Lords Of Ruin

Ruthless Kings Of Thornhaven #1

by Sophie J. Rivers

You’d do the same thing.
If your father was drowning in your hospital debt, you’d find yourself standing naked before three powerful men you hate. With a proposition and one hundred thousand dollars.

My pride disappeared when I saw the foreclosure notice on my front door.
My morals disintegrated when I saw my teddy bear of a father cry as he held the only items he has left of my mother's.

I became fearlessly stupid when I heard him contemplate whether or not to sell my mother’s engagement ring to cover a couple of nights in a motel.

So For four months, I'm theirs to claim and ruin.
My innocence belongs to them and I’m starting to fall for the dark possessive beasts.

But then I find out, they’re hungry for revenge, hiding dark secrets that could shatter everything.
One wrong move, and we could all fall apart.


Lords of Ruin is a short novella introducing The Ruthless Kings of Thornhaven. Watch them fall first for the queen they love to hate. It's an angsty, spicy dark Enemies to Lovers, Young Adult Romance.

Genres: Dark, Why Choose, Dark Romance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, High School, Novella

73 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 12, 2024

Reviews

[Lori Kays · Rating 1 out of 5]

Damn how can SO MUCH be wrong with such an incredibly short book! Granted, I already suspected this was going to be a copycat Lords of Forsyth, but my expectations were way too high. I have some legitimate complaints and some overly critical complaints, but I'll start with the legitimate one first. This is not a book. This is basically a sample and should be the opening to the first book, if it was KU it might be all right, but to ask us to pay for what is basically a sample? That's a ripoff. Next is the facts and timeline are similar to Doctor Who in that whole Wibbly Wobbly Time Whimey way. I thought this was a college romance, but it looks like it takes place their senior year of highschool. The moms age and when this all happened is very fluid, at one point it says she got the heart transplant 16 months before, yet supposedly the H was "just a kid" when his mom died, but they've been bullying the h for years, but she's been out of school and in the hospital for the last 3 years. Then, they're all supposed to hate her and bully her for reasons that would not lend you to believe they would be sexually attracted to her in any way and yet they ogle her naked and act like they can't stop themselves from licking her whole body even though she just had a heart transplant a year and a half before. I'm not saying she couldn't ever rock her scars, but privileged teenage boys that are already predisposed to dislike her, yet are not able to control their lust even while they have a HOUSEHOLD of willing, hot, scantily dressed women who they don't blame for killing their mother in the home is impossible to believe. I get that most bully romances more or less ride the lines between hate/lust/affection, but this one doesn't even try to make it seem reasonable. "You snuck into my house to try to steal from me even though you know I hate you with a passion! Here's a check for $150,000 and an orgasm! " Not only that, but they're doing all this to "punish her" supposedly, but then when she tells them she's a virgin, these magnanimous bullies say "Well, we'll leave that....for NOW! But we'll still punish you with orgasms!" I'm very disillusioned, because in my life I've had people who actually liked me still not try so hard to give me an orgasm and here this bitch they hate is getting them thrown at her! Totally unfair.

Now for my somewhat hypercritical complaints; My brother had a heart transplant a little over 10 years ago so this is a topic that I'm very familiar with and I admittedly got so tripped up on these details that it would have been hard to get past, even if the rest of the book was decent. So the story goes that the H's mother was dying of pancreatic cancer and so she willingly donated her heart to the heroine. Let's see all the things completely wrong with this! For one thing, this is an ACTIVE cancer patient who is dying, meaning the cancer would have most likely metasticized, she would not be eligible for donation. Even if she wasn't, she's probably in her 40's and / in very poor health, there is no way she would qualify. But more importantly than that...YOU CANNOT DIRECTLY GIFT A HEART TO SOMEONE! Not legally! You can agree to donate your vital organs, but you can't choose who will receive them. There are too many barbaric implications if that were allowed to happen. I'm not saying that kind of thing might not happen on the black market, but that is not at all the situation described. All of this irked me to no end, but I think 80% of people wouldn't get bogged down by this, so I didn't heavily factor that into my rating.

[Cheyyleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started here since the series is on KU and I didn't want to skip over a novella but man do I hate novellas. Spoilers?



Alright 71 pages to throw us into a story. To be fair this probably should have been the prologue to the first book or not included at all. We get the background and their first sexual encounter, and some inconsistent writing that makes me question if I want to move on to the next books.
Examples of inconsistency:
1) in the car the FMC is messing with her hair and notes that it is black with fading purple ends. When Juan describes her in his head later she has pink and an undercut look.
2) we have a badass best friend who scares the bouncer so much he doesn't make her do the rules of the party because "she will stab him" then is quickly running away because the guys talk to her.
3) are you going to be homeless or living with your aunt in Minnesota. The author says both when working on her inner monologue of whether or not to do the deal.

