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Those Who Favor Fire #2
What I've Tasted of Desire
My dearest Alex,
Did you think that it was over? That, when the fire came, all your deepest nightmares came to a head and blew away like smoke on the breeze? Think again, lover.
Remember that I know you like nobody else knows you. I see you in a way that you can’t even see yourself. I am your shadow on the street; I’m the stray light that catches your eye when you turn your head just-so under the glare of the morning sunlight. I’m with you when you eat, sleep, bathe, laugh, or cry. (You need to stop crying, Alex. I’m going to change all that; don’t you worry.)
I wish you could envision the life we’re going to have together. Where I’m taking you, there will be no more city filth or soul-sucking intruders in our love story. You don’t need any of them, my beautiful boy. You don’t need family or friends. Especially not Tom — you definitely don’t need him.
This time around, Alex, I am telling my story. I won’t be misunderstood any longer. If they all understand the pureness of my love and what I was willing to do to make you mine, maybe they would stop vilifying me. I’m not the bad guy, after all. I may have killed, but who wouldn’t end a life to build the life of their dreams with the most perfect angel that God ever created? I may have committed unspeakable violations, but every heinous act I did was to get closer to you. To keep you safe. I would do anything for you. Lie, steal, cheat … I would die a thousand deaths to see you smile.
After all, what’s love without a little pain?
Eternally yours,
X
What I've Tasted of Desire is a terrifying companion novel to Those Who Favor Fire. Readers should take note of graphic and heinous content and are encouraged to read the full list of trigger warnings in the book's forward. This title is intended for readers 18 years and older. Reader discretion is advised.
Did you think that it was over? That, when the fire came, all your deepest nightmares came to a head and blew away like smoke on the breeze? Think again, lover.
Remember that I know you like nobody else knows you. I see you in a way that you can’t even see yourself. I am your shadow on the street; I’m the stray light that catches your eye when you turn your head just-so under the glare of the morning sunlight. I’m with you when you eat, sleep, bathe, laugh, or cry. (You need to stop crying, Alex. I’m going to change all that; don’t you worry.)
I wish you could envision the life we’re going to have together. Where I’m taking you, there will be no more city filth or soul-sucking intruders in our love story. You don’t need any of them, my beautiful boy. You don’t need family or friends. Especially not Tom — you definitely don’t need him.
This time around, Alex, I am telling my story. I won’t be misunderstood any longer. If they all understand the pureness of my love and what I was willing to do to make you mine, maybe they would stop vilifying me. I’m not the bad guy, after all. I may have killed, but who wouldn’t end a life to build the life of their dreams with the most perfect angel that God ever created? I may have committed unspeakable violations, but every heinous act I did was to get closer to you. To keep you safe. I would do anything for you. Lie, steal, cheat … I would die a thousand deaths to see you smile.
After all, what’s love without a little pain?
Eternally yours,
X
What I've Tasted of Desire is a terrifying companion novel to Those Who Favor Fire. Readers should take note of graphic and heinous content and are encouraged to read the full list of trigger warnings in the book's forward. This title is intended for readers 18 years and older. Reader discretion is advised.
- GenresM M RomanceDark
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 17, 2025
GOOD FUCKING BOOK. EXCELLENT BOOK. I LOVED IT. HOWEVER THAT ENDING WAS FUCKING RUDE.
May 17, 2025
2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Really sad to say this was a disappointment, part of that being my different expectations and due to the actual execution of the book. I can't deny it was entertaining for some scenes, especially the ones near the end, so I'll highlight what worked for me and what didn't.
So this is actually a companion to the first book, not really a sequel. Since the number appears as book 2, I was waiting for a sequel but it isn't that, except for the epilogue. This book tells the same story and events from book 1, except this time told by the other MC. I understand it was trying to do, but this felt like a filler until the real sequel, which will be coming in 2026 according to the author notes.
To give an idea, I'll give a peek of what this book is about without spoilers. The plot presents flashbacks from Gabe's life during the time he started getting interested in Alex. Alex is a timid guy that has someone stalking him but finds comfort in Gabe, a firefighter that he starts getting close to. The truth about certain events gets explained more and we get more information about what happens in Gabe's head during those moments.
My problem with this one is that book 1 ended in a cliffhanger, and I don't think this should be labeled as book 2 when it isn't really a sequel. I think naming it 1.5 or something similar would've worked better and helped to set expectations.
Despite that, I still wanted to give it a try. But it turns out I wasn't that interested in reading Gabe's POV because most of what is told was the same and nothing changed much, besides a few additional scenes. I did like that the story had the idea of going deeper into his thoughts and actions -those I wasn't aware of from the first book caught me off guard, so that was a good surprise-, I just wish it didn't take long to get to the point, because there's a lot of filler. I even started skimming through it.
I also think the writting here didn't work for me, Gabe's thoughts felt goofy and over the top. That is what I meant when I said my criticism wasn't totally over my expectations but on the execution too. I think I would've enjoyed this more if I could take him seriously most of the time, and maybe it's the reason book 1 worked so well, because I was only in Alex's head.
