Hunt the Villain

Villain #2

by Rina Kent, Teddy Hamilton (Narrator), Grayson Owens (Narrator)

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a standalone dark MM mafia rivals romance set in the world of Legacy of Gods.

I’m hunting a monster

The first time I met Yulian Dimitriev, it was hate at first sight.

He’s brash, chaotic, and a violence-junkie.

In short, everything I disregard.

As heirs to two notorious mafia organizations, we were shoved together in an unorthodox setting.

The more I learn about Yulian, the deeper my loathing seeps.

Until I truly see the person within, and something forbidden sparks between us.

But our coexistence is cut short when tragedy strikes.

Yulian and I go back to our respective, parallel worlds that shouldn’t cross.

But they do.

And once again, I’m dragged into the orbit of a man I shouldn’t want.

Two men can’t be together in our world.

But Yulian blurs every limit I thought existed until everything is in jeopardy. Our hearts included.


Grumpy x Chaotic Sunshine
Mafia Romance
Enemies to Lovers
Second Chance Tension
Pining/Longing
Mutual Obsession
Bi Awakening

Hunt the Villain is a male x male dark college romance. This book can be listened to as a standalone, but for a better understanding of the world, it's recommended to listen to Kiss the Villain first.

Genres: Dark Romance, M M Romance, Romance, Dark, Enemies To Lovers, LGBT, Gay

Audible Audio

First published March 24, 2026

About the author

Rina Kent is a New York Times, USA Today, and #1 bestselling author of all things dark romance.
Better known for writing unapologetic anti-heroes and villains, Rina weaves tales of characters you shouldn’t fall for but inevitably do. Her stories are laced with a touch of darkness, a splash of angst, and just the right amount of unhealthy intensity.
When she’s not busy plotting mayhem for her ever-expanding Rinaverse, she leads a private life in London, travels, and pampers her cats in true Cat Lady fashion.


You can find her below:

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Reviews

[isy · Rating 5 out of 5]

yup that was incredible.
all you hating, losers who are going to switch up and say how much you’ve “always loved them” genuinely dont deserve to read and experience vaughnyulian
-
-

all of you wanted a vaughn book and are now complaining because it's MM 🤡 weirdos.
I cant wait!!! Im so excited and we will get to see kirillsasha again 🥹

[Rina Kent]

HUNT THE VILLAIN IS A LEGACY OF GODS MM SPINOFF
➜ Read Here ┃ Release Date: March 24, 2026

Audiobook Teaser

Tropes:
Grumpy x Chaotic Sunshine
Mafia Romance
Enemies to Lovers
Second Chance Tension
Pining / Longing
Mutual Obsession
Bi Awakening

[Than 🪷 (Hiatus)]

I’ve been debating whether or not to write this, but it’s been bothering me. My FYP is flooded with discussion about Rina Kent’s upcoming book, so I thought I’d throw in my two cents since everyone is talking about it.

People are absolutely allowed to be upset and entitled to their opinions. But giving an unreleased book a 1-star rating without even reading it, calling for a boycott of Rina Kent’s comment section, and labelling the book a “bad idea” is not just unnecessary - it’s downright hateful. And honestly, it’s not a good look on you.

1. Vaughn

Yes, Vaughn has been referenced throughout The Legacy of Gods series, but not in a way that gives us a deep understanding of who he is - his personality, his thoughts, his struggles. Rina is the author; she knows him better than anyone, and she’s shaping his story the way she sees fit. Assuming we know better than the author about a character we’ve barely seen on-page is quite frankly ridiculous. Let’s reserve judgement until we actually read Vaughn’s story and see who he is in his own book.

2. The “Girlfriend”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Rina never even stated Vaughn had a long-term girlfriend in a published book - it was mentioned once in a Facebook post. I get that words matter, but authors change their minds all the time. Aelin was originally meant to end up with Dorian, and look how that turned out - she and Rowan became perfection!!

Even if Vaughn had a girlfriend, so what? People evolve. Relationships end. That doesn’t mean there has to be cheating or a character death to justify it. Maybe Vaughn’s bisexual or pansexual - we don’t know because we haven’t read his book yet. Personally, I suspect Rina had no concrete plans for Vaughn’s story back when she made that throwaway “girlfriend” comment; it might have just been to stop readers from pestering her about him. Now that she’s decided to give Vaughn a book, she’s free to take his story in whatever direction makes sense for the character’s growth.

3. Money Grab

Let’s talk about this so-called “money grab.” As if authors aren’t allowed to make money? (Rina, go get your coins, girl!). Rina Kent has been writing M/F romances for ages - she has over 50 books/novellas in her catalog​ and many of them do follow similar dark academia/mafia romance formulas. If I had been writing the same type of story for that long, I’d burn out too. And honestly, some readers have noted that her recent M/F books were starting to feel repetitive​. So is it really a shock that she wants to branch out and try something new?

