Cocky Brutal Sinner

House of Cards #4

by Lena Hunt

Book 4 in the House of Cards series
Full blurb and cover to be revealed soon!

Genres: Romance

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 9, 2026

About the author

Lena Hunt is a Canadian author born and raised north of Toronto, which is the setting for her flagship series, House of Cards. She writes angsty contemporary romances with complex characters who bring the spice and banter in spades.

When she isn’t busy writing, she can be found listening to music at an unreasonable volume, wishing she was somewhere warmer, or spending quality time with her chaotic family.

Connect with Lena on Instagram: @authorlenahunt

Follow her on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/lenahunt

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brinley has been keeping one too many secrets. From the fact that she’s in love with her brother’s best friend, and has been secretly seeing him for years, to the fact that she’s been writing a gossip column under the name Peppermint and has revealed many secrets about her brother, his friends, and their partners. So far she’s been able to juggle it all, but when an old blog post resurfaces, costing her brother millions, and sending him on a mission to find out the author’s true identity, she can see the house of cards tumbling down around her. It doesn’t matter that she had a reason to start writing the posts she did, or that they deserved it at first, she knows she’s crossed a line, and when the truth comes to light, it could cost her everything, her brother, her best friends, and the man she loves.

Beau knew that Brinley was off limits when he first kissed her 5 years ago, but he wasn’t able to stay away then, and even less so now. He knows she deserves more than to be his dirty little secret, but has always been afraid that if her brother found out, he would lose his closest friends, and the only family he has left. With things heating up as his friends begin the hunt for Peppermint, his suspicions are confirmed, and he has to try to keep Brinley safe, while hiding the fact that he’s in love with her. Add to that his meddling mother trying to set him up, and he knows something has to give before he loses everyone he cares about.

I received an early copy of this book from The Author Agency and I absolutely loved it. While I had suspected Brinley was Peppermint from the first book in the series, and wondered how she could betray her friends like that, knowing the full story actually has me on her side, to a point. I loved that she was able to recognize she had taken things too far, I just wish she’d had the strength to come clean on her own, rather than having to deal with the fallout the way she did. It was so clear how in love Beau and Brinley were, I just wish they didn’t have to live in the shadows, and when Beau was vulnerable and finally told her how he felt, I don’t blame her for pushing him away, believing that they would never be able to have more than secret rendez-vous. I loved that we got to see an MMC put his heart on the line and be willing to accept the consequences, not making excuses for any of his behaviour, past or present, and with the way the book ended, I can’t wait to read Luke and Eden’s story.

[BookishMarineMama03 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give me a brother’s best friend secret romance with a confident, dirty talking man willing to stand up and lose everything for the woman he loves any day and I am here for it! Add in a close found family and I am hooked! Cocky Brutal Sinner is book four in the House Of Cards series by Lena Hunt.

Beau, this man is gorgeous, he is so sweet and kind and loving. A successful chef who has had his closest friends since they were young. From the very beginning he’s known his best friend Luke’s little sister Brinley was the one person he should never want. But one chance night seeing her years later all grown up and really SEEING her and he’s done! And so they fall, hiding their relationship, convincing themselves it was the safest choice.

Brinley. Funny, confident and a successful business owner of her own bookstore and coffee shop. When she was 14, she fell hard for Beau. And one night, a dumb older brother reading her diary confessions about Beau to everyone destroyed her. Hurt her so deep, she never could let go. Becoming the anonymous writer behind the infamous gossip blog known as Peppermint exposing the lives and secrets of the people closest to her. And it spirals, the secret deepens. And the need for revenge spins out of control. And then Beau comes back into her life and the secret relationship begins. For 5 YEARS no one knows. And these two build a connection and a soul deep love in the shadows. The heat and spice between these, two the mouth on this man and his perfect desire for her pleasure, it is so hot!

I love the found family of this series. These men and their women have a close bond together. But when all comes to light, so many are hurt and relationships almost destroyed.

This is a book about secrets, about revenge that gets out of control, about admitting the wrongs, working to restore relationships and healing. And about a man taking a stand for the woman he loves at the risk of losing everyone! Such a good series!

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

❤️ Brother's Best Friend
❤️ Secret Relationship
❤️ Years of Forbidden Pining
❤️ Secret Identity / Double Life
❤️ He Knows Her Darkest Secret
❤️ Possessive/Obsessive Hero
❤️ Size Difference
❤️ "Almost Caught" Tension

🦋Thank you Lena Hunt and The Author Agency for my arc!

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beau makes a mistake years ago, and when faced with a similar moment in the present timeline, I loved how he responds. Getting to see those moments play out really added depth to the history between Beau and Brinley. I struggled to connect with Brinley, as some of her choices baffled me. But sometimes I love that in a book. When a character challenges me or doesn’t act in a way I would think.

Overall this is another strong book in a series that I’m said is quickly coming to an end.

This is a series I’d read in order. Otherwise, you miss out on some backstory that enhances the journey of not just the two main characters, but the friend group.

I was kindly provided an ARC, but my review is honest and completely my own.

[claireesbookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️!! Went into this one not realizing that I had already read book 1 LOLLLL. While it can be read as a standalone, I wish I had reread book 1 and then read 2 and 3 before this one.

Anywhoo... the concept of this book had me hooked from the blurb. They've been hiding a relationship for 5 years? SIGN ME THE HELL UP. I had such a good time with this book, even during the devastating moments that had me hurting. My only complaint is that we didn't get enough of their relationship during the past 5 years. We see them kiss for the first time, and some stuff from 10 years ago, but that's it. I NEEDED MORE. Overall, this was such a fun read!

Thank you to TAA and Lena for the advanced copy.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is on me and me alone. When I saw the ARC sign up, I thought it was book one of a series. Didn't look it up or anything. It's book 4 in a series. I did finally look it up on Amazon and saw where it said that it can be read as a standalone but would be better to read the books in order. Again, this is my own mistake but I hate to just....ignore ARCs. I will get to reading the first 3 books and will then re-read this one to give a better review. But because I clearly did not have a lot of the "background" I feel like I was missing a lot of really needed information.

[Reading is escaping reality · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lena completely outdid herself with this one!!! 5 years in the making and in the end he stood with her even if it cost him everything. Just wow, this is one that I didn’t want to put down, I wanted to ignore all my adult responsibilities and just stay immersed in this. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t love about this and wish I could give it more than 5 stars.


I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much Lena for having me read!

[Megan Rhoads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ I have ARC read all of the books in this series and have enjoyed each couples story. Brother’s best friend, 5 year secret relationship, and so many other bombs dropped. This had a lot of drama and found family turmoil. I enjoyed their love story but wish we had more of what has happened to get them to this point. I will definitely continue reading this series I just enjoyed others more.