What do you think?
Rate this book
Dirty Love
In a small town like ours, you're either straight or you keep your mouth shut.
Being gay would be dirty.
Touching the guy who's been your stepbrother since you were three would be dirty.
Falling in love with him would be even worse.
I protect him because it's my job.
I resist him because I have to.
But when one night leads to two, and two nights lead to more, lines are blurred and morals are tossed, and my sanity takes a walk.
Now we're risking everything we have for something we know we shouldn't want.
And the only thing we'll have left is each other.
Being gay would be dirty.
Touching the guy who's been your stepbrother since you were three would be dirty.
Falling in love with him would be even worse.
I protect him because it's my job.
I resist him because I have to.
But when one night leads to two, and two nights lead to more, lines are blurred and morals are tossed, and my sanity takes a walk.
Now we're risking everything we have for something we know we shouldn't want.
And the only thing we'll have left is each other.
Audible Audio
Published August 19, 2025
658 people are currently reading
6229 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,158 reviews
January 24, 2022
Buddy read with my girl Mariam who somehow managed to like this train wreck of book. 😮💨
“I didn’t punch him because he’s gay, you idiot,” I grit out, so close my lips are brushing his. “I punched him because you’re mine.”
let’s start this off by saying that I recommended this book to her. This was MY most anticipated book. And I hated it. Which is such a shocker because I mean
☝️ this was a step-brother to lovers
✌️ it was taboo and toxic - my two favorite words
🥉 it had a cruel and over possessive hero
so it was right up my alley. But nOoOope. This was NOT what I wanted.
“I can’t just sit wherever I want, Kade.”
“No, but you’ll do it anyway,” he informs me, leaning over to tease my ear with his mouth. “You’ll do whatever I tell you to do. Won’t you, baby brother?”
Kade ( who my hoe of a friend is a hoe for) was just overbearing and annoyed the fuck out of me. His controlling personality and top dog bs in school where apparently drug therapy was their major did not work for me. It’s funny because I gave 5 stars to this authors previous book and it had similar elements but I enjoyed it sooo much more. I think it was because of the friends circle and family dynamic that was missing here.
“Like now, for example, he knows I’m standing here like a loyal puppy waiting for his master to say come, but he pays me no attention because he’s an asshole.
It’s one of the things I love most about him.”
Nicky was completely dependent on Kade. Inside and outside the bedroom. His bratty behaviour was entertaining at best but the book was beyond stereotypical. The alpha and his sulking shadow.
“Nicky takes the coke from my hand and I snatch it back, glaring at him from beneath my lashes while I dip my head to take a hit. Once I’m satisfied it’s not poison, I hand it over and he smiles to himself, shoving my key into the bag to snort his own hit”
- charming
The gruesome scenes took me by surprise and I needed to bleach my eyes after some very specific moments in the book that was completely OTT and unnecessary. The bigoted town, the asshole dad, dead beat/ dead mom, the jocks who love pussy, the sluts who love dicks, the alpha who fucks out his anger & his lover who is 17 going on 7.
i also didn’t like the sex. Kade’s dirty talk could’ve used some help.
“I didn’t punch him because he’s gay, you idiot,” I grit out, so close my lips are brushing his. “I punched him because you’re mine.”
let’s start this off by saying that I recommended this book to her. This was MY most anticipated book. And I hated it. Which is such a shocker because I mean
☝️ this was a step-brother to lovers
✌️ it was taboo and toxic - my two favorite words
🥉 it had a cruel and over possessive hero
so it was right up my alley. But nOoOope. This was NOT what I wanted.
“I can’t just sit wherever I want, Kade.”
“No, but you’ll do it anyway,” he informs me, leaning over to tease my ear with his mouth. “You’ll do whatever I tell you to do. Won’t you, baby brother?”
Kade ( who my hoe of a friend is a hoe for) was just overbearing and annoyed the fuck out of me. His controlling personality and top dog bs in school where apparently drug therapy was their major did not work for me. It’s funny because I gave 5 stars to this authors previous book and it had similar elements but I enjoyed it sooo much more. I think it was because of the friends circle and family dynamic that was missing here.
“Like now, for example, he knows I’m standing here like a loyal puppy waiting for his master to say come, but he pays me no attention because he’s an asshole.
It’s one of the things I love most about him.”
Nicky was completely dependent on Kade. Inside and outside the bedroom. His bratty behaviour was entertaining at best but the book was beyond stereotypical. The alpha and his sulking shadow.
“Nicky takes the coke from my hand and I snatch it back, glaring at him from beneath my lashes while I dip my head to take a hit. Once I’m satisfied it’s not poison, I hand it over and he smiles to himself, shoving my key into the bag to snort his own hit”
- charming
The gruesome scenes took me by surprise and I needed to bleach my eyes after some very specific moments in the book that was completely OTT and unnecessary. The bigoted town, the asshole dad, dead beat/ dead mom, the jocks who love pussy, the sluts who love dicks, the alpha who fucks out his anger & his lover who is 17 going on 7.
i also didn’t like the sex. Kade’s dirty talk could’ve used some help.
![Profile Image for Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1700013408i%2F101358081._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
March 5, 2024
|| 3.0 stars ||
➛First read: February 2022 | ★3.5 stars
➛Second read: December 2022 | ★4.0 stars
➛Third read: March 2024 | ★3.0 stars
Even after finishing this, I am still not entirely sure if I thought this book was the weirdest shit I have ever read or if I shamefully loved it. To be honest, it's probably both.
I can admit this was weird as hell; it definitely made me extremely uncomfortable, but even knowing all that, it somehow just did not stop me from enjoying it.
So… here we are.
This book is all about Kade and Nicky: step-brothers who hate everyone but each other and who are completely obsessed and in love. It's toxic, it's angsty, it's sick, it's creepy, and it's hot. Yup, you heard that right. For some reason, I was really into the toxicity between these two. The jealousies, the possessiveness, the violence, the over-the-top obsession; it just did it for me. It worked.
I was also surprised to find that I cared so much about these characters and was invested enough in the story to truly be outraged when one of them fell victim to a hate-crime.
I mean, obviously, you're always outraged by shit like that because it's horrible, but there can still be degrees in how much you're really into the story and thus, how much you are feeling the rage and anger towards the wrongdoers.
In this case, I was into it so much that I was damn well praying to see them all die, and during the final revenge, my mind was chanting "Yea! MuRDEr THEM, MURDER THEM!!", which was… you know… really the moment I started to doubt my sanity... but I digress.
I'm honestly going to take my outrage as a good thing, though, as the book definitely made me feel the emotions it wanted me to feel.
I do have to say that I generally enjoyed the first half of this book a lot more than the second, as I preferred the lingering tension between Kade and Nicky before they gave in to their urges.
Once they gave in to them, they started having sex on-page a little more frequently than I thought was necessary, although it never became boring or anything. These scenes were really quite spicy and always had the right mood. I just wish there was still a little more talking involved in the relationship. There was definitely depth, but there could have been more.
Long story short, I should be embarrassed I liked this book, but.... oh well. I'm really not.
As long as you realize the story is disturbing and weird, what's the harm in enjoying the ride?
➛First read: February 2022 | ★3.5 stars
➛Second read: December 2022 | ★4.0 stars
➛Third read: March 2024 | ★3.0 stars
Even after finishing this, I am still not entirely sure if I thought this book was the weirdest shit I have ever read or if I shamefully loved it. To be honest, it's probably both.
I can admit this was weird as hell; it definitely made me extremely uncomfortable, but even knowing all that, it somehow just did not stop me from enjoying it.
So… here we are.
This book is all about Kade and Nicky: step-brothers who hate everyone but each other and who are completely obsessed and in love. It's toxic, it's angsty, it's sick, it's creepy, and it's hot. Yup, you heard that right. For some reason, I was really into the toxicity between these two. The jealousies, the possessiveness, the violence, the over-the-top obsession; it just did it for me. It worked.
I was also surprised to find that I cared so much about these characters and was invested enough in the story to truly be outraged when one of them fell victim to a hate-crime.
I mean, obviously, you're always outraged by shit like that because it's horrible, but there can still be degrees in how much you're really into the story and thus, how much you are feeling the rage and anger towards the wrongdoers.
In this case, I was into it so much that I was damn well praying to see them all die, and during the final revenge, my mind was chanting "Yea! MuRDEr THEM, MURDER THEM!!", which was… you know… really the moment I started to doubt my sanity... but I digress.
I'm honestly going to take my outrage as a good thing, though, as the book definitely made me feel the emotions it wanted me to feel.
I do have to say that I generally enjoyed the first half of this book a lot more than the second, as I preferred the lingering tension between Kade and Nicky before they gave in to their urges.
Once they gave in to them, they started having sex on-page a little more frequently than I thought was necessary, although it never became boring or anything. These scenes were really quite spicy and always had the right mood. I just wish there was still a little more talking involved in the relationship. There was definitely depth, but there could have been more.
Long story short, I should be embarrassed I liked this book, but.... oh well. I'm really not.
As long as you realize the story is disturbing and weird, what's the harm in enjoying the ride?
January 21, 2022
Stop whatever you're doing. Before you read this review, click that "Want to Read" button first, because I promise you, you're going to want to read this. Trust me. Okay carry on 😋
Tropes: MM, N/A, Stepbrothers-to-lovers, Taboo, Forbidden (probably missing a few tbh 😅)
Please heed the trigger warnings 🖤
...
"The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky. Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care."
I'm prefacing this by simply saying, I'm not sure I've ever read a more possessive character than Kade Rivers. Actually scratch that, I've *never* read a more possessive character than Kade Rivers. Periodt. I'm still swooning 🥴
This is a Bethany Winters classic it's got hot characters with hot sexual tension, hot intense pining, hot combustible chemistry between said characters, the tension snaps eventually and it all leads up to, you guessed it, hot hot hot sexy times between said characters. It's also got a touch of angst 😭
The love between Kade and Nicky is taboo, it's filthy, it's messed up, it's toxic, but I drank it all like a tall glass of water. They've been stepbrothers almost their entire lives and so while they're not related by blood, they are related in all other ways, which renders their relationship forbidden. And although they are the same age, there is an obvious size difference which of course adds to the spice factor because there's a lot of throat grabbing. KADE RIVERS = CHOKE ME ENERGY.
Amidst the steamy scenes (and there are plenty!!) you get moments like this, which just give you all the butterflies:
"I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it."
I loved both of them individually but I loved them even more together. Their dedication, their strength, and their resilience are unmatched. It's still very much OTT but pleaseee inject this stuff into my veins!!
“I love you, you idiot,” I grit out, stressing each word to ensure he hears me loud and clear. “I’m so fucking mad I can’t see straight , but it’s not at you. It’s for you. Every fucking thing I do and every move I make is for you."
Everytime I read one of this author's books, I think, "there's no way she can top this" and obviously I'm always wrong because she 👏🏾 does 👏🏾the👏🏾 thing.
Tropes: MM, N/A, Stepbrothers-to-lovers, Taboo, Forbidden (probably missing a few tbh 😅)
Please heed the trigger warnings 🖤
...
"The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky. Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care."
I'm prefacing this by simply saying, I'm not sure I've ever read a more possessive character than Kade Rivers. Actually scratch that, I've *never* read a more possessive character than Kade Rivers. Periodt. I'm still swooning 🥴
This is a Bethany Winters classic it's got hot characters with hot sexual tension, hot intense pining, hot combustible chemistry between said characters, the tension snaps eventually and it all leads up to, you guessed it, hot hot hot sexy times between said characters. It's also got a touch of angst 😭
The love between Kade and Nicky is taboo, it's filthy, it's messed up, it's toxic, but I drank it all like a tall glass of water. They've been stepbrothers almost their entire lives and so while they're not related by blood, they are related in all other ways, which renders their relationship forbidden. And although they are the same age, there is an obvious size difference which of course adds to the spice factor because there's a lot of throat grabbing. KADE RIVERS = CHOKE ME ENERGY.
Amidst the steamy scenes (and there are plenty!!) you get moments like this, which just give you all the butterflies:
"I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it."
I loved both of them individually but I loved them even more together. Their dedication, their strength, and their resilience are unmatched. It's still very much OTT but pleaseee inject this stuff into my veins!!
“I love you, you idiot,” I grit out, stressing each word to ensure he hears me loud and clear. “I’m so fucking mad I can’t see straight , but it’s not at you. It’s for you. Every fucking thing I do and every move I make is for you."
Everytime I read one of this author's books, I think, "there's no way she can top this" and obviously I'm always wrong because she 👏🏾 does 👏🏾the👏🏾 thing.
September 5, 2025
Uneven start but surprising, excellent conclusion.
I love that the book starts with a playlist, and that the playlist is actually good. So few authors put in the effort to do this; I'm glad Ms. Winters does.
Their father is absolutely deplorable, and this could be explored further. Instead, we’re mostly just told how awful he is. As much as I don’t want to see the characters suffer any further, this would help to solve some of the early lack of cohesion. We don’t get to see his murderous abuse firsthand until the end.
The interactions between Kade and Nicky are everything. Their dynamic is unique and endearing and raw. Going from cute and sweet to dangerous and forbidden is a challenge, and it’s achieved adeptly here.
Several grossly overused words. “Abs”…a guy who has them refers to it as a stomach; definition and other details, sure, and I get that they’re 18…but the word “abs” is ubiquitous (40x). So are variations of "fist" (37x). Unless it’s in the gross, sexual way…just don’t. There’s a free thesaurus online.
I love Kade’s possessiveness. I love him. Period. He is an exceptional character with really cool development. I support the choice to make him always gay, and just not being able to accept it for a long time, rather than some fake gay-for-you trope that falls flat on its face.
The last 65-70% of the novel is where it goes from above average to exceptional. The revenge is unrestrained and vivid. Yes, sometimes violence is the answer. Prison and Preston--it works Eric gets what's coming to him.