God of Fury is her first experience with M/M romance, and from the way she’s spoken about it, you can tell how much it brought new energy to her creativity. (She even celebrated the one-year anniversary of GoF by reminding us it was her first MM book after years of holding back, which shows how special it is to her.)

Maybe - just maybe - she’s found something new that excites her. And if people end up loving this new direction too, why wouldn’t she continue writing what she’s passionate about? That’s not a cash grab; that’s an author growing and delivering stories readers enjoy.

At the end of the day, if you don’t like the direction a book or series is going, that’s fine - skip it, or wait for reviews from others you trust. But tearing it down before it’s even out - giving it a 1-star rating without reading it, or harassing the author over her creative choices - isn’t valid criticism. It’s entitlement, and it’s not a good look.

Just something to think about.

[maria]

┆ ⤿ ♟️ ༝ pre-read:

I admit it! I’m addictive to Rina’s books😪 I don’t have hopes of this book being any different than the others lmaoo but I’m still intrigued 🫡


thank youu bloom for the arc!!!

[annie]

Yulian & Vaughn being verse (both dom/sub) made me realize that if Jeremy/Landon were something, they'd definitely be THAT.


PAKHAN DEBATE ‼️ - Um vaughn being gay or whatsoever, pls he better be the future pakhan. whatever's circulating about Jeremy being the 'future Pakhan' better NOT happen. I do love JerCes but vaughn deserves his position, no one else.

VAUGHN MOROZOV IS SUPPOSED TO BE WITH DAMIEN'S DAUGHTER. IDC ✋🏻 I've always imagined him with a girl, even rina mentioned that he has a gf ffs, atp it's cash grab!

- might stop calling me homophobic, just because i don't want a character to be gay or bi, doesn't mean i'm hating the community. ffs a person can't even say anything on this app. and it's as clear as a day, that she's making everyone MM after the success of GOF. i did love that book and might love this series too but i just felt disappointed, but ik my opinion will change after sometime. i'm not a hater 🤡 Iqra explained it better.

[safeya ༒︎]

am i the only one that doesn’t care if its a cash grab??

y’all gotta admit rina sucks at writing FM romance. its a blonde virgin fmc x a manwhore mmc 99% of the time.

she did a great job at GoF why not do it again? there’s a reason it got more attention than the rest of her books, why not take it for advantage? even if it’s for money and fame she’s good at it and people are enjoying it 😭

and if she actually is doing it for money then is that not what all authors do? some ppl are saying “she never meant to write more mm she just did that after her first one became popular.” like yeah no shit?? if i were to write my first ever mm and was nervous it wouldn’t go well i’d also say i wont do more, but after seeing how much attention it got and how many people loved it i’d change my mind about it and write more bcuz clearly a lot of fans enjoyed it!

the ppl who r mad at the MM books are the same ones who would get pissed at the FM tropes she does over and over again and say she needs to change it up ✋🏼

opinions on the author are valid but why hate on MM? the comments i’ve seen are absolutely diabolical. they’re being straight up homophobic and it’s disgusting. don’t like the trope? move tf on. want to voice out ur disappointment? feel free to do so but don’t be disrespectful abt it.

also why y’all so pissed as if u CREATED vaughn and know what’s best for him. he was mentioned a few times but we never even TRULY met him?? yeah he’s there sometimes but thats literally it.
also he was never supposed to “end up” with damien’s daughter? where was that even mentioned? don’t bash the book in if what u created in ur HEAD didn’t match up with the ACTUAL character. its her book she can do whatever 🙌🏼 it isn’t even out yet what’s the hate for?

and to the people saying she’s fetishising mm romance. she JUST came out with her SECOND mm book. SECOND! she literally just started, y’all saw that word and ran away with it. if u didn’t like kiss the villain or god of fury thats fine! but where did the fetishisation even come from?
while we’re at it, a TON of straight white women wrote queer books. if ur gonna cancel rina for that how bout u just sigh in disappointment and stop hating cuz atp u gonna have to cancel a lot of authors 😭 what kinda take is that pls.

i’ve also seen people say “if she never wrote black mcs cuz she’s not black herself and doesn’t have any experience than why is she writing mm romance if she’s not gay?” HELLO? are u hearing urself rn?? comparing being black to being gay is CRAZY.

[Maddy ✨ ~The Verse Vixen {AFK brb}]

DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT!! -OUR MYSTERIOUS WHITE MASKED FUTURE PAKHAN IS GAYYY!!💀


Ohk, Rina Kent is really in her Landon King-era villainy with this one. The chaos, the delusion, the iconic one-liners—I can ALREADY tell this book is about to destroy peace, and make us all question our morals. 😩🔥Okay, so tell me WHY did it have to be Kirill’s son?! Like, out of ALL possibilities, this is where we land? I was praying for an FMC with the ruthlessness of Lana Myers, but NOPE. Instead, we’re out here questioning genetics and rewriting our theories like conspiracy theorists on caffeine.📝Anyway.
Let’s get into the madness, shall we?

