Love is Pain

Bloody Romance #1

by Shanna Bell

Not all great love stories have a happily ever after…

Elena
I was cornered in an alley by monsters.
Then I met my knight in tarnished armor.
He will be my first. My last. My forever.

Viking
She was mine the second I saw her.
I will kill to protect and keep her.
If I ever lose her... I’ll make the world burn.

Note: this is the prequel novella to “Love is Rage,” which is Book One in the Bloody Romance mafia series.

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Ebooks, Dark Romance, Fiction, Erotica

62 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2019

About the author

Shanna Bell is a romance author who loves to write (and read) about sassy, strong women who can save themselves and men with a heart of gold. Wanderlust is her middle name, as she loves to travel and experience new cultures and foods. If you're into romantic suspense, happily ever afters, and some steam she´s got you covered. For updates on her series, you can join her newsletter or mail her. She loves hearing from her readers.

Reviews

[anouk♡ semi-hiatus · Rating 4 out of 5]

❜𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒐.❛
╚═════════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═════════╝

i don’t know why this book is called ‘erotica’ because it’s definitely not. there’s one short sex scene in it.. however, it gave me more then i expected!
’love is pain’ is a short prequel in the ’bloody romance’ series, which is a dark mafia romance.

in the prequel we meet elena and viking, and i’m already obsessed with both of them.
୨⎯ disclaimer ⎯୧, elena is a 17 year old virgin, which a lot of times i find an annoying trope in these type of books, BUT she isn’t the ‘clueless innocent virgin’ we usually see. she really is a badass. also, they don’t have sex until she is of age.

even though the introduction to the characters is very brief, i’m already totally invested in their story. can’t wait to continue this series. ♥

[Syndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love is Pain is a short prequel to Love is Rage. It gives a glimpse of the background of the characters and also how they met. It is not exactly meet cute moment.

This is my first read by Miss Bell and I am curious. The prequel sets a good background of the story to continue between Viking and Elena.

Continuing to next book.

3 stars

[Sofi (sofi.bookshelf) 🩷✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 ⭐️

Es una muy buena introducción al siguiente libro, creo que debería ser obligatorio leerlo porque te pone en contexto.

Desde ya puedo notar que esto será un Dark romance fuerte, solo con estas pocas páginas eso se reluce demasiado y estoy nerviosa. Creo que nunca he leído un Dark romance real.

Los personajes son interesantes. Tenemos a Elena, la chica inocente e ingenua. También está Viking, el bruto y loco. Ellos son los protagonistas.

Elena vive abuso constante por parte de su hermano mayor y los amigos de este, allí aparece Viking que la salva, haciendo que se enamore incondicionalmente de él.

Algo que me gusta (y es irónico) es que el protagonista espera a que ella sea mayor de edad.

[Catherine Pratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this novella down. It's so good !! I love dark stories like this. What's not to love about a guy named Viking and a girl named Elena?? Both beautiful names for beautiful characters. This is actually a start of a mob story. I hope the first book is as good as this novella. It really is hard to put down once you start it.

I got a free copy of the book and is voluntarily leaving a review.

[Drasevia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder how the author can think that I will fall in love with the main characters (and root for them) just because she says so. There was an absolute lack of depth, description of feelings or even emotions. And only one spicy scene… meh. Almost boring. Plus - I absolutely hate the miscommunication trope. 4/10.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like an amuse-bouche for the mind.

Short, sweet and filled with emotion. So much happens in this teaser of a tale. I can’t wait to read what happens next in ‘Love is Rage’.

[Riris.books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love is Pain
Bloody Romance, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: Free from “Stuff Your Earbuds” Day

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Google Play Store
Dates Read: 6/27/24 - 6/27/24
Rating: 3 Stars
Narrator(s): Sarah Puckett. Liam Sanderson

The Characters:

Elena:
Viking:

The Story:

This book brought me back to the beginning of my book addiction where all the stories were gritty but with romance at the heart. I don’t read many stories like this anymore, so I was happy to step back into a different reading time for me. I am curious to see why Elena did what she did but not sure when I will invest in the next audiobook.

[Maelle Desgazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je n ai jamais eu autant de plaisir a lire un prequel!

Ce prequel m a captivé! J ai eu envie de lire le livre que j ai tout de suite entammé, apprécié et terminé..... Quelle belle histoire! La facon de raconter, le suspens et la fin! Ce matin j ai du relire certaine partie.....J ai hate d entendre parler de Vicking dans vos prochains livres. Merci Shanna!

[Yolanda McGee~Veronica's Reading Vault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Is Pain (Bloody Romance #1) is a prequel to the Bloody Romance series and an excellent way to start it off. The drama and suspense of it all will definitely have you wanting to read Love Is Rage (Bloody Romance #2).

[mey · Rating 1 out of 5]

hm nope

[Kristina Masset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love series like these, such a quick read cause I couldn’t put it down!

