Dukes of Ruin

Royals of Forsyth University #4

by Angel Lawson, Samantha Rue

The crowns of Forsyth Royalty aren’t built with jewels. They’re forged in blood and sacrifice.

They say a parent should never pick favorites, but my d*ck of a father, Lionel Lucia, is no Ward Cleaver. He's a Count—a King of Forsyth—and all he ever wanted was a daughter to marry off and a son to secure his legacy. My sister's marriage to the leader of the Counts would keep him in control of his house. If he'd had a son, things would have been perfect.

Instead, he got me.

Too wild. Too rash. Too rebellious. I'm half as pretty as my sister, and twice as stubborn. I grew up under the brutal force of our father's fist, but it didn't break me. If anything, it just made me more determined to strike back. And I would have, too.

If my sister hadn't disappeared.


I’ve spent the last year at the mercy of the Kings, caged and tormented. But the three thugs who arrive in the night, masked and vicious, decide to take me for their own.

There's the Maniac, with his razor-sharp smile and frantic eyes, thrashing around me in a hurricane of hard touches and whispered words. By the time Remy's done marking me, I'm not sure there'll be anything left to call my own.

The Lurker, with his malevolent stare and bitter tongue, hates me the most. It's easier with him, knowing that he could never want me. If being the object of Sy's resentment is bad, then being the object of his desire just might be my undoing.

The Creep is the worst of all three. Not because he's meaner or harsher, but because he's neither. Two hundred pounds of inked, imposing muscle, Nick Bruin has been following me since I first became a pawn. Now, he means to make me his.

The Dukes are known for winning with their fists, but transforming Lavinia Lucia from the Kings’ captive to their unwilling Duchess will be their biggest match yet.

The saga continues in book 4 of the contemporary, dark romance, Royals of Forsyth series, where the Duke’s reign will be one of Ruin, Madness and Peril.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, Why Choose, Enemies To Lovers, College, Contemporary

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Mareeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I am used to all sorts of crazy fucked up shit.....but the first chapter of this book had me SCANDALISED.

I don't even know what I'm expecting. Definitely not for him to swipe two fingers over the gash on his stomach, and then bury them - dripping with his blood - right inside me.

Did you think the infamous lords of pain blowjob opening scene was pretty fucked up? Well, it had absolutely NOTHING on what these three crusty ass motherfuckers did to Lavinia. I finished the chapter and I just sat there like.....

The there of them huddled around my vagina, recording the image of their spunk and blood dripping to the mattress

So this is how it's gonna go then.......okay😀

But that's not even all yet....because I finish the book and what am I doing? I'm fucking crying, like honest to god tears staining my pillowcases type of crying. I was gonna give this 3.5 stars, but an author that can have me scandalised, shocked, amused, and sobbing all in one story doesn't deserve some half-assed rating.

I won't dwell too much on the plot of the book because there really wasn't any. It can be summarised in one short sentence: Lavinia is viciously raped by Dukes as some sort of plot of revenge/resistance/whatever against the counts, then she is basically handed off to her rapists to be their duchess. And from that moment we have an enchanting story of romantic bliss, as you can well imagine.

I'm not in the mood to compete - certainly not for this piece of trash.


Fucking stuck-up, know-it-all, big titted pain in my balls.


Smurf-haired slut

- One of the heroes (Sy) about the heroine. What a poet😍

Instead I wonna talk more about the characters.

🛑SPOILERS FROM NOW ON🛑

NICK BRUIN (CREEPER)


If I ever give a physical body to the word AUDACITY, it would have to be Nick's.

Now listen. Nick did a very bad thing. He might've violently raped a girl, recorded it all on video and had his fuckboy buddies jerk off on her after.........but WAIT☝️. It's okay. You know why? Because he redeemed himself immediately after.

He stares at my used body, defeated and defaced, and then pulls something from his pocket, setting it carefully onto the nightstand.
A can of soda.

You know what they say........A soda a day keeps the trauma away (thank you Neela I stole your joke).

Of course that's not the end of it. He then unabashedly, with no reservation whatsoever expects the heroine to thank him😀. No actually....he didn't just expect it, he was BAFFLED when she didn't lick his ass for raping her and "setting her free".

At first I couldn't believe that the three men in the first chapter were the heroes. They had the dummy sidekicks energy. You know the blocks of brainless meat you send to do the dirty work for you. They were so sleazy, the author didn't bother to sugarcoat a thing (which is actually kind of relieving).

So why the hell is this man not cancelled yet? Well it's because he is everything I wished Killian was. Nick puts him to shame with the level of obsession he has for his girl. He held NONE of his fixations back.

Nick has attachment disorder the strength of an h-bomb. My brother never wants something at a reasonable level.

The author takes the "no jealousy rule" of reverse harem and tosses that shit out the window because nick was possessive. Not just with other men but with the other two heroes as well. He made it clearly known she was his only. Sy & Remy were the only men he could bear to share her with....barely.

"If you ever let one of them kiss you again," he says, knuckles brushing over the curve of my cheek, "I'll cut your fucking tongue out."

Although, his obsession did seem a little sus to me. I feel like there is something deeper, less appealing behind it, something we're not seeing yet but the little clues were given. So I'm excited to find out more.

REMY MADDOX (MANIAC)


The guy was crazy. And not the average kind of crazy, no. He mumbled to himself, had psychotic episodes, couldn't tell dreams from reality, almost jumped off a roof from delusions......I mean....will it make more sense if I also say he's an artist?

Despite the fact that he bitched slapped Lavinia into the middle of next week once, I found him really adorable. He reminded me of a little toddler not being able to figure out how to put pieces of lego together. I don't wanna call him an edgelord because dude has a condition💀 but he was a total edgelord.

SY PERILINI (LURKER)

Sy had one very distinguishable personality trait: his dick. Sometimes it seemed like The Penis was the main character and Sy was just attached to it. The thing had a gazillion different names it was called by. My favourite being....

Lurker's cock is grotesquely gargantuan-
like something out of a freak show.

Other memorable mentions:
⇝ "Horse dick"
⇝ "Donkey dick"
⇝ "Circus freak with a dragon dick"
⇝ "A demon that rides on his shoulder more than swings between his legs"
⇝ "Even soft, that thing is like a firehose"
⇝ "That beast"

That is all I have to say about him. Oh and he also absolutely despises the heroine for making his grotesquely gargantuan cock hard<3. There you have it.

LAVINIA LUCIA (LITTLE BIRD)


This poor girl🤣🤣. Imagine having to live with an obsessed rapist, a mumbling lunatic, and a guy with a huge dick. No wonder she spits like a goddamn camel at everyone.

The funniest thing is...she had so many individuals to be afraid of in that place but I think nothing scared her more than the sight of Sy's "baton". I don't even blame her. My favourite was when Sy humped Lavinia while she was having sleep paralysis❤️. He was her own, personal paralysis monster my boy🥺

In all seriousness, Lavinia is a badass. She did not give in a single inch this entire book. She has been through so much horrible shit (hence why I cried at the end) that rooming with dumb, dumber and dumbest was like an extended vacation to her.

