Shatter Me: A Union Forged in Blood

by Kai Grey

TW'

Light torture.
SA.
CSA mentioned.
Pregnancy (forced.)
Dubcon.
Eating disorder.
Suicidal attempt.
PTSD flashbacks.

Zacharias Matsumoto met Seraphina Emily McMillan six months ago when she came to university. He met her in class when she sat next to him. There were no other seats in the room, so she had no other choice, but she showed no fear of him. Zacharias is intimidating, and is used to people being afraid of him, but Sera is kind and gentle from the moment he meets her, though very shy. Zacharias grew up with his abusive, domineering dad who wants him to follow in his Yakuza footsteps, and will stop at nothing to make him do so, but Zacharias wants to have a career in music.

Since he met Sera, he can't get her out of his mind, but she's nothing like the wild, dangerous, sexy women he usually dates, so he keeps his distance, believing that she's better off without him. He does keep an eye on her at school, though, and has stepped in to stop people from bullying her before--usually in ways she doesn't see or know about. He's captivated by her, even though he fully believes she can do so much better and be so much safer away from a Yakuza man.

Until one day, his father ropes him into attacking their arch rival's club, and he's horrified to find Sera inside. Then he knows he'll have to do something to get her out alive, even if it hurts her to do it. He'll have to claim her as his, in front of everyone, or face losing her for good.

Genres: Dark Romance, College

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2025

Reviews

[Darkreads]

Dnf at 20%. The combination of my most disliked "evil daddy" trope and the weak MMC just didn't do it for me. Also, the MMC wants to be a singer and we were treated to SEVENTEEN pages of him singing a duet with the FMC. Yes, I counted. In addition, nobody's motivations really make sense. This is a new author and I think she has promise, but this one is a miss for me.

[Athena, the goddess of books · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an interesting book, but the biggest downside is the cliffhanger ending. I wish we had more insight into the characters at the beginning—what she thought of him, whether she found him attractive or not. Instead, we’re thrown straight into the plot when he’s forced to rape her in front of his men, even though he’s supposedly the boss’s son. I was disappointed that he had no real authority over the people he’s meant to lead.

I also didn’t understand the whole idea of making her orgasm before the rape—if she ends up deeply traumatized and their relationship is non-existent, why not just go full-on rape? Did the author think "if he makes her come, it’ll somehow make things better"? It makes no sense. And what’s with her constant stuttering only when talking to him? If she actually had a speech problem, fine, but it’s just with him!

Then, the entire book revolves around her trauma, and just when they finally get married and things start to settle, she finds out she’s pregnant—and the book ends.

hope the next one will be better!

[Ashley - The Tattered Page]

HOOK: “TW: Noncon, dark romance, he definitely gets her prego.

Any other books with this vibe?? My god, I loved this book. It had me in a ch0kehold from the first page.

Shatter Me: A Union Forged in Bl00d (with o's, not 0's.) By Kai Grey. I doubt anyone else has read this yet because it just came out. But I'm needing vibes like this. The second one isn't out yet and I NEED more like this.

Context: Y@kuza boss's son falls in love with naive University student, tries to keep his distance, and his father forces them together. MMC is so in love with her, he sits on the couch with her head on his lap and his hand wrapped around her forehead because she has a migraine and he always has warm hands. He's so soft with her, and so not soft with anyone else, it's just . . . Idk, I need more!! Help plsssss. Y@kuza preferred, standalones and series are both loved! (Especially if that series is already fully out.)

Bonus points if the MMC is snarky. This one is! He is so snarky.”

[Alex Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Not a lot but still.



Ok for starters, it was put in the trigger warnings that there is dubcon, but let’s be honest it was straight up rape. Which I did not appreciate not being warned about that. I would not’ve read it had I known otherwise.
The story itself is fine, there is not much plot in my opinion but that’s just me. I feel that the author could’ve given the characters more of a personality. The mmc was very attentive and caring towards the fmc, despite the way they first got together. To me, the fmc had no personality outside of her trauma. You don’t see much of her personality or really anything. I just feel that it was lacking and the story flew by some moments that I feel could’ve helped readers connect more with the characters. Everything was very one dimensional, aside from the start of their relationship very little happens.
There were grammatical errors throughout the story but it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen.

[maddy ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i dont even know where/how i found this book, but it was so bad??😭 the constant “stuttering” through the entire book just made me question even continuing, because sure i can see some thrown in for effect, but EVERY dialogue is insane. we were given 0 context on why the mmc even fell in love with the fmc in the first place, just jumped from page 1 to him being obsessed with her.

the timeline of their marriage also didn’t align correctly. they were given 3 months from the day he took her, yet she was healing for 3 weeks, had a 5 week fast forward, and still somehow had 2 months until the wedding??

i think the book had some promise, but needed a few more rounds of edits before it was actually published

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of this book. I thought the female MC had absolutely no personality. The male MC's only trait was an obsession with the female. The editing errors were prolific. The 15-page long song at the beginning was atrocious. The female MC's inability to speak without stammering around Zach drove me crazy. And we're not talking about a medical condition. She could speak just fine with anyone else. But every time they had a conversation, she couldn't get more than a word out without stuttering. For literally hundreds of pages. I had to skim over all of her dialogue because it was so annoying.

I won't be continuing with this series.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible. And for a first-time author? Omfg. The smut is top tier. The MMC is equal parts intimidating and scary and sweet and soft.

The only complaint I have is the cliffhanger! I read somewhere that the author didn't want to do a cliffhanger either but that this was going to be a full book, but it ended up being too long so he had to split it in half. Either way, this book is incredible and so worth the read. It's the best damn Yakuza book I think I've ever read.

[CC Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because of cliffhanger

This book is awesome but I wouldn't have read it if I knew there was a cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers- they are just a sign or either poor writing skills or money grabs. But... the writing was awesome and the story itself is great so...

[A. Lakewood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing.

The smut is incredible. It is more plot-heavy than smut, though, and I love that we get to watch Zach and Sera slowly build toward being friends, rather than them just jumping straight in.

Does have a cliffhanger though!

[NayBookrecs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had some dark elements but definitely wasn’t what I was expecting , them basic being forced into the relationship. He tried to genuinely make her love him and see that he isn’t good but for her he is. Wasn’t what I expect but definitely enjoyed the story nonetheless .

[Tânia Pinto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, except for the singing together part, had to Skip it, because it was too long and didn’t add anything to the story.
Please ckeck the trigger warnings, this book hás many dark subjects.
I can’t belive the second book it’s not out!

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mafia
3 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Non con/dub con
Forced pregnancy
Annoyed that it’s a multipart

[Cindy Wyllia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good but it just left me hanging and I hate not knowing if there is another book or even when it is coming out