Then we get another cliffhanger at the end of this book. While I am fine with those type of endings, it does make me feel like I waited for nothing. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, so it sucks.
Since I don't like ending reviews in a bad note, I'll point out the nice things I enjoyed which is similar to what I liked from book 1 and why I gave that one 5 stars: the dynamic between Alex and Gabe is interesting, the elements of the stalking, Alex's ex and the manipulation are exciting. Despite most of it feeling repetitive, what I enjoyed revisiting was everything that happened near the end. I also think the book succeeded in getting the message across about .
I'm still looking forwatd to book 3 because I really want to know what happens after that ending. I wasn't expecting that and I like surprises, so kudos for that. Waiting for 2026 is going to be torture.
Tags: (might miss some of them)
-POV: first person
-Content warnings:
-Elements:
-Sexual act(s):
-Dynamic:
So this is actually a companion to the first book, not really a sequel. Since the number appears as book 2, I was waiting for a sequel but it isn't that, except for the epilogue. This book tells the same story and events from book 1, except this time told by the other MC. I understand it was trying to do, but this felt like a filler until the real sequel, which will be coming in 2026 according to the author notes.
To give an idea, I'll give a peek of what this book is about without spoilers. The plot presents flashbacks from Gabe's life during the time he started getting interested in Alex. Alex is a timid guy that has someone stalking him but finds comfort in Gabe, a firefighter that he starts getting close to. The truth about certain events gets explained more and we get more information about what happens in Gabe's head during those moments.
My problem with this one is that book 1 ended in a cliffhanger, and I don't think this should be labeled as book 2 when it isn't really a sequel. I think naming it 1.5 or something similar would've worked better and helped to set expectations.
Despite that, I still wanted to give it a try. But it turns out I wasn't that interested in reading Gabe's POV because most of what is told was the same and nothing changed much, besides a few additional scenes. I did like that the story had the idea of going deeper into his thoughts and actions -those I wasn't aware of from the first book caught me off guard, so that was a good surprise-, I just wish it didn't take long to get to the point, because there's a lot of filler. I even started skimming through it.
I also think the writting here didn't work for me, Gabe's thoughts felt goofy and over the top. That is what I meant when I said my criticism wasn't totally over my expectations but on the execution too. I think I would've enjoyed this more if I could take him seriously most of the time, and maybe it's the reason book 1 worked so well, because I was only in Alex's head.
Then we get another cliffhanger at the end of this book. While I am fine with those type of endings, it does make me feel like I waited for nothing. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, so it sucks.
Since I don't like ending reviews in a bad note, I'll point out the nice things I enjoyed which is similar to what I liked from book 1 and why I gave that one 5 stars: the dynamic between Alex and Gabe is interesting, the elements of the stalking, Alex's ex and the manipulation are exciting. Despite most of it feeling repetitive, what I enjoyed revisiting was everything that happened near the end. I also think the book succeeded in getting the message across about .
I'm still looking forwatd to book 3 because I really want to know what happens after that ending. I wasn't expecting that and I like surprises, so kudos for that. Waiting for 2026 is going to be torture.
Tags: (might miss some of them)
-POV: first person
-Content warnings:
-Elements:
-Sexual act(s):
-Dynamic:
May 24, 2025
Read to me by Alexa
🌶️- There is spice but I don’t remember how much. I can say that’s not the reason to read the book. If you are looking for something that spicy or kinky, not this book.
So I went into this book, kind of blind. I knew it was a sequel to “those who favor fire” but I wasn’t sure if it was gonna follow the same characters and pick up right where that book left off or if we were gonna get new characters. And I did not reread the first book to refresh myself on what happened. So I spent the first half of this book experiencing a bit of déjà vu.
So for those who don’t know, this book is essentially a retelling a book one but from the other MC‘s point of view.
There was a lot happening in the background in book one that we didn’t know about and so even though it is a retelling, it did not feel super redundant A)because book 1 came out last year and so I didn’t actually fully remember book 1. And B) because if I remember correctly book 1 was told from the first MC‘s POV and so we only knew what he knew. And as I said there was a lot happening in the background that we were unaware of. This book is from the second MC’s POV and he is privy to all that background information because he’s the one making the background chaos happen.
So I don’t know how to talk about this next part without ruining a major plot point, but if you read book one and you already know, and you should read book one in order to read this book.
Part of why I really enjoyed the first book was that I did not expect the stalker to be Gabe. Not fully. And I thought the authors did a good job of not trying to make Gabe this palatable villain for the readers. And while this book, absolutely humanizes gave a bit more And we get to see the motivations behind his actions. I did not feel like they completely washed his character in order to make him a palatable villain.
Gabe is still willing to do just about anything to have Alex, and now we know he’s kind of certifiably crazy. But he didn’t feel evil just for evil sake. And that was the humanizing part. . But they didn’t try to justify his actions.
I also felt that they did a great job at making the story be over refreshing, even though we were technically reliving events that we already write about. Some things Renu because as I said, they were background things happening that we didn’t know about before. But there was plenty that was not new, but it never felt redundant.
