Beautiful Fiend

North Shore #1

by Lola King

When you were born on the North Shore of the Falls, that’s where you stay. There is no way out, no fairy-tale-like escape, no hope. Our broken town has always been at war. Two gangs fighting to take over the shithole we’re all stuck in. I only know one girl who wants to leave this place. Me.

I’ve always been a tough, North Shore girl. Fighting is in my blood, survival in my DNA.
But two years ago, Caden King broke me, and he has proof of it.
Now he wants to blackmail me into doing a job for him. The kind that puts my chance of escaping the North Shore at risk. The kind that means betraying my own crew.
He’s on me at all times, his dangerous mind always working on ways to torment me further.

Caden is wicked, unhinged. The North Shore Kings wear his name because of the vicious ways his family has been leading their crew.
Everyone always says there’s no point in fighting him. He has that madness in him that blurs the line between right and wrong. Now he's got his hold on me, and I have nothing and no one to protect me from him.

There’s no way to win.
No way to escape him.

I’m left with no choice but to do exactly what I’m told.

This book is the first in a series of four interconnected standalones. Beautiful Fiend is a dark enemies-to-lovers romance intended for readers over 18. It contains scenes that some readers may find triggering. Please check CW in the book.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, Mafia Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook

490 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2023

About the author

Lola King is a dark, steamy romance author who loves giving happy ever after’s to antiheroes. She writes about flawed and deeply broken characters and the women who bring them down to their knees. Her books are sometimes cute, sometimes angsty, but always sexy!
Lola lives in London and if she isn’t writing, she is most likely keeping her mind busy putting together a play or making music.

Let’s keep in touch on IG @lolaking_author or on FB readers’ group Lola’s Kings !

Reviews

[Marianna Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ THIS WAS SO PSYCHOTIC AND UNHINGED AND JUST ABSOLUTELY INSANE AND I DEVOURED EVERY SINGLE SECOND!!!! How and I just now realizing I never wrote a review for this book???? Maybe because I inhaled it in less than a day and just blacked out idk what happened I didn’t even film a TikTok about it… EXCUSE YOU??? Rude. Just rude.

I never thought I’d find a man that was like Killian Carson but apparently never say never because CADEN. FUCKING. KING!!!!! Guys no like no. He is so fucking insane it’s not even funny. Morally PITCH BLACK. He’s so delusional and pathetic and absolutely obsessed with her I can’t. He’s also HILARIOUS. Like the way she hated him and the whole time he’s just like yeah no it’s fine… she loves me… I’ll make her love me, she’s mine, it’s fine. Oh god and that mouth. FILTHY. This was filthy.

“Billie and I are gonna be a thing. Didn’t you know?”
“Does she know?” Elliot shakes his head at me
“Billie Scott is not your girl, Caden,” Ethan says as if I’m the craziest fucker on the planet.
“Yeah, well, not right now,” I fight back. “These things take time.”
THIS IS SO FUNNY FOR WHAT?

“I just want to make sure you understand something. I don’t need a reason. Everything will be easier for you once you accept that I want you, and I will do absolutely anything I have to do to keep you. I can give you a reason if you wish, but reason or not, you’re mine, and that’s a fact.”

There’s also touch her and die and then there’s…. Well Caden King.

And Billie our FMC is suchhhhhh a baddie no stop I also have a crush on her… she’s literally a professional fighter. Bye. She’s gives him a run for his money which was sooo refreshing in dark romance!

And then just THEMMMMM!! The chemistry, the banter, the spice, the insanity of it all. I also loved that there was actual plot in this. They come from rival gangs which just makes everything so much more of a mess! Hehehe I can’t stop giggling something’s wrong with me guys this was so fucked up. Read at your own risk.

Also please note this is soooooo dark. Please check your triggers, like don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you are not a fan of god of malice for reasons regarding a specific cliff scene…. Please god don’t read this.

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 🌟 the darkest book i’ve ever read.. in my life and yet im rating it 4.75 stars so what does that say about me?

“how could you think id choose any path in life other than the one that leads right to you?”

the most insane. dark. unhinged. crazy. book ever. the plot, the romance, the characters… somehow everything just kept getting worst? every single time i thought i was ready for what was to come.. turns out i wasn’t at all.

i had to put this book down every 10 minutes just to remind myself it’s fiction and go touch some grass. that’s just how insane it was.

with that being said… i loved it.

“the sun is shining again”

[Krisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

✯ 𝟑.𝟑𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁.

As the description conveys— the story follows two rival gangs who are hellbent on ruling the north shore with the primary goal of defeating the other in order to succeed. But what happens when Caden king, who succeeded in taking over the north shore sets his eyes on Billie scott, his biggest rival?

Also, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 because it includes Non-con and SA— I do not and will never condone any of that shit. I knew what I was getting myself into so it's not because of the non-con that I'm reducing the ratings. No. But mainly because of the characters and the stupendous acts they pulled out.

Getting to the brighter side, 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱. There wasn't a chapter that bored me and I was really intrigued about what would happen next. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗰— 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱— 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. I wasn't counting on this being so good. For a 450 page book to not bore you out even slightly at some point is a huge deal. To me at least.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲. I felt they marred the experience slightly and ruined the show by pulling out their stupendous acts.

𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 is a professional MMA fighter. She's strong, passionate and a self-reliant woman—atleast that's what I thought in the beginning. Until she turned into a complete doormat when it came to Caden king. What bothered me the most was where were her fighting skills when she was being sexually assaulted by our ‘hero’ multiple times? What's even worse is she never even tried to defend herself. I empathized with her in the beginning but I just couldn't anymore because it made no sense about why she would go down without a fight every single time instead of putting her skills into action.

𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 is a psychopathic killer who never takes no for an answer. He's not morally grey rather morally black and honestly I enjoyed hating on him throughout the book. But at some point lola managed to surprise me by keeping aside his sexually assaulting side and bringing out his benevolent side and I was really happy thinking there's going to be character development.

But guess what? The joke's on me, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 and he goes right back to being caden 'not taking no for an answer' king. And as always— Consensual or not, Billie always goes down without a fight. 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸— 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 and there wasn't a moment where i thought I should dnf. 𝗜𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱. Nevertheless it was a good read for me and kept me from falling into a reading slump.

[Ashley (back!) · Rating 1 out of 5]

welcome to episode 28727161783 of did this book really have to be published.

the three stages of reading beautiful fiend (also live footage of me, incidentally):




i HIGHLY suggest you don’t read this review if you enjoyed this book!

