom i was so proud i mean it took to damn long but he did it nonetheless😭.
“You never seem to care when Farrow talks back.” That’s because she runs the show, and you’re merely an extra in it.
Let me be your shelter, Farrow Ballantine. Let me redeem you as you redeem me.
i am SOO SO excited for the next book in the series and im like 99.9% sure it’s frankie and oliver’s book from the crumbs we got in this book. And i’m already obsessed with them🤭
"I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming."
i honestly just loved this book so much, not only do i think it was written very well, which gripped me right from the beginning but so where the characters with so much detail and personality which ultimately made me connect with them a lot and lead to me adoring them both so much!
i felt so many emotions reading this book which i didn’t expect. it made me tear up, made me angry, happy, and had me laughing basically every other page and i can say i loved it allllll😭.
this book gave rich soap opera vibes and i literally couldn’t get enoughhhh, the story telling was so vividly that i felt as though i was watching all the events take place in front of my face which made the reading experience all the better in my opinion!! the “dark cinderella”aspect was absolute perfectionnnn. i loved how the authors put their little twist on it and i have to say, i literally couldn’t get enough!
farrow balentine. i love, love, loved her she was so relatable and she made me laugh so many times throughout this book which is something i look for in the books i read. the way she always spoke her mind and how she didn’t care in the slightest that zach was this rich, powerful and arrogant man, she said what she had to say regardless and knew how to put him in his place which was definitely one of the many things that made me really love her character😭. she’s become one of my fav fmcs ever!! her sassiness and her comebacks served every. single. timeee.
Beside me, Zach tensed, his expression morphing into granite. His pinky touched mine. His. Pinky. Touched. Mine. And that was enough to ignite the entire world into flames.
zach sun. he is THE grumpy mmc and i ATE THAT UPP. it was the way that he kept fighting his feelings for farrow until he physically just couldn’t anymore and i was obsesseddd. his character development was amazing, i feel like farrow came into his life to heal him from his past trauma and he did the same thing for her which was so beautiful. when he finally stood up to his mom i was so proud i mean it took to damn long but he did it nonetheless😭.
“You never seem to care when Farrow talks back.” That’s because she runs the show, and you’re merely an extra in it.
Let me be your shelter, Farrow Ballantine. Let me redeem you as you redeem me.
i am SOO SO excited for the next book in the series and im like 99.9% sure it’s frankie and oliver’s book from the crumbs we got in this book. And i’m already obsessed with them🤭
April 16, 2024
„Мило дневниче,
Изминаха 14 дни от прочитането на My Dark Desire. Все още не намирам думите, с които да опиша тази книга. 😍💘 Само нечленоразделни звуци, блуждаещи влюбени погледи и дълбоки въздишки през 5 минути. Човек ще рече, че раждам. 😵💫 Нима словесната ми диария е излекувана?“
Сега ще те върна малко в уроците по химия в даскало. 😬 Не ми се сърди много.
Сещаш ли се какво беше ядрена реакция? Нека ти припомня. 😎💥 Това е когато Шен и Хънтингтън се съберат на едно място и мозъчно-любовната им авантюра роди най-взривоопасното им бебе до сега.
Ако My Dark Romeo е книга с нечовешки заряд, то My Dark Desire е напълно способна да 🥵🔥 изпепели косата, веждите, космите в носа, да стопи мозъ��а, сърцето, мускулите, сухожилията и костите ала Сара Конър style. 😇 И накрая не само ще си им благодарна за това, ми ще молиш и за още с широка усмивка на уста.
👸👟 Тъмната Пепеляшка, за която всички тайничко сме си мечтали в тийн годините. Пепеляшката, която спасява принца, натиря глупавите си и завистливи сестри в трета глуха, а злата си мащеха – зад решетките, където ѝ е мястото.
Но още по-впечатляващо? 😱👹 Успява да се пребори с триглавия змей наречен „свекървище“.
Пепеляшката, на която с най-голямо удоволствие ще позволиш да те ползва за табуретка, на която да си подпре обутите в изпокъсани гуменки крака.
Фароу е вдъхновяваща комбинация от сила, нежност, воля, емаптичност, интелект, емоционалност, разум, сарказъм, независимост и жажда за семейство и любов. Не спирах да се смея като ненормална с всичките ѝ щуротии, с остроумието ѝ и в следващия момент да се топя от състрадание към незавидната ѝ ситуация. Респектирах се от настойчивостта ѝ и нечовешките усилия, които полагаше, за да спаси наследството на баща си.
И в следващия момент ми се искаше да ѝ изджасам тиквата някъде, за това, че упорства да си блъска главата в стената, дори когато всичко сочи, че нещата няма да станат и няма смисъл.
Фароу е образ, който ни показва, че не е задължително да си обсипан с богатства, за да излъчваш осанка, аристократичност, благородство и елитарност. Достатъчно е да се чувстваш перфектно в кожата си.
🤴🥭 Обсебеният принц с травми от детството, който не може да понася да бъде докосван от никой… освен от нея. Принцът със сърце от камък, леденостуден интелект и нетърпимост към чувства. Принц, който никога в живота си не е чувал думата „не“, има всичко, което пожелае и нищо не е способно да възбуди интереса му… до една заветна игра на Го.
Зак е бил странно дете: не понася силни шумове, ярки цветове, определени текстури. Не комуникира много, няма много приятели и като цяло не разбира хората с всичките им хаотични, нелицеприятни емоции.
Зак се превръща в още по-чудат възрастен: безскрупулен, хладен, дистанциран, с шепа приятели, тонове вина и травма, толкова дълбока, че му открадва из основни удоволствието от човешкия допир.
Неговият образ беше еднакво дразнещ, съкрушителен, умилителен, неприветлив и способен да покори сърцето, съзнанието и всичко под пъпа за отрицателно време.
😫💔 Вътрешностите ми минаха през блендера, когато разбрах какво точно стои зад отвращението му към физически контакт. Определено инцидентът е бил травмиращ. Още повече за малко, аутистично дете. Проблемът само се задълбочава от факта, че е станал свидетел и на психическия крах на майка му след събитието. Над диагнозата му наслагване PTSD, survival guilt и поетата вината за състоянието на единствения му останал жив родител.
Знаейки всичко това, 🥺❤️🩹 антагонистичното му поведение като възрастен придобива съвсем различна окраска. Логиката зад него беше повече от добре представена и оползотворена в книгата.
Едни от най-големите ми слабости в любовния жанр са остроумните диалози, сарказма и ситуационната комедия . 😌👌 В My Dark Desire те са в промишлени количества. Невероятно 🌶️ пиперливия стил на Шен се смесва перфектно със 💥 сухия, отличителен хумор на Хънтингтън. Крайният резултат е смях до сълзи.
Последван само от сълзи, понеже и двете са изчадия адови и нямат капка жал. 🥲🫶
Сюжетът като цяло беше перфектната комбинация между дяволит хумор и добре обоснована драма. Действията на героите имаха своето обяснение и бяха логичен продукт от миналото им и начина им на мислене. Същите тези действие пък ги поставяха в какви ли не ситуация – и комични, и трагични – които се усещаха като естествено продължение на съществуването им.
Абсолютно същото може да се каже и за диалозите . Изключително живи и пропити с характерите на персонажите. Усещането е, че си там и си непосредствен наблюдател и слушател, не просто читател.
😍🌪️ Бях напълно завладяна от привидно хаотичното баланс шоу, което спретнаха двете авторки. Тъкмо да си помислиш, че всичко ще е shits and giggles и вземат, че те треснат с един 🔨 20 кг емоционален чук. След което те 😵💫 завъртат без предупреждение на 180 градуса и отново изтръгват от теб гръмогласен смях.