Also this is random but I couldn't help mentioning it due to the turmoil I went through. They really had my brain in tangles tryna figure out who the fuck Tate is and how is she connected to the boys. Everyone just kept talking about this seemingly dead person who caused Remy to have a psychotic break. The boys whispered about Lavinia being a replacement for Tate and I was narrowing my eyes in obvious jealousy like.......This girl better stay dead or🤨

Trying to figure out her gender was a whole ass other Olympic sport. Turns out she's just their dead lesbian friend, thank god. I would not be able to handle a dead ex on top of everything else.

OVERALL

There is no doubt this book is fun. It's full of ridiculousness of the royals, idiocy of the Dukes, awesomeness of Lavinia, so much triggering, shocking shit. It's like a visit to Disney land.

However it didn't really feel like anything new. Three boys, one girl, living together, tormenting each other and bla bla bla.

There were a lot of similarities between the Lord's trilogy and the dukes:
➥ Marking her permanently (tattoo)
➥ Public blowjob as a show of ownership
➥ Morning humping session
➥ Public "sex" under the dress so no one sees what's really happening
➥ The dukes have certain similar personality traits to the lords but I didn't mind so much. They still felt like different characters to me.
➥ All the fuss and drama about putting a tracker in her neck

I'm hoping the following books will have something new in store, a turn of events that isn't so predictable.

Lords of Pain (1) - 2 stars
Lords of Wraths (2) - 4 stars
Lords of Mercy (3) - 3.5 stars
Dukes of Ruin (4) - 4 stars
Dukes of Madness (5) - 4.5 stars
TBR the rest when released

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's fair to say this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, after how much I loved the first trilogy in the series. While it definitely met my expectations in most areas, a few places just left me feeling slightly... off.

It picks up pretty much where Lords of Mercy left off. 20-year-old Lavinia Lucia, daughter of one of South Side's most notorious figures, has ended up in the clutches of the Dukes fraternity: her former captor Nick Bruin, his half-brother Simon Perilini, and their best friend Remington Maddox. The three have just ascended to the top spot and they're working hard to get the respect they need. As the daughter of a Count, Lavinia is part of that plan - but she desperately doesn't want to be there, and at least one of the Dukes desperately doesn't want her there either.

First off, the vibe feels VERY different from Lords of Pain, from the beginning. (Not a bad thing, in itself - I don't want to read the same book!) While LoP has its opening rough blowjob scene, all the rest of the book's action takes place after Story has signed a contract, which puts a thin veneer of consent onto the events. In DoR, the very first scene is a violent penetration - which pretty much alerts you straightaway that the tone is going to be darker.

And it is. DoR, at times, comes across as bleak in a way LoP doesn't. Partially that's because the level of violence, sexual or otherwise, is heightened; neither Lavinia nor Nick are afraid to use their fists. (To my surprise, this didn't bother me as much as I thought it would). Partially, it's because the characters themselves are in a much less stable frame of mind than Story, Killian, Tristian and Dimitry. The LoP boys have a tight, interdependent bond, while the DoR boys have been splintered by events in their past. When you add Lavinia to that mix, the tone is just a lot more angsty.

To be honest, this book reads kind of like a psychological study. Like: what happens when a guy (Sy) is on the verge of becoming a full-blown incel, because he's never had a single positive sexual experience with a female, and then suddenly a captive princess is handed to him on a plate? Or: what happens when another guy (Nick) is stalker-level-obsessed with a girl who wants nothing to do with him, and he finally snaps at her constant rejections?

That is to say, the characterisations were - as usual - spectacular. I was dubious about Remy at first, because I've rarely found depictions of people with fragile mental states to be convincing, and I was worried that his POV chapters would bleed over into purple prose. Fortunately, this was pulled back before it got annoying. Lavinia, Nick, Remy and Sy were all done extremely well - no mean feat.

To some extent, though, it feels like nothing happens for large swathes of the book. It's very long - over 500 pages - and that sapped some of the tension away, because plot-wise, the developments were limited. I'm actually surprised to realise that Lavinia has a lot less agency than Story. Story was a quiet and reserved character, but her mind was always spinning; Lavinia is brash and mouthy, but she was unexpectedly reliant on Nick or others to do things for her. It was an interesting contrast.

Speaking of Story, there's a little cameo from her! I think the number of cameos from old characters was just the perfect amount. They didn't take up an illogical amount of page time, and Story and Lavinia weren't shoehorned into being best friends as I've seen so many authors do, but nor did I have to wonder where they were. That was nice.

I did love also getting to see more of the world. One of my complaints about LoP was that we learnt very little about the rest of the frat outside its leaders, and that definitely isn't the issue here. We even get a little potted history of Forsyth to help flesh it out. Overall, worldbuilding was definitely stronger. I wonder if the Barons will be next, as we learnt a lot more about them in particular. Which makes me realise, I wonder how their titles will go? You can't have a 'Baron OF something', like you can with lords or dukes; they're 'Barons X', e.g. 'Baron Herries' in the Scottish peerage. So the only two options are breaking the titling system the authors have used for six books, or grating on my aristocratic-genealogist nerves...

It's a shame the superior worldbuilding was unaccompanied by description. For instance, Lavinia and the Dukes live at the top of a bloody CLOCK TOWER, yet the view was never described beyond 'all of Forsyth lies before me'. Like, what does that mean??? Is there lots of green? Can you see dirty grey houses, skyscrapers, slums, terraces, what?

A minor stylistic point is that frequently we got question and exclamation marks together ('?!') which I find very annoying. It also seemed to me that the word 'limp(ly)' was a little overused, especially in the first half of the book, but I may be overly sensitive to word repetition.

⤅ Overall

A slow pace; I've largely given this four stars because I fully expect the next book or so to escalate to five stars, once things really kick off.
____

This cover is speaking to me on the cellular level

Thoughts on the first chapter in the spoiler tag:

So, Remy, Simon, and Nick! Very exciting stuff. I think it's already clear this will be a darker trilogy than the Lords. I'm not generally a fan of non-sexual violence from the heroes in my books, so I did a double take at first when Sy slapped Lavinia, but then again she did cut Remy open with a knife... Essentially, as long as it all balances out in the end (and I'm confident it will) I'll be good.

[Kursed Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy mother of WTF did I just read?!?! I don’t even know where to begin without giving too much away!

Dukes of Ruin is the beginning of our time with the Bruins. Straightaway we are reintroduced to Lavinia Lucia. Lavinia is the daughter of Lionel Lucia, King of Counts, who was sold to Lord’s King Daniel Payne.

It’s clear that Vinny’s life has not been easy. She’s unquestionably been a pawn in her father’s quest for money and power, enduring untold emotional trauma. While it shows in her every interaction, she never acts like a victim. In fact, she’s the epitome of strength: fierce and full of sass.

“Pretty” Nick who should have inherited his place with the Dukes as his birthright, he instead must earn the title. Locked away in the Velvet Hideaway for months, she has been released to attend Friday Night Fury where she’ll become the winner’s prize. As they say, “to the victor goes the spoils.”

In this installment we also meet Sy and Remy who, are not pleased with Nick’s unilateral decision-making. This creates a rift and further fractures an already fragile mental state for Remy.

Although these Dukes are far different from our Lords, the one thing they have in common is devotion to those who earn it. A dysfunctional quad to be sure, yet when push comes to shove, they’re all in and it shows.

