Surrender: Coastal Elite, #4

bully_romance college_simpletown cringefest

lmao. you know you drove the words home when the author's rabid stans flag your review and it gets deleted. okay, a more politically correct version of my original review for special snowflakes ❄️❄️ enjoy xx:

me clowning sophie and silvan 🖤🫶🏻

my thoughts on sleeping beauty (which is a legitimate part of this book. i'm saying it out loud specifically for butthurt die-hard fangirls)

— aubrey is all of a sudden portrayed as someone who's extra miserable and trapped in her relationship with dare. which is a completely different vibe, a fucking u-turn some might call it from the original vibe this couple gives in eiih where aubrey genuinely seems to be head over heels with devilish dare. this bonus chapter gives ~~mental aberration~~ whiplash because my fav couple literally goes from toxic dysfunctional harmony in eiih that WORKS to straight-up abuse that DOESN'T work in a matter of ONE bonus CHAPTER of this book. is dare even the same nuanced, eerie anti-hero obsessed with his girl that we got to know in eiih? here he surely sounds more like a dollar store version of villain who doesn't care one bit about his girl, meanwhile our sweet and kind aubrey comes off as a miserable bitch stuck in an abusive relationship, ridden all of a sudden with jealousy and the secret desire to unleash dare's wrath on the ppl around her (hello, anae). this chapter reads as if the big chunk of the text about their relationship — such as them being unhappily married for at least 10 years already — was missing. i thought this bonus scene was supposed to give this couple and the readers who loved them a relative closure?? what the fuck is this monstrosity that yet AGAIN leaves us with more questions than answers???

— aubrey constantly describing herself as "hallow, sad, lonely, terrified" e.t.c. brings me to my next point: ~~shitty~~ LAZY WRITING. i'm so tired of this, so fed up with sam basically waffling about how much of a "talented chef" she is (💀) in her author's notes when she can't do the one thing she is being paid for: WRITE. she couldn't even bother to fix the hot garbage that is silvan's and sophie's story in this useless, money-grab edition of SOPHIE'S SURRENDER that everyone is only reading to catch up with dare × aubrey.

all of these extensive dialogues where a character would go on a long tedious rant on some topic, the descriptions that tell how the characters feel instead of showing it... someone seems to have let the notion of being a talented author go to their head. 😐

— but you know the craziest thing? aubrey appears to be genuinely in love with hannah and absolutely terrified of dare in this one. this is not even funny how i predicted that sam would take the lesbian route in my review for contempt. 🤡

the stark contrast between aubrey's emotions when she's with dare (sad, hallow, lonely, anxious) and her emotions when she interacts with hannah (happy, elated, flirtatious) couldn't be more obvious, it's like sam is rubbing the whole queer agenda in our faces.

aubrey twirling her fucking hair while she's talking to hannah — who's just a FRIEND (aha, sure thing), freaking out like a clown about the necessity to delete their message chain and even going as far as SCREENSHOTTING HANNAH'S MESSAGES AND SENDING THEM TO HER SECRET EMAIL ACCOUNT? what the fuck is this, a fucking romeo×juliette type of shit? fucking chill, you're not a shakespeare.

aubrey's clearly more into hannah than she's into dare, i can't believe sam's audacity to rant about readers who are making wild 'assumptions' about her characters, claim that no one is gonna come between dare × aubrey only to proceed to WRITE THIS.

to prove a point, here are some quotes where we can compare aubrey's reactions

to dare:

1) His firm hand on the back of my head makes me panic, so I pull back hard and
fall on my butt. I’m relieved he let me because if he’d have exerted even a slight reluctance to let me pull away, I would’ve been tempted to jump out of the moving vehicle.

2) My chest feels tight. I almost can’t breathe.
“Aubrey?”
“I’m fine, I just need a minute.”
Dare watches me struggle to get my shit together on the floor at his feet. Before I manage to completely recover, the car stops.

3) Even though I tell myself we’re just playing pretend, the danger feels real. My stomach rocks, and I squeeze the pillow tighter, my breaths coming shallower as dread shrinks my lungs.
And then he speaks and stops my fucking heart.
“Hello, Hannah.”
No!
I want to stop him. I don’t want to role-play anymore, but we don’t have a safe word. There’s no point. Dare would just ignore it if he felt like it.

4) Hasn’t he taken enough?
Before I can fully process the hollow feeling that thought gives, his bruising grip on me eases a bit.

5) I feel Dare looking at me.
I also feel tears welling up in my eyes, and while I don’t think it’s enough to fall, it probably is enough to notice.

6) To be honest, this is probably how Harley would look after years of loving her Joker. Sad, utterly unhinged, and maybe a little lost.
With all that’s happened tonight and the thoughts and feelings I’ve been having, it’s hard not to wonder if this is what my soul will look like after years of loving Dare.

7) This is worse than what I felt in the car. That was panic, but this is slow, inky dread with too many layers to fully process right now.

to hannah:

1) But I’ve never deleted my message chain with Hannah. I have every message we’ve ever exchanged, and I can’t bring myself to throw them all away because then I can’t read them anymore.

2) A crack in the numbness. I feel my lips curl up faintly.
I like the flutter of happiness, so I chase it like a little girl with a butterfly net.

3) I’m not ready to go back inside yet. I want more time with Hannah. I want to lie in a field of daisies with her and breathe the warm California air instead of this bitter cold Bostonian weather.

oh, and the cherry on the cake:

I regret forcing us both out of this imaginary fairy-tale land where Hannah can effortlessly sidestep Dare, and together, we can vanquish him.

just aubrey casually discussing killing off her boyfriend and feeling wistful, almost regretful that she and hannah won't be able to go through with dare's murder and get away with it. aubrey "loves" him. and hannah is a good person. they're just joking around is all.💀🤡

— i don't feel like dare is into hannah despite making aubrey role play as hannah (the only saving grace for me, otherwise i'd have literally ended up in a psych ward 🙏🏻). some things imply his interest in her, but against all odds definitely not the vibe i got in that role play sex scene. it appeared as if he was threatening and punishing aubrey for her disobedience. plus he uses the role play as an excuse to tell on hannah messaging him in the middle of the night and hint that hannah is a homewrecker and shitty friend in order to plant a seed of doubt/jealousy in aubrey.

— hannah is definitely into aubrey and definitely NOT into dare at this point which makes dare insecure little third wheel in their weird trio. it makes just about zero sense for a character (mastermind) like him. he basically forces hannah and aubrey grow even closer by reinforcing the 'forbidden fruit' aspect of their attraction with his controlling and cold behaviour. it would only make sense if entangling hannah had been his plan all along. but it contradicts what sam posted on her social media about 'dare and aubrey are endgame, dare will never share". which as it turns out has been a bold lie anyway so why not? maybe it's been his plan all along indeed

my thoughts on the note at the end of the book:

now it's absolutely impossible to discuss this book's contents without mentioning the author's note. IT IMPACTED A GREAT DEAL MY READING EXPERIENCE OF THIS AND THE PREVIOUS BOOKS OF THE SERIES and has a direct correlation to the contents of the book. it can't be helped really xx

— the writing in this book is so embarrassingly lazy and incoherent that it seems like the author couldn't help but

1) wax poetry about the readers' narrow-mindedness,
2) bend over backwards trying to justify her 'plot twists'

to make it seem like the problem is us, narrow-minded readers, and not her writing skills xx

this condescending note helps a great deal because it sheds some (vague) light on the author's confusing af storyline but at the same time its cryptic, vague and condescending properties made this book's reading experience even worse, which i didn't think was even possible at this point xx

there's a vast gap between a misunderstood heroine and a lying two-faced bitch that's too much of a pus to come clean and stop being unnecessarily cryptic about such a BASIC thing as the subgenre: mf, mff or ff.
lemme tell you this, guys: if the only intriguing thing about a person's upcoming series is who's gonna romance who and who's gonna fuck who, then maybe they should switch fucking careers because that's downright pathetic. just a passing thought 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

some quotes from this book i'd like to address:

No one is being forced to continue past all these warnings and notes where I’ve been completely transparent about my motivations and what you can expect.

