The Sinners

With a Kiss Duet #1.5

by A.R. Rose

Ridgewood, California.

What a waste of potential.

I would have never guessed that this small city would become my solace, but here we are.

Trying not to think of the love of your life every moment of every day is incredibly difficult. Such a fool I had been to think she was ever truly mine.

Joining a motorcycle club hadn’t been something I’d ever thought I’d do, but when approached, I found it hard to say no.

And if there is one thing I have learned from The Sinners, it is that blood doesn’t make you family, loyalty does.

The Sinners a novella meant to bridge Sins of Sorrow with Marked By Cain (a standalone), and Sins of Bliss (book two of the With a Kiss Duet, releasing in June 2024). The Sinners cannot be read on its own, but does not need to be read for the duet to fall into place. It is simply more content for the readers who want a deeper dive into our main character, Sly Lucchetti.

Reader discretion is advised. The Sinners features mature themes and content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Please visit the author's website for a full list of content warnings.

Genres: Dark Romance

78 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 25, 2024

Reviews

[Mandy’s Spicy Book Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great bridge novella to give you more of bad boy Sly Lucchetti. He gets away to California and joins an MC and trying to put his past behind him. This was a perfect little snack as we wait next book.

[Megan Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novella I desperately needed!!!! When we first get a glimpse of Sly in Marked by Cain, he gives us a little information about his past. After reading Sins of Sorrow, this is the perfect book to bridge the gap of how he got to Ridgewood. I love that we get to see exactly where Sins of Sorrow drops to where Marked by Cain picks up. We get to revisit some of our favorite Sinners MC men and even get to see exactly how Rosie gets the bar and the in with the Sinners. Definitely a perfect read for anyone who hasn't jumped into the Ridgewood series, but also the perfect read for anyone wanting a little more Sly after Sins of Sorrow ends. AR has delivered once again and I can't wait to see where Sins of Bliss takes us!

[Lissereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was perfect! I needed to know what was up with Sly when he left! ☠️ Now I can’t wait to read the final book and see where their story goes! 🫠🫶🏼🔥❤️‍🔥

Love this glimpse of Sly when he left NY to heal his broken heart! Everything he did to try to forget her. Getting into the MC club and everything. This was a good novella to have an idea as to what happen while he was away!
Now on to book 2!!! I love this Romeo and Juliet retelling!

[Nanii’s Book Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: The Sinners (With a Kiss Duet Bridging Novella)
Author: A.R. Rose
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝑫𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵:
To all the readers whose hearts I shattered… Don’t worry. I’ll slowly repair it.

⇝ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐈𝐅 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ⇜

𝑭𝑨𝑽𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑬 𝑸𝑼𝑶𝑻𝑬:
“When you’ve reached the very bottom, the only place to go is up. But with the way my heart is feeling, I know I am lower than the bottom. I’m in the grave, and I’m going to bury my heart in it before I claw my way out of the darkness, and hopefully, never look back.”

My heart hurts for Sly, he doesn’t know what truly happened but the pain he’s in just hurts my heart. I hate him meeting Rosie, I said what I said lol. I get it he’s heartbroken and believes that Vinnie doesn’t love him and chose August over him but come on SLY, FIGHT FOR YOUR WOMAN! What I wasn’t expecting in this novella was a bonus chapter let alone a bonus chapter that belonged to Vinnie and what a heartbreaking chapter it was, what she had to go through because of a psycho who’s been pulling strings with her psycho ass brother. I cannot wait for Sins of Bliss and I hope August gets exactly what he deserves. If you’ve read Sins of Sorrow then I recommend reading this novella so you can see how Sly chose to deal with his heartbreak, if you haven’t read Sins of Sorrow then you will not understand this novella. You do not need to read this novella to understand the duet.

𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑪𝑳𝑨𝑰𝑴𝑬𝑹: As always, although this is an E-ARC, my thoughts are my own and this is my honest review. Thank you to A.R. Rose for the ARC opportunity.

[Krystal Montcrieff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super quick novella between the two books in the With a Kiss duet, mainly told in Sly's perspective. I thought The Sinners was interesting and the new characters introduced that are connecting the series to another of this author's was well done; as I wanted to continue reading and learn more about Cain, specifically.

But loooooord, if it didn't make me miss Sly and Vinnie!! I absolutely cannot wait for book two in this series and to see those two back together 😩😩

Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of this :)

[Rachelle Salmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading marked my Cain first then sins of sorrow, I loved that with this book you got to see the events that lead up to marked my Cain. I absolutely love sly and cannot wait to see what comes next.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good for the storyline.

Sly had alot of valid emotions from his perspective. I feel sorry for him.
Do I agree with some choices, no. But do I understand them, yes.

