The City is Bleeding

by Jessi English

Miami is a city built on heat, salty air, and sins—but lately, it's drowning in blood.
When a string of brutal murders surfaces across the city, the police are left chasing shadows. The killer is sending a message no one can decipher—yet.
Homicide detective Saint Rivers is certain he can solve the case quickly and efficiently... until the Chief's daughter is assigned as his partner.
Ellison Wells is everything Saint despises. She challenges his methods, disrupts his control, and drags out the predator buried deep inside him. He doesn't trust her instincts, her judgement, or the way she makes him lose control.
To Ellison, Saint is arrogant, cold, and impossible to work with—a man who judged her for a mistake she made two years ago and never let her forget it. Yet, the more pushes her away, the harder it becomes to ignore the dangerous pull between them.
As the body count rises and the killer's obsession turns personal, Saint and Ellison are dragged into a twisted game with a psychopath who always seems one step ahead. And Ellison realizes the one man who can keep her alive may also be the one most capable of destroying her.
Because in a city that can't stop bleeding, trust is a liability—and desire may be the deadliest weapon of all.

Genres: Dark Romance

308 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2026

Reviews

[Angela ❤️]

WHEN I TELL YOU I ATE THIS UP!?! a dark romance with a murder subplot. It’s everything I wanted in a cop x detective romance in the workplace. The tension, the build up, the story, and the spice! Saint…yes please more! He is going to be your next dark romance bf plus a stable job?!? HELLO?!? Ellie is soo precious and I love that she doesn’t back down even after the “mistake”… Saints mouth…OH MA LAWDDDDD! I couldn’t get enough of it. The ending is insane, the plot twist👀🤯 did not see it coming! Also I was sobbing!! I can’t wait for book two! GREAT JOB!

[Alana R.]

Such a hot and brillant book. Saint Rivers WILL become your new obsession. You'll melt, you might cry, but you will definitely lose your mind. Don't just take my word for it.... be a good girl and read it yourself.

[Jules]

The amount of times the word "smirk" appears throughout the book is egregious. Does the MMC have another expression? Apparently not. He smirks every other page if not nearly every page. The word appeared 2x on several pages before. This was rough. Dude was arrogant and came off narcissistic. He's alpha but it was a bit OTT. We also get reminders he's a manwhore but so damned good looking when women throw themselves at him all the time, catcall him, and more than one woman goes home with him or steals used condoms to get pregnant. Idk. Not my jam.

FMC is weak for a homicide detective. While the MMC is busy smirking, this girl is busy gasping, stuttering, moaning, blushing and panicking at the worst times. Honestly, being accosted by another colleague (not MMC) and not reporting it to HR. Seriously? Then acting scared and just shutting down so he can assault you again at work? C'mon now. This is becoming a bit unrealistic. And when MMC forcefully piercing her nipples without consent then immediately fondles them like normal? No aftercare, no sanitizing, no lingering pain - yeah, not realistic at all.

It's a repetitive cycle and I'm sure we can trim out 100 pages if we negate the constant dialogue about the "mistake" (we don't know what this is until past 85%), how he hates her, how she knows he hates her - seriously, it's never ending mistake hate mistake hate and then repeat. To spruce it up, toss in alpha throat grabs and handcuffs - this chick folds faster than a chair. And lest we forget, we are reminded of what car he drives all the time. I kid you not. SMH, I just powered through at this point cuz I hate quitting.

I was promised primal play on the tags but alas, those 2 scenes were weak.

Writing style is easy to consume though so yay. Ends on a cliffy. I hate myself and this is the reason why I like standalones but as much as I'm complaining, I'll likely read the next one just to finish it out cuz it finally got juicy on the last chapter.

Safety:
- Both not virgins
- OWD - minor but he gets catcalled and 3 women start rubbing on him while FMC sees this
- OMD x2 - minor where she seeks out dude who hit on her at club after seeing the women rub up on him and another more extreme instance of attempted rape by colleague who is obsessed with her
- No cheating
- Manwhore - reminisces about past threesomes with random women and all that jazz

[Natalie Arter]

Ellison Wells and Saint Rivers are both police detectives in Miami. When a serial killer begins taking over the Magic City, Saint and Ellison are forced to work together. However, Saint hates Ellison for a mistake she made two years prior, affecting his first big case. Now forced to work together two years later, will he be able to hold onto that hate when he's inexplicably drawn to her? And will Ellison be able to resist falling for her partner on such a big case, when there's so many o reasons to stay away? Read The City is Bleeding to find out.