The first two-thirds of the story vacillate. It’s as if the author and Kade are simultaneously at war with themselves. Once they embrace what they need to (her narrative and his destiny), this work soars. The ending is beautiful and visceral. Obviously this is not a commonplace romantic situation, so the taboo nature needs to be handled correctly. And it unequivocally is.
I love that the book starts with a playlist, and that the playlist is actually good. So few authors put in the effort to do this; I'm glad Ms. Winters does.
Their father is absolutely deplorable, and this could be explored further. Instead, we’re mostly just told how awful he is. As much as I don’t want to see the characters suffer any further, this would help to solve some of the early lack of cohesion. We don’t get to see his murderous abuse firsthand until the end.
The interactions between Kade and Nicky are everything. Their dynamic is unique and endearing and raw. Going from cute and sweet to dangerous and forbidden is a challenge, and it’s achieved adeptly here.
Several grossly overused words. “Abs”…a guy who has them refers to it as a stomach; definition and other details, sure, and I get that they’re 18…but the word “abs” is ubiquitous (40x). So are variations of "fist" (37x). Unless it’s in the gross, sexual way…just don’t. There’s a free thesaurus online.
I love Kade’s possessiveness. I love him. Period. He is an exceptional character with really cool development. I support the choice to make him always gay, and just not being able to accept it for a long time, rather than some fake gay-for-you trope that falls flat on its face.
The last 65-70% of the novel is where it goes from above average to exceptional. The revenge is unrestrained and vivid. Yes, sometimes violence is the answer. Prison and Preston--it works Eric gets what's coming to him.
The first two-thirds of the story vacillate. It’s as if the author and Kade are simultaneously at war with themselves. Once they embrace what they need to (her narrative and his destiny), this work soars. The ending is beautiful and visceral. Obviously this is not a commonplace romantic situation, so the taboo nature needs to be handled correctly. And it unequivocally is.
February 2, 2022
kade and nicky have been step brothers since they were 3 years old and i could feel their connection and the hold they had on each other from the very beginning. could feel the mutual obsession!!! such a strong bond.
i enjoyed this but it definitely made me roll my eyes aplenty. the amount of times they both called each other brother! like we get it!!!!! it kept taking me out of the story because it was said sooooo much and i just found it to be so annoying and repetitive lol. 🙃 i think i should start referring to my friends as friend when i talk to them. so my friend and i know what we are to each other at. all. times!!!!!
my fave aspects of this were the sex scenes & the jealousy / possessiveness and i know there was so much possessiveness but i never got sick of it idc i love that shit 😌🤪 these were also my favorite parts of the last bethany winters book i read - Reckless at Westbrook High but i liked the two main guys more in that book than this one. i liked the plot in this one much more tho and
i was super into the first 53% of this and then my interest dipped a lot. like with reckless at westbrook high i got bored the farther i got into the book because of how ridiculous and samey it got. i did still give reckless at westbrook high 4 stars because i loved the two guys and other parts of it too much not too but i kept getting flashbacks when i was reading this book to when i was reading that and having that same feeling of wanting things to wrap up and feeling like if it was shorter and less samey i would have enjoyed myself more.
i liked nicky more than kade tbh! both were great tho and i could really feel the codependency and need from them each so strongly which i adored. but bratty characters are everythinggg to me so nicky wins, no competition.😙
overall - def had a mostly good time reading this despite any issues i had with it!
i enjoyed this but it definitely made me roll my eyes aplenty. the amount of times they both called each other brother! like we get it!!!!! it kept taking me out of the story because it was said sooooo much and i just found it to be so annoying and repetitive lol. 🙃 i think i should start referring to my friends as friend when i talk to them. so my friend and i know what we are to each other at. all. times!!!!!
my fave aspects of this were the sex scenes & the jealousy / possessiveness and i know there was so much possessiveness but i never got sick of it idc i love that shit 😌🤪 these were also my favorite parts of the last bethany winters book i read - Reckless at Westbrook High but i liked the two main guys more in that book than this one. i liked the plot in this one much more tho and
i was super into the first 53% of this and then my interest dipped a lot. like with reckless at westbrook high i got bored the farther i got into the book because of how ridiculous and samey it got. i did still give reckless at westbrook high 4 stars because i loved the two guys and other parts of it too much not too but i kept getting flashbacks when i was reading this book to when i was reading that and having that same feeling of wanting things to wrap up and feeling like if it was shorter and less samey i would have enjoyed myself more.
i liked nicky more than kade tbh! both were great tho and i could really feel the codependency and need from them each so strongly which i adored. but bratty characters are everythinggg to me so nicky wins, no competition.😙
overall - def had a mostly good time reading this despite any issues i had with it!
February 25, 2024
re-read 02-2024
So I guess I'm stuck in a slump, thought rereading one of my favorite books would help, but I still feel blah. Still, the few moments I got to read this little masterpiece made me happy.
Intense. Stunning. Absolutely breathtaking.
Right from the first page you are sucked in and can't put it down. In every single sentence, I was begging for no one to hurt Nicky. I was begging Kade to stay with him, to not let him out of his sight, and to protect him.
Kade's overbearing personality may be unsettling at first, but it all fits so smoothly. The two boys are made for each other. Their desires are a perfect fit.
The story gradually builds and builds as the sexual intensity between the two grows stronger. Hot, hot, hot.
And then boom. I have to admit, I held my breath when exactly that happened I was scared of.
Thank you Bethany Winters for not dragging it out forever, I wouldn't have survived that otherwise.
But the revenge, oh the revenge. So sweet and bloody. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
So I guess I'm stuck in a slump, thought rereading one of my favorite books would help, but I still feel blah. Still, the few moments I got to read this little masterpiece made me happy.
Intense. Stunning. Absolutely breathtaking.
Right from the first page you are sucked in and can't put it down. In every single sentence, I was begging for no one to hurt Nicky. I was begging Kade to stay with him, to not let him out of his sight, and to protect him.
Kade's overbearing personality may be unsettling at first, but it all fits so smoothly. The two boys are made for each other. Their desires are a perfect fit.
The story gradually builds and builds as the sexual intensity between the two grows stronger. Hot, hot, hot.
And then boom. I have to admit, I held my breath when exactly that happened I was scared of.
Thank you Bethany Winters for not dragging it out forever, I wouldn't have survived that otherwise.
But the revenge, oh the revenge. So sweet and bloody. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
![Profile Image for moonlight ☾ [semi-hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645500038i%2F37448930._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
February 3, 2022
it’s not a favorite, but i still enjoyed some parts of it (*cough* mainly the possessive/jealousy scenes 🤪). honestly tho, i wasn’t a fan of nearly all the characters except the mcs, but i feel like that was probably the point lol. i liked how Nicky had self control and would stand up against Kade rather than immediately give in (it’s one of my pet peeves when one mc does or says something shitty and the other gives in with one simple sorry). i just wish the romance had more emotional depth so i can be 100% invested, but this still had its good moments imo.
ps. was it necessary for them to refer to each other as ‘brothers’ every few pages? 😭 it kinda got old after a while lmaoo
ps. was it necessary for them to refer to each other as ‘brothers’ every few pages? 😭 it kinda got old after a while lmaoo
August 3, 2023
"We push our luck in the dark, when no one’s around to witness how fucked up we are beneath the surface."
OMG! This book was so much darker and spicier than I was anticipating!!! And I was here for it! Loved all of it. This is one of my all time favorite books. I highly encourage everyone to read it. I will never shut up about this book.
"He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine. My little brother. My best friend. My entire fucking world."
I absolutely love the dynamic between Kade and Nicky. Their relationship is so sweet and sexy. There is a little bit of a Dom/sub vibe between them that is also really hot. Kade is also extremely possessive of Nicky, which I'm obsessed with.
"He called me his and I can’t stop thinking about it. The way he choked me tonight and shoved me back against the truck, the way he claimed me like that… It was fucking hot."
I am so glad that Kade did what he did. If you've read this you know what I'm talking about. All of those f*ckers deserved what they got.
I would love another story in this universe! Maybe with the guy from the epilogue?!
"I knew taking him once would be the death of me and I did it anyway. I was naïve, and I thought I’d start to get my sanity back as the years went on, but my love for him only gets worse, more toxic and more selfish. It’s unfortunate and unhealthy as fuck, but he doesn’t mind as much as he’s letting on. He likes me crazy."
OMG! This book was so much darker and spicier than I was anticipating!!! And I was here for it! Loved all of it. This is one of my all time favorite books. I highly encourage everyone to read it. I will never shut up about this book.
"He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine. My little brother. My best friend. My entire fucking world."
I absolutely love the dynamic between Kade and Nicky. Their relationship is so sweet and sexy. There is a little bit of a Dom/sub vibe between them that is also really hot. Kade is also extremely possessive of Nicky, which I'm obsessed with.
"He called me his and I can’t stop thinking about it. The way he choked me tonight and shoved me back against the truck, the way he claimed me like that… It was fucking hot."
I am so glad that Kade did what he did. If you've read this you know what I'm talking about. All of those f*ckers deserved what they got.
I would love another story in this universe! Maybe with the guy from the epilogue?!
"I knew taking him once would be the death of me and I did it anyway. I was naïve, and I thought I’d start to get my sanity back as the years went on, but my love for him only gets worse, more toxic and more selfish. It’s unfortunate and unhealthy as fuck, but he doesn’t mind as much as he’s letting on. He likes me crazy."
July 10, 2023
reread 1: jul l 9-10, 2023.
What a book. I found no faults with this book. I love the darkness, unhinged and bat shut crazy vibes of this book. 4.5★ (rereading my annotations of this book and how I thought somethings were *too dark* where right now it just makes me laugh and straight up giddy is sooooo messed up lmao.
----
tf did I just read 🤡🤡🤡🤡
This book was chaotic, over the top, toxic af, and it went in a whole different direction form what I expected.... and I still liked it.
I love how this review shows how my morality is so skewed.
Honestly, I'm surprised I liked this. Considering it's so damn overdramatic and over the top, which is not really my style, but damn, I ate this shit up. I couldn't stop reading and screaming at the chapters and shaking my head while also having the widest grin on my face.
✨ Toxic Romance just hits different ✨
I'm not saying this book is a how-to for romance in real life or a depiction of what you should aspire for in yourself or others.
I enjoyed the vibes of this book, I loved the chemistry between our two step-brothers, the sparks with their sizzling argument and the way Nicky was putty beneath Kade, and how Kade would burn the grounds of this world just to save a silver of a scratch on Nicky.
💓 I buddyread this book with my Bestie Llakshmi who actually recommended this author to me last night, I've never heard of her and SHE was the one most excited for this book and I tagged along for the ride and well, Llakshmi didn't like this book 🤡🤡
I feel like with this book, you'll either get annoyed and offended so royally you'll rate this 2 stars or you're TRAGIC like me and ate this book up and Kade's every toxic assholey trait and was 🤌 smitten 🤌 for him.
I don't blame you either way 🤭
I love Kade's character, no surprise there. Everyone knows I'm a hoe for asshole characters. And make no mistake, Kade was such a dick sometimes that I was like: BRUH, WHATYA DOING. But I enjoyed the complexity of his character, the overwhelming possessiveness, the fierce protectiveness, and the way he just IS. I loved seeing the layers of his character peel and walls of his heart break down when it came to Nicky. It made reading the little moments and small things Kade did for Nicky so much more powerful.
I like Nicky. Nicky is cool and soft and a damn BRAT.
So going off on where this book ended, I was extremely shocked that IT WENT THERE. That those bitches got BITCHED and well... The damn Epilogue.
This book is a close 4.5 mainly because I just wanted a bit more from what we got from the Epilogue to fully commit to a 4.5 tbh. I also think we could've gone with a bit of more background before chapter 1. I wish we could get a sequel just so that we can see what happened AFTER the ending of this book.
I also wish this book was a bit MORE raunchy. Just a bit more. It just needed that extra UMPH for a higher rating. And don't mislead my words for this book NOT being smutty. It totally is but I'm just a hoe who likes it even more 🤡🤭
This was my first Bethany Winters and it is least to say that if it wasn't for my bestie who recommended this author to me, I wouldn't have even skirted the lines of this author or even picked this book up. Even though she hated it lmao, I thank her because I'm definitely reading the next MM from this author.
Initial reactions
I'm dead ass tired staying up all night reading this.
What a book. I found no faults with this book. I love the darkness, unhinged and bat shut crazy vibes of this book. 4.5★ (rereading my annotations of this book and how I thought somethings were *too dark* where right now it just makes me laugh and straight up giddy is sooooo messed up lmao.
----
tf did I just read 🤡🤡🤡🤡
This book was chaotic, over the top, toxic af, and it went in a whole different direction form what I expected.... and I still liked it.
I love how this review shows how my morality is so skewed.
Denial.
It’s his favorite game and he plays it like his life depends on it.
Honestly, I'm surprised I liked this. Considering it's so damn overdramatic and over the top, which is not really my style, but damn, I ate this shit up. I couldn't stop reading and screaming at the chapters and shaking my head while also having the widest grin on my face.
✨ Toxic Romance just hits different ✨
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you because I know no other way.”
I'm not saying this book is a how-to for romance in real life or a depiction of what you should aspire for in yourself or others.
I enjoyed the vibes of this book, I loved the chemistry between our two step-brothers, the sparks with their sizzling argument and the way Nicky was putty beneath Kade, and how Kade would burn the grounds of this world just to save a silver of a scratch on Nicky.
I still hold him extra tight for a while, silently promising him that no matter what happens, I’ll never leave him, that I’ll set the goddamn world on fire before I let anything bad happen to him.
And I fucking mean it, too.
💓 I buddyread this book with my Bestie Llakshmi who actually recommended this author to me last night, I've never heard of her and SHE was the one most excited for this book and I tagged along for the ride and well, Llakshmi didn't like this book 🤡🤡
I feel like with this book, you'll either get annoyed and offended so royally you'll rate this 2 stars or you're TRAGIC like me and ate this book up and Kade's every toxic assholey trait and was 🤌 smitten 🤌 for him.
