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Levi Akira’s existence is far from ideal. His mother's addiction consumes their lives, his academic standing is crumbling, and the convenience store he works at is a constant target for ruthless robberies. But amidst the chaos, Levi finds solace in only three things: his tight-knit group of friends, protecting his neighborhood as one of Jericho’s Boys, and streaming his favorite video game, where he assumes the role of Rogue—a hero who will break the rules for the greater good.

Shiloh Mizrahi’s hope has all but dwindled. With one brother unjustly imprisoned, and the other a sadistic puppeteer, he endures daily torment at the hands of the latter. And his latest demand? Get close to Levi at any cost.

In the midst of another ordinary night shift, Levi's world is upended when a captivating and terrified stranger appears, brandishing a weapon and claiming he has been forced to kill Levi by his own brother. Levi, torn between self-preservation and an instinctive aversion to harming the vulnerable boy, takes a bold leap—he kisses him. And then, just like that, the boy disappears into the night, leaving Levi haunted by his memory.

Driven by an unshakeable connection, Levi's path crosses with Shiloh's once more, igniting a passionate bond that refuses to be extinguished. However, Shiloh harbors a labyrinth of secrets, torn between loyalty and desire. With his brother's freedom dangling in the balance, can Levi and Shiloh navigate the treacherous path to be together, or will Levi forever remain a hero confined to the online realm?

12 pages, Audible Audio

First published February 29, 2024

232 people are currently reading
1085 people want to read

About the author

Onley James

40 books3,706 followers
Onley James lives in North Carolina with her daughter, her daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and a menagerie of animals, both good and evil. James splits her time between writing m/m romance and mainlining dangerous levels of caffeine and attempting to maintain her ever-slipping sanity.

When not at her desk you can find her whining about how much writing she has to do while avoiding said writing by binge-watching unhealthy amounts of television and doom scrolling on social media. She loves true crime documentaries, anti-heroes, and writing kinky, snarky books about morally gray men who fall in love with other men.

Stay up to date: www.onleyjames.com/newsletter

Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Onley...

Want more: linktr.ee/OnleyJames

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5 stars
1,374 (48%)
4 stars
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3 stars
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1 star
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
Profile Image for Romantically Inclined Reviews.
728 reviews2,856 followers
June 9, 2024
I FUCKING HATE READING ONLEY JAMES BECAUSE I READ HER NEW BOOK AND THEN IMMEDIATELY HAVE TO REREAD EVERY OTHER BOOK SHES WRITTEN AND IT'S THE BEST THING EVER BUT SOMETIMES I HAVE TO STOP TO FEED MY CHILDREN.

This book reminded me a lot of Unhinged which is my fave OJ book ever so I was muy excited & am frothing at the mouth for the teased characters.
Profile Image for ~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~.
3,576 reviews1,116 followers
March 7, 2024
~1.5~

I couldn't nope out of this book quickly enough. I skipped every sex scene - they went on for pages and pages!

Indeed the second time the MCs interact, they dry hump. Levi is predatory toward Shiloh, who was raped the other two times he had sex. Shiloh has so much trauma, and Levi just seems interested in sex and more sex.

The story's written as if Shiloh wants it, but I didn't find it convincing.

The plot is a hot, hot mess. Levi's alcoholic mom keeps harassing him, but then disappears at the end, with no resolution.

Then the main plot around Shiloh's two brothers - Micah who's evil and abusive and Mal who's odd and neurodivergent - made my head spin. Too much of the abuse perpetrated against Micah is on page. I found it incredibly disturbing.

Then the whole thing at the cabin. Oh sure, I totally believe the attorney general would go scout a murder cabin in the middle of the woods late at night. Yup, totally realistic.

I know Onley James doesn't write real anything, but this was beyond the pale.

The Mulvaneys are all up in this story of course, but they felt like caricatures, like the author just had to pad the story with these meaningless scenes. The scene with the lawyer, for example, served no purpose except to introduce him as a character and set up his match with Seven.

