Indulgent

The Cult of Serendee #3

by Angel Lawson

No one makes the decision to join a cult. Especially not the people raised in one .

I've spent my life under the control of one man, the leader of Serendee.
What I eat. How I dress. When I sleep.
I thought he knew best-that only he could lead me to Enlightenment. But after I learn about the truth of Serendee, what lies beneath the perfect surface, I see him for who he really is, a monster.

He's taken away my Rex, Levi, Elon, and Silas.
He's forced me into Re-education.
And now his real desire has been exposed: He expects me to be his new mate.

Indulgent, is the third book in the Cult of Serendee, a dark, reverse harem, cult romance by Angel Lawson.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, Why Choose, Cult Classics, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2023

Reviews

[Jessica ❥Chatterbooks Book Blog❥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[BookishByPayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

so disappointed!

I have loved this series since the beginning! I fell in love with the cult romance aspect and even thought the author did an amazing job with the first book! I was truly blown away. Now, being so invested, I was super excited to finally have the conclusion! So dissatisfied with how they chose to handle this last book. It didn’t feel like closure at all and im honestly still so sad over the fact that this started so strong but ended the way it did.

I would have preferred a further delay with the book. It felt rushed and poorly wrapped up. I’m not usually so harsh with books, especially from authors I adore but im just so sad.

I would still read it but the other books by this author are literally reread monthly by me and I just don’t think this series will be included in that.

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

My star rating is based on vibes. I’ve loved this story since I first picked up book one when I was released. I absolutely loved the characters and have been itching for more.

I actually liked the ending for the most part. It may feel anticlimactic to some but for me it makes sense. Annex doesn’t deserve a giant conclusion, he deserves to suffer and be forgotten.

I will say some parts felt rushed for me which was unfortunate but with the length of each book I’m not surprised by it. I do wish some of my questions were answered but overall I really enjoyed the book and kept finding myself unable to put it down.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I am not satisfied with that ending. Anex should have suffered by their hands. Sure, it’s realistic maybe but couldn’t we have some revenge? That mostly brought down the rating because it was all leading up to that anticlimactic, rushed ending?

The development between her and the guys and their transition was well done as always.
Though we FINALLY get a MM scene (and with one of the guys I didn’t see coming) but it’s completely forgotten afterwards. Like, let’s circle back to that.

Also, what about Imogene’s dad?

[DettaDrake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book but the ending was a bit too easy

Firstly, this book could’ve used another round of editing. There are quite some errors, mistakes and weirdly placed commas that take you out of the reading flow a bit. If I didn’t love the story this much, I would’ve probably quit reading.

The story is engaging, and I loved it up until like 75% in? At that point, it just became a bit too convenient, too easy. I would’ve liked a longer book with a better worked out ending, more suspense and closure.

All in all, I loved the series but the ending could’ve been better.

[amarachireads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this I this conclusion to this series. I thought it wrapping things up pretty well and gave closure to our group. I did think that some parts about them escaping the cult was rush but overall It was okay. I don’t know how often they cults get dismantled and caught in real life so I will be researching that in my free time.

[echo1440 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank goodness it’s over.

First and foremost, this book couldn’t have possibly been seen by beta or ARC readers, let alone a professional editor. The author switched from saying “domum” for the first two books to “donum” in this book. There were typos and word use errors galore. The TITLE PAGE has a massive error on it. The story didn’t even make sense. The entire thing could have been avoided by the banished going to the cops immediately. They have PROOF of drug distribution and sex trafficking! Usually I can easily suspend my disbelief but I just couldn’t do it anymore by this book.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfying but a bit anticlimactic

I was very excited to finally read the conclusion of the Serendee trilogy! It seemed to all happen very quickly in the end. I think if I’d reread the first two books, this would have felt like it had more momentum. We certainly got a HEA, but I felt like the last half was very…abrupt. I liked the analysis of cult-like behaviour and the confusion they all felt as they tried to rewrite their minds. Definitely worth the read.

[TSayers · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were moments it felt like it was written by an AI with pattern recognition but no continuity capabilities.