HOW DOES THIS BOOK HAVE AN AVERAGE RATING OF 3.81. HOWW.

i desperately need a lobotomy.

alas, psychologists have found a new leading cause of homicidal thoughts. it’s this book—the worst book i’ve read this year, and frankly, my entire life! i owe sincere apologies to the cheat sheet! let’s get into it, shall we?

this was my first "dark romance", and it definitely was certainly something! not in a sexy, i-feel-so-morally-conflicted way, more so a i-wish-i-were-illiterate-and-i-want-to-kill-myself-because-this-book-makes-this-already-horrific-world-an-even-worse-place-to-live-in kind of way. -1000/10 rage bait. this was just pure violence dressed in spice.

this piss poor excuse of a book is overtly dragged out and repetitive, and follows two rival gangs that dominate the territories of north shore as they feud. this is the plot:

multiply this x 100:

- the nsc hurts/kills one of the kings men or do something to taunt them → later turns into billie ignoring caden or saying something that pisses caden off
- caden goes to stalk billie
- caden assaults billie → once they get together they have a lot of sex, giving multiple pages of cringe smut (there was smut basically every chapter). try not to be horny and go at it for one millisecond challenge: level impossible

by the 28th sex scene, it was more than reasonable for me and ivy to think that we might see a shred of character development as consolation for the sheer vapidness of this book, but no. just the same loop of rage → sexual assault → cringe dirty dialogue that makes me want to jump off the nearest building.

i want to burn all these flavourless, dumb, and corny characters. this book would’ve been better if everyone died.

let’s start with the vile creature people call a book boyfriend—caden king! he’s the whole package: AN ABUSIVE RAPIST (he raped her multiple times throughout the book, the first time being in the prologue as his friends watched and recorded them), a raging narcissist, over-concerningly possessive, and a downright cringe, vapid, and vacuous manwhore! disrespectfully, the car he buys with his tutoring money (which much to my surprise, he has the knowledge to earn) can flip 10 times, crash into a wall, launch him into a metal fence, and his tongue piercing can get caught on it which fully lacerates his tongue until he chokes on his own blood and narcissism and dies. or he could jump off a cliff—either works for me. whatever is quicker.

but seriously—why are we still romanticizing rape and non-consensual acts in books? no, i don’t care if there’s a “trigger warning.” a content warning isn’t a permission slip. caden violates billie repeatedly, and the book frames it as “tension,” “chemistry,” or just the “dark” part of dark romance. it’s not. it’s sexual assault!!! no amount of edgy prose, tortured metaphors, or “but he’s obsessed with her and loves her in his own twisted way” excuses can cover that up. it makes me sick. dark romance is not synonymous with non-consensual romance. consent is NOT optional—even in fiction. it’s just disgusting. what’s even more egregious is when the author talks about caden being pitch black as opposed to morally gray, but “redeemable” in the tw’s. IN WHAT UNIVERSE?? this man should be put on death row (i volunteer as tribute to do the execution by the way). HOW DID HE GET OUT OF PRISON A YEAR AFTER BEING PUT IN??? IS THIS A FANTASY NOVEL??

and isn’t dark romance is supposed to make you question your morals—not abandon them? i admit that i am not an avid dark romance reader, but from my knowledge, dark romance is meant to explore power dynamics, twisted attraction, danger, etc.—but all of that requires nuance. THIS HAS NO NUANCE. what this book does is just glorify and romanticize abuse and SA, excusing it with “he’s broken and just really loves her in his own way”. ALSO. they're supposed to explore trauma, not exploit it.

ugh. anyway, back to that nasty thing named caden. as i said, he’s a manwhore (he literally had sex with every girl in the town, and i’m convinced he’ll take anything with a pulse. KEEP THE CHILDREN AWAY. DO NOT LET HIM BECOME A MATH TEACHER AS HE WISHES. HOW IS HE AN UNCLE TOO???) and all he thinks about is having sex with billie and killing every person who breathes in her direction! that’s it! his personality is more non-existent than the profundity of their conversations and billie's self-worth every time she forgives him combined. he is not brooding. he is not hot. he is not traumatized (his so-called backstory is about as compelling as stale bread). he is merely a walking pheromone with a god complex and the emotional range of a beige wall who gets off on physically and sexually assaulting people.

other than starting a gofundme for the trees that should not have been used to be turned into this book—i propose that we also make a gofundme so our super tiny mma fighter (which is all there essentially is to her character), who also happens to have less emotional depth than my toilet, billie, can get some therapy. it is imperative that she gets group therapy, solo therapy, and an exorcist. why? SHE HAS NO SELF-RESPECT WHATSOEVER WHEN IT COMES TO CADEN. i’ve had enough “but he’s hot and everything is complicated!!!” to last me a lifetime. HE RAPED YOU AND TORTURED YOU??

“I hurt you, Billie. If it helps you to say goodbye, if it helps to hate me so you can move on, then remember all the times I hurt you. The assault. The videos. When I made you crawl in front of my crew. Remember the times I forced you and made you cry. Remember that you had reasons to hate me.”
THIS IS WHAT BILLIE REPLIED TO THAT: “None
of that matters if it brought us together. I don’t…I don’t care. I’ve forgiven
you for that, and it’s my choice to make, not yours.” RAPISTS DO NOT GET REDEMPTION ARCS. why is forgiveness being weaponized?? AND DO NOT ASSOCIATE THIS WITH GRACIE ABRAMS, I BEG (i miss you, i’m sorry was in the playlist the author made for the book). the cognitive dissonance is truly staggering.

THIS IS WHERE THE BOOK SHOULD’VE ENDED: “I wanted to see if what I did was for something. If she would finally win the fight that would get her out of here. She did it, and the best thing I can do now is to let her live the life she’s always deserved. Away from the North Shore.
So I let the crowd engulf me and disappear from her life forever.
I owe her at least that." word! let the crowd take him and trample him.

oh! and there’s also step-sibling romance. "Another lie. Xi is my stepbrother, but we’ve always had an ambiguous relationship. Xi protects people. That’s his thing. With me, he’s always been a little too protective, and I’ve grown to enjoy it. His hands have lingered in inappropriate places in the last year, and I’ve let him." the way i thought this book couldn’t have gone any lower.

ultimately, i’m convinced this book is a social experiment. i want this banned, i want this burned, and i want to send it into orbit. my therapy bill is about to skyrocket. to THINK about the toilet paper rolls that could’ve been made instead of this book. i would very much sleep soundly if every copy of this book disappeared instantaneously.

ivy is making me read the rest of the series!! send help.

quotes to read if you hate yourself:

“Did you?” I force past my pouted lips. “Did you assault me last night?”
He chuckles and shakes his head, his smile freezing every single atom
around us. “Of course not, baby. I plan on doing much worse to you. And
when I do, I want to feel you fight and hear you scream."

“But I do wish Billie wasn’t so scared of me. She saw the ruthless side of me—the Kings’ man who does what he must to impose respect and fear. I don’t think I would change anything, though. Billie has seen the worst side of me, and if she can take it, if she can move past it and understand there’s more to me, then we’re settled for life.” this made me laugh out loud. what else is there to you? PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US.

when they got back together after he served his prison sentence:
“Do you know what I was secretly hoping for? For you to have moved
on.”
“Moved on?” I choke.
“Yeah. Just so I could convince you all over again. Just so I could
assault your tight little body and remind it who it belongs to. Oh, little bee,
I’m going to spend hours teaching you how to take me again. I will use and
abuse you until you’re nothing but my little slut. All. Over. Again.” I’M GENUINELY OUT OF WORDS. HOW IS THIS PUBLISHED? WHO LET THIS HAPPEN?

kill me!!!

-

i'm gonna choke myself. fat rtc in an hour or maybe less idk

-

never let them know your next move‼️

no, you are not hallucinating. though, part of me wishes you were. yes, i am reading a dark romance for the first time. yes, i know i’ll hate this one but i’m testing my masochistic tendencies. yes, i’m praying that i keep at least 10% of my brain cells intact. i think you should grab some popcorn and perhaps a therapy fund. anyway, buddy reading with ivy , my best friend in the world❤️! she’s going to be my emotional support. i’m scared. this is a canon event i fear. yay (?) for character development!!

link to her review!