🛀🚿 Като студен и топъл душ. Контрастът те кара да оцениш всяко от двете много по-интензивно.
Искам да отворя една бърза скоба за TW в книгата.
🧐 В My Dark Desire ще намериш теми като:
Хубавата новина е, че темите не са ползвани само с цел сензационност. Лошата е, че темите не са ползвани само с цел сензационност. С други думи: намажи сърцето с вазелин, пий шепа мента-глог-валериан и си имай едно наум. 🥲🏥
Въпреки тегавото им естество обаче ясно си личи, че и двете авторки не приказват самоцелно. Без съмнение са седнали и са си проучили предварително в какво се изразява PTSD-то, какво е естеството на живота и поведението на хората в аутистичния спектър, какво е специфично за корейската класова култура и по какъв начин тя се проявява дори и до ден днешен.
Което е логично, предвид факта, че Хънтингтън има корейски корени. 👀🇰🇷
Но дори така прави впечатление, че историята изхожда от знания и разбиране за темите, по които се говори, не просто в името на самоцелната сензация.
Ако трябва да сведа всичко до няколко думи, то те ще са „болезнен копнеж“ и „изпепеляващ еротизъм with an edge“.
🐷 Грух! Хората, които са я чели ще разберат what I did there. 🤭🔪
Кинковете, които ще намериш в книгата:
Много пъти съм повтаряла, че за да е наистина въздействаща една секс-сцена, от ключово значение е не богатият речников запас със синоними за 🍆 и 🐱 или интимните познания по Кама Сутра, а нагнетяването на сексуалното напрежение преди самия акт.
Предиграта.
Като казвам „предигра“ нямам предвид заветните точки от 1 до 7 от F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Говоря за погледите, за обменените реплики, интимността, близостта без докосване и жаждата за физически контакт, която поради една или друга причина не можеш да бъде утолена. 🥵
Е, тук предигра има колкото щеш. И то толкова интензивна, че до мене нонстоп имаше наказан един парцал, за да има с какво моя да ме събере в случай, че тотално се разтека. 💦🧽🥴
Закари ненавижда да го пипат. Никога не се е целувал, никога не е правил секс. Никога не е и изпитвал нужда от което и да било от двете. Първоначалният му интерес към Фароу е чисто интелектуален и на база накърнено Eго. Но колкото повече откриваше за нея, колкото повече характерите им се сблъскваха, а тя не поддаваше, толкова повече любопитството му прерастваше в респект, симпатия, обаяние и неистово желание.
Фароу от своя страна не беше мигновено привлечена от него. Трябваше ѝ известно време, за да размекне отношението си към Зак. Първоначалната ѝ идея беше, че ще се възползва от привличането му към нея за собствена облага. Но този план загина в буйни пламъци още при първата им целувка.
Като цяло взаимоотношенията между двамата героя, любовната история, напрежението и самата консумация бяха толкова, толкова добре разгърнати и реализирани, че нямам думи. 💎🔝
Хареса ми това, че Фароу беше тази с опита и водеше Зак в интимните им отношения. Хареса ми и как Зак беше едновременно раним, несигурен и в следващия момент до такава степен завладян от желанието си към нея, че направо озверяваше. Хареса ми и факта, че не се свенеше да се моли. А, бога ми, как се молеше само! Jesus!!! Толкова искрено, смирено, болезнено откровено, че краката ти се подкосяват. Направо го виждаш как изгаря в кожата си и има нужда от спасение. Ако Фару не се беше смилила над него, щях да намеря начин да вляза в книгата и да го спася аз.
Никога не съм предполагала, че 🤚 докосване с кутре ще е толкова въздействащо. До този момент. Никога не съм предполагала и, че това да 🌬️ вдишваш и издишваш с някой ще е секси. До този момент. Не ми е минавало през акъла, че ще намеря прякора 🐙„октопод“ за романтичен. До този момент. Или, че ще се изчервявам всеки път като видя 🥭 манго в магазина. До този момент. Не разбирах и обсесията по 🔪 knife play-а. До. Този. Момент.
Бая представи ми бяха прео��ърнати. Определено скоро няма да я преживея тази книга. Подготви се психически да ти дудна дълго време за нея.
Най-добрата романтична книга, прочетена от началото на 2024 до сега. Всеки един елемент от нея за мен е просто перфектен, без забележки.
👀 Не знам дали е заради слабостта ми към типа хумор в нея или азиатската култура като цяло. Може и да е заради архетипите ползвани в историята – силен и непоколебим женски персонаж, чиито симпатии се печелят трудно, но за цял живот и студеният, дистанциран мъж с купища интелект, който се превръща в пластелин в ръцете на точната жена. Допускам, че мнението ми е стабилно субективно, но ако трябва да съм честна 🤷♀️ in this particular case I don’t fuckin care. Обичам я, прекарах си страхотно с нея, смях се като идиот и даже се затъкнах малко на финала.
Бая се стреснах. От години не ми се беше случвало. Мислиш, че сълзните ми канали са ръждясали.
Беше преживяване на всички нива за всичките ми сетива и това ми е повече от достатъчно. Това търся и съм доволна, че го намерих.
😤 I was kinda overdue.
Ако все пак искаш обективна перспектива, ето я:
✅ Персонажите бяха добре обмислени, консистентни и развити както трябва.
✅ Диалозите бяха живи, органични и остроумни.
✅ Драмата беше правилно посята още в увода, успешно обгрижвана през цялото време и накрая даде изобилен плод.
✅ Гласовете на Шен и Хънтингтън се чуваха прекрасно и бяха в безапелационна хармония.
✅ Редуването на драматичните с комичните моменти беше много находчиво. Олекоти историята и я направи изключително лесна и увлекателна за четене.
✅ Темите, засегнати в книгата не бяха самоцелни, а добре проучени предварително.
✅ Любовната история, химията между героите и секс сцените бяха взривоопасни, но не отвличаха вниманието от основната разказвателна линия.
✅ Второстепенните герои присъстваха в сюжета продуктивно, без да го обсебват по никакъв начин. Не бяха ползвани като изкуствен инструмент за придвижване на събитията, действията им бяха продиктувани от характера им.
Което ме подсеща…
Оливър беше много находчиво интегриран в историята, за да му се даде засилка за неговата книга. 😆🖤 Тотален тъпанар, супер много ме кефи. Едвам се побирам в кожата си от нетърпение да се добера до неговото падение! My Dark Prince се очаква да излезе на 07 февруари 2025. 🤞😊 Стискай палци да оцелея до тогава.
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В случай, че не ти се чете цялото това нещо, можеш да гледаш видео ревюто в YouTube канала ми 👁️👄👁️👇
Каквото и да правиш, прави го с много кеф, забавлявай се and may the Smut be with you!
March 11, 2024
I LOVED THIS ONE WITH MT WHOLE HEART!!
I loved this book so much - I don’t want to stop talking about it EVER.
Since I’m a little girl I loved Cinderella - my favorite Disney princess and fairy-tale HANDS DOWN!
I really enjoyed My Dark Romeo - I thought it was hilarious, super fun and I really enjoyed the writing.
But this one guys OMG - I LOVE THIS BOOK! I truly, truly enjoyed it and I want to re-read it already. I loved the prologue (so intense!!) and everything that the book brought to us after that.
If you like retellings I really think this one's for you. Also - the cover and the aesthetic surround it?? STUNNING!!
I loved this book so much - I don’t want to stop talking about it EVER.
Since I’m a little girl I loved Cinderella - my favorite Disney princess and fairy-tale HANDS DOWN!
