Review – Bloody Cruel Psycho by Lucy Smoke

Bloody Cruel Psycho; Sick Boys #5, Bloody Duet #1
(#1within a duet, #5 within a series)

Publication Date: May 20, 2022

Genre/Tropes: Duet/New Adult/Dark/Anti-Hero/Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

Author: Lucy Smoke

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
Dark and not for the faint of heart, but I like dipping my toes into this kind decadent treat from time to time and Bloody Cruel Psycho fed my twisted heart.

Braxton Smalls is full of darkness and revenge. He sets out to gain leverage over the man he’s searching for by kidnapping his sister, Clover. Braxton didn’t account for his kidnapee being mouthy, fighting back, or inciting his monster’s lust, so when she offers up herself as a deal in place of her brother, Braxton’s monster agrees.

Clover is no wallflower. She too has an inner monster, so when Braxton comes to take her she doesn’t hold back. She never expected to feel her inner darkness swirl to life as much as it does around him, it seems to crave him, but could they be too toxic for one another to last beyond the deal they made?

While this is my first step into the Sick Boys world and it is a connected story, this is still Braxton and Clover’s very own tale. I was never lost as the other characters came in, nor as backstories flowed in around them. Lucy brilliantly pieced this as a standalone, well technically a duet, and while reading, I was never the wiser that other books came before this. I loved how the other characters flowed in and out, pushing and prodding the main characters along. Brilliant anti-heros, the bunch of them.

Since this is book one in a duet, there is a mighty cliffhanger. I can hardly wait to dive back into to this twisted, dark world to find out what happens next to Braxton and Clover.

Synopsis:
A life for a life … will kill the both of us in the end.

Clover

I know nothing of the Sickness at Eastpoint University. I know only the backroads that slip past the southern beaches and the gators that make their way onto the swamps shores. Until him. Until the killer known as Braxton Smalls finds his way into my stilted trailer on the coast of Port Charlotte.

He came looking for Ace, but he found me instead…

Braxton

I’m a monster. Always have been. Always will be. The only people I’ve ever given a shit about are my boys and their girls. No one hurts my family, and knowing that someone has … and that they’ve gotten away with it plagues me.

Ace Volkov will pay for what he put Avalon through and if I have to use his most precious weakness to draw him out, I will.

She thinks she can bargain for his life with her own, but I mean to show her that there’s nothing I won’t do to see my vengeance through to the end.

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Review – Sexy Beast by Rachel Jonas and Nikki Thorne

Sexy Beast; Kings of Cypress Pointe #6
(An interconnected standalone within a series)

Publication Date: May 20, 2022

Genre/Tropes: Mafia/Secret Baby Romance

Author: Rachel Jonas and Nikki Thorne

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
Step back into Cypress Pointe with #SeXyBeAsT and his Beauty. I was sad to finish this book, but it was a fantastic way to end the Kings of Cypress Pointe reign!!

Ricky is protective, loyal, a bit obsessive, with a dash of crazy, and these are all great traits for running his empire, but when Dez is confronted by him after her picture goes viral after buying a pregnancy test, she isn’t enjoying some of those traits. At least not at first. Could this beauty actually fall for the beast?

Ricky is fiercely loyal to family. It’s the one trait that has led him to where he is now and the current path to Dez. Living the dangerous life he leads Ricky didn’t think he’d actually have the chance to become a father, so when he finds out his one night with Dez makes that impossible dream possible, he isn’t about to chance letting Dez out of his sight. He lives in a dangerous world and if he could he’d wrap her in a bubble wrap until his child is born and then possibly put the both of them in it afterwards. Ricky is much more smexy god than beast, at least around Dez, but she does struggle morality wise when coming to terms with who the baby daddy is.

While their love story isn’t a typical fairytale, full of champagne and roses…it’s more like murder, guns, and the mafia, but everyone falls in love under different circumstances, am I right? But seriously, Ricky is such a dichotomy of a man and I loved him for it. Ruthless and a true mafia king when he needs to be, but completely opposite when he’s with Dez where he’s sweet and gentle which made him totally swoony. Does he play on the right side of morality…well there is always another side to every dark tale, just ask Dez.

