Don't Fall

Hunt the Red Hood #1

by B.B. Reid

From USA Today Bestselling author B.B. Reid comes another fractured retelling.

In a quiet French town steeped in old folklore, Nyx has always believed in logic―not legends. So discovering she's descended from a line of Red Hood witches feels more like a mistake than destiny. But some stories refuse to stay buried.

The Volkovs have been cursed for generations, and time is running out. The only way to break it? A Red Hood witch must fall in love with one of them. Mikhail Volkov is desperate to save someone he loves―and ending the curse is his last hope. Getting close to Nyx was supposed to be a means to an end… until it becomes something far more dangerous.

Gray, the watchful hunter who seems to linger on the edges of every secret, is thrust into Nyx's life next. Protective, intense, and impossible to ignore, he draws Nyx deeper into a world she doesn't understand―and can't escape.

Caught between wolf and hunter, instinct and reason, Nyx must decide who to trust―and what she's willing to risk.

Don't Fall is a why choose romance with MM.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Why Choose, Retellings, Paranormal, Science Fiction Fantasy

448 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 13, 2026

About the author

B.B. Reid is a bestselling author of several romances, including Crucible, the imaginative retelling of Goldilocks. She’s most known for her dark, diverse, and contemporary romances but began her career writing new adult. B.B. grew up in North Carolina but currently resides in Atlanta with Ivan, her moody tuxedo cat. When she’s not being a nomad, she enjoys gaming, home decor, and retail therapy.

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Reviews

[adrie rose]

i received an ARC of this book from netgalley.

it's... bad. it's bad, i don't know what to tell you. i cannot tell you how much i wish that wasn't the case, but it's not good, by any stretch of the imagination. the one, singular saving grace is that's it's a relatively unique plot. 1/5 stars

potential triggers: blood, violence, on-page murder, dubcon, bad(ly written) sex, i honestly don't remember everything because i wanted it to end

was it entertaining?

a dark fantasy, little red riding hood retelling, don't fall tells the story of nyx leroux, an overachieving 20-something who just lost her job. abandoned by her father, and raised by a single mother, nyx has never given much thought to her paternal family. any why should she? they don't give her much thought either, beyond the annual card from her grandmother, bearing nothing except a cryptic threat to guard her heart from the wolves. until a letter comes, from an aunt she's never heard of, begging her to meet with this reclusive grandmother before she dies.

with nothing left to lose, nyx's younger sister convinces her to fly half way around the world, to a remote french village. on arrival, nyx finds herself thrust into a world of secrets, lies, magic, and ridiculous plot twists that add nothing to the experience. 3/5 stars

was it enjoyable?

no, and anyone that tells you otherwise is clearly a masochist. from the beginning, the book is absurd. i have nothing against an unlikeable or ridiculous protagonist, but nyx is objectively stupid. she has no sense of self preservation and her head is apparently full of rocks and pocket lint. we're beat over the head with how brilliant and accomplished she is, namely through the repeated reminders that she has a master's in pharmacology and conducted groundbreaking research before being laid off.

despite this, she finds nothing strange about boarding a full sized passenger jet, empty of all but one other person, and being told that the entire 300+ passenger vehicle has been chartered. never mind that she was able to buy a ticket on this chartered flight. this doesn't set off alarm bells, so of course she sits down directly next to this complete stranger, despite having the entire plane at her disposal, because he's hot. after hours of him stonewalling at all questions about himself, she then gives up her virginity in an airplane bathroom because his vibes are right. S T U P I D.

this would be ridiculous enough, but every single sex scene in this book is written like it came from the mind of a person who's never seen human anatomy before. what do you MEAN his dick is FLARED? WHY IS IT FLARED???? the condom just... disappeared? wiping blood off of his dick with dry paper towels???? writing sex in a romance is a skill, and it is not present here. every single scene, and they are gratuitous, is painful. it evokes pain — sweaty, grimy, grasping, grunting pain.

all of this, i could find some way to forgive, if only it just made sense. all of the volkovs, except mikhail/michael are meant to be russian. russian-american, but russian, in culture and upbringing. and yet they all speak like they're straight out of central casting for the wire. whipping out guns by way of greeting brothers you haven't seen in decades? calling a russian patriarch "g-pop"??? i'm exhausted. this book has exhausted me. 0/5 stars

was it well-written?

NO. on top of everything else, this book is just such a slog. it's repetitive and dense, the characters don't inspire curiosity or empathy, and the setting is flat. the characters flit between a cramped flat, a featureless forest, and a great manor house with no real personality. they're just... there. a dark fantasy should be lush and descriptive. 450 pages of this is criminal, or it should be. 0/5 stars

[brittany:)]

So excited to have gotten this arc!!❤️🐺

[Tiffany]

I was provided this ARC by NetGalley. The following opinions are my own.

I was incredibly excited to read this novel. I have been a long-time fan of Red Riding Hood retellings, having loved “The Girl in Red” by Christina Henry, “Red Writing Hood” by Sarah Blakley- Cartwright, and though not a novel, “The Wolf's Postscript to 'Little Red Riding Hood'” by Agra Shahid Ali. Every retelling offers a fresh and reflective perspective of one of the oldest cautionary tales relating to what it means to be a woman in society surrounded by “wolves.”

It’s worth noting that I thought the premise was interesting: in this iteration of the Red Riding tale, the “Reds” are witches that have cursed the “wolves” so that the women in their family come to early deaths - kinda like Practical Magic, but not just love interests - sister, daughters, mothers, etc. The main character, Nyx, did not have any sort of relationship with her dad (previously deceased), who was related to the Reds. The only connection Nyx maintained with that side of the family was a birthday card/warning from her paternal grandmother: “Guard your heart, foolish girl. The wolves will come to steal it.”

Quick summary of the introduction/rising action of the plot diagram: Nyx loses her job and gets invited to this small town in France where she is greeted by her three aunts and is taught about her magical heritage. She meets this Christian Grey style character on the plane over (where they are the only two passengers), engages in an ick-inducing sexual encounter, and only notes a few red flags when he states he’s going to get married but doesn’t know the girl yet and later hints that she is that girl. Kamikazi level love bomber. Nyx gets to this small town and what proceeds is basically “Fins” by Jimmy Buffett but in France and all the guys trying to get with her are Christian Grey’s male family members because to break the curse, Nyx has to marry one of them.

Quick summary of what I did not enjoy: I see on Goodreads that the blurb will be updated soon. I really hope that they update the description. It was presented as: Caught between wolf and hunter, instinct and reason, Nyx must decide who to trust—and what she's willing to risk.

In reality, what is advertised as a love triangle actually evolves into a throuple with some very open door M/M scenes. The Christian Grey character, Michael/Mikhail’s, chapter’s internal dialogue were equally as ick-inducing Gray is a sweet guy but feels less like the hunter and more of the hunted. There is a bunch of instalove and everyone has overdosed on sexual tension.

The ending was a little confusing, but that’s probably because I did some hardcore skimming after Chapter 10 or so.

Overall, this novel was not for me.

[Sunny]

First of all, thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a massive disappointment... and I am really sorry about it. I wanted to enjoy it!