🔪 EXHIBIT A:

"Hey, Kill."
"Hmmm."
"Do you know if Yulian is into guys?"
"I’m trying to figure out a plan to bring him down, AND— I heard rumors I want to confirm before plotting."
"If by guys, you mean Vaughan, then yeah. Yulian definitely wants to f*ck him. Or get f*cked by him. I’m not sure

.

🔪 EXHIBIT B:

Vaughn got a certain serpent man pinned to a tree, choking him out with a chain and this dude Yulian’s just giggling like it’s foreplay?? "Love it when you get rough, Mishka"—SIR??
-They are already giving JeremyXLandon vibes👀🔥
Vaughan trying to be the composed, dangerous future Pakhan but shaking inside because a psycho snake boy got under his skin like no one ever has? That's Landon King level losing control.
Total MMA: Mafia Men Anonymous.🔥
They’re not rivals. They’re foreplay with body counts.

~At this point, all we need is:

-One scene where Vaughan almost kills him but pauses because "his eyes looked too wild and beautiful in the moonlight" 🌚✨

-And Yulian to say something like: “I’ll let you kill me if you kiss me first.”

…and we’re fully in Vaughnyulian > JeremyLandon supremacy territory. 🔪

🔪 EXHIBIT C: THE REVENGE ARC NO ONE ASKED FOR

“She really cheated with Yulian?”
“I had my revenge :)”
— THAT SMILEY?? 😃😃😃 ???Boy didn’t just get revenge—he redecorated it with moans and regrets. 🫡

— Vaughan: “I hate his guts.”
Also Vaughan: Let me uproot my entire life, leave my friends, and cross borders just to not be near him... but still stalk his Insta at 3AM. ✈️📱
— Not him transferring to a whole-ass other country to avoid Yulian… and still ending up emotionally attached like it’s a Wattpad slow-burn enemies-to-lovers fic. 💀📚
— Yulian got one arm around a professor and Vaughan’s already drafting his villain origin story. 💅


🚀🚨 FUTURE PAKHAN GOT MM??? JUST IMAGINE THE DRAMA!! 🔥
FUTURE PAKHAN CRISIS that’s about to hit.
— Kirill out here staring into the abyss, wondering where he went wrong as a father. 😶
Vaughan:"Father, this is my partner."
Kirill: clenches jaw, takes a sip of vodka, stares into the void for 30 seconds 💀
— Damien laughing his ass off because "At least it’s not my son this time." 🥃
— Also , AND —NOT VAUGHAN TAKING TIPS FROM NIKO??? 💀
"Just kidnap him, bro. Worked for my parents."
"Don’t look desperate. Set his car on fire instead."
"Murder is a love language."
—And Killian? Bro is tired of everyone’s mess but living for the tea. And speaking of Vaughan… Vaughan better not be bottom. 🚨🔪 I SAID WHAT I SAID.

But anyway, let’s not pretend we’re here for pure plot (lol). We all know Daddy Kirill is about to make his grand entrance, and I’m 1000% ready. Break hearts? ✅ Shatter egos? ✅ Be the center of every single scene? ✅ If this book doesn’t make me question my moral compass and rethink my life choices, did it even happen?! Kirill, CONGRATULATIONS! Your heir might be having the spiciest identity crisis in mafia history .And listen, I get why people are already foaming at the mouth, handing out 1-star ratings before the book is even out—like, WTF? At least let us spiral first before passing judgment. But I won’t lie, Rina Kent’s books are my guilty pleasure. No matter how much I clown, no matter how much I scream at the characters, I will be seated when this drops.

🔪 Rina, bring it on. I’m ready for the villain to hunt ME. But if this turns out even slightly like Kiss the Villain, I’ll be the one doing the hunting Rina.😌

"Boys with grudges, power, and sin,
Lock me up—I'm guilty again."🙌

[Youssra (semi ia- shelving books don't mind me) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

Your honor I loved those two toxic idiots😩 but I still had some issues with the book💔 Brace yourselves this will be a long one😶‍🌫️

💫 Ok to start this off, I am a Rina Kent stan, well at least a Rina Kent book stan because like all of us in the reader community, I know nothing about the woman other than she's British I think. I do not believe or condone attacking the author for my or anyone else's opinion on her books. I always go into Rina's books expecting to get some hot spice and a mid plot. I read RK books for the vibes which I almost always get. This book was no exception actually; the vibes vibed, the spice spiced, and the mmcs were toxic as hellll and I loved them😭

💫 What I liked:

🖤 Unlike Kiss the Villain, I actually LOVED both mmcs. Yulian was kind of Niko coded; he was reckless and funny but also very caring. Vaughn was jealous and possessive and HOTTTTTTTTTT!!! I preferred him to Yulian because I always love "the stoic on the outside but a raging beast on the inside" mmc... I'm just a girl guys you know this already💅

🖤I loved their dynamic a lot. I loved the toxicity, the jealousy, the possessiveness, the mess, and the protectiveness. I love reading about healthy relationships but I ALSO love reading about people being toxic and messy and when its TWO HOT DUDES THAT ARE ACTUALLY LIKABLE?? I'm eating it up thank yeww.