I don't blame you either way 🤭
We don’t resent them for it, though, because if they hadn’t left us, our parents wouldn’t have met, and I wouldn’t have Nicky. He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine.
My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world.
I love Kade's character, no surprise there. Everyone knows I'm a hoe for asshole characters. And make no mistake, Kade was such a dick sometimes that I was like: BRUH, WHATYA DOING. But I enjoyed the complexity of his character, the overwhelming possessiveness, the fierce protectiveness, and the way he just IS. I loved seeing the layers of his character peel and walls of his heart break down when it came to Nicky. It made reading the little moments and small things Kade did for Nicky so much more powerful.
Nicky is my life and he always will be.
It’s that fucking simple.
I like Nicky. Nicky is cool and soft and a damn BRAT.
He jumps out and I follow behind him, awkwardly pulling my hood over my head to avoid the stares on me.
We’re no better than anyone else here, but they still fear us because Kade’s a scary motherfucker with a mean glare and an attitude that screams stay the fuck away from me. In their eyes, he’s the big man and I’m just his loyal shadow. Nicky Rivers—Kade Rivers’ loser baby brother.
I don’t mind, though.
I like it here.
I’m safe here and I always will be.
So going off on where this book ended, I was extremely shocked that IT WENT THERE. That those bitches got BITCHED and well... The damn Epilogue.
This book is a close 4.5 mainly because I just wanted a bit more from what we got from the Epilogue to fully commit to a 4.5 tbh. I also think we could've gone with a bit of more background before chapter 1. I wish we could get a sequel just so that we can see what happened AFTER the ending of this book.
I also wish this book was a bit MORE raunchy. Just a bit more. It just needed that extra UMPH for a higher rating. And don't mislead my words for this book NOT being smutty. It totally is but I'm just a hoe who likes it even more 🤡🤭
This was my first Bethany Winters and it is least to say that if it wasn't for my bestie who recommended this author to me, I wouldn't have even skirted the lines of this author or even picked this book up. Even though she hated it lmao, I thank her because I'm definitely reading the next MM from this author.
“Jesus Christ, Kade, haven’t you ever heard of two wrongs don’t make a right?”
“I have, and I think it’s bullshit.”
Initial reactions
I'm dead ass tired staying up all night reading this.
January 22, 2022
"He's an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he's mine. My little brother. My best friend. My entire fucking world."
Wow. This book 🔥.
If you like...
🌶 dark romance
🌶 step-bothers to lovers
🌶 forbidden love
🌶 toxic relationships
🌶 super possessive MC
🌶 standalone with a HEA
🌶 high steam
🌶 NA (18+)
....then you are totally going to fall in love with Kade and Nicky in Dirty Love by Bethany Winters.
Raised as brothers from the age of 3, by an abusive (cop) father and united in tragedy when their mum is murdered when they are only 14, Kade has always looked out for Nicky, his younger brother by only a few months.
"Eyes on mine, he leans up on one elbow beside my head and licks my lips, coaxing my mouth open to tease my tongue with his. "Mine," he says simply, and I swear to god I almost cry."
Growing up in a small (highly homophobic) town where being gay is simply not accepted, Nicky coming out to Kade at 17 is a secret that has to be guarded by the two brothers, for fear of harsh reprisals. And Kade is not ever going to let anyone hurt Nicky.....
"Nicky's equal parts beautiful and sexy. Both awkward and cocky. Innocent and dirty."
The chemistry between these two is off the scale 🔥 and the story is full of twists and turns, will all the angsty push and pull we've come to know and love with a Bethany Winters book.
Make sure to note the author's TWs if there are any issues that concern you.
This comes highly recommended by me.
5 super steamy stars ✨✨✨✨✨
Wow. This book 🔥.
If you like...
🌶 dark romance
🌶 step-bothers to lovers
🌶 forbidden love
🌶 toxic relationships
🌶 super possessive MC
🌶 standalone with a HEA
🌶 high steam
🌶 NA (18+)
....then you are totally going to fall in love with Kade and Nicky in Dirty Love by Bethany Winters.
Raised as brothers from the age of 3, by an abusive (cop) father and united in tragedy when their mum is murdered when they are only 14, Kade has always looked out for Nicky, his younger brother by only a few months.
"Eyes on mine, he leans up on one elbow beside my head and licks my lips, coaxing my mouth open to tease my tongue with his. "Mine," he says simply, and I swear to god I almost cry."
Growing up in a small (highly homophobic) town where being gay is simply not accepted, Nicky coming out to Kade at 17 is a secret that has to be guarded by the two brothers, for fear of harsh reprisals. And Kade is not ever going to let anyone hurt Nicky.....
"Nicky's equal parts beautiful and sexy. Both awkward and cocky. Innocent and dirty."
The chemistry between these two is off the scale 🔥 and the story is full of twists and turns, will all the angsty push and pull we've come to know and love with a Bethany Winters book.
Make sure to note the author's TWs if there are any issues that concern you.
This comes highly recommended by me.
5 super steamy stars ✨✨✨✨✨
October 13, 2025
⭐️ 4.5/5 — Because my heart got shredded, blended, set on fire, and somehow still said “More, please.” 😭❤️🔥✨️
🌶 3.5/5 — Filthy enough to make me blush, emotional enough to ruin my mascara — I was aroused and traumatized at the same damn time. 🔥😮💨💀
💖 Special Buddy-Read Shoutout 💖
Alexandra, my ever-so-lovely angel — THANK YOU for buddy reading this wild ride with me. 💕 I swear, I never would’ve had the guts to pick it up if you weren’t (metaphorically) holding my hand from tens of thousands of kilometers away, while also fighting off a cold! 🥹😭 Hope you’re feeling so much better, my darling. 🥺 Thank you for all the fun chats and the chaos of trying to sync our wild time zones. It was WAY too short, but it was wonderful and so damn lovely. Love you loads, baby! 🥰🩷🤗✨
💭 My Rambling 💭
This book has been rotting in my e-reader for ages because, let’s be real, past-me was a certified coward. 🐥 I took one look at the warnings and said “NOPE, NOT TODAY SATAN.” 🙂↔️🙅🏻♀️ But when I finally cracked it open? HOLY. FUCKING. HELL. 😳 It swallowed me whole, chewed me up, and spat me out emotionally feral. The FEELS?? The ANGST?? The FUCKING PAIN??? I was a mess — dizzy, breathless, borderline feral, and I loved every goddamn second of it. Now I get why this book owns people’s souls... because mine’s gone too. ❤️🔥🫠
🖤❤️🔥 The MCs 🖤❤️🔥
Kade and Nicky grew up side by side, brothers by marriage but bound by something far deeper. Their parents met when they were three, and from that moment, they became each other’s constant — surviving a home filled with violence, fear, and loss. Kade, the older one by a few months, has always been the protector — the shield between Nicky and the world’s cruelty. Hardened by pain, haunted by guilt, and driven by love and obsession, he’s the kind of man who’d burn the world to keep Nicky safe. 🛡🔥
Quote (Kade):
She’s afraid of me, just like everyone else is.
Everyone but him.
Nicky, on the other hand, carries a quieter kind of strength — fragile on the surface, tender at heart, but fierce in the way he loves Kade. He’s the softness that anchors Kade’s darkness, the only person who’s ever seen the boy behind the anger. Together, they’re two halves of the same broken soul, stitched together with trauma, loyalty, and a love they were never meant to have. 🫂💞
Quote (Nicky):
She thinks I’m a pussy, just like everyone else does.
Everyone but him.
🔥🖤🧎🏻♂️ Kade's Obsession? Nah, This Is Straight-Up Worship. 🧎🏻♂️🖤🔥
POSSESSIVENESS ✅️
Quote:
He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine.
My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world.
OBSESSION ✅️
Quote:
The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky.
Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care.
Quote:
I’m fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn’t normal or healthy, but I’ve been like this for years now and I can’t seem to stop it.
Nicky, Nicky, Nicky.
He’s all I fucking think about.
TERRITORIALLITY ✅️
Quote:
“Don’t sit next to him.”
“But that’s my assigned seat. I can’t just sit wherever I want, Kade.”
“No, but you’ll do it anyway.“
CODEPENDENCY ✅️
Quote:
For Nicky, I’d do anything.
But that’s not true, is it?
I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it.
He needs me and I need him.
Fucking always.
PROTECTIVENESS ✅️
Quote:
I hold him extra tight for a while, silently promising him that no matter what happens, I’ll never leave him, that I’ll set the goddamn world on fire before I let anything bad happen to him.
And I fucking mean it, too.
💭 Kade doesn’t just love Nicky — he lives for him. Every damn line here drips with that ride-or-die, burn-the-world, lock-us-in-a-room-and-lose-the-key kinda energy. The man’s not obsessed; he’s rewritten his DNA to spell N-I-C-K-Y. And honestly? I get it. It’s twisted, it’s toxic, it’s tragic... and holy hell, it’s hot as sin. 🔥❤️🔥
💔🔥 “This Is Not Our Forever” — But Damn, It Felt Like It 🔥💔
Quote:
“Why won’t you let him hit me?”
“Nicky…”
“Jesus, stop looking at me like that. I know you don’t think I can handle it but I can. You think I’m a pussy but I’m not. I can fucking take it, Kade.”
“But you’re not going to! He will never touch you again because I won’t let it happen. And it’s not because I think you can’t handle it. It’s because I can’t handle watching him hurt you. Watching anyone hurt you. It would kill me, Nicky.”
“It kills me, too, you know?” he whispers, lightly ghosting his lips over the sore spot on my cheek. “This fucking kills me.”
“Is that why you cut yourself?”
He nods, and I let out a shaky breath, bringing him with me as I move to sit down beside him, sliding my arms around his waist until there’s not an inch of space left between us. His body relaxes on top of mine and he clings to me, hiding his face in the crook of my neck with his ankles locked around my back.
“This is not our forever, you hear me? It’s not.”
💭 This scene absolutely WRECKED me. Like—hello?? EMOTIONAL DEVASTATION?? 🥀 The pain, the love, the RAW FUCKING DESPERATION BETWEEN THEM?? It’s INSANE. Kade’s protectiveness hits like a punch to the gut, and Nicky’s quiet heartbreak just shatters you. 🫠 You can FEEL every unspoken “I love you” bleeding through their words. 💔 The trauma. The guilt. The way they’re holding each other together when everything else is falling apart? Ugh. My chest physically hurt reading this. 😖
It’s one of those moments where you just sit there, staring at the page like, “Well, shit. That was love. That was ruin.” 😫😭❤️🔥
🔥🥵 Holy Hell, Mother of All Forbidden Sexual Tension! 🥵🔥
Quote (Kade's POV):
My pulse hammers against the side of my neck and I fist my hands at my sides, resisting the carnal urge to grab his ass and pull until he’s grinding on me.
You’re sick, Kade.
So fucking sick.
As soon as he’s done, he lifts my chin and leans in even closer, eyes on my mouth while he blows on it to ease the sting. A choked out noise slips from my throat and I flex my fingers, unsure whether I'm about to throttle him or force him to do it again. Before I have the chance to make up my mind, he chews his lip and looks down between us, then he takes my wrist and lifts it up to his mouth, staring right at me while he spits into the palm of my hand.
Jesus fucking Christ.
He climbs off my lap and I look up at him, watching him with my mouth parted while he walks out to my bedroom. He closes the door behind him and I blink, stupidly staring down at the small pool of my baby brother’s saliva. Instead of washing it off like a sane person would, I lean back and flick my towel open, groaning at the feel of my wet hand sliding over my dick, my fucked up imagination feeding me several images that have no business filling my fucking head.
“Oh, fuck.”
💭 This is forbidden romance between stepbrothers done right. 🤌🏻✨️ Sexual tension? ✅ Internal conflict? ✅ Sanity? Long gone. 👋🏻 By this point, I was panting like a bitch in heat 🥵 while side-eyeing every shadow in the house—‘cause I swear, that walking demon of a dad (nah, not spawn of Satan—more like Satan’s rotting hemorrhoid 💩) could’ve barged in any damn second. 😳💀💦
💔😭 If You Die, I Die — That’s the Deal 😭💔
Quote (Kade's POV):
“Come on, baby,” I plead, my own heart pumping wildly against my rib cage. “Wakeup.”
He doesn’t wake up, but I don’t stop trying, begging him not to leave me because I can’t fucking do this.
If he’s really gone, I will kill myself as soon as I’m done with Jasper and I won’t think twice about it.
He thinks he’s below me—that he’s my annoying little shadow or some shit—but he couldn’t be more wrong.
I’m his shadow.
I follow him around and keep him close because I can’t not be around him.
I can’t fucking live without him.
💭 THIS SCENE RIPPED MY DAMN HEART OUT AND STOMPED ON IT. 😫 Kade’s not just broken — he’s obliterated. The way he pleads, the way he clings to Nicky like his entire existence depends on it (BECAUSE IT FUCKING DOES 😭) — it’s obsession turned tragedy, love turned lifeline. 🖤💔🥀😭
I swear, I felt like I died too while reading this. My heart ached so bad and, to no one’s surprise, I bawled my eyes out like the goddamn world was ending. 💔😭 This isn’t love anymore; it’s survival. It’s pain and devotion wrapped in gasoline and grief. 🥀❤️🔥😖😢
💀👀🩸 An Eye for an Eye… and Then Some. 🩸👀💀
💭 The ending? The sweet taste of revenge. 🤌🏻💋 BRUTAL. BLOODY. BEAUTIFULLY CATHARTIC. Kade’s vengeance hits like a goddamn wrecking ball — sharp, deliberate, and dripping with justice that the world failed to deliver. Every move he makes feels like a scream carved straight from grief and love, and you can feel the rage burning through every page. The kind of revenge that doesn’t just hurt — it heals, in the darkest, most fucked-up way imaginable. ☠️🩸
That said… this part gets real dark, real fast. Please, for the love of your mental health, check the trigger warnings before diving in. This book doesn’t pull its punches — it shoots straight through you. ⚠️
📝 TLDR 📝
Pick this up if you wanna get your heart shattered, stitched back up with barbed wire, and still say “thank you” afterwards 😭🔥
❤️🔥 Stepbrothers-to-lovers with the emotional damage of a thousand suns
🖤 Childhood trauma, obsession, and love so toxic it’s practically radioactive
🔥 Sexual tension that could burn a hole through your e-reader
😭 Angst that’ll gut you, stomp on your chest, then whisper “you liked that, huh?”