“Even if he were being honest – even if this is the only love he’s capable of feeling – it’s corrupted and gnarled, and what I’m feeling must be heartbreak.“

Outside of the action-packed storyline itself, getting a bit of Royals - not just Dukes - history was interesting and an element I really enjoyed. Ruin was far darker than the Lords trilogy and we’re just getting started. I’m desperate to see where this is all leading. Will we learn the truth about Tate? Can Nick earn forgiveness? Will Leticia return? Will Lionel get everything he deserves? Will Perez? I can’t wait!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: 🌶🌶🌶
Dark: 🖤🖤🖤

🗂 Genre: Dark Romance

✨ Tropes: Bully, Secret Society, Non-Con, Captivity, Forced Proximity, Reverse Harem

⛔️ Warning: This book may cause blushing, squirming, combusting panties, and/or self-care. It’s definitely NSFW or with a kiddo by your side. In fact, I would highly recommend you read this one after dark to avoid side eye or awkward conversations.

⚠️ Safety Squad: Triggers galore if you have any, including but not limited to Non-Con, Violence, Abuse. If not, blind is best!!

📣 Dukes of Ruin is the first book of the Dukes trilogy, which is part of the Royals of Forsyth University series. Ruin ends on a cliffhanger and should be read after the Lords trilogy.

[Valkyrie ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello, I'm trash and I loved this book.



First of all, please read the trigger warnings before picking these books. I can't stress this enough. These books are dark and very twisted, read all trigger warnings and keep in mind anything listed is going to be explicit and on page.

This is the first book in the new trilogy set in the Royals of Forsyth series. And let me start this review by saying that this book opens with an explicit rape scene. If you thought the Lords were bad, the Dukes are even worse. I have no idea what these authors will do with the Princes, Barons and Counts because, holy shit this first book escalated things up to unholy levels. But apparently, I'm here for the ride and enjoying every second of it.

I usually rate anything featuring dub/non-con very low. An all the sex in this book was dub-con at best, but still I gave this 5 stars. The difference is that in other books it reads like glorified torture porn. In this series, you know you're reading something atrocious. In the Lords, the three main male characters went through an amazing character development, and that is what trapped me in. How they realized what they were doing was sick and how they made amens, it was addictive. And the same thing happened here. But let me explain.

The Dukes were a bunch of idiots. Their level of failure at life is so impressive, I found myself liking them because of that. I have no idea why the fact that they were a mess was so attractive to me but realizing they had no idea what they were doing was fantastic.

First we got Pretty Nick. He's narcissictic, selfish and obsessive. You know the awful cliché about little boys pulling the hair of the girls they like? Well, Nick never outgrew that phase. It's explained in the book how Nick tends to obsess over a girl and he basically forces her into submittion, because he thinks that's how life works apparently. His new obsession is our FMC, Lavinia. He's spent the last two years planning this comboluded and over the top plan to "win" her from her current imprisonment into his own. And he's convinced she'll be grateful and love him because, "no one is ever going to love you like I do." Yup, I threw up a little in my mind just by typing that.

So why does Nick's character work? Because he's obsessed and completely desperate for Lavinia's attention. He spends half the book begging for a kiss. And I like it when men simp after their woman. Sure, he's a sick bastard. But his fascination with Lavinia had its hot moments. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when he calls Rath to complain about how Lavinia is not giving in and doing what he wants. His tamtrum is so ridiculous, I remember saying out loud "oh, so he's actually an idiot." And that was his selling point for me. His desperation and lack of reasoning.

Then we got his brother Simon, who is probably my favorite. You see, Simon is a horny virgin, but you know why? Because he has, and I quote, "a grotesqueky gargantuan, like something out of a freak show, giant donkey dick". That's right, his dong is so big, girls run scared and refuse to sleep with him. The text emphasizes his size so much, by the end I was picturing a third leg. Anyway, Simon has issues because of this. I read in Namera's review how Sy is one more negative sexual experience with a girl away from become an incel, and that hit hard because the accuracy is asthonishing.

His resentment and hatred toward Lavinia for making him "feel things" was truly fucked up, but I couldn't stop reading when these two had a scene together. The chemistry was off the charts, their mutual hatred laced with wild lust was addictive.

And then we got their best friend Remy. What they did with this character is so interesting. I think it's the first romance I read where the guy's mental illness isn't presented in this romantized version, where it makes him edgier and wilder. Remy's mental health issues were very serious and dark. I felt anxious reading some of his scenes and I can only imagine how triggery they may be for someone struggling with mental health, so please be careful. His relationship with Lavinia was my favorite out of the three, and I think it's because they found some sort of understanding together, and actually helped each other.

Lastly we were gifted with Lavinia. She was the perfect main character, you know that FMC that makes you feel all the feels and root for her and fall for her instantly? She was all those things and more. Where Story was a bit bland and weak in the Lords trilogy, Lavinia is all firepower and resiliance. She's so strong, it's admirable. But when she crumbles... I cried, that's how invested I was with this character. I just need Lavinia to find happiness, that's all I want from this new trilogy. And I'm sure the payback at the end is going to be as good or even better than with the Lords.

Amazing first book in this new trilogy. I can't believe I have to wait until July to read the next one. I've fully accepted I'm absolute trash for these characters and this series, so bring it on.

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Update 11/18/2022

Well, this is a first. I've received criticism for my review in an author's Facebook group and I'm coming back to my review to say that I was wrong, they're right. I came to this conclusion after I read Dukes of Madness, I just didn't bother to come back to this review to clarify my new opinion. Basically, the portrayal of the guy with bipolar I think isn't too off base (though the nuances of mania I think could've been written better) HOWEVER if someone has bipolar and is in this kind of environment then yeah, they might be driven to psychosis. After Dukes of Madness I actually read a case study and the guy had extreme symptoms similar to this guy. So it can happen. Earlier I was biased I think by my own experience. I have a friend married to man who is bipolar and he has his shit together. One thing he dislikes about having bipolar is if he tells anyone they might assume he must be crazy or off balance....I felt here the authors portrayed the bipolar in a very extreme way that reinforced that stereotype. But this is an extreme series known for being unpc, so whatever. Also a huge positive in the second book was his friends caring about him and working to make sure he takes his meds. That was sweet to read.

edit: I'm coming back to reword this part to make it seem nicer and less bitter lol :) I understand and respect authors can run their FB groups however they like, but I found it uncool (which is atypical for these authors) to gatekeep their spoiler group. Specifically, readers had to answer questions to join, and one of the questions was about something that happened at 95% in the book. For me, this was disappointing, because I want to know spoilers before starting these books. I know I'm not the only reader like this. It comes across as almost paternalistic towards readers, as if they aren't intelligent enough to make decisions for themselves regarding whether or not they should be spoiled before joining a spoiler group.

Original review:

Okay, I was grumpy when I first wrote this review because I was disappointed in the different writing style the authors used in this book vs. Lords of Pain. To be clear, I expected different characters and a different story. It was the writing style that caused me to dnf. I like these authors and the Lords trilogy was one of my favorites I read last year. I was going to reread this and do a sort of beta read analysis in my review, but I don't want to waste my time doing that. I'm just going to do a quick list of what stood out to me.

