Surrender

Coastal Elite #4

by Sam Mariano

Sophie and Silvan's story was previously released in 2022 as Sophie's Surrender for a limited time. Silvan and Sophie's story is the same, but the Coastal Elite re-release will include bonus content featuring other Coastal Elite characters.

Genres: Dark Romance, Dark, Romance, College, Enemies To Lovers, Erotica, Contemporary

Unknown Binding

Published October 1, 2023

About the author

Follow Sam Mariano on Facebook, Instagram (@sammarianobooks), or check out her Blog! If you need to email her, she can be reached at sammarianoauthor@gmail.com (but she is sometimes tardy about checking email. Mateo is very demanding).

Sign up for Sam's mailing list (to stay up to date on current projects--she won't spam you! Only for notification of new releases or book sales.)

All of Sam's books are available on Amazon! (And don't forget to follow Sam's Amazon Author page to get notified about the newest releases.)

Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.
Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.
Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP.
Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!

Reviews

[⚔Irunía⚔ · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 stars. My first thought: there's no way this crappy dumpster fire mess of mediocre, badly written nonsense was created by the Sam Mariano I respect, cherish and love deeply.

If Sam Mariano is an auto-buy author for you (as in, you love her work for quality writing, authentic plots and fleshed-out, unique anti-heroes) I strongly suggest that you read a free excerpt before you spend your money on this joke of a book.

It reads like a dollar store caricature of Sam Mariano's book: all the elements are seemingly there yet...

Dear Sam,

let god give you a piece of his mind so you never again write ANYTHING in co-authorship with that 'author'.

I'm not saying that to be an asshole. This is a friendly advice from someone who has been supporting you since 2019.

As y'all might have already guessed, this book is co-written, but it feels more like a metaphorical 'slap' in the faces of Sam's fans than anything else. Not only am I frustrated w the book, I'm also disappointed in Sam. She really said "these dumb bitches will eat any shit up as long as I put my name on it".

No, sis, I - a hardcore fan of yours that gave even the shittiest books of yours no less that 3 stars, agree to disagree. The writing was atrocious, and you should know better than allow someone's else crappy writing to be included in a book with your name on its cover. 🌝

I'm fucking shaken to the darkest recesses of my mind, to the tips of my toes by how bad this book is.

Takes a deep calming breath. Spoilers ahead.

THE STORY and THE CHARACTERS

Plot

Silvan (H) sees Sophie (h) at a Halloween party that he hosts at his mansion and is immediately taken with her. Then the next thing you know, he starts to bounce between two extremes: acting like a wannabe bad boy caricature (parts written by ms. lovett) and classical Sam Mariano's pushy anti-hero (written by ms. sam) in his quest to force her to love him back.

Insta-love

The story makes zero sense and chapters have zero logical connections. It features a hero who develops insta-lust/insta-love from the first few pages (not even chapters). Silvan starts lusting after Sophie the moment he lays his eyes on her. Before they even exchange A SINGLE FUCKING WORD. His feelings have neither buildup nor context.

Why is he so obsessed with her? What makes her special? This is a new case for the FBI because we, common folks, don't have a clue. We just know that he falls for Sophie hook, line and sinker before he even strikes a single convo with her so it couldn't be about her bright personality. 🤡 He watches her roam around his mansion aimlessly and that's it. She's his soulmate now. 🤡

There are hundreds and thousands of low-profile romances that follow the same 'insta-lust, insta-obsession, cardboard characters, sex crazed anti-heroes" formula. I read Sam Mariano because she's better than that.

The Sam Mariano I know always puts effort into building the tension. She provides subtle details and nuances that hint at her characters' feelings. She doesn't tell, she shows. She makes you understand why her anti-hero fell for this particular gal.

I can't be in love with her already, but I don't know how else to explain what I feel right now.
I've never been in love with anyone, so I guess what the fuck do I know about how fast it can happen?
All I know is I'd rather die than leave this embrace, and when the car rolls to a stop in front of her apartment building, I curse myself for not having the foresight to tell Hugh to drive around the city before we took her home.

Yeah, dude, you can't be in love with her at 23% mark in Sam Mariano's book. 🤡 Not when you don't know anything about that girl AT ALL. When all of your interactions with her amounted to forcing blowjobs on her and fingering her pussy. This book is all about sex. Sam, what's happening? 😭

Sophie (h)

This heroine is Sam's dumbest female character yet, which is impressive in itself because let's be honest: they all are sorta dumb. What makes Sophie insufferable is that she has literally no trace of human intellect in her body. Normally, Sam's heroines are naive. They let their heroes manipulate and coerce them, but they also have their reasons and sort of logical explanation for giving in and submitting. They tend to fall for hero's lies, but they're not completely idiotic.

But scratch that part. Sophie is different. 💀 Sis has a jellyfish's brain, which means to say she has none. She's the only potential rape victim that I'm willing to victim blame because, yeah, SHE'S ASKING FOR IT.

Our heroine here is apparently a magnet for predators. Not only does she get assaulted (but not raped) by her male friend, she also ALLOWS her professor to prey on her.💀

The predatory professor storyline made zero sense. The creepy professor appears out of the fucking nowhere only to disappear into the vast fucking nothingness. No context here. Him and Sophie have one after-class conversation and the next moment we're forced to watch him leaving the creepiest type of note for her:

Sophie,
I enjoyed seeing you yesterday after school.
Don’t come to office hours today.
Come to my house tonight.
I’ll be eagerly awaiting your company.
-Professor DeMarco

Doesn't sound suspicious at all, does it? 👄

Sophie, like the headless horseman she is, ponders on the DUBIOUS NATURE of this message for about half a second, and then we already see her making her way to her professor's house. 💀

Ordinarily, I would ring the doorbell, but there’s a note stuck to the mahogany wood that halts me.
 
Sophie,
The door is unlocked.
Please let yourself inside.
I’m waiting for you in the bedroom.
 
-DeMarco
 
My eyes widen and my heart slides down into the pit of my stomach.
He’s waiting for me in his bedroom?
That puts big dents in all my reassurances to myself that this probably wasn’t even romantic in nature, and I shouldn’t be so freaked out about it.