🩸 Sweet, brutal revenge that’s darkly satisfying and morally not okay (but you’ll cheer anyway 🤭)
⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING — this one goes hard. Like, full-on emotional massacre hard. Check those warnings before diving in.
-
Quotes: ⚠️ Spoilers ⛔️
“I spend all my time with you, baby brother,” he stresses. “It’s always me and you.”
-
“Don’t let em’ see you, baby brother,” he whispers, slowly trailing his cold thumb over the skin beneath my eye. “No one but me, remember?”
-
The sound of glass smashing nearby has my eyes popping open and I look up at Nicky—the same thing I always do at the first sign of trouble—but he’s not sitting where he was thirty seconds ago.
-
“Fuck, baby, did he hurt you?” I whisper, crowding his space to run my thumbs over his cheeks.
He sniffs and pulls his brows in, staring at me for a long second, but then his expression morphs into anger and he shoves me back. “No, Kade, you hurt me,” he chokes out, punching me in the chest when he realizes I’m not about to move. “What you just did… this is exactly why I wish I never told you about me. You’re just like them.”
He hits me again and I bat his fists away, pushing him back against the truck with my hand wrapped around his throat. “I didn’t punch him because he’s gay, you idiot,” I grit out, so close my lips are brushing his. “I punched him because you’re mine.”
Silence follows and he swallows against my palm, staring up at me with his mouth parted, breathing heavily against my face. “I… what?”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
-
The fucking silent treatment.
I’d rather let him punch me in the face a hundred times.
He’s doing everything he can to stay away from me and I don’t really blame him for it, but I’m not about to let him spend another night without me, either.
I’m done with this shit.
-
He makes a sound and carries on sucking me, driving me wild, looking awfully pleased with himself when he catches the look of helplessness on my face. Because even though he’s the one on his knees right now, he’s got all the power here and he knows it.
-
Waking up without Nicky wrapped up in my arms has me jumping out of bed like it burned me, that constant pit in my stomach growing even more intense the longer he’s without me.
Alone…
Unprotected…
Fuck.
-
“I didn’t use a condom that night.”
“And?”
I raise a brow at that, twisting my hand to add a second finger. “You trust me that much?”
“I trust you with my life, Kade,” he says simply, his mouth parting at the feel of my fingers crooking inside him. “I wouldn’t have been that stupid if it were anyone else, but—” he cuts off, wincing when I wrap my hand around his neck and squeeze. “Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“You will be,” I taunt, pulling my fingers out to line my dick up with his hole. “Who else are you gonna let fuck you, Nicky?”
“No one,” he rasps. “No one but you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m yours.”
“For how long?”
“Always.”
I groan and slip my way inside him, releasing my grip on his throat to wrap my hand around his cock.
-
“Why do you have to be so fucking beautiful?”
“You want me to be ugly?”
“It’d make my life easier.”
“You’re a jealous fucker.”
-
“Such a good little boy. Do you have any idea how fucking good you make me feel? How fucking hot you look with your ass full of your big brother’s cock?”
He comes inside me and then slowly grinds his hips, fucking it in even deeper, finally releasing his grip on my dick to push his cum back in with his fingers.
“I want you to feel me in here all the way home.”
-
“I love you, Kade,” I whisper, but it sounds different this time, a promise and a plea all at once.
“I love you, too, Nicky,” he whispers back, and I can’t hide my stupid grin, feeding him my arm while I run my fingers over the back of his neck.
He said it different, too.
-
I’ve never seen my brother cry.
Not once in… fifteen years.
He’s always been the stronger one, but in this moment right here, as I slowly work my eyes open and find him sitting in a hospital room beside me, covered in blood from his face to his fingertips, he looks… weak.
He looks broken.
I stare at his teary eyes, moving my finger to run it over the wetness covering his cheeks, then down to his lips.
“You’re crying,” I tell him, even though I’m sure he already knows that.
His features tighten and he makes that sound again, leaning over me to touch my forehead with his. “I thought I lost you, baby… I thought you left me.”
“You’d never let me leave you.”
He nods his agreement
-
“Jesus Christ, Kade, haven’t you ever heard of two wrongs don’t make a right?”
“I have, and I think it’s bullshit.”
-
⚠️ Detailed spoilers below ⛔️
RC and MCs:
🖤❤️🔥 MM, strict roles
🖤❤️🔥 Kade Rivers (only a few months older than Nicky) and Nicky Rivers both 18yo.
🖤❤️🔥 Kade: Top, dom, blue eyes, dark brown hair, muscular, a head taller than Nicky (20-30cm)
🖤❤️🔥 Nicky: Bottom, sub, black hair, light gray eyes, pale complexion, lean body
Genre and tropes:
🖤❤️🔥 MM dark contemporary romance
🖤❤️🔥 Stepbrothers-to-lovers
🖤❤️🔥 Forbidden romance/taboo
🖤❤️🔥 GFY
🖤❤️🔥 Toxic relationship
🖤❤️🔥 J/P obsessive MC (Kade)
🖤❤️🔥 Mine mine mine
🖤❤️🔥 Touch him and die (literally)
🖤❤️🔥 Only soft for him
🖤❤️🔥 Mutual codependency
🖤❤️🔥 Mutual separation anxiety
🖤❤️🔥 Size difference
🖤❤️🔥 Extremely protective MC (Kade)
🖤❤️🔥 Virgin MC (Nicky)
🖤❤️🔥 First times
🖤❤️🔥 D/s dynamics
🖤❤️🔥 Fight club
🖤❤️🔥 Abuse (parental)
🖤❤️🔥 High school setting
🖤❤️🔥 Kade likes feeding Nicky just as much as Nicky likes being fed by him.
🖤❤️🔥 "I can’t fix it for you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
🖤❤️🔥 "No one but me."
🖤❤️🔥 Pet names: Baby brother, baby, little brother
Safety info:
🖤❤️🔥 Angst: High
🖤❤️🔥 OPD: Yes, brief and early (two) on-page sex scenes between Kade and his on-and-off girlfriend Arianna. There's also Jasper who keeps hitting on Nicky.
🖤❤️🔥 Cheating/sharing: None between MCs
🖤❤️🔥 Third act breakup: No
🖤❤️🔥 Ending: HFN
🖤❤️🔥 Epilogue: Yes
🖤❤️🔥 POV: Dual, 1st person
🖤❤️🔥 Series structure: Standalone
Spice and kinks:
D/s dynamics, praise (good boy), blowjob, handjob, fingering, bareback, intergluteal sex, public sex and hidden teasing (Kade touches Nicky's dick under the table in the school's cafeteria, while Jasper watches them), mild exhibitionism, mild voyeurism, semi-public sex (in the boy's locker room at school), cum as lube, cum play, marking (Kade gives Nicky hickeys everywhere, including on his dick 💀), dry humping, mild rimming, mild tongue fucking, hand collaring, mild degradation, saliva as lube, rough sex with no real lube, pushes cum back in (hole)
CW/TW:
Stepbrothers romance (taboo family dynamic), explicit sexual content, underage drinking, drug abuse, homophobia, parental abuse, murder, self-harm, sexual assault, mental health issues, violent hate crime perpetrated against the MC, group hate crime / rape mentioned concerning a side character, brief mention of animal abuse, panic attack
🌶 3.5/5 — Filthy enough to make me blush, emotional enough to ruin my mascara — I was aroused and traumatized at the same damn time. 🔥😮💨💀
💖 Special Buddy-Read Shoutout 💖
Alexandra, my ever-so-lovely angel — THANK YOU for buddy reading this wild ride with me. 💕 I swear, I never would’ve had the guts to pick it up if you weren’t (metaphorically) holding my hand from tens of thousands of kilometers away, while also fighting off a cold! 🥹😭 Hope you’re feeling so much better, my darling. 🥺 Thank you for all the fun chats and the chaos of trying to sync our wild time zones. It was WAY too short, but it was wonderful and so damn lovely. Love you loads, baby! 🥰🩷🤗✨
💭 My Rambling 💭
This book has been rotting in my e-reader for ages because, let’s be real, past-me was a certified coward. 🐥 I took one look at the warnings and said “NOPE, NOT TODAY SATAN.” 🙂↔️🙅🏻♀️ But when I finally cracked it open? HOLY. FUCKING. HELL. 😳 It swallowed me whole, chewed me up, and spat me out emotionally feral. The FEELS?? The ANGST?? The FUCKING PAIN??? I was a mess — dizzy, breathless, borderline feral, and I loved every goddamn second of it. Now I get why this book owns people’s souls... because mine’s gone too. ❤️🔥🫠
🖤❤️🔥 The MCs 🖤❤️🔥
Kade and Nicky grew up side by side, brothers by marriage but bound by something far deeper. Their parents met when they were three, and from that moment, they became each other’s constant — surviving a home filled with violence, fear, and loss. Kade, the older one by a few months, has always been the protector — the shield between Nicky and the world’s cruelty. Hardened by pain, haunted by guilt, and driven by love and obsession, he’s the kind of man who’d burn the world to keep Nicky safe. 🛡🔥
Quote (Kade):
She’s afraid of me, just like everyone else is.
Everyone but him.
Nicky, on the other hand, carries a quieter kind of strength — fragile on the surface, tender at heart, but fierce in the way he loves Kade. He’s the softness that anchors Kade’s darkness, the only person who’s ever seen the boy behind the anger. Together, they’re two halves of the same broken soul, stitched together with trauma, loyalty, and a love they were never meant to have. 🫂💞
Quote (Nicky):
She thinks I’m a pussy, just like everyone else does.
Everyone but him.
🔥🖤🧎🏻♂️ Kade's Obsession? Nah, This Is Straight-Up Worship. 🧎🏻♂️🖤🔥
POSSESSIVENESS ✅️
Quote:
He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine.
My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world.
OBSESSION ✅️
Quote:
The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky.
Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care.
Quote:
I’m fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn’t normal or healthy, but I’ve been like this for years now and I can’t seem to stop it.
Nicky, Nicky, Nicky.
He’s all I fucking think about.
TERRITORIALLITY ✅️
Quote:
“Don’t sit next to him.”
“But that’s my assigned seat. I can’t just sit wherever I want, Kade.”
“No, but you’ll do it anyway.“
CODEPENDENCY ✅️
Quote:
For Nicky, I’d do anything.
But that’s not true, is it?
I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it.
He needs me and I need him.
Fucking always.
PROTECTIVENESS ✅️
Quote:
I hold him extra tight for a while, silently promising him that no matter what happens, I’ll never leave him, that I’ll set the goddamn world on fire before I let anything bad happen to him.
And I fucking mean it, too.
💭 Kade doesn’t just love Nicky — he lives for him. Every damn line here drips with that ride-or-die, burn-the-world, lock-us-in-a-room-and-lose-the-key kinda energy. The man’s not obsessed; he’s rewritten his DNA to spell N-I-C-K-Y. And honestly? I get it. It’s twisted, it’s toxic, it’s tragic... and holy hell, it’s hot as sin. 🔥❤️🔥
💔🔥 “This Is Not Our Forever” — But Damn, It Felt Like It 🔥💔
Quote:
“Why won’t you let him hit me?”
“Nicky…”
“Jesus, stop looking at me like that. I know you don’t think I can handle it but I can. You think I’m a pussy but I’m not. I can fucking take it, Kade.”
“But you’re not going to! He will never touch you again because I won’t let it happen. And it’s not because I think you can’t handle it. It’s because I can’t handle watching him hurt you. Watching anyone hurt you. It would kill me, Nicky.”
“It kills me, too, you know?” he whispers, lightly ghosting his lips over the sore spot on my cheek. “This fucking kills me.”
“Is that why you cut yourself?”
He nods, and I let out a shaky breath, bringing him with me as I move to sit down beside him, sliding my arms around his waist until there’s not an inch of space left between us. His body relaxes on top of mine and he clings to me, hiding his face in the crook of my neck with his ankles locked around my back.
“This is not our forever, you hear me? It’s not.”
💭 This scene absolutely WRECKED me. Like—hello?? EMOTIONAL DEVASTATION?? 🥀 The pain, the love, the RAW FUCKING DESPERATION BETWEEN THEM?? It’s INSANE. Kade’s protectiveness hits like a punch to the gut, and Nicky’s quiet heartbreak just shatters you. 🫠 You can FEEL every unspoken “I love you” bleeding through their words. 💔 The trauma. The guilt. The way they’re holding each other together when everything else is falling apart? Ugh. My chest physically hurt reading this. 😖
It’s one of those moments where you just sit there, staring at the page like, “Well, shit. That was love. That was ruin.” 😫😭❤️🔥
🔥🥵 Holy Hell, Mother of All Forbidden Sexual Tension! 🥵🔥
Quote (Kade's POV):
My pulse hammers against the side of my neck and I fist my hands at my sides, resisting the carnal urge to grab his ass and pull until he’s grinding on me.
You’re sick, Kade.
So fucking sick.
As soon as he’s done, he lifts my chin and leans in even closer, eyes on my mouth while he blows on it to ease the sting. A choked out noise slips from my throat and I flex my fingers, unsure whether I'm about to throttle him or force him to do it again. Before I have the chance to make up my mind, he chews his lip and looks down between us, then he takes my wrist and lifts it up to his mouth, staring right at me while he spits into the palm of my hand.