There’s a gay scene thrown in there with none of the characters known traits and feels incredibly forced and doesn’t fit. It has an underlying thought of “a romance that’s always been there” but in both of the other two books that’s just not there in the writing. There are statements later in the book that make it seem like that scene never took place, reinforcing my thought that it was forced. It added nothing to the story whatsoever to be forced in. The boys had their own bond without it 🤷🏽‍♀️

Multiple times pov’s accidentally changed in the middle of paragraph where one person knew something that only another person was present to learn - but it’s treated like the first person was the one that was there.

There’s a moment where Imogene is said to be “one of the closest and most trusted by Anex” but again, just not true in any of the previous chapters or books. Also forced just to get the necessary evidence. No previous mention of this secret spot even tho in the previous book she was in the room where it was hidden, looking for paperwork. She could have come into a secret place to find a tape about her mother instead???? Or brought Rex to find truth about his mom???? This made NO sense in light of everything else.

Honestly - I’m just glad I’m done.

Oh. And yet again. Where was the editor for this book? Grammar errors were extremely distracting yet again. Not as bad as the first book. Almost as bad as the second. Better but still bad.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the book but I was expecting to love the book.

I’ve been so excited for this release. The beginning was great, however, it all started to go slightly downhill after what happened at the equinox. Before that part I was loving where the story was going and I felt like there was so much potential to really have fun with it and go into detail about how far Annex was willing to go, but after that I feel like it was all quite rushed. I personally feel like there should’ve been deeper insight into what they were all experiencing - for example, with Silas we didn’t really get much explanation other than he spent those weeks away running a brothel. Elon had some fights, Rex was locked up and Levi… for the life of me I can’t remember what he was doing during those weeks he spent banished. With Imogen we didn’t get hardly any insight into what life was like living in the childcare centre or even just her day to day life going through reeducation. I did get a little bit bored reading some parts, I felt like maybe Imogene could’ve built up enough courage to stand up for herself for once rather than just go along with everything without a fight like always.

I honestly love this authors work. The first two books to this series were amazing. Her other series are brilliant I always enjoy them. Overall, I guess I’m just trying to say that this book could’ve been so amazing, so detailed and fun and eye opening to the reality of leaving a cult and experiencing the real world for the first time, but we don’t really get to see much of that at all. It wasn’t surprising, there weren’t any twists or shocks, I could just sort of guess quite easily where the next part was leading to and that was a little disappointing I won’t lie.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third and final book in The Cult of Serendee series by Angel Lawson. I actually stumbled on this series because I’ve read her Forsyth U series and these covers were stunning. And when I read the synopsis, cult dark romance, I thought it was very different from anything I’ve read so why not. I was not disappointed.

This book covers cult dynamics and the psychology behind them. I found it fascinating to read about from a fictional lense.

My only criticisms of the books were some of the abrupt shifts in character dynamics but I think it’s likely due to the length or pacing of the book. I will almost never say a book is too fast 😂 but this series may have need a bit more relationship development and then it would have been amazing. And then 1 or two editing errors.

This is a why choose (MMFMM). Very dark and very kinky so check your TWs friends!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

Tropes: why-choose, enemies to lovers, cult, bd$m, 🩸 play, 🔪 play
TW: SA, trafficking, dub/non con, mention of pregnancy, violence, self harm

[Olivia ❦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

★3/5! well… that was definitely something, i don’t know how to feel. that’s a lie im a bit disappointed, the ending just was not what I really wanted to happen. I’m happy Imogene and her men got the happy ending they deserved though! the first and second book were just so good, i had high expectations for this so maybe that’s my problem. overall still a quick and easy trilogy!

BIG SPOILER for why I didn’t like the ending ⭣

i’m sorry i don’t care what people say but the ending with them basically having a child (rexs sister) im so mad. I WANTED THEM TO LIVE AND EXPLORE, GET AWAY AND SEE WHAT THE WORLD IS LIKE OUTSIDE THE CULT! i wish they gave the sister to Imogenes mother, they ALL needed to grow more and figure out what they wanted in life.