OH FUCKING REALLY? 🤣
 

I’m sorely tempted to flee the scene so I can skip the confrontation, but I still don’t think Professor DeMarco is a creep, and I don’t want to make things weird for the rest of the semester.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG, RIGHT? 😔

Sam has truly outdone herself. She and the woman with whom she co-wrote this dumpster fire managed to write the dumbest human being in the history of our universe.

But wait a min, it gets worse. Instead of finally turning around and walking the fuck away, Sophie goes straight to her PROFESSOR'S BEDROOM and guess who she finds in the said bedroom? Our little joke of a hero. Our precious little incel Silvan.

Maybe this was all a trap.
“Is this even his house?” I whisper.
Silvan smiles, but it’s not a nice smile. “Oh, yes. This is his house.” He keeps one hand around my throat, but brings the other up to grip my jaw, turning my face and making me look at the bed. “And that is his bed. But he is not the one who’s going to fuck you in it.”

(this part was clearly written by Sam, and it was hot af)

To cut a long story short: the hero takes Sophie's v-card in her professor's bed (🤣) and films the whole process of raping her in order to frame her professor (who has multiple tapes of forcing sex on his students stashed in his house lmfao) for his own crime and record a nice home video to blackmail her with in the future as the added bonus. 🤣

But we haven't even gotten to the funniest part yet. You know what happens right after he rapes her? Silvan takes her to his house and they start trading stories about their fav holiday celebrations.💀

“Thanksgiving is usually a pretty chill holiday for us. We make pumpkin pie and homemade apple sauce. We make a big batch and freeze a bunch beforehand. It was my grandma’s recipe. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, we make turkey with all the typical holiday foods. We make a big batch of yummy dinner rolls and we snack on them all night while we watch Christmas movies. We watch the Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning and... (bla bla bla💀 lots of waffling ensues).”
“Not a real tree person?”
She shakes her head. “I’d like to be. I know buying real Christmas trees is actually better for the environment—especially when you recycle them after the holiday—but, unfortunately, buying a tree from a tree farm every year isn’t in the budget right now. We’ve been using the same artificial tree since my mom got it on clearance in July when... (bla bla bla💀).”
“Nah, that’s an artificial smell. Gotta have the real thing. My mom loves Christmas trees. She practically butchers half a forest for all the trees she puts up at Christmas. None of them are up yet, but as soon as (bla bla bla💀)”
Sophie smiles faintly. “How many trees does a person need?”

Sam, are you okay, bestie? The way your characters waffle oh so casually about Thanksgiving and Christmas tree disposal for 5+ pages (I'm not even kidding y'all, that shit was long) straight after the rape scene. 🤡

Me: hello, hey? sorry to interrupt your sweet lil dialogue with your rapist, Sophie dear, but shouldn't you be..idk... calling the police and getting the rape kit done right about now? no pressure, just asking.

Anyways. On top of being ridiculous, this book is boring af: something exciting happens only to be downplayed by pages and pages of a lecture on how to be more environmentally friendly. 💀 I'm sitting over here like... bitch, there's a time and a place for everything. No. Just no.

I'm gonna give it to Sam: Silvan's conversation with his parents was fun:

“The law will never be involved,” I assure him.
“Yes, I know.” His gaze meets mine meaningfully. “I won’t have you putting the family at risk over a fling, Silvan.”
“She’s not a fling.” The words are out before I think them through, but they’re the truth. “I’m in love with her. It’s taking her a little longer to return the feeling, but she’ll get there.”
Mom with her soft heart and lack of anchor in the real-world smiles over at Dad. “Aw, Richard, he’s in love.”
“With a girl he kidnapped.”

I mean... parents goals. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🤡

“Is there anyone who will notice her missing?”
“Yes and no. She lives in a dorm room so her mom will just think she’s staying there. Her roommates like me, I could tell them she’s with me and they’d think it’s romantic. I’ve laid all the groundwork for this to go smoothly,” I assure him.

But hear me out: his parents were fucked up in a very obvious, cartoonish and unbelievable way.

What's new, though? The whole book is a fucking joke. An unbelievable, nonsensical, boring, unoriginal, insta-lust, zero connection between the MCs, wannabe dark joke.

THE WRITING AND CO-AUTHORSHIP ISSUES

The nerve of Sam to read the raggedy ass amateur nonsense that her "co-author" kept sending her way and then include all of it UNEDITED in her book without batting a fucking eye:🤡

Chapter 2, the hero's POV

My cock hardens just imagining it.
I want the real thing. (this is just the 2nd chapter, but u already want "the real thing"? you weirdo💀)
She didn’t even want to talk to me, though. Might be a bit of an obstacle.
She felt an attraction, though (how many fucking times does he have to repeat "THOUGH"? fucking shut up, clown). I wasn’t alone in that.
By the way her gaze lingered, I could tell she liked my costume, too.
And hey (totally Sam's hero energy 'HEY WHAT'S UP MAN'🤡), now I know we’ve seen at least one of the same shows.
I bet we have so much in common (I bet you have small dick, so what?🤡).

Why does it sound like a 5 year old describing his fav toy. He sounds more like he’s mentally ill than a sexy stalker😭: I'm quoting my friend here because 1) the first 3 chapters left me fucking speechless 2) her reaction when I sent her the screenshot of that page encapsulates my thoughts perfectly.

If this wasn't Sam Mariano's book, I'd be noping the fuck out of here as fast as an Olympic sprinter the moment I read that paragraph.

Sis, blink once if Laura Lovett keeps you in her basement and makes you publish her books under your name.

Chapter 3

Sophie looks back at me questioningly, and I clear my throat. "Somewhere less peopley," I say lightly.

"Peopley". Why does this hero possess Sam Mariano hero's attributes, yet instead of provoking reluctant fascination or even disgust, he just makes me feel second-hand embarrassment for his juvenile internet slang and dumb inner thoughts? Silvan sounds so cartoonishly ridiculous that I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Sam approved THIS disgrace of an anti-hero to grace the pages of her book.

Chapter 4

You start feeling Sam's light presence but half of the chapter still reads like a bad parody on her characters:

I'm still reeling from our impromptu kiss in the hallway, and now I'm even more determined to claim her as mine.
I've never been so shaken up by a kiss before.
She was clearly shaken up, too, though I suspect for different reasons.