Same goes for Nico and Mal. I mean, I always aggressively cuddle with people five minutes after meeting them. Don't you?

The first Jericho's Boys book was fairly enjoyable, but this one was such a miss, I don't know if I'll continue with this series.
Profile Image for BookSafety Reviews.
687 reviews1,041 followers
March 8, 2024
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below. Bear with me, there’s was too many highlights.

Levi flopped onto Shiloh, making himself a dead weight on top of him, resting his head on Shiloh’s chest for a change. Shiloh hugged his head like it was a plushie.

Alright, first off, I think highlighted every single scene Ever was in. I still love that character so much that it’s almost embarassing. His and Shiloh’s friendship was adorable and funny in equal measure.

Ever studied his face like he wanted to make sure Levi wasn’t placating him, but then he turned his attention to Shiloh. The two blinked wide, owlish eyes at each other. It was like watching two baby deer meet for the first time. Ever beamed at Shiloh. “I’m Ever.” “Shiloh,” Shiloh whispered.

This book is really heavy on the complicated family abuse and drama. It definitely does not pull any punches when it comes to showing the ugly sides of having manipulative, narcissistic and abusive family members, so definitely keep that in mind. It was handled really well though. I definitely trust Onley to handle topics like it with respect.

I was fully expecting to fall in love with Shiloh going in (and I did), but I also ended up loving Levi so much. In true Onley James fashion, the characters fall fast and hard, but even when it’s toxic and codependent, you end up rooting for them to make it through. It helps that they know that it’s not healthy. Seeing these guys happy and in love and just living their ‘normal’ lives was nice.

This book was also very spicy (to me anyway), but I liked how it was done. It wasn’t just the same type of scene repeated. It brought both emotion, intimacy and humor to the book, which was neat.

He wasn’t even a person; he was just three mental health issues in a trench coat.

I really enjoyed feeling a bit in the dark about Shiloh’s mental state. It added a different element to the entire book where I didn’t know what would happen. The book didn’t feel nearly as long as it actually is. Another banger from Onley James.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Found family
Past trauma
Mental health rep
Piercings and tattoos
Mild exhibitionism
Sex toy
Hurt/comfort
Nice murdery boys
High heat
Instalove

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Suicidal ideation
Almost suicide attempt (takes a handful of pills, not expecting to die but okay with it either way)
Parental suicide (detailed, past)
Graphic violence
Physical assault (on page)
Injured MC
Explicit sexual content
Mention of sexual assault (past)
Mentions of child sexual abuse
Alcohol abuse (parent)
Torture (on page, not MCs)
Verbally abusive parent
Physical abuse (past and present, family member)
Incarcerated family member
Manipulation and gaslighting (family)
Mentions of child neglect
Panic attacks
Psychological torture and abuse (family member, on page)
Mild exhibitionism
Unsafe sex
Mentions of past statutory rape
On-page murder
PTSD/dissociation
Very mild use of degrading name (slut)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: No
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 22 and 25
Pages: 364

“Don’t say it. Don’t tell me I don’t have to go back, because I do. Don’t tell me you can save me, because you can’t. I can see in your eyes that you’re the hero type. But save it for someone who still has a shot at being a whole person.”

Maybe nothing would happen, maybe he’d wake up in the hospital, maybe he’d sleep for ten days, maybe he’d finally just fade away forever. It would happen. One day. One day, he’d give himself the break he deserved. One day, he would drift off to sleep and never wake up. If there was something on the other side, Shiloh was opting out of coming back for another round. This whole living thing wasn’t for him. The world was a cesspool and humanity was garbage and Shiloh just wanted off this fucking ride. For good.

This whole talk was toxic. The worst kind of co-dependence. Shiloh needed therapy. He needed time to heal. Levi needed therapy, too, if he was being honest. A therapist would probably tell them they shouldn’t be in a relationship, and they’d be right.

“Have you ever heard an eyeball pop?”