hmmmm, no?? like... literally NO, she hasn't been. there's zero transparency, even here, in this book that was supposed to clear things up for us. we're forced to make our assumptions here AGAIN because someone is a little too scared to admit the truth and lose a part of her audience. 🤡🤷🏼‍♀️

also, even if we don't read hannah's books as it's suggested in the event we're not open-minded enough to 'trust' the author. how is us not reading hannah's books gonna make us feel any better about dare and aubrey not being a mf endgame couple, lmao? will it go away if we just close our eyes? 😐😐😐

Sure, I could have lied to you. Ended their story before it ever came up and let you imagine it went the way you hoped it would, but I can’t lie to them. The characters would be left to that less-than fate, and it would haunt me.

since when is lying to the 'characters' because they 'would be left to that less-than fate' a haunting experience but LYING TO REAL ASS PEOPLE isn't 'haunting' in the least? this phrase made me ponder about some people's priorities. i love it when porn books encourage me to discover philosophy of life xx

placating posts on the social media about dare and aubrey made a lot of us believe that dare×aubrey are endgame and dare would never share aubrey, and now according to this book we shouldn't read hannah's books if we don't want to see something we might not like because we have been FAIRLY WARNED. love the audacity 🤡🤡🤡

(un) fortunately, unlike the heroine of SURRENDER, we're not dumb. we can actually see when someone's trynna gaslight us xx

People don’t want to be challenged so they can grow. They don’t want to expand their views. Everyone wants to be comfortable. Everyone wants to know every ingredient before they open the book.

the entitlement made me hate this book even more. instead of focusing on being upfront and honest so that ppl don't waste their hard earned money and a limited free time getting invested in a mf couple only to later be labelled as narrow-minded for being rightfully upset that the said couple isn't endgame, there's a lot of shaming and labelling and assumptions.

i know some authors let it go to their heads that they can turn an atheist into a raging christian and vice versa with their genius writing and I'm so sorry to burst their bubble but respectfully, no. xx

also this:

People don’t want to be challenged so they can grow.

some people are writing smut but act as if they were writing the next brothers karamazov. it's not that deep. in fact, i'd go as far as say that SURRENDER and SLEEPING BEAUTY read like torture porn hehe :)

great meal prepared by a talented chef

silvan's and sophie's story is written by a talented chef lmao? 💀💀

But this is why I tend not to read content warnings. I want a great meal prepared by a talented chef who knows what she’s doing, not a cart full of uncooked groceries.)
I’m lucky I became a reader before content warnings, so I read all sorts of things that pushed me past my comfort zone and ended up enjoying things I wouldn’t have expected to. (I also encountered things that triggered me and worked to desensitize myself to them because I couldn’t tolerate being easily triggered.

this book seems to suggest the author's experience should be universal but the thing is no one has to purposefully read triggering content to get disensitized to it, that shit sounds pretty traumatizing and unnecessary. i've never once in my entire life has been triggered by a dark book and i've read dozens and hundreds of them. but that doesn't make me qualified to preach about other people's sensitivity because we all are different. i thought that was pretty obvious but —

There’s excitement past your comfort zone. I have many readers who will read things I write that they wouldn’t typically read because they’ve developed a trust with me. They know they’re into my writing style and my characters, that’s what they’re signing up for, not a trope list or a particular plotline.

and we've all gathered here to read sam mariano's books for comfort zone? sure thing 🤡
good gracious, the entitlement is real.

my takeaway for hannah's books based on contempt, surrender, sleeping beauty and the note's texts

i'm writing personal ASSUMPTIONS of mine again because no, sam is STILL not fully 'transparent' about dare/hannah/aubrey relationship.

i think it will be mff (dare/aubrey/hannah type of situation because of the hints dropped throughout sleeping beauty and the author's note:

1) aubrey: 'dare breaks my heart, and hannah mends it.
he traumatizes me, and she heals the damage'.

2) aubrey is into hannah and hannah is into aubrey

3) hannah is pansexual (it's finally revealed officially, i made an assumption that she was bisexual in my contempt review and bingo). she is claimed to love good people, she's attracted to them. she clearly flirts with aubrey commenting on her ass. aubrey is clearly all flustered while talking with her, no one talks to their friends like that. 😏

hannah is not into dare. in fact, bad buys aren't her type at all:

'she isn’t drawn to them. and not in the way dark romance heroines tend to resist their “heroes” in the beginning. in a different way. her disinterest is genuine'
'making her settle with some guy she legitimately isn’t interested in—because at this point in the story a few readers think that’s what they want—would not be happy ever after for anybody'

AT THIS POINT. see? which implies that there has to be a strong incentive for hannah to end up with a regular dark sam mariano hero (ahem, aubrey)

4) 'we are building up to a seriously dark romance. i have never written this storyline and this dynamic before, and if anyone else has, i haven’t seen it. It only works because these characters are who they are and have the history together that they have'

characters have the history together so it's clear dare and aubrey aren't gonna be left the fuck alone out of this mess

5) 'there are things I know about the characters that you don’t yet. they revealed themselves to me a long time ago, during Even if it Hurts, and I thought, “huh. what am i going to do about that?”

yet again the proof that fucking up dare and aubrey's relationship has been a plan all along and we've been lied to xx

i've heard there are speculations that aubrey and hannah are gonna kill off dare that's why sam implies it's dark romance like no other. well, i don't agree. it would fuck up hannah's and aubrey's arcs completely and turn a smart predator dare into a dumb prey dare and i can't see that happening for any logical reason other than shock value.

Melluvsbooks

1,570 reviews

February 13, 2024

This gets one star for that 80’s hairband, washed-up Axel Rose wannabe, cover. 🥴🫣 (Really?? 😵‍💫🤣🤣 what year is this? Are there college boys that look like this? Maybe it’s a Boston thing?? 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣) And also because Sam didn’t bother to fix the hot garbage writing from the first release of this book. And finally for the mess she’s made of Dare/Aubrey/Hannah. Aubrey doesn’t deserve to be made a 3rd wheel, ala Meg. Not interested in watching a formerly “obsessed” hero turn his sights to another more favored girl. And also not interested in the hero being sidelined for a romance between the girls. Thanks, but no thanks. Either way this plays out is not something I’m interested in. Very disappointed in Sam’s choices lately. Until the last couple books I’ve been down for all her crazy mind had to offer, but she’s gone off the rails. Not only have her plots gone the way of catering to the ticktok shock value crowd, she also lost her artistry. Her books now read like every other no talent instalove “dark romance” author. She’s left behind all the stuff that made her my #1 author, and doubled down on all the stuff that is the reason I DNF everyone else’s books. Such a shame.

(Edited to add) just in case anyone wants to accuse me of just being butt-hurt about the Dare/Hannah/Aubrey poly debacle… here is my original review of Sophie’s Surrender, when I was still hoping the horrifying crap writing was just a fluke and blaming it on a bad author pairing 👀🤡:

2.5 stars 😩😩😩😩😩

👀 I’m just gonna say it. 😬

This was not a good author pairing. It was all over the place.

It felt like when a parent is teaching their teen to drive, and the teen, while confusing the gas and brake pedals, and messing with the sound system, gets distracted and nearly side swipes a car or jumps a curve, and the parent reaches over and yanks the wheel back and they swerve a bit but then get back on course, but now everyone in the car is uneasy and annoyed…. And, in the end, just happy to finally get out of the dang car… I mean, it was successful in that someone navigated the vehicle back to the house without killing anyone… but it needs some work…

And it hurts my heart to say this because Sam Mariano is my unicorn author. I absolutely adore her writing and characters and brain. Adore. I compulsively measure all heros against Carter and Mateo and all heroines against Zoey and Mia. I wait and count down the days until her next release and reread her books like a junky. I am a rabid fan-girl. For real.