Saint Rivers is an arrogant homicide detective who earned his way to his position by solving a cold case within seventy-two hours of being assigned to it. Despite his arrogance, Saint is actually excellent at his job and is known in his department for being quick to figure out the profile of a killer, conducting thorough behavioral analysis that leads him to not only understand the criminal but catch them. And not only is Saint smart, he's INSANELY attractive. A 6'6 man with dark hair and blue eyes, muscular build, and tattoos covering his skin? Yeah, sign me up. Do I have a type I like in dark romance? Yes. Does Saint fit that type to a T? Also, yes. And other characters in the book recognize his appearance. While it's not excessive to the point of being like, "Okay, I get it, he's hot," it's no hidden fact that Saint is the type of guy women too drunk on their trip to Miami would cat-call (right in front of the FMC—cue the jealousy).

Ellison Wells, or Ellie, is another homicide detective who is assigned to work with Saint to "slow him down." Essentially, she's meant to keep his arrogance in line. However, Ellison has a history with Saint, which makes him distrust and even loathe her. Two years ago, the mistake Saint blames Ellison for caused her to doubt her own abilities. Furthermore, it's revealed that Ellison is like 75% of women in the workplace who don't report sexual harassment against her two years prior, making her a believable character and one I was able to sympathize with. Not only does Ellison have history with Saint, but a piece of walking trash named Bradley Bollicker has an obsession with Ellison and literally makes me want to vomit every time he's on-page. He's disgusting, harasses Ellison, and is overall scummy.

Meanwhile, there's a mysterious unknown POV stalking Ellison, a serial killer on the loose whose actions are escalating with the less recognition he gets, and romantic tensions between Ellison and Saint are growing. Can Saint resist the pull he has toward Ellison when he's supposed to hate her? Can Ellison ever trust Saint when he makes it clear that everything they do that's even remotely romantic is only because he's claimed her as his, even if he still hates her? And can they solve the murders haunting the Magic City? The worst part? It ends on a cliffhanger and I NEED MORE.

Honestly, while there's some pretty intense encounters between Ellison and Saint, and they reluctantly draw nearer to each other, the fact that the author made sure that it's clear that everything between Ellie and Saint is consensual is a pretty strong mark in my opinion. Primal scenes, possessiveness, and obsession are par for the course in the dark romance novels I love, and this book is no exception. Saint is arrogant and a walking HR violation (a direct quote from the book), but he's really fun to read because of it. Ellison is feminine and vulnerable when she needs to be, but intelligent and strong when it all boils down. They're a perfect partnership, both on the case and off.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves dark romance, cop main characters, characters with depth, arrogant MMCs, workplace romances, loathe to love, and suspense.

[Gianna Toro]

I need book 2 literally NOW! THAT CLIFFHANGER?????? legit sobbing as I type this. Where do I start with my review? First of all, Saint Rivers - I love you and I need more of you immediately. This man lives up to the name “Saint” (Haven House…I teared up). He is so possessive and touch her and die coded, even when he claims to hate Ellie. Love me a possessive MMC! I truly felt like McKenzie the way I was shipping these two the whole time.

I also loved the abandonment trauma rep, feeling ~seen~, it was so well done.

I love me an insta lust story and this book definitely delivers, genuinely some of the best spice I have EVER read

Can’t wait to read the rest of their story in book 2🖤

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Shelby Doss]

My eyebrows stayed UP while reading this. Saint was WILD and I loved him. The murder mystery going on was also super interesting. I could definitely see where it was going but I liked that. Hope the second book comes out soon!

[Kayla Carman]

Run Little Bunny

Wow! Just wow! For starters, this is a dual POV. It’s so fun to see what Saint is thinking. Very much enemies to lovers…but WHY THE CLIFFHANGER!! I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

[Trysten Talbert]

Saint & Ellie 10/10. Such a smooth and easy read, I was hooked from the very beginning. Cannot wait for the sequel.

[Kimberly McCurdy]

I need the next book now!!!! 10/10!

[Melynna Coleman]

Cannot wait for the second to be released……..

[Kellie Korzunowski]

Ellison annoyed me & I would never let a man talk to me like he did but boy what a cliffhanger ending. I’ll be back