I really enjoyed My Dark Romeo - I thought it was hilarious, super fun and I really enjoyed the writing.
But this one guys OMG - I LOVE THIS BOOK! I truly, truly enjoyed it and I want to re-read it already. I loved the prologue (so intense!!) and everything that the book brought to us after that.
If you like retellings I really think this one's for you. Also - the cover and the aesthetic surround it?? STUNNING!!
March 19, 2024
Apologies for the chaos-like review but I just had sooo many things I needed to get out and say regarding this book. If you make it to the end, kudos for you.
First of all, let me just say that My Dark Romeo has been in my TBR for a long time but I just never got around to reading it. When I received a chance to get an ARC for My Dark Desire, I was so excited! I hoped for a lot but it was even better than I could expect 😍
He was lean, tall, and muscular. Proportioned like a Roman sculpture.
Everything about his face was divine. The arches of his thick brows. His bottomless eyes—so dark I couldn’t see where the pupils ended and the irises started. And the pillowy, hand-drawn lips any woman would die to call her own.
They were all bracketed inside a jaw so square, between cheekbones so high, he looked half-human, half-demon. An art collector that was a work of art himself.
Zachary Sun.
A ruthless billionaire.
An accident when he was 12 years old changed his life.
He goes through life without feeling.
Suddenly, a chance encounter with an intruder flips his world upside down.
I did not tolerate love.
Couldn’t stand romance.
Actively loathed homo sapiens.
And she was very human indeed. All messy flesh and blood. Hot temperament and even hotter body.
Farrow Ballantine.
The modern cinderella.
Dead father. Mean step-mother and step-sisters.
Her father’s pendant was everything to her.
Until it was sold by her step-mother.
She is determined to steal it back.
I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.
My Dark Desire is a modern Cinderella retelling and when I tell you I have not had good reading experiences with those, I was a bit afraid it would strongly affect how I would feel about this book. Lucky for me, this book was so beautifully written, especially regarding the Cinderella aspect, that I think it will be one of my favorite books of the entire year (and gals, we’re not even though the first quarter of 2024)!
At the beginning of the book, it is clear that Farrow has been in Korea studying and, apparently, a world class fencer. There are strong indications as to how she botched her future with the sport and the Olympics but it isn’t until the end of the book that the story behind this is actually revealed.
The only chemistry we shared was radioactive. Farrow and I were two corrosive elements, bound to blow up in spectacular fashion, but I always did like science.
I love how fencing plays quite a big of a role in this book without stealing too much of the spotlight. Before Farrow breaks into Zach’s mansion, it is revealed that she has been doing some research on him. The fact that she has an important client to whom she teaches fencing is also being mentioned in passing. Let me tell you, when it was revealed that the client was Zach? I was so giddy and just loved it.
In the end, the fencing aspect ended up tying together basically the whole book from start to finish and I loved it!
“You missed a spot.”
“Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.”
“It’s Mr. Sun to you.”
“Did he tell you he sucks at Go?”
“Are you going to let her talk to you like this?”
“Hope not. My wet dream is to have him fire me.”
The whole book was filled with pristine banter between Zach and Farrow and I enjoyed it thoroughly! Honestly, it is one of the best banter I have read for a long time, if not the best. It brought the necessary lightness to this book and balanced it out perfectly. This is a hill I will gladly die on.
Zach nicknamed Farrow Octopus, or Oct for short, and, in the beginning, I just cringed at the nickname. However, it really grew on me throughout the book. To a large part, it is owed to the fact how well the nickname was woven to be a part of the book and the little octopus-facts that Zach kept telling Farrow throughout the book. And, even though the facts by themselves were not that cute, the idea behind them definitely was.
If Zachary Sun wanted my complete submission, he’d have to rip it from my bloody hands.
When Zach was twelve, he got into a car accident with his father. The accident ended up taking his father’s life and Zach had to lie underneath his father for hours, seeing him slowly die. After the accident, Zach was unable to feel anything and he hardened himself to the world.
Zach’s father had been an avid collector of the art and, in the beginning, he was bitter to the art because they had been picking up a piece when the accident occurred. However, over time he began collecting art himself as well and became obsessed with acquiring the other pendant in the his and hers set – the other one they had picked up prior to the accident with his father.
Zach learned of the other pendant being sold and immediately acquired it for himself. It was Farrow’s father’s one that her step-mother sold to get money. She began devising a plan, in which she would break into Zach’s mansion during a party, get the necklace and get out. However, Zach catching her in the middle of the action and them playing a long game of Go ended up changing both their lives, for the better.
I touched her and didn’t cower.
Didn’t shiver.
Didn’t vomit.
For two entire decades, not a single human could lay a finger on me without physically sickening me.
Not a doctor.
Not a woman.
Not even my mother.
It never occurred to me that an antidote for my problem existed. That Farrow Ballantine could drive a Disney princess to suicide could only be considered the universe’s idea of balance.
Since the accident, Zach had been unable to touch people without feeling strong aversion and nausea. When he accidentally touches Farrow and notices that he is able to do it without feeling sick, he is determined to have her cure him. This leads to Zach finding out who his mystery Octopus is and hiring her as a housekeeper and to cure him.
I was going to kill her. But first, I was going to fuck her. Because—and this was important—for whatever unknown reason, she seemed to be the only woman I could even contemplate being intimate with.
Zach’s aversion to human touch was interesting and something that I have not run into before. It was well-written in the book and a consistent feature throughout. It was one of the little pieces of side-plot that were constantly present in the background without taking too much attention but, at the same time, assisting in keeping the reader’s interest in the book.
I was hard. For the first time in my life, I was hard because of a woman. A woman with flesh and blood. In theory, I’d always appreciated women sexually, but never up-close. The realization that I actively wanted to touch Farrow Ballantine floored me. I wasn’t merely not-disgusted anymore. I was actively yearning.
It was also super interesting seeing the change in Zach regarding touching and feelings. In the beginning, it was only slight touches and intrigue in his mind. Through time, it evolved from actually lusting for a woman for the first time in his life to full on intimacy with Farrow. The whole journey was beautifully built and written.
I was numb. So numb. Always fucking numb.
There was one literal example of the change in Zach feeling that I especially liked and it was the cryochamber. In the beginning of the book, he goes there with Romeo and Ollie and is just so unbothered and unable to feel the cold while the other two are freezing their butts off. Towards the end of the book, Zach goes again and he immediately realizes how Ollie and Romeo have always felt in it because he can feel everything.
I might be smart, but my body was obviously a dumbass. Even if Zach Sun were the devil, I’d willingly let him drag me into darkness.
I was Persephone, eagerly following him into the underworld.
Farrow is definitely one of my favorite FMC’s of all time! She was badass, witty and could hold on her own. I think she actually reaches Lana Myers badass level for me and that’s saying a lot!
I didn’t recognize myself these days. I needed to do something about it. Perhaps a lobotomy, since narrowing my masturbation window from every 48 hours to every 24 hadn’t worked.
Despite Zach (obviously) being a virgin, the man had a dirty mouth to die for and enough confidence to share to a small village. This was definitely a slow-burn when it comes to the relationship with Zach and Farrow and the spice never took too big of a role. However, there is a sauna scene that is hot a f and I think it will come to rival the sauna scene from Corrupt. Even though Corrupt’s sauna scene is obviously spicier, the sauna scene in this book was just as hot, if not hotter, because of the premise and how well it was written.
“I figured out why I love you.”
“And why is that?“
“You’re my home.”
“I figured out why I love you.”
“And why is that?”
“You make my soul breathe fire, my beautiful dark desire.”