A dark Little Red Riding Hood retelling, an ancient curse, a wolf and a hunter… There was so much about the premise that should have worked for me. Instead, I struggled with almost everything: the writing, the characters, the insta-lust-and-love, the sexual content, and just how exaggerated and ridiculous so much of the story felt.

BUT before I get into any of that, I need to say that I am STUNNED by how completely the synopsis MISREPRESENTS the romantic dynamic in this book. The description makes it sound like a fairly straightforward love triangle: a woman caught between a wolf and a hunter, seemingly having to choose between two men.

‼️What it does NOT tell you is that the two male love interests also develop an active sexual relationship with each other, entirely independently of Nyx, including multiple explicit M/M scenes and a BDSM dynamic, before the relationships begin overlapping further‼️

That fundamentally changes what kind of romance this is, and I cannot believe it isn’t communicated anywhere in the description.

⚠️ This review contains minor spoilers for the romantic/sexual dynamics and discusses several explicit sex scenes, including some of the graphic language used in the book ⚠️

♦️Let’s talk about how this romance is marketed♦️
I mentioned this above, but I really need to elaborate because I was SO blindsided.

The blurb tells us that Nyx is “caught between wolf and hunter”. Michael is introduced in relation to Nyx, then Gray is introduced in relation to Nyx. Naturally, I expected a love triangle.

But THAT IS NOT AN ADEQUATE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THIS BOOK ACTUALLY CONTAINS.

Because Michael and Gray are not simply rival love interests competing for Nyx. They have an established sexual and romantic relationship of their own. Michael becomes Gray’s dominant, Gray becomes his submissive, and entire explicit scenes take place between the two men.

And it isn’t merely sexual either. Gray explicitly admits that he is in love with Michael. Then Nyx develops feelings for Gray too. At one point she literally tells him that she loves and desires Michael but can also feel herself “crying out” for Gray. Gray admits that he has feelings for her, while simultaneously being in love with Michael. And eventually all three dynamics merge.

During one scene, Michael discovers Nyx and Gray having sex and, rather than this resolving into Nyx choosing between her supposed “wolf and hunter,” it becomes the catalyst for an extended BDSM sequence involving all three of them. Michael assumes the dominant role over both, and he eventually refers to them together as “my pets.”

I AM SORRY, BUT WHAT AM I EVEN READING AT THIS POINT?

These three characters are sexually and emotionally interconnected, and Michael is explicitly positioned as the dominant partner to both of them. And to be very clear, that relationship structure itself is not my criticism. My problem is that I had NO IDEA I was picking up a book containing it.

Had the description made the MMF relationship, substantial M/M content, and BDSM dynamic clear, I simply wouldn’t have accepted this ARC because it isn’t something I personally enjoy reading. Instead, the synopsis created the expectation that I was getting a dark fantasy love triangle centred around a woman choosing between a wolf and a hunter.

And honestly, I find that incredibly frustrating for readers on BOTH sides of that preference. Readers who actively seek MMF romances and M/M content deserve to know that this book contains a significant amount of it. Readers who don’t enjoy those dynamics deserve to know what they’re picking up too.

Calling Nyx merely a woman “caught between wolf and hunter” feels especially bizarre when the wolf and hunter are actively sleeping with each other, and one of them is in love with the other.

♦️I knew I was going to struggle with this almost immediately♦️
Even before I realised just how different the romantic dynamic would be from what I expected, I was already struggling.

The story begins with Nyx losing her job before receiving a letter from an aunt on her father’s side whom she has never met. Apparently, the grandmother she has also never met is dying in France, and her final wish is to meet Nyx.

Nyx decides to go. When she gets on the plane, it’s completely empty except for one other passenger: Michael Prince, an incredibly attractive stranger.

Is this bizarre situation treated as remotely suspicious? No. Nyx mentions it, but then is far more preoccupied with how hot Michael is. The narration introduces him as having shoulders that make her want to “climb on them”, decides that he probably smells good before they’ve even spoken, and informs us that even without seeing his face, she can simply tell that he’s “fine”.

I dislike this kind of exaggerated internal narration. What woman would ever see a stranger WHOSE FACE SHE HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN YET and be so overwhelmed by the sight of his shoulders that her immediate thought is that she wants to CLIMB ON HIM?

It doesn’t read like genuine attraction to me; it reads like the author trying very, VERY hard to tell me how impossibly sexy this man is. Even the flight attendant (who we later learn isn’t a flight attendant) encourages Nyx to sit beside him because, SERIOUSLY, how often does a girl get to sit beside a handsome stranger on a plane?

This would become a recurring problem throughout the book. Everything is so heightened that the characters stopped feeling like actual people to me. Every attraction has to be overwhelming, every sexual thought has to be outrageous, every reaction has to be dialled up to eleven. Instead of making the story feel intense, it made it feel cartoonish.

♦️Went from zero to WHAT THE FUCK in record time♦️
Nyx and Michael have known each other for a matter of hours when Nyx, who is a virgin, decides she wants to have sex with this complete stranger… in a plane bathroom.

Sure, characters are allowed to make impulsive decisions. I certainly don’t have a problem with women wanting or enjoying sex. But absolutely everything about this sequence became so increasingly ridiculous that I couldn’t take it seriously.

Nyx has boarded an inexplicably empty plane, met the ONE other passenger, decided immediately that he’s unbelievably attractive, and within hours is losing her virginity to him in the bathroom.

And the scene itself somehow just keeps escalating.

Her first time is described in graphic detail, including her hymen tearing and her bleeding on him. Afterwards, while she’s looking at the blood and APOLOGISING for getting it on him, Michael’s response is that he’s “not” sorry.

And then HE TAKES OUT HIS PHONE AND PHOTOGRAPHS IT.

Also—where did the condom go? The book explicitly has Michael put one on. Yet afterwards, we’re given this description of his penis being a dark colour “like blackberry”, “glistening with our combined juices and something else.”

But... if the condom is still there, how exactly are we looking at his penis covered in their “combined juices” and blood? And if he took it off at some point, when did that happen? It’s a small continuity error in the grand scheme of things, but it perfectly represents my experience of reading this book. And all of this is happening while I’m still trying to process the fact that HE TOOK A PHOTO.

They leave the bathroom, and less than an hour later, Michael convinces Nyx to climb into his lap and they have sex AGAIN. Even when we’re told it had been “less than an hour later”, the narration tells us: “It had already been too long.”

The flight attendant catches them having sex (which is described as her finding them “fucking like rabbits”...) and simply shuts the curtain again. By the time they land, Michael is already thinking about resisting the urge to have sex with her again in the middle of a crowded terminal.

There was just no point during this entire sequence where the book seemed interested in applying the brakes. The sheer excess stopped communicating overwhelming attraction and started feeling like parody. And that’s really the distinction I want to make here: my problem isn’t that Nyx has sex with a stranger or even that she chooses him for her first time. It’s the execution.

Every single aspect of their attraction is pushed so far, so quickly, that I never had an opportunity to believe in it before the book was already demanding that I accept it as this all-consuming connection.