You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...
4 reviews1 follower
November 10, 2023
To adress the accusations made in the other review.

Levi is a relatively common name, not just a random character in some random anime, Akira IS a surname in Japan (not an overly common one true but there are people with this surname and you can google it) Akira is NOT just a first name,

Examples of people who have Akira as a surname range from a Professor, named Akira (surname) Shizuo (first name), who made great strides in the study of Immunology to professional wrester Francesco Akira (an Italian who is a member of the All Japan Pro Wrestling league. Taking a Japanese name is a pretty common practice for non Japanese wrestler in Japan.)

Shiloh's name is also the name of several people, that is the combination of his first and surname not just one or the other. If you google the name you will find multiple people with the exact same name.

ALL of Jericho's boys are gamers, no asian or half asian characters are singled out to be made gamers.
1 review
December 28, 2023
so, hi and hello. just to add on the other review that was said to address the "racism and stereotyping" of this lead character and his name.

levi is a Hebrew name not asian. and to say that its because "why is the asian character named after an anime character??? that's racist." my uncle is named levi as well and he is asian. and that anime character you are referring to is not asian. he's white. he is European if the setting of the world that story was set on is in our world geography.

aaaaaand there are so many gamers in the world from different Ethnicity and nationality. who on hell are you to dictate to why cant this asian person be a gamer?? if you read the previous book from this series and the prequel to it, all of this kids are gamers from different places. not just in asia.

im sorry if i ranted here, it just sounded stupid to me as an asian person to see someone complain about something so normal for us to do. we are not some alien to not do gaming and be gay. please. for the love of god. also im really existed for this ive been waiting for this story for almost 5 months now. good luck with the release!!
Profile Image for Dani.
1,658 reviews311 followers
February 29, 2024
Loved this! 'Mulvaney Murders' are some of my favourite books ever, so this one made me very happy.

Is it instalove and kind of unbelievable? Yes, but that's exactly what I expect from an Onley James book so I was super happy with this.

Also, as cute as Levi and Shiloh are together, my attention was completely stolen by Seven and his potential Daddy Enzo!! I am dying to see Seven finally get himself a Daddy after lusting after Thomas for so long!! I feel far too exuberant for this time of day...

There were also so many Mulvaney cameo's which I love, because these guys are like the next gen killing crew. Although I always want more Adam and Noah content... Atticus made me laugh a lot, and August conversing with Mal was weird yet entertaining.

Excited for more to come in this series.
Profile Image for Barbara➰.
1,661 reviews459 followers
January 27, 2025
I just reread Paladin not long ago and was anxiously waiting for Levi's story. This was definitely darker than Paladin. At one point I had to stop and ask for spoilers because my anxiety was through the roof lol. The abuse of Shiloh by his brother was horrific in and of itself but knowing Levi's backstory was heartbreaking as well. I wish there was a little more definitive resolution with his mom, though. Shiloh just broke my heart.

I loved how no one really batted an eye at Shiloh's revelation and immediately took him into the fold. I love how these guys just know when they find "the one". It's one trope I love the most.

I will say I skipped a few of the sex scenes. I know people enjoy that aspect and I do to a certain degree, but is it really necessary to go from them just having sex to coming out of the shower and having sex again? It really doesn't add any value to the story for me personally. I love the intimate scenes between characters...they only accentuate the growing feelings between the two...but it's not necessary to have so many in my humble opinion especially in a story that's not necessarily labeled as erotica.
Profile Image for Cheesy (Rhysand's wife) .
236 reviews9 followers
May 25, 2025
3,0 💫 | Me gustaron (no más que Ever y Arsen) cute, pero lo que en verdad me encantó es el guiño al posible libro de Seven y el abogado, Enzo (¿no es su nombre demasiado hot? Yo creo que sí), es que NECESITO >>>>>>>