I dare Y'ALL find another Sam's book that would have a hero who proclaims his out of the blue feelings in the 4th chapter and whose pov reads like a teenage girl's stream of consciousness.🤦🏼‍♀️

Miss Mariano to Miss Lovett: you go girl, keep the cringe ball rolling🤩

Chapter 5

The light touch of Sam's pen appears to be more obvious: she gives us a glimpse of her effortlessy jerky, confident, cocky, rapey alpha anti-hero that walks around like he owns the universe.

And if you're as well-versed in Sam Mariano's writing style as I am, you can see exactly when the author swap takes place: the writing turns choppy, the hero immediately transforms into a double-sided cardboard with an IQ of a chimpanzee and vocabulary of an average twitter user:

My costume is elaborate which looks fucking cool, but is a bit of a pain in the ass now that I need to undress with a reluctant partner who poses a flight risk.
Granted, she can't get out of this room until the door opens, so I have her trapped here for a good amount of time, but I—
My thoughts are interrupted when the girl sees her chance—me attempting to disrobe—and tries to roll off the damn bed again.

"fucking cool, but is a bit of a pain in the ass"...

are we supposed to find this... manner of speaking... attractive?

THE AUDACITY OF SAM TO SAY IN HER AUTHOR NOTE: "Hello, dear reader. If you’ve enjoyed my heroes before, this book should be right up your alley."

IRUNIA'S NOTE: YOU KNOW WHAT, DEAR? EAT SHIT. 💙

Mine’s a good nine inches, thick and veiny when I grasp it in my hand. The sight of it sends her scooting back on the bed, eyeing it like a monster that’s coming to get her.
Which I suppose is fair.

Which I suppose is fair. 💀

Sam, bestie, do you suppose that helping your little friend out is FAIR (to ur readers) and worth risking ruining the reputation that you've been building for years?

My cock is a log of fucking steel in my pants after tasting and teasing her tits. I kiss my way down her torso, making my way toward her pussy, but now that I don't have a sensitive part of her between my teeth to threaten her with, she grabs my hair and yanks, roaring like a magnificent Viking queen as she tries to hurl me off her.

"A log of fucking steel, roaring like a Viking queen" I'M SICK SICK SICK. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, MY DUDES? THIS GOD AWFUL BOOK RENDERED ME SPEECHLESS, IT WAS SO UNEXPECTEDLY BAD. 💀

I can't stop quoting it because à la wattpad stream of consciousness published under Sam's name is making me go feral. And if I suffered though it, y'all are gonna suffer with me too. 💙

No amount of words or exclamation marks can fully encompass how fucking bad Laura Lovett's writing is. I truly have no words left to convey the depth of dismay and vicarious embarrassment I've been subjected to in the name of my obsession with Sam Mariano's work. 💀

I actually can't believe Sam has so little respect for her own talent/gift for writing that she lets someone who doesn't possess one-tenth of her skill co-write a book with her.

Sam, your author pseudonym/name is not just a pseudonym/name. At this point it's a brand. Now I feel like you used the trust your name evokes in your readers against them.

Cognizant of the timer literally ticking as I fuck around with all this foreplay, I reluctantly decide to skip the rest in favor of driving inside this perfect body writhing beneath mine.

"fuck around with the foreplay": IS THAT TYPE OF WRITING THE HILL YOU'RE WILLING TO DIE ON, SAM? 🤡

Chapter 10

I just wish Sam had written this book by herself to spare all of us a god awful headache of trudging through trash to get to the good stuff:

That confirmation of his intentions sucks the breath from my lungs. My brain whites out for a moment, panic buzzing in my ears.
"Help," I shout loudly. "Hugh, please—”
Silvan’s hand clamps down over my mouth, hard. He doesn’t look worried, just annoyed as he leans down. “Now, now. If you’re going to be a bad girl, I’m going to treat you like one.”

A constant switch where the hero alternates between sounding like Mariano's typical anti-hero we love so much (the quote above) and then like the fuck-ass, needy, desperate loser of an incel with 0 personality was HORRENDOUS.

A switch between the choppy, sloppy writing — overused "though"s, internet slang and horrendously poor command of the language, and Sam's smooth, fluid writing style taking place every few pages made my eyes hurt and my head spin.

But more importantly, it made the book sound disjointed, random, badly structured and fucking UNREADABLE.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars Disney movies will never be the same

Oh… this was… different…

Before I go into my review, let me give the basic plot line.

Sophie (18) decides to finally do something for fun and goes to a party with one of her roommates. Her mom wants her to explore life a little bit more and not be such a hermit, so when her roommate asks her to go with her to a party, she takes the plunge and goes. At the party, she notices Viking-costumed man, watching her intently, as she explores the house (she’s dressed as a farmer girl)

Silvan (21?22?) sees Sophie and is immediately drawn by her curiosity, which means he wants her for himself. Yes, this is Insta lust/love 👀.

He takes her to the escape rooms that he had built in his huge mansion, and then Sophie finds out just how much he wants her 👀.

I did some calculations… this is now I think the 14th or 15th book I’ve read by Sam, Sam whom I looooove because she delivers angst and characterization that makes sense because it’s on par with her characters. She makes my tummy hurt in the most delicious way, and she gets me feeling a little sweaty with the $mut she delivers 😉.

What I liked/loved: spoilers
—no OWD 😈. As soon as Silvan sees Sophie, she’s IT for him 💁🏻‍♀️. No one else can compare 😮‍💨. He has blinders on and I LOVE ME A FAITHFUL Man 👏🏻. In this respect, it totally gave me Calvin vibes (from one of my favorite Sam books, Descent). He sees. He wants. He conquers 🤷🏻‍♀️don’t nobody come at me for loving this 👀

”You didn’t think you were going to go out with me, either, and now here you are, my girlfriend.” My eyes widen. “Because you blackmailed me and forced orgasms on me until I agreed!” He shrugs. “Still counts.”

💅💅💅

—he doesn’t take no as an answer 😈. Bahahaha. What does No mean? It usually means stop, but not to Silvan 💁🏻‍♀️. It just means he needs to do a little more to be convincing 😉. Assertive, domineering, and confident. I love that in a man 😮‍💨

Eyes wide with horror, she looks up at me. "You're fucking crazy." "I'm glad you understand."