Also, despite Zach having absolutely zero experience when it comes to relationships, the man definitely knew how to be a good boyfriend / lover. The thoughtfulness behind his actions was something else and I really liked how he himself did not even seem to realize how sweet he was actually being.
Of everyone I’d ever met, no one made me feel as stunning as Zachary Sun did, simply by staring at me the way he stared at me.
In fact, he was the first man to make me feel beautiful.
The purchasing of all the shoes for her because she wore a ratty pair when they met? How he moved her in with himself to get her away from the steps? How he purchased every piece of her father’s art collection for her, the same pieces that her step-mother had sold to get some money? Zach is definitely a prime example of an amazing book boyfriend if you ask me!
“Admit it, Octi. No one else will ever chart. I’m it for you. I’m the only man you’ll ever desire.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re it for me, too.”
My Dark Desire was also full of interesting side characters. We obviously already have Romeo and Dallas’ story in My Dark Romeo and, when I have the time, I will immediately go and read it. And I really really hope it will be as good as this book!
Ollie was an extremely interesting character to me. He seemed like an airhead who doesn’t give a f about anything and just sails through life unbothered. However, Zach hinted at the opposite, of how he has carefully built up this public image about himself to be able to fly a bit under the radar. This was also clearly visible with how considerate Ollie was about Zach, regarding both his issues and the feelings toward Farrow.
Almost through the entire book, Zach’s mom was painted as the villain who just wanted Zach to get married to Eileen because she would be the perfect bride for him. After the accident, she focused Zach and while wanting him to be married and receive all the security he could because of it, she forgot what a good foundation to a marriage is made of. This ended up causing a rift between Zach and his mom but I am really happy that, in the end, she had a bit of a redemption arc and ended up supporting the relationship between Zach and Farrow.
“I’m not yours. Why would you say that to Brett?”
“You will be.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I always get what I want. And I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.”
I probably forgot a million things I wanted to say but I think I’ve already babbled on long enough. The main take from this, for anyone, should be that if you have not read My Dark Desire already, wtf are you doing??
Also, apologies for the quote-ridden review but there were just too many to simply choose a few!
I wasn’t used to this. To… feeling.
And with Farrow, I felt.
All the damn time.
How terribly inconvenient. I loathed it.
I received an ARC of My Dark Desire in exchange for an honest review
First of all, let me just say that My Dark Romeo has been in my TBR for a long time but I just never got around to reading it. When I received a chance to get an ARC for My Dark Desire, I was so excited! I hoped for a lot but it was even better than I could expect 😍
He was lean, tall, and muscular. Proportioned like a Roman sculpture.
Everything about his face was divine. The arches of his thick brows. His bottomless eyes—so dark I couldn’t see where the pupils ended and the irises started. And the pillowy, hand-drawn lips any woman would die to call her own.
They were all bracketed inside a jaw so square, between cheekbones so high, he looked half-human, half-demon. An art collector that was a work of art himself.
Zachary Sun.
A ruthless billionaire.
An accident when he was 12 years old changed his life.
He goes through life without feeling.
Suddenly, a chance encounter with an intruder flips his world upside down.
I did not tolerate love.
Couldn’t stand romance.
Actively loathed homo sapiens.
And she was very human indeed. All messy flesh and blood. Hot temperament and even hotter body.
Farrow Ballantine.
The modern cinderella.
Dead father. Mean step-mother and step-sisters.
Her father’s pendant was everything to her.
Until it was sold by her step-mother.
She is determined to steal it back.
I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.
My Dark Desire is a modern Cinderella retelling and when I tell you I have not had good reading experiences with those, I was a bit afraid it would strongly affect how I would feel about this book. Lucky for me, this book was so beautifully written, especially regarding the Cinderella aspect, that I think it will be one of my favorite books of the entire year (and gals, we’re not even though the first quarter of 2024)!
At the beginning of the book, it is clear that Farrow has been in Korea studying and, apparently, a world class fencer. There are strong indications as to how she botched her future with the sport and the Olympics but it isn’t until the end of the book that the story behind this is actually revealed.
The only chemistry we shared was radioactive. Farrow and I were two corrosive elements, bound to blow up in spectacular fashion, but I always did like science.
I love how fencing plays quite a big of a role in this book without stealing too much of the spotlight. Before Farrow breaks into Zach’s mansion, it is revealed that she has been doing some research on him. The fact that she has an important client to whom she teaches fencing is also being mentioned in passing. Let me tell you, when it was revealed that the client was Zach? I was so giddy and just loved it.
In the end, the fencing aspect ended up tying together basically the whole book from start to finish and I loved it!
“You missed a spot.”
“Sorry, Boss, but you’re a permanent feature.”
“It’s Mr. Sun to you.”
“Did he tell you he sucks at Go?”
“Are you going to let her talk to you like this?”
“Hope not. My wet dream is to have him fire me.”
The whole book was filled with pristine banter between Zach and Farrow and I enjoyed it thoroughly! Honestly, it is one of the best banter I have read for a long time, if not the best. It brought the necessary lightness to this book and balanced it out perfectly. This is a hill I will gladly die on.
Zach nicknamed Farrow Octopus, or Oct for short, and, in the beginning, I just cringed at the nickname. However, it really grew on me throughout the book. To a large part, it is owed to the fact how well the nickname was woven to be a part of the book and the little octopus-facts that Zach kept telling Farrow throughout the book. And, even though the facts by themselves were not that cute, the idea behind them definitely was.
If Zachary Sun wanted my complete submission, he’d have to rip it from my bloody hands.
When Zach was twelve, he got into a car accident with his father. The accident ended up taking his father’s life and Zach had to lie underneath his father for hours, seeing him slowly die. After the accident, Zach was unable to feel anything and he hardened himself to the world.
Zach’s father had been an avid collector of the art and, in the beginning, he was bitter to the art because they had been picking up a piece when the accident occurred. However, over time he began collecting art himself as well and became obsessed with acquiring the other pendant in the his and hers set – the other one they had picked up prior to the accident with his father.
Zach learned of the other pendant being sold and immediately acquired it for himself. It was Farrow’s father’s one that her step-mother sold to get money. She began devising a plan, in which she would break into Zach’s mansion during a party, get the necklace and get out. However, Zach catching her in the middle of the action and them playing a long game of Go ended up changing both their lives, for the better.
I touched her and didn’t cower.
Didn’t shiver.
Didn’t vomit.
For two entire decades, not a single human could lay a finger on me without physically sickening me.
Not a doctor.
Not a woman.
Not even my mother.
It never occurred to me that an antidote for my problem existed. That Farrow Ballantine could drive a Disney princess to suicide could only be considered the universe’s idea of balance.
Since the accident, Zach had been unable to touch people without feeling strong aversion and nausea. When he accidentally touches Farrow and notices that he is able to do it without feeling sick, he is determined to have her cure him. This leads to Zach finding out who his mystery Octopus is and hiring her as a housekeeper and to cure him.
I was going to kill her. But first, I was going to fuck her. Because—and this was important—for whatever unknown reason, she seemed to be the only woman I could even contemplate being intimate with.
Zach’s aversion to human touch was interesting and something that I have not run into before. It was well-written in the book and a consistent feature throughout. It was one of the little pieces of side-plot that were constantly present in the background without taking too much attention but, at the same time, assisting in keeping the reader’s interest in the book.
I was hard. For the first time in my life, I was hard because of a woman. A woman with flesh and blood. In theory, I’d always appreciated women sexually, but never up-close. The realization that I actively wanted to touch Farrow Ballantine floored me. I wasn’t merely not-disgusted anymore. I was actively yearning.
It was also super interesting seeing the change in Zach regarding touching and feelings. In the beginning, it was only slight touches and intrigue in his mind. Through time, it evolved from actually lusting for a woman for the first time in his life to full on intimacy with Farrow. The whole journey was beautifully built and written.