P.D. Nunca soltare a Jericho y Atticus 💖 yo la menos aferrada.
Profile Image for jasmin.
1,207 reviews11 followers
March 8, 2024
Onley’s brand of insta love is officially a lil past my liking. I think it’s just a me thing but I really didn’t care for this… which is sad because I really did enjoy the majority of the Mulvaney brothers series and I was excited for the Jericho’s boys spin off (especially from the glimpses we got in Jericho and Felix’s books). Hopefully the next one is better… but knowing that Onley tends to regurgitate the same story over and over I’m not expecting much.
Profile Image for Krys (spicy.spine.breaker).
1,056 reviews59 followers
February 27, 2024
PATREON ARC review: Read this in a single sitting and loved every second - no surprise there. These NE crossovers & cameos give me life. My absolute favorite thing.

Shiloh and Ever are bestie soulmates. I LOVE IT.

Seven. Mal. Oh how I loved these two characters, one as always, the latter new and a complete surprise. I need so much more Malachi in my life.

FRTC
Profile Image for Colleen (colleenreads40).
418 reviews17 followers
February 25, 2025
Rogue is the second book in Onley James's Jericho's Boys series, which is a spinoff from her Necessary Evils series. Rogue is a dark strangers to lovers romance with a guaranteed happily ever after. It's told from a third person dual point of view. As always, please review the content and trigger warnings and always take care of yourself while reading. You can expect some insta-love vibes, a sweet "baby deer" main character and his more-than-willing rescuer, found family, lots of humour, some Mulvaney cameos, well-deserved vigilante violence and justice, and some very fun new characters for us to meet!

About: Being a part of Jericho's Boys saved Levi, whose life was consumed by his mother's addiction. Him and his roommate might struggle to make ends meet sometimes, but his mother no longer has her claws in him. Life is fine until a scared young man points a gun at Levi during his overnight shift at a convenience store. Shiloh's just trying to survive and protect himself from his sadistic brother. His brother's ordered him to get close to Levi no matter what. Shiloh's been a prisoner his entire life, and his pain calls to Levi's in a way no one else ever has. Shiloh has secrets and unfathomable trauma, but can these two, with the help of Jericho and his boys, beat the unfortunate hand life has dealt them?
Levi was so warm. Shiloh wanted to burrow into that warmth. Levi felt safe. He felt like…promise. The promise of safety, security, love.

Another great addition to the Jericho's Boys series! This book had all the Onley James goodness we've come to expect including vigilante justice and violence, psychopaths, snark and humour, and some Kindle-melting spice. I loved Shiloh and Levi so much and was rooting for them because the odds were just so stacked against them! I truly commend Onley for writing such a terrifying character in the form of Shiloh's oldest brother. He certainly gave me the chills. On the other hand, we got to meet some other awesome characters and were spoiled with lots of Mulvaney cameos and I'll never say no to those.

Shiloh's character did feel like it took some time to settle, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to the trauma his character had been enduring for his entire life as well as the manipulation at the hands of his brother. If you'll remember from Paladin, Ever actually bit Levi and he was kind of petulant, so I wasn't totally sure what to expect from him but I adored him. Him and Shiloh were such a great fit. The protector (as well as the family) that Shiloh desperately needed and deserved.

I'm looking forward to the next books, and hoping to get to know some of the new characters we met a little more (I'm looking at you Mal and Enzo!). I'm so glad we have this series so we can still bask in this universe!
“You’re so fucking hot,” levi said against his lips. “I can’t fucking get enough of you. I just want to crawl inside you and live there. You’re so pretty. You’re…fucking everything to me.”
Profile Image for Ellie ♡.
341 reviews35 followers
June 23, 2024
I think this is my favorite read by Onley James so far. I loved it from beginning to end, it was perfect.

I thought that nobody could beat Ever's cuteness but Shiloh is on the same level of loveliness. And Levi, I loved him! They're a mix of hot and adorable together, they perfectly match. They made me laugh and swoon, they're playful, kinky and caring. I really enjoyed reading about them. Onley James knows how to make me like insta-love but with broken boys with traumas and possessiveness, it all makes sense.