Then this plot....these guys hate her, because she was sick with heart failure and their mom gave her a new heart when she passed away of cancer. Not a sudden car wreck that was the FMCs fault. Not something directly related to the FMC actually doing anything. Just. She existed. So damn flimsy. I usually can understand the hatred aspect of these books and can say "yup fair that's a good grudge" but this one doesn't stand on its own.

Then last but not least...this FMC. What is going on with this beginning character development. Bullied, treated horribly but is fine with it. Wants to save her father by any means necessary and took all of two seconds to decide that being a sexual slave to 3 guys whom she hates is worth not living with her aunt or being homeless. I mean I have questions. Like do you and your dad not work? You can get a job and live in a small apartment if you lose your house. It just seems so flimsy. You owe normal medical debt not to the Mafia or someone that's gonna come busy knee caps. You were also homeschooled until a year ago I think you can survive moving away.


So I guess thanks for the novella so I don't try reading the series?

[n_ow_n]

Can a sample be spoiled?! If so ***spoilers ahead***

This was literally the size of a sample for the price of a short book. As much as I don't want to discourage a buddying author, it's kind of offensive to readers when you write a few pages of wishy-washy bully/RH/high school?! whatever this is supposed to be ... Oh, and put a price tag on it...

Here's what makes this ridiculous:

- lack of consistency: for example - the friend is a badass in one scene but in the next supposedly runs away scared (it's done with the purpose to make another character look badass).

- ridiculously stupid MFC: seriously, doesn't homeschooled kids study biology?! There is naïve and there is plain stupid - this girl is leaning towards the later.

- equally ridiculously stupid MMCs: the hate element is not only somewhat nauseating but also makes them look like petulant little children.

Dear author, if by any chance you're reading this - please, try and put more originality and consistency in crafting your story!!! Throwing stuff around and hoping it makes sense is just not fun to read...

[Emily Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

ehh

Idk what to think about this. Honestly if most books had a prolong type of book it would help alot of us readers out. Lol plus this ended at 50% ? lol

[Lorrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, didn't really work for me. There was nothing that really hooked me and made me want to read more.

[Andrea Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella sets up the story for the rest of the books. I honestly think it should have been 0.5 instead of labeled as 1. To me it feels misleading since it's a novella that probably could have been a prologue calling it book 1. Beyond that we're introduced to our main characters:

Willow - FMC, heart transplant survivor, tough/soft

Vincent - MMC, obsessed with Willow
Juan "Cast" Castillo - MMC, wants to torture Willow but also finds her hot
Damien - MMC, hates Willow

Willow is attending a party at Vincent's house in the hopes she can find something to steal. Her plan was to steal something, sell it, and hopefully assist her father in keeping their house. The family is in debt due to all of her medical bills surrounding the heart transplant. Naturally, she is caught, and the guys offer her a solution. A check for enough to cover the house payment and medical bills, but she belongs to them until graduation (4 months away). This is how the story ends setting the reader up for book 2.

[elle♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues fue como el prólogo para el inicio de la serie pero realmente tuvo muchas inconsistencias que me hacen pensar si los otros libros están iguales que esté, aparte super innecesario poner esto en un libro aparte cuando bien pudo haber sido juntado con el primer libro, fue una decisión tonta y engañosa.

Y una cosa que ODIO de los bully romance es cuando el molestar a la protagonista se convierte en acosarla sexualmente, hay mejores formas de escribir un bully romance y está NO es una de ellas.

Así que, paso de esta serie.

Aparte, la premisa es súper estúpida, osea la protagonista cae enferma del corazón y necesita un transplante y la madre de uno de ellos se enferma de cáncer y cuando muere le da su corazón y... ya esa es toda la razón para odiar la cómo si la prota le hubiese arrebatado el corazón del pecho a la señora, UN PROBLEMA REAL LES PIDO!!

He leído varios why choose donde los MMC's quieren vergarse de la prota por razones idiotas pero está se lleva el pastel! es una ridiculez.

[Donna L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie Rivers is a new author to me, and although a Reverse Harem Dark College Bully Romance isn’t normally my preferred trope, I found this novella to be very intriguing. It is a short read, but it will catch your interest and make you want to read the next books of her new dark series about three young bullies and the feisty virgin they want to own.