There is nowhere for the sexual tension to go because they start at 100. There is nowhere for intimacy to develop because physical intimacy happens almost immediately. And there is nowhere for Michael’s possessiveness to gradually emerge because this man is apparently collecting photographic souvenirs of her virginity before they’ve even landed in France.

I didn’t find it sexy or hot. I found it completely absurd.

♦️And the writing... oh, the writing♦️
Unfortunately, the ridiculousness of that first sex scene was not an anomaly. If anything, the sexual writing somehow became MORE bizarre as the book went on. It’s so relentlessly graphic, literal, repetitive, and sometimes just downright BIZARRE that scenes clearly intended to be erotic made me stop reading.

I thought the plane scene was bad with sentences like, “the flared tip of his dick sought out my hole,” Nyx’s walls “greedily milked his dick, his penis being described as “blackberry” coloured, the detailed inspection of its “fascinating slit”., and Nyx falling asleep on his chest while he is apparently still “spurting” into the condom (???).

… Turns out I had seen NOTHING yet.

Because we later get sentences from Gray’s POV like, “The finger that teased my perineum like it was a clit.” WHAT? In the same scene, Michael orders Gray to show him: “The hole I’m going to fuck.” And then we get lines like: “And so he did. He fucked and fucked and fucked. And I took it all.”

That genuinely reads like a placeholder someone intended to come back and rewrite.

We also get: “I swirled and swished the fat mushroom head through her lips,” Nyx’s underregion described as “Soft chocolate petals with a warm pink center,” sentences like “My dick remained inside her, spurting pre-cum against her unprotected cervix,” “... her thighs gapped wide and Mikhail's and my cum seeping out of her abused slit...” and a million other aggressively anatomical yet simultaneously bizarre descriptions.

EVERYTHING has to be sexualised, even Nyx secretly watching Michael and Gray together gives us: “My pussy clamped down on nothing, reminding me that I could be that hole.” At one point Gray is apparently so overwhelmed by the possibility of having sex with Nyx that he thinks about “the hot cum stirring in my sack.”

God, it was so hard not to physically cringe at the language used…

The prose is SO determined to describe every body part, every fluid, every sensation and every microscopic movement in increasingly elaborate ways that it lands somewhere between clinical, cartoonish, and unintentionally hilarious.

Even when Michael discovers Gray and Nyx together, instead of allowing the betrayal to breathe, we get an extremely graphic observation about Gray still being inside her. And then we reach Michael “punishment” of them…

First, he takes Nyx and Gray away from the party they were at and calls them “his pets,” which is followed by a sequence that goes on until the next morning, where he makes Nyx and Gray repeatedly have sex while denying them release, watches them, directs them, alternates between them himself, and eventually both Nyx and Gray are essentially exhausted.

We get Nyx described as a “limp rag doll”, while Michael takes his anger and betrayal out on her sexually. We get repeated descriptions of bodily fluids, swollen anatomy, bodies being “used”, “discarded”, “abused”, “rammed”, “pounded” and “fucked” over and over and over again.

And outside the sex scenes, I had similar problems with the prose. The prose constantly reminded me that I was reading prose. I was analysing word choices when I should have been immersed in the scene, questioning descriptions when I should have been feeling tension, and occasionally rereading sentences because I couldn’t believe that was how something had been described.

There are also basic continuity problems beyond the mysteriously disappearing condom. Later, while Nyx is secretly watching Michael and Gray have sex, she thinks: “I’d only had sex twice, both times with Michael.” Nope, bestie, you had sex TWICE on the plane alone, then a third time on a separate occasion before this scene. That’s three.

This isn’t even an ambiguous timeline issue, the book has simply forgotten one of its own sex scenes, which is honestly impressive considering how difficult they were for ME to forget.

♦️Nyx drove me absolutely insane♦️
Nyx is presented as someone who believes in “logic—not legends”, someone with a Master’s degree in pharmacology, which makes it particularly frustrating that she seemed to exercise little logic throughout the story.

There is a difference between writing an FMC who is naïve and writing one who repeatedly notices that something is strange, acknowledges that something might be dangerous, and then BARRELS AHEAD ANYWAY because the plot needs her to.

Nyx too often fell into the latter category for me.

The plane is strange. The circumstances surrounding her journey are strange. The people she encounters are strange. Things aren’t adding up. And yet her self-preservation instincts seem to disappear whenever the story needs her to trust someone, follow someone, believe something or make another questionable decision.

After a while, I stopped feeling worried FOR her because I was too frustrated WITH her. That also made the mystery and darker fairytale elements far less effective. You can put as many wolves, witches, hunters, curses and ominous family secrets around a character as you like, but suspense becomes incredibly difficult to maintain when I am constantly thinking, NYX, PLEASE USE YOUR BRAIN.

♦️All the sex left me caring LESS about the relationships♦️
Even putting aside the fact that this isn’t a romantic dynamic I personally enjoy—and that I wasn’t expecting it in the first place—I still didn’t believe in the relationships themselves.

I never understood why any of these people supposedly felt so deeply about each other.

There is so much sex in this book with the dynamics between the characters increasingly overlapping with one another. Yet, the more sexual these relationships became, the less emotionally invested I was in any of them. Because sex is continually being used where I desperately needed character and relationship development.

I already didn’t believe the emotional foundation of Nyx and Michael’s relationship because their connection begins at such an extreme level of insta-lust. Adding Gray, Michael and Gray’s separate BDSM relationship, and eventually the increasingly interconnected sexual dynamic only made everything feel even more crowded.

There was so much sexual intensity and so little emotional development that actually made me understand why I should care about these people together.

♦️Unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me♦️
I wish I had something positive to say here because I went into Don’t Fall excited by the premise and really wanting to love it. But the execution didn’t work for me at all.

There is probably an audience for extremely spicy, heightened romances with MMF and BDSM dynamics, where realism takes a back seat to fantasy and the characters are consumed by their attraction to one another almost immediately. Readers who enjoy that kind of intensity may have a completely different experience with this, who knows.

Unfortunately, I needed considerably more restraint, development, emotional grounding and, frankly, clarity about what kind of romance I was actually picking up than Don’t Fall gave me.

More than anything, I simply could not get past the writing. The prose consistently pulled me OUT of scenes rather than drawing me into them, particularly during the sexual content. Descriptions that were clearly intended to be erotic struck me as awkward, overly literal, or unintentionally funny, while the sheer amount of graphic sexual language eventually became more exhausting than provocative.

Between the insta-lust, Nyx’s characterisation, the lack of emotional development, the romantic dynamic being completely different from what the synopsis led me to expect, and prose that repeatedly had me staring at the book for all the wrong reasons, there just wasn’t much here that worked for me.

By the time Nyx announced that she’d been in France for only a few minutes and was already “losing the plot”, I could unfortunately relate.

[Teresa]

✨𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌✨

📖: Don’t Fall

Nyx finally meets her estranged family in France where she learns she was born from a bloodline of powerful witches. And she is warned to guard her heart above all else.

Tropes:
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Multi POV
⚠️Enemies to lovers
💞Why Choose (MMF)
🫂Forced proximity
🐺Dark Red Riding Hood reimagining
🌶️Open door

A woman in science, Nyx feels unmoored by the revelations of magic and generational curses. I loved seeing her navigate her feelings about her family and her deepening connections to two handsome strangers.