🖤 ......... the spice🌚🌚🌚

🖤 My man Kirill 💋💋💋 Forever my favorite RK man. Seeing him as this protective and amazing father??? 🤰🤰🤰🤰 Also the mini heathens cameo was so nostalgic😭😭 The magic of that series will never be replicated I fear💔

💫 What I didn't like: MINOR SPOILERS BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

💔 This book had good bones but bad execution. Rina has this recipe she follows with all of her books and sometimes it works, other times it just doesn't. Rina always works in reverse. She starts off with the physical relationship and then builds the emotional one. If she had possibly started their relationship with them getting to know each other first, building a friendship and THEN moving on to the spice, this would have SO MUCH BETTER. She even had the foundation for it too because they met when they were teens; she could have maybe kept them in contact in some way. The spice and physical aspects of a relationship are always better when the two people have an established relationship and actually know each other.

💔 Piggybacking off the last point, Rina was glaringly lazy in this book with how she always tells us what is happening instead of showing us. Most of the super sweet things that Yulian and Vaughn do for each other as their relationship grows are told to us instead of us seeing them happen. That greatly takes away from the emotional impact and it is such a shame because they were sooo cute together and it would have taken the book to a much better place. Rina you can do so much better girl I believe in you😭

💔 Making Danika a cheater in order to get Yulian and Vaughn together was so lazy too. I don't think Rina hates women but she treats them unfairly in her books :(

💔 The pacing was all over the place in this one. It had some dull moments, then all of a sudden this shocking thing happens near the end and it gets resolved wayyyyyy too fast. The plot was so so flimsy like it was barely there😅 I knew the plot wasn't gonna be all that, especially after the fiasco of KTV, but it was still somewhat enjoyable.

💔 As much as I love Teddy Hamilton's voice, he should not have been cast as Yulian. In the Rinaverse, Teddy is Niko I'm sorry. When I hear his voice in this world, he is all I could picture😅 HEAR ME RINA PLEASE HIRE SEAN MASTERS😭😭😭😭


Final thoughts:

This was a fun book. I didn't hate it but I also wasn't obsessed. I wanted to giggle and I did, I wanted some hot spice and I got that, but at the same time while listening to this, I wanted it to be over😅 Will I read Crave the villain? Of course I will😅 Cyrus was very intriguing I hope she does his book justice!








______________________________________________
pre-read:

I am nothing but a sheep and Rina Kent is my Shepard BAAAAAAA 🐑🐑🐑🐑

[Matea ☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

INFINITE STARS!!! ♾️

⚠️ WARNING: THIS IS A VERY BIASED REVIEW ⚠️
I know there’s always controversy around Rina Kent, but I adore pretty much everything that woman writes… so yes, this review is absolutely going in that direction. If that’s not your thing—feel free to skip hehe.

OKAY. NOW THAT THAT’S OUT OF THE WAY—
I LOVED. EVERY. SECOND. OF. THIS. BOOK.

And yes, I did say this would be biased—but I can admit it wasn’t perfect. There were moments where she introduced really interesting ideas and perspectives… and just didn’t fully go there.

But also, my reaction to those “misses”:


Because honestly??? I was having WAY too good of a time to care.

I don’t even know how to put together a coherent review because this book was EVERYTHING I wanted. Rina always delivers when it comes to a good time and good spice—you can count on that every single time.

Let’s talk about Yulian first.
Yulian aka Niko 2.0!!! They’re so similar yet so different, and I was OBSESSED with him in the first half. He’s chaotic, unhinged, unintentionally hilarious, and wears his heart on his sleeve. There were moments I was literally like: HIDE IT, YOU STUPID FOOL—
(but also… don’t hide it. I love it. Stay a little unhinged and possessive, king.)


ALSO—let’s get one thing VERY clear:
Yulian’s other name is YEARNING.
Because NO ONE yearns like that man. NO ONE.
The longing??? The pining??? The emotional chaos??? I was LOSING MY MIND.

VAUGHN.
Listen… first half Vaughn? Lowkey cutely boring (Bee, if you see this—no you didn’t). All prim and proper, always in control…

BUT THE SECOND HALF???
JEALOUS VAUGHN???
POSSESSIVE VAUGHN???



I’m sorry, how is anything supposed to top that??? Because I am NOT OKAY. That man might be my new obsession.

Also, I LOVED how their relationship was handled. No endless “I’m not gay / I can’t be gay” spiral. They were actually pretty self-aware of their feelings and what it meant in their world as pakhans’ sons. Like yes, there were initial thoughts, but they moved past that quickly—and it was so refreshing to read.

AND LET’S BE REAL—
these two were TOXIC.

But also… was it as dark as I expected? Or have I just read so much dark romance that I’m sitting here like… “this is it?” 😭
I mean, there was darkness, obviously—but my standards might be… questionable at this point.