I'm so curious to see how things play out when they meet again. Oh my lord, I think people are about to die.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Stars
No spice (well there is an after-spice scene but not with who we want)

I want to thank A.R. Rose for blessing me with the ARC for her short novella The Sinners which takes place between Sin Of Sorrow and Sin of Bliss. It's a much-needed novella to hold me over till Sin Of Bliss drops.

The Sinners takes place after Sin Of Sorrow and how Sly our MMC in those books ends up in a biker gang in California. There are characters from Marked By Cain in this story. It doesn't need to be read to read this novella. I have yet to read it but after reading this, I want to read it now. I want to read Cain's story and his lady love and see how in-depth Sly was in the motorcycle club. I however do recommend reading Sin Of Sorrow to find out why Sly went to California.

Our poor Sly has left New York for California all because his heart has been shattered into pieces by Vinnie who he assumes isn't in love with him. To get her out of his mind he finds himself needing to leave New York and needing to find peace someplace else. Though he wants to change, his love for helping people doesn't seem to change.

We get a bonus chapter at the end of the novella which belongs to Vinnie and what happened the faithful night she was supposed to meet up with Sly. It was truly heartbreaking. However, I have faith that the two will find their way back to one another.

I can't wait till Sin Of Bliss comes out.

[Missi Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

🏍️ 🄱🄾🄾🄺 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆 🏍️
✍🏼: @authorarrose

“𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙥. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢. 𝙄’𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠.”

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘋𝘶𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦. 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘚𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥.

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 ’𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘯’ 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘚𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩-𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 ’𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸’. 𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 ‘𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸’𝘴’ 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

[Merrit Townsend (always1morebook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sinners is a novella meant to bridge Sins of Sorrow with Marked By Cain (a standalone), and Sins of Bliss (book two of the With a Kiss Duet, releasing in June 2024). The Sinners cannot be read on its own, but does not need to be read for the duet to fall into place. It is simply more content for the readers who want a deeper dive into our main character, Sly Lucchetti.

The end of book 1, Sins of Sorrow broke my heart and this continues where we left off. We find Sly reeling from the events that occurred and he flys off to California to get a way from his grief. He is invited to join a club as a prospect and this novella goes into what he went through during his time in the club. We meet some of the main players in Marked by Cain and this story gives you a bit more insight into what Sly is going through. I highly recommend this novella before reading book 2 in the Duet.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Sly novella? Don't have to ask me twice. Sign me up IMMEDIATELY. I love when authors do this to kind of close the gap between books and while we pretty much know how these characters intertwine, it makes it completely clear and evident. Showing the events that follow Sins of Sorrow and the build up to Marked by Cain. I loved getting more of Sly and I appreciated so much the continuation of the story after how devastated I was left at the end of Sins of Sorrow. Can't wait to see where this story continues to go in book 2 but it also made an immediate inkling to read Marked by Cain again. I miss Sly the second I'm done with him. 4.5/5 stars.

[Katlyn Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The max amount of stress from the fewest pages I've read in a long time.. I haven't read Marked by Cain yet, but I intend to ASAP. I loved Sins of Sorrow. The ending killed me because of the anticipation of waiting for book two. This novella made it 10 times worse, but in a good way. I need ALL of the details and answers. I hated that he didn't check his phone first, but I know it's a necessary detail for where his life was taking him. The bonus chapter broke my heart all over again. I look forward to seeing how he makes it out of his darkness and (hopefully) back into the life he deserves.

[SiSi ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short read that was much needed.
I loved it! It was nice to see how Sly joined the club and how he started with Rosie.
This was a good story to bridge that gap in between reads. I really liked Sly's character from the moment I read Marked By Cain, so when the duet was announced I was beyond excited to see how his story went before the club. I'm pretty excited for the next book because I want to know how it's all going to play out, I'm sure it'll be HEA but it's all the drama before it I want. 😁

[Pana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sinners by A.R. Rose

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With this being a novella and such a short read. It really gave me the teaser and little preview I need to get me geared up and ready for Sins of Bliss!

With Sins of Sorrow ending on the most cliffhangers of cliffhangers and creating such sadness, it was tragic to see how Sly tried to move on with his life, while in his eyes how Vinnie was “doing” with hers.

I appreciated that little epilogue of Vinnie’s side of how things ACTUALLY went down. The miscommunication did NOT miss in this little Novella!

Pages: 43

[Emily Johnston (Booked.Up.With.Emily) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how I didn’t make the connection that Sly was Rosie’s other than from Marked by Cain, but this bridging novella just made me even more excited for Sly’s story.

I LOVED Sly in Marked by Cain and he deserves all the happiness in the world.

In this novella, we get to see what happens with Sly after that cliffhanger that left us reeling in Sins of Sorrow!

I need the last part of the duet ASAP so that we can get Sly and Vinnie their HEA!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novella. A nice bridge between books. It allowed me to get to know Sly a little more. I really felt his anguish about Vinnie. He and her share a strong love. If anything, this novella did make me grow closer to Sly.