Vincent wants to possess Willow, Juan wants to experience and deliver pain, and Damien wants to torment her for having his mother’s donated heart. Willow is at their mercy due to owing a huge debt from her medical bills and they are willing to give her the money she needs if she agrees to belong to them.

“Don’t worry little devil. Just know, you’re ours now.”

It will be interesting to see if little innocent Willow can turn the tables on these three ruthless Chessmen. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Simply Adventures · Rating 2 out of 5]

two stars. so this is only like 50 pages and honestly this should be the first chapter in the second book and that book should be the first book of the series. but the second book is like 350 pages I'm not 100% sure what's going on about that.

there's a lot of conflicting information and timeline stuff that makes me think that this was not pass through an editor or if it was that editor sucked. I'm not going to go into a lot of those details just because there are other people with reviews that go into more about timeline and medical stuff. But ultimately for some reason she decided going to their house during this party it was a good idea so she could steal from them and then I guess Pawn the jewelry to get enough money to pay for their house because her medical debt caused them a lot of stress and their potentially losing their house. she got caught by them. they came up with a deal because apparently two of the guys are rich rich and gave her $150,000. and that's it

[Dorrita Winch · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re ours now..”
This is the Introduction to “The Lords of Ruin”, A Reverse Harem Dark College Bulky Romance.
This is a dark, very graphic story with a beautiful, virginal MFC, Willow Cater.
And the three MMC’s, The King of Thornhaven, Vincent Beaumont. The Knight, Damien Sterling and The Rook,Juan “Cast” Castillo,
And because of a very tragic circumstance, these three hate her, or claim to anyway.
But..
Three glorious beautiful guys, a proposition and one hundred thousand dollars.
A dad drowning in dept from hospital bills, and a good chance that they will be evicted from their home. Making it where Willow would have to move far away to live with an aunt.
But the King of Thornhaven's Place is not going to let that happen!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a Gothic and falls way short of a decent opening prequel

This opener has no story building. You get a glimpse of a decent back story but that's where it should of started. Willow and Rosemary both have potential but the author is too caught up in pushing out the sexual part first and it happens way too fast to be believable. The writing is decent but where is actually story that leads up to the bargain?

This is also not a Gothic. A Gothic has crumbling castles, ghosts, paranormal, dark, mystery and atmospheric tones. It is a mafia, bullies and sex that borders more on porn than being classy, erotic. This is a lot of newer books. It's stale mate literally. (Pun intended)

The cover art is really the selling point of this book and series.

Also it is 99 cents for a bait and switch? Another book intro at the end instead of a full 70 some pages?

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I loved this book it was refreshing even though it’s just an introduction to the series.

Willow seems as innocent as one can be I think that will be refreshing as the series goes on an maybe we’ll find out she’s not as innocent as we the readers believe.

The guys

Vincent
Juan
Damien

Are cruel as we see but Vincent and Juan seem to like her in their own way. Damien as well even though he seems to hate her on the surface.

I can’t wait to see where all these character’s stories end up going because as of right now I doubt it will go how I see it.

This is a short Novella as the introduction to the Main Characters in the series be sure to start here.

[Magan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I feel could have been added to the first book it’s like an explanation of why willow is where she is in the first book.
Willow: fmc, her father drowning in debt from her medical bills. Plans to help her father out so they don’t loose everything by pulling off her biggest theft. But in order to do that she has to sneak into a party that her biggest bullies are hosting.
Chessman: mmc’s make willows life a living hell for a reason they don’t fully understand. All they know is she stole their mother’s heart and they want to destroy her!
This book is a just a teaser but you’ll need to read it for the rest.

[Good Girl Reading Corner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously this isn’t a full book, more of a novella prequel, and I see why it’s needed to give the back story, but the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors really should of been picked up, there were so many of them. And there is a really big plot hole in it, which with a little research could have easily been fixed.

Spoiler ……………..



The fact that Willow got Damien’s mums heart after her dying from refusing to do anymore chemotherapy is the foundation of their intertwined relationship just bugs me for the fact that organ donation while having active cancer isn’t possible, due to the fact that the recipient could be infected via the organ.

[BackwardsBookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read a short expert in to lords of ruin. It started off typical as any story and was thinking "alright here we go", I was pleasantly surprised that when I got to the end of this short expert edition I didn't want it to end. If you are not sure this genre is for you, I would suggest to start with this as it leads into the crazy, but not quite yet. I look forward to reading the rest of the book and giving a full review once completed.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Scorching Dark HEAs · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have absolutely NEVER one-starred a book I haven't read before but this is an unforgivable theft of Lords of Pain. Only difference is not all of the RH are on the cover of Lords of Pain.