Steeped in rich folklore, betrayals, and sizzling forbidden passions, Don’t Fall is a deliciously dark Red Riding Hood reimagining with bite! I cannot wait to reunite with these characters.

Huge thanks to the author, Bloom Books, and Netgalley for the review copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Franky]

4⭐

(+) :
- It’s a sexy good time. The entire time I was reading this, I could just sense so clearly how much fun B.B. Reid was having writing it.
- I think the little red riding hood of it all was fine actually. It was more of a vehicle for the erotica while also being more than JUST smut so I was fine with it.
- Look. Look. Maybe I’m an absolute degenerate, but the swords crossing, throuple surprise of this all absolutely did it for me. I was *all* in on everybody getting everybody of the three POV characters. Is it a mess and are they terrible for each other? Absolutely. But GOOD. Could it have maybe been more detailed in the blurb? Possibly. But it would not have changed it for me because I still would have snatched this up.
- I love the characterization of the extended families, specifically the aunts and then Kyson and Sasha. Dimitri is also up there, but those were the big ones with clearly fleshed out characters that I gravitated towards.
- Nyx not believing in magic because she's a woman in stem is fun (and her being bad at magic relative to that is also interesting, though i wish the magic was more developed)
- I really like this cover. It’s very simple, but also really eye-catching with the colors and the typography and the forest iconography.

(-) :
- I think this could have been a smidge shorter. By the 60% I wanted it to bs more like 75% in (which is, decidedly, not really a smidge but oh well).
- The Kyleigh stuff was fine from a plot perspective but it was so often placed right around, before or after a sex scene and that was, hm, uncomfortable.
- I like Gray but holy shit his sex scene thoughts were juvenile. Do not put the term "nut" in my smut. And not multiple times, eesh.
- I got real tired of the "puppy". It felt too on the nose
- I mean, this title isn’t bad, but it also doesn’t really align with the fairytale. Obviously, it means don’t fall for it or for him or for her. I just wish it was a little more evocative.

(?) :
- Nyx is so stupid for being a Stanford educated woman, my god.
- Why is Gray called a hunter? Like obviously the fairy tale alignment but it's lacking
- I hope in the next one we learn more about the covens
- Why would these pretty evil men care about women dying? Not Mikhail's generation but his father and grandfather's? Obviously they've lost children but is that enough? Are they bad? Time will tell.


WILL I READ THE NEXT ONE? : Oh yes.

*Thank you to Sourcebooks & Netgalley for providing this ARC!


SIMILAR BOOKS :
- 'Son of the Morning' by Akwaeke Emezi
- 'I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com' by Kimberley Lemming
- 'Big Bad Wolf' by Laurie Gilmore

[Tequilla]

B.B…… Girl! 🫪 is it March yet!? Omgggg this was so good! The small French town was the icing on the pastry here, the world building was it for me becayse it made it easy for this to play out in my head like a movie!

I don’t want to give away too much but this was the perfect amount of plot and romance 🥰 not the “why choose” dynamic I was expecting but I’m not mad at it

This was an amazing spin on Red Riding Hood,
cliffhanger had my jaw on the floor so I need For
The Villain like I need air!

Also, I hope Gray gets what he deserves, I have a
bleeding heart for him and I hope he gets a hea

Absolutely a FIVE STAR read for me!

[Angelbelle Reads]

Thank you B.B. Reid for the gifted copy

After Nyx receives word that a grandmother she’s never met is dying, she agrees to fly to Paris to meet this unknown side of her family. Her trip ends up being more than she expected when she’s not only drawn to two different strangers but her family seems to hiding secrets

🐺Red Riding Hood reimagining
❤️‍🔥Witches
🐺Why choose MMF
❤️‍🔥Secrets & lies
🐺Cursed forest

’Guard your heart, foolish girl. The wolves will come to steal it.‘

When the book has both you and the character’s toes curling. My gawd B.B my gawd 🫦l

I really don’t even know what to say fr except everything about this is a yes 🙌🏾

Listen the story, the characters, the spice, the tension, the humor, like quite literally everything is a 12 out of 10 ❤️‍🔥

You know how they say “I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding” yea that was me 😂 cause baby that ending had me on edge

Also those dang Red Hood witches are no joke *insert meme of boy laughing then crying* 🫪😵‍💫

A few fav quotes

“Such a good puppy. Such a sweet mouth.”

’I was already becoming addicted and didn’t want to be saved.‘

He smelled good today. He smelled good every day. It was intoxicating. Fuck, I meant infuriating.

[Ivy Castell]

Thank you so much to Bloom Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Our FMC Nyx’s life changes when she loses her job. Not only because of that, but because she is invited to France to get to know the family she never knew. Oh, and she’s descended from a line of Red Hood witches.

We also have the Volkovs who have been cursed for generations and time to break it is quickly running out. The only way to break it is a Red Hood witch to fall in love with one of them. Mikhail Volkov is especially to desperate to break this curse to save somebody he loves. So he must get close to Nyx in order to achieve that, which of course becomes more and more complicated.

Nyx also gets close with Gray, a hunter who draws her even more into this twisted web.

Nyx must decide who she trusts, and just what she’s willing to risk.

—————

Oh my gosh, you guys I had such a fun time with this one! BB Reid has been on my tbr for a long time, but this is my first time reading something by her and now I’m kicking myself that that’s the case.

First thing I have to mention is I love the witchcraft in this so so much. Witches are one of my favorite beings, but I feel like in many books they aren’t super witchy. That is absolutely not the case here. I could have read a whole book just on the covens and their lore and Nyx learning magic.

And another one of my absolute favorite tropes is why choose, so I was especially excited to pick this up. Especially because each character felt distinct, which is sometimes hard to do.

Nyx I loved. She made me laugh a lot throughout this book. Some of her choices did frustrate me, but it’s understandable as her whole worldview changes. And she has a really good heart.

Mikhail is complicatedddd. The man is fine for sure. The very stubborn Taurus woman in me though wanted to hate him at times, but he really is in an impossible situation and I ended up really feeling for him.

Gray is protective and a total sweetheart. Ugh, I just wanted to hug him.

Now I will say, this was a bit instalusty. But it didn’t really bother me as there is plentyyyy of drama and tension between the three to keep us on our toes. I love the relationships, not just between the three, but the relationships they individually have with each other.

And some side characters I fell in love with as well.

I loved the pacing and the writing. I read it in a sitting, I genuinely could not put it down. The writing was just so immersive, descriptive, and the story bingeable.

And a fantastic Red Riding Hood retelling!

But I’m genuinely stressing after that ending, so I can’t wait for book two!

[The Author Cadence James]

Don’t Fall — B.B. Reid

The tempo of Don’t Fall was superb. The story moved without feeling rushed, but it also never lingered anywhere long enough for me to lose interest. And the FMC? She was annoying, but just annoying enough. 😂Not so much that I wanted to throw the book, but enough that I occasionally needed her to get out of her own way.

B.B. Reid’s writing style is what made me fall in love with her work in the first place, and this book reaffirmed this. The layout, the footnotes, and the way she plays with the presentation of the story give her books a distinct personality beyond the plot itself.