—how… um… f0rceful Silvan can get (ahem… n0ncon 😮‍💨). From cutting the short button to holding her down with his arms (or ties)… I mean… yes. Go on with ya bad self Silvan 😅me likey 😉

—how unhinged Silvan is 😈 and it’s all for his Sophie 😮‍💨

”Let go of me, you psycho! I’m not letting you tie me up. You’re crazy if you think—” “You don’t have to let me do anything, pretty girl. But I’m going to tie you up either way.”

—the 🔥 scenes. Oh Lordt. Please have mercy on my kindle. There were many and very 🥵. I also love me some forced Os… the kind where the heroine doesn’t wanna O and the hero’s like ”bahahaha, hold my wand; I’m going in” 😈 this goes in conjunction with not taking no for answer 💁🏻‍♀️ chef’s kiss 😮‍💨🤌🏻

—the sweet stuff. Yeah, Silvan might seem tough on the outside, but he’s also thoughtful in other ways. Plus. He made me giggle here and there. Come on, he got Twilight 🥹

—the dark humor. We don’t see a lot of it (a la Sam style), but I absorbed what we DID get 😅

”I am not yours.” My lips curve up. “I’m afraid we disagree on that point.” “And I’m afraid that’s an irreconcilable difference in this relationship,” she snaps back. I smile at her spunk. “Lining up your divorce defense already? We’re not even married yet.”

—the AUDACITY. Silvan, you’re definitely a baby (kind of/somewhat/ish) Calvin (Calvin’s older and more calculating- 😮‍💨my type of jam). I totally got mini vibes, and Calvin is one of my favorite Sam characters. Brownie points for that 💁🏻‍♀️

—spying/stalking/watching. I love it in my books 🤷🏻‍♀️. This man has eyes everywhere 👀

—Br€€ding 😉. Silvan knows what he wants and he wants to do whatever he can to tie Sophie down 😈

—we see some protective retroactive revenge 💅 but… I needed more insight on the motivations behind it

What I needed more of/clarification : spoilers
—what ever happened with the professor? So… he interacts with Sophie one real time in the book and kind of in another scene when she’s trying to talk to him after. This sets the tone for how Silvan takes her virginity, but… what happened afterwards? We NEVER see him again. We don’t KNOW what Silvan did with the recordings/evidence he found. We know NOTHING… NOTHING. It just disappears?

—the change in the writing style. As I mentioned before, I’ve read enough of Sam’s books to know her style. She’s a MASTER at showing and not telling. This woman can make me feel sad 🥹for a piece of burnt toast . I needed more of Sam😩. Sam is amazing at adding her little touches of showing to capture the intensity of a scene. There are long monologues that aren’t Sam’s style BECAUSE we get the feelings of the other characters at the same time. As in, when Silvan’s a hole dad is telling Sophie what the consequences could be if she doesn’t play by the rules, we get no reaction from Sophie until he was done talking 😐.
Or, probably THE most important monologue given by a character in this book, when Sophie asks Silvan why he chose HER (let’s be real… many of us asked this as well), why does he want HER so much, he spoke for more than a page… straight…(or two pages… on my kindle it looks like a page and a half)
As in, there isn’t a break in the monologue to allow us to peek into Sophie’s reactions. I lost my inner breath as I read it all 😅. Sam would’ve made my tummy hurt as Sophie was absorbing this all. Silvan is willing to do ANYTHING to keep his woman, and I didn’t get a Sophie reaction until after 😏

—what ACTUALLY happened with Dylan the year before? I talked to other friends to see if maybe I missed it, but they confirmed we don’t actually know. Why is this important? Well, whatever happened is what causes things to go south for him… maybe a flashback scene or just a scene where she tells Silvan the details would’ve sold me on the last scene with Dylan. Although I love when a Sam hero’s intent on being retroactive with his revenge, here I needed more to feel convinced. What was the last straw? He tells Sophie he knows her phone call was a lie, so then what propels him to move forward with this? 🫣

—why would Sophie go to her professor’s house? OMG… this… like… Sophie. You keep talking about trusting your instincts, but… how… sigh… how are you trusting them? I felt like I was watching a scary movie where I’m yelling at the character to not go there, look behind you, and then bam… said character is dead😐. Also… why would a PROFESSOR give another STUDENT a note to give to another STUDENT (Sophie) and tell her to go to his HOUSE 🤦🏻‍♀️. Come on!!
And then… she gets there and there’s a note taped to the door saying to find him in the bedroom 🤦🏻‍♀️😵‍💫. Sophie. You should know better 🫣
I’m aware; many people find Sam’s heroines “doormats” or “easily influenced by the heroes”, but what I love about her style is that she makes the actions of the heroine make sense… as in, when we’re in the heroine’s head, we are rationalizing her actions with her, and we’re feeling everything she’s feeling. We got some of that here, but then I felt like we were scratching ours heads, thinking: this isn’t a smart choice. Abort. Abort. Abort. But alas. Sophie didn’t listen…
But you know what? That scene was🔥 (except when Silvan kept forgetting the purpose of it all🤦🏻‍♀️).

—vitamins? Come on 🤦🏻‍♀️. Those are HUGE!!! How did you not know? You’re 18, not 12 😬

—why didn’t we see her mom reacting to Sophie’s news at the end? This is her mom- whom she’s close to; she even goes to sleepover at her house instead of the dorms. Why is she not in the book after the shopping spree? We see more interactions with Silvan’s parents than with her own mom…

—what was the purpose of the extra card key? I had high hopes for this one, but it literally goes no where. Why did my heart speed up thinking Sophie was gonna escape somehow 🤣 (only to be chased and taken back 💁🏻‍♀️😈. I like some good chases. Even better if there’s primal play involved 😉)

—when did Dare become like a hired goon? Was he like that in Even If It Hurts because I don’t remember? Guess I need to reread 🤣

—where did all the showing/angst go in pivotal scenes? In the last scene with Dylan, being in Silvan’s POV didn’t help me connect to Sophie more. We know Silvan’s unhinged, give me Sophie’s… the way she rewards him when she sees what’s happening came out of left field for me 😅😬.
This is the same girl that won’t eat veal and salmon… and thinks about the environment…

—Snow White will never be the same 😬😅. I mean. I get Beauty and the Beast connection though, but the Snow White one was… um… interesting 😅

Overall, I didn’t hate it. It’s Sam here. I don’t think I could’ve give a lower rating even though there were some loose ends. If you don’t mind questioning things as you’re reading, then you’ll probably love this more than me. But I tend to make note of things in Sam’s books while I’m reading so I can have epiphanies as I read… she’s great at planting seeds as we read 👀.