I need more on The Sinner's MC. The little bit that I got to know of them, I wanted more. Cain and his crew! The bonus chapter from Vinnie's POV, just made me that more excited to read the next book in the duet. I am ready for more of Sly and Vinnie.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sinners by A.R. Rose is a short bridge story leading to the conclusion of the Kiss Duet. This story primarily follows Sly and how he decides to deal with his torment and grief. He joins an MC, but still harbors his feelings for his lost love, Vinnie. It also shows us Vinnie’s situation on that fateful day….

Fantastic!!! Engrossing!! Makes you want to read more!!! Can’t get enough of these two!!

[Kari Tidwell (karisbookstodevour) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many changes coming to the With a Kiss Duet and The Sinner's is the perfect tease between Sin's of Sorrow and Sin's of Bliss! You get to see a little behind the scenes of how Sly went from East to West coast, what's he's been up to and where his hearts at. The peak at Vinnie's life is short and heartbreaking but with the way this novella ends and the introduction of an motorcycle club I'm even more excited for Sin's of Bliss!!

[Jacqueline Fromm · Rating 5 out of 5]

We learn where Sly leaves home to. It you have read Marked by Cain this ties up learning when and how Sly became a member. If you have not read it please do. Lol

We see how he meet the club and becomes a prospect, we learn how that things back at home are not how he thinks they are.

a quick read to tide us over for book two in the With a Kiss duet but it leaves you craving more. Can not wait to see where the story leads from here.

[Lauren Collier · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sinners is a great little side to watch Sly while you wait for book 2 to come out. This is a novella and a great one at that. Sly joins a MC not long after he fled to California to try and get away from the heartbreak of Vinnie not meeting him. But little does he know the truth of why she didn’t go. The Sinners isn’t a have to read between Sins of Sorrow and Sins of Bliss but it does give insight to what Sly was up to in California.

[Amanda Schumacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A flip of a coin decided where Sly was headed.. he didn’t care as long as it was away from Vinnie.. In Ridgewood, CA, Sly meets Nixon while getting tattoo work done.. Nixon ends up taking him to Andromeda to meet the President of Sinners Warlord.. a vigilante motorcycle club who works with Ridgewood PD.. Sly has now joined The Sinner’s.. so begins the journey we see in Marked By Cain

[Jonnica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this novella was needed with how the first book ended!!! We get to find out where Sly goes and what he is up to! He is still struggling and deeply in love with Vinnie. The way this novella ended though I need more and can't wait to read the next book to figure out what is in store for Sly and Vinnie! A.R Rose wrote an amazing story!!

[Victoria Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read of Sly who leaves his hometown to avoid the woman he loves who is now engaged to another man. He meets Nixon who introduces him The Sinners MC club. He tries to forget about Vinnie and the fact she is marrying someone else. Meanwhile we find out things are not what they seem. This was just a taste but a good start.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sins of Sorrow ended with me holding my breath and Sinners was a nice little delicious snack before we get to book two in the With a Kiss duet. I loved the glimpse we get of The Sinners MC and Cain. We see the turmoil Sly is dealing with and Sinners has left me drooling at the mouth and wanting more, I need Sins of Bliss like yesterday.

[Armanda Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved getting more Sly!! He moves to California after his girlfriend doesn’t show up so they could run away together. While in CA, he somehow ends up in a motorcycle club. I love that Sly is still trying to do good and make friends while healing. It’s recommended to read Marked by Cain after this novella and now I have to! I want know what he was up to in Ridgewood.

[catb.x0x0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read the other books that crossover with this novella but these few chapters in Sly’s point of view sure make me want to. The author builds up the angst for us going into the conclusion of the With a Kiss duet while simultaneously making readers add the Ridgewood series to their TBRs. I usually don’t read novellas, but this time it was worth it.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a coin toss we find out where Sly goes to heal his wounded heart. Here he finds himself and joins the Sinners from a chance meeting with Nixon while getting a tatt for his beloved. The novella is a quick read but we learn more about Sly's time in CA.

[P Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meanwhile

This novella that is a bridge after Sins of Sorrow tells us what's happening immediately after. Gives us a new scene drop and more characters. It's also bridge to The Ridgewood Series. With that being said it has me up in arms and ready to read Sins of Bliss. It's going to be epic!

[Tracey Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great novella between Sins of Sorrow and Sins of Bliss. I really like this quick read.  Really made the link with Marked by Cain.  Answered some questions that were lingering.  I am ready now for Sins Of Bliss. 💜💙

[K Webz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella bridges the gap perfectly between Sins of Sorrow and Marked By Cain. I loved how it filled so many gaps and gave insight to so many details. Mainly told in Sky’s POV, it dives deeper into his character.