Her descriptive writing was especially strong in my opinion. The places, clothing, and overall atmosphere were written so vividly that I could actually see them in my head rather than simply being told what they looked like. Some of the fashion and aesthetic details even made me think of the author, herself.

I also appreciated the use of French throughout the dialogue. It felt natural to the characters and setting rather than inserted for the sake of making the book feel more sophisticated or European. It never gave “Google Translate.” The French felt like it belonged there.

What I found particularly interesting was the characterization of the FMC. There was a very recognizable American arrogance to her, although some would probably call it stubbornness or independence paired with the naïveté of a young woman in her twenties who believes she understands far more about herself, people, and the world than she actually does. That combination made her frustrating at times, but it also made sense for who she was.

Overall, Don’t Fall gave me the things I enjoy most about B.B. Reid’s writing: excellent pacing, immersive descriptions, distinctive formatting, and characters with enough flaws to occasionally get on my damn nerves, which frankly means they felt real.

[Cinderella (Nysa Bookish)]

From the moment I opened Don’t Fall, I was hooked by how easily the author transforms the familiar elements of Little Red Riding Hood into a layered, addictive, and distinctly modern dark romance. The story is filled with danger, hidden secrets, and intense romantic tension that rarely gives you time to breathe.

Nyx is a heroine I quickly came to admire. Instead of being the helpless victim often seen in fairy tales, she is intelligent, careful, and determined to survive. These qualities make her both relatable and strong. Her ability to face increasing danger kept me firmly on her side. However, she is not always wise. At times, her doubt becomes deliberate blindness toward the threats around her, and some of her impulsive choices had me shouting at the pages.

Mikhail Volkov is the perfect brooding counterpart. The author gives him a powerful, troubled charm that makes him impossible to ignore whenever he appears. Beneath his dangerous appearance and quiet manner is a fiercely loyal protector whose painful past and desperate devotion to Nyx are truly engaging. Still, he can also be very frustrating. His habit of controlling situations through secrecy and careful manipulation often creates emotional distance. It also causes avoidable tension and sometimes makes his personal growth feel slow.

The novel is strongest when these two characters clash. Nyx and Mikhail have a tense, powerful chemistry that comes alive on the page. Their relationship is shaped by unequal power and mutual suspicion, but the author makes their progress feel natural rather than forced. Nyx’s strong independence prevents her from giving in to Mikhail’s controlling nature, making him change and earn her respect. At the same time, Mikhail’s constant presence slowly gives her the feeling of safety she never realised she needed. Their romance is raw, imperfect, and complicated, but the emotional reward of their constant push and pull is impossible to deny.

The book does have a few minor weaknesses. The middle sections include several confusing side plots and depend too much on misunderstandings to keep the drama going. This leads to a shocking cliffhanger that will leave you stunned. Even so, the author balances these issues with strong pacing and unforgettable tension between the characters. Anyone looking for high heat, morally unclear characters, and an addictive relationship between two fiercely protective people will find Don’t Fall a highly engaging read.

[Mystyc Metrik]

I really enjoy dark fairy tale retellings, and this had potential in the form of our protagonist, Nyx, a member of the Red Hood coven, a family of wolves trying to seduce the women of the LeRoux family (of which Nyx is one and literal wolves in the forest, and Gray, an employee of the wolves (Volkavs) and a hunter. Nyx has been laid off from her job at a biotech company (which we later find out was orchestrated to bring her to France) and is persuaded to visit her paternal grandmother and three aunts who she has never met in France. When she arrives, 2/3 of her aunts are rather friendly while the third, her father's twin, actively disdains her. They try to convince her that she's a witch, but Nyx bangs you over the head with how she believes in science not magic and refuses to believe it, despite more and more absurd events. Complete with her taking a basket into the woods to try and find her grandmother, there are some very fairy tale-esque scenes, and that part of the story I didn't mind. The writing was a little prosaic and repetitive, but there was enough of the bones to see where it was going, and that part I rather enjoyed. There is also a curse by which a Volkav and LeRoux fell in love but the Volkav broke Odette LaRoux's heart and she cursed his family so that any woman in the family dies. This has caused lots of tragedy and Mikhail, Nyx's love interest, has a daughter called Ryleigh who is dying of cancer. The only way to break the curse is to seduce one of the LaRoux women, so all of the Volkav's are circling to seduce the naive Nyx (although Mikhail feels a claim to her due to their relations on the plane to France).

However, a large majority of the story was about sex and "relationships," and that part I did not enjoy. The sex is described graphically but never romantic, and there are lots of themes of abuse, punishment, and one particularly rape-like scene at the end after Mikhail, Nyx's main Volkav love interest and the man she lost her virginity to, catches her with Gray. He forces them to have sex numerous times with him watching but without letting either of them come until they are sore and abused, it was just gross and uncomfortable. None of the relationships are well fleshed out, but Nyx, who is sexually inexperience, has no problem having sex in front of Gray and doing all sorts of explicit things with Mikhail, rarely leaving his lap even in public settings. Gray, also inexplicably drawn to the naive Nyx, couldn't wait to touch/kiss/have sex with her and is dreaming of it and punishing himself for it because she's "Mikhail's girl" even though they've all known each other like a few weeks? Gray and Mikhail also have a sexual relationship that comes out of nowhere and is described rather filthily, including penetration with an object to "punish" Gray. I did not think that such graphic sexual descriptions were needed or contributed at all to the story, and the relationships were completely unbelievable.

The story also ends without any real resolution, and I was left without real attachment or liking to any of the characters. I'm not sure if I would read the next installment, but I did not like the handling of sex and relationships.

[Raylene Green]

We meet Nyx here in the beginning; a 20-something year old living in NYC who loses her job. She gets a card each year with a weird cryptic message but doesn't think anything of it until she gets a message from an aunt claiming her grandmother isn't well. She leaves her sister and mother---the only close family she has---to head to France to meet her aunts. Cue Michael--Mikhail---Micha---whom she meets on the plane. For someone whose supposed to be SO smart, Nyx is stupid. I was immediately suspicious when the book opened up and she ended up on a plane with just one person. By the end of the plane ride, she's convinced that Michael is worth exploring something with more, even though he tells her on the plane that he's going to France to get married, but that he doesn't know who the bride is yet. Once she gets to France, Michael deserts her at the airport when he sees her aunts. They take her back to the village where she soon meets Gray, who becomes a friend....at least that's what you think but when you get more into the story, you end up questioning whether he's actually Nyx's friend or Michael's. As the story unfolds, so does the drama between Nyx, Michael, and Gray as well as the plot.
I enjoyed the plot in this book. I don't gear toward fantasy/witch/vampire stories often but I keep an open mind because you never know when you'll find something you'll enjoy and I enjoyed this one. While I wasn't shocked, there was some serious MM action in these books and some BDSM fragments that makes me think that if someone going into it blind will not enjoy it. Some of the sexual scenes seem exaggerated though and extremely graphic but more in a negatively descripted way. You get words/phrases like: 'hole, perineum, fat hole, soft chocolate petals, warm pink center, rammed, abused'....And while there's attraction, it seems SO extensive and exaggerated---not at all along the lines of an instant love type of thing which is what you would think. Nothing develops because the intensity goes from 0 to 100 immediately.
I liked it enough to want to read the second one, but was a bit disappointed at how short this fell for me. It felt rushed with no sense of direction for the relationship between Nyx, Michael, and Gray. There's no emotional connection established enough with the characters; as mentioned above---it's 0-100 immediately.