I’m really looking forward to book 3 and how their story continues. If you hate a cliffhanger, then you probably wanna wait until book 3 is released.
🌶️- There is spice but I don’t remember how much. I can say that’s not the reason to read the book. If you are looking for something that spicy or kinky, not this book.
So I went into this book, kind of blind. I knew it was a sequel to “those who favor fire” but I wasn’t sure if it was gonna follow the same characters and pick up right where that book left off or if we were gonna get new characters. And I did not reread the first book to refresh myself on what happened. So I spent the first half of this book experiencing a bit of déjà vu.
So for those who don’t know, this book is essentially a retelling a book one but from the other MC‘s point of view.
There was a lot happening in the background in book one that we didn’t know about and so even though it is a retelling, it did not feel super redundant A)because book 1 came out last year and so I didn’t actually fully remember book 1. And B) because if I remember correctly book 1 was told from the first MC‘s POV and so we only knew what he knew. And as I said there was a lot happening in the background that we were unaware of. This book is from the second MC’s POV and he is privy to all that background information because he’s the one making the background chaos happen.
So I don’t know how to talk about this next part without ruining a major plot point, but if you read book one and you already know, and you should read book one in order to read this book.
Part of why I really enjoyed the first book was that I did not expect the stalker to be Gabe. Not fully. And I thought the authors did a good job of not trying to make Gabe this palatable villain for the readers. And while this book, absolutely humanizes gave a bit more And we get to see the motivations behind his actions. I did not feel like they completely washed his character in order to make him a palatable villain.
Gabe is still willing to do just about anything to have Alex, and now we know he’s kind of certifiably crazy. But he didn’t feel evil just for evil sake. And that was the humanizing part. . But they didn’t try to justify his actions.
I also felt that they did a great job at making the story be over refreshing, even though we were technically reliving events that we already write about. Some things Renu because as I said, they were background things happening that we didn’t know about before. But there was plenty that was not new, but it never felt redundant.
I’m really looking forward to book 3 and how their story continues. If you hate a cliffhanger, then you probably wanna wait until book 3 is released.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2025
A phenomenal M/M romance with dark themes, twisted characters, and a darker plot ;) trust me when I say you won’t want to miss this one!
Okay okay okay. I’m only gonna say this one time.
HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT WHEN YOU ABANDON ME ON THE CLIFF LIKE THIS?!?!
Okay but real talk, this book was phenomenal, and dare I say maybe as good if not better than the 1st. I loved the secondary perception from one of the characters in the first book. (I do not want to list the names and ruin it for others hahahah) but this was mind blowing.
To see the way this character develops into the twisted mind he is, that was intense. I truly enjoyed that. I love getting a secondary view of our characters period, but this one was just. Wow.
So let me say this, this one has much darker themes than the first in my opinion. The mental health is real here. And it’s palpable. I think overall it was a wonderful experience reading this and I prayyyyyyy they are coming with book 3 because if not I might blow a gasket hahaha.
I won’t lie as much as I literally BEGGED for this book, I was NOT disappointed I am just eager to see what the next one brings, and I’m gonna be sooooo mad if there isn’t one coming! Hahahaha
I love these authors tremendously and their work is beautiful as always. The written quality and the flow of the plot were just incredible. Honestly I could drown on forever and ever about how much I loved this series buuuut I don’t want to bore anyone else so I’ll leave it at this.
5 star plot, 5 star spice, 5 star character development, 5 star world building, and just ugh. 5 star everything!!! Loved it. And I know you will too.
Okay okay okay. I’m only gonna say this one time.
HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT WHEN YOU ABANDON ME ON THE CLIFF LIKE THIS?!?!
Okay but real talk, this book was phenomenal, and dare I say maybe as good if not better than the 1st. I loved the secondary perception from one of the characters in the first book. (I do not want to list the names and ruin it for others hahahah) but this was mind blowing.
To see the way this character develops into the twisted mind he is, that was intense. I truly enjoyed that. I love getting a secondary view of our characters period, but this one was just. Wow.
So let me say this, this one has much darker themes than the first in my opinion. The mental health is real here. And it’s palpable. I think overall it was a wonderful experience reading this and I prayyyyyyy they are coming with book 3 because if not I might blow a gasket hahaha.
I won’t lie as much as I literally BEGGED for this book, I was NOT disappointed I am just eager to see what the next one brings, and I’m gonna be sooooo mad if there isn’t one coming! Hahahaha
I love these authors tremendously and their work is beautiful as always. The written quality and the flow of the plot were just incredible. Honestly I could drown on forever and ever about how much I loved this series buuuut I don’t want to bore anyone else so I’ll leave it at this.
5 star plot, 5 star spice, 5 star character development, 5 star world building, and just ugh. 5 star everything!!! Loved it. And I know you will too.
May 22, 2025
What are you doing to me? I loved this book!
Read
July 20, 2025Um... Why the fuck did Gabe feel the need to go give up his virginity to some random sex worker after his first "AMAZING" date with Alex? Makes me sick.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2026
Not the biggest cliffhanger at the end and the next book coming out some time this year,ffs 🙄
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews