Review – God of Pain by Rina Kent

God of Pain; Legacy of Gods #2
(Standalone within a series)

Publication Date: September 15, 2022

Genre/Tropes: New Adult/Dark/Anti-hero/Mafia Romance

Author: Rina Kent

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
Take my breath away – stupendous reading!! Every single time Rina writes a book I’m blown away!! Her crafted writing and flushed out characters continually slay me.

From the quiet and aloof Creighton King we were previously introduced to, I fell in love with the multitude of brilliance and depth that fascinated me not only in his singular focus of topics or subjects, but also in his awareness of everything or everyone around him. His passion for caring may have only extended to those in his very small circle and he may have seen those certain traits about himself as flaws, but what I love about finding the person who completes you is they don’t see your flaws, they recognize their other half. Creighton was so much more than I was expecting and I love those kind of surprises.

Annika Volkov is bright and shiny and loves to fill the quiet with talking. She is the total opposite of Creighton is just about every way except she’s completely drawn to him like a moth to a flame and even when Creigh gets up and walks away repeatedly from her, he still can’t stop thinking about her.

What makes Annika such a unique character is that she’s grown up in a mafia world. Her father is not a soft man, he’s ruthless and hard, except when it comes to loving his wife-that is his one exception, but Annika is very aware of the world she comes from. Yet, she herself is quite the opposite when you think mafia princess. Her favorite color is purple, she’s outgoing and friendly and she wants to experience everything life has to offer, even quiet and sometimes harsh Creighton King.

I don’t want to color Rina’s book in a rose colored way, but I do adore that she so brilliantly matches her characters in a way that every crack they have in their armor or every flaw they possibly possess, their soulmate fills up those cracks and is drawn to the other even more so because of their flaws. It’s why her anti-villains are so easy to fall for and so easily forgivable. While Creighton does warn her off, Annika is quite stubborn in her pursuit, and it doesn’t take long for Creighton to stake his claim. Prepare for steam, steam, and more steam.

What I love about these Legacy of Gods books is the interaction with other family members. Basically everyone is related or interconnected in someway throughout all of these books and finding that string to the connection is half of the fun. We were introduced to everyone in the first book, but only had a deeper dive into some of the cast members, but now with two new leads who have different best friends and family members, we got an intimate look at several more of the cast members. That part was definitely delicious, for instance; Eli and Creighton and Jeremy and Annika. I loved reading their interactions and can’t wait for more in this world. There is was also interaction with their families in general, which is great for fans or even new readers to get to know who the original Gods are. Probably my favorite moments were glimpses into those family times and hearing myself say, you fall for someone just like your parent, and for these two star-crossed lovers where the book had lots of heavy deep moments, that saying made me chuckle several times.

Once again, Rina’s writing is absolutely brilliant and her books continue to astound me.

Synopsis:
I made a terrible mistake.
Being a mafia princess, I knew my fate was already decided.
But I went ahead and longed for the wrong one.
Creighton King is bad news with a gorgeous exterior.
He’s silent, brooding, and obviously emotionally unavailable.
So I thought it was over.
Until he awakens a beast inside me.
My name is Annika Volkov, and I’m Creighton’s worst enemy.
He won’t stop until he breaks me.
Or I break him.

God of Pain is a complete STANDALONE and can be read on its own.

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