[Melanie]

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom books for the eARC

I was very excited to get this ARC and at first I was enjoying it. It started really fast (too fast), but then it went down hill, fizzled out, and was ridiculous. There are only two characters that are likable: Gray and Luka, who is barely even a side character.

The FMC is so inconsistent and wishy washy with people. Nyx starts off pretty meek and unsure and then suddenly she’s losing her virginity with a stranger on a plane. Then from there, she’s sassy and has so much attitude. Michael is the biggest hypocrite and prick. And in case you didn’t know he was basically abandoned and disowned by his family, he’ll remind you 20 times in the first 3 of his chapters. Gray had a bit more depth and was likable because he cared for both of them and had a soft broken heart. I just need more of him being the “hunter”, which I’m sure will be his arc in the series.
This is a throuple situation and their dynamic is so strange. I get being possessive and feeling jealous in throuples, it’s realistic, but the way this was set up is frustrating and all over the place. Michael was way too possessive with Nyx and I absolutely loathed how he treated Gray when she was in the same room. Plus the HUNTER is the submissive? Would have been interesting but just falls flat. All of their developments were pretty weak, except maybe Gray and Michael’s. The actual great development that should have been sprinkled into the story happened between 91-94% in the book.

There were so many inconsistencies in details, which kept pulling me from the story. Additionally, the whole reasoning to continue the curse makes absolutely no sense and just makes the aunts look super bad, which Nyx comments on, but she still continues thinking they are the sweetest people and know what’s best. Killing innocent girls is apparently knowing best. Amongst other things. The middle of the book was so long and needlessly stagnant and was just spice driven.
SPOILER: The only fantastical element in the story are the witches. The wolves don’t even turn into wolves. There’s no other fantastical elements or beasts.

This book honestly makes me so mad and I can’t give it more of my time. Not continuing the series.

[tay]

★★★★☆

First, THANK YOU B.B. Reid for the ARC and for allowing me to be a part of your team! 🖤 I had such a good time with this one!

ANDDDDD it’s an MMF why choose?! Yeah, you had me from there because why am I ever supposed to pick between TWO men when I can simply have both? 😭

This was such a dark, twisted fairytale and I was absolutely eating it up. The whole Red Riding Hood/witch + cursed wolf situation was such a fun spin, and I loved that there was an actual supernatural storyline happening alongside all the romance and spice. Magic, curses, secrets, obsession, possessiveness… baby, give me ALL of it.

And Mikhail and Gray??? WHEW. The chemistry between all three of them had me stressed in the BEST way. 😭 The tension was tensioning, and the whole “I know I shouldn’t want you but I absolutely cannot stay away from you” vibe was RIGHT up my alley.

Nyx was also a fun FMC to follow because she’s basically thrown into this whole world trying to figure out what the hell is going on, while everybody around her seems to know more than they’re telling her. I was just sitting there like GIRL RUN… but also… don’t run too far because I need to see how this plays out. 😂

I did have a few moments where the pacing felt a little off for me, which is why I landed on 4 stars instead of 5, but overall I was INVESTED. It was dark, spicy, chaotic, mysterious, and exactly the kind of messy paranormal romance I love getting myself into.

And that ending??? Oh, y’all thought I was gonna read that and just move on with my life?! Absolutely not…

4 stars from me! Now excuse me while I go patiently wait for the next book because I need to know what the hell is about to happen with these three. 🫠🖤

[The Wisteria Library]

This one just wasn’t for me.

I really wanted to like this because the witchy Red Riding Hood concept caught my attention, but unfortunately, I struggled with the way it was executed.

The romance moved way too fast for me and I just couldn’t connect with the characters or understand the attraction developing between them before everything became so intense.

Nyx was supposed to be smart, but some of her decisions left me scratching my head. I kept waiting for her character to click for me, and it just wasn’t happening.

The dialogue was another big struggle I felt like I was listening to a group of teenage boys rather than reading about adults. Some of the nicknames didn’t work for me either, and instead of pulling me further into the romance, they kept taking me out of it.

I also wasn’t expecting the story to move into an MMF dynamic, including MM and Dom/sub elements. Those are not tropes I personally enjoy reading, so once I realized how much of the relationship was heading in that direction, I knew this probably wasn’t going to be the book for me. Even before that, though, I was struggling to understand how some of the attraction between the characters developed because it seemed to happen so quickly.

Ultimately, I decided not to force myself to continue. I still think the witchy Red Riding Hood idea was a great one, and another reader may have a completely different experience with this story. Unfortunately, between the insta-love, the character choices, the immature-feeling dialogue, and relationship dynamics that aren’t my personal preference, this just wasn’t a good fit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

[Chelsea Walsh]

B.B. Reid completely delivers with Don't Fall, the gripping first book in her Hunt the Red Hood duet. As a pitch-black, fractured retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, this book pulls you into a atmospheric French town layered with dangerous folklore, ancient curses, and family secrets.

The heroine, Nyx, is a refreshingly logical protagonist who suddenly finds her grounded reality shattered when she discovers her lineage as a Red Hood witch. The stakes are immediately high: the Volkov family is desperately trying to break a multi-generational curse, and the only way to do it is to make a Red Hood witch fall in love with one of them. Enter Mikhail Volkov—intense, driven, and dangerous—and Gray, a watchful, protective hunter who constantly lingers in the shadows. The tension and sultry chemistry built within this dark love triangle are absolutely delicious.

The world-building is beautifully eerie, blending supernatural intrigue with the signature angst and raw intensity that B.B. Reid is known for. The pacing keeps you firmly on the edge of your seat as Nyx navigates who to trust while caught between the "wolf" and the "hunter".

The only reason this isn’t a full five stars is that the middle section slows down slightly as the intricate supernatural lore is established, and the book leaves us on a massive, agonizing cliffhanger. That being said, the setup for the next installment is masterfully done.

If you love dark romance, high-stakes fantasy, and plenty of brooding tension, you definitely need to add this to your TBR! I cannot wait for the conclusion.

[Hanan]

I love fairytale retelling, adult style. Also a big fan of Ms. Reid. So when I found out she is releasing a loosely based Little Red Riding Hood story, you better believe I was right there for it.
The story takes place in a small village in France. The world building is fantastic. The author describes sights, sounds and the atmosphere in vivid details. Making me feel I’m actually seeing what she is describing. I think I even gained weight with the scrumptious pastries that were described.
The main characters Nyx, Michael and Gray are all interesting. Each very different than the other.
Nyx is an intelligent young lady. Very practical and logical. So believing in magic and witches isn’t even on her radar.
Gray is such a sweetheart. So kind and big hearted. The “Hunter” who helps the villagers with their needs.
Michael is the dominant force of the trio. He’s driven and determined. Nothing will stop this wolf from his mission.
The chemistry between the characters is intense. The tension, yearning and the longing comes to life off the pages.
The secrets and betrayals were suspenseful and nerve wracking. They had me trying to guess how each character would react.
The plot and storyline are unique and unpredictable. Witches, curses and why choose were exciting and interesting.
There were points where the flow of the story seemed a bit off for me. And a couple of scenes seemed to come out of left field.
Hence my rating of four stars.
Am I going to read the second book?
Hell yeah!
Especially after that jaw dropping cliffhanger.