ALSO WHY IS ANEX STILL ALIVE? life in prisoner? not good enough that man deserved a slow painful death

[Mary Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always hate writing reviews like this, especially when I love the series and author as much as I do here. This was my first cult read and I was sucked in from the beginning. The dynamic between the friends and how strong Imogene is.

This book was the final in the series and I was honestly very disappointed. Nothing really happened, or what did happen was anticlimactic. So much more could have happened with their escape and running from Anex. Also, the development of their relationship now that they are out. A lot of the ending was also in Imogene’s perspective and I would have liked to see more of how the guys were dealing with the outside.

Overall I love this author and will keep reading her books. I also recommend this book if you’ve read the others in the series, it does give you closure.

[Tay Soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a mind fuck. Anex was the ultimate antagonist, pure evil, absolutely revolting, discgustibg piece of trash human.

Plot seemed impossible to get better and was not the brutal murderous revenge ending I wanted but I guess justice was served… was actually quite realistic.

Also-Felt like the MM seen was random and forced just to have a scene like that included…

Elon was my fav

Wouldn’t read again but was addicting and I had to know how their story ended. I don’t think I’ve read a book this fast in a while. Rage reading will do that to you I guess?

[Clarice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great end to an original story

Great end to this trilogy! Usually the third book in a trilogy is meh, but this one did not disappoint. All the guys got equal screen/page time with the FMC. The ending was anticlimactic, but made sense. Heads up there is a mm scene in this book, it doesn’t take up a lot of page time and it makes sense in terms of the plot and characters. I know some people don’t like mm so I thought I’d mention it.

[LeiT · Rating 2 out of 5]

ummm I don’t even know





I don’t how I feel about the ending but I’m guessing I’m not the only thinking the same thing. We didn’t really get to see much about what happened to Timothy. The ending was definitely rushed and after reading the first two book this last one felt lacking. I do have to say that we get a bit of m/m which at this point I feel like they add just cause because it was completely out of nowhere. Still don’t understand the point so again confused. Also I feel like there was lacking in relationship growth. This book mainly focused on two guys with the MC and the other two were just there. By the midway point I just wanted to end so I’m glad that I at least finished.

[Sara L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a nice wrap up to this series. For a moment, I wasn’t sure it would wrap up in this book. There were definitely some brutal moments in this book. My one complaint is that the characters spent too much time apart. They were all suffering separately, so there wasn’t as much romance.

[Stephanie Kemler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yup. Did it again, baybee. This author is a MASTER of why choose. I was actually stalling reading this last book AND IT’S ROMANCE for heavens sake. We all know they’re gonna be ok! But Lawson is great at suspense and great at having real stakes. Bravo.

[Lou ( taylor’s version ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je suis contente d’avoir fini la série toutefois c’était pas la meilleure dark que je lu.
Le principe du culte et tout ce qui entoure cet univers est vraiment très intéressant et assez bien construit. J’ai vraiment eu envie de mettre des claques à l’autre con.
Cependant j’ai trouvé l’héroïne assez nunuche par moment. Je conçois totalement que j’ai pas vécu son histoire mais avait t elle besoin d’être aussi quiche ??
Bref je l’ai plus lu pour finir la trilogie que par réelle envie de lire ce livre.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final installment of this cult romance (seriously why isn’t this a trope?) had me staying up til 4am to finish because of how invested I was. But I have complaints such as 1) I waited 3 whole books to get a piv sex scene with one of the guys and it was a shared scene? It was so anticlimactic and I’m like did she just FORGET about him? 2) The epilogue left me feeling shortchanged. How are they living post cult? I don’t really know. And that pisses me off.

Contents include impact play, exhibitionism, knife play, dvp, and some mm oral.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Multiple 1st

[Optimisticbooknerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️

I enjoyed the series but the ending was disappointing. I'm glad I finished the series though

[katrina french · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

I absolutely loved this series. Make sure to read trigger warnings as this series is not for everyone. Definitely enjoyed it

[Inna · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much of this plot recycled from Princes trilogy: abusive manipulating father figure who whores out and puts on drugs one of his “sons” , sons who don’t know how to survive outside the orbit of father and etc. I read Princes trilogy first so had to skip through second part of this book. It became boring

[Werp]

F*ck off, this has MM. I didn't know and I don't read books that have it. Returned! Dear author if you plan to have MM in your RH books let people know, so that people that don't like it may back out of reading your books. Thank you!

[Julia Burkhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I liked the story of the the first two books. The ending was kind of boring. The MM scene was weirdly thrown in without any character backing. And the editing issues really threw me off.

[Cassie's Comment · Rating 4 out of 5]

By: Angel Lawson

Book One

CHARACTERS

Imogen - fmc - conditioned & brainwashed, at first

Rex - mmc - son of Anex - heir to Serendee - rule breaker

Levi - mmc - inner circle - Rex best friend - the most in tuned with "The Way" and the rules

Silas - mmc - inner circle - Rex best friend

Elon - mmc - inner circle - Rex best friend

Anex - The "ruler" of Serendee - manipulating - highly intelligent - not as good of a guy that he portrays to his followers

It starts out that Imogen runs into Rex one night. He's a bit cold to her, but had lost his mom a week previous and needed space. They have a small bond over the fact that Imogen had also lost her mom, though not dead, she ran away and out of her life.

Skip to 6 years later...
Imogen and eight other girl are awaiting their "order" or their "match." Imogen's order turns out to be Rex. He personally picked her, but for selfish reasons. He also does not want much to do with her. Anex, Rex's dad and leader of Serendee, proposes Rex's 3 friends to challenge and teach Imogen what she needs to know and do inorder for Rex to stay in Serendee and "conform." Rex likes things hardcore. Drugs, sex, life, and he feels that Imogen is not that. The 3 friends will teach Imogen all she needs to know to satisfy Rex.

The book goes on about the challenges they all face. It turns out that Rex is not just against his father because of rebellion, he has some pretty good reasons. Rex ends up rejecting Imogen as his 3 friends begin to possibly love her or at the least REALLY care for her (they do share some sexy times and lots of feelings). Turns out that his father, Anex, was predicting that Rex was going to reject her because, Anex, wanted her. This was Anex's plan all along.

As Rex was about to leave Serendee, his friends had a chat with him. As a reader, you think he has left, but then he show up at a big event thrown by Anex for the "ordered." He changed his mind and decided not to leave since he realized that was exactly what his father wanted. The "return" or change of heart, shocked his friends, Imogen, and really pissed off his father. Book One ends on Rex telling Imogen that she will continue her training with his 3 friends, she will learn what he likes in all aspects, and that she will know the truth, as he will not have a blind sheep by his side and welcoming her to the family.


BOOK 2

All is the same in book two as book one, except Imogen, levi, Silas, Elon, and Rex, more than ever, are beginning to question things even more. Elon and Rex find that Serendee does not just harvest and sale weed, Anex, is also involved in sex trafficking. Rex also send Imogen on a hunt to dig up information on her mother.

After Rex and Elon threaten one of the men interested in buying women from Serendee and Levi turns down a job offer from Anex that would be a demotion, Anex calls a meeting and banishes Levi and Elon. He also takes Imogen captive as one of his mates.

BOOK 3

It goes through the major struggles of all characters after the meeting and what happens for all of them to be free. I like how a good portion of this book is about their life outside of Serendee.

Loved this series
Love this Author
Highly recommend

[♥ I’d Rather Be Reading ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

- FMC: Imogene
- MMC's: Elon, Rex, Silas, Levi
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Imogene, Rex, Silas, Elon, Levi)

-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)

Elon and Levi have been banished. Rex is imprisoned by Anex. Silas is being used to push Anex's sex trafficking scheme. And Imogene is being groomed to mate with Anex. They are all separated and everything is a mess.

But now it's time to fight back. To rise up and take down the manipulative and sick man that has ruined so many lives. And Imogene and her men will do it together.

-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
REVIEW:

So I really liked the conclusion of this series. It's a pretty strong wrap up and I'm happy with it for the most part.

The separation between them all was so hard, but I'm glad the author gave us moments between them that helped get us through those hard times.