I’ve seen people rating this lower because they wanted more Kirill. And I get it—my man Kirill is STILL my favorite mafia king, love him forever. But also… this is not his book??? Why are we mad??? Vaughn deserves his spotlight too.

And can we TALK about the Boston Bratva setup???
Rina. My sweet Rina. I’m looking at you.



You CANNOT start cooking something like that and then just walk away. I’m going to need a full course meal. Give me mafia romance. Give me adults. Give me chaos. Please and thank you.

Anyway—if it wasn’t obvious already: I’m a Rina fan. So yes, biased review confirmed.

I also cannot WAIT for dawn to read this because I just KNOW she’s going to be screaming. I’ll be linking her review when she’s done 👀

And shoutout to my bestie Bee, who was in my DMs the entire time—this felt like the most chaotic, unintentional buddy read ever and I LOVED IT 💕





_______________
pre-read

OKAY, IT’S TIME 😭 I NEEDED THIS BOOK LIKE I NEEDED AIR.
THIS IS MY MOST ANTICIPATED READ OF 2026!!!!
IF THIS DOESN’T SLAP, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO WITH MY LIFE 😩

I’m kinda buddy-reading this with my bestie, my love, my partner in crime dawn💕 (though we’ve got some technical problems… let’s just call it a buddy read anyway 😅)

[Fairuz ᥫ᭡.]

Whew, what the actual fck, Rina? 😭🤡

Vaughn Morozov, the loyal Russian mafia heir, is now suddenly in an MM romance?? Like, I love MM, but this feels like a cash grab. 💀 Where’s the continuity, Rina? 🤡 You literally gave him a girlfriend, and now you’re switching it up? What happened to character development?

Let’s be real: Rina has a serious problem with women. Why are they always villains in her books? The girlfriend will 100% be a cheater, mark my words. 😭 Rina has no issue dragging women through the mud, but when it comes to M/M, it’s suddenly all healthy and respectful? 💀 Double standards much?

And the most telling part? Actual gay readers critiqued her M/M books as stereotypical, and instead of listening, she blocked them. 💀 Yeah, that screams integrity.

TL;DR:
✧ Rina’s chasing GOF hype so hard, it’s embarrassing. 🤑
✧ Vaughn was said to be loyal to his girlfriend, now he’s in an MM book? 🤡
✧ Rina clearly doesn’t like women. The girlfriend is gonna be a cheater.
✧ Critique her MM books? She blocks you. Very telling.
✧ Fanfics are better. This book ain't it.

Kirill & Sasha supremacy though. 🛐 They're the only thing holding this book together. I’m living for them and could care less about the mess surrounding Vaughn.

[Soph]

vaughnyulian nation rise! Vaughn my bisexual king!

[manas · Rating 3 out of 5]

➳ 3 ☆

ok, wow...i have a lot to say so if you love her books or get easily offended, don't read this. overall, this was a massive step up from her newer books, but it's still got the same typical RK style, aka rinse and repeat. this was a copy of her monster trilogy, god of fury, and the ENTIRE dynamic of landon and jeremy. now, that's not to say this was fully bad...i do think there are some notable improvements with the story and the plot. however, seeing as this is not the first book that is a copy paste of her previous works—it's getting harder to ignore the blaring duplication. as always, if you're gonna start the bullshit and come for me because i have valid critiques; you can do that elsewhere. i know NOTHING about the author so this is in main reference to the book—the words on the paper. read whatever you want to read. there will be MAJOR spoilers.

how this book went:

1. meet up at some mafia camp
2. both are of them are horny, wet, hard, and obsessed
3. miscommunication for 4+ years
4. constantly trying to kill each other
5. homeboy starts fucking vaughn's girlfriend for no reason
6. bro is pissed at his so-called girlfriend for no reason
7. grown adults behaving jejune and petty, trying to see who caves in first (pun indented)
8. repetitive smut
9. stupid ass mystery plot unfolding in 2.5 seconds
10. goodbye

😎🤏🏼🥱🤏🏼

for starters, this book is ALL OVER THE PLACE. all over the place. we have several storylines going on at once and while they are facile and easy to follow, it made for a very clumpy plot. essentially, vaughn—as a 15-year-old—is at some training mafia situation and yulian also happens to be there with the rest of the main LOG characters. from here, vaughn is immediately painted as his father—kirill—and yulian is a damian and landon copy + paste. naturally, the two but heads constantly and are at each other's throats every 3 seconds due to their polar opposite mannerisms, until they are forced into a do or die situation where they start to form a bond. yulian—randomly, and i mean RANDOMLY—decides to kiss vaughn as he is on the brink of death and then we basically jump to the present where vaughn is 19 and dating a woman named danika...and yulian is just clowning around. ugh.

