1 Star - DNF @ 56%
If it's anything to go by I felt like DNFing at 36% and because I clearly love torturing myself I kept reading figuring I'd be able to finish it. Boy, I was wrong! 🤦🏻♀️ I quit at 56% sorry not sorry!
Soo...heads up, if you liked this book and are a fan of this author my review is absolutely not for you. You were warned.
- I found the writing was weird at times. Using odd phrases and word choices.
"Benny's face was packed with desire and what appears to be contemplation." Packed??? With desire? 😆
"she wheezes under the heaviness of me" 🧐 Why not use "under my weight" or "bulk" even? That just sounded weird.
- The h Neomi being a virgin at twenty-eight years old despite knowing she had an arranged marriage from the age of eighteen seems rather absurd. Sure, sure it's 🤌🏻the life🤌🏻 and the women are expected to remain chaste. Although that was never mentioned as a requirement or expectation, I'm just going off previous mafia books I've read. But tbh? Spare me. I found it ridiculous. Because Neomi liked to act like she was anything but a virgin and throw imaginary men in the H Benny's face. But most importantly because as usual Benny wasn't a virgin and had probably fucked around plenty. Hell, he was practically in a relationship despite how casual he tried to play it off with the housekeepers daughter Gretchen. For maybe years? It was never detailed. But obviously they had been engaged and awaiting for word when the wedding would happen for years, so tbh the last thing I expected was for either MC to be virgins especially at their older ages.
- I hated the h Neomi. Hated her. She had this tendacy to run her mouth all the time and yet she was absolutely incapable of backing it up. You wanna know how that made her look? Stupid. Fucking incompetent and immature for acting like she was big and bad but couldn't deliver. Not to mention disappointing for getting my hopes up that a FMC might go head to head with a MMC for once.
For example, the H Benny asks her if the shirt she was sleeping in was his, her response? "Some random guy" 😂 She was asleep in HIS bed at his father's house, in his suite and so ofc she was in his clothes, since she had none of her clothes there. Her response was ridiculous. It wasn't funny or cute. Why even respond that way????
At one point the H Benny told Neomi she couldn't come to his club because he'd be working. So, she naturally acts like a spoiled teenager by inviting her sisters over and climbing out a window with one of them to go to her husbands club. Why? Because she obviously hates being told she can't do something but also she's super insecure over her husband, who she can't stand yet wants to fuck, all because her father uses the excuse of working to hide his affairs . *yawn*
Add that she read across as a twenty year old and not a twenty-eight year old grown ass adult and yeah, I never stood a chance at liking her.
- The mafia aspect wasn't interesting. I was too busy being annoyed by the silly MCs to bother with it if it was.
- They had been married for maybe 3 whole ass days and one, they hadn't consummated their marriage. Benny complained about it frequently so no way you'd forget. And two, Benny begins talking like he has feelings for Neomi and acting super protective over her. Hahahahahahahahaha. Haha. Ha
Nope. They didn't like one another and so you're trying to tell me that because of a marriage license and their first kiss at their wedding everything has changed and they now have feelings for one another and Benny is acting like he hasn't been saddled with the biggest pain in the ass baggage in the world like he was the entire first half?!? 😂😂😂😂
- The H Benny was so bad. Like, tried way too hard to appear tough and intimidating. He absolutely was not any of those things. He also read across immature and like an asshole, except for a few moments when HE came out looking like the adult in the room instead of Neomi.
Also was I supposed to find him attractive?! That man threatened Neomi by telling her he'd force her to watch as he had another woman suck him off in front of her, cum in the other woman's mouth and then make the other woman spit it into her mouth. You've got to be joking.
And yes, ma'am! He actually did let another woman (his casual relationship chick Gretchen) get down on her knees choking on his dick while Neomi watched at their engagement party all because he couldn't accept that Neomi called his threat of using another woman as an idle threat or that Neomi tried to play like it wouldn't make her jealous. So, naturally he goes and gets his dick sucked immediately after to prove a point. 🤮
Oh, and yes Neomi then left the room, found a guy who she somehow knew hated her fiancé for banning him from his club and dragged him into the room where Benny was still getting his dick sucked. Promptly put the guy next to Benny, got on her knees and pulled his pants down. Before she could grab the guys dick Benny shot him in the head.
Now I'll admit, I'd usually love a crazy ass scene like that between the MCs in the early chapters of a dark romance but in this one all it did was put the MCs immaturity and reactive personalities on display. Especially when Benny acknowledged he felt ashamed of his behavior after Neomi stated if he wasn't going to be faithful neither was she when both their fathers joined them. And he even felt guilty for hurting Gretchen, the other woman, yet didn't apologize to her or Neomi for his awful behavior.
With that said, I love dark romance. I love mafia romance. I love spice, smut and alphaholes. But man these two characters can just fuck off together and be forgotten forever. They were awful.