The beginning was not good. Straight up. The first 3 chapters were cringe. I would have stopped reading if Sam’s name wasn’t on the cover. It did start to smooth out around 25% but it still felt like every time we were getting somewhere, some oddity would be thrown in. A weird phrase, nickname, detail, contradiction that felt like it belonged in a different book. There’s a scene that feels so jumbled it weakens both MCs almost irretrievably. It makes the h seem like the biggest idiot (you went to his BEDROOM?????) and the H seem needy (“SAY YOU’RE MY GIRLFRIEND!” 👀🥴) and inept…

I will say that at about halfway I was feeling better about the narrative. I could see much more of Sam’s influence. And I liked the ending. But man, in comparison to the rest of Sam’s books, this one just doesn’t stack up. It feels weirdly watered down while also OTT crazy. We never really get to know either character. We never get any explanation for why the H was so crazy over the h. There were several plot points that are never resolved. And don’t get me started on the H’s parents. 🥴 They were giving MAJOR Mateo/Mia vibes, if Mia was a serial cheater and Mateo was a doormat cuckold…. It was BIZARRE. I think I was supposed to swoon?? But I was just left vaguely nauseous. But that’s only one of the many head scratchers in this book.

The hero had his moments but without any sort of relationship or character development or real reason for his obsession, it just felt very empty… he seemed to be led by his dick, which was forever hard 🙄… and we know that because we spent most of the book in his POV and it wasn’t a plus… This was a very unfortunate departure from Sam’s norm. How is it possible to spend SO MUCH time in a character’s head but know so little about him by the end? Why were we even in his POV if we weren’t going to understand him better? I’m not even sure he attended the h’s college. 🤡😬 How old is he? What does he look like beyond his ambiguous “Viking” facial hair? Where are his friends? If he’s so hot every random girl creams her panties when they see him, why are there no ex girlfriends? Did he just beam down from outer space one day? Does he have any interests or talents? What does he do on the weekends? Her heros typically have some layers and mystery and aren’t led around by their little downstairs brains … Without ever getting to know the H beyond that he sports a constant boner (he should probably see someone about that 👀)…I wasn’t as invested as I should have been. Why do I know so much about his genitalia but not what he’s majoring in, or if he is even a student? 🫠

Bottom Line? I like my Sam Mariano books straight up. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Don’t mess with a good thing. This pairing minimized the stuff I love about Sam’s books (well thought-out nuanced plots and characters with tension and details and and angst and suspense) and magnified the things I hate about other books in this genre (instalove, no tension or nuance, no character/relationship development, and too much telling and not enough showing) There was just enough of her signature style to keep me reading (Sam could make a grocery list compelling 💕) but this mash up was not great. There was some good banter at the end and a really hot jealous smex scene that felt very on-brand, that was a highlight for me, so it still managed to be more entertaining than many of the books I pick up, but sadly, overall, not her best work. ⭐️⭐️1/2

⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️

- no cheating or sharing
- no OW drama
- OM drama
- noncon and dubcon
- some lite somnophilia
- some lite bondage
- h is virgin
- H is not a virgin
- no condoms
- H switches h’s birth control out for vitamins

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

Medollga

778 reviews207 followers

February 12, 2024

It's not a coincidence this is the 666th book marked as "read" on my GR profile🤣💀

Little known fact about me: the more I get told one thing, persistently, the more my brain likes to rebel against it and do a complete 180. It gets to a point of illogical denial just for the sake of denying the "told" part. So fair warning, my review is highly subjective!🚩

REVIEW FOR 'SURRENDER'

Rating: 2,75 stars. *shocking gasp*

I know, I know.... the book was ridiculous and so unbelievably stupid. BUT! I saw all the bad reviews, all the critique, all the hilarious rants about how this book sucks and I was prepared...for a catastrophe maybe? I don't know what I expected exactly, but this was such a run of the mill "dArK romance" that I didn't have the heart to completely obliterate it. This was definitely worse that the height of Sam Mariano's writing career, but to be honest, I think she wrote herself out completely and we'll never get something as great as 'Untouchable' 🤷🏼‍♀️😬

I liked the gist of it, the tropes, the direction the book took, but I didn't really love the execution/ 🚩🙈 And that's a problem, because Sam used to be an author NOT relying on tropes, but rather her meticulous mindmanipulating execution of her work, which is completely absent in all her resent works....💀

I mean, yeah, Silvan is obsessed with Sophie. But why? We don't even get enough time to get to know Sophie as a character 'before' her anti-hero is in the picture, and are immediately thrown into the whirlwind of their relationship. 🙄 Also, usually she takes her time to hype up the hero and present him as this alpha, top dog kind of predator, but here...Silvan is some looser with long hair in a piece of fur INSIDE a house 🤮

Speaking of his hair. More specifically his hair on the cover... WHY is it shown on the cover at all? I don't want to be a bitch, but all the other covers of this series are cohesive and without the head. All other cover are done in the same style and go very well with each other, and then we have THIS🤡🤡🤡

Which brings me to my next point: 'SURRENDER' HAS NO BUSINESS BEING PART OF THIS SERIES!🔴🔴🔴 It should've been a standalone or maybe a start of it's own series, seeing as she wants to write about another couple that was at that Halloween party. But in no way, shape or form does this story has ANYTHING to do with Coastal Elite series or its characters. And no, turning Dare into Silvan's bellboy and making him do his bidding DOESN'T COUNT. This only made Dare seem pathetic and out of character🙈🤯😬🤮🤡

The heroine was pathetic and stupid to the point she made me blame HER for almost being assaulted. That's the level of stupidity we're talking here💀 You know the experiment with the frog and boiling water? That if you throw a frog in boiling water it will immediately jump out, but put it in cold water and start boiling...the frog will get too comfortable and the small discomfort will be avoided or ignored until it's to late and the frog's boiled alive? Sophie has worse instincts than a frog. She's put in boiling water and doesn't react or hopes she'll somehow find a way to persuade the other person to "turn off the water" 🤡🤷🏼‍♀️🚩

This book lacks finesse and is not convincing enough, but it was entertaining to rant about it. Plus somewhere between 60-85% mark it was evened out in quality and a bit better.
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REVIEW FOR 'SLEEPING BEAUTY' 🤬🤬🤬🤬

Rating:wanted to give 3, but giving 1 star *her insulting author's note made me do it*

Look....it doesn't come as a shock to me that she's breaking up Dare and Aubrey. This was almost a 100% guarantee in 'Contempt' already. Plus the reason behind it is not shocking at all, and after I've reread my review for Even if it Hurts, it was there from the start, only now it's more escalated and frankly fucked up to read.

Allow me to quote myself *feeling important all of the sudden*. This was part of my original review for EiiH:

"The whole situation with Hannah. Was she really just a friend or did she have a crush on the heroine? The epilogue confused me and made me question the main couple's relationship, their future together and even the heroine's sexuality, which are not things you want to see in the epilogue of a dark romance novel."

So yes, even after my first read of EiiH there were definitely "vibes" between Aubrey and Hannah. I didn't like it then, I hate it now, but it's there.

Another quote from the genius that is moi. This one is after my second read of EiiH:

"The relationship is twisted, toxic and scary tbh. Dare has all the power, all the leverage and could turn on Aubrey at any given moment. Plus Aubrey is too scared of Dare to actually appreciate his good qualities or to be intrigued by his bad ones. (...) Aubrey is too terrified of Dare to see that she also has power over him."

I distinctly remember from the first book that the more Aubrey was "stuck" with Dare in a relationship, the more often terrified of him she was. He was careful at first and after securely having her as his girlfriend, the dynamic between them changed and instead of being in love with him or impressed, Aubrey was more terrified. It was strange for me at that time, since there were no info on any other books in the series, so I presumed it was a HEA. Which was a shitty way to end their story given the abrupt and confusing AF epilogue....

Last quote from my old review, promise! *pinky swear* 😅💕

"The most confusing, suspicious and questionable character is Hannah 😂😅🤷🏼‍♀️. Was she into Aubrey? Because there are TON of lesbian vibes 🙌👩‍❤️‍👩💗💗 Was she into Dare? Because their "talk" at around 97% mark was giving me strong "she's secretly into him" energy 🧐😈 Was Dare into her? Because his "jokes" about threesomes and about Aubrey and Hannah both taking him on were...not funny, considering every other time he told a joke he was 100% serious🙄😬 Why did Hannah try to approach Aubrey on their prom night KNOWING the trouble it can cause with Dare? Why THAT night, even though she ignored her all the other times?"