And of course the Mulvaneys are in this book too. I will never get tired of them, they're awesome!

Can we talk about Seven and Enzo though??? I want their book right now! They give brat x Daddy vibes and I am so here for it!
Profile Image for embright15.
866 reviews7 followers
March 6, 2024
Unlike necessary evils, this series is boring me to tears.
Same plots, different characters.
I don’t love that every single mc falls for. Sweet sassy soft boy. The tragic heroine in each novel just happens to be a twink with a bad case of ptsd. And the hero is always a rough and tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks who is only soft and sweet to their partner.
The plot takes a side seat to the relationships and the relationships are boring and predictable. The only thing that kept me interested were cameos of the characters I loved in the NE saga.
I’m bummed cuz I was looking forward to getting to know all of Jerichos boys… but I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series.
Profile Image for Kk.
1,887 reviews14 followers
April 12, 2024
Oh … What can I say about this book other than I really loved it. However, I am giving it a 4 star due to the complete doormat that was Shiloh. There were some eyerolling moments and things that I just couldn’t get my head around.

The Mulvaneys popped out of the wings to have some fun and utlilize Ever as a babysitter. Why would you want murderous psychopaths to have kids? Felix was talking about finding a womb to rent which was harder proposition than finding a condo in New York.

Why was Micah running statistics on murder hotpot data then naturally came to the conclusion that it was the mulvaneys? Why not another family if Calliope was doing her job? I am not just seeing this as a plausible story sidebar. 4loco or not.

So much explaining though.. Oh.. Micah wants dirt on the Mulvaneys so he sends the resident punching bag -Shiloh- to pull a gun on Levi. So that automatically means that Levi will sex Shiloh up and take him home to Jericho who is married to Atticus who is a member of the Mulvaney family. That is stretching the bubblegum a bit far.

Still I loved it.. and I wants it !

Shiloh, Malachi, and Micah are brothers. Micah is a sadistic jackhole who loves torturing Shiloh. Now, Micah has decided to take over the downtown area but sees Jericho's boys as a threat, along with the Mulvaneys. So he sends Shiloh to infiltrate but Shiloh is not mentally equipped to handle the violence and also, the sexual awakening he as with Levi.

I like seeing the world building add up. You have Seven in the next book with Enzo, then probably Malachi and Nico whether they understand it or not. It feels very complete the way that OJ writes it.

I do recommend this book to any who loves OJ’s writing and can’t wait for more!
Profile Image for Lilibet Bombshell.
1,064 reviews112 followers
March 1, 2024
I could just leave this review at, “It’s Onley James, it’s in the Necessary Evils universe, of course I gave it five stars do you even know me?”, but I made a promise to myself that this year I’d try and post more reviews for ebooks I read and love and not just leave star ratings for them online. This task got away from me for most of February because I had more titles to read than days in the month, but this is the first Onley James title of 2024, so I’m taking the time out to write a review for Rogue because it simultaneously reminded me of why I fell in love with Onley’s work in the first place and why I’ve grown so obsessed with how the Necessary Evils universe has grown and expanded into the wonderful, violent, slutty three-headed creature it is now.

Rogue is about Levi, one of Jericho’s boys, and Shiloh, a seemingly terrified bunny of a boy who was sent by his older brother to kill Levi. But this is the Necessary Evils universe–attempted murder ranks up there with kidnapping as a courting ritual. Poor bunny Shiloh can’t pull the trigger, Levi takes it from him when he pulls him in to kiss him to cover up the attempt from the security cameras, and you just know the two imprinted on one another like duckies.

Levi and Shiloh aren’t as cute as Arsen and Ever (from Paladin), but they’re so sweet to one another. My heart broke for Shiloh time and again because no one had ever had the time or capability to take care of Shiloh beyond basic necessities before. It was so obvious that underneath all of that trauma there’s a huge heart waiting to love everyone. Definitely a plus for the Feelings Faction, and a great bestie for Ever.