Will I still keep reading Sam? Heckkkk yes!!! I can’t wait for the next Coastal elite book, but I wanted more in this one.

⚠️ safety squad⚠️
-no cheating*/sharing/owd
-dark/murders (off page or recounted)
-noncon/dubcon
-virgin h/previous manwhore
-OMD- the h’s ex friend tries to grab her and makes comments about how he didn’t try “r@ping” her, but he did and lied about what happened by saying he rejected her and the h is upset about it. OM2 flirts with h but the H handles the situation
-SA: in the past, kind of recounted
-praise kink/somnophilia/forced Os/edging/exhibitionism ish
-cheating* (parents)
-no condoms/“birth control” (tampering 😬)
-HEA/HFN/epilogue

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars 😩😩😩😩😩

👀 I’m just gonna say it. 😬

This was not a good author pairing. It was all over the place.

It felt like when a parent is teaching their teen to drive, and the teen, while confusing the gas and brake pedals, and messing with the sound system, gets distracted and nearly side swipes a car or jumps a curve, and the parent reaches over and yanks the wheel back and they swerve a bit but then get back on course, but now everyone in the car is uneasy and annoyed…. And, in the end, just happy to finally get out of the dang car… I mean, it was successful in that someone navigated the vehicle back to the house without killing anyone… but it needs some work…

And it hurts my heart to say this because Sam Mariano is my unicorn author. I absolutely adore her writing and characters and brain. Adore. I compulsively measure all heros against Carter and Mateo and all heroines against Zoey and Mia. I wait and count down the days until her next release and reread her books like a junky. I am a rabid fan-girl. For real.



The beginning was not good. Straight up. The first 3 chapters were cringe. I would have stopped reading if Sam’s name wasn’t on the cover. It did start to smooth out around 25% but it still felt like every time we were getting somewhere, some oddity would be thrown in. A weird phrase, nickname, detail, contradiction that felt like it belonged in a different book. There’s a scene that feels so jumbled it weakens both MCs almost irretrievably. It makes the h seem like the biggest idiot (you went to his BEDROOM?????) and the H seem needy (“SAY YOU’RE MY GIRLFRIEND!” 👀🥴) and inept…

I will say that at about halfway I was feeling better about the narrative. I could see much more of Sam’s influence. And I liked the ending. But man, in comparison to the rest of Sam’s books, this one just doesn’t stack up. It feels weirdly watered down while also OTT crazy. We never really get to know either character. We never get any explanation for why the H was so crazy over the h. There were several plot points that are never resolved. And don’t get me started on the H’s parents. 🥴 They were giving MAJOR Mateo/Mia vibes, if Mia was a serial cheater and Mateo was a doormat cuckold…. It was BIZARRE. I think I was supposed to swoon?? But I was just left vaguely nauseous. But that’s only one of the many head scratchers in this book.

The hero had his moments but without any sort of relationship or character development or real reason for his obsession, it just felt very empty… he seemed to be led by his dick, which was forever hard 🙄… and we know that because we spent most of the book in his POV and it wasn’t a plus… This was a very unfortunate departure from Sam’s norm. How is it possible to spend SO MUCH time in a character’s head but know so little about him by the end? Why were we even in his POV if we weren’t going to understand him better? I’m not even sure he attended the h’s college. 🤡😬 How old is he? What does he look like beyond his ambiguous “Viking” facial hair? Where are his friends? If he’s so hot every random girl creams her panties when they see him, why are there no ex girlfriends? Did he just beam down from outer space one day? Does he have any interests or talents? What does he do on the weekends? Her heros typically have some layers and mystery and aren’t led around by their little downstairs brains … Without ever getting to know the H beyond that he sports a constant boner (he should probably see someone about that 👀)…I wasn’t as invested as I should have been. Why do I know so much about his genitalia but not what he’s majoring in, or if he is even a student? 🫠


Bottom Line? I like my Sam Mariano books straight up. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Don’t mess with a good thing. This pairing minimized the stuff I love about Sam’s books (well thought-out nuanced plots and characters with tension and details and and angst and suspense) and magnified the things I hate about other books in this genre (instalove, no tension or nuance, no character/relationship development, and too much telling and not enough showing) There was just enough of her signature style to keep me reading (Sam could make a grocery list compelling 💕) but this mash up was not great. There was some good banter at the end and a really hot jealous smex scene that felt very on-brand, that was a highlight for me, so it still managed to be more entertaining than many of the books I pick up, but sadly, overall, not her best work. ⭐️⭐️1/2





⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️

- no cheating or sharing
- no OW drama
- OM drama
- noncon and dubcon
- some lite somnophilia
- some lite bondage
- h is virgin
- H is not a virgin
- no condoms
- H switches h’s birth control out for vitamins

[Kate V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sophie’s Surrender was a fail in many ways for me. Unfortunately, I felt like it was just poorly written. The writing felt juvenile, choppy, and it wasn’t dark romance. It was just creepy and cringy. The steam and tension in here was lackluster and not sexy. At all. There was way too much insta-love and insta-lust and certain plot points felt included for shock factor. I don’t enjoy rating books so low but this was…not good. I did not enjoy this.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]]

⤅ Basically, if you aren't willing to disengage every brain cell you possess, don't start reading a Sam Mariano book.

I'm honestly not even being mean here, it's just the fact that she has a very particular heroine type. And she does NOT deviate from that. They're all painfully naive virgins with very little self-respect (possibly excepting Zoey, who at least puts up token resistance to Carter when she discovers his betrayal).

Sophie, like Riley and Audrey, is basically Zoey (EVEN THEIR NAMES ARE ALL THE SAME OH MY GOD) but with her negative traits amplified. So she's ultra-innocent, weirdly inconsistent in her attitude to the hero, and generally eyeroll-inducing.