1. The writing was bloated, the authors overexplained scenes.

I could tell while reading the authors were really excited and into the story. It was as if they wanted to take time to describe and set-up every single scene in immense detail. They wanted to describe and explain every single nuance and character interaction to make damn sure the reader absolutely knew what was going on. While I'm usually happy to read from authors who are passionate about what they are writing, this comes across as writing down to the reader instead of writing up to the reader. As if the authors don't trust the intelligence of their audience. I think likely the authors were getting their ass kissed during the beta reading process and were just very excited about the story they had to tell and didn't care about how long it was or if scenes were overexplained.

This is very common in contemporary romance, as well. Which is why the tight writing in Lords of Pain stuck out to me as refreshing. Sam Mariano overexplains scenes too ~ Sam Mariano is popular and has a large fanbase that doesn't give a fuck about her using this writing style. So if the authors are wanting to emulate Sam Mariano's writing style and appeal to her fanbase, good for them. It's unreadable to me and I feel like my intelligence is being insulted. I dnf this book early and I'm dnfing the trilogy, to put it in perspective.

An example of overexplaining a scene:

If I was beta reading I would break this down into particulars, as far as copy and pasting paragraphs and highlighting sentences that are unnecessary to the plot and weigh the story down. I'm not going to take the time to do this. However, the first wrestling match scene is a great example. At first it starts off exciting and electric. The author then dampens the suspense and electricity by spending an unreasonable amount of time describing all the Kings. Dude. It was almost a world-building info dump. Readers aren't stupid. The authors could have used a couple words, 1 or 2 sentences, and the readers would've picked up on the tension between the Kings and a couple of the guys. Instead the authors really wanted to hammer in the dynamic going on. I was thinking while reading: 'I get it, can we move on.' This took me out of the story. There were more and more scenes like this as I continued reading.

I would implore, beg the authors, if they do in fact read their reviews, to ask their Alpha or beta readers to look out for scenes that go on for too long, sentences that are repetitive, and this overexplaining of each character interaction, descriptions, inner mono, etc. If the Alpha or beta reader is a fan of Sam Mariano they aren't going to catch this.

Another thing is the dark humour that I enjoyed in the Lords trilogy so much was weighed down and unenjoyable by this bloated writing. The tight writing in Lords of Pain allowed the dark humour to shine.

2. Bad psychology

The characterization of Nick felt weak. This is a guy who is described as 'pretty.' I understand him having a huge crush on Lavinia and expecting her to show gratitude for him 'rescuing' her. But when he desperately declared love to her? That was lame, and came across as if he had *no* experience with girls, no game. I would've thought he would've had more game with girls from his earlier characterization? And idk he was intriguing in the very very beginning. I liked the audacity of him taking care of her on a weekly basis and then planning her rape (god people who don't know this series are going to think I'm sick 😂) then having the care/audacity to leave her with a coke and plan b. That was funny and amusing. I was into it. ...then once they were in the tower I was like, who is this Nick? Declaring love for Lavinia, so quickly? Again, there was no subtlety to the writing, at all. It would have been more interesting to see the way Nick was crushing so hard on Lavinia through his actions and then have his outburst of love later, not this soon (imo).

**I get my criticism of Nick is kinda nitpicky, and likely subjective. Although he did feel way too OTT, there was little nuance or subtlety. The below criticism is what I really thought was the worst when it came to using bad psychology.


I was going to come back and correct this part of the review after I read Dukes of Madness, but got lazy and forgot. Basically, I

I don't remember any of the names of the other guys 😂 But the guy who tattoos? And has weird, delusional dreams? When he starts having delusions and almost jumps off the clock tower because he hasn't taken his medication?

! I don't know what mental disorders the authors thought they were giving that guy, but those were psychotic symptoms people with schizophrenia have. I just got fed up, like, are the authors really giving a guy schizophrenia? And if they aren't, then his symptoms don't make sense. In college I knew of various people who had those symptoms when they 1) Took way too much Ambien and didn't go to sleep 2) Took a strong artificial psychedelic and had a bad trip. This dude didn't take any drugs, he stopped taking his medication, so it's assumed he has some disorder. Unless it's some disorder with strong psychotic symptoms this doesn't make sense. And I've known people with bipolar who went off their medication and they were never that delusional. Suicidal? Sure. But not in a 'I'm having delusions and breaking from reality' way. And if the authors really are giving him schizophrenia or something like schizoaffective disorder that's wild.

The psychology in the Lords trilogy was solid, it's not in this book. The characterization feels so much weaker to me. It's like the authors in this book are going way OTT and not taking time to do research or putting in the same care. Which leads me to another note ~ I heard Angel Lawson say in an interview she and Sam went back and forth on the Lords trilogy for a while? Tinkering with ideas. That time and care stood out to me in Lords of Pain. I could tell the authors wrote this book quickly, after Lords of Mercy.

3. Abuse of mulitple povs

Multiple povs are a given in reverse harem, but the authors quickly switched between the povs wayy too soon and too often. This connects to spoon-feeding readers scenes and overexplaining character interactions. If the authors had spent a bit more time in Lavinia or Nick's pov then the reader would get to see from their perspective what the other guys were doing, the reader would be forced to think for themselves about what was going on in the other character's heads. Well, obviously the authors don't trust their readers and wanted to make sure we knew what they were thinking very quickly in the story.

4. Making the only character of color have an enormously large dick is kinda writing a racist stereotype. I cringed when I read that. I'm assuming the authors and neither their Alpha or beta readers knew this was a racist stereotype? I'm not super upset about it or anything, just...it was cringeworthy.

I'm stopping here. I like these authors, but I had such difficulty reading this book because of the writing style I'm dnfing this entire trilogy. I think no matter what they do with the characters going forward, if they use this bloated wrting style it will be unreadable to me. I'm just praying the authors make an attempt to 'write up' to their readers in the next trilogy by making an effort to not overexplain scenes and being more balanced when switching povs between all the characters.

[vee · Rating 2 out of 5]

lavinias a bad bitch but i kinda miss story & her bitches noww

[mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

“Fucking maniac,” Lavinia mutters. 
I whip around to snap, “Shut the fuck up. He’s not a maniac. He’s the best person in this whole fucked up town.”

well well well😇😇😇 look at me actually liking this book more than i thought i would 🤔 not gonna lie i was so skeptical bc i didnt think anyone would live up with killian but remy🥺 my pure child🥺 my amazing baby🥺 has my whole fucking heart❤️‍🔥 right now😩🥺❤️😻😍

ya ya i love the other characters too👹👹👹 but remy🥰🥰🥰🥰 this man child actually made me cry TWICE thats TWICE TOO MANY for a reverse harem book that looks like it could kill you 😩

the prologue of this book was chef's kiss. i'm not even joking its just so hot and dirty that i feel like a cutslut (what that means idk?? but they keep using this word so i'll use it too).


🙈🙈 THE PLOT 🙈🙈

idk nothing really happened except for vinny counting down to something, what exactly? idk don't ask me... ask her...


😈😈 THE CHARACTERS😈😈

NICK THE CREEPER

“I’m going to fuck you, Lavinia. That’s a given. It’s not something you have control over. But,” keeping my eyes locked on hers, I pull a knife from my pocket, flicking it open, “it’s up to you how it happens. You can make me work for it—I don’t mind that—or you can make me have to hold you down and fuck that nasty attitude right out of you.”