[Irma *Irma The Book Whisperer*]

This one is literally a TRICK and TREAT! I had so much fun!

Of course, the first thing that hit me is B.B. Reid's writing. She has got it. I love her writing style, and I could read her books all day.

Don't Fall is a Little Red Riding Hood retelling, but with witches, curses, wolves, hunters, and a whole lot of secrets.

The story goes something like this: Nyx discovers that she comes from a line of Red Hood witches, while the Volkov family has been cursed for generations. Breaking the curse means a Red Hood witch has to fall in love with one of them. And then there is Gray, the hunter who seems to be tangled up in all of this too. Sounds addictive? Yeah, because it is.

"Guard your heart, foolish girl. The wolves will come to steal it."

One of the things I loved most was not knowing who I could trust. Every time I thought I had something figured out, another secret or question would pop up. I also loved the world building. The little French town, the witchcraft, the covens, the curses and all the lore made this world truly mesmerizing.

The dynamic between Nyx, Mikhail, and Gray was so good. They are all so different; Nyx is logical and stubborn, Mikhail intense and determined, while Gray brings a completely different energy to the mix. Relationships never felt like they were all about the three of them together. It gave each relationship its own sense of intimacy.

The pacing was incredible too. I flew through this book.

Right now I am longing for the second book. The last twenty minutes had me on the edge of my seat!

[Brittney]

Don’t Fall • B.B. Reid
Hunt for the Red Hood #1

One phrase: Red Riding Hood, but darker 🐺🌙

A dark romantic Red Riding Hood retelling with witches, wolves, hunters, French folklore, curses, and one very complicated love triangle setup?

Yes please.

Nyx discovers she descends from Red Hood witches, while Mikhail Volkov needs a Red Hood witch to fall in love with him to break his family’s curse. Then Gray, the intense hunter lurking around every secret, pulls her even deeper into danger.

I really liked the pacing here. It moved quickly without feeling rushed, and the story never dragged. B.B. Reid’s writing style, formatting, footnotes, and vivid descriptions gave the book such a distinct personality.

Nyx annoyed me at times, but in a believable way. She had that stubborn, young, “I know more than I do” energy, and honestly, it made her feel real.

Atmospheric, sharp, and very B.B. Reid.

✨ Tropes and vibes:
🐺 Red Riding Hood retelling
🌙 dark romantasy
🧙 Red Hood witches
🖤 cursed wolves
🏹 protective hunter
🇫🇷 French folklore
👀 secrets everywhere
💋 forbidden tension
🔥 love triangle vibes
✨ immersive writing

📚 Read this if you like:
Dark fairytale retellings, wolf curses, witchy heroines, folklore settings, sharp pacing, flawed FMCs, and romantic fantasy with atmosphere and danger.

This was vivid, addictive, and such a strong start to the series.

#DontFall #BBReid #DarkRomantasy #FairytaleRetelling #BookReview

[Ashley]

Oh my gosh I need book 2 stat! BB leaves us on such a cliffhanger in Don’t Fall, Book 1 in the Hunt the Red Hood series. Thank you Sourcebooks/Bloom Books for my eARC!

In this Little Red Riding Hood Why Choose retelling we meet Nyx after losing her job and contemplating her life, she decides to go to France to meet her long lost grandmother but definitely doesn’t expect to get caught between two men in the process.

Mikhail, our wolf, is desperate to break the curse plaguing his family by any means necessary but also didn’t expect to catch feelings for Nyx and Gray.

Gray, our sweet Hunter, has had his heart broken and sworn off love but Mikhail and Nyx make that incredibly difficult and make him want to love again.

I loved their dynamic throughout the book and Nyx doesn’t make it easy for either of them. She struggles with her heart being torn in two and though Mikhail also cares for Gray, he has a hard time sharing Nyx while Gray struggles with his feelings for both Mikhail and Nyx.

They all work together to try to figure out how to break the curse while Nyx is learning her family history of witches and trying to see if she even believes it is real. Her aunts are rightfully overprotective of her but I did like to see Nyx start coming into her own and start standing up for herself.

I can’t wait to see what is in store for Nyx now and when the truths will finally be revealed.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

[Nimra Iqbal]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, I was OBSESSED with this one. 🖤

Don’t Fall is such a deliciously dark and twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood, and I loved how B.B. Reid took something so familiar and turned it into something that felt dangerous, mysterious, and completely its own.

Nyx was such a compelling heroine. I loved that she’s someone who believes in logic and doesn’t immediately accept the world of magic and folklore she’s suddenly pulled into. Watching her uncover the truth about her bloodline, the Red Hood witches, and the curse surrounding the Volkov family made the story so addictive.

And Mikhail… 👀 The tension between these two was EVERYTHING. He has his own agenda when he gets close to Nyx, but watching their relationship become increasingly complicated as feelings and secrets get tangled together? I was completely invested.

I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. The French setting, old folklore, witches, curses, wolves, and that constant feeling that there’s something darker hiding underneath the story gave this such an eerie fairytale quality.

The whole “logic vs. magic” element worked so well, especially when Nyx is forced to question everything she thought she knew. There were so many moments where I wanted to yell at the characters to TRUST YOUR GUT. 😂

Dark, atmospheric, romantic, mysterious, and full of twists, Don’t Fall completely hooked me. And after THAT ending, I absolutely need the next book. 🐺🖤

5 stars from me!

[Naomi Torres]

There’s romance,
There’s yearning
There’s suspense and mystery,
There’s betrayal, secrets, curses… and a why chooooooooseeeeeee 🤭🤗
Safe to say I was in my happy place during this read.

I loved the loose play on the red riding hood tale. And I also loved the eerieness of the atmosphere and the mystery that was weaved throughout the romantic plot. We follow our FMC Nyx on a journey of discovery as she travels to meet her father’s side of the family and uncovers a curse her great great grandmother doled out on an ex lovers family line. But being a believer of science, Nyx finds herself struggling to believe in not only her own abilities but her 3 aunts and the coven they coexist within.

The #1 rule Nyx was given was to not fall in love… and what does the girl do? Join the mile high club and fall head over heals for a stranger 🤣 but I fear I would’ve been a goner and fell for his shit too though because home boy was Rico suave 😝 I really loved Nyx and her strong willed attitude (and after finding out she’s a Taurus it made a lot of sense why ♉️). But she also annoyed me because at some point she Had to think, this all seems too good to be true 🤔 especially given the circumstances lol but I she ignored every red flag and every warning from her aunts and did all the things she was warned against… 🤔 sounds very Taurus of her… 🤣🤣🤣
Anyway,
I need book 2 TONIGHT because what was that ending ⁉️⁉️⁉️

[Selene Carter]

I don’t even know where to start. This was an intriguing retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. I genuinely couldn’t guess what was going to happen next with the twists and turns.

