2 stars (maybe even less now) All was going well (for the most part) until the strip club scene
Grammar mistakes? Yup. There are some- I can overlook some of those. OTT protective/possessive H? Sign me up as long as he treats the h good and there’s no crazy shenanigans going on. But going to a strip club as a first date and allowing OW to touch you? I’m OUT!
Let me back up. Lily was used as ransom when her good-for-nothing-cheating-of-a-husband couldn’t pay the debt he owes Lucifer. Not only is she used, but her two kids as well. Lucifer (Matthew) had already seen pictures of her and thought she was gorgeous. He capitalizes on Lily’s husband being a selfish sleazeball and takes his family away from him- and now he can claim them as his own.
Lily’s world turns upside down. She knows her husband cheats on her (🤢) yet she still wants him to touch her?? Because she hasn’t had any in a while and misses the intimacy… Giiiirl… go get tested to make sure you don’t have STDs lol (apparently, it had been a year since they were intimate, so she was good). So she’s forced to go with Lucifer, but not before she has sex with him (okay… I’ll admit… that was pretty hot because she was asleep when the touching happened but eventually she wakes up).
SPOILERS AHEAD- BEWARE lol
I was enjoying the book, for the most part. I mean- the chemistry between Matthew and Lily is intense🔥. As soon as he saw her picture, he wanted her. As soon as she saw him, she wanted him as well. I mean, I even made a list of all the things I was loving (CONSTANTLY pleasing HER (especially with his mouth and fingers 😉), dubcon, somnophilia (kind of lol she ends up waking up) biting, marking, primal, alphaness,neck/hair grabbing, pinning down, clothes/underwear ripping, refusing to use protection because he wants her pregnant, attentiveness after sex, endearments, tying up… so many things I love), but it got ruined when he takes her to the strip club.
Lucifer decides that for their OFFICIAL first date, they’ll go to a strip club (even writing this gives me the nasty icky shudders). Um… WHAT?!?!? 🤔HOW is this a GOOD idea? Sure… he has to conduct some business 🙄. Yes, strip clubs are profitable 🙄but really? Really Lucifer? 🤢🤬. Then… THEN, he allows some hoar to touch him!! Meanwhile, Lily just sits there quietly, like an idiot, because he’s doing business and she needs to be still 🤬🤬🤬. This is when I got angry. Say something! Do something! Don’t just sit there and be okay with it!!!! Gawd!!!
And, AND… when she kind of WAKES UP and decides she needs to get away, she goes to a closed off bathroom and can’t go anywhere. She gets upset and realizes she wants to leave all of this behind and not be with Lucifer (good! Make him suffer and regret things Lily👏🏻). But then, when she goes back to Lucifer (her bodyguard forces her to go back), he realizes she’s upset and tells her
“…the sight of the other women has done nothing for me but left me wanting you…” 🙄🙄🙄(this COULD have been romantic, but I was too upset to care at this point)
He even states that he should’ve known bringing her here would bring our her insecurities… YA THINK??? Who wants to see their man in a strip club with all these beautiful women around them?? And then to have one touch him and he doesn’t try to stop it?? Imagine what happens when she’s not around?!? If this is in front of her, what happens when she’s at home?!? 🤬🤢🙈
Oh and the KICKER is that he tells her “I know what you need” and proceeds to fhawk her. She tells him she wants to leave, he tells her she’ll never leave because she’s his (normally, I would be swooning, but I was so pissed, I couldn’t even appreciate it) and then he phucks her… and she doesn’t even bat a damn eyelash 😑🙄. In fact, she doesn’t really fight him much. We get the internal monologue where she WANTS to fight him, but really, she always gives in, especially with s€x. Say NO and MEAN IT lily!
At least her ex hubby gets tortured (albeit in front of her) before he dies for selling his family 🤷🏻♀️. Lucifer also divorces her from Marshall and then marries her, all without her consent (I mean, kind of swoony, but then also like what the phuck). And she just accepts it all 🙈🤔🥴. She gets mad… but then she’s like “well there’s nothing I could do about it now” 🙄. Where is her backbone? Gah. Yes, she craves security but, at this point, she is just holding all of her feelings in, has no backbone, and spending his money DOESNT FIX ANYTHING!
Trust me- I’m all for a j/p protective H… but I also want the h to have a say in things… and a backbone. She always ALWAYS gives in!!! I needed there to be a push/pull with them. And there wasn’t 😒. Maybe the book needed to be longer, but I was left feeling icky and unsatisfied.
I need to reread Simon’s book (book 4) because THAT one was amazing compared to this one 🤢. Although they go to the SAME strip club, he doesn’t like to be touched by anyone or touch bodily fluids (not even to sit down in the chair lol) because they’re all gross and it makes HIM sick to be there. He’s the type of H I need in my books. Stupid Lucifer 😑😒🤬.
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-dubcon
-no official cheating, but I still felt nasty about this all 😑😒🤢🤬
-owd- the damn Strip club incident that ruined the book for me 🤬🤢😒
-a lot of people get killed
-the h’s ex hubby gets tortured/killed (graphically at first then it’s glossed over while the h has her back to it all because she’s pregnant and can’t stand the smell/sight)