💣 possesive af
💣 said the others only get her bc HE allows it
💣 daddy and mommy of the group
💣 will slap the piss out of you

how i imagined pretty nick:



REMY THE MANIAC

“The longer I wait, the worse it gets here. My dad will come. Sy will turn away. Nick will leave. Lavinia will fade, just like the stars. 
If they aren’t going to come to me, then I’ll just have to go to them.”

✨ is a lil crazy
✨ thinks he's in a dream
✨ will paint (tattoo) on you
✨ a man child
✨ a lil lost
✨ adorable lil baby

how i imagined my remy




SY THE LURKER

“One day, bitches like you are going to realize that a dick like mine is too good for your rancid, used-up cunts.”

🍆 horse cock
🍆 monster cock
🍆 yells a lot
🍆 beast cock
🍆 donkey cock
🍆 funniest guy ever

how i imagined simon




idk how the other books will go but i'm loving it <3 the next book better have remy featured HEAVILY <3

[Wobilba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was extremely dark and fifty shades of fucked up. I don’t think I was supposed to enjoy it but… *shrugs*

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read?

If you think the first three books were dark, then you’re in for a real treat with this one. Even for me, as someone who enjoys dark books, this was dark. Like I genuinely hate one of the guys and the other two aren’t much better.

The grovel better be amazing in the next books, otherwise…

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I admit, the initial trilogy about the Lords was a hate-read for me and I did NOT get why so many people loved it. So I was shocked to find that this book worked much better, and I genuinely enjoyed it.

Lavinia is a much better heroine than Story was. It's easy to root for her, and understand her reasoning in the situations where she doesn't fight back. Sometimes when heroines are "feral" types, it can seem over the top, but Lavinia truly has a reason to be feral. She's that type of heroine in a way that isn’t annoying and feels natural to her life experience — and it makes her personality feel very compatible with these specific guys.

And where all 3 guys were off- putting to me in the first trilogy, in this book, only one of the guys is (Sy). The other two guys, Nick and Remy, are easy to like.

Nick is the highlight. I’m not sure why so many authors think that the most interesting “enemies to lovers” dynamic is one where the hero treats the heroine like dirt. That’s boring. Nick embodies the best version of that trope — which is where the hero does terrible stuff to the heroine, but he’s also disconcertingly loving at times and does care for her in his own unhinged way, which is a mindfuck (both for the heroine and for the reader). That dynamic is SO much more interesting than one where the hero just hates on the heroine, and it instantly won me over to Nick.

The worldbuilding still makes very little sense, with gangs blending into frats blending into “royal” positions where the Royals ARE frats but are also older adult businessmen crime lords. And, guys openly having women as sort of pets, and nobody at this college blinks twice. Even though the College / Academy RH genre has a high threshold for nonsense, and books can still be enjoyable when the worldbuilding is questionable (see: J Bree's Mounts Bay books), I can't stress enough how little sense this all makes. But, there is a BIT more logic in this book than in "Lords of Pain" and more of this world gets fleshed out.

There’s also a real plot. Several mysteries are set up (where Lavinia’s sister is, whether Tate really was murdered and what happened there, what Lavinia keeps counting down to, WHY Nick is being a Duke). So even though this book could have been shorter, the plot is the right amount of busy (not too much going on, but not too little).

This might have been rounded up from 3.5 to 4 stars, but one thing stuck out as a big Nope: Sy is the member of the group who is the angriest and also has a giant dick that’s so large, he can’t even use it — AND he’s also the only man of color. As soon as I realized that, I said “YIKES!” aloud. Do I think these authors leaned into racist stereotypes on purpose? Probably not. But regardless of their intentions, it’s not a good look!

Aside from that Sy factor that left a bad taste in my mouth, overall, where the first trilogy was a hate-read for me, this one will be a genuine read. I'm looking forward to seeing where this is all going.

[nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read 28/02/24: It is not an addiction atp. It is an illness. A sickness.

Re-read 08/12/23: Two words to say. I'm. Obsessed.

Re-read 10/08/23: 4⭐️
You know, for the longest time, I pitied Nick. Here he was, trying to get Lav to love him back but she just wouldn't budge. I wanted to shake her and tell her GIRL GO GET YOUR MAN YOU AIN'T GONNA FIND ANYONE BETTER. That is, until Nicky fucked it up. The first time I read this, I was SO mad. I wanted to throttle Pretty Nick. But now that I know that he suffers in the second book? It's slightly better. Also, I adored Remy in this book as well. That just makes it harder for me to read DoM because I know it's gonna hurt like a bitch. If I would have hated Remy from the beginning, his actions at the end of book 2 wouldn't have impacted me that much. But it is what is ig. I don't think I could ever forgive him...no matter how badly I want to. As for Sy...the irony that I absolutely hated this dipshit and he ends up being my fav Duke in the end *le sigh*. Tbh, I was having second thoughts about re-reading DoM because it really is painful but fuck it, I'm committed to this shit even though I'll never understand how I end up loving these men even after the fucked up shit they do. It's baffling. Onto the fuckfest that is DoM we go!!!

Edit: I just realised that I didn't leave a review for this masterpiece of a book. So here it is lmao.

I'M GONNA BITCH SLAP NICK FOR THE SHIT HE PULLED AT THE END. THE FUCKING CUNT HAD THE AUDACITY TO DO THAT I -
Srsly tho he better redeem himself in the next book or imma throw hands. Sy as well for slut shaming Vinny. Remy's okay. Mentally and emotionally unstable tho - just like me🤪😙✌🏻 Vinny as usual was her badass bitchy self. I love her mwah😮‍💨😍

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, since the first trilogy was a complete and finished tale, I didn't really have any attention to continue reading the series, but my curiosity won, and I gave it a try. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even come close to the first three books. Male characters were just recycled from the first series, but paler versions of them, and a lot less interesting, and the female character is nowhere close to Story, weaker in every sense of the word.
No actual plot, slow pace, and boring main characters (though Remy has potential). 2 stars just for the writing style and a few unresolved mysteries that could lead me to pick up a sequel.

[Mildred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whole lotta rape with a side of racism.

I loved the first three books. They rode a hard edge of questionable consent. This one has nearly zero consent.

There be spoilers ahead of why I don't like this book.


These issues are in no particular order.

I have layers of issues with this book. The top issue is consent. The Lords book rode a hard edge of consent but managed to make it work. This book does not. There is never any level of consent given. The first chapter is straight rape - fighting, screaming, using a weapon to defend herself rape. Another rape occurs when Lavinia has sleep paralysis. There is constant physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

My next issue is the way other women treat Lavinia. Not a single one of them thinks that the human trafficking and sexual abuse she is experiencing is wrong.

Mrs. Crane makes the argument that Lavinia could have it worse. This is a particularly appalling form of sexism that women keep reinforcing. We have levels of sexual abuse. If we express our displeasure at being cat-called we're often told "Oh, it could have been worse. At least they didn't try to touch you". But then when we are touched inappropriately we're told "Oh, it could have been worse. They could have tried to get into your clothes." It goes up and up and up into places like "You were gang-raped, are pregnant, and can't get an abortion? It could have been worse - they might have killed you". One of the women who enables the continued sexual abuse of Lavinia is a therapist - a state-mandated reporter AND the mother of two of the abusers. Leticia, Lavinia's older sister, decided she didn't want the life her father planned out for her so she takes off. She leaves Lavinia to live the life she doesn't want. Like, I GET that women can suck and some sisters are just assholes but COME ON. Not one good woman in the book to help Lavinia?

Mrs. Crane worked in the Lords books. She was in a shit situation and she actively helped Story. Not in this Dukes book. She is happy to get rid of Lavinia.

Once I had finished this book I read the reviews with spoilers and one of those reviews pointed out the racism. I'm horrified with myself for not having noticed it. Simon, Sy, is a biracial man with huge dick and rage issues that he barely controls. Yeap. It's the racist stereotype that people of color are unable to regulate their emotions to the standards of Western Europe AND that they are hung like a donkey. How the hell did neither of the authors, none of the editors, or even a single beta reader not notice this and point it out?

Now for the actual writing itself. This book needed to be written from an outline. The pace isn't balanced. A big fight is hyped all the hell up in the book and we never see it. There is a detailed description of a potluck that briefly happens.

Foreshadowing is more like being hit with a two-by-four. Wow, Leticia and Tate are lovers and we'll find that out when Lavinia shows Remy the blurry photo of Tate's tattoo? (here ends the sarcasm)

Will I read the next book? Yes, but only to see if the authors can fix this dumpster fire. If they can't? Peace out.

[Aplis · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of a 4.5 than 4.

And I thought the Lords were bad. They've got nothing on the Dukes!

This one is so much more darker. Nick was plain delusional in most of the scenes. I was almost like "Wasn't this the somewhat normal guy in the previous series?". He got me wanting to roll my eyes whenever he started his "she's mine!!!'' tirade. Sy got me pissed over his "all women are whores" talk. But a lot of his anger made sense with the way his experiences shaped him. He even got me laughing whenever he got frustrated with Lavinia's presence! Remy was definitely atypical. At times he gave me very mild Rath vibes when his out-of-nowhere cocky attitude came out to play. But then he would say or do something random and I'd be like "huh?". His PoVs got me feeling mostly confused. Lavinia was great. It's funny because her interaction with Story made me look down at Story! I guess seeing their world through Lavinia's eyes made a lot more sense based on what's right and wrong.

Can't wait to find out how the story continues!

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Trigger warnings. All still apply from the first trilogy. Child abuse, rape, assault. Anything dealing with gang activity. I usually don't spoil any books on here, but I will say this and not sensor my review: the only pentrative sex scenes portrayed in this book is rape, so understand this before going in.

Buddy read with my book bestie NENIA! We made it my friend. It only took a month to get through lmao. You know, life. ;D

But on to the review. I don't like Simon. I don't like Nick. I LOVE Remy. I tolerate Lavinia. Point blank. Period.

Simon: has a big dick and he can not lie. His character development? No one wants to have sex with him because he has a big dick, and apparently all women are whores because when they see his big "donkey dick" or "freak of a cock" they run away and scream FREAK! MONSTER! .....yup, thats it.

Nick: delusion and is the un developed, not likable version of Joe from YOU. He wants to get on Joe's stalker level, but skipped the rational and went straight to "she will love me." Not impressed with him. Actually me and Nenia hate him. #FuckNickBruin Whenever he came into any scene Nick fought with Lavinia. He is a delusional child who's trying to be a man....he failed.

Lavinia: I feel for this girl so much. Her introduction into this universe was when she was under Nick's watch (read books 1-3), and then her intro in this next trilogy started and ended the same way. This is where I was disappointed. This series has always been about angst and fucked up-ery, but Lavinias character development was lacking. The majority of her scenes? In the clock tower....that would be ok if the other characters had more development their own selves. Her sexual scenes? Forced other than one scene. (and that scene was hot af, but guess what, it wasn't the one of two penetrative sex scenes in the book (refer to trigger warning up above)). But her life was horrible. Her actions and mindset makes sense with her background. The other characters get a basic background run through, but Lavinia's background is just heartbreaking.

Remy: I LOVE THIS MAN. I understand him. He's crazy, but I feel for him. He understands Lavinia and she understands him. They should be together. Fuck Nick, and make Remy the main male character. The most character development in this book goes to Remington! The author took the time to write his character very thoughtfully because of his mental state. Which I love! but I wish the others had this as well. You know, development.

Plot: basic. Not as dark as I thought it'd be. Pretty basic with some ongoing abuse thrown in there.

Writing style: basic. Other than Remy. Love him.

Overall, I loved the Lord trilogy so much better than this book one of the Dukes trilogy. Im giving this a 2.5-3. ONLY because I needed to read the next book to ease my fucking stress after this book ended. Oh btw, MAJOR cliff hanger and you will be stressed tf out like me and Nenia was.


*Before reading comment*
Buddy read with my girl Nenia!! I’m soooooo ready for the fucked up ness that this will provide

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly don't know what to put here, and I don't really want to say too much cause you just have to experience this book and this universe for yourself. If you are new here, you need to read books 1-3 first. While the authors are keeping all the books together as one full series, each Frat will have a trilogy. So the first three books are the Lords story. Starting with this book and the two that will follow it will be the Dukes story. And so forth with each Frat.

This follows Lavinia, Remy, Nick and Simon (Sy). If you've read the first 3 books you will experience the same savage intensity and shocking moments that will leave you saying 'WTF did I just read'.

Like I said, I'm going to stay on the vague side, but things I really loved... Lavinia is kick ass, right off the jump, she's scrappy and a survivor. I love that. She gives the boys all the sass, attitude and fight I wished Story had given in the beginning of her books. The boys are all wildly different. Sy is the fighter (literally) who hates pretty much everyone, Nick is the leader (who is insanely obsessed with Lavinia), and Remy is quite literally just EVERYTHING. When I tell you this man is just... Gah! Instantly was moved into the small book husband group I have. He has mental heath issues and he's an artist. The way he sees things and speaks just makes my soul sing. I connected with his immediately.

This somehow is lighter and darker than the Lords trilogy. I feel like this group of characters is more humorous. So more funny scenes and situations happen. But oooooo boy. There is darkness. Angel and Samantha have such a talent for writing dub-con and non-con to where the line between the two is so thin you don't know how to feel.

I can't not believe I'm going to say this, cause until I read this Lords trilogy was my favorite reverse harem. But, and its only book one for the Dukes, but I think I'm going to like this series more. You NEED to read this!

[Miftahul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

I need my heroines to be strong when it comes to dark romance books and Lavinia fought back! Her strength and determination to not let the guys control her made the book so much intresting, i liked it more than Lords of pain cuz this heroine fights back. I thought the guys in Lords of pain are crazy but dude Remy, Sy and Nick are fucking maniacs and i loved it. The plot line of this story was very interesting and the suspense about Tate’s death kept me hooked. I don’t usually like books where the guys are (i dont know how to describe them) anti heroes? But again that term is too light for them. Like they are very dark characters, but as i was saying, i dont like guys like Nick, Killian, Remy, Rath, Tristian, Sy etc unless the heroine is strong enough to fight back and since Lavinia was a badass and the plot was interesting, i kept reading and enjoyed it even though i cringed every time they called themselves the “duke” or “duchess” basically a bunch of frat boys playing royalty.

[Seikai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining reverse harem read! I'm all for that disturbing dark smut found in this series, and found myself liking elements of this book even more than the Lords of Pain trilogy.