[T.S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stay safe guys!

i just saw one of these Caden creatures at Walmart today

[Yana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 starts, NO THE WAY THIS BOOK HAD ME SAAAAT FROM PAGE ONE UNTIL THE VERY END IS NOT EVEN FUNNY. The ending tho.. I think it actually gave me gray hairs, it was definitely one of those trust the process moments

[ivy · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 GENEROUS STAR.

oh my God. where do i even start with this book.... i guess i'll just put some quotes in here that i think reflect this book and it's.. content.

DISCLAIMER: triggers of on page SA, mentions of SA, abuse, violence. i am also not judging anyone who enjoyed this book/enjoys these types of books. i'm simply stating my opinion and who gives a fuck honestly on what books u like, read & love what u want <3

caden king aka the bane of my existence. i've never hated a mmc as much as i hate him. he SA's the fmc MULTIPLE times, threatens to kill her multiple times, tortures her, stalks her, breaks into her house multiple times, humiliates her, and abuses her. i truly don't see any romantic aspect in any of this. stalking, breaking into her house, i can probably get past that because this is a dark romance, but the SA'ing & torturing was just personally not my cup of tea.

exhibits:
➪ “the girl just lost her boyfriend. don’t be a dick, Caden.” “talking about dicks.” he [caden] smirks down at her. “how about i ram mine down her throat. she’s single now.” UMMM??? EXCUSE ME??? HER BOYFRIEND HAD A LIFE OR DEATH EXPERIENCE???
➪ this one is a bit long but displays his character perfectly. “fuck you!” i [fmc] scream as ethan forces me to my knees. “you’re fucking dead, caden, i swear.” “am i? what a great way to die,” he mocks me, undoing his pants. “while getting my dick sucked. open, little scott.” I shake my head, tugging back until i feel one of the other guys grabbing my neck. at the same time, caden fists my ponytail. i hiss but do my best to keep my jaw shut as his hard dick comes to tap against my cheek. “knock, knock.” he pokes me playfully, having the time of his life.” ... what did i just read...
➪ “he opens the window, relaxing in a way that shows he doesn’t give a damn about anything. “rejection doesn’t exist when i can take what i want, whenever i want.” me and ash clowning him:

➪ “why is everyone always sorry once they face me? couldn’t you be sorry enough to not drug a girl and get her naked in a motel room? what the fuck is wrong with you?” basically billie gets SA'ed and this man is trying to act like an alpha wolf and protect her but THE IRONY. caden when he saved her from an SA'er but does it to her multiple times: 😛😛😛😛😘😘😘🤪🤪🤪🤪
➪ this man threatened to kill her if she didn't get "owned by caden king" tattooed on her tits.
➪ “billie cries silently the whole time, and i know deep down i should feel bad. except all it does is get me rock-hard.” CAN U PLS STOP 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻👮⛓️🚨👮⛓️🚨👮⛓️🚨
➪ “writing essays about the history of mathematics isn’t exactly my passion, but it’s something i chose. i want all chances on my side when i eventually apply to be a math teacher.” this man wants to become a TEACHER?!? i swear lola king wrote this book just to fuck with us.
➪ “do you know what i was secretly hoping for? for you to have moved on.” “moved on?” i choke. “yeah. just so i could convince you all over again. just so i could assault your tight little body and remind it who it belongs to. oh, little bee, i’m going to spend hours teaching you how to take me again. i will use and abuse you until you’re nothing but my little slut. all. over. again.”
what billie should've been like after he said this: INSTEAD THEIR "I LOVE YOU" SCENE IS AFTER THIS AND THIS IS THE ENDING. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

billie scott aka little bee GIIIRL. WHERE IS UR SELF PRESERVATION GOD DAMN. this girl is called " unbeatable billie scott" and a championship-winning MMA fighter but suddenly when it comes to gang men beating her up she turns into a tiny scared girl 🥺👉👈. girl PLS 🙎🏻‍♀️. i definitely felt bad for her throughout the first half of the book (i mean, who wouldn't?) but she slowly got on my nerves. she kept on taking caden back like the DOORMAT she was.

➪ the amount of times she was mentioned as "tiny" should be studied.
➪ right after caden SAs her she wants to become his best friend & forgives him immediately.
➪ “he’s right, after all. if caden wanted to hurt me some more, he would have done it long before tonight. if he’d wanted to harm or humiliate me after that night, my avoiding him wouldn’t have changed anything. he would have done it anyway. he simply didn’t want to. and for some mysterious reason, it feels oddly disappointing to realize that.” umm.. HELLO????
➪ “i shake my head, smiling. he’s turning into such a stalker. three dots appear again, and my heart squeezes from knowing he wants my company and no one else’s.” MIND YOU. THIS WAS RIGHT AFTER HE RAPED HER. AGAIN. 😐😐😐😐

other big problems that i had with this book:
➪ the wholly inaccurate way lola wrote about SA victims. honestly, this was my biggest problem. i've read many cases of SA victims & their abusers, and i want to rip this book to shreds knowing that she portrayed SA victims as in love with their abusers, wanting to be besties with their abusers, and wanting to have sex with their abusers. even wanting to touch or see their abusers. ik there are special cases, but this is a grown adult with a brain that's supposed to be in her head.
➪ be warned... there is smut every other chapter. and this isn't a joke.

overall: 🚮

✦ i wanted to write a huge thank you to my best friend ash for enduring this with me, ilysm queen 💌🫂

˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .

👠 ୨ৎ pre - read ── .✦
another buddy read with my soulmate ash! this is her first dark romance (that i forced her to read)
- her review!

[manas (suffering) · Rating 1 out of 5]

➳ i read and i call the cops ☆

i’ve spent the last two years battling with myself over what he did to me. the days after it happened, i couldn’t speak or leave my house. i showered enough times a day that my skin was raw and red; it stung. every time i tried to leave the house, i was too scared to bump into him. every time my phone chimed, i was petrified the videos were viral.

buckle up besties. i have A LOT to say here. i want to preface this by saying i DO NOT condone any of this shit ever, including in a fictional space. if you know me, then you would know that anytime there is an abusive man, it is an automatic one star from me. i have no triggers, but this is one of the worst things i have read. with all that being said, this review will have some vague spoilers, especially with the quotes i am going to reference. they can be VERY triggering so please take care. <3

⌞the prologue⌝

the prologue is the big talk of the town with this novel. it literally starts out with our MMC—caden king—sexually assaulting the FMC—billie scott—and forcing his friends to watch, aid, and record... people have compared caden to killian carson—the other rapist from god of malice. surprisingly even after all this fuckery, i kept reading. i found the prose and writing to be digestible and the overall plot was decently engaging. unlike with other stalker, obsessive, rapist MMCs, this book often references what caden did and how billie feels about the entire situation. self awareness is the best awareness? idk, i am embarrassed.

yes, he did break me. but i decide to lie. to not give him the satisfaction of knowing i’m a weirder, more fucked up version of myself since he assaulted me and made me come against my will.