One of my favorite parts in the whole book was watching the Feelings Faction take care of Shiloh when Levi didn’t know how to and Levi trusting them to do it. It’s okay to admit that you might not have all the answers for your partner’s problems and letting people you love and trust help you.

I don’t need to talk about the spice, do I? I mean, it’s Onley James.

All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Book Series/Contemporary Romance/Dark Romance/Gay Romance/Kindle Unlimited/LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance/Romance Series/Spice Level 3
Profile Image for Catarina Águas.
2,353 reviews207 followers
May 20, 2024
God, these books are so good. I'll be honest, it's their banter and their banter with the Mulvaneys that get me, I laugh my *ss off every time.
This one will be 3,5 stars but I choose to put 4 stars, like I said, for the banter.
These couple really didn't captivated me much, it all happened too fast, even by Mulvaney's standards.
Honestly, the s*x scenes were too much and I skip at least 3, don't like too do it but in this book I just couldn't.
I liked them, Levi was so protective of Shiloh and Shiloh was a sweet baby. They were cute but almost identical to the first book.
I will obv read the rest and I can't wait for Seven and Enzo and Nico and Mal. And I have to say my favorite of the boys is Cree, I love a mysterious man ;)
Profile Image for Rebecca.
1,442 reviews84 followers
March 5, 2024
This was sweet. It's filled with all the classic James tropes: traumatized boys, instant obsessive love, found family, and delicious vengeance. She has a formula that works for her, and I eat it up each time.

Yet, as much as I liked Shiloh and Levi, my favorite aspects of this book were the two new couples introduced here. Both have dynamics I'm very interested in reading about in upcoming stories.

Overall this was a good, if predictable, romance. But predictable isn't always a negative. Instead, here it brings me back into the comfort of this very large family James has created, a family I can't get enough of.
Profile Image for S a n d r a.
1,343 reviews194 followers
March 16, 2024
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

I swear there isn't a single guy in Jericho's gang that doesn't intrigue me, including those we've seen little of and those we haven't met yet. The concept of this group is irresistible to me and meets all the requirements to be my perfect reading fantasy. I adore found or chosen families, and that's exactly what these guys are: guys who have complex issues and have found in Jericho safe place where they feel protected and cared for. They all share an ethical and moral code that has led them to act as vigilantes in their neighborhood, to keep it clean and protect its people when justice fails them.

We saw little of Levi in Paladin, but what we saw was enough to want his book. And his (atypical to say the least) encounter with Shiloh and his instant obsession with the boy and his well-being is pure wonder.

Onley James has the fascinating ability to create relatively precipitated or instalovish romances and make the reader not feel it that way. Because that's precisely what happens in this book (and in several of the previous ones): Levi and Shiloh have an immediate chemistry, and although things develop at the pace they do because of each one's circumstances, both are lost to each other from the first night.

This time, the angst is quite strong, and the hurt/comfort component is essential to the story. Shiloh has lived a life of constant abuse from his older brother, whom he sees as an unbeatable enemy against whom it's not worth fighting because so far, trying has only brought him more pain and suffering.

Seeing Shiloh open up to the possibility of a better future with Levi, and also seeing the rest of the Jericho’s boys get to know the new family member and slowly open up to him and the possibility of trusting him, has been pure ecstasy.

Shiloh has a lot of Ever vibes, although both boys are made of different material due to their vastly different childhoods. But like Ever, I can see Shiloh becoming one of the most protected pets by both Coe’s boys and they Mulvaneys.

The mystery part has been interesting. Having Micha, Shiloh's abusive brother, as the central axis has been quite an experience because he turned out to be a much smarter and more scheming character than you can imagine when you start reading, which leads to several twists and setbacks as the plot progresses.

I love that the author finally seems to have removed a limit on the number of pages her books can have. In Necessary Evils, all the books had more or less the same length (even Maniac), and that negatively affected, in my opinion, the last book (and yes, I know the author has confessed that while writing this book, she wasn't in her best health and emotionally speaking, and everything affects, but the fact that Maniac could have been much more than it was remains).