This book follows the story of Lavinia, who through some convoluted politics I didn't quite follow (I didn't read the third book of Lords of Pain) ends up belonging to the Dukes - Nick, Sy, and Remy. Just like with the first series, the setting of this world is pretty OTT and crazy. Suspension of disbelief is necessary. Don't ask me why these college kids are having weird frat clubs and going to school while literally performing weapons deals, drug deals, and human sex slave trade. It feels all the more ridiculous in this novel when the characters are acting like they're in the mafia, performing shootouts, but are forced to attend college for good grades. But I digress.

Our heroine, Lavinia:
A more angry and violent heroine than Story (previous heroine). She tends to wear her heart on her sleeve and doesn't think of herself as a mastermind the way Story did. Poor girl had to deal with the bullshit of the three assholes that kidnapped her and raped / sexually assaulted her, and is expected to do so with a smile by literally every single person she talks to. Girl should get more credit than she does when she literally deals with three crazed big dick monsters in horror movie style scenes 😱.
I freeze as they turn to me. The Dukes look menacing enough when they’re wearing jeans and suits and hoodies, but like this? Naked from head to toe, inked and rippling, a study in contrasts? It sends a ripple of panic up my spine. Dealing with one of them is intimidating enough. The sight of their three cocks dangling—each of them twitching to life under my paralyzed scrutiny—is basically like being held at dickpoint.

Guys, I was DYING at this 😂😂. Imagine this, but with 3 big dicks twitching and pointing at our poor, poor heroine. Give her some credit for not running and screaming for the hills!
As a heroine, I liked Lavinia more than Story - while Story tried to sound dark and scheming (but honestly got caught in her revenge pretty fast), Lavinia is much more up front on her deals with the Dukes. They know she hates them, but still choose to negotiate with her. I did love those moments where Lavinia managed to shock even the Dukes with her bloodthirsty-ness.
Lavinia, who’s been standing by the door and making herself as invisible as possible, shuffles forward, shooting me a wary look before she bends down and slides two fingers into her boot. She emerges with a knife. Cagily, she edges around us, avoiding our stunned stares as she gently places it in the safe. Nick and Remy look at each other, then at me, and the question is written on all our faces. Where the fuck did this bitch get a knife?
My girl literally pulling a knife magically from nowhere 😂.

Nick (primary H):
This crazy ass maniac makes this novel. Best guy in the harem 🥰. Nick fell in love at first kick from Lavinia, after he mocked her for crying and she smashed his face with her boot.

Ever since then he became an obsessive simp for Lavinia. He literally bartered to give her anything she wanted in exchange for a kiss. This is the same guy that was ok with just raping her and jacking off on her face when he was her prison guard (romance goals, amirite ladies 😍). The way Nick's mind works is a mystery indeed 🤔. Unfortunately for Nick, because his brain does not function like a normal human being, he ends up doing things that traumatize Lavinia and make her relive her abusive childhood 💀. Lavinia literally be screaming her head off in the elevator next to his room like:

And Nick be like:

Nick was, on the other hand, the most OTT jealous possessive man in a reverse harem I've ever read about. He literally kills people at the drop of the hat when they insult Lavinia or flirt with her, and he gets mad as hell when other men kiss her (even the other of the harem guys he's supposed to share her with). I don't even know why the dude bothers to share her, because everything about him screams monogamy.
Regardless, Nick was my favorite creep in this book, and you have to admit it's charming the way he hides in trees while staring at Lavinia 💕.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I don’t need a device to know that Nick is nearby, keeping tabs. Story notices my discomfort, following my gaze to where Nick is creeping on us from a cluster of trees in the distance.

The book does end on a cliffhanger about something bad he did, so he better have significant grovel, but he's still my favorite.

Remy (H #2):
This guy literally cray cray. For the most part, he was probably the most harmless out of the three. Out of the three, he honestly felt the most manwhore-ish and skeevy. He wasn't really my type - not relating to his disability but more having to do with how he kept drawing on other women's bodies and not getting jealous at all over Lavinia. Heck, even angry boi Sy gets jealous over her, although he takes the mad hulk smash route of taking it out on her. I do like the way Lavinia deals with him though - I thought the star she got tattooed that he uses to ground himself and determine what is reality or isn't was quite cute and romantic.

Sy (H #3):
Sy is probably the angriest boi to angry I've seen in a romance novel. This dude is basically an incel if incels had the opposite problem of not getting laid due to having donkey dicks 👀. This guy's entire personality is basically being enraged 24/7 because Lavinia makes his giant eggplant hard all the time, and he hates being horny for her. He has lovely personality traits such as believing that all women are "whores" that won't put out because his dick is too big and that makes him mad. This guy was too much of an asshole for me. There were some cute moments like when Lavinia made the truce with him before his fighting match, where he stayed quiet due to his ritual. But most of the time he was just a raging asshole who kept being like, "RAWR MY PP HARD BECAUSE OF LAVINIA, I HATE HER" which got old. Based on the ending of this book, I'm hopeful he'll be better in book 2. We'll see. It might be a turning point for him to become husband material.

Safety:
* Heroine NOT a virgin, which was a bit of a plot point. Not hugely experienced either though.
* All the heroes are not virgins except one of them, who was unable to do the deed due to his huge dick size.
* No cheating
* OM drama: Not a lot. Heroine is supposed to be given away for marriage to OM, but the heroes definitely aren't gonna let that happen.
* OW drama: Not a lot. At first it looks like Tate was OW for all three guys, but it turns out it's all platonic and she's a lesbian. With Sy, he prefers Verity to be the duchess, but only because he's not attracted to her. For Remy, he draws on some OW, but doesn't sleep with them after he met heroine.
* Rape and non-con

[⊹ ࣪ ˖ tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

- 3.5 stars
no quote here this time bc i didn’t have time to look through and find one before i sprinted to the next book (will be adding one at some point though. maybe. if i remember). when i tell you medical grade CRACK is in these.

i also need to mention Sy because my brain won’t let me just ignore the fact that his trauma and misogyny stems from having a horse cock. like i really can’t let that go

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obsessed

Obsessed would the word to describe the sentiment this book evokes, whether Nick Bruin's obsessive love, Sy Perilini's desire to win but similarly his unspoken desire to fit (pun intended); Remy Maddox's artistry and sanity; and Lavinia Lucia's need for control mixed with secrets.

Lavinia finds herself won by the Dukes, essentially a captive Duchess in this why-choose love story but tainted agendas, distrust, and obscured truths shaped their relationships.

Subplots of tension, intrigue, and steam created parallels integrated into a storyline of vibrance and depth that kept me engaged despite the book's slower pace. Additionally, character development was exception, especially depicting the gradual and suspenseful peeling away of their back histories. I was transfixed! Lavinia, strong, defiant and insecure, was a force of reckoning against an arrogant, sometimes indulgent (for a price) Nick and indignant and repressed Sy. Remy, an accomplished artist, who, even with his mental disassociation, was grounded by and seemed to have the greatest accord with Lavinia. The complexity of their rapport wrapped in tension created some explosive chemistry. This story was spicy! It also contained some juicy dark themes, from the first scene.