“i’m not making small talk with you. we’re waiting for my car that you’re fixing because you’re blackmailing me into doing a dangerous job for you with a video of me that you have from sexually assaulting me. if you think i want to make small talk, you’re strongly mistaken.”

mainly… because he forced me when i wasn’t feeling that way about him, and i can’t get over that.

no one knew the boxing ring was the only place i didn’t think of the pleasure he’d forced on me. i didn’t want to come that night. i didn’t want it to feel good.

⌞the characters⌝

both main characters are part of two very poor gangs and from the wrong sides of the track. while i enjoyed the concept of this, the execution just turned into sexual violence every other page. caden had the mannerisms and deportment of a buffalo, while billie was just all talk, no action. there was a lot of potential for their characters to have meaningful development and growth, however, there was too much obsessive lust on first glance, with a lack of plot and a group of idiocracy individuals with no functioning braincells, fueled by violence, bigotry, and sadism. i tried to vibe with them at first, but eventually, it became too repetitive, and they sounded glib.

caden’s face comes to my mind, and i hit harder. i’m dying to take back control for what he did last week and two years ago. i just want to hurt someone else’s body as he hurt mine. i just want to force her to take what i have to give.

“don’t be scared, okay? you won’t end up like my mom. you’ll fall in love with me, and you’ll want everything i have to give you.” “you can’t say that when you’ve already forced me in the past.”

“stop it,” i rage. “why? why did you do this?” “you liked it,” he shrugs. “i didn’t want it,” i shout while he is perfectly calm. “your body disagreed.” “i don’t care! i don’t want you.

⌞the remainder of the novel⌝

this is where all the predicaments lie. both main characters are cornier than corn and have zero developing qualities about themselves. the entire duration of the novel following, caden is continuing to sexually exploit, abuse, and assault billie, until she ultimately gives in to his bullshit. while i am not a physiatrist, from my experience with them, continuing to abuse and assault a victim with NO prior consent is not the manner of rectifying situations. that is usually where CNC comes into play, where both main characters are AWARE of what is happening, so the victim is able to be in control and have their power back. while i am not turning this into a "medical lecture" about how the brain works, authors really need to stop "remedying" these men with character development by giving them some piss poor backstory and calling them "morally black". i say all this because i found these parts VERY unnecessary for the plot and thrown in to add that “dark” factor. i know people like this so it’s not a critique, more so an observation because it was stupid as fuck.

⌞my overall feelings⌝

i know this review is REALLY messy. i actually have no clue what to rate this as it is objectively stupid but honestly very concerning. on the other hand, it was facile and a straightforward plot. even if you took out the assault and abuse, there was a lot of missed opportunity of character development and expansion on their idiosyncrasy, as that could have been a strong suit to delve into. the concept and the writing were adequately done; however, the implementation was subpar.

i do also believe the only way to fully comprehend what is happening, is by actually reading the book. do i recommend you read this? honestly, no. however, that's the only way this will make any sense as i don't think this review does that. the biggest hate crime is throwing my people into this mess. what did muslims and indians do to you??? get out lola.

[tyrosine · Rating 1 out of 5]

never forgiving booktok for romanticizing multiple r@pists into the western literary canon

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf at 20%

• mmc SAs and physically As the fmc while 2 of his friends holds her (prologue)
• mmc records the entire thing
• orders her to transport !llegal goods for him, otherwise he'll leak the video
• already showed the video to 2 people
• he tutors rich kids for money (f-cks their moms for the same reason)
• f-cks the entire female population too and makes sure to give them very evident hickeys because thus big, bad boy likes to own them girls

This ain’t dark romance. It's trash in my dictionary.

[Nancy •͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ · Rating 1 out of 5]

──⟡⋆˙✩ 1 star ✩ ⋆˙⟡──

THE TASTE OF FREEDOM~

I have T H O U G H T S on this book. Bear with me. This is gonna be messy and unorganised. And messy.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Billie Scott.

I knew I wasn’t going to like her before I even started reading because her name is BILLIE. To all the Billies out there, if you read this line, no you didn’t Okay but for real, did her parents HATE her? Her sister’s name is Emma. Why’s she stuck with BILLIE?

We learn TWO things about her as soon as we start the book:

. ➠ She’s very smol and tiny. With big bambi eyes.
. ➠ she’s a ‘tough, badass’ MMA fighter

As we progress throughout the book, we quickly learn that her ‘badass’ self gets SHELVED whenever she’s around Caden - our MMC, we’ll come to him soon don't you worry ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

❥ What's more annoying than a helpless, incompetent FMC? A helpless incompetent FMC who's marketed as a BADASS. Like if I know an FMC can’t do shit, I won’t expect anything. But now you’re just crushing all my hopes and dreams!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Caden King.

I started this book with the shock of my LIFE. The prologue. Well… how to say it? In the prologue, Caden has his friends hold Billie down as he rapes her. The entire time, she’s crying and begging and his response is that he loves seeing those tears in her eyes. That’s not all, that MF records the entire thing. And then threatens to send the video to everyone if she steps out of line.

WHY? Why do all of this? Because HER gang apparently beat up his older sister. So this was his revenge. In what way is BEATING up a girl equal to RAPING her? He wanted revenge?

COULDN’T HE HAVE BEAT HER UP TOO?

❥❥ Two years later, when they meet again, he decides that he wants her. And that shameless sick f***er KEEPS assaulting her. And he doesn’t seem to see it as assault because “Even though you said no, your BODY seems to disagree”

That line alone could send me into orbit.

❥❥ So let’s get something very clear: many rape victims report their bodies reacting “positively” during assault. That’s not consent. That’s trauma. That’s biology. That’s manipulation.

Rapists know this. They exploit it to make victims doubt themselves. To confuse them. To make them feel like maybe it wasn’t “really” rape.

It F***ING IS.

Consent is about choice, not about your body’s involuntary responses.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s keep going.

❥❥ After the prologue, it seems Billie’s brain has... rewired itself. She begins fantasizing about being raped. Which—yes—is a documented trauma response. A way for the brain to reclaim power by reenacting the event on her terms. It’s not something I’ll judge.

So aside from the prologue, every other time he assaults her, the book frames it as something she wants.

Do I understand that this reflects some trauma survivors' experiences? Yes.
Do I, personally, go absolutely feral when I encounter non-con dynamics? Also yes.

So clearly, this book and I were not meant to be.

❥❥ The REAL bitch here is Caden. What is HIS excuse? He hates his dad because his mom was abused by him. In fact, Caden was conceived because his dad raped his mom. Throughout the book, Caden is routinely raped by many older women and men.

His mother was raped. He was raped. So why in the world would he rape another girl? You would think he would VEHEMENTLY oppose such a crude act. But NOOOOO.

❥❥ You know what’s even more sickening? It’s the author’s attempt to make the readers care for him. The author includes CUTE little things like, how much he adores and spoils his nieces, that he loves his sister, that he has dreams like all of us. And all I can think is:

RapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapistRapist

This is his DREAM for the future:
➥ Getting out of the North Shore, finding a decent girl, and marrying her. Giving her about a million babies and watching them grow.

Like, TF? Are you trying to gaslight me into forgetting he’s a waste of space? You think ONE scene and I’ll suddenly think a RAPIST deserves to live?

I mean, REALLY, why are we pretending he’s a human being with actual feelings?

I’m sorry but if I had to choose between retaking my A-level exams and having babies with him, I would retake the HELL out of my exams. In fact, I will happily retake my O-level exams as well.