My point about jokes always being true in the end still stands. It's sister wives all over again. Mateo joked about it enough times to made the idea grow into reality. Here, Dare joked about their threesome at prom. He has tattoos both representing Aubrey AND Hannah. He's plotting something. And I'm 100% sure here's what:

1. Hannah is attracted to "golden retriever" type of people, and Dare is a complete opposite, so she's not attracted to him. Yet. 🤣

2. She's pansexual. And for some reason is into Aubrey, although these feelings honestly came out of nowhere, but oh well...

3. Aubrey is attracted to Hannah. Whether she acknowledges it or if it's subconscious, remains to be seen, but there ARE strong emotions involved. Strong enough for Aubrey to risk it all for Hannah. And I think, for Hannah to risk it all for Aubrey.

4. Aubrey is terrified of Dare most times and miserable because of that and due to lack of friends. She has NO ONE in Boston, so OF COURSE she thinks about her only friend back home and tries to contact her, keeping this "friendship" alive. The fact that Dare "forbids" their communication, only fuels their desire to disobey him. That's a direct quote from Aubrey.

5. Another quote from her is that "he's incredibly smart and strategic. Why wouldn't he let her have this one thing?" Meaning friendship with Hannah. And the answer to that is because Dare has them both right where he wants them. If the friendship is "allowed", Aubrey is content with her boyfriend and Hannah has no reason to "save" her from him. If Dare were to give her the green light to make any other friends, Aubrey wouldn't feel so lonely and wouldn't need to rely so much on Hannah, a person Dare allegedly wants to get rid of so much. Also, if Hannah really posed any threat to Dare, he would find 1000 and 1 way to get rid of her without causing any suspicion from Aubrey. Or even if Aubrey were suspicious, she would never leave, if Dare didn't want her to.

6. No, Dare let's Aubrey have Hannah in her live. He could've find her in that dark alley right away, instead Aubrey and Hannah had enough time to have their eMoTiOnAl heart to heart, and even to joke about them BOTH being in relationship with Dare. And you know what happens with jokes in Sam Mariano's world. Plus, do YOU REALLY THINK that if Dare didn't want Aubrey to talk with Hannah he wouldn't block her, make a cloud page and communicate with her in Hannah's stead?

7. The name of this fucking novella, 'Sleeping Beauty'. Even in a novella supposedly about Dare and Aubrey, Hannah STILL plays first fiddle 🤬🤬🤬. She's like a cockroach, always there where not wanted and impossible to get rid of. Sure, when Dare and Aubrey "roleplayed" and he called her Hannah, it was more to scare her, but the last words? When Aubrey was drifting away unconscious and drugged? That was all for Dare and his fantasies of finally having Hannah, the Sleeping Beauty.

8. The amount of times Dare looked at Aubrey with a 'dispassionate gaze' or 'in a cold and unfeeling way is so telling. If Aubrey were his endgame, he wouldn't be so bored and calculating with her, when his mask slips. I mean...he's supposed to be obsessed with her, right? Obsession is always linked to passion, emotions, feelings. And Dare's almost clinical about Aubrey in this novella. He doles her enough warmth and feelings for her to be convinced she's into him.

9. But as Aubrey herself noted, when her "fog" lifts, she's not so sure she loves him at all. And this will be the reason she's made to bow out of this relationship. Aubrey and Dare will invite Hannah into their relationship. For Aubrey's sake, of course lol 😂 Hannah will do it because after late night calls with aubrey, where she's oh so unhappy and terrified, she'll want to save Aubrey in the only way available. Because Dare "won't ever let Aubrey" get away. So the only way Hannah can help Aubrey is to also be close to Dare. Their jokes about threesomes and triad relationship are not jokes anymore.

10. Suddenly Hannah, who wasn't attracted at all to Dare is in a relationship with him. And Aubrey? I mean....it's all done for Aubrey in the first place, right? 😂🤡 And Aubrey, whose fog "always lifts when Hannah's around" is not so in love with Dare anymore. It's so easy to imagine how Dare, having access to Hannah, will be able to change her brain chemistry and make her into him. And at that point, Aubrey will be let go, and the main couple of the whole series born, Dare and Hannah.

11. It's no secret Dare's the main guy of the series. And Hannah's the main girl. Plus they're put as complete opposites, one completely evil and the other completely good. And Hannah's the only one who sees through Dare's manipulation. This duality and complete opposites was presented the same way with Mateo and Mia, who ended up together. Not gonna lie, if Dare and Hannah end up together, it'll be more enjoyable for me than any FMF, MFF or FF variations of their triangle

BUT THE PROBLEM FOR ME IS HANNAH🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 I hate Hannah. And it's because the more everyone and their mother says how great she is, how pretty, how kind, how good and helpful and light and and and....I JUST WANT TO PUNCH HER IN HER FACE, YALL🤣 No one is that good ALL THE TIME, it's not normal and not believable. So unless Sam manages to make Hannah relatable by soiling her goody goody image, I'll have to continue to despise her.

This novella was predictable, because it was logical. I mean, it was obvious from the series alone that this is where this plot would go. Now, if I were to read Sam's Facebook posts and trust her on her ever changing ramblings and her superior lectures, I would've been confused and pissed off as a lot of readers are. Because Sam always changed her wording just enough to make everyone confused and pissed off 😬 But her author's note just takes the cake 🤬 She insulted everyone's intelligence by assuming people are 'close-minded' or 'set in their ways' if they're not happy with the way her books are turning out and I think it's highly unprofessional. Better go and edit this book that you CHARGED PEOPLE TWICE FOR!🤬🚩🤬🚩

Mojo_Mama

1,587 reviews829 followers

1-gr-had-meltdown-over-this author-behaving-badly author-egoes-themselves-into-book

Yeah…now I’m just insulted by the author’s note.

You have to have thick skin to enjoy SM’s books. To infer we are somehow too prudish or, dare I say normy, to “get her brilliance” is fucking ignorant.

Enjoy the fall from your dark throne, lady. It’s coming.

ORIGINAL:
I’m left wondering if this book was re-released under a different name to lose all the amazing reviews that floated to the top of all the reviews (which many were also 1 or 2 stars) OR it’s just a cash grab with the “Sleeping Beauty” extra to push the whole Aubrey/Dare/Hannah narrative angrily exploding all over social media from her fans (not stans).

TWO YEARS AGO
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

theFictionfreak

141 reviews25 followers

February 12, 2024

I gotta give it to Sam, this was a very smart cash grab because Silvan and Sophie’s story was just as mediocre as the first time. i could’ve slept with my eyes open reading their story.

Before everything please tell me where was the transparency because when I read “even if it hurts” there was no warning that it will become such a shitshow. There was no warning that this a fucking series where a stupid ass mediocre character called Hannah was the main character. So, please tell me where the hell was the transparency? If I had known this, I would never have read the first book or would have stopped there, pretending Dare-Aubrey had a happily ever after

Now for the main part, that role playing was fucking disgusting. I regret putting myself through this, I lost count of the amount of time,I gaged reading this crap. What the actual fuck do you think you are doing Sam? My dear friends, we have a very clear case of an unreliable author, who thinks she can play her readers however she wants. This bonus was supposed to clear up all the confusion. The only confusion it cleared up for me was that I’d never another book by Sam Mariano again.

And that author’s note. Trigger and content warnings are there for a reason, nobody gives a crap that you don’t like them. You more or less tricked readers into reading coastal elite for Aubrey-dare only turn it into an MFF situation. Which, if I had known when reading "Even if it Hurts," I would never have started that book. I don’t give a crap if you and your fangirls want to try new flavors without being spoiled. Not everyone appreciates being tricked into reading such bullshit just because you think they got too comfortable. Readers are allowed to have deal breakers and not being transparent about that, is a shit move.

Thanks for ruining one of my favorite couples. I can never look at dare-Aubrey the same again. If this was the plan from the beginning, the least sam could've done is be honest in EIIH that their story is not completed.