Jesus fucking Christ.
He climbs off my lap and I look up at him, watching him with my mouth parted while he walks out to my bedroom. He closes the door behind him and I blink, stupidly staring down at the small pool of my baby brother’s saliva. Instead of washing it off like a sane person would, I lean back and flick my towel open, groaning at the feel of my wet hand sliding over my dick, my fucked up imagination feeding me several images that have no business filling my fucking head.
“Oh, fuck.”
💭 This is forbidden romance between stepbrothers done right. 🤌🏻✨️ Sexual tension? ✅ Internal conflict? ✅ Sanity? Long gone. 👋🏻 By this point, I was panting like a bitch in heat 🥵 while side-eyeing every shadow in the house—‘cause I swear, that walking demon of a dad (nah, not spawn of Satan—more like Satan’s rotting hemorrhoid 💩) could’ve barged in any damn second. 😳💀💦
💔😭 If You Die, I Die — That’s the Deal 😭💔
Quote (Kade's POV):
“Come on, baby,” I plead, my own heart pumping wildly against my rib cage. “Wakeup.”
He doesn’t wake up, but I don’t stop trying, begging him not to leave me because I can’t fucking do this.
If he’s really gone, I will kill myself as soon as I’m done with Jasper and I won’t think twice about it.
He thinks he’s below me—that he’s my annoying little shadow or some shit—but he couldn’t be more wrong.
I’m his shadow.
I follow him around and keep him close because I can’t not be around him.
I can’t fucking live without him.
💭 THIS SCENE RIPPED MY DAMN HEART OUT AND STOMPED ON IT. 😫 Kade’s not just broken — he’s obliterated. The way he pleads, the way he clings to Nicky like his entire existence depends on it (BECAUSE IT FUCKING DOES 😭) — it’s obsession turned tragedy, love turned lifeline. 🖤💔🥀😭
I swear, I felt like I died too while reading this. My heart ached so bad and, to no one’s surprise, I bawled my eyes out like the goddamn world was ending. 💔😭 This isn’t love anymore; it’s survival. It’s pain and devotion wrapped in gasoline and grief. 🥀❤️🔥😖😢
💀👀🩸 An Eye for an Eye… and Then Some. 🩸👀💀
💭 The ending? The sweet taste of revenge. 🤌🏻💋 BRUTAL. BLOODY. BEAUTIFULLY CATHARTIC. Kade’s vengeance hits like a goddamn wrecking ball — sharp, deliberate, and dripping with justice that the world failed to deliver. Every move he makes feels like a scream carved straight from grief and love, and you can feel the rage burning through every page. The kind of revenge that doesn’t just hurt — it heals, in the darkest, most fucked-up way imaginable. ☠️🩸
That said… this part gets real dark, real fast. Please, for the love of your mental health, check the trigger warnings before diving in. This book doesn’t pull its punches — it shoots straight through you. ⚠️
📝 TLDR 📝
Pick this up if you wanna get your heart shattered, stitched back up with barbed wire, and still say “thank you” afterwards 😭🔥
❤️🔥 Stepbrothers-to-lovers with the emotional damage of a thousand suns
🖤 Childhood trauma, obsession, and love so toxic it’s practically radioactive
🔥 Sexual tension that could burn a hole through your e-reader
😭 Angst that’ll gut you, stomp on your chest, then whisper “you liked that, huh?”
🩸 Sweet, brutal revenge that’s darkly satisfying and morally not okay (but you’ll cheer anyway 🤭)
⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING — this one goes hard. Like, full-on emotional massacre hard. Check those warnings before diving in.
-
Quotes: ⚠️ Spoilers ⛔️
“I spend all my time with you, baby brother,” he stresses. “It’s always me and you.”
-
“Don’t let em’ see you, baby brother,” he whispers, slowly trailing his cold thumb over the skin beneath my eye. “No one but me, remember?”
-
The sound of glass smashing nearby has my eyes popping open and I look up at Nicky—the same thing I always do at the first sign of trouble—but he’s not sitting where he was thirty seconds ago.
-
“Fuck, baby, did he hurt you?” I whisper, crowding his space to run my thumbs over his cheeks.
He sniffs and pulls his brows in, staring at me for a long second, but then his expression morphs into anger and he shoves me back. “No, Kade, you hurt me,” he chokes out, punching me in the chest when he realizes I’m not about to move. “What you just did… this is exactly why I wish I never told you about me. You’re just like them.”
He hits me again and I bat his fists away, pushing him back against the truck with my hand wrapped around his throat. “I didn’t punch him because he’s gay, you idiot,” I grit out, so close my lips are brushing his. “I punched him because you’re mine.”
Silence follows and he swallows against my palm, staring up at me with his mouth parted, breathing heavily against my face. “I… what?”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
-
The fucking silent treatment.
I’d rather let him punch me in the face a hundred times.
He’s doing everything he can to stay away from me and I don’t really blame him for it, but I’m not about to let him spend another night without me, either.
I’m done with this shit.
-
He makes a sound and carries on sucking me, driving me wild, looking awfully pleased with himself when he catches the look of helplessness on my face. Because even though he’s the one on his knees right now, he’s got all the power here and he knows it.
-
Waking up without Nicky wrapped up in my arms has me jumping out of bed like it burned me, that constant pit in my stomach growing even more intense the longer he’s without me.
Alone…
Unprotected…
Fuck.
-
“I didn’t use a condom that night.”
“And?”
I raise a brow at that, twisting my hand to add a second finger. “You trust me that much?”
“I trust you with my life, Kade,” he says simply, his mouth parting at the feel of my fingers crooking inside him. “I wouldn’t have been that stupid if it were anyone else, but—” he cuts off, wincing when I wrap my hand around his neck and squeeze. “Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“You will be,” I taunt, pulling my fingers out to line my dick up with his hole. “Who else are you gonna let fuck you, Nicky?”
“No one,” he rasps. “No one but you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m yours.”
“For how long?”
“Always.”
I groan and slip my way inside him, releasing my grip on his throat to wrap my hand around his cock.
-
“Why do you have to be so fucking beautiful?”
“You want me to be ugly?”
“It’d make my life easier.”
“You’re a jealous fucker.”
-
“Such a good little boy. Do you have any idea how fucking good you make me feel? How fucking hot you look with your ass full of your big brother’s cock?”
He comes inside me and then slowly grinds his hips, fucking it in even deeper, finally releasing his grip on my dick to push his cum back in with his fingers.
“I want you to feel me in here all the way home.”
-
“I love you, Kade,” I whisper, but it sounds different this time, a promise and a plea all at once.
“I love you, too, Nicky,” he whispers back, and I can’t hide my stupid grin, feeding him my arm while I run my fingers over the back of his neck.
He said it different, too.
-
I’ve never seen my brother cry.
Not once in… fifteen years.
He’s always been the stronger one, but in this moment right here, as I slowly work my eyes open and find him sitting in a hospital room beside me, covered in blood from his face to his fingertips, he looks… weak.
He looks broken.
I stare at his teary eyes, moving my finger to run it over the wetness covering his cheeks, then down to his lips.
“You’re crying,” I tell him, even though I’m sure he already knows that.
His features tighten and he makes that sound again, leaning over me to touch my forehead with his. “I thought I lost you, baby… I thought you left me.”
“You’d never let me leave you.”
He nods his agreement
-
“Jesus Christ, Kade, haven’t you ever heard of two wrongs don’t make a right?”
“I have, and I think it’s bullshit.”
-
⚠️ Detailed spoilers below ⛔️
RC and MCs:
🖤❤️🔥 MM, strict roles
🖤❤️🔥 Kade Rivers (only a few months older than Nicky) and Nicky Rivers both 18yo.
🖤❤️🔥 Kade: Top, dom, blue eyes, dark brown hair, muscular, a head taller than Nicky (20-30cm)
🖤❤️🔥 Nicky: Bottom, sub, black hair, light gray eyes, pale complexion, lean body
Genre and tropes:
🖤❤️🔥 MM dark contemporary romance
🖤❤️🔥 Stepbrothers-to-lovers
🖤❤️🔥 Forbidden romance/taboo
🖤❤️🔥 GFY
🖤❤️🔥 Toxic relationship
🖤❤️🔥 J/P obsessive MC (Kade)
🖤❤️🔥 Mine mine mine
🖤❤️🔥 Touch him and die (literally)
🖤❤️🔥 Only soft for him
🖤❤️🔥 Mutual codependency
🖤❤️🔥 Mutual separation anxiety
🖤❤️🔥 Size difference
🖤❤️🔥 Extremely protective MC (Kade)
🖤❤️🔥 Virgin MC (Nicky)
🖤❤️🔥 First times
🖤❤️🔥 D/s dynamics
🖤❤️🔥 Fight club
🖤❤️🔥 Abuse (parental)
🖤❤️🔥 High school setting
🖤❤️🔥 Kade likes feeding Nicky just as much as Nicky likes being fed by him.
🖤❤️🔥 "I can’t fix it for you if you don't tell me what's wrong."
🖤❤️🔥 "No one but me."
🖤❤️🔥 Pet names: Baby brother, baby, little brother
Safety info:
🖤❤️🔥 Angst: High
🖤❤️🔥 OPD: Yes, brief and early (two) on-page sex scenes between Kade and his on-and-off girlfriend Arianna. There's also Jasper who keeps hitting on Nicky.
🖤❤️🔥 Cheating/sharing: None between MCs
🖤❤️🔥 Third act breakup: No
🖤❤️🔥 Ending: HFN
🖤❤️🔥 Epilogue: Yes
🖤❤️🔥 POV: Dual, 1st person
🖤❤️🔥 Series structure: Standalone
Spice and kinks:
D/s dynamics, praise (good boy), blowjob, handjob, fingering, bareback, intergluteal sex, public sex and hidden teasing (Kade touches Nicky's dick under the table in the school's cafeteria, while Jasper watches them), mild exhibitionism, mild voyeurism, semi-public sex (in the boy's locker room at school), cum as lube, cum play, marking (Kade gives Nicky hickeys everywhere, including on his dick 💀), dry humping, mild rimming, mild tongue fucking, hand collaring, mild degradation, saliva as lube, rough sex with no real lube, pushes cum back in (hole)
CW/TW:
Stepbrothers romance (taboo family dynamic), explicit sexual content, underage drinking, drug abuse, homophobia, parental abuse, murder, self-harm, sexual assault, mental health issues, violent hate crime perpetrated against the MC, group hate crime / rape mentioned concerning a side character, brief mention of animal abuse, panic attack
![Profile Image for Lilly [Hiatus due to School] .](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1663899589i%2F10381707._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
December 30, 2022
Where to start? My review is going to be all over the place.
Dirty Love was an insane ride from the first chapter. It was intense, amazing, and just so crazy. I loved it.
Kade and Nicky were raised as brothers from the age of three. However, while their blended family appeared picture-perfect on the outside, they were enduring years of abuse and torment from their father, a well-respected police officer in their small homophobic town.
Kade watches over and protects Nicky, especially knowing what could happen to him if people found out he was gay.
This story was wild; honestly, I could not put it down. It was violent and over the top, but the love and obsession between the brothers was just perfect. I’m not going to lie, I liked the fact they still referred to each other as brothers despite their relationship becoming sexual and romantic.
I enjoy stories with fierce, possessive and protective lovers, and this was *chef kiss*. Like, “Touch him, and you die” - but literally, for real, you will die.
The sex! Was there a lot? Yes, but I loved it. I’m an erotica/smut reader, so I enjoyed all the moments, and it was honestly never too much. I would be happy with 30 more pages of it. I love how dirty, sexy, sensual, and hot it was. The way Nicky craved to submit and please Kade while being bratty was cute. I love their dynamic.
Kade and Nicky’s relationship was unhealthy, intense and addictive. I loved that they finally got their hard-earned HEA and that just desserts were handed out.
Overall I loved it. I’m so happy that I read Dirty Love because it had many elements I love in MM. This is my first book by Bethany Winters and definitely not my last!
Dirty Love was an insane ride from the first chapter. It was intense, amazing, and just so crazy. I loved it.
Kade and Nicky were raised as brothers from the age of three. However, while their blended family appeared picture-perfect on the outside, they were enduring years of abuse and torment from their father, a well-respected police officer in their small homophobic town.
Kade watches over and protects Nicky, especially knowing what could happen to him if people found out he was gay.
This story was wild; honestly, I could not put it down. It was violent and over the top, but the love and obsession between the brothers was just perfect. I’m not going to lie, I liked the fact they still referred to each other as brothers despite their relationship becoming sexual and romantic.
I enjoy stories with fierce, possessive and protective lovers, and this was *chef kiss*. Like, “Touch him, and you die” - but literally, for real, you will die.
The sex! Was there a lot? Yes, but I loved it. I’m an erotica/smut reader, so I enjoyed all the moments, and it was honestly never too much. I would be happy with 30 more pages of it. I love how dirty, sexy, sensual, and hot it was. The way Nicky craved to submit and please Kade while being bratty was cute. I love their dynamic.
Kade and Nicky’s relationship was unhealthy, intense and addictive. I loved that they finally got their hard-earned HEA and that just desserts were handed out.
Overall I loved it. I’m so happy that I read Dirty Love because it had many elements I love in MM. This is my first book by Bethany Winters and definitely not my last!
April 16, 2022
*changed to four stars
tw: rape, homophobia, physical assault, self-harm
5 stars purely for the the main characters, kade and nicky. the rest can choke. the story wasnt really anything new as a whole but these two made me emotional and rooting for them. a classic cliche of a homophobic town with a homophobic dad blah blah yada yada. there were however certain elements here that were questionable (the last chunk of this book) to me. maybe for the sake of convenience? i dont know yeah maybe. i love how kade is literally this asshole to everyone except for nicky. a fucked up part of my mind wish they were this full-blooded brothers though lmao. i dont really read the blurbs here so i was freaking out because the prologue was about this two brothers comforting one another. damn i miss taboos stories soooo fucking much.
an actual four star read but the hot sex and possession between the mcs sold it to me. i can see why this book wont work out for everyone but im happy that it did for me.
tw: rape, homophobia, physical assault, self-harm
"We can't do this."