I was numb. So numb. Always fucking numb.
There was one literal example of the change in Zach feeling that I especially liked and it was the cryochamber. In the beginning of the book, he goes there with Romeo and Ollie and is just so unbothered and unable to feel the cold while the other two are freezing their butts off. Towards the end of the book, Zach goes again and he immediately realizes how Ollie and Romeo have always felt in it because he can feel everything.
I might be smart, but my body was obviously a dumbass. Even if Zach Sun were the devil, I’d willingly let him drag me into darkness.
I was Persephone, eagerly following him into the underworld.
Farrow is definitely one of my favorite FMC’s of all time! She was badass, witty and could hold on her own. I think she actually reaches Lana Myers badass level for me and that’s saying a lot!
I didn’t recognize myself these days. I needed to do something about it. Perhaps a lobotomy, since narrowing my masturbation window from every 48 hours to every 24 hadn’t worked.
Despite Zach (obviously) being a virgin, the man had a dirty mouth to die for and enough confidence to share to a small village. This was definitely a slow-burn when it comes to the relationship with Zach and Farrow and the spice never took too big of a role. However, there is a sauna scene that is hot a f and I think it will come to rival the sauna scene from Corrupt. Even though Corrupt’s sauna scene is obviously spicier, the sauna scene in this book was just as hot, if not hotter, because of the premise and how well it was written.
“I figured out why I love you.”
“And why is that?“
“You’re my home.”
“I figured out why I love you.”
“And why is that?”
“You make my soul breathe fire, my beautiful dark desire.”
Also, despite Zach having absolutely zero experience when it comes to relationships, the man definitely knew how to be a good boyfriend / lover. The thoughtfulness behind his actions was something else and I really liked how he himself did not even seem to realize how sweet he was actually being.
Of everyone I’d ever met, no one made me feel as stunning as Zachary Sun did, simply by staring at me the way he stared at me.
In fact, he was the first man to make me feel beautiful.
The purchasing of all the shoes for her because she wore a ratty pair when they met? How he moved her in with himself to get her away from the steps? How he purchased every piece of her father’s art collection for her, the same pieces that her step-mother had sold to get some money? Zach is definitely a prime example of an amazing book boyfriend if you ask me!
“Admit it, Octi. No one else will ever chart. I’m it for you. I’m the only man you’ll ever desire.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re it for me, too.”
My Dark Desire was also full of interesting side characters. We obviously already have Romeo and Dallas’ story in My Dark Romeo and, when I have the time, I will immediately go and read it. And I really really hope it will be as good as this book!
Ollie was an extremely interesting character to me. He seemed like an airhead who doesn’t give a f about anything and just sails through life unbothered. However, Zach hinted at the opposite, of how he has carefully built up this public image about himself to be able to fly a bit under the radar. This was also clearly visible with how considerate Ollie was about Zach, regarding both his issues and the feelings toward Farrow.
Almost through the entire book, Zach’s mom was painted as the villain who just wanted Zach to get married to Eileen because she would be the perfect bride for him. After the accident, she focused Zach and while wanting him to be married and receive all the security he could because of it, she forgot what a good foundation to a marriage is made of. This ended up causing a rift between Zach and his mom but I am really happy that, in the end, she had a bit of a redemption arc and ended up supporting the relationship between Zach and Farrow.
“I’m not yours. Why would you say that to Brett?”
“You will be.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I always get what I want. And I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.”
I probably forgot a million things I wanted to say but I think I’ve already babbled on long enough. The main take from this, for anyone, should be that if you have not read My Dark Desire already, wtf are you doing??
Also, apologies for the quote-ridden review but there were just too many to simply choose a few!
I wasn’t used to this. To… feeling.
And with Farrow, I felt.
All the damn time.
How terribly inconvenient. I loathed it.
I received an ARC of My Dark Desire in exchange for an honest review
March 30, 2024
"'Do you think of me as the sun?'
'No. You’re the entire fucking universe.'"
*cough cough*
I don't usually give out 5 stars cause I'm picky like that, but this series has captured my heart and soul. It's basically a modern-day Cinderella retelling, but the prince charming is initially a grade A asshole who quite literally threatens her into an agreement with him, and eventually turns out to be a total simp for his girl. I was skeptical about this book at first cause I don't really like the other woman trope(I hate cheating with a passion), but this book was just perfection. And the smut is just pussy dripping, thighs smashing, finger fucking good. I'm now really desperate for the third book of this series cause I would love to know more about our beloved fuck boy Oliver.
Romeo, Oliver, and Zach's friendship is so cute, I was laughing my ass off while reading their group chat scenes cause it's so choatic, lol. Farrow is such a strong character, I really liked her confidence in herself, and Dallas is such a mood the whole throughout this book. She slayed like always. I can't wait to read Dallas and Romeo's child's story(i won't be revealing the gender)!!
'No. You’re the entire fucking universe.'"
*cough cough*
I don't usually give out 5 stars cause I'm picky like that, but this series has captured my heart and soul. It's basically a modern-day Cinderella retelling, but the prince charming is initially a grade A asshole who quite literally threatens her into an agreement with him, and eventually turns out to be a total simp for his girl. I was skeptical about this book at first cause I don't really like the other woman trope(I hate cheating with a passion), but this book was just perfection. And the smut is just pussy dripping, thighs smashing, finger fucking good. I'm now really desperate for the third book of this series cause I would love to know more about our beloved fuck boy Oliver.
Romeo, Oliver, and Zach's friendship is so cute, I was laughing my ass off while reading their group chat scenes cause it's so choatic, lol. Farrow is such a strong character, I really liked her confidence in herself, and Dallas is such a mood the whole throughout this book. She slayed like always. I can't wait to read Dallas and Romeo's child's story(i won't be revealing the gender)!!
March 13, 2024
OMG, I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS
Update: I don't care that it's only March, this was my book of the year!!
Brb, counting the days till Ollie's book comes out.
Update: I don't care that it's only March, this was my book of the year!!
Brb, counting the days till Ollie's book comes out.
March 7, 2024
wow 4.5 stars 🌟 I genuinely forgot how much I love Parker Huntington’s books because this one was so good that I literally want to go back and read all of her books. and LJ SHEN??? I haven’t read a book by this woman in forever!!! I loved when she wrote Vicious and Angry God so i hope she continues to not make my blood boil any longer bc of stupid OWD or manwhore H’s!
thankfully, this book had none of that. our Hero, Zachary is a virgin! he hasn’t even kissed anyone! i genuinely screamed! in a world full of manwhores, he’s a virgin🥹🥹
now his virginity was due to some past trauma which caused him to hate human touch. enter our heroine, Farrow. i loved her so much. she was strong and took no shit from anyone but was so caring and sweet my heart broke for all that she has been through. she intrigued Zachary from the first time they met and he didn’t feel repulsion when she touched him so they struck up a deal; she would help him get over his phobia for touching and he would help her get under her evil stepmothers thumb. did i mention this is loosely based on cinderella?
of course, nothing goes to plan and they end up falling in love with each other even when Zach is arranged to marry another woman. first off, i would like to emphasize just how precious Zach was. yes, he was a virgin but he was cunning and ruthless at the same time. there was no messing around with him ESPECIALLY when it came to Farrow🥰 this man was so enamored by Farrow, he wanted to do everything for her and protect her from everything. his obsession with her utterly precious and i couldn’t help but love their moments where she would help him touch her or their silly convos about octopus 🐙
their chemistry and banter were top tier, especially Farrow’s wittiness bc she took no ones BS🙏 agh their relationship makes me squeal. Zach never messed around when it comes to his possession and obsession for Farrow. i swear the only words he knows was “she’s mine.” lmaooo 🤣🤣 there were moments i didnt like when Zach would pull away for a few days every time their moments together got too real. i understood this to an extent bc he is so clueless to his emotions that he needs time to process them but i wanted him to be clingy lmao is that wrong of me? TRUST, he was very clingy after sorting out his issues so that’s a plus.