Also I won't be reading Hannah's book, not because she's not my "flavor," but because she's a mediocre, boring character who could die for all I care. I’d rather eat moldy bread and die than read another book about that stupid bitch. Also you are no genius Sam, you are nothing but an unreliable author who has no respect for her readers. You were once my favorite author but bye for good Sam Mariano, hope I never come across another one of your books.

so-bad-i-want-to-give-it-0-stars

Sonia

1,305 reviews2,077 followers

February 17, 2024

3.5 stars for Surrender, 1.5 stars for Sleeping Beauty

My toxic trait is continuing to read a series I know will probably not be for me 😐.

I have a full review on Surrender, previously named Sophie’s Surrender. You can find that here

And here’s my review for EIIH

The Cover: um… that isn’t the way I pictured Silvan 😬. Maybe it’s because I’m used to Sam’s Hs being calculated, clean cut, and precise; this cover gives me a different vibe, and not one I’m used to when to comes to OTT Hs…

What do I picture? At this point, I don’t even know anymore 🤣 but I just wasn’t picturing him that way. As I reread, I guess Silvan dressing as a Viking makes sense if his hair is naturally that long 😅.

Regardless of how I pictured him, I didn’t hate his story.

Now on to Sleeping Beauty…

My thoughts are all over the place.
Instead of feeling secure and happy we’d be getting a glance at how Aubrey and Dare are doing now that it’s been nearly 2 years since EIIH came out, I’m left with more questions and uncertainties.

Mainly, what the heck is going to happen to the couple I thought was getting their HFN from EIIH 😏???

Here’s the thing. I also felt like I was iffy for Aubrey when I finished EIIH, because she’s not willing to be with Dare. She’s kind of… “forced” to be with him 😅. And if you’ve ever read a Sam book, you know that the Hs don’t take no for an answer 🤷🏻‍♀️. But the heroines are strong in other aspects…

But dang.

This excerpt made me feel sorry and scared for her 😅

Like, I wanna tell her to blink twice if she needs help 😬. I know she’s not a child, but I wanna do a welfare check on her 🫣.

Normally, I find that there’s SOME happiness with the MCs when I finish a Sam book, or a LOT of happiness.

But here, I felt bereft. Empty.
No gushy feelings for a couple I’ve been waiting to see more of ☹️. No swoony moments like I normally feel when I read an epilogue or bonus scenes.

And now I don’t know what to think.

Hannah being pansexual and the author’s note made me question so many things 🥴.

At least we can put the Dare/Hannah thing to rest 😅. But at what cost?

How are we told to NOT continue the series if we’re strictly expecting an MF novel? And if we’re happy with the HEA we got for all the characters, namely Aubrey and Dare?

It’s like saying that ignorance is bliss (which it is) but we all know there’s more to all those stories out there.

Just because I didn’t see it happen doesn’t mean it didn’t…

Just because I don’t finish a story doesn’t mean there’s a different ending than the one I originally thought I was getting.

And that’s why I feel… disappointed 😏.

I’ll see how I feel once Hannah’s book comes out.

I guess Malek isn’t going to be her H then ha? Womp womp 😅. All the Contempt theories I had are out the window (and good thing it’s not the manhooooar Arden 😑; can’t believe Sam included that scene in Contempt. But since he won’t be her H, I’m not AS irritated as before 🤣).

I DID appreciate that we got a realistic episode of Aubrey’s anxiety when Dare takes out the leather glove…
And when he calls her Hannah 🫣🫣

And, as usual, the 🔥 is 🥵.

But… yeah… I feel lied to.

I was hoping people’s theories of this being like the Morelli series would be craaaaazy (I barely survived books 5 and 6), but now I realize they they weren’t that crazy after all

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating*/sharing*
-while no actual cheating has occurred, it almost seems like the h has other thoughts for someone else besides the H
-because we’re uncertain about all that^^ it could be that later on there’ll be sharing, but who knows
-mild owd: there’s an ow who’s hanging onto the H. The h is talking to a different ow and the H gets jealous 🤦🏻‍♀️😬
-mild omd: an om comes onto the h strongly and isn’t leaving her alone. The H comes and threatens the om 💅
-noncon ish/duncon ish
-mental health/anxiety attack
-HFN? Psshhh. Who knows now 😐

angsty billionaire breeding-forced-baby

Poorvi B

31 reviews11 followers

February 25, 2024

-5 stars for ruining Dare and Aubrey. Dare needs to kill that bitch Hannah. Not reading any of her books from now on.

non-con-dub-con

wolfiebella

130 reviews143 followers

Hannah is pansexual!! Plot Twist but not really

Irunia you called it girl. Your entire review for Even if it hurts and Contempt was spot on!!! 🤭😫

My fav psycho couple are going to be tampered with 😑🫨
Miss Mariano was like you guys thought I was going to leave them alone… hahahhahahaha you thought wrong!! I’m going to f*ck u guys up with Hannah’s book 🤡☠️

I’m scared for Hannah’s story because this means that everything we knew about Aubrey and Dare will go down the drain now that Hannah is the main character againnn and the MC always gets their HEA at the expense of other characters. 😐