[MELISSA GOODINE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start

This was a great start to the story. Can’t wait to see why she betrayed Viking. But I’m onto the next book now.

[MadAlys Rivers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting intro to a story. I’m intrigued enough to want to know what happens next.

[Aine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and sexy, gives background to the main story of how Viking and Elena met and why he's hellbent on getting revenge on her for marrying his enemy while he was locked up for just a few days !

[Amanda M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic introduction to what's to come from this series. The suspense of everything will leave you wanting more. A page turner that I couldn't put down. I loved this prequel and can't wait to find out what happens in the next part of the story.

[Adricrisuruta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good preface for the story to come. It promises a lot of anger, pain and reveng

[Juleta James · Rating 5 out of 5]

So now I am stuck because I promise my self not to read a book wife a suspenseful ending when I can't read the second part. The anticipation is too much but here I am waiting. I really did enjoy this book.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on Apple iBook today (3/17/2021)!🎁

[Sharon Ryder Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is a cliff hanger its well worth a read.... I can not wait to read what happens next! The plot has got me guessing already, a dark read with twists..

[Tamiko White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn powerful read😘📔

I just bought the sequel to this book and can't wait to read it. I like this prelude and I really liked Viking.

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elena is a seventeen-year-old senior in high school. Her mom died a year ago of cancer, and her big brother got hooked on meth. She did her best to avoid her brother and friends. She did her best to avoid the neighborhood bullies, but this day they had her dog cornered and were abusing it. She rushed to her dog’s aid but became their next target. A guy named Viking let no harm come to her even after Todd’s threat. She watched Viking stab Todd in the stomach, and then he moved out of her way to allow her to leave unmolested. She fell in love with him on the spot and was ready to give him everything, but he asked her out the next day and has been a gentleman ever since. Now it was the day of her eighteenth birthday, and she wanted to cash in her V-card with Viking.

What a twist! But the physical world-building leaves a lot to be desired. The ethereal world-building is what it is, reactionary and understated in places and on point in others. The character interaction is understandable once the history is known.

WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT: This short story prequel series starter is full of romance and suspense. I give it four stars out of five.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this romance between Viking and elena but not a fan of elenas brother Ricky who is drug addict and or her cousin Georgia and love that Viking is a very protective alpha and will do anything for elena. Love the spicy scenes between Viking and Elena in the book. Not a fan of Elena’s husband morellos who died and what he did to her during their marriage Im assuming blackmail. And Viking loves chopping up people but not a fan of his mother. And love that Viking is close with his brother who got injured. And love that it showed 16 years later and that Elena is a widowed single mom to her daughter Vicky and Ricky is just greedy and wants money and I can’t wait to read more of this series in the future and love that it was a quick spicy mafia read and love that Viking knew that Elena wanted to be a vet and that Elena loves her daughter Vicky so much and would do anything to save her

Spicy
Dual PoV
Mafia romance
Violence
Second chance
Under 70 pages
Read as an ebook

[100sweet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not find this to be a good read. It started off good but then we jump 3 months to the H and h already in a relationship. There was so explanation of how they went from strangers to dating. Instead, there is a pretty random sex scene with the h throwing herself at the H. It goes further down hill from there with the next book doing a 16 year time jump. I felt really letdown by this book. The characters and story needed more development.

[Sentinelle23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

💙 A DÉCOUVRIR.

Elena, 17 ans, se préparait pour aller en cours.
Elle n’avait plus de maquillage pour cacher ses hématomes.

Depuis la mort de sa mère, la vie quotidienne était devenue très difficile...

-----------

Un préquel qui raconte le début des aventures dangereuses et terribles d’Elena...

A découvrir.
💙

[Ivy Blacke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading these terribly out of order, but I don't care. Freaking incredible series.

Elena is a hard tough woman. Made a woman by her mother and Viking.

Viking loves her down to his soul, but all he sees is betrayal. Can he ever see something else?

Elena betrayed him, but only she can tell the truth, but will Viking let her?

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is a little taste and sets the foundation for Viking and Elena’s amazon love story. There is heartbreak but a great love story. I can’t wait for the next book. I’ve read little bits about Viking and Elena over Shanna’s Bad Romance series and this is going to be sooo good.

[Ace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short novella. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. Decent world building of the families but definitely lacking something. I probably will continue the series just to see how Bell handles the story to the end!

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read

Short, prequel, and not quite sure what I read. Third person POV wasn’t quite right. Huge jump in time with nothing to show what had actually happened in Elena’s life during those 16 years.

[⋆౨ৎ ashley ˚⟡˖ ࣪ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5...

TROPES:
~ I'll update later

Honestly, I'm not one to rate books less than 3 stars but this one just didn't do it for me. I was waiting for something to happen the whole book only to be disappointed when I got to the end. The end of the book jumps 16 years and doesn't even touch on what happens??? I don't know, this book just wasn't for me.