i also thought Zach’s arranged marriage lasted for too long (it was nothing serious and only to make his mom happy but he wasn’t ever going through with it. mans had to literally burn his skin off when he shook another girls hand🤣🤣) trust, Farrow is truly the only woman for him but i wanted him to end his engagement sooner but his mom was annoyingly against it and still forced him to go through with it🙄
overall, good book with a good couple. they were so adorable and i loved that Farrow helped him feel again and gave him the resources to heal his own traumas. Zach treated Farrow like gold and would do anything for her which made my heart flutter. their banter also made me laugh and i do love their friend group. Huntington and Shen sure do know how to write funny banter and sassy heroines!
safety: SPOILERS! no omd, virgin H, obsessive/possessive H
~ OWD: H was in an arranged marriage forced together by his mom that lasted the majority of the book but he was never going to go through with it and he would burn his hand if he touched another woman other than Farrow🥰 (is it wrong of me to think this is romantic?)
~ heroine was not a virgin but her hook up history was not specified
special thank you to BookSprouts and Parker Huntington & LJ Shen's team for the e-ARC! ❤️
thankfully, this book had none of that. our Hero, Zachary is a virgin! he hasn’t even kissed anyone! i genuinely screamed! in a world full of manwhores, he’s a virgin🥹🥹
now his virginity was due to some past trauma which caused him to hate human touch. enter our heroine, Farrow. i loved her so much. she was strong and took no shit from anyone but was so caring and sweet my heart broke for all that she has been through. she intrigued Zachary from the first time they met and he didn’t feel repulsion when she touched him so they struck up a deal; she would help him get over his phobia for touching and he would help her get under her evil stepmothers thumb. did i mention this is loosely based on cinderella?
of course, nothing goes to plan and they end up falling in love with each other even when Zach is arranged to marry another woman. first off, i would like to emphasize just how precious Zach was. yes, he was a virgin but he was cunning and ruthless at the same time. there was no messing around with him ESPECIALLY when it came to Farrow🥰 this man was so enamored by Farrow, he wanted to do everything for her and protect her from everything. his obsession with her utterly precious and i couldn’t help but love their moments where she would help him touch her or their silly convos about octopus 🐙
their chemistry and banter were top tier, especially Farrow’s wittiness bc she took no ones BS🙏 agh their relationship makes me squeal. Zach never messed around when it comes to his possession and obsession for Farrow. i swear the only words he knows was “she’s mine.” lmaooo 🤣🤣 there were moments i didnt like when Zach would pull away for a few days every time their moments together got too real. i understood this to an extent bc he is so clueless to his emotions that he needs time to process them but i wanted him to be clingy lmao is that wrong of me? TRUST, he was very clingy after sorting out his issues so that’s a plus.
i also thought Zach’s arranged marriage lasted for too long (it was nothing serious and only to make his mom happy but he wasn’t ever going through with it. mans had to literally burn his skin off when he shook another girls hand🤣🤣) trust, Farrow is truly the only woman for him but i wanted him to end his engagement sooner but his mom was annoyingly against it and still forced him to go through with it🙄
overall, good book with a good couple. they were so adorable and i loved that Farrow helped him feel again and gave him the resources to heal his own traumas. Zach treated Farrow like gold and would do anything for her which made my heart flutter. their banter also made me laugh and i do love their friend group. Huntington and Shen sure do know how to write funny banter and sassy heroines!
safety: SPOILERS! no omd, virgin H, obsessive/possessive H
~ OWD: H was in an arranged marriage forced together by his mom that lasted the majority of the book but he was never going to go through with it and he would burn his hand if he touched another woman other than Farrow🥰 (is it wrong of me to think this is romantic?)
~ heroine was not a virgin but her hook up history was not specified
special thank you to BookSprouts and Parker Huntington & LJ Shen's team for the e-ARC! ❤️
April 14, 2024
I didn't like this book as much as I liked book 1 in this series, but this was fine. I read it super quickly, and it's an easy read. Zach was cute, and his trauma was so sad. I'm always a little apprehensive about Cinderella retellings because they are so common, but this one was done in a pretty creative way.
The book is insanely unrealistic, which is fine, but it felt a bit like a soap opera at times. There was so much going on with the drama from all ends between Farrow's family, Zach's bride hunt, Zach's trauma, the housekeeping, the fencing, etc. I also wanted both Zach and Farrow to have more of a spine. Zach was just being manipulated by his mom and steamrolled throughout the entire book. His mom was the absolute worst, and I really struggled to feel sympathy for her. It was giving major Crazy Rich Asians vibes. Additionally, Farrow, my girl, have some self-respect. I hated how she was sleeping with Zach for half the book while he was engaged to someone else. At first I was like, it's fine because it's just a professional contract, but then it really got irritating. Farrow's internal monologue started to read like a mistress who was justifying her actions being like, "he's going to leave his wife to be with me, it's just not the right time." I also didn't love how Zach treated Farrow when he would tell her that he was just using her until he found something better and healed his trauma. It make me feel icky. I wanted Farrow to make him work for it a bit more and grovel, but she kept getting too horny to say no to him whenever he was in the mood. It was a little pathetic.
I also think this book was trying very hard to appeal to the romance readers who also read fantasy by having her nickname be "Fae." I get that this is a cinderella retelling, but the based-on-a-fantasy part was really shoved down my throat throughout this entire book. The fencing storyline was incredibly random to me, and it felt like a storyline that the author kept forgetting about until it was convenient for the overall plot. Now, I'm not even close to being an olympic athlete, but my understand is that the training that goes into going to the olympics is an all-day-every-day commitment. Farrow was apparently the best fencer in the world but she would practice like a few times a week for like 45 minutes and then continue her job as a housekeeper all day. It just felt like the authors wanted to add in sword-fighting for the Cinderella retelling element, but it was so random to me.
Finally, I said this in my review of My Dark Romeo, and I will say it again, I HATE Oliver. It's not that he's sexually expressive and free - it's how often he jokes about hooking up with teenagers. It makes me sick. There's nothing redeeming about him. His only personality trait is loving sex. Every scene with him was just about his sex life and how many STDs he probably has. I will not be reading his book.
I also didn't love the insta-besties trope in this. Farrow becoming best friends with Dallas (the FMC from book 1) just felt too forced to me, and it happened immediately. They called each other besties on their 3rd time seeing each other/first 1:1 conversation. I hate when authors force all of their characters to be best friends with each other. It doesn't always make sense, and this just happened too abruptly. I can only assume that the authors wanted Dallas to be a major character in this book too because she was funny in book 1, but it wasn't natural. I also hated what they did to Dallas's character. Her character was belittled to be the butt of a joke - every scene with her was just about how much food she eats all the time and how much she loves food. WE GET IT.
Also, the text exchanges between the 3 male characters (Romeo, Zach, and Oliver) were very cringe. You expect me to believe that a Royal Duke, a billionaire, and an arms dealer are all texting each other like frat brothers? Nahhhh
Anyways, it was entertaining, but it had really frustrating points for me. It's a very easy read though. If you're looking for a palate cleanser, give this a try. The smut is decent too. I loved sweet robotic nerdy Zach learning how to kiss and touch a woman for the first time. Not as good as book 1, but it was fine!