Sadly, we couldn't even really count on Mariano for a good antihero here. Sylvan could have been promising, but he falls into a totally unbelievable insta-love with Sophie. I don't mind elements of this when it's done right, but there was just no basis at all for it here. Possibly that's the influence of the co-writer; I've long noticed that authors I enjoy tend to be rubbish when they're writing with someone else, even if it's two authors I enjoy individually.

I DNFed 20% in after reading my friend Irunia's excellent review.

[ApoorvaReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I fail to acknowledge this book was co-written by someone who created Carter and dare😤

[Оля (hiatus) *** · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was confused by a lot of things in this book, but I will still give 5 stars! because no matter how absurd the heroine's🙄 behavior was, i had fun reading this book!!🤡

[Nazanin · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 60%

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why are all the characters and plots exactly the same?

Hero: Obsessive Rapist
Heroine: Naive friendless loser that is “lovable” but, again, has no friends so idk how lovable she actually is.

Plot: H rapes h. h constantly allows herself to be manipulated because of money. That was only endearing when it was Zoe because it was original; now, it’s just pathetic. h sells herself for food thinking that’ll somehow teach her Rapist a lesson. H buys h clothes and dresses her up as a doll 🤮. The mom is off in Lala land and doesn’t question why her daughter’s rapist is willing to buy them clothes #does_this_woman_have_any_pride? . There is always a limo and driver, even though limos haven’t been cool since the magazine sales in elementary school. Wow, h and H wuvvvvv each other.

At this point, I could probably write her next book.

Honestly, I’m getting sick of the guy constantly buying the girl clothes. Idk why this irks me so much, but it does. In EVERY Sam Mariano book it’s the same.

I love her writing, but I think she needs to shake up the story a little. Let the mom die of cancer, have just a dad, have both parents as role models, don’t write a character that thinks it’s normal for an 18 year old boy to buy a new wardrobe for a forty year old woman.

With that said, I’ll definitely be reading her next book ❤️❤️

[Kursed Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite her penchant for solitude, Sophie Bradwell has promised her mom she’ll attempt to be more outgoing during her college years. One minute she finds herself strolling the rooms of an old Boston mansion for a Halloween party, the next she’s caught in an escape room.

Sophie’s Surrender is the story of her acceptance of her new reality and the relationship she didn’t know she needed.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Burn: 🔥🔥🔥🔥1/2
Darkness: 🖤
Heat: 🌶️🌶️
Range of Emotions: 😩
Ending: 💗 {HEA}
POV: 👫🏻 {Dual}

🗂 Genre: Dark Romance

✨ Tropes: Alphahole, Antihero, College, Forced Proximity, Instalove, Kidnap/Captive, Mafia/Bratva/Crime Family, Manipulation, MINE!, OTT Jealous/Possessive, Rich AF, Stalker, Touch-Her-and-💀, Tracking/Spying, Virgin h

💋 Kinks: Domination, Edging, Forced Os, Hand Necklace, Restraints, Somnophilia

⚠️ Warning: This book may cause blushing, squirming, combusting panties, and/or self-care.

🚩 Safety Squad: DubCon, NonCon and other potentially triggering elements. If you have any hesitation, check the warnings before diving in. Otherwise, blind is best!!

📣 Type: Sophie’s Surrender is a standalone.

🛑 Be Advised: My Goodreads shelves are … explicit in both senses. As such, they could be considered spoiler-y.

[Queen Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. im so sad. 🥲 this book has EVERYTHING i love: virgin heroine, obsessed anti-hero, no cheating.

but it fell short. it didn't read like a usual sam mariano book.🤷🏾

the hero was so cringey im DEAD. 💀💀
i can't believe he's written by the same author that gave us dare and carter.

it's not about what he does it's about how he goes about it, the way he talks and thinks. IT DIDN'T HELP THAT WE WERE INSIDE HIS HEAD FOR THE MOST PART OF THE BOOK.

he sounds juvenile, immature and stupid. he lacks charisma. sam knows how to write male pov but here? i don't know what happened.

my fav thing about her books is that they are mainly told from heroine's pov so the mmc remains dark and mysterious. and i love that in dark romance.

the thrill of fear and danger that her heroes normally give off is not here.

[The Romantic Rush Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am completely and utterly obsessed! What's more delicious than a little light kidnapping, emotional manipulation, and an obsessive stalker boyfriend that WILL make you love him?! GAH, Sam Mariano and her brandy of crazy toxic boyfriends is my literal reader catnip, and I could not get enough of Silvan and his antics. These two authors wrote seamlessly together, and I DEVOURED Sophie's Surrender in one scrumptious and mesmerizing sitting. It's completely addictive, all that Mariano magic and then some. I surrender- I'm a goner for all Mariano men.

If you loved Carter, get ready for Silvan. He’s even more extra, more psycho, more possessive- and holy hotness. I may need a mental examination, cause his brand of crazy is the swooniest to me- the creamiest crazy book boyfriend ever. The chemistry, the psychological complexity, the intensity - all captured me completely. And holy moly the steam!! And all the juicy and complicated existential romantic wonderings Sam brings to her stories, the boundary pushing and convention breaking that I adore, sparkled as always. YUUUUMMY!

[wolfiebella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Completely underwhelming and disappointing. The main male character was disastrous, his thoughts don’t match his persona at all.