I'm glad that Anex was taken down and that everyone was freed from the cult. But I was hoping for more of a standoff and something more...dramatic. There wasn't even a final word to tell him off or anything. They don't ever speak to him again after the raid. That was rather disappointing. Even if they could've had the final word by visiting him in jail or something. It just felt incomplete.

As far as the relationships between them all go, I'm fairly happy. They are all sweet and sexy together. I definitely would've liked at least ONE group scene of them all together. But we did get a few threesomes at least. I also was hoping that more would come from the Rex and Silas m/m moment. That was great, but it was a one-off and nothing ever happened between them or any of the other guys again. Bummer.

But still, it was good to see them all grow and break free of the hold that Anex had on them. And I'm so happy they all got their HEA.

Overall, this was a really good series. Unique setup and really interesting. I liked it a lot!

[Jess McDaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the beginning, this has been one of my favorite series as I am obsessed with knowing the ins and outs of cults. From the beginning, it has had heavy content and I think this may be the heaviest. I admire the thought and research put into Serendee, because these things run deeper than what you see on the surface. They grow intrusive roots and what you may think is the right thing to say or do, isn't always true or right.

I feel for Imogene so much. She has grown a lot since the beginning and with the seeds that were planted by Rex, Silas, Levi and Elon, she has blossomed and seen Serendee and Anex for what they truly are. My heart broke for her so many times and I couldn't see an end in sight as there was a lot of moving parts.

This book came down to the very end. I wasn't sure if it was going to wrap up in three or if there would be a fourth book. I am almost relieved that this is the end as I don't think Imogene needs to be put through anything else as she has already seen the worst of the worst. Am I sad that there aren't any more? Of course! I have grown to love these characters and I was rooting for them from the beginning of The Order.

I do hope that this book opens up for authors to write more heavy hitting cult stories, not just secret society types, I am talking full blown grooming and drinking the kool aid type cults. Even though this journey was rugged and loaded with shocking content, I would definitely rate this as one of my top series, of all time.

[Nikole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why some say it was anticlimactic, I get it. Yes he should've suffered for sure - but this ending definitely made sense to me. I'm confused about the clensing she went through though. The crystal thing he used on her, that was a dildo right? He just pleasured her (forcfully) with a crystal toy? I know it's still wrong, I was just confused on what that was lol.

Their struggles at adjusting could've been more talked about but then again the boys had already been exposed to life outside of Serendee and they knew how the world worked. They still all lost their home and everything they knew. Peace. Direction. Safety. I love that when the normal world was telling her that their love was wrong, she had her voice and said it was right. She finally broke through some of those habits!
I wish there was more about the others from the cult - like Maria, her dad, the ones most affected that truly had no idea what was really going on. They were the ones that would suffer the most.

You can tell how much research the author put into getting this story as realistic and truthful as she could. It was really detailed and felt like an actual Cult to me. This was an amazing read. It was put together really well. It was clear and easy to follow / understand. It was fast paced but the books weren't that long. But there is plot, character development, and everything else that I enjoy in a good read.

Spice 3/5
Humor 0/5
Emotional 2/5
Overall 4/5

[Crazy* Moody* Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for all three books in this series and contains spoilers.

Last book in the series felt rushed not even fast paced. Story lost the consistency and flow.

Not enough details were given. Many important points in the story were finished in 1 chapter or few lines.

Their escape from the cult was not explained very well. Anex getting caught was just a news on tv in the last chapter????

Throughout the story there was not enough character development, also they weren’t given enough time and moments to form any kind of friendship let alone love and we are to accept that they all are deeply in love?

I don’t know anything about the operations of a cult but still the world development felt short to me.

Plot regarding Rex’s mom’s death was left incomplete. I mean he did find some dairy or something earlier in the series which he could give to the police agents as a proof but they completely forget that it existed.

Same with the sexual scene between Rex and Silas, nothing wrong with that, but it was never mentioned or implied throughout the series before or after that scene that the boys have ever explored these things.

Last book in the series felt like it was written just to finish the series without putting any thought into it which was a big disappointment.

I didn’t like this series as it felt short on too many accounts.