❥❥ See, what’s concerning isn’t that Billie likes to be forced I mean I guess it’s not normal but like I said, trauma, more trauma and weird brain amiright?. What IS concerning is that Caden LOVES to force. He FANTASISES about forcing and assaulting her. That’s what is truly concerning. Like WHICH girl aside from Billie would feel safe with him?

A guy who loves to see you resist so he can overpower you. NO doesn’t register in his brain. He says, “What I want I take, your choice doesn’t matter.”

❥❥ Guess what happens when Billie rejects him? He drags her in front of his family and makes her crawl from place to place. Then he says to her: I told you you would regret rejecting me.

❥❥ Later on, after they confess their love for one another, she makes him jealous. So he does what any WELL-ADJUSTED human being would do, ofc. He forces her to get a tattoo that reads: OWNED BY CADEN KING

❥❥ The worst thing about him is whenever he does his usual shit to her, he makes it feel like HER fault.

Every single time he snaps at her, he makes sure she knows that SHE’s responsible for this. That it’s all HER fault. It was because SHE was ungrateful and wouldn’t listen to him that he got provoked and assaulted her. Why can’t she just say YES to him all the damn time? How dare she have an OPINION?

This mf really got on my nerves.

❥❥ Another thing I hate about him is how he does the BARE minimum, such as showing the BASIC HUMAN DECENCY and then goes on to act like he moved THE HEAVENS for her, like he changed his entire life for her.

He listened to her and did NOT rape her for like FIVE seconds. And after that FANTASTIC display of manliness he says to her: “I’m doing my best to be nice and not just take what I want. And if you start fighting me on everything, I will lose it and just do it.”

OMG y’all look at him! It’s SO hard on him. He already went against his VERY nature and did NOT rape her and after his ✦GRAND GESTURE OF LOVE✦, she has the audacity to fight him on everything.

❥❥ Look at him absolutely inconsolable and sad at her ungratefulness: “I was so patient with you. Ready to minimize who I was, just so I could fit into that tiny box of things you can handle without breaking apart.”

Wipes tears. Sniffles in grief. Our Caden was just so patient with her. He was understanding of her trauma that he gave her. He realised that she’s scared to sleep with him because he raped her before. So he was being PATIENT and not raping her the second time around. And yet… and YET…!

WHAT DID SHE DO? She chose her FAMILY over HIM! HOW COULD SHE?! Your rapist or your family? What kind of question is that? OBVIOUSLY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE YOUR RAPIST!

She should go back to school cuz she learned NOTHING the first time around!

❥❥ Caden’s like: The difference between you and I is that I would always choose you but you never chose me.

No BITCH. The difference between you two is that you’re a rapist and she’s a victim.

❥❥ But don’t be too horrified. He has his good moments. Occasionally. Like. every once in a blue moon. Where he says sweet things like: I will use and abuse you until you’re nothing but my little slut. All. Over. Again.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW BE STILL MY HEART SOMEONE HOLD ME OR I WILL RUN OFF TO VEGAS WITH HIM.

Billie is just like me ofc. She’s super touched cuz he called her “Queen” and bought her food that one time.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Don’t even get me started on the side characters.

❥ There’s her stepbrother. But Billie has a… disturbing relationship with him. And by disturbing I mean: Inappropriate touching and forbidden kisses when no one’s looking.
❥ There’s also this one girl, Jade. She’s thirsty AF for Caden (lord knows why). She has this REALLY bad habit of acting like a pick-me. For example when she sees the revenge porn video made by Caden about Billie, instead of focusing on the fact that Caden RAPED her, Jade goes: “What a fucking slut,” Jade snorts. “Desperate enough?”

I’m a peacekeeper okay? I so rarely want to slaughter people. But this book really tested my patience.
Many times the book tries to act deep and talk about how being flawed is what makes us human. But I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this: Sexually assaulting someone isn't being 'flawed'. That's an insult to flaws.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝔸 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕤𝕠𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣:

Context: This is after their obligatory third act breakup, when Caden flips a switch and decides she’s better off without him.

Her: Come back to me, my love!!! I love you and you love me!!! No one can keep us apart!!!

Him: Oh, but my love, you should hate me. Hate me and live your life!!! For you see, I’m a monster!!!

Her: NO no you aren’t. How could you think that? You’re just a teensy bit flawed. In fact, now that I think about it, you’re actually the standard all men should strive to be! You make so many sacrifices, but people still misunderstand you and paint you as the villain when you’re really just a precious cinnamon roll!

Him: Remember that time in the prologue when I raped you?

Her: I don’t care about that!

Him: Well, what about when I made you crawl?

Her: I have no self-respect, so I forgot all about it the next day.

Him: I even marked you with a tattoo like you’re my personal property!

Her: That’s because you love me too much!!! It was my fault for trying to make you jealous.

Him: After everything I did, you don’t hate me?

Her: I forgive you, Caden. I know you’ve never given a shit about my choices the entire book, but please change your tune now that my choice will benefit you.

Him: Okay!

And they lived happily ever after.
The end.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐈Ｎ 匚๏ηcℓỮ丂𝐢๏ᑎ

This book… wasn’t for me. I know that is why I hate read this. But also seriously speaking, I know there are people who actually like ‘being forced’ so to speak. And there are many reasons for that, be it trauma or just… that’s just how it is. This book is meant for them. So with that in mind I suppose for them the only truly problematic bit might be the prologue. Good for them I suppose. I’m too vanilla for this. I like things NICE and SIMPLE with PROPER consent please. Anything too adventurous will have me retreating lol. (although it could be because I’m not generally a spice fan so anything over the top disturbs me).

❥❥ Okay I’ve said all there was to say and now I’m wrung out. Thank you to my anne ꣑ৎ‎ ✧ ˚. darling for reading this with me. I had a blast regretting my existence with you. Wanna buddy read the next book?

Anne's review

[bee (on and off) · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @ 16%

quick disclaimer:
i do like dark romance believe it or not and i'm not someone who gets triggered. i knew what i was getting into when i started this so no the non-con wasn't the problem.

the problem was the horrible writing/plot and corny ass characters. billie and caden were so fucking annoying and the dialogue was cringe.

fmc is meant to be a great mma fighter but didn't try to defend herself against caden or his friends at all.

and from what i seen mmc is also a man whore?? i'm not hundred percent sure but i think this has ow drama which i'm not a fan of.

sorry besties after realizing i wasn't enjoying this i was going to try hate-read and do a full review but i can't sit through 400+ pages of this nonsense.

bonus here's my favorite caden quote ↷

❝ I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t find you hot as fuck ❞

[madi · Rating 1 out of 5]

⋆˙⟡ ✧˖° — 0.5 stars
𐙚 minor spoilers ♡

♡ ⋆｡˚ thoughts
i'm still trying to figure out if caden tops killian from GOM, but honestly? he might. goodreads needs to hurry up and add half-star ratings because this book doesn't even deserve a full one. it was disturbing on so many levels.

♡ ⋆｡˚ characters

♡ ⋆｡˚ billie
this girl... oml she was so freaking annoying. i'm sorry but with her being a MMA fighter i thought she was gonna be this tough badass girl. she's literally called “unbeatable billie scott”, but apparently that only applies in the ring —because when it came to caden, she just crumbled 😒 like this girl just let this man do ANYTHING and then immediately forgives him when he "apologizes."what made it worse was that after he SA'd her, she wanted to become his best friend. are u freaking kidding me 😃 i’m sorry, but billie scott is a doormat.