"Why not?"
"Because you're my brother, you sick fuck."
"Stepbrother," I mutter.
5 stars purely for the the main characters, kade and nicky. the rest can choke. the story wasnt really anything new as a whole but these two made me emotional and rooting for them. a classic cliche of a homophobic town with a homophobic dad blah blah yada yada. there were however certain elements here that were questionable (the last chunk of this book) to me. maybe for the sake of convenience? i dont know yeah maybe. i love how kade is literally this asshole to everyone except for nicky. a fucked up part of my mind wish they were this full-blooded brothers though lmao. i dont really read the blurbs here so i was freaking out because the prologue was about this two brothers comforting one another. damn i miss taboos stories soooo fucking much.
I'm fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn't normal or healthy, but I've been like this for years now and I can't seem to stop it. Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. He's all I fucking think about.
an actual four star read but the hot sex and possession between the mcs sold it to me. i can see why this book wont work out for everyone but im happy that it did for me.
February 23, 2023
This books dedication:
For the readers who like it dirty. ❤️🔥
Well, she didn't lie! This was quite a ride..👀
Before you pick up this book:
This book has a reasonable amount of triggers but most of all: It’s a romance between two step brothers who grew up together. They really play it up by Kade calling Nicky ‘little brother’ for example.
If this is something you’re not down with, definitely skip this one.
If you’re still here, hi! 🙋🏼♀️
This book was deliciously toxic, spicy and taboo!
It was sooo much more dark and twisted than I thought it would be, especially the ending!
That really took me off guard. I didn’t expect the gruesomeness of it all, but I’m here for it!
Most of all I loved Kade and Nicky. Yes, their relationship is unhealthy!
Kade is taking possessive asshole to a whole other level.
But it’s also sweet, caring.. ‘them against the world’ vibes, and I absolutely love it.
❥𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒚. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆."
“𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒕,” 𝑰 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔. “𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.”
"𝑰’𝒅 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕."
“𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚?
“𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑴𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅."
For the readers who like it dirty. ❤️🔥
Well, she didn't lie! This was quite a ride..👀
Before you pick up this book:
This book has a reasonable amount of triggers but most of all: It’s a romance between two step brothers who grew up together. They really play it up by Kade calling Nicky ‘little brother’ for example.
If this is something you’re not down with, definitely skip this one.
If you’re still here, hi! 🙋🏼♀️
This book was deliciously toxic, spicy and taboo!
It was sooo much more dark and twisted than I thought it would be, especially the ending!
That really took me off guard. I didn’t expect the gruesomeness of it all, but I’m here for it!
Most of all I loved Kade and Nicky. Yes, their relationship is unhealthy!
Kade is taking possessive asshole to a whole other level.
But it’s also sweet, caring.. ‘them against the world’ vibes, and I absolutely love it.
❥𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒚. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆."
“𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒕,” 𝑰 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔. “𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.”
"𝑰’𝒅 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕."
“𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚?
“𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑴𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅."
May 24, 2023
4/5 ⭐ ❛Love Crime❜ 🩸
❛Love Crime❜ is a song by Siouxsie which was featured in the finale of the TV series Hannibal and I still don't understand how Bethany Winters did not think on that specific song when she wrote her ❛playlist❜ because it perfectly fits the mood of this absolutelyterrifying terrific book ⚠️
I previously read several Dirty Love's reviews and most of them talked about how shocking, impressive or even disturbing was this read 🚨 Definitely, those comments did not get short at all. This is not suitable for all audiences, for sure. If you get into it, you have to be warned about certain aspects of the plot which involves drug abuse, self harm, violence, sexual assault and murder 💀 These are some of the most important for me to be noted, but there are plenty triggerings. If you're one of mine, who thinks the darker the better, you're on board without life jacket 🌊 ⚓
Hence, after taking into consideration the pros and cons, I decided to rate this with four stars 🌟, because of I devoured this book without rest in a split second ❥ It only took me two days since I started reading this crazy story, so I'm glad about getting my rushed goal.
◾ Dirty Love's reading could be split into three parts, which are setting up in order to match with its plot's development and the book's internal pacing:
► Therefore, there is a first third where Kade's rejection and his internal issues against Nicky's love feelings, his stepbrother. These two characters have a close relationship since ever, but this closeness hides what society considers ❛dirty love❜ ❥ Nicky is more open about his feelings, but Kade's stubbornness is trying to refrain the promptings of his heart 💔 Despite knowing that what is feeling is wrong, Kade is a moody teenager―maybe all this pent-up energy has something to do with it―who is insanely overprotective of his ❛little brother❜ 📝 Underline the latter two words because you'll be reading them along the whole book, it is in case it isn't clear enough that they're brothers, or stepbrothers , for being more precise with semantics 🤡
► Having sort in order their priorities, how Ron Weasley would say, these two boys develop a sexual relationship which is mildy solid due to the homophobic enviroment where they live: relatives, friends, classmates, acquaintances, the whole neighbourhood 🥀 Their sexual awakening matches with the second third previously noted, which also set the slowest pace of the book.
► Finally, along the last third, we've what I call Pulp Fiction style, where Kade―after all the drama starred by Nicky―goes into berserker mode 👹 The pace speeds up and there are a string of events overlapping each other that don't give the reader the chace to take a break 😮💨
◾Positives:
✔️ Main characters love story ❥ They are the main focus in the book written by Bethany Winters, so the book starts and finishes with them:
❝My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world❞
It is said several times along the read that the only one who matters for Kade is Nicky, and vice versa. In fact, I don't know if the skill of creating the rest characters as flat ones with little charisma is a brilliant metaphor, or it was pure coincidence 🤯 Kade’s friends are irrelevant until ❛their minutes ofnasty glory❜, his ex-girlfriend is annoying throughout her slight appearences, let alone his father 👿 This man deserves a whole review for his own where I freely can plung him words as daggers. Finally, Jasper is also a pain in the ass, never better said. I don't know who I hate the most, really. I've been watching all candidates and there's a lot of level of stupidity among them 🏆
◾ Negatives:
❌ Plot holes 🕳️ I've decided to tag this point by this label because I consider that there are some plot twist too unnatural in order to start the string of events which add all the drama to the story and the final blow in the manner of Quentin Tarantino's craziest films 🤪 Without those twist the story is vacant of action and it only would be an incestuous love story with plenty sex scenes. Very hot ones, all it must to be said 😏 Jasper takes the main role of being the character who says those magicand silly words. He plays-the-victim discourse against Nicky―whose reasons are a mere tantrum―are a poor, mean excuse to hurt Nicky so bad.
I removed a star by this reason because for me is quite important that book plots have a solid root where they can growth 🌱 to bloom until we ache 💔
❛Love Crime❜ is a song by Siouxsie which was featured in the finale of the TV series Hannibal and I still don't understand how Bethany Winters did not think on that specific song when she wrote her ❛playlist❜ because it perfectly fits the mood of this absolutely
I previously read several Dirty Love's reviews and most of them talked about how shocking, impressive or even disturbing was this read 🚨 Definitely, those comments did not get short at all. This is not suitable for all audiences, for sure. If you get into it, you have to be warned about certain aspects of the plot which involves drug abuse, self harm, violence, sexual assault and murder 💀 These are some of the most important for me to be noted, but there are plenty triggerings. If you're one of mine, who thinks the darker the better, you're on board without life jacket 🌊 ⚓
Hence, after taking into consideration the pros and cons, I decided to rate this with four stars 🌟, because of I devoured this book without rest in a split second ❥ It only took me two days since I started reading this crazy story, so I'm glad about getting my rushed goal.
◾ Dirty Love's reading could be split into three parts, which are setting up in order to match with its plot's development and the book's internal pacing:
► Therefore, there is a first third where Kade's rejection and his internal issues against Nicky's love feelings, his stepbrother. These two characters have a close relationship since ever, but this closeness hides what society considers ❛dirty love❜ ❥ Nicky is more open about his feelings, but Kade's stubbornness is trying to refrain the promptings of his heart 💔 Despite knowing that what is feeling is wrong, Kade is a moody teenager―maybe all this pent-up energy has something to do with it―who is insanely overprotective of his ❛little brother❜ 📝 Underline the latter two words because you'll be reading them along the whole book, it is in case it isn't clear enough that they're brothers, or stepbrothers , for being more precise with semantics 🤡
► Having sort in order their priorities, how Ron Weasley would say, these two boys develop a sexual relationship which is mildy solid due to the homophobic enviroment where they live: relatives, friends, classmates, acquaintances, the whole neighbourhood 🥀 Their sexual awakening matches with the second third previously noted, which also set the slowest pace of the book.
► Finally, along the last third, we've what I call Pulp Fiction style, where Kade―after all the drama starred by Nicky―goes into berserker mode 👹 The pace speeds up and there are a string of events overlapping each other that don't give the reader the chace to take a break 😮💨
◾Positives:
✔️ Main characters love story ❥ They are the main focus in the book written by Bethany Winters, so the book starts and finishes with them:
❝My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world❞
It is said several times along the read that the only one who matters for Kade is Nicky, and vice versa. In fact, I don't know if the skill of creating the rest characters as flat ones with little charisma is a brilliant metaphor, or it was pure coincidence 🤯 Kade’s friends are irrelevant until ❛their minutes of
◾ Negatives:
❌ Plot holes 🕳️ I've decided to tag this point by this label because I consider that there are some plot twist too unnatural in order to start the string of events which add all the drama to the story and the final blow in the manner of Quentin Tarantino's craziest films 🤪 Without those twist the story is vacant of action and it only would be an incestuous love story with plenty sex scenes. Very hot ones, all it must to be said 😏 Jasper takes the main role of being the character who says those magic
I removed a star by this reason because for me is quite important that book plots have a solid root where they can growth 🌱 to bloom until we ache 💔
February 4, 2022
***1.5 rating***
Well that was something.
😐
Okay I decided to add more than one sentence to this review.
I know the reviews on this was mixed. Some loved it ( Yas I am happy for you 👏🏻👏🏻) and some like me unfortunately didn't.
I love forbidden dark taboo tropes, if done tastefully. Nothing against this author, I just found the concept of a teenage Kade going on a murder spree very unbelievable. The writing wasn't my favorite and the plot wasn't intriguing. I feel that it had a lot of potential but idk something was missing.
Lol like when Nicky kept calling Kade "daddy" I wanted to cringe. I was so embarassed for our boy. But hey to each their own.
The possessiveness and jealousy/sex scenes were okay.
This whole thing was just way OTT. My favourite part was the epilogue that was cute.
But if I had to sum up this story from my perspective, I would have to say that Dirty Love was like After but the gay version, with stepbrothers and homophobes.
Don't come for me lol🙈.
To those who enjoyed it, I am glad you did! I wish I could too but this book didn't do anything for me😔
Well that was something.
😐
Okay I decided to add more than one sentence to this review.
I know the reviews on this was mixed. Some loved it ( Yas I am happy for you 👏🏻👏🏻) and some like me unfortunately didn't.
I love forbidden dark taboo tropes, if done tastefully. Nothing against this author, I just found the concept of a teenage Kade going on a murder spree very unbelievable. The writing wasn't my favorite and the plot wasn't intriguing. I feel that it had a lot of potential but idk something was missing.
Lol like when Nicky kept calling Kade "daddy" I wanted to cringe. I was so embarassed for our boy. But hey to each their own.
The possessiveness and jealousy/sex scenes were okay.
This whole thing was just way OTT. My favourite part was the epilogue that was cute.
But if I had to sum up this story from my perspective, I would have to say that Dirty Love was like After but the gay version, with stepbrothers and homophobes.
Don't come for me lol🙈.
To those who enjoyed it, I am glad you did! I wish I could too but this book didn't do anything for me😔
June 13, 2022
What can I say? I love needy, possessive and toxic men. Especially when they’re with a man just like them. Give me all the codependency!
Then they’re stepbrothers, since they were three … it’s barely a step down from incest.
Then! Then you infuriate me, give me a reason to yearn for revenge. This bitch is a sucker for revenge and if done right it’s settles my cold, brittle heart.
I freaking adore Kade’s psychotic ass!
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Nicky too but Kade? Fucking chef’s kiss.
And then I loved to hate that entire town. Was seriously feeling some vendetta straight out of the Mindfuck series.
My only complaint is Preston’s revenge, I wanted so much more.
Otherwise this was one of the hottest books I’ve read in a minute. Man, the title really got it right. Dirty Love indeed.
Then they’re stepbrothers, since they were three … it’s barely a step down from incest.
Then! Then you infuriate me, give me a reason to yearn for revenge. This bitch is a sucker for revenge and if done right it’s settles my cold, brittle heart.
I freaking adore Kade’s psychotic ass!
Don’t get me wrong, I loved Nicky too but Kade? Fucking chef’s kiss.
And then I loved to hate that entire town. Was seriously feeling some vendetta straight out of the Mindfuck series.
My only complaint is Preston’s revenge, I wanted so much more.
Otherwise this was one of the hottest books I’ve read in a minute. Man, the title really got it right. Dirty Love indeed.
January 23, 2022
I loved these boys and I loved their dynamic. Kade is the asshole that gives zero fucks and a lot of fucks at the same time, but only for Nicky, and I love him for that. Nicky is a smug sweetheart and that combination just really worked. Protect them both forever at all cost.
This author does character mannerisms, body language and edgy vibes so well.
-stepbrothers dark romance
-bad boy/good boy
-throat grabbing
-constant need for touch
-possessive with a capital P main character
-OTT at times, suspend your beliefs a little, this is a guilty pleasure read
There are some violent scenes that were a little hard to read so please check in advance for TW!