Lastly, yes, there are cameos from past Cypress Pointe characters, of course Pandora doesn’t let anyone rest, but could her days be coming to an end?? Messing with the mafia, Pandora is pushing buttons she may not want to push. I mean Ricky is no longer a kid chasing after his ex-girlfriend, but now a hot, hot baby daddy. Yum.

Synopsis:
Ricky Ruiz—ruthless kingpin, reclusive heir, the one man I can’t seem to outrun.

Rumors buzz when a pic of me buying a pregnancy test goes viral. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if, roughly one month ago, I wasn’t also spotted with the new top-dog of Cypress Pointe’s most notorious crime family.

The same crime family my father dedicated his entire law enforcement career trying to bring to their knees.

Ricky inherited the money, the houses, the cars, but he also inherited the danger. He sleeps with one eye open and one finger on the trigger. So, when my name starts popping up alongside his on social media, the beast awakens, convinced there’s now a target on my back, too.

He’s not big on patience or subtlety, which I realize when I come home to find him waiting in a dark corner of my apartment, in no mood for a debate. He’s on a mission to collect what he believes is his.

Me.

My father warned me about the Ruiz family. If I’d listened, I might not be locked in a room inside Ricky’s home, I’d still have the job he decided to quit for me, and I’d still have my freedom.

I have no plans to be Ricky’s caged bird. Not even with an army of street soldiers at his disposal. He’d beg to differ. According to him, it’s just a matter of time before I give in and admit what he claims to have known from the beginning.

That I’m already his.
*
Trigger Warning: Ricky lives up to his reputation, so if you’re sensitive to excessive, explicit violence, you might want to pass this one up. There are also situations that may be triggering for those who have experienced pregnancy-related trauma. Reader discretion is advised.
*
SEXY BEAST is a full-length standalone novel (95k+ words). This book can absolutely be read on its own, but for the sake of flow and clarity, you could start with THE GOLDEN BOYS (a bully romance trilogy within this series).

Are you into hot romances with alpha-male crime bosses? Then, you’ll love getting to know Ricky Ruiz.
Due to adult themes and sexual situations, this one’s only for the 18+ crowd.

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Review – Only Rivals by Charity Ferrell

Only Rivals; Only You #1
(A standalone within a series)

Publication Date: May 17, 2022

Genre/Tropes: Small Town/Enemies-to-Lovers/Workplace Romance

Author: Charity Ferrell

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
THIS BOOK!!! OH, SWEET BABY, BLUE BEECH GOODNESS!!!!! Yes, I’m totally screaming! This is the town, the writing, the emotional back and forth between characters that I fell in love with and made me a Charity Ferrell fan for life!! Only Rivals is pure writing royalty.

Jax and Amelia are second generation Blue Beech and Twisted Fox children, but this is truly a new series and aside from some nostalgia, like walking into a new world. Only Rivals is so well done and pieced together perfectly that I rode every emotion on this very angsty rollercoaster. I was gasping, crying, laughing, and falling in love right along with the characters and then shocked right down to my core at a very pivotal moment. Charity never fails to bring me down to my knees, but this story truly rocked me to my core and then pieced me back together. To say it has all the feels seems trite, but it really does.

What I’ve always loved about any Ferrell book is her witty banter mixed in with her deeply emotional story. Her writing has always kept me turning pages late into the night and this book was no different. I didn’t want to stop and seriously thought about calling into work so I didn’t have to put it down.

Jax and Amelia have been enemies from a very young age. Bantering and bickering like only little rivals can do, until that magic age when they both realized perhaps that rivalry might actually mean more. However, when a new kid, Christopher comes into their circle and falls for Amelia…well, both of their lives change forever at that point.

Jax and Amelia’s path back to one another is not easy and it’s full of turmoil and grief, but it’s also full of a history between these two that is sweet and beautiful. It is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Synopsis:
The first boy I ever hated was Jax Bridges.
The first man I loved was his best friend.

My plan was to meet a boy, fall in love, and live happily ever after.
That ended when my boyfriend died and left me half of his business.
Now, his best friend and I are business partners.
There’s just one problem: We hate each other.

Jax and I have been rivals since childhood.
He wants me out of the business, but it’s all I have left.
The more time we spend together, the more we question if we were ever rivals at all.

Will my last love be his best friend?
Or will we destroy each other?

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