♡ ⋆｡˚ caden
where do i even begin with this monster. he SA's billie MULTIPLE TIMES, tortured her, abused her, and sooo much more. i don’t understand how anyone could possibly love this man. oh btw he rapes her in the prologue, his friends record it, and then he uses that video to blackmail her later on 😃 and the fact that HE WANTS TO BE A FREAKING TEACHER?! like WHAT. i'm sorry but this man needs to die asap. i get that dark romance is suppose to be dark, BUT WHY IS THE MMC RAPING THE FMC?! atp i feel like dark romance is getting to the point where its just romanticizing rape and abuse.

♡ ⋆｡˚ their relationship
non-existent. this wasn't a romance. nothing he did came across as loving or caring. this man literally threatened to kill her if she didn’t get "owned by caden king" tattooed on her boobs. this book felt like a joke, and not a funny one.

♡ ⋆｡˚ final thoughts
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!! idek why i'm continuing this series, but hopefully it will convince you to NOT read this series.

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ pre-read ♡⋆°｡⋆𐙚
⤷ clearly i hate myself 😻😻

[Erika Braga · Rating 5 out of 5]

W A R N I N G S !!!!!! This book is extremely DARK, very GRITTY, super RAW and damn near DECADENT!!!

🖤”God hates me, and only the devil welcomes me. His name is Caden King”🖤


Caden King is the only one responsible for Billie’s pain, heartbreak and suffering from beginning to end. He is the only reason she went through what she went through and he is the only reason she come out on top, with all her desires and life she deserved.
Morally pitch black is a definition created for Caden King ! I only read dark romances and I’ve read hundreds of crazy MMC from asylum crazy to serial killers, from stalkers to criminals, from 🍇its to mafia. And I have to say that very few compares to the darkness of Caden King. 🖤
The STRAIGHT UP AUDACITY of this man it’s jaw dropping and mind blowing. He is THE most possessive, aggressive, crazy, unpredictable, unhinged, forceful, WRONG male character I’ve read to this day. He makes serial killers, mafia guys and Zade Meadows look like cute kittens. Another definition that was literally created FOR him is the quote “touch her and die”, and let me tell you that they do die slowly, painfully and violently. He spares no one. 🖤”You look at her - stab - You touched her - stab - You disrespected her - stab stab stab and throat cut”🖤
Caden and Billie were born into rival gangs and they hate each other. They are fated dark Romeo and Juliet from the beginning, they were destined to suffer and never be together, nevertheless they go against everything and everyone, even themselves. Caden is the one that tortured and hurts Billie the most but he is also the one that loves her in the most unhinged and possessive way possible, once he settled his eyes on her it was over. Billie is a girl that wants to leave her gang and gangster family behind despite loving them, she wants a better life as a professional MMA fighter.
Caden also want it out, “believe it or not” he wants to be a math teacher, that’s his passion and dream. How they are both getting there? Well that is the million dollars question…..
Just know that when push comes to shove, Caden will stop at NOTHING to give Billie her dream, even if he needs to take the fall…. 😭
This book is crazy and heartbreaking in a way, the forgotten ones are the characters in this book that shows very realistically the life of “poor” gang members, the ones that have no money, no means and no aspirations to live another life. I am IMMEDIATELY reading the rest of the series.
Xi I am coming for you now baby. 😂

[⟡ anne ⟡ (back for good) · Rating 1 out of 5]

“It means I still don’t give a shit what you want. You’re mine, little bee, and you’ll take everything I fucking give you.”

── .✦✩°𓏲⋆ 0.5 stars

⤿ if the books of h.d. carlton and rina kent had a baby, then it would be the legendary ‘beautiful fiend’ written by the marvelously talented author lola king.

adhering to the popular conventions of a romance novel, ‘beautiful fiend’ stands as a brilliant testament to the passion and beauty of a young and star-crossed love between our protagonists billie and caden, who come from opposite gangs (nsc and kings, respectively). set against the humble landscape of north shore billie and caden–like our good ol’ romeo and juliet–find themselves fighting for their magical and forbidden love in a world that is set against them. they go through a painful yet heartwarming journey that is bound to make your brains loose those last cells and slip into the final state of insanity your eyes water and heart feel lighter.

let’s meet our tragic yet charming protagonists:

⬪ billie scott – our ‘very very smol’, ‘doe-eyed’, ‘innocent looking’ girl is definitely ‘not like the other girls’ because she’s a badass mma fighter who has earned the title of “unbeatable billie” due to her sheer fighting skills.

never mind that she didn’t even try to fight back for a single moment when caden and his friends captured her and then proceeded to a$$ault her. never mind that we barely witnessed her fight scenes and actually beating the hell out of people. never mind that the only times we saw her “badass spirit” in action were the times when was she was being pitted against women. something is really telling about it never mind these because i’m sure that these were deliberate character flaws designed to make her appear more dumb humane.

she’s also very very self-aware guys. she knows how messed up it is to fall for caden despite him constantly @busing her and r@ping her multiple times. but she just can't help it because his dick heart is magical. billie’s decision making skills regarding her love life are just as good as mine regarding these dark romance books:
[image error]

⬪ caden king – our mmc is just a broken, sad emo boy who is definitely not the stereotypical ‘misunderstood bad boy with a good heart’. nope. not at all. he’s just an occasional r@pist and women traff!ck3r who, underneath all his villainous glory, is really a sweet, tender and caring guy who just wants to escape this town and be a maths teacher. my humble, nerdy king.

he's also portrayed soo humanely with tiny but totally acceptable flaws such as:

✶ not comprehending the word ‘no’. but hey, it’s not possible for everyone to be literate okay? economy is in fucking shambles. i get it.
✶ loving to mark women he’s fucked as his possessions by leaving a trail of hickeys along their jaw. again, don’t blame the guy. women find it romantic. he’s just a poor dude doing fan service.
✶ loving to r@pe and hurt our fmc. now before, you jump at him, hear me out. billie loves it and it’s totally not a trauma response at all so it’s all good.
✶ being a very delulu hypocrite. he hates how the rich men and women r@pe him but then goes around and r@pes billie repeatedly. but in his defense, the rich women were ugly and anal hurts dude. atleast he is hot and didn’t hurt billie…much.

now don’t get turned off by his flaws please. he’s just a human after all. and no one is perfect. he’s just a guy who’s very very very very very deep down a good person but sometimes ends up doing some fucked up shit. that’s it.

⟢ the heart-touching romance ⊱

⤿ the romance truly touched my heart and suffocated it till it shrivelled down and died and brought tears to my eyes due to the pain of tolerating them the wholesomenes of their love.

✶ their meet cute was sooo sweet and unique. caden and his friends captured her while the latter two men held her down as caden r@ped her, then filmed it and used it to blackmail her into doing illegal shit for him. now if this isn’t the most romantic ‘how i met your mother’ story, idk what else is.

✶ their transitioning from enemies to lovers was so smooth and filled with more r@pe/@ssault scenes tension.

✶ caden showed how a REAL man deals with rejection. he humiliated her and forced her to crawl in front of his entire family just because he rejected her. see folks? that’s how you deal with rejection like a respectful man and not commit hate crimes.