This author does character mannerisms, body language and edgy vibes so well.
-stepbrothers dark romance
-bad boy/good boy
-throat grabbing
-constant need for touch
-possessive with a capital P main character
-OTT at times, suspend your beliefs a little, this is a guilty pleasure read
There are some violent scenes that were a little hard to read so please check in advance for TW!
June 24, 2024
Second read
totally worth a reread.
totally worth a reread.
October 12, 2025
Rating: 3
⭐️
Three stars for the entertainment, and the fact that I wasn’t at all bored. Bethany Winters’ writing may not be my favorite, but she goes straight to the point, which I really appreciated.
💞 First of all, thank you my darling Belle for reading this with me. Honestly, the three stars wouldn’t be there, I think, if you weren’t with me during this reading. I felt like I didn’t appreciate this buddy-read with you enough because I blinked and it was already over. How? Why? I really hope to buddy-ready with you soon because it was so much fun; you made me so comfortable to freely share my thoughts (or should I say complaints? 🤣🫣). Thank you again, love! 💞
•~•~•𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
Dirty Love was an interested read. Objectively, and if I’m honest, I had high expectations for this book. It’s such a popular one among MM readers, I thought I would have enjoyed it much more. Alas, I was left hungry for more depth, and less trauma-dumping. Because the amount of questionable and problematic things that happened during this book was huge. Bethany Winters certainly didn’t joke about the ‘dark’ in this dark romance.
So, we’re following the [love]story between the Rivers [step]brothers, Kade and Nicky [both eighteen years old]. Well, no, I got that wrong…the love story between Kade, Nicky, and…Kade’s possessiveness. Kade was so possessive, that aspect needed to be acknowledged on its own. I kind of got the feeling Kade’s whole personality revolved around his protectiveness over Nicky. I’m not complaining [not yet], of course! That was the highlight of the story, because all the people who looked even once in Nicky’s direction would get the short stick of Kade’s temperament. And I was here for it.
As expected, since the story is set during high school, we got the typical [annoying] teen drama, such as the [future]ex-girlfriend [Arianna], the new student who’s interested in one of the main characters [Jasper], the big bad villain aka Kade’s dad, and of course the tragic past of the main characters. But this time, we had something new. A whole bunch of homophobic people reunited in one single town. This town was so creepy, and so problematic, I thought I was reading a horror story.
Despite those clichés, the relationship between Kade and Nicky was sweet and wholesome [if we forget the scenes we got between Kade and Arianna at the beginning]. Their codependency was well-written, and I loved how both needed the other to function properly. I loved how they couldn’t help but touch and look at each other all the time. Those two had each other’s back, and considering the environment they grew up in, all I can say, is ‘thank God’!
Kade was willing to do anything in his power to protect and provide for Nicky, and even though his behavior was frustrated to read at times, I didn’t once doubt his care for Nicky. The guy was seriously obsessed. And the better part? If Nicky were to die, Kade admitted he would also kill himself because he cannot live in a world without him.
Kade took the word obsession and made it his own. Nicky is just as obsessed, though. He’s ready to do anything to get Kade’s attention, not knowing he got it all the time. Additionally, I appreciated how he refused to back down on Kade. He wasn’t afraid to call him on his bullshit, and it was very satisfying to read.
The scene in which Kade took revenge on the guys who assaulted Nicky was probably my favorite. It was unhinged in the best way possible. Kade was a psychopath in disguise. And he certainly didn’t disappoint me on that aspect.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t transcendent or anything, but I still had a good time.
•~•~ 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔
I wouldn’t call this book safe. Kade had an on-and-off girlfriend for at least a year, if I’m not mistaken. There’re two scenes with her:
- In the first chapter where she gave Kade a blowjob. But don’t worry, he was thinking about Nicky the whole time to get hard (🙄);
- And later, a flashback where Kade was having sex with that girl, but he suddenly stopped because he thought Nicky needed help.
Thankfully, apart from those scenes, nothing else happened.
Kade having a girlfriend in the beginning wasn’t that necessary, and reduced his obsession with Nicky a little, in my opinion. A lot of things happened in this book, and while I love some jealousy scenes [who doesn’t?], Kade and Nicky dealt with many external issues already. Including OWD felt too much. Past the 45% mark, though, Kade’s girlfriend is finally out of the picture.
Three stars for the entertainment, and the fact that I wasn’t at all bored. Bethany Winters’ writing may not be my favorite, but she goes straight to the point, which I really appreciated.
“The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky.
Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care.”
💞 First of all, thank you my darling Belle for reading this with me. Honestly, the three stars wouldn’t be there, I think, if you weren’t with me during this reading. I felt like I didn’t appreciate this buddy-read with you enough because I blinked and it was already over. How? Why? I really hope to buddy-ready with you soon because it was so much fun; you made me so comfortable to freely share my thoughts (or should I say complaints? 🤣🫣). Thank you again, love! 💞
•~•~•𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
Dirty Love was an interested read. Objectively, and if I’m honest, I had high expectations for this book. It’s such a popular one among MM readers, I thought I would have enjoyed it much more. Alas, I was left hungry for more depth, and less trauma-dumping. Because the amount of questionable and problematic things that happened during this book was huge. Bethany Winters certainly didn’t joke about the ‘dark’ in this dark romance.
So, we’re following the [love]story between the Rivers [step]brothers, Kade and Nicky [both eighteen years old]. Well, no, I got that wrong…the love story between Kade, Nicky, and…Kade’s possessiveness. Kade was so possessive, that aspect needed to be acknowledged on its own. I kind of got the feeling Kade’s whole personality revolved around his protectiveness over Nicky. I’m not complaining [not yet], of course! That was the highlight of the story, because all the people who looked even once in Nicky’s direction would get the short stick of Kade’s temperament. And I was here for it.
"He likes me crazy.
I pull the blanket over us and tangle my legs with his, linking our fingers together on his chest to hold him tight against me. It only takes him five minutes to fall asleep, if that, and as soon as I know he’s out, I’m right there with him, finally allowing myself to relax for the first time in days."
As expected, since the story is set during high school, we got the typical [annoying] teen drama, such as the [future]ex-girlfriend [Arianna], the new student who’s interested in one of the main characters [Jasper], the big bad villain aka Kade’s dad, and of course the tragic past of the main characters. But this time, we had something new. A whole bunch of homophobic people reunited in one single town. This town was so creepy, and so problematic, I thought I was reading a horror story.
Despite those clichés, the relationship between Kade and Nicky was sweet and wholesome [if we forget the scenes we got between Kade and Arianna at the beginning]. Their codependency was well-written, and I loved how both needed the other to function properly. I loved how they couldn’t help but touch and look at each other all the time. Those two had each other’s back, and considering the environment they grew up in, all I can say, is ‘thank God’!
"I’m fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn’t normal or healthy, but I’ve been like this for years now and I can’t seem to stop it.
Nicky, Nicky, Nicky.
He’s all I fucking think about."
Kade was willing to do anything in his power to protect and provide for Nicky, and even though his behavior was frustrated to read at times, I didn’t once doubt his care for Nicky. The guy was seriously obsessed. And the better part? If Nicky were to die, Kade admitted he would also kill himself because he cannot live in a world without him.
"He doesn’t wake up, but I don’t stop trying, begging him not to leave me because I can’t fucking do this.
If he’s really gone, I will kill myself as soon as I’m done with Jasper and I won’t think twice about it."
Kade took the word obsession and made it his own. Nicky is just as obsessed, though. He’s ready to do anything to get Kade’s attention, not knowing he got it all the time. Additionally, I appreciated how he refused to back down on Kade. He wasn’t afraid to call him on his bullshit, and it was very satisfying to read.
“Yeah, well… I’d rather be a bitch than a pussy.”
The scene in which Kade took revenge on the guys who assaulted Nicky was probably my favorite. It was unhinged in the best way possible. Kade was a psychopath in disguise. And he certainly didn’t disappoint me on that aspect.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t transcendent or anything, but I still had a good time.
"My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world."
•~•~ 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔
I wouldn’t call this book safe. Kade had an on-and-off girlfriend for at least a year, if I’m not mistaken. There’re two scenes with her:
- In the first chapter where she gave Kade a blowjob. But don’t worry, he was thinking about Nicky the whole time to get hard (🙄);
- And later, a flashback where Kade was having sex with that girl, but he suddenly stopped because he thought Nicky needed help.
Thankfully, apart from those scenes, nothing else happened.
Kade having a girlfriend in the beginning wasn’t that necessary, and reduced his obsession with Nicky a little, in my opinion. A lot of things happened in this book, and while I love some jealousy scenes [who doesn’t?], Kade and Nicky dealt with many external issues already. Including OWD felt too much. Past the 45% mark, though, Kade’s girlfriend is finally out of the picture.
September 29, 2022
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!
Be sure to check the TW of this book before reading.
I'm honestly angry at myself for not reading this book sooner!
Nicky is a cocky sweetheart that I liked from the beginning, but Kade... 🤤🤤🤤 He is this possessive, jealous asshole who hates everybody else except Nicky. He gives zero shits for anything else. The level of possessiveness in this book!!! I LIVE FOR A MC LIKE KADE!!! Honestly, I have never read a more possessive character than Kade! Damn, I NEED more books with someone like him.
This book has everything I love:
- step-brothers forbidden romance
- OTT possessiveness - MINE, MINE, MINE 🤤😍
- fierce protectiveness 🔥
- toxic romance, but sweet times too (yep, I called it sweet)
- HOT sexy times 🥵
- throat grabbing
- going feral when the other one is hurt
- that epilogue!!!
P.S. Friends, if you have recommendations for books similar to this one, please text me. I NEED more books like this one (and Kade). Also, can we get a book about Cameron? I'm curious about his story and that way we will be able to see Kade and Nicky again.
Be sure to check the TW of this book before reading.
"I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. I love you because I know no other way." - Pablo Neruda
I'm honestly angry at myself for not reading this book sooner!
Nicky is a cocky sweetheart that I liked from the beginning, but Kade... 🤤🤤🤤 He is this possessive, jealous asshole who hates everybody else except Nicky. He gives zero shits for anything else. The level of possessiveness in this book!!! I LIVE FOR A MC LIKE KADE!!! Honestly, I have never read a more possessive character than Kade! Damn, I NEED more books with someone like him.
My little brother.
My best friend.
My entire fucking world.
This book has everything I love:
- step-brothers forbidden romance
- OTT possessiveness - MINE, MINE, MINE 🤤😍
- fierce protectiveness 🔥
- toxic romance, but sweet times too (yep, I called it sweet)
- HOT sexy times 🥵
- throat grabbing
- going feral when the other one is hurt
- that epilogue!!!
The only fucks I have to give are for Nicky. Everyone else can burn in hell for all I care.
... I'll never leave him, that I'll set the goddamn world on fire before I let anything bad happen to him. And I fucking mean it, too.
"I love you, you idiot."
"I'm so fucking mad I can't see straight, but it's not at you. It's for you. Every fucking thing I do and every move I make is for you. Okay?"
P.S. Friends, if you have recommendations for books similar to this one, please text me. I NEED more books like this one (and Kade). Also, can we get a book about Cameron? I'm curious about his story and that way we will be able to see Kade and Nicky again.
April 18, 2023
reread:
yeah, no.
i don’t know what happened because i loved this the first time, but this is so damn cringey. like my brain was trying to escape from my head so it could stop reading level cringe.
mind you, i never thought this was good but i’m a firmly believer that you can love bad books. but what the hell was i thinking. i guess we’ll never know.
i thought about deleting my previous review, but humbleness goes a long way and we can all laugh together at past martina. that bitch has terrible taste.
original review:
one fucked up love, a super toxic relationship, over the top story, but most importantly, one of the best experiences in my entire life.
i’m not joking. i could barely breathe for 3/4 of the book.
perfect. perfect. perfect.
kade’s absolutely nuts and nicky WANTS him nuts. ✨stay toxic✨
yeah, no.
i don’t know what happened because i loved this the first time, but this is so damn cringey. like my brain was trying to escape from my head so it could stop reading level cringe.
mind you, i never thought this was good but i’m a firmly believer that you can love bad books. but what the hell was i thinking. i guess we’ll never know.
i thought about deleting my previous review, but humbleness goes a long way and we can all laugh together at past martina. that bitch has terrible taste.
original review:
one fucked up love, a super toxic relationship, over the top story, but most importantly, one of the best experiences in my entire life.
i’m not joking. i could barely breathe for 3/4 of the book.
perfect. perfect. perfect.
kade’s absolutely nuts and nicky WANTS him nuts. ✨stay toxic✨
April 2, 2023
Dark-taboo-kinky stars!! ❤️ This book is not for the faint hearted; and as much as there is a taboo relationship central to the story; the plot is dark due to the tropes of violence, drug use, abuse and trauma within it. It’s essentially a story about 2 stepbrothers against the world. They are not biologically related, but have grown up together since they were just a few years old; and have been through death, trauma, abuse and violence together, things that have made Nicky a little weaker and Kade, his protector. Not only are they codependent but their attachment is toxic in many ways. Circumstances have made them intensely possessive, protective and jealous. 😱😱When they decide to give in to the attraction, their chemistry is incendiary 🔥🔥 and the dialogues are full of ownership and possession.. ❤️ It makes for a riveting read and I couldn’t keep this down. The second half was incredibly tough to read but also satisfying in the end. All in all, highly recommended to fans who can handle angsty, violent, hot, kinky taboo romance!! 👍🏻👍🏻
September 20, 2025
4.5⭐️
LISTEN TO ME PEOPLE !!!!