The three spin-off books, however, are considerably longer, which allows the plot to deepen further and for us to have a good romantic development at the same time without losing, also, the possibility of seeing cameos and interactions with the characters we love from the previous books.

Furthermore, the length of the book has also allowed the author to already include the direction that two of the following stories will take: Seven's and Nico's. The next one (I think it's already confirmed) will be Seven's book, and I'm dying to know what will become of him with a certain character that appears in this book. Nico's also looks promising, but I don't want to comment on it to avoid spoiling anything.

Overall, I consider that with each book, the series improves as it becomes more defined, and we have a very deep structure that gives the reader a very satisfying feeling while reading.
Profile Image for taylor :).
267 reviews60 followers
dnf
June 10, 2024
dnf.

onleys books are so predictable. i’ll read the blurb and be like heck yeah this sounds good. and then read the book and be like i have read this before. but i will not learn because i will 100% read the next book because the blurb sounds good LOL
Profile Image for Christine.
1,326 reviews83 followers
December 27, 2024
I was so mixed on this! One of those books where I liked all the side characters a lot and felt more excited about their future books. A different book order would’ve helped, because this set us up with basically the same characters and personalities back-to-back with Ever and Shiloh, and similar dynamics with Arsen and Shiloh.

Whenever other potential character combos were teased I just wished I was on their book.
Overall it was decent, but didn’t feel special or unique outside the side character pairings being teased (Seven and Nico both look to have fun books ahead).

*spoilers for general plot and Mulvaney cameos below*

I didn’t like the decision to have sex without a condom without consent because Levi was soooo horny, or the multiple sexual situations like public sex Levi sprung on Shiloh without any discussion, right after it was established he had sexual trauma and issues advocating for himself.
It would’ve been easy to just copy and paste those moments to after they made their sexual bucket list so Shiloh wasn’t potentially being pressured into public sex by a murderer surrounded with his crew of fellow murderers, and he had communicated what he was into at least a little (besides not being into SA orchestrated by the book’s villain).
There were also several sex scenes essentially in a row without any plot or character development between, and I wish they had been spread out a bit more.

I was a bit bummed to see the premise of a small-time local version of revenge young adults then being revealed as something bigger that required the Mulvaneys to solve a lot of the plot as well. It’s taking away some of what is supposed to make this its own series. A call or cameo or two is one thing, tagging in a half dozen of them multiple times a book is another. Jericho’s crew was allegedly functional before Mulvaney marriage, so I was hoping we’d see the local crew actually do things themselves.

The decisions the series is going to with the Mulvaney powers are not ones I’m into. They are making it clearer and clearer that it’s an open secret that the Mulvaneys are mass murderers known by a ton of wealthy and influential people. In this one they explicitly double down that due to their wealth and government connections they are literally immune to all consequences, and flaunt and taunt that fact. They threaten people’s families by saying basically the government will murder their families if they try to investigate the Mulvaneys. It’s gone from at least a secret operation with key people informed to just bragging and threatening more broadly that they are literally untouchable. Not into that.

Overall I’d say I’ll grab the next one on Kindle Unlimited as they are usually available for 30 days before going off KU and having to be purchased. But I’m not as excited about the series after this book.
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
3,793 reviews30 followers
January 21, 2025
Jan 2025
Kindle edition

Re-read for a group challenge week 2. Still more interested in Malachi and Enzo. The whole thing with Micah was more oh well, you're going in a meat grinder this time around. It was funny how quickly they theorised Shiloh was a spy and then he just came out and said it. Freckles and Jericho still strong in the background and making new connections thanks to the boys. I like how Atticus has mostly lost his name and just become Freckles.