now, i actually had fun with the first few chapters until we got to the girlfriend bullshit. RK is never, and i mean NEVER beating the allegations that she hates women because why the fuck was danika the portrayed as some cheating, lying, hoe ass just to get vaughn and yulian closer??? the terrible smut scene we got of yulian cheating with danika just to ragebait vaughn was so weird...it wasn't cute or angsty. it was just so odd and cringy. then to film that nonsense and send it to him was even stupider, i can't. ultimately, this went nowhere as danika became villain number one, as always, and vaughn and yulian started fucking around which never really went away. that was basically the rest of the book.

some sentences literally went like this:

i hate you. 💀
i love when you get violent with me, mishka. 💀
i'm gonna kill you. 💀
keep talking, baby. 💀
it was always you, volchonok. 💀
danika was a replacement for the actual man i was in love with. 💀

??? i mean...at this point, yulian has a humiliation kink because he wasn't yearning, he was pathetic. i never understood what he saw in vaughn because for the majority of this book, vaughn is an absolute piece of shit and has ZERO regard for anyone but himself. i can't believe i am admitting that yulian was more interesting to read about than everyone's favorite nepo golden boy, but he honestly was so much better of a character. vaughn has one personality trait—being overtly jealous and angry. that's it. yulian on the other hand had more layers. don't get me wrong—this is an RK book so take that with a bucket of salt, but i enjoyed reading about how yulian went from being severely abused by his father, to being a closeted because his dad tried to literally kill him for being gay—to then doing everything in his power to save his little sister after she became disabled. all of this made for a very interesting plot until we kept going back to that cardboard cutout bore.

yulian = obsessed, crazy, VERY direct, and pathetic.
vaughn = quiet, moody, annoying, VERY jealous, and stupid.

vaughn dragged this goddamn book so badly. so. fucking. badly. since they are switches, the dynamic felt so much more even and on the same playing field which was different to read about. AND that is what i wanted really more of. however, as i previously mentioned; yulian is an anomly and his character and arc is vastly different than his counterpart. at no point did i feel they were actually equal because yulian was miles better in terms of temperment and devlopment. on a positive note—i did however, really enjoy yulian's siblings and that entire dynamic with their homelife. i do hope we get more of their story because that was easily the most compelling part of this book.

this sounds like a LOAD of shit and i promise, i am not trying to sound like a hater ass bitch. i do honestly think this is a major step up from books like, kiss the villain and beautiful venom, but there is still a long while to go before i can say anything definitively. what i am massively surprised about, though, is the fact that the heathens, AKA jeremy, nikolai, gareth, vaughn, and killain were the most interesting and comedic group in this story. i am embarrassed to even say this because everyone knows how much i hate most of them—but i thought their scenes were easily the highlight of the book. i do think it's even funnier that we are getting all these scenes of vaughn and the group hanging together like bestfriends after having him DO LITERALLY NOTHING for the duration of the legacy of gods…now she needed to insert him into the story somewhere so we got all this??? LMFAOAOOAOAOOAOOO!!!

overall, this was a fast ass read and quite fun. really pulled me out of a slump so there’s that. cyrus on the other hand is so clearly gonna get with jethro; which could be very interesting so...we shall see when we end up getting that. jeremy being the token straight will never not be funny because landon was RIGHT FUCKING THERE.

on a last note, please retire these russian nicknames. please. there is only so much you can say before it starts to border on cartoonish. telling my russain friends that vaughn calls yulian volchonok sent me to hell and back. they were wacking me for this so badly. i could not stop laughing reading that and mishka every 2 seconds.

if you come for me for this, i will haunt you! xx

[Uswah]

ᝰ pre-read ᝰ

It’s time to read about my babies 🥹🤭 Plz, don’t disappoint me, I really love Vaughn and Yulian seems amazing too 🤭 I really don’t want this book to flop 😭

—————————
ᝰ pre-release ᝰ
As long as it’s my Vaughn… I’m more than satisfied hehe idc who he’s with. At least i’ll be reading more about Kirill & Sasha. 🤭

[Lucy🎈 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can swear that Rina is actually a misogynist man but I can’t prove it. She doesn’t write lesbian stories cause she can’t relate but has no problem making Vaughn gay even though she herself once said he has a girlfriend and royal like his dad??? 100% she’ll make that said girlfriend villain too like she always makes female characters depressive and mentally insane

[Rose Blackthorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I for one am so excited about this I don't care who Vaughn is with as long as the book still gets released plus it's rinas choose who she wants to pair up

[Flora (Helia's version)]

🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[Malessa Danner · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

Omg I absolutely LOVEDDDD Yulian and Vaughn!!! Very toxic, but they were actually so sweet with each other, too. I ate it up!

Yulian is such a softie with so many feelings and so vulnerable. And Vaughn is so possessive and jealous of anyone that even looks at him 😅

This was everything I was hoping for and more!!