This book is about 2 stepbrothers in love, but it’s not the regular stepbrothers romance we are used to it when they only meet later in life around 17 or 18 years old, noooo not this one, this one they are BROTHERS for all intents and purposes, they are just not blood related but they ARE brothers, their parents got together when they were 3 years old, they are only 4 months apart in age. They share parents, house, life and school. So if this is completely out of your comfort zone and out a line for you, please DO NOT read this book, you’ve been warned ! 😂
Well now that this is out of the way, the question is: “Did I like this book?” Oh YES your honor I DID VERY MUCH like this book 😂😂😂😂😂 do it with this information what you want……
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“I cut myself on a tree in the woods when I was ten and it hurt like hell. My brother brought me home to clean it up and held me while I cried, then he took a knife from the kitchen drawer and cut himself with it, gave himself the exact same scar as mine just to make me feel better.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“Mine,” he says simply, and I swear to god I almost cry.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine. My little brother. My best friend. My entire fucking world.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
KADE IS MY MAN ! Omg ! Most books I read the MMC is possessive and protective because I mostly read Dark Romances and that’s a main quality of the MMC’s 😂 but Jesus Christ, KADE RIVERS takes it to a whole new level. He is THE most protective, possessive, aggressive motherfucker out there. Holly Wow ! Their story is actually very beautiful and you feel their love growing differently, they both suffer under a very abusive crazy father who’s a cop. They live in a small city in Maine where people are extremely religious and OVER THE TOP Homophobic. Nicky and Kade learned from very young age to count on each other only. And Kade is THE ABSOLUTE MOST CUTE brother ever to Nicky. The problem is they NEVER loved or act as brothers only, even when they were little, the way they touch each other, hold each other and love each other, you could see the love between them and the undeniable tension, angst and chemistry. This book is hot 🔥 and beautiful. I was expecting darker but it delivers in forbidden and taboo. Things happen in this book and I can ONLY tell you without spoilers that there is absolutely NO extreme Kade won’t go for Nicky, there’s ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE that takes his focus, love, attention and protection out of Nicky. His eyes are always on him, everything he does is for him and he is a INSANE motherfucker 😂
I absolutely adored him. Nicky is the complete opposite physically and mentally, but he is no less obsessed with Kade, he is insanely in love with Kade since forever. He is sweet and fragile, but worry not cause Kade is there to protect him. ❤️
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“He will never touch you again because I won’t let it happen. And it’s not because I think you can’t handle it. It’s because I can’t handle watching him hurt you. Watching anyone hurt you. It would kill me, Nicky.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
LISTEN TO ME PEOPLE !!!!
This book is about 2 stepbrothers in love, but it’s not the regular stepbrothers romance we are used to it when they only meet later in life around 17 or 18 years old, noooo not this one, this one they are BROTHERS for all intents and purposes, they are just not blood related but they ARE brothers, their parents got together when they were 3 years old, they are only 4 months apart in age. They share parents, house, life and school. So if this is completely out of your comfort zone and out a line for you, please DO NOT read this book, you’ve been warned ! 😂
Well now that this is out of the way, the question is: “Did I like this book?” Oh YES your honor I DID VERY MUCH like this book 😂😂😂😂😂 do it with this information what you want……
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“I cut myself on a tree in the woods when I was ten and it hurt like hell. My brother brought me home to clean it up and held me while I cried, then he took a knife from the kitchen drawer and cut himself with it, gave himself the exact same scar as mine just to make me feel better.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“Mine,” he says simply, and I swear to god I almost cry.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“He’s an annoying little shit and he lives to fuck with me, but I love him and he’s mine. My little brother. My best friend. My entire fucking world.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
KADE IS MY MAN ! Omg ! Most books I read the MMC is possessive and protective because I mostly read Dark Romances and that’s a main quality of the MMC’s 😂 but Jesus Christ, KADE RIVERS takes it to a whole new level. He is THE most protective, possessive, aggressive motherfucker out there. Holly Wow ! Their story is actually very beautiful and you feel their love growing differently, they both suffer under a very abusive crazy father who’s a cop. They live in a small city in Maine where people are extremely religious and OVER THE TOP Homophobic. Nicky and Kade learned from very young age to count on each other only. And Kade is THE ABSOLUTE MOST CUTE brother ever to Nicky. The problem is they NEVER loved or act as brothers only, even when they were little, the way they touch each other, hold each other and love each other, you could see the love between them and the undeniable tension, angst and chemistry. This book is hot 🔥 and beautiful. I was expecting darker but it delivers in forbidden and taboo. Things happen in this book and I can ONLY tell you without spoilers that there is absolutely NO extreme Kade won’t go for Nicky, there’s ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE that takes his focus, love, attention and protection out of Nicky. His eyes are always on him, everything he does is for him and he is a INSANE motherfucker 😂
I absolutely adored him. Nicky is the complete opposite physically and mentally, but he is no less obsessed with Kade, he is insanely in love with Kade since forever. He is sweet and fragile, but worry not cause Kade is there to protect him. ❤️
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
“He will never touch you again because I won’t let it happen. And it’s not because I think you can’t handle it. It’s because I can’t handle watching him hurt you. Watching anyone hurt you. It would kill me, Nicky.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
February 15, 2022
3.5 Stars
Told mostly in dual POV, 1st person, it can be read as a standalone. Dirty Love is a taboo story with a possessive and protective character. I was enjoying the story but towards the ending, the violence became too much and I wasn’t in the right mindset. Overall it was a good read and hope you enjoy it as well (but proceed with caution)!
Told mostly in dual POV, 1st person, it can be read as a standalone. Dirty Love is a taboo story with a possessive and protective character. I was enjoying the story but towards the ending, the violence became too much and I wasn’t in the right mindset. Overall it was a good read and hope you enjoy it as well (but proceed with caution)!
January 28, 2022
Out of all the messed up toxic shyt that happened my only complaint was them calling eachother “brother” “baby brother”.
January 20, 2025
Feb 2022: This is going straight to my favorites. 5 stars 💕
Jan 2025: STILL one of my favorites. My second read did not disappoint. Filthy, taboo, and absolutely perfect. 5 stars
Jan 2025: STILL one of my favorites. My second read did not disappoint. Filthy, taboo, and absolutely perfect. 5 stars
December 26, 2022
“My love for you isn’t sweet, Nicky…” I lift his chin up with my forefinger, picturing all the bad things I’d do for him to keep him safe, all the things I’d make him do for me to protect my sanity.
“It’s toxic.”
3.5 ⭐️
Tropes
✨step brothers to lovers
✨forbidden/taboo romance
✨possessive AF hero 🤯
✨choking kink 😳
I went blind into this book and I actually ended up liking it. Kade was absolutely unhinged and feral for Nicky. I was living for it. This man was even picturing what he’d do to future people if they were to hurt Nicky, even though those people didn’t even exist yet. Their love is toxic, far from a cutesy romance, but it was addicting to read. I was flipping through pages on my kindle in the last 30% like it was going to be my last breath LMAO.
I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it.
He needs me and I need him.
Fucking always.
Nicky and Kade are stepbrothers and have been growing up in an abusive home, their dad is fucking horrible. Kade being the older brother, has taken the job of being Nicky’s protector. Kade has been saving up money for quite a while to get Nicky and himself out of there. They have a clear dependency on each other. This small town is homophobic AF. Everyone is a fucking asshole besides Nicky and Kade. I felt pure rage during this book and wanted to beat the shit out of everyone. Nicky knows he’s gay and attracted to his step brother and Kade is more in the state of trying to deny and resist what he’s feeling.
There is OTT drama but I was loving it. Kade went fucking feral during towards end. I’ll just say that anyone who messes with Nicky is basically good as dead…Kade is probably up there with one of the most possessive characters I’ve read about. I’ll admit I was swooning very hard even though Kade was basically a feral wolf 😳 and Nicky on the other hand, he was the bratty character. He knew just how to get under Kade’s skin. I was obsessed 😍 I really enjoyed seeing their co-dependency on each other. These two could no way in hell live without one another.
That epilogue though…😍😍 *chefs kiss*
The reason this isn’t rated higher is because of the OW drama. I feel like it wasn’t needed. There was a lot the characters were already dealing with. This shitty town, their horrible father, and their forbidden attraction to each other…There was lots to work with. That girl pissed me off and so did Kade. While I did enjoy this story, it’s not something I’d come back and re read again. I may read over my highlights because that possessiveness was top tier, but that’s it. But because of that, I’m rating it 3.5 ⭐️. And they really needed to stop calling each other brother 💀
“It’s toxic.”
3.5 ⭐️
Tropes
✨step brothers to lovers
✨forbidden/taboo romance
✨possessive AF hero 🤯
✨choking kink 😳
I went blind into this book and I actually ended up liking it. Kade was absolutely unhinged and feral for Nicky. I was living for it. This man was even picturing what he’d do to future people if they were to hurt Nicky, even though those people didn’t even exist yet. Their love is toxic, far from a cutesy romance, but it was addicting to read. I was flipping through pages on my kindle in the last 30% like it was going to be my last breath LMAO.
I’d kill for him in a second, but I wouldn’t die or go to jail for him. Not because I don’t love him enough, but because there is no world where he exists without me in it.
He needs me and I need him.
Fucking always.
Nicky and Kade are stepbrothers and have been growing up in an abusive home, their dad is fucking horrible. Kade being the older brother, has taken the job of being Nicky’s protector. Kade has been saving up money for quite a while to get Nicky and himself out of there. They have a clear dependency on each other. This small town is homophobic AF. Everyone is a fucking asshole besides Nicky and Kade. I felt pure rage during this book and wanted to beat the shit out of everyone. Nicky knows he’s gay and attracted to his step brother and Kade is more in the state of trying to deny and resist what he’s feeling.
There is OTT drama but I was loving it. Kade went fucking feral during towards end. I’ll just say that anyone who messes with Nicky is basically good as dead…Kade is probably up there with one of the most possessive characters I’ve read about. I’ll admit I was swooning very hard even though Kade was basically a feral wolf 😳 and Nicky on the other hand, he was the bratty character. He knew just how to get under Kade’s skin. I was obsessed 😍 I really enjoyed seeing their co-dependency on each other. These two could no way in hell live without one another.
That epilogue though…😍😍 *chefs kiss*
The reason this isn’t rated higher is because of the OW drama. I feel like it wasn’t needed. There was a lot the characters were already dealing with. This shitty town, their horrible father, and their forbidden attraction to each other…There was lots to work with. That girl pissed me off and so did Kade. While I did enjoy this story, it’s not something I’d come back and re read again. I may read over my highlights because that possessiveness was top tier, but that’s it. But because of that, I’m rating it 3.5 ⭐️. And they really needed to stop calling each other brother 💀
January 19, 2023
Wow!
Admittedly, not my usual read. This book is definitely not for everyone, but I’m giving it 5 glorious hot af stars!
Admittedly, not my usual read. This book is definitely not for everyone, but I’m giving it 5 glorious hot af stars!
August 9, 2023
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.
“Don’t let em’ see you, baby brother,” he whispers, slowly trailing his cold thumb over the skin beneath my eye. “No one but me, remember?”
This was deliciously violent, hot and forbidden. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but this is the third book set in high school I’ve read in a short amount of time. I loved all of them, but I need a dose of grown-ups, lol. The list of content warnings for this one is definitely long, but not the kind that bothers me. I am always down for violence and action in books, and there was a satisfying amount of it.
I adored how protective Kade was of Nicky, all his possessive holds and the cuddling/cradling. The way they were completely codependent and slightly toxic really hit the spot for me this time.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read something where most characters were openly homophobic, instead of ‘that one homophobic dude’ a lot of books have, and it was a little uncomfortable, which added to the darkness in the book. Just an unpleasant town overall, where the cops and homophobes protect each other.
I’m fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn’t normal or healthy, but I’ve been like this for years now and I can’t seem to stop it. Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. He’s all I fucking think about.
I usually avoid books that include detailed scenes with men or women other than the MCs, but thankfully it didn’t last long, and it was very early on in the book. The obsessive, possessive and protective vibes between Kade and Nicky quickly overshadowed any worry about other people.
I loved it.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Stepbrothers, taboo, size difference, protective and possessive, toxic, codependency, fight club, abuse parent, dark high school
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Underage drinking
Drug abuse
Homophobia
Abuse
Murder
Self harm
Sexual assault
Mental health issues
Brief mentions of animal abuse
Violent hate crime (main character)
Group hate crime/rape (side character)
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM drama: Yes, on-page sexual content between MC and a woman. Brief and early on in the book.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
“Don’t let em’ see you, baby brother,” he whispers, slowly trailing his cold thumb over the skin beneath my eye. “No one but me, remember?”
This was deliciously violent, hot and forbidden. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but this is the third book set in high school I’ve read in a short amount of time. I loved all of them, but I need a dose of grown-ups, lol. The list of content warnings for this one is definitely long, but not the kind that bothers me. I am always down for violence and action in books, and there was a satisfying amount of it.
I adored how protective Kade was of Nicky, all his possessive holds and the cuddling/cradling. The way they were completely codependent and slightly toxic really hit the spot for me this time.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read something where most characters were openly homophobic, instead of ‘that one homophobic dude’ a lot of books have, and it was a little uncomfortable, which added to the darkness in the book. Just an unpleasant town overall, where the cops and homophobes protect each other.
I’m fully aware my obsession with my own brother isn’t normal or healthy, but I’ve been like this for years now and I can’t seem to stop it. Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. He’s all I fucking think about.
I usually avoid books that include detailed scenes with men or women other than the MCs, but thankfully it didn’t last long, and it was very early on in the book. The obsessive, possessive and protective vibes between Kade and Nicky quickly overshadowed any worry about other people.
I loved it.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Stepbrothers, taboo, size difference, protective and possessive, toxic, codependency, fight club, abuse parent, dark high school
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Underage drinking
Drug abuse
Homophobia
Abuse
Murder
Self harm
Sexual assault
Mental health issues
Brief mentions of animal abuse
Violent hate crime (main character)
Group hate crime/rape (side character)
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM drama: Yes, on-page sexual content between MC and a woman. Brief and early on in the book.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, dual POV
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,158 reviews