[Beeg Panda]

🚫Rough - come back to finish: NOTES TO SELF 24 Jan 2024: Coastal Elite series: Reading order / Timelines / HEA / HFN / Hannah / Connections / sister wives info / some per auth's/media:

READING ORDER (ascending)
Bk 5 Deception
*Hannah Dupont 's first book

Coastal Elite spinoff book:
*2024 release
*standalone
*BA

Bk 4 Surrender
* Release date 8 Feb 2024
* Re-release of bk 4 Sophie's Surrender - same content - lightly edited
* Includes Sleeping Beauty +- 15k word extra bonus chapters
*Bonus is Audrey's POV of the night of the Halloween party?
*The make or break for me to continue with the series
* Sets up the basis of future books especially Hannah Dupont's storyline

Bk 4 Sophie's Surrender
* Sophie and Silvan - HEA

Bk 3 Contempt
* Parker and Landon - HEA
* Continuation of Gemma and Hayden's story
* Setting up of Hannah Dupont's story

Bk 2 Undertow
* Gemma and Hayden - HFN

Bk 1 Even If It Hurts
* Aubrey and Dare - HFN


CONNECTIONS:
* Hayden is Landon’s father
* Gemma is Parker’s mom.
* Aubrey and Hannah are friends (Dare does not approve).
* Parker and Hannah are best friends (Landon has no issue with this).
* Sophie and Silvan go to college with Dare and Aubrey after book 1: Even if it Hurts


SISTER WIVES:
NO?
"..that isn’t at all the dynamic between these characters"



~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

🚫NOTE TO SELF: 26 Nov 2023 auth newsletter with “…early 2024 release plans…” for Surrender
“…Surrender is book four in my Coastal Elite series, and the last book before Hannah's story takes center stage. Surrender is a re-release of 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚'𝙨 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 which was available for just a few months earlier this year (December 2022 through early March 2023). It features a hero who is not afraid to be brutal for his heroine. He falls first. He falls hard. She's his, whether she agrees or not, and he refuses to take no for an answer.
The Coastal Elite re-release will include Coastal Elite bonus content: 𝙎𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮. I'm calling it a short story for lack of better terminology, lol, but it's a lengthy scene. It's the size of around 6-7 of my regular chapters. Sleeping Beauty is catch-up bonus content from Aubrey's POV…”

🚫NOTE TO SELF: Nov23 or Jan24 = publish date of standalone *Surrender* by Sam Mariano per auth fb page on 30.10.2023:
no changes in “…Sophie and Silvan’s story, but Surrender will have a bonus short story featuring Dare and Aubrey that SS did not have. Not like a bonus chapter like Contempt had, it’s over 15k words (so more the size of like… six to seven chapters)”
CAN
NOT
WAIT

[Rossy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐👀

RTC

Merged review:

I kept thinking about this whilst typing this out.. I am a bit sad to say but it's only 3 star read for me..

I don't know why, but the H in this story didn't have the the "normal" charm Sam's antiheroes have even when they are calculating, manipulative and psychopathic.

I mean.. he was certainly a sociopath (deliberate distinction) but he had strange temper and strange way of processing emotions. He fell in love with Sophie a little bit too quickly for my liking, without getting to know her, wanted there to be more to his feelings. Also, his family felt a bit cartoonish, if that makes sense?

Anyway, he was still intriguing to read and at least consistent in his wants and desires and totally bulldozer-y.

Now for Sophie.. Damn, she is TSTL, specifically:
* gets non-con'ed.. The following day climbs into limousine sent by the responsible party (H).. (facepalm);
* now the "professor" situation. WTF, is she really that stupid... Why would a professor invite her to HIS house? and she "dresses-up" to go visit him, and even goes to his bedroom? LOL

Now, the professor situation/plot-line overall... Where the hell did that come from?? It came absolutely out of nowhere, was under-developed, pointless and random. I just couldn't believe Sophie, like WTF?? What did she expect?? And - it may be part of the plot line in other Coastal Elite books, but it was left unresolved here.

As for their relationship, the whole acceptance here to their relationship on Sophie's side felt under-developed. As in, it did not have a tipping point for me where I would "get" her thought process.

She felt wishy-washy and also she didn't seem to have anything about her other than random environmentally friendly beliefs and making stupid decisions?.. (unlike Zoe..)

The steam was decent albeit a bit repetitive, also I guess... maybe expected more varied and more "claiming"?

Overall, the writing was good and the story was intriguing enough to want to finish.. And maybe unfairly, but this wasn't as good as Untouchable, Stitches, Decent or Even If it Hurts, and I can't help myself but compare and put this at the same level of expectations..

[Tabatha Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dreamy sigh.

This book is satisfying on a soul deep level. Silvan’s obsession and intensity were absolutely perfect. This is exactly the hero I crave in books. His commitment to making Sophie surrender to him was intoxicating. This whole book was a balm to my soul.

I don’t even understand how Sophie held out so long. Silvan was masterful in his manipulation though. Sophie’s transition from trying to find a way to escape Silvan’s clutches to half heartedly questioning why she’s so comfortable with him steamrolling every aspect of her life.

Silvan has a frightening intensity that felt like a mixture of Dare & Carter. Speaking of Dare, we get a few glimpses of Dare & Aubrey here and it was SO good to see them again. Made me crave them all over again.

If you like Sam’s other books this is a no brainer. There’s nothing not to like here. It’s a delightful array of Sam Mariano goodness. Obsessive hero, innocent heroine, heroine softens as she falls prey to the hero’s predatory ways rather than get feisty and fight back, manipulative, ruthless hero who has zero boundaries and no compunction to even pretend like he’s a good guy.

Medium burn, h loses her vcard at 41%. This is heavy on dubcon/noncon, as you probably expect from a Sam Mariano book.

Virgin h
No condoms
Birth control tampering
Push away from h
No OW drama
OM drama
No cheating
No scenes with others
No cliffhanger
HEA
Epilogue

Safety - definitely safe, in my opinion. Silvan only has eyes for Sophie as soon as he sees her. A heroine like Sophie attracts predators so there is some OM drama here. Some from an ex who nearly assaulted her pre-book. Silvan ensures he pays for that.

The other is a predatory professor who’s set his sights on Sophie. She’s falling into his trap until Silvan shows up and nips that in the bud.

[Melanie (mells_view) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is love.

Unhinged stalker romance book. Silvan is a tiny bit redemptive, but when I say tiny I mean get some binoculars. That said, if you enjoy the type of… hero… who will do anything and everything, even if it’s depraved, to get what he wants and for his love interest, then you’ll enjoy this one. There is a laundry list of TW/CW, but if you’ve read any of Sam’s darker work before just consider those before picking this one up. I thought maybe co-writing would soften it, but Laura Lovett seems to get just a dark haha. I enjoyed it though!

Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR4Tey6T/

TW/CW (will contain what some consider spoilers) - non-con, dubious consent, stalking, captivity, person napping, blackmailing, birth control sabotage, allusions to murder, pregnancy, rough sex.