The book is insanely unrealistic, which is fine, but it felt a bit like a soap opera at times. There was so much going on with the drama from all ends between Farrow's family, Zach's bride hunt, Zach's trauma, the housekeeping, the fencing, etc. I also wanted both Zach and Farrow to have more of a spine. Zach was just being manipulated by his mom and steamrolled throughout the entire book. His mom was the absolute worst, and I really struggled to feel sympathy for her. It was giving major Crazy Rich Asians vibes. Additionally, Farrow, my girl, have some self-respect. I hated how she was sleeping with Zach for half the book while he was engaged to someone else. At first I was like, it's fine because it's just a professional contract, but then it really got irritating. Farrow's internal monologue started to read like a mistress who was justifying her actions being like, "he's going to leave his wife to be with me, it's just not the right time." I also didn't love how Zach treated Farrow when he would tell her that he was just using her until he found something better and healed his trauma. It make me feel icky. I wanted Farrow to make him work for it a bit more and grovel, but she kept getting too horny to say no to him whenever he was in the mood. It was a little pathetic.
I also think this book was trying very hard to appeal to the romance readers who also read fantasy by having her nickname be "Fae." I get that this is a cinderella retelling, but the based-on-a-fantasy part was really shoved down my throat throughout this entire book. The fencing storyline was incredibly random to me, and it felt like a storyline that the author kept forgetting about until it was convenient for the overall plot. Now, I'm not even close to being an olympic athlete, but my understand is that the training that goes into going to the olympics is an all-day-every-day commitment. Farrow was apparently the best fencer in the world but she would practice like a few times a week for like 45 minutes and then continue her job as a housekeeper all day. It just felt like the authors wanted to add in sword-fighting for the Cinderella retelling element, but it was so random to me.
Finally, I said this in my review of My Dark Romeo, and I will say it again, I HATE Oliver. It's not that he's sexually expressive and free - it's how often he jokes about hooking up with teenagers. It makes me sick. There's nothing redeeming about him. His only personality trait is loving sex. Every scene with him was just about his sex life and how many STDs he probably has. I will not be reading his book.
I also didn't love the insta-besties trope in this. Farrow becoming best friends with Dallas (the FMC from book 1) just felt too forced to me, and it happened immediately. They called each other besties on their 3rd time seeing each other/first 1:1 conversation. I hate when authors force all of their characters to be best friends with each other. It doesn't always make sense, and this just happened too abruptly. I can only assume that the authors wanted Dallas to be a major character in this book too because she was funny in book 1, but it wasn't natural. I also hated what they did to Dallas's character. Her character was belittled to be the butt of a joke - every scene with her was just about how much food she eats all the time and how much she loves food. WE GET IT.
Also, the text exchanges between the 3 male characters (Romeo, Zach, and Oliver) were very cringe. You expect me to believe that a Royal Duke, a billionaire, and an arms dealer are all texting each other like frat brothers? Nahhhh
Anyways, it was entertaining, but it had really frustrating points for me. It's a very easy read though. If you're looking for a palate cleanser, give this a try. The smut is decent too. I loved sweet robotic nerdy Zach learning how to kiss and touch a woman for the first time. Not as good as book 1, but it was fine!
March 21, 2024
I don't know how to feel about this book. Like it was good, angsty and entertaining but also frustrating as hell. It's a shame because I liked book one so much and this one paled in comparison to it.
The only extra star I'm giving is because of Farrow, she was headstrong, smart and her sassy comebacks were hella interesting. She had a backbone but I couldn't stand it when one minute she's angry at Zach and the next she'll go back to him because they have "chemistry".
Honestly, Zach was an awful MMC, his momma's boy personality was appalling and I wanted him to stand up for himself in front of his equally awful bitch of a mother because she was clearly emotionally blackmailing him at every given chance.
I did not like the fact that she was forgiven in the last chapter and Zach told her to make amends with Farrow because how she behaved with her was unacceptable and downright demeaning. I would've honestly cut ties with such an infuriating mother-in-law tbh.
Also, the issue with the two faced ex fiance was handled so poorly. You honestly expect me to believe that Zach with all the money and resources at his fingertips did not find any means to immediately fucking find her lying ass and terminate their engagement? The way he knew that his so called engagement would definitely hurt Farrow but took so long to do something about it was infuriating. His grovel was non existent, all he did was give Farrow a grand proposal at the end of the book and she instantly goes back to him. If this book was supposed to be as long as it was, I expect Zach to grovel for atleast a few chapters, but all we got was a separation of thirty days where they have no contact with each other and Zach wallowing in self pity.
This story was definitely a Cinderella knock off and Farrow's good for nothing step sisters and step mother were fucking cunts lol, I couldn't stand them and their audacity at all and I was satisfied when they got what they deserved but I wanted to see them suffer more because what they did to Farrow and her dad was unforgivable. I felt like Farrow had it tougher in life than Zach and her trauma was much more heavier than him. Zach was shown as the "unfeeling" and "inhumane" person when Farrow had gone through something much worse than him. At least, he had his mother and friends with him but Farrow was totally alone.
Another part that I liked about this book was the found family trope. I knew I loved Dallas for a reason and she proved it in this book. The way she immediately took Farrow under her wing and was there for her throughout her lows was the best part! They had similar personalities which is why they blended so well together!
Now that Ollie's book is next, (or so I think) why was he shown to be such a manwhore? The authors have done their best in portraying him as a very happy go lucky playboy and I'm honestly not interested to read his book if this continues. I've had enough of OW drama in this book and LJ's books and H's are pretty much rinse and repeat carbon copies of each other. So I hope Ollie is different and not such a hoe in his own book.
The only extra star I'm giving is because of Farrow, she was headstrong, smart and her sassy comebacks were hella interesting. She had a backbone but I couldn't stand it when one minute she's angry at Zach and the next she'll go back to him because they have "chemistry".
Honestly, Zach was an awful MMC, his momma's boy personality was appalling and I wanted him to stand up for himself in front of his equally awful bitch of a mother because she was clearly emotionally blackmailing him at every given chance.
I did not like the fact that she was forgiven in the last chapter and Zach told her to make amends with Farrow because how she behaved with her was unacceptable and downright demeaning. I would've honestly cut ties with such an infuriating mother-in-law tbh.
Also, the issue with the two faced ex fiance was handled so poorly. You honestly expect me to believe that Zach with all the money and resources at his fingertips did not find any means to immediately fucking find her lying ass and terminate their engagement? The way he knew that his so called engagement would definitely hurt Farrow but took so long to do something about it was infuriating. His grovel was non existent, all he did was give Farrow a grand proposal at the end of the book and she instantly goes back to him. If this book was supposed to be as long as it was, I expect Zach to grovel for atleast a few chapters, but all we got was a separation of thirty days where they have no contact with each other and Zach wallowing in self pity.
This story was definitely a Cinderella knock off and Farrow's good for nothing step sisters and step mother were fucking cunts lol, I couldn't stand them and their audacity at all and I was satisfied when they got what they deserved but I wanted to see them suffer more because what they did to Farrow and her dad was unforgivable. I felt like Farrow had it tougher in life than Zach and her trauma was much more heavier than him. Zach was shown as the "unfeeling" and "inhumane" person when Farrow had gone through something much worse than him. At least, he had his mother and friends with him but Farrow was totally alone.
Another part that I liked about this book was the found family trope. I knew I loved Dallas for a reason and she proved it in this book. The way she immediately took Farrow under her wing and was there for her throughout her lows was the best part! They had similar personalities which is why they blended so well together!