✶ let’s not forget how considerate and respectful he was of billie’s wishes. he knew that he broke billie when he r@ped her two years ago, so now, in order to win her over and give her space, he tries very hard not to r@pe her and wait for her consent. my poor, sweet and caring boy. if your man ain’t like him, is he even worth it?

✶ the way caden was so protective of her. like when someone tried to r@pe billie and he saved her because only he has the right to do that. see? that’s a healthy man right there.

✶ also his possessiveness is sooo cute and not overbearing or dangerous at all. for instance, when billie playfully teased him to make him jealous, he remained rational and dragged her to a tattoo parlour to forcefully get her tattooed the words “owned by caden king” on her chest. and when she begged and cried to him to not do that, he threatened to strangle her to d3@th if she keeps fighting him. see? such a healthy and playful couple. nothing increases the love in a relationship other than few moments of possessiveness.

✶ and let’s not forget his acts of sacrifice. like the moment when he chose to walk away from her life because he realized that he was the @buser villain in her life. such a heartbreaking moment my god. or when he took the blame for her committing murd3r so that she can escape north shore and live the life she has always wanted. how fucking sweet. romeo and juliet 2.0 in the making.

✶ now let’s not forget the heartwarming reconciliation in the epilogue:

“Do you know what I was secretly hoping for? For you to have moved on.”
“Moved on?” I choke.
“Yeah. Just so I could convince you all over again. Just so I could @ssault your tight little body and remind it who it belongs to. Oh, little bee, I’m going to spend hours teaching you how to take me again. I will use and @buse you until you’re nothing but my little slut. All. Over. Again.”

REAL ROMANCE PEAKED HERE Y’ALL.

anyways, all in all, this was truly a magnificent read. i would definitely recommend it to my enemies because being the bigger person that i always am, i want them to experience this utterly stunning and masterpiece of a literature.

my lovely nancy's review

────୨ৎ────

┆ ⤿ 💌 ⌗ pre-read : ready to traumatize myself and curse out my entire existence with my bff Nancy

[Kiesha Morella · Rating 1 out of 5]

dear lord, may this love never find me.

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

❀ 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 ❀ Is the first full length dark romance book within the (North Shore Stories) series by Lola King. Spoken in 'dual perspectives' ❥ CADEN & BILLY ❥

This had been popping up all over my feeds, gave in and purchased and kind of read it in one seating.

There’s a hell of a lot to unpack in this book, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart, it’s dark, it’s gritty and it’s damn near decadent. In life I would dodge this guy like a bullet, but in books he's the type I run towards!! 🤷‍♀️

These two were like Romeo & Juliet, doomed from the start, gang life was installed in them from birth, both from opposing sides, to fall in love with the enemy was damn near suicidal.

He was the type of guy you don’t bring home to your family
She was the type of girl who followed her own rules.

A guy you didn’t want to meet down a dark alley
But when he becomes obsessed with her, he’ll go to great lengths to give her the world, he might even take the fall, and if you touch what’s his, lights out!

She was the forbidden fruit he just couldn’t get enough of. Her crew, his crew were sworn enemies.

You might think he’s the white knight in shining armour but don’t be fooled, straight away he shows his true dark side, taped and used as leverage down the track.

I wanted to hate him, but now and then you’d see a softer side trying to shine throughout his darkness. He became the stalker who saved her multiple times.

Email ಇ Twitter ಇ Instagram ಇ Blog ಇ Facebook ಇ Amazon 
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[becs ౨ৎ⋆.˚ (semi-ia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

lol don’t judge me please but i didn’t hate this? the prologue was crazy yes, however, i did read the content/trigger warnings so i knew what i was getting myself into. please take the warnings seriously because it’s not an understatement. the mmc is very much morally black and if that’s not your thing, i’d advise staying away from this series! there were many moments where i was frustrated with the characters, disgusted with some stuff that was going on here and there, feeling like everyone’s lost their damn mind but i still had fun 😭 i do think this book was a bit draining in the rivalry sense like ffs how many times do i have to read about one gang attacking another and then revenge being taken :’)

i have to say i’m so curious about natekay now. i already wanted to read them after reading about nathan in his siblings book and now…?? when did kayla give birth to twin girls ??? when the hell did she put nate behind bars 😭 how?? i have so many questions regarding their story and i really wanna get to their book just to find out everything!
i’m conflicted on how i feel towards xi because really ??? billie’s your stepsister 🫩 why would we even entertain the thought? he stepped back once she told him but still 😭 i’ll try to just forget about that and read his book because i tend to be a sucker for the bad boy good girl trope.

i may or may not decide to actually type a well thought out review for this and address how i felt towards the characters? we’ll see 🫠 also just wanted to add that if you hated this, that’s totally valid, and if you enjoyed it that’s also fine! reading is subjective and i just want to share my thoughts and opinions on my page 💓

———

please don’t disappoint me 😞 i went through enough with the stoneview stories and all i want is to read natekay + xi and alex + achilles and nyx 🫶🏽

[sasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading this book felt like self harm

[Kristie (read_between.the_wines) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is 100000% fucked up. and I loved it lmao

Bully/college/mafia-gang romance - rivals/romeo-juliet love

This was dark and twisted and so much fun.

Please note that there is HEAVY triggers of S A in this book between the main characters, as well as S A of main character (not by other main character) and attempted S A . Plus gore and violence

[Luna ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

»But see, I didn't. So you're safe, baby. As long as you don't tempt me to hurt you.«

★

❥ 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆
Didn‘t like her. She‘s just dumb and can‘t communicate with her family. She let Caden roll all over her and „fell in love“, girl, are you okay?

❥ 𝑪𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒏
He‘s a big asshole and walking red flag. He‘s possessive and over the top. PS: He‘s not hot, he‘s an abusive rapist.

✥ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌
I had high hopes but these weren‘t fulfilled.
The idea is interesting and could have been good but the implementation was bad.
Two gangs who are enemies, I get that. But why are they enemies? What‘s the sense of killing and fighting each other when you all live the same miserable life? Sometimes it just felt ridiculous. It was like two angry childs fight in kindergarten or strikes from teenagers who don‘t like each other. These „gangs“ were just funny.
Billie was a weak main character. I can‘t stand her. Yeah she does MMA and is a „bad girl“ but she‘s just a little kid who thought she can play with the big girls. Her decisions were dumb dumb dumb and I wonder how she‘s still alive? On top she betrays her family and is angry with them? Girl you fuck with the enemy so it‘s normal that your family is pissed. I must say that her family is dumb too because they can‘t accept their downfall and still think they can fight against the Kings (and don‘t see attacks coming from a mile away). It doesn‘t make sense that their gang ruled for so long and with one lost fight they‘re down on the ground. Shouldn‘t they have build a network or something in this time and have enough power to fight the Kings? No? Okay, dumb.
Caden is a bit better than Billie but overall he‘s just sexually assaulting her the whole time. I like over the top male characters but sexual assault is a No-Go for me. I was most of the time disgusted from Caden.
I think the author just tried to write a very dark romance but there are so many things that didn‘t make sense and were too much.
Interesting worldbuilding, dumb characters and a lot of sexual assault. Not a fan of this book.

And don‘t get me wrong I read a lot of dark/taboo books and enjoy them but I draw a line at sexual assault!

𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓
plot: 1/5
spice: 3/5
humor: 1/5
couple/tension: 2/5
world building: 3/5
happy end?: yes

𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
forced proximity, possessive and protective hero, dark, bully, rival gangs, enemies to lovers, betrayel

𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲
ages: 19 (Billle) and 19 (Caden)
cheating: no
sharing: no
kinks: dominance, sexual assault

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy shite.



Dark books have a fine line where an over-the-top plot sometimes ruins the entire story by not being credible. It was not the case here, in fact, it's been a while since I read a fucked up story so believable.

Beautiful Fiend is disturbing, it portrays a toxic and sick as fuck relationship between two rival gang members. Definitely not for all.

[Gry ☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

romanticizing abuse AND shitty writing
damn double homicide

dnf 43%

[alexleasins · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love questionable men

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s hard to begin with all the ways this book is not good. So, I’ll just focus on two things: the hero and heroine.

The plot is straightforward: they’re from rival gangs. He non conned her 2 years ago and recorded it on video. He uses that to blackmail her into being his delivery girl, running dangerous and illegal errands (since he can’t find anyone from his own gang who will agree to do that).

That’s not a bad set up. The plot had a lot of potential! But it crashed and burned.

Her character: She’s got to be one of the weakest heroines I've read. She's my least favorite type of heroine. She’s what I call the “strong doormat," where she's a surface-level "Strong Heroine" (and you can tell the author thought she was writing a "Strong Heroine,") but she's really a doormat. She's the worst kind of fake “tough girl” heroine, where she talks a big game about how tough she is, but then she keeps immediately caving to the hero. (I know I'm always bringing up Lavinia Lucia in the Dukes trilogy by Angel Lawson and Samantha Rue, but that's how to do a good "tough girl heroine" right. Not...whatever this book is doing).

It was hard to sympathize with this heroine, or understand her. Because, she starts giving in to the hero when he has done NOTHING to earn it. He’s still having her do these dangerous errands for him, which threatens her future (because she wants to become an MMA fighter and leave town. So, she can’t be caught doing anything illegal). It would make more sense if she started giving in to him once he stopped blackmailing her. But no, she starts melting for him when he’s still threatening her future. This makes her look weak. And, there's no narrative momentum to it. Their relationship kicks into gear just because...the plot needed that to happen. Not because the story put in the work to develop it, or make it feel natural.

Also, there’s a scene where he publicly humiliates her by making her crawl on the ground in front of a bunch of people. This could be a good way to make us pity this heroine, and root for her. But no, we learn that the reason he does this is because the heroine made one of his friends do the same thing a few years ago. So, the heroine sucks! It’s impossible to root for her if she’s the kind of girl who has made other people crawl on the ground for no reason! There’s also no real acknowledgement that she regrets that and has grown. It’s just mentioned as a “by the way, karma” thing, and then the story moves on from that.

There are other scenes where she gets beat up, but it's hard to sympathize with her there, too, because she willingly walks into an evil gangster's house. Nobody made her do that, she could have avoided it. She has 2 brain cells, and only uses 1 of them at any given moment. She constantly makes the worst choices that put her in danger. But I don't feel bad for her when bad stuff happens to her, because she walked right into it.

His character: I couldn’t take this hero seriously, because he’s supposedly the most hardcore tough unhinged gangster……but his aspiration in life is to become a math teacher. Seriously?

This book also couldn’t pick a lane, in terms of what kind of hero it wanted him to be. It tried to have him be the kind of hero who gleefully non cons the heroine, and he’s like “I don’t care if you give consent, I take what I want!” But then later, there’s a scene where he asks for consent and tries to respect her boundaries. Shortly after that, he’s once again like, “I take what I want!”

So, he gives whiplash. There’s no rhyme or reason to how sometimes he cares about consent, sometimes he doesn’t. This doesn’t make him seem tough or interesting, it makes the narrative seem weak and indecisive. Its approach to non con is totally incoherent. He's not like a Sam Mariano hero, where there's a consistency to their behavior and their own twisted logic to their non con actions.

There's a way to write a hero who's unrepentant about non conning his heroine, and still discusses consent with her, but his stance on it doesn't change (see: Sam Mariano books like Untouchable). There's also a way to write a hero who non cons the heroine, and has a character arc where he does stuff to prove himself to her, but still stays dark and doesn't change too much (see: Dukes of Ruin and that trilogy). There's also a way to write a hero who non cons the heroine, and their relationship gradually turns real without him ever really apologizing for his earlier behavior or changing much (see: Start a Fire, or Stolen and that series).

There are several ways to write a dark story where the hero non cons the heroine, and then it evolves into a real relationship! Plenty of other books do that well. It's poorly executed in this book. It makes both of them seem flimsy as characters and the whole thing seem sloppy.

[purlpur · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
нічого не можу з собою зробити, я готова ковтати усе, що пише лола 😮‍💨 поки що авторка мене не підводить. не дивлячись на тригери і теми, які вона підіймає, усі книги досить швидко та легко читаються, як для любителів дарків, так що я зовсім не помічаю їх обсягу.

історія кейда та біллі - це коктейль із токсичності, принижень та насилля, зі справжнім тропом від ворогів до закоханих 🌚
божевільного одержимого психа замовляли? тримайте кейдена! візьміть і розпишіться ✍️ чортяка спочатку розтрощить свою бджілку біллі агресивною поведінкою і не буде поспішати збирати її по шматочках назад. тому складно повірити в справжнє й здорове кохання, у яке зрештою перетікає вся ця історія. але я тут точно не за цим, тому закриваю очі і не пручаюсь 😅

уся ця ворожнеча та сутички банд, бійки на рингах і на вулицях - тестостерон 20-літніх в усій красі. і це саме те, що мені було потрібно після фентезі 🙂‍↔️
хіба що фінальний твіст виглядав радше як драма заради додаткової драми, хоча і до цього емоційних моментів уже вистачало. тому хотілось трохи інакшого завершення - менш квапливого й більш розгорнутого.

в цілому мені подобаються персонажі, історії та емоції, які викликає кожна книга лоли. тож веселощі продовжуються 😈

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile]

H sold himself into an orgy for money to help the h......and they say romance is dead 😒

[Bailee Latham · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Check TW’s!!!

Was this book dark? Yes. Did I still giggle and kick my feet? Yes.

Gang wars. Romeo and Juliet - ish story where they both belong to opposite sides of warring families. Our MMC, absolutely unhinged. Did I love him anyways? But, of course!!! Our FMC, aspiring MMA fighter. Did I love her? YES!

All in all, super fun dark romance!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. I am super conflicted with this one. I actually REALLY liked the ending but I struggled with Caden the entire damn time. I just did not like him 😭

I love dark romance and I feel like I've read some pretty unhinged male main characters but Caden takes the cake and I just could not vibe with his actions if I'm being honest.

BUT I am pretty intrigued with book 2 so I am 100% still going!!

dark romance
enemies to lovers
rivals (gangs)
bully romance
touch her & die
unhinged mmc
*check TW with this one

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐
This is a dark romance in all its glory, with triggers like dub-/non-con. But this book was exactly what I needed!
The MMC is a psychopath, and I actually liked that he stayed unhinged throughout the entire book. I couldn’t put it down and read it in a single day, but the ending felt rushed, and I really didn’t like one particular event Caden agreed to take part in at the end (iykyk).