Words fail to describe how much I loved this story, much more complex than the first trilogy, and rich in characterization, both main and side, and world building. I was able to feel their experiences and visualize this corrupt society almost as if words did not appear on paper. Excellent! Book 2 can't arrive soon enough.

[Kirstie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Abstract ♥ Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL MY REVIEWS CAN BE FOUND ON MY BLOG: ABSTRACT BOOKS



Star Rating : 4.5/5 Stars

POV : Multiple

Cliffhanger : Yes

Hero : Nick , Remy , Simon

Heroine : Lavinia

Pace of the story : Moderate

Angst Rating : 5/10

Heat Rating : 6/10

Triggers Involved : Non con (by the heroes) , Physical violence and other triggers too (*to be updated after release)

Plot Summary :
Lavinia has never had an easy life. She has been caged from her childhood and now her past two years have been stolen again. That is until a bunch of monsters destroy her again. They say they are saving her but she knows that she is only trading one prison for another. She knows they want to own her. In their heads they already do. Her life has been full of torture but If there is one thing that helped her survive, is her strength. She will wait. She will observe. She will endure. And when they are not observing anymore, she'll strike.

Nick, Simon and Remy are the dukes. Now all they need is a Duchess. Simon and Remy know Lavinia for what she is, a time pass. They don't know about Nick's Obsession with her. They don't know what he plans to do with her. All they know is that they have a very stubborn and reluctant Duchess at their hands. One who will destroy them and tear them apart if they let her. But that is the thing about the dukes. They all are sick in the head. Some more than the others and Lavinia is the sole target of their hate. There is no saving her. No happy ending for her. They will make sure of it.

Overall Opinion :
Omg. I always thought that if a book has too many triggers, then it often becomes tough for the authors to tackle it in such a way that each and every one of it is justified or maybe avenged. Very rare authors are able to do that and they often leave the reader feeling dissatisfied. That was the same case when I heard about the Lord's trilogy by these authors. I knew that it was very very dark and triggering which is why I was reluctant to read it. I knew there was a chance I would not like it. But that was not the case. These two authors surprised me in the biggest ways when they managed to do the one thing that I have seen a handful of authors doing. They made a book full of triggers, so many triggers that you will have to skip some scenes and they managed to turn the story in a way that it was a satisfying happy ending! Which is why I was pretty crazy for the Dukes trilogy. I jumped into this one as soon as I got my ARC.

First of all I would like to thank the authors for giving us a reprieve with the cliffhanger lmao. They made it easy for me to wait because had they stopped the book a couple of chapters before they actually did, I would have gone crazy!!! The cliffhanger of this book is sort of bearable in its own way so feel free to read this one without having Anxiety issues for the wait of the next book.

The dukes first book is very dark. I won't sugarcoat it. It has highly defined scenes of non con and so much more. I would just like to punch Nick in the balls maybe a million times or so? I don't know lol, I hope he pays because I am really pissed off. Our girl gave as good as she got and it was fun seeing someone the dukes underestimated, ruining them. I can tell that their actual ruin is yet to come. I can't wait for the next book!! The ending of this book was so harsh. My heart broke for Lavinia. She deserves so much more. Better than her family. Better than the dukes. I hope she gets it all. She is pretty amazing.

This book was a ride of its own. I remember breaking down, I remember being angry at the dukes so much! I knew that they will be asses in this book but omg, they really need a good beating. Definitely recommending this series to all the reverse harem loving people out there. I won't say that this book is a bully romance, it's more of an enemy to lovers' captive romance with a very stubborn captive lmao. As I said above too, it has lots of triggers! Like non con, physical violence and so much More. Please visit the author's website to see those triggers, I think they do have a full list there.

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[↬ Ⓛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ungrateful bitch lucia don’t deserve my man, Nick. That’s all I have cum and wanted to say, lol.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶️

Ohhhhh shit!

[Krystal- Celestialbookdragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a day since I finished this book and still, the first thought that came to my head when I sat down to write this was "how the heck am I gonna write a review about this book?". First things first, there's no possible way for me to talk about the lords trilogy in relation to this because everything about the dukes is SO DIFFERENT that not a single thing about the characters or the story is comparable. Second of all, nothing about this story was straightforward lol. Even though I was reading it from everyone's POVs it still felt like I was reading an acid trip at times because of how differently everyone thinks and what's going on. Each one of these characters has something that makes them act and process things differently from "normal" people such as PTSD from child abuse, a personality that's so obsessive it makes them delusional, severe body dysmorphia, or mental illness but it added so much depth and complexity not only to the story but to each character. With characters like this it's no surprise that the story is very dark, definitely check the trigger warning because none of them are done in halves.

This trilogy is also filled with SO MANY SECRETS! There were secrets with the lords but the readers were aware of most of them and so the story was pretty clear. Here everyone has their own secrets and we don't start learning about any of them in depth until about halfway through. This added to the Alice in Wonderland vibes of the book because even though we are seeing the story from each POV it feels like we're still on the outside looking in due to the lack of information we had about everything. Once these secrets began to come out though, BAM plot twist, BAM putting pieces together, BAM head explosion! There were so many times I got full body chills from a reveal that put another piece of the puzzle into place and completely changed how I saw everything. It's one of those books where I already know that every time I reread it I'm going to pick up something new that I didn't catch the first time.

I'm excited for what's to come because towards the end we got to see some character development for several of the guys and I'm looking forward to seeing who they become from here. My favorite part of this whole book was Remy and the star, my heart melted every time it popped up. I'm looking forward to Lavinia's reunion with Remy and also her kicking Nick's butt after what he did because homeboy needs a solid hit to the head tbh. Long story short, this book is nothing like the lords, and I mean that in the best way. They might take place at the same university but it truly feels like a whole new setting and I can't wait to see where these authors take us next!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of repeated stuff when compared to Cherry (book 1 to book 3 female lead story).

[Vellini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm impressed by the fact that I DNFed the first trilogy (now I'm thinking of returning to it) and loved this one. But I hate Nick, what a bastard! I really hope Lavinia will make him pay!

[daemyra, the realm's delight]

DNF for now.

[Lynnzie (lynnziebooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not surprised by my obsession with this book. I absolutely loved the Lords series, but I think the Dukes may end up being my favorite. I’m already loving the characters, Remy is my number one but probably after Lavinia because she deserves the most love. I will say, I think the Dukes book is already darker than the Lords. Especially if we compare book one to book one, but I’m not mad at it.

I don’t want to compare the two series too much because they are distinctly different. I was a little nervous that it would be very similar but this feels like a whole new group and story that you could read it without reading the Lords books first and be fine. I was so upset when I finished this book because I wanted more ASAP. I needed just a few more scenes after that ending but I’m so excited for the next book because I know we’ll get what I do desperately want.

[CB-13's Book Blog!!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started with a shock and ended with a shock but the middle was kinda blasé. Will definitely read the next book but I feel like her connection with the Dukes was not really prevalent or evolving like how Story's did with her Lords. Because of this, I cant really see why Lavinia would ever pick them. Nick is the worse, I don't know how Lavinia is ever going to be able to trust him. I know the lords did some pretty bad things to Story but I think that what Nick did to Lavinia is worse. On a side note, because he seemed to have grown up in a happy home I don't understand why he is so poorly adjusted and shit at relationships. I hope Lavinia gives them all what they deserve in the next book!