Now that Ollie's book is next, (or so I think) why was he shown to be such a manwhore? The authors have done their best in portraying him as a very happy go lucky playboy and I'm honestly not interested to read his book if this continues. I've had enough of OW drama in this book and LJ's books and H's are pretty much rinse and repeat carbon copies of each other. So I hope Ollie is different and not such a hoe in his own book.
April 13, 2024
Loved all the Asian heritage connections and Zach’s phobia was different to other romance books I’ve read!
Added the extra longing element to their story!
Dallas will always be one of fav characters from this series, her love for food is too relatable. The chapters with group chat threads, live for the them! Always hilarious
Added the extra longing element to their story!
Dallas will always be one of fav characters from this series, her love for food is too relatable. The chapters with group chat threads, live for the them! Always hilarious
Shelved as 'dnf'
March 2, 2024This ARC was provided by Booksprout. I really liked Darling Venom from Parkers S Huntington and I knew this wouldn't be the same thing, but I thought maybe the prose would be enough to keep me in the book.
Farrow's dad died some years ago and she is in a Cinderella situation: her stepsisters hate/ignore her, her stepmother works her tirelessly, even making her pay rent living in her own house. She keeps going on to have enough money to contest the will and go after a pendant that her stepmother sold and was dear to her and her dad. The pendant she is trying to steal (not steal, take it back to its rightful owner mind you) now belongs to Zachary Sun, a billionaire who lost his father at a young age. He holds to it because it was the last thing his father bought before dying. Thing is, he finds her out in the middle of this operation. Discovering more about himself in the three hours they play Go, he decides to hire her as the help, in more than one way.
DNF@36% and I will tell you exactly why.
First of all, it is an easy read, inspite the heavy themes. The authors did a good job at talking about grief and guilt.
Was it the bully trope? Nah, I can handle it, despite not being my favorite.
Was it the billionaire romance? I read some good ones, and am not against it.
So what was it? SPOILERS!!!!!
1. There's a scene where the FMC is downright horny after the MMC brushes his finger through her cheek. He says something douchery and she leaves in a hurry, finds the first unoccupied place (there's a dinner going on, the MMC just cut the fingers off of some guy and she still has drops of blood on her clothes and thighs), and starts masturbating. OH but that's not enough:
I shook my head. Desperate tears stained the corners of my eyes. I surveyed my surroundings, halting on a thick cigar holder. Scooting all the way to the desk, I grabbed it and crawled back into place, sticking it inside me as I began massaging my clit.
Was this woman written by a man? What kind of woman gets this horny, with someone else's blood still lingering on you, people just outside, and shoves a very not clean and not made for that tool inside their hoohah? And she's not supposed to be the psycho in this scenario.
2. The MMC describing his dick as supersized. I rest my case.
3. For an intelligent 200+ IQ guy who can spot the FMC so easily, he's very dumb when it comes to not recognizing his fencing teacher of months as her.
4. Zach has Andrew Tate energy. IYKYK.
5. The chapters were very hot and cold, from him being a cold psycho to being absolutely devoted to her to coming back to aloof. I couldn't keep up.
All in all, I couldn't take it seriously, not even as a suspense-of-disbelief romance. I must say I have read some similar books and read raging reviews of books with this same energy, so it's probably a me thing. Give it a try if this doesn't irks you.
Farrow's dad died some years ago and she is in a Cinderella situation: her stepsisters hate/ignore her, her stepmother works her tirelessly, even making her pay rent living in her own house. She keeps going on to have enough money to contest the will and go after a pendant that her stepmother sold and was dear to her and her dad. The pendant she is trying to steal (not steal, take it back to its rightful owner mind you) now belongs to Zachary Sun, a billionaire who lost his father at a young age. He holds to it because it was the last thing his father bought before dying. Thing is, he finds her out in the middle of this operation. Discovering more about himself in the three hours they play Go, he decides to hire her as the help, in more than one way.
DNF@36% and I will tell you exactly why.
First of all, it is an easy read, inspite the heavy themes. The authors did a good job at talking about grief and guilt.
Was it the bully trope? Nah, I can handle it, despite not being my favorite.
Was it the billionaire romance? I read some good ones, and am not against it.
So what was it? SPOILERS!!!!!
1. There's a scene where the FMC is downright horny after the MMC brushes his finger through her cheek. He says something douchery and she leaves in a hurry, finds the first unoccupied place (there's a dinner going on, the MMC just cut the fingers off of some guy and she still has drops of blood on her clothes and thighs), and starts masturbating. OH but that's not enough:
I shook my head. Desperate tears stained the corners of my eyes. I surveyed my surroundings, halting on a thick cigar holder. Scooting all the way to the desk, I grabbed it and crawled back into place, sticking it inside me as I began massaging my clit.
Was this woman written by a man? What kind of woman gets this horny, with someone else's blood still lingering on you, people just outside, and shoves a very not clean and not made for that tool inside their hoohah? And she's not supposed to be the psycho in this scenario.
2. The MMC describing his dick as supersized. I rest my case.
3. For an intelligent 200+ IQ guy who can spot the FMC so easily, he's very dumb when it comes to not recognizing his fencing teacher of months as her.
4. Zach has Andrew Tate energy. IYKYK.
5. The chapters were very hot and cold, from him being a cold psycho to being absolutely devoted to her to coming back to aloof. I couldn't keep up.
All in all, I couldn't take it seriously, not even as a suspense-of-disbelief romance. I must say I have read some similar books and read raging reviews of books with this same energy, so it's probably a me thing. Give it a try if this doesn't irks you.
March 10, 2024
To be honest, I didn't expect much from this book and from Zack and Farrow🫣 After reading the first book, I can't wait for Oliver’s and Frankie’s book😍
But I also couldn't help but fall in love with Zack and Farrow🥹
“Hey, Zach?” He stopped but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Little Octopus?”🐙
As a child, I adore Cinderella and this retelling🤌🏼
Fae lost her only father and has to survive with her stepmother and two sisters. So she works as a cleaner and dreams of going to the Olympic as a fencer.
“I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.”
Zach is such a asshole but also a man with a difficult past who has to go through the trauma that he suffered as a result of his father's death💔
I adore them and their relationship🫶🏼 They will do anything to make each other happy🥰
“Let me be your shelter, Farrow Ballantine.“
I also fell in love more with Romeo, Dallas, Oliver and Frankie. Their friendship is simply the best😍
Thank you so much for the ARC to Parker, Leigh and The Author Agency🩵
But I also couldn't help but fall in love with Zack and Farrow🥹
“Hey, Zach?” He stopped but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Little Octopus?”🐙
As a child, I adore Cinderella and this retelling🤌🏼
Fae lost her only father and has to survive with her stepmother and two sisters. So she works as a cleaner and dreams of going to the Olympic as a fencer.
“I may be Cinderella, but Zachary Sun is not my Prince Charming.”
Zach is such a asshole but also a man with a difficult past who has to go through the trauma that he suffered as a result of his father's death💔
I adore them and their relationship🫶🏼 They will do anything to make each other happy🥰
“Let me be your shelter, Farrow Ballantine.“
I also fell in love more with Romeo, Dallas, Oliver and Frankie. Their friendship is simply the best😍
Thank you so much for the ARC to Parker, Leigh and The Author Agency🩵
April 5, 2024
3.5 STARS....I really loved Zach and Farrow, they oddly worked so well together. I loved Farrow, she was strong and had a no f*cks given attitude. Zach was cold and grumpy and apparently some kind of assassin that had no problem stabbing and slicing anyone who looked at him wrong. But then we get Zach losing his virginity, which was honestly sweet but hot at the same time. This man never even kissed anyone! I will say this book was a little cheesier than the first and a bit too long. The last 20% was stretched so thin for no reason
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