October 2024
Kindle edition

Cringed over The Bone Collector so tried this one instead. Nice to see the boys still getting supervised by Jericho, Atticus and the rest. Levi was instant all in. Shiloh's first chapters were harsh, but as soon as the truth was all out that he was a spy, there was an oh it's all right now feeling, so I was more interested in Malachi. As soon as it said elfin ears, it was Nico's match, and Seven with the lawyer. Stayed up late to finish but did skim the sex scenes. The Mulvaney's were dramatic as always and not sus at all with the meetups. Did feel sorry for August, though it was nice Noah finally feels more relaxed around Thomas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Dana.
393 reviews54 followers
March 3, 2024
“Shiloh stared at him. ‘I had no idea you were so…’ ‘Romantic? Sexy? Swoony?’ ‘Corny? Sappy? Embarrassing?’ Shiloh countered, a huge grin on his face.”

🖤 Possessive MC
🖤 Love at first sight
🖤 Traumatic childhoods
🖤 Family drama
🖤 Forced proximity
🖤 Bratty cutie pie x whipped scary gamer bf

“If it was possible, he’d scoop him up and cage him behind his ribs so nobody could get to him without going through Levi first.”

Shiloh is an adorable little demon, he’s so completely traumatized yet comfortable with Levi enough to be a little sassy brat all the time and I love him for it. Mostly because Levi can barely keep up! Constantly kept on his toes, Levi latches on to Shiloh as his and he’ll do whatever Shiloh wants whenever he wants it.

“Atticus chuckled. ‘He put a gun to your head and you…kissed him?” He looked at his husband fondly. “Yeah, he’s definitely one of yours.’”

Onley sure does love her traumatized boys. And there is so much trauma in this one. So big big warning to read the trigger warnings!!

“He wasn’t even a person; he was just three mental health issues in a trench coat.”

The plot of this book definitely takes a back seat to the romance and wraps up nicely in the end with one phone call from Thomas to the powers that be which made it a little pointless but also a good nod to The Watch. And while it’s majority smut, there is relationship development between Levi and Shiloh that is really cute. I love how open and honest and vulnerable they are with each other, both leaning on the other during times of emotional distress and talking things through. I also love how therapy positive they both are because they NEED it!

“Boyfriend. It seemed such a sad word for what Shiloh meant to him. Maybe he was just picking up on his friends’ habits of imprinting on their soulmates like baby ducklings, but Shiloh was it for him. Levi wanted to look at that face for the rest of his life.”

The parallels between Shiloh and Ever are clearly there - two sides of the same coin, both little demons in their own right. I love the friendship that develops there and their double date nights! And of course I loved all the cameos from the Mulvaneys, especially Atticus and Jericho - I love getting to see my favorite couple and their life in this series🥰 I can’t wait for the rest of this series!
Profile Image for Chloe.
372 reviews37 followers
March 10, 2024
Rogue by Onley James

💚 Hurt/Comfort
💚 Insta Love/Lust
💚 Mental Health Rep
💚 Sex Bucket List
💚 Found Family
🔥 Mild Exhibitionism, Sex Toys, Sex Tape

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Humour: 🤭🤭🤭.5
Intimacy: 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂
Angst: 🥺🥺🥺

Third person dual pov 👀

CW (from author): This book contains talk of suicidal ideations and suicide of a parent in graphic detail, on page physical assault of a main character, brief mentions of past sexual assault and sexual abuse of a child, talk of alcohol abuse by a side character, and graphic torture of people who totally deserve it.

CW: explicit violence, verbal and physical abuse, murder, gaslighting, panic attacks, PTSD, disassociation and mild degradation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lea.
266 reviews52 followers
March 4, 2024
I really like this new serie. Maybe this book couple dynamic is a little too much like the first tome. Nothing wrong with that but I would have loved for them to not be in a row. Maybe a different kind of couplendynamic between them as a breather. But beside that, I just loved it all.
Profile Image for Cecilie Birkshøj.
Author 15 books40 followers
March 2, 2024
I love Onley James but this book could have done with another round of editing tbh. There were a lot of sentences that were straight-up duplicates within the same page... It sadly disrupted the reading experience.
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