Nyx LeRoux doesn’t believe in the stuff of fairy tales. She’s works, puts money away in her 401k and pays her taxes just like everyone else. So when she’s told she comes from a long line of witches, all she can do is roll her eyes and look at her kin shes just met that claim to be witches as well, sideways.

She believes in science and what she can see, but can’t explain her pull to a stranger she meets on a plane. Mikhail Volkov can though. He needs Nyx to help undo a curse that’s been on his family for decades. Fate has other plans when she starts becoming more than he bargained for.

Nyx find her pull to Mikhail challenged when Gray Jager enters the picture. But Gray seems to be hiding things she can’t quite see either.

The writing kind of pulled me out of it sometimes though. It kind of felt like the slang was thrown in at random places? I am also not sure how I felt about the relationship dynamics either. I don't mind spice, MMF-- love me a why choose--but it almost felt like cheating? I'm not a huge fan of that trope, but I know some people love it.

Thank you Bloom Books and B.B Reid for this one! It's a good vibe to take you into Halloween with a smattering of spice.

[Kynel Books]

ARC Review

Right off the bat, I loved the intro. The humor is my absolute favorite part of the book. BB Reid's characters always make me laugh.

Nyx's grandmother is dying so she is called to a little French town to meet her father's side of the family. Once there she is informed that she is a witch and must awaken her powers. The problem is, Nyx doesn't believe in magic.

Mikhail's, one of our MMC, family is cursed and the only way to break it is for Nyx to fall in love with and marry him.

Gray, our other MMC, is living in this French town after leaving his previous life behind.

For the relationships, I would say the most prominent is Gray and Mikhail. They assume a dom/sub relationship pretty early on. Then it would be Mikhail and Nyx, with Mikhail trying to get her to fall in love with him. Nyx and Gray have more of a friendship with some flirting until the end.

For the plot, I was most interested in the curse, discovering the term and the stakes for everyone involved. While I wanted to see Nyx and her path to magic, her refusal to believe was more irritating than understanding after awhile.

What really shined are the side characters, Nyx's aunts and Mikhail's brothers. I'm excited to see where the next book picks up after this cliffhanger.

[Katie N]

Thanks NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this eARC. This book sounded great in the blurb! I was excited to read a B.B. Reid book after hearing such good things, however, this book just did not click with me at all. I’m all for a retelling. When I look back at it, I liked the way red riding hood was a witch coven and had history with wolves. Paranormal romance is one of my favorite genres, but this story and me just did not fit. The story starts off really quick, which was good, but the insta love is way too far fetched for a smart girl. The entire plane to France and meeting Michael was over the top. Losing the V card immediately had me giving the book side eye. The dialogue in this book read like high school slang most of the time. There was too much “broooo” ““Maaaan, Uncle Lev tripping,” and ““I got better shit to do than save doe-eyed girls from themselves. Nice tits by the way. Peace.”
On the positive side, the spice was good!! But I struggled with “puppy.” Also the dedication was pretty cool, and I loved that Return of the Mack was mentioned, because I love that song!
Overall the story wasn’t for me. The ending has a cliffhanger, but I won’t be reading the next book.

[Amelia Blackmon]

Title: Don’t Fall
Author: B. B. Reid
Series: Hunt the Red Hood, 1

Format: Edelweiss ebook
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Overall score:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV’s: Nyx (FMC) & Gray (MMC) & Michael (MMC)

What to expect:
*Red x Wolf x Hunter retelling
*Family curse against females
*Cliffhanger ending

Safety:
No OW/OM drama. On page violence and death of side characters.

Review:
This is one of the best retellings I have ever read!! The relationship between these three characters may not have been built on truth, but love will find a way to keep them together!

This books revolves around a generational curse that kills all of the females in Wolf’s family line. The only way to break the curse is to get a descendent of the Red family to fall in love and marry him. Michael is determined to save someone close to him and protect the two loves of his life, all while the Red family is hell bent on doing everything within their power to keep them apart.

Book ends on a cliffhanger, very well written and highly recommended if you love retellings of classical stories!

Thank you to the author, Bloom Books, Sourcebooks, and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review this title!

[x.lebi.ram.x]

Damn. B.B. Reid’s retellings are top fucking tier. First we start off hot 🥵. Then we just continue to get damn hotter. Ok ok the characters. Nyx is a scientist through and through so when she gets this mysterious summons from family that she never met, it takes her world crashing down for the push to jump/hop 🤭 on that ……plane. Little does Nyx know she’s being hunted. The men in this book… 😮‍💨.. I volunteer as tribute and would like to be placed in this world you know for science.
Michael is mysterious and dominating with his whole ass self and who doesn’t enjoy that in a MMC. You know the one that you say oh you’re bad then say but I like bad and proceed to follow him around like a puppy. Gray is so lovable, good, and pure hearted with everyone he holds close to him that you just want to keep him safe at all costs.
So not only are the main characters amazing and interesting but the side characters, in true B.B. Reid fashion you want everyone’s damn story.
This defiantly needs to be added to your TBR and red immediately if you like:
-Red Riding Hood retelling
-MMF
-Witchy
-small French town
-family feud
-deadly curse

[Sunny]

This book is a darker twist on the classic Little Red Riding Hood tale, and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing style was fantastic, the language was descriptive enough to make me feel like I could see what was going on while also not being overly descriptive, and the pacing was great. The tension between Gray, Mikhail, and Nyx was intense and their relationship could be a partial threesome? It's interesting, unique, and I can't put a label on it.

That being said, the characters were frustrating sometimes, especially Nyx. Also, who in the right mind gets on a plane, sees a random stranger, and just goes for it? That was a little questionable to me. In this day and time, we all know it's not safe or a good idea to do that. Also, some of the things they would say during sex were just downright cringey. I had to take a step back for some of that.

Overall, this was a really interesting book and I'm glad I found it. The cliffhanger at the end was crazy though. It was like having a dream about eating your favorite dessert and then waking up right before you take a bite.

Thank you to Bloom Books for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Nalesia]

You all know the story of Little Red, but B.B Reid’s reimagining will be your new favorite bedtime story. 🤭 Seriously, it kept me up all night because I could NOT put it down and have been in shambles over not having book 2 yet.

FMC Nyx is a regular, career oriented woman who heads to a country she’s never been to visit a sickly grandmother she’s never met. Along the way, she meets Mikhail, a “wolf” who definitely wants to eat her up (if you know what I mean), a hunter, Gray, who isn’t quite sure who he’s protecting, and an estranged family telling her she’s a Red Hood Witch.

Mikhail is racing against time to break a heavy curse and he needs Nyx to do so. Nyx’s family is depending on her to continue a generations-long duty of upholding the curse. Gray is struggling with duty and secrets, and Nyx doesn’t believe in magic in the first place. Throw in some why-choose adjacent elements, plenty of family drama, dynamic side characters, and familiar elements of classic bedtime story we all know and love. Don’t Fall will have you on the edge of your seat, questioning your perception of ‘villain,’ and enjoying both drama and spice 🌶️