Safety:
Descriptive scene of Yulian x Vaughns gf.
Yulian is a reformed manwhore
Vaughn has only been with his gf
Neither with anyone else after that gf scene/Vaughn breaks up with his gf the next day.
Both top/bottom. Vaughn is the first guy Yulian let himself bottom with


Ugh pregnant me is absolutely loving toxic/drama filled books 🙈😅😅

[rou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y’all have not read a single ff and it showss. Rina created these characters and will do whatever she wants with them. You have zero say in this nor (hopefully) will she care. For fucks sake she could kill off vaughn and y’all wouldn’t be able to do anything.
You have the right to be disappointed, i mean she teased that bro has a gf, but straight up hating her, being homophobic etc. is just wrong and unnecessary. If ur rlly mad abt it js don’t read it? Or just simply ignore it. No one is forcing you.
Also it came to my attention that vaughn can’t be queer because he’s a pakhan? First of all what? Second of all this just gives major homophobia once again. Do you not see him a masculine anymore? Does it hurt his masculinity?No. Ur just homophobic as hell and have never talked to a queer person in life.
Rina pls don’t die i need this book and i am indeed very happy we’re even getting one in the first place. How r yall claiming to sell y’all’s soul for this book js to not be happy after it gets actually confirmed that it’s happening..??? Stay mad.
Vaughnyulian im waiting.

Points:
• yall have millions of other rk fm books
• leader of the serpents yulian
• rival/enemy to lovers book
• mafia everywhere
• the pakhan being queer screams BLOODY. Idk yall but i have read some and people this is not for the weak. They’re INSANE.
• saw a twitter post with the headcannon of yulian calling him solnyshko to annoy him so much that he kisses him to shut him up???? (Knees gone weak)

Don’t be a hater, not js to rk but also to the lgbtq+ community that to this day are hated daily.
There is nothing you will be able to change. You’re not the author ur solely the consumer. Nothing else.

Lastly a lovely quote that i think of daily.
“What makes us so afraid of two men or two women being together.
All the things we could fear in this world, and we pick love” - stranger by the shore lovely movie !!
Bye.

[Nadja ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good, I ate it up, licked the plate and french kissed the chef!

I knew I was gonna love Vaughn and Yulian and I was right. This book had me giggling, kicking my feet and smiling at my kindle screen like an idiot and I loved every second of it. It sparked the same kind of feeling I had when I first discovered Rinaverse last year.

I loved the cameos. The Heathen, Kirill and Sasha my babies, Anton and Maksim, Karina and Viktor mentions. I'm kinda mad that Damien wasn't even mentioned. Like sure, maybe it was to not spoil what could happen if (when, fingers crossed) he gets his own book but he was such a big part of the Monster trilogy and to not even mention him now just didn't sit right with me.

I really liked the side of Chicago, aka Yulian's siblings and I think it would be really great if she went back to the mafia world to explore other branches of the Bratva because the potential is real and sizzling in here.

I had huge expectations for this book and I'm so so so happy that I ended up loving it. It's definitely made me want to reread the Rinaverse (not you, empire series, never you) in the summer when I have more free time.

The Nikobran wedding in the epilogue, even tho we didn't see the ceremony just the very end, is so dear to me, you don't understand it.
Also can't wait for Crave The Villain because Cy seems like his head is an interesting place to be.

-> By the way, the original rant (which is what actually got this number of likes) is in the comments. It was written when this book was announced, little before KTV.

[dawn ౨ৎ [semi-hiatus]]

MY MOST ANTICIPATED READ OF 2026 HAS ARRIVED!!

ˏˋ♡꒰ʚ・୨🐍୧・ɞ꒱♡ˎˊ˗

And ofc I'm doing this buddy read with my bestie, queen of GIFS and ALSO partner in crime MATEA!!! 🥹💗

I'm already halfway 🤭😝 AND IT'S REALLY GOOD SO FAR, but its nowhere close to kiss the villain 😭 but IM MANIFESTING IT WILL SOON BE 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[Serine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why did you make us imagine his story with his girlfriend, and then without warning, you set him up with a boy🥲

[sasha]

jeremy and i are collecting gays like pokémons

[☁️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointed to hear how this book will turn out. At this point, it’s frustrating to see the same patterns play out in Rina Kent’s stories, particularly in how she writes her female characters. Every time, they either end up being mentally ill, serial killers, or just outright evil. It’s as if a complex, morally gray woman can’t exist without being villainized.

Let me not even speak on how Rai couldn’t lead the bratva because being led by a woman is frowned upon as if being led by a gay dude isn’t. It’s quite obvious what’s at play here.

Then there’s the issue of recycled tropes. Instead of offering something fresh, the author keeps repackaging old dynamics into new books—even when they don’t fit. Vaughn’s character, for instance, was never meant to be "as loyal as his daddy" if his girlfriend wasn’t written to match that same level of loyalty. Yet here we are, bending established character traits to force a trope that doesn’t work.

I honestly don’t know what the thought process was behind this or who thought it was a good idea—but it’s not. This book had potential, but if it follows the same tired formula, it’s going to be another disappointment.

[lakshmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow wow. for an mm romance, this one is actually quite decent? Maybe even good ?👀

“The villain I hunted only to fall in love with.”

from the get go- this was literally my thought process

1. Oh god they’re both so annoying ;
2.they’re literally 15!!!! why are they talking like that??
3. aw they’re so cute
4. Wow Vaughn deserves better
5. strike that Yulian deserves better

Just 20 points of me contradicting myself because this book took me through quite a journey. This wasn’t healthy by any means butI would say this is the greenest relationship RK has written (imo).

it was all fine until the word fuckhole made its appearance

swiftly moving on

I loved yulian’s character. He was the complete opposite of what I was expecting that was absolutely refreshing. He was honest and true to what he wants and going after it without the added peacocking and alpha bs. Also love that he was such an attention whore with Vaughn. The little temper tantrums were so cute🌸💗💓Vaughn was a great character too,once he got his head out of his ass but honestly, as a person with so much on his shoulder, I understood his plight.

“My attention is the only attention you’ll crave, Volchonok. Are we fucking clear?”

Alll the cameos!!!😭😭😭 omg it was like a reward!!!! krill and Adrian and kyle and rai and Reina 😭😭😭 it was all so nice to read ( I got to be honest here, I was having majorrrr trouble placing them in my mind 👀)

I’m so excited to read about Cyrus!!! He’s quite an enigma 😈👀

[𝐤𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that people are hating because we’re getting an MM story between Vaughn and another guy named Yulian is absolutely wild. Rina, babe, i am excited and happy that we’re at least getting a Vaughn book🖤

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

loyal like his father 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[lena ⊹˚.⋆]

⋆˙⟡ ꒰ pre - read ꒱ ⟢
✶ mom i’m scared, pick me up. a rina kent book that actually has…..potential 🥹 wow. we used to pray for times like these.

[maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

you homophobics can get tf out of the rina fandom 😂 (yes i can now understand the criticism i wrote this before reading kiss the villain)

[Payal · Rating 4 out of 5]

please, this was so cute and repetitive😩😩 RTC

~~~~~~

I think I love MM couple in which one of them is russian and thinks the other guy is ✨️boring✨️ the russian is messy and chaotic while other has OCD😂 (niko-bran, Ilya-shane, Yulian-Vaughn🤣)

~~~~~

okay, I have the book now (started reading in the class lol) but I want only one thing from the book and that is vaughn to grieve over the fact that his gf cheated on him. we all know he loves her so before going on the revenge rampage, I want him to show emotions over this also.

~~~~~

WHY IS THIS BOOK STILL NOT OUT? IT IS LITERALLY 8.15 am😩😩 saying this as if I don't have back to back classes till 3pm😭😭 I HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS EXCITED FOR A RINA KENT BOOK!! DID ALIENS KIDNAP ME??

~~~~~

omg rina teasing this book on her instagram has me on my knees🛐 and everyone in the comment section of her posts are having the field day by asking her to release the book early cuz we are on the brink of ww3 has me wheezing🤣🤣 I am one of those gimme this book I cannot wait

~~~~~

Just finished reading kiss the villain and while I am still not so happy that vaughn is not straight, I liked how we were introduced to him being into guys! The build up is too good🤭Also, Yulian being dragged by Vaughn with chains around his neck while maniacally laughing was VERY hot😂🥵

~~~~~
VAUGHN was supposed to be a straight guy who was in love with Damien's daughter (childhood friends to lovers) or even Maya. As much as I love MM books, this one is a total cash grab. RK could have given Anton and Maksim a book if she wanted to write MM so bad. I don't know if I am happy or sad that Vaughn-Sasha and Kirill's son is getting a book😭

[mar ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's honestly sad that this book got so much hate even before it was released... especially over something that isn't even canon in the books. Some people really need to grow up and stop hating on a book they haven't even read.

For me, Vaughn and Yulian's story didn't feel forced at all. It was genuinely good.

So yeah... I really hope the people who spent months trying to boycott this book can get their heads out of their asses and at least give it a chance. Read it, get to know the characters, and then decide. If you still don't like it after that, fine... but at least your opinion will actually mean something.

Now, onto my actual review.

I'm giving this book 4.5 stars. I absolutely loved it, and I couldn't put it down from the moment I started it. It was entertaining and super easy to read, but I still felt like something was missing... maybe I would have liked a few things to be a little different, but it's nothing major.

I have to say, I adored Vaughn and Yulian. I never expected them to be this soft 😭. Mishka and Volchonok are some of the best pet names I've read in a long time. And all those little gestures of affection? I was literally kicking my feet the entire time. They were so cute and, at the same time, so spicy! I fucking love them.

It was also so lovely to see Vaughn's relationship with Sasha and Kirill. They are such amazing parents... I just wish we had gotten more of them. And of course, it's always a treat to read more about the Heathens. I miss them all the time, so I appreciate even the smallest crumbs!

This book really surprised me because it wasn't what I expected at all... but I think I ended up liking it even more because of that. And the audiobook just made everything even better. It was honestly incredible.

And now I'm just sitting here like what do you mean I have to wait for Jethro and Cyrus?? And Marcus and Preston?? Because I need those stories immediately. I'm not okay