I know books in specific subgenres are all influenced by another. I'm not saying anyone owns a trope. But the COVER doesn't even try to hide it's a copycat.

Sophie J. Rivers, I'll see you in hell.

[Felicia Seay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading

First off, this short story is incomplete. It's not romance at this point, it's just a amateur attempt at erotica. The only decent part of the story is the heart donor connecting them all. Had the author actually finished the story before publishing, this had the potential of something special. And yes, I realize that it's a part of a series. However, if the first book is literally a single scene that's poorly written, that doesn't inspire wanting to buy the other "books".

[Merilu Keenum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m intrigued: bully, RH, college, and virgin FMC with a debt problem and 3 dissolute MMC. Willow seems brave enough to go into enemy territory, but maybe she’s just desperate to help her father. Vincent, Cash, and Damien are all attracted to her, but they’re more interested in tormenting her. Their animosity towards her is at odds with their desire for her and Damien’s feelings have a tragedy behind them. This is the first book I’ve read by Sophie Rivers: it’s a quick read with more books in the series that I’m looking forward to reading!

[Karen Sorg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willow just found out that they were going to foreclose on their home. She has to receive a new heart and the medical bills ate everything they own. She was shunned at school because the heart that she receded was one of the Lords of Ruin and they made sure she was not wanted. She had never been kissed and was still a virgin. Now she needed money and where else do you go for money?.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shifty Bugger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I loved reading this book it was definitely exciting what Willow was going to do, so they were going to Thornhaven manor to the party with her best friend. The three men Vincent, Cast and Damien are wealthy now they want her and she has something of theirs aswell, but they notice she wants something from them.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Trina Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG 😱 mind blowing and the suspense was incredible intense. It was a page turner and the suspense was off the charts. This was a great book and this author did a fantastic job on this story. It was dark and the characters were marvelous and I couldn’t even put it down. It had so much drama and chaos of course.
I definitely recommend this book and you won’t be disappointed. I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion. Trina Jones

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

incorrectly named.

This is not book 1 of a series. The first 30ish pages are a preview or the first few chapters of Lords of Ruin. The next half of the 71 pages is a preview of a different book or series. I was interested in the Lords of Ruin story, although there wasn’t enough to tell if it was too dark for me. I need at least one character that I like or care about to read the dark books.
I’m not sure if I’m going to look for a full length book by this author.

[psych0_4books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willow's determination to help her father with their debt and to keep their house had me questioning how far I would go to help my family members 😅

The story was really good and the Chessmen, for all their wicked good looks and all that, were the kind of antagonists that made me laugh and smirk than get annoyed. The deal that they struck with Willow was intense and I can't wait to read the next book.

[L KQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intro to Willow and the Kings

Willow has no choice but to make a deal with the Kings of Thorhaven in order to alleviate her debt and burdens. This short novella is only an introduction into this series but keeps you enticed as the cliffhanger leaves you wanting the next installment right away.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jackie Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this little prequel will have you intrigued to learn what’s going to happen next between Willow and the horsemen. I have a strong feeling they will all fall for her and her for them. I can’t wait for the actual book to come out. Great introduction to the new book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining sports reverse, harem, short story romance book that holds your attention captive from beginning to end. The storyline is intriguing as the elements unfold. The characters are well written with steamy chemistry together. I enjoyed this.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kelly Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short start to what could be an amazing story, i really enjoyed the characters, but at times they did get on my nerves, I'd really like to see the characters grow and develop in the next book. The plot itself was gripping and enjoyable with loads of suspense.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Charlie · Rating 1 out of 5]

5 Star - Couldn't put this book down. Its stay up late reading and be late to work good.
4 Stars - Couldn't put this book down but I still got a goodnights sleep
3 Stars - An enjoyable read that took me a few days to a week finish
2 Stars - An okay book that I struggled to get through in places - next book is still on my TBR list
1 Stars - DNF

[Hailey Richey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not bad for an intro.

It was definitely catching. Glad I read it but hoping book one starts about where it leaves off because it was already getting so good. I skipped the part to book one and am just going to actually start book one instead since I have that option. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Donna Nalbandian Woerner Homschek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting start to a reverse harem. Angsty, brooding males and a desperate female trying to solve her problems. Underlying tension which can only grow to a crescendo.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.