Sam’s Authors note:😭😤

Author’s note
“I hope you’ve enjoyed Sophie and Silvan’s story, as well as your catch-up with Dare and Aubrey! The next story in the series is Hannah’s. If you prefer to go into books blind and don’t want to know any more about it at this stage, you can skip the rest of this note. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story! For anyone else: The next book in this series is Deception. That’s when the focus shifts to Hannah as a main character, and you will see more of Aubrey and Dare, too. In Even if it Hurts, they had a happily-for-now ending, and I mentioned readers would see them again in the series. Obviously, all the conflict in their relationship has not been settled yet, so that means their story isn’t over. As you may have gleaned from her conversation with Aubrey and the various other hints I’ve dropped throughout the Coastal Elite books, Hannah is not straight. She is pansexual. The gender of the person she loves doesn’t make a difference to her, it’s who they are inside and how they make her feel that she’s really attracted to. Hannah is comfortable in her own skin, so she doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. She’s also a very adaptable, open-minded person, so while she has some idea of what she’s looking for in a relationship (and she could fall for a guy or a girl), she is open to whatever feels right regardless of what the packaging looks like. Hannah has somewhat traditional tendencies and desires, but she’s not someone who’s rigidly set in her ways. If someone she loves needs her to bend, she can be flexible to accommodate them if she chooses to. But she also knows what she deserves and how she wants to feel in a relationship. If someone can’t give it to her, then she doesn’t want to be with them. No malice, no shade, they simply do not have what it takes to lure her into a relationship, so no thank you, but have a nice day. Hannah knows her worth and what she brings to the table, and at present, she has no reason to settle for anything less. She’s not desperate for a relationship, she’s simply open to one. She’s used to being alone, but dreams of a day when she doesn’t have to be. In theory, Hannah would be a very easy character to pair off with a variety of my guys because she’s captivating and lovely and loyal and just… precisely the sort of heroine my “heroes” are drawn to like catnip. But she isn’t drawn to them. And not in the way dark romance heroines tend to resist their “heroes” in the beginning. In a different way. Her disinterest is genuine. She is not attracted to them in any capacity. There is no chemistry there. Making her settle with some guy she legitimately isn’t interested in—because at this point in the story a few readers think that’s what they want—would not be happy ever after for anybody. (And I am certain that if I humored those readers and wrote that reality for them, they would see that for themselves and absolutely hate it. Because it’s not what is supposed to happen, and it’s not what would make the characters happiest.) I’m in the business of writing happily ever afters. Hopefully, after over thirty books, you know that. Hopefully by now, you also trust me to tell a good story. I know Hannah’s love story won’t be for everyone, that’s why I structured the series the way I have and put it at the end. If you don’t want to read it, that’s perfectly fine. You have a book for Dare and Aubrey that can be read as a standalone, you’ve read Gemma and Hayden’s story, Parker and Landon’s, and Sophie and Silvan’s. All the books written strictly for MF readers are finished in this series, so if you want to stop here, you can. But I also wanted to give you the opportunity to be curious. In our current romance book culture of safety bars about every little thing, content “warnings” about every single scrap of plot… it’s very easy to prejudge and turn away from things we may have liked if we got into the story first and came across it organically. It’s very easy to turn up your nose and say, “Nah, I won’t like that,” because there’s one ingredient in the recipe you haven’t tried before, or as a raw ingredient it doesn’t appeal to you. It may taste different once fully cooked, and you may be surprised to enjoy a new flavor if you have already had a little sample of it. (For example, I am not at all into blood play, yet when Dare smeared the blood on Aubrey’s lip after the not-quite-lovebite, I was there for it. If I open a book and see blood play listed before I’m invested, I’m much more likely to scrunch up my nose and be like, “Oh, maybe this one isn’t for me.” But this is why I tend not to read content warnings. I want a great meal prepared by a talented chef who knows what she’s doing, not a cart full of uncooked groceries.) I’m lucky I became a reader before content warnings, so I read all sorts of things that pushed me past my comfort zone and ended up enjoying things I wouldn’t have expected to. (I also encountered things that triggered me and worked to desensitize myself to them because I couldn’t tolerate being easily triggered. I was so successful in that endeavor, I have built a successful career writing about things that would have had a younger version of me rocking in a corner and struggling to breathe. Talk about battling your demons and emerging victorious. ;) When the fight was over, I didn’t leave them behind. I brought them back in collars, and I’ve held their leashes ever since.) But readers seldom have that opportunity anymore. People don’t want to be challenged so they can grow. They don’t want to expand their views. Everyone wants to be comfortable. Everyone wants to know every ingredient before they open the book. There’s excitement past your comfort zone. I have many readers who will read things I write that they wouldn’t typically read because they’ve developed a trust with me. They know they’re into my writing style and my characters, that’s what they’re signing up for, not a trope list or a particular plotline. I know that will never be the majority, and that’s okay, but with this series, I wanted to give all my readers a window to look in. The chance to form an impression and decide for themselves if they feel intrigued and want to read Hannah’s story, even if it isn’t precisely what they’re used to reading. Because we are building up to a seriously dark romance, but it will not be the dark romance you are accustomed to reading. I have never written this storyline and this dynamic before, and if anyone else has, I haven’t seen it. It only works because these characters are who they are and have the history together that they have. It’s a story tailored to these specific people that would not work for nearly anyone else. There are things I know about the characters that you don’t yet. They revealed themselves to me a long time ago, during Even if it Hurts, and I thought, “Huh. What am I going to do about that?” Sure, I could have lied to you. Ended their story before it ever came up and let you imagine it went the way you hoped it would, but I can’t lie to them. The characters would be left to that less-than fate, and it would haunt me. They would live happyish ever after because I didn’t have the guts to give them what they needed. I keep my old demons as pets, remember? I have guts. And luckily for the characters, I don’t write stories based on the market; I write stories based on what they want and need with the end goal of making them the happiest they can be (after I torture them a bit). I always have. If you don’t want to read Hannah’s story (and the rest of everyone else’s), that’s fine, but I’m still going to write it. It’s what the characters deserve, and I love it, and I know a lot of my readers will, too. I’ve already seen them bursting with excitement for the reading experience they know they’re about to get from me that they can’t find elsewhere. Because it’s stressful to take these risks as an author. Some people make it more stressful with their need to be hateful simply because I wrote a book that wasn’t for them. I have lots of different readers. I have never been a loyal servant of the safety crowd. When there are characters that call for a bolder story, I have to deliver that for myself as well as the readers who crave it. Otherwise, I get blocked up and struggle to create anything because I am bored. Not every book is for every person. No one is being forced to continue past all these warnings and notes where I’ve been completely transparent about my motivations and what you can expect, and I have plenty of other books you could read instead. If you feel intrigued and want Hannah’s story, perfect. I can’t wait to take you on this ride, and I’ll see you soon. If you don’t and you want to end the series here, you can. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. <3 There is a Coastal Elite spinoff book featuring another Blue Blood releasing next (Brutal Ambition) with a sweetheart heroine and a… well, Sam Mariano hero, lol. Like Sleeping Beauty, Brynn and Killian’s story started on the night of Silvan’s party, but there will be fewer glimpses of the Coastal Elite characters in their book since it’s a standalone and I want new readers to be able to enjoy it without spoilers in case they haven’t started this series. She isn’t Hannah, of course, but if you have a hankering for a Sam Mariano sweetheart and don’t want to delve into Hannah’s story, perhaps you’ll enjoy that one. I hope you’ve enjoyed the story so far, and I look forward to sharing the rest of it with you. <3 Until next time, Sam Mariano”

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

Lori Kays

448 reviews29 followers

May 18, 2024

I've just re-read surrender and then the sleeping beauty epilogue for the first time, so my star rating is based on the epilogue alone, not the whole story as I feel like my rating for that is reflected by my rating of Sophie's Surrender. I LOVE love Sam, I've read every book she's written under that pen name and released to the public, I don't think there's anything wrong with the writing in the book, but I'm so disappointed in how this series is going that I'm probably not going to read coastal elite any more. I feel like she's doing a complete about-face with her whole tag line of "sometimes the villain gets the girl" that is the WHOLE reason we read her, but I got physically more and more uncomfortable as I read Sleeping Beauty because it feels like there's this uncanny valley where the fantasy of a character like Dare is bumping too closely to the reality of what is healthy in real life, so it just feels awkward. Like she dragged me in and convinced me to like this bad guy, only to turn around and preach to me about how bad he is. You can't really have it both ways. The only scenario involving the 3 of them I'd enjoy is if Dare and Aubrey team up Anae style to unalived Hannah 😂 I don't see that happening, but a girl can dream. Not since Meg have I hated a character like I do "good girl who loves good people and has birds and flowers blooming around her everywhere she goes" Hannah. For me, Hannah is like nails on a chalk board, especially the way she is CONSTANTLY trying to break-up Dare and Aubrey, yet Aubrey is completely oblivious to the fact that Hannah is absolutely a threat to Dare! She literally suggested that they unalived him! She's always homing in on Aubrey and won't just leave her alone. Aside from the afore mentioned scenario of Dare unaliving Hannah , I can't imagine a scenario where this will end in any way I enjoy. Obviously, Sam owes us nothing and I'm sure it's a pain to try to write what your readers want all the time, however as a reader I feel like I'm allowed to pull a Padme and say " Sam, You're Breaking My Heart. You're Going Down A Path I Can't Follow." *Cue melodramatic crying* 😂😂😂 I'm probably just going to wait til the whole series comes out, find spoilers to see where it goes and decide then. Hopefully she has other projects in the works that I can focus on instead!

Edit: I'm starting to wonder if it's going to be some weird sort of ménage where Dare and Hannah hate each other, but share Aubrey somehow? Why does she not get how ridiculous it sounds to tell us you're going to "try" something brand new to you that you've never seen done and only works because YOU think the characters will allow it. Dude, it's gonna be a clusterfuck 🤦🏼‍♀️ I was willing to agree to disagree about the direction Aubrey/Dare/Hannah was going to go, but that authors note was a pretentious slap I'm the face that made me unfollow her on all social media. I don't know if there's any way she can win. If she does what we think she's going to it's gonna suck and if she doesn't and leaves Aubrey and Dare alone and intact it's going to be infuriating that she dragged us through all this without telling us WTF is going on.

Hanona Sun

2 reviews

İ really wish authors stop the guessing game with who is gonna be with who or what's the trope of the book until it's release date..as a reader İ know my taste and what İ want to read İ am not interested in mfm or mff or any menage books but there are a lot of people who want to read them and would have jump the opportunity to do so not make us read three books only to be told that dare and aub are not end game couple and they may end up with Hannah and that we should be open minded İ don't want to be open minded thank you very much

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

↬ Ⓛ

378 reviews705 followers

Read

February 18, 2024

edit: this dude on the book cover belongs in the tv show vikings tho, its giving.

While everyone is tripping about dare, aubrey, and hannah. Yall ain’t finna trip about this hideous rapunzel male model cover?! 💀💀 Like cmon, dat hair is uglayyyy af even the og cover was way better than this. If I was to have the book in real life, I would really have my scissors & cut the front cover like I’m cutting his hair right there just to help him out. It’s bittersweet how it’s suppose to be about silvan + sophie, but nah their spotlight got stolen from the trio. 😂😂

Danny Lea

758 reviews12 followers

Read

Zero stars. Borrowed from KU just to read the epilogue, and yeah I'm irritated. I was going back and forth with myself to see if I should even read Contempt. And I did. Big mistake. Should have just walked away. But this cluster fuck? Excuse my language. Absolutely not. What is Sam thinking? I honestly wish I never read EIIH now. Or better yet. How about authors give us some kind of warning like, "look don't get too invested in this couple, because I'm either going to break them up, or kill one of them off." I'm thinking of an MC series I had to stop because the FMC is killed in a later book. No warning of course 🤬. Just no. I read for HEA's period. Even if it takes a while to get there. I will ride that wave of heartache because the ending is that much sweeter. But I think we all know where this is going with this story. Sam has made me loath Hannah so much that I could give two shit's if she kicked the bucket. And I've never felt this way about a fictional character before 🙈. I can only say that Sam obviously wrote this for a small select few, and has majorly pissed off the majority of us. Last, but not least. I loath MMF and FFM. I'm sorry. Authors never do it well, and I've read a fair few of this genre and was disappointed every time. You better believe Aubrey will be an afterthought in that trainwreck. Whew! Think this is my longest rant ever, but I'm pretty sure I'm completely done with Sam Mariano. I skimmed this particular book and to be honest it wasn't the best 🤷.

Sorry if I've offended anyone with this review. It wasn't my intention, but it just had to be said.

One thing I forgot to add was Sam basically saying her reader's were narrow minded in her author's note. And basically saying how other authors play it safe with their HEAs. Oh, and she's not like the other girls (authors). Anyone else rolling their eyes? Like most of us aren't veteran readers and have read everything including MM, MMF, FFM, why choose, dark psychotic shit. Do I need to go on? I don't give a shit that Hannah is pansexual. No one cares about that. Sam's completely missed the point and the mark with her author's note

Thing's keep coming to me as I write this... Sam mentioned not having content warnings when she first started reading this genre. I get it. I'm over 40. There were no content warnings when I started reading as well, but let me tell you having them now saves me time and money. And I'm not one to shy away from drama or complete train wrecks. I live for that 🙈😂. At the same time I understand everyone's frustration with Sam not wanting to use them.

Ok I'm ending this here and forgetting that Dare and Aubrey ever existed 😂

Jenn (The Book Refuge)

2,669 reviews4,495 followers

February 16, 2024

Okay, dive into this for "Sleeping Beauty" as I have already read Sophie's Surrender.

I was hoping the authors Note at the end would be a little more direct about who Hannah's love interest was going to be.

As Sam previously stated that after this bonus content, we would know if we'll want to continue.

But I guess the note is just saying it might not/won't be an MF pairing, and that might scare people off? Maybe it will, but I already had a hunch that Hannah could swing any way that felt right. 🤷‍♀️ So I'm in either way.

Oh well, back to speculating until more details come around. But my money is still on it being Anae. I know it sounds nuts, but... I don't know, I have a feeling.

I'm not married to it by any means.. it is just something that popped into my head when reading Contempt, and nothing has actually changed my mind. So.... we shall see.

I just don't think she'd be warning MF readers away if it wasn't gonna be Sapphic. What would be the need? And I don't think it's an MFF with Dare & Aubrey because Sam has said Dare would never share..

However, I wouldn't rule out an MFF with unknown characters. Honestly... I got nothing.. other than my Anae guess. I look forward to Sam's hints and teasing.

The next book won't be Deception, but a spin-off standalone, so who knows how long we'll be kept in suspense? 🤪😄

Anyway, I just had to write down my rambles and possibly leave a record in case I'm correct!
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P.S. or maybe Hannah and Aubrey kill Dare and live Happily ever after. I know Aubrey said she loves him and can't help herself.. but if he pushes her to far... maybe we find a way to end him?

I honestly wouldn't be sad. I dislike him so much. And Sam does say this goes "darker" than anything she's written.. and ruining one HFN to give Aubrey someone who truly would love her... I could get behind it.

I don't know. SM has me wandering in circles but that's all my feelings and thoughts laid bare.
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update: The chaos Sleeping Beauty has unraveled has me cackling. haha! People take this fictional world SO seriously. I do that too. Absolutely.. but wishing hate on an author, praying they "go bankrupt" and foaming at the mouth...

just chill, Jan. You don't have to keep reading but you also don't have to be so damn aggressive.

Although, I do think it is fascinating, the feelings Sam's book incite. I cannot WAIT to see where this series goes. Whether I agree with it or not.. It's gonna be a TRIP!

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

read-2024

Rossy

300 reviews20 followers

Read

February 10, 2024

I am not rating it as I've already rated it on the original release and don't have it in me to rewrite..

The sleeping beauty excerpt.. well let's say I want to erase it from my mind due to where it puts characters at. And I wish Hannah chokes on her muffins. (And y'all I read menage and reverse harem and poly-romances, so it's not me "being closed minded with inability to grow" /s).

But, that note at the end was so condescending, I am disappointed.

Arianna 💞 أريانا

116 reviews2 followers

I loveeeeed Sophie and Silvans story read this a while ago
Now on sleeping beauty bonus. Made my blood boil
I’m just as confused if not more than before I even started
Hannah stupid f**king b*tch Hannah. Why can’t she just get killed off. I know I know this is only words written on paper but i hate her !!!
I felt like Dare had no feelings for her even during a role play thingy mijiggy but Aubrey seems to have some sort of chemistry with Hannah which makes me think hmmm maybe it’s swaying THAT WAY !!!!!!
Arghhhhhh I’m so frustrated. I hate it.
So Hannah is f**king pansexual

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

Clarice

552 reviews134 followers

dnf

Most likely just reading the epilogue with Dare and Hannah. I wasn’t impressed with this the first go around when it was released as Sophie’s Surrender and I haven’t heard that Sam did any updates to it. Unless someone knows that it’s significantly better than SS in terms of quality of writing, I won’t be reading it again.

Update:

The writing was not edited or updated since Sophie’s Surrender’s release last year. The epilogue was confusing 🫤. I’ll read Deception (Hannah’s book) out of morbid curiosity, but I think another reviewer said it best that there isn’t enough ground work laid for this next book to be an MFF. However, Sam wouldn’t mention that Hannah is pan sexual and that her books won’t be MF to not have her be in a queer relationship. So not sure if that means MFF or FF. To me it makes more sense for it to be FF, but that’s just pure speculation on my part.

I’m doubley confused bc Sam mentions that Hannah’s story will be a dark romance. Unless Aubrey’s character makes a 180 and becomes dark then this next book has to be MFF.

GimmeAllTheWerdssss

597 reviews255 followers

abandon-dnf

asshole-hero authors-behaving-badly bang-head-on-desk-stupid

OW drama because “Sleeping Beauty” makes it clear that Hannah and Aubrey are in love (contrary to what Sam says…). SM has gone off the rails with gaslighting and her holier than though attitude towards any form of criticism.

This review - which was deleted once already - sums it all up completely

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mysti

2,006 reviews277 followers

June 13, 2025

UPDATE: What's another word for "insane, sexy psycho"? Duh- it's Silvan Koch. Absolutely fucking LOVED this one. PS. It's even better the third time around. Serious trigger warnings below.

Fuck, she is beautiful. And mine. So fucking mine. Whether she likes it or not.

Sophie Bradwell is attending her first college party, begrudgingly. She's not a fan of crowds, or even people, so she's way out of her comfort zone at this Halloween party. Unfortunately for her, she's caught the attention of the party's host. Silvan Koch is so rich that he never has to accept the word "no". If he wants something, he'll take it.... just like the rest of the men in his family have done. As soon as Silvan sees virginal little Sophie, he decides she's his. He manipulates her until she's trapped in his house with no way to escape - where he forces his desires on her. When his lips make contact with Sophie, he knows that once will never be enough.

I don’t just want a taste of Sophie; I want the smorgasbord. I want her on the menu every fucking night. I want her in my bed, in my life, and while I can force myself on her for a time, eventually, she has to accept me, or she’ll end up my prisoner.

Silvan's version of "courtship" happens, they have A LOT of hot sex, she succumbs to Stockholm Syndrome, and they end with a HEA.

Her eyes widen. "I am not yours."
My lips curve up. "I’m afraid we disagree on that point."

I loved this so much and laughed so much.

SEX: O.M.G. this is one of the hottest books for me. Every sex scene with them is perfect. I never once felt unsatisfied. Oh - Silvan has a dirty, dirty mouth. DIRTY!!!

SILVAN: As insane as Silvan is - I don't consider this "dark". Yes, he is kidnapping her, but he's not mean. He wants to pamper and dote on her, not hurt her. He's constantly kissing and caressing her. It's really sweet! If you're going to be kidnapped, why shouldn't it be by a sexy billionaire who is hung like a bull and only wants to pamper you and worship the ground you walk on?? I don't see what the problem is. Silvan is in my top 5 MMC category. LOVE HIM.

SOPHIE: Sophie isn't my favorite, but I've def read worse. She fights him a lot and is super insecure. She does something that REALLY made me dislike her, but Silvan forgave her so there's that.

LAUGHS: OMG I laughed so much in this book. There were so many good lines. I highlighted half the book. Silvan just has no boundaries. The entire argument about eating veal was freaking hilarious. I nearly died from laughing.

TRIGGERS: there's 100% noncon, a tiny bit of somno, forced pregnancy, spying, controlling, stalking, jealousy, kidnapping, murder-ish stuff, and probably something I'm forgetting.

AUDIO: I read the book twice and then bought the audio, which is a duet. Allie Shae is Sophie and though her voice isn't bad, Sophie has a lot of whining for her part so that can be annoying. Theo Sinclair narrates for Silvan and though I'm not 100% convinced he's the right voice for Silvan, he's not bad. His sex voice is definitely hot. That said - I recommend READING instead of the audio. Everything was so much better reading it.

The relationship between Silvan's parents is interesting and I really would love to get their origin story. Love his crazy ass dad. Plus,

FYI: You should know that this is a complete standalone. You don't have to read any of the other books to enjoy this. Dare & Aubrey (Book 1) do make an appearance, but you don't need to read their book to understand their role in this one.

This is definitely added to my favorites.

I’m his prized possession, the thing he’ll defend at all costs. Kill for if he must.

Sophie’s my queen, and she can order as many heads chopped off as she pleases.

annoying-dumb-female billionaire college-or-hs

farz

4 reviews2 followers

I wish I could rate it 1 a million times just for the Sleeping Beauty epilogue.
Is Sam Mariano losing her edge? Absolutely!
The moment she had to come off in the author’s note and announce that she is not like the other authors it meant she is exactly like the other authors.
If what happened in sleeping beauty was her plan all along then she had to give us warnings so we wouldn’t start the series if we didn’t want to.
People read HEA romance for a reason. To escape for a few hours to a happy world where fantasies come true. Some of us pick up books from authors because we have some kind of trust in them based on their previous works and we trust that they will not take us where we are not comfortable.
Honestly if I knew what I know now I would have never touched EIIH.
For her to say in her Author’s note that readers don’t want to leave their comfort zone, is not nice. It’s not about being uncomfortable or closed minded it’s about escaping somewhere we like for a few hours.
She writes smutty HEA romance books for god’s sake not some historical epic that will be remembered in the history of humanity.
Forgive me for mistakes in my English. I am not a native speaker and I learned the language by myself.

Sue

603 reviews116 followers

After being promised one thing by the author herself in her personal group but given something else entirely I’m so glad I waited for spoilers. This series would have been a complete waste of my time.

Books Over People

256 reviews10 followers

April 16, 2024

This will be the LAST book I read from Sam Mariano. Each book in this series is worse than the last. There was no plot and the spice was mediocre (just like the last one.) Sophie is a mixture of naïve and very dumb. First of all, who gets a note from their professor to meet them at there house, and then has this internal monologue of not thinking this is a good idea, but im gonna go anyway. THEN gets a follow up note that says "meet me in my bedroom, and you still are trying to convince yourself that he has stand up intentions?? I should have DNF'd the book then. Then we get a whole page on her being fascinated by a mysterious pen. Like who cares! It's a pen. Move on! None of this book made sense. I get Dub CON but this was straight up NON CON. What really gave me the ick was the playing dumb with the birth control. How many times are you gonna write that "she forgot." This was just a weird ass book with no plot and sex scenes. It should have been a novella. Even then I probably wouldn't read it. She's ruining Dare and Aubrey to make room for Hannah and im not sure why? Why can't Hannah have her own story with her own new love interest? I'm so angry and very disappointed. Like write whatever you want as an author, just don't be surprised when your fan base shrinks.

Ale

84 reviews

February 10, 2024

So the author's note... Yeah... that happened... What can I say? Fuck you, I guess.

It's not ok to insult an author for the choices made in a story, it's actually pure idiocy. The author has to have the freedom to write whatever she wants.
Just like readers have a right to choose what they want to read. For this reason it's also not ok to insult the readers, and it's excusable to reply in kind.

How the heck a moderately intelligent person can think that's a good idea to tell her readers that she'll help us better ourself and open to new things it's just beyond me.

I have limited time and limited money to spend on books, and it pisses me off tremendously to have wasted either or (anathema!) both for something I could have avoided had the author been honest from the start.

If it wasn't for sleezy authors like her I wouldn't have to spend precious time looking for spoilers because you cannot trust synopsis, or wait for a series to be finished before starting it in fear that down the line the author will go back and ruin the story previously written.

Be honest and be consistent. It's not too much to ask is it?

So yeah, you could say I am very displeased by Sam Mariano's patronizing and insulting attitude.

Dior 💋

60 reviews1 follower

It seems that Mariano is now focusing on catering to the tiktok Audience then writing good books. The whole ‘poly’ ‘MFF’ thing is so obviously forced. Ruining her two best characters ( Dare & Aubrey) for a boring character like Hannah is just not worth it to me.

So so incredibly unfair to not put a warning in EIIH that this series was heading towards a poly romance. Even now she is not being transparent about where the book is heading. A very unreliable author. The roleplaying scene made me physically sick, it was very unfair on Aubrey.

It did not make sense to me that now suddenly Aubrey needs Hannah because Aubrey is very independent in EIIH she was able to deal with financial problems, Academics, work and a sick mother. But now Mariano is taking away one of her best qualities so Hannah can get in the picture.

This is the end of this series for me. I’m just going to pretend like this never happened lol.

𖤐

29 reviews1 follower

i refuse to read hannahs book🤚my heart is broken to know that aubrey and dare have been completely ruined💔 i won’t be reading this series further to save myself the genuine mental stress (not the fun type) it gives me. it’s such a shame because i actually love Sam’s books sm. i will never read a MFF book, not because i’m sensitive👀 (i have no triggers), but because i will not tolerate the H with TWO girls, especially after he’s already had a MF book. adding another woman to aubrey and dare is unacceptable sorry🤷‍♀️

Emiliya Bozhilova

1,916 reviews381 followers

Good. Game over. I really hate authors with the attitude “I am great, you are fools and don’t understand me” and with sense for self gratification (“I am always right, you are narrow minded losers”). Especially in the HEA genre.

trash

Francine

122 reviews

March 30, 2024

I can't believe sam never published another book after EEIH 😔

Holita Romance Books

27 reviews

Not worth your money. This story shows how easy an author can ruin her other books and make readers fall out of love with her main characters. Very DISAPPOINTED.

Jasmine

338 reviews

Read

Let’s not mince words. I came here for Aubrey & Dare.

That authors note after Sleep Beauty makes me think we’re getting a Mia/Meg/Mateo situation and .. I am less than thrilled about that.

Mas

251 reviews1 follower

Read