[Medollga · Rating 2 out of 5]

If she can sell the same book TWICE, I for sure can mark it as read and comment on it twice 👀🙃

But of course I'm lazy, so my original review is here 🙈🤣

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, every time I think I've seen the craziest... I'm proven wrong. Haha!

4.5 stars
5 on the spice scale

[Sky- A hopeless romantic girl :D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just when i start to think this author can become my auto-buy, she releases this and Mr granville.
Clearly both are not my jam. To be fair Mr granville is only because of h being with both son n father and this because it was really frustrating to read.

About this book: honestly i read non-con and authors are able to make it work for me and weave romance in a way that is in my "fiction is only fiction" mind settles well.

But in this book i was only feeling frustrated, annoyed and bored. It was a struggle honestly.

Hope her next isn't like this....

[Bookgasms Book Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhh. I swear Sam Mariano is the only author who can make me love such a high level of toxic men. I read her stories, and melt in a puddle of goo everytime! I have no excuse other than the fact that she writes pure five star (toxic and villainous) book magic. Silvan was just Silvan. What more can I say? He was an alpha and a villain from the getgo and would not take no for an answer. I was so addicted to this story!

I would be remiss if I did not add that while I loved it, I do wish Sophie was a litle more assertive. Don't get me wrong, if you're not new to Sam Mariano, you know what kind of hero you're going to get. But I would have liked her to be a little more stronger and assertive against Silvan. She just kind of rolled over and did what he wanted without a fight. This kind of felt like a wolf coming for a puppy lol. Likewise, I would have liked to see Silvan stand up to his dad more. He kept saying he would protect her, but then allowing her to be threatened, terrified and intimidated out of her mind (from someone other than him) was ok? I had some issues with that.

Overall this story was great and seeing Dare again was perfection. I look forward to reading more in the Coastal Elite series in the future! 4 stars! ~Ratula

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I’m the only one who loved this 😂😂 Honestly I’m not typically a Sam Mariano fan, so maybe that’s why I was able to love it bc I don’t really know her typical writing style 🤷‍♀️ but I really did love it I love needy H’s

[↬ Ⓛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ono abt y’all, but Daddy Richard made an impact on me the most 😉

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda forgettable and boring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Wobilba · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Well, this was disappointing.
This is was the most uncharismatic antihero I have ever read about and the heroine is the dumbest stupidest brainless b**ch ever 🤦🏾‍♀️

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book itself was ok. Not much plot and kind of slow but fine I guess. The one star is for the Sleeping Beauty chapter at the end. Sam Mariano clearly does not care about or respect her readers. I feel like I can’t trust this author now which I hate because she was seriously becoming a fav. I feel like I was tricked into reading this series. Hannah is the most BORING BLAND character ever. And they go on and on about how sweet and innocent she is. HOW IS SHE SWEET AND INNOCENT IF SHES FLIRTING WITH HER BEST FRIEND’S BOYFRIEND.

I’m sure Sam thought she was pulling off some incredible plot twist here but I truly just feel betrayed. The whole point of romance and an obsessive MMC is to have a HEA and an OBSESSIVE MMC. I’m not putting spoiler warnings bc I feel everyone should know, it looks like Dare is going to leave Aubrey or it’s going to become a poly thing. Maybe if I had gone in knowing this from the start? Nothing is confirmed yet but that was the strong vibe I got. I tried to gaslight myself in the last book thinking that his tattoo of Hannah was bc he wanted to kill her.

I could really root for a Hannah/Anae pairing but I cannot get behind this. I could also root for Hannah being in a poly situation, just NOT with Aubrey and Dare. And the audacity of her to tell her readers to just “have an open mind”. So if we don’t like that it turned into a poly thing that’s on us?? I read OBSESSIVE STALKERS FOR A REASON. Ugh. This is so much more frustraring because I loved these books and her other books. If you want to write a story like this DON’T TAG IT AS ROMANCE. That’s on YOU if people get upset.

[samantha ఌ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If you could step inside my mind for a single minute, you would never again doubt my devotion to you."

Sometimes all I want is a rich guy who spoils me, gives me limo rides and can be a little too obsessed and psychotic at times. That's Silvan for you. I thought the story was pretty good, I enjoyed reading Sophie opening up for Silvan. But I did wish the plot was executed better. Like what happened with the professor? I really wanted to know more about that because I was interested in Prof. DeMarco. Overall, it was an okay read.

[Gisell]

I’m so sad, I have to dnf for now at 31%. I may pick it up again, but right now I’m just not feeling it unfortunately 😢

I usually always finish Sam’s books. I haven’t read her entire catalogue yet, but I’ve read enough of the author’s books to know what to expect when opening a story of hers. I absolutely love this author, but this one didn’t work for me at all.

I love The Last Kingdom as much as the next person, but all the Viking/Uthred talk every other page and the immaturity of the characters, plus the fact that this story feels like 3 or 4 of Sam’s other books meshed together… just left me feeling like this was definitely not the story I expected it would be. I think I went in thinking it would be darker and would push the envelope in some new way, being that it is co-authored by a new author alongside Sam.

But, in my opinion, it felt odd, like it was either ghostwritten or it was written by another author known for the instalovey writing & it’s perhaps a new pen name of theirs, and Sam maybe did some light touches or had ideas, but it just didn’t feel like this had Sam’s signature or that it was wholly hers, I dunno how to put it. It wasn’t well put together for me and I couldn’t connect with the characters and the H didn’t seem tough, controlling, scary, unforgiving, or anything like I expected of a Sam Hero, (even though he’s a stalker 😢), he came across as immature and mundane.

I didn’t like how it was supposed to be a dark book the way it is being marketed but most of the beginning seemed silly or dark romcom-ish in a cheesy way. Yes, there’s noncon, but to what effect? It isn’t written well into the story (or at least the parts that I read) He gets her alone in an escape room, but she feels safe the entire time and knows he’s with her? So, It’s sort of a controlled situation?? and I do enjoy when Sam’s Heroes sneak up on the h and do the unexpected. This felt weird to me. I know I stopped early in, so maybe it turned pitch black later? But the first 30% seemed like the tone was all over.

The dialogue wasn’t on par with Sam’s typical writing. I admit, I’ve been in a bit of a book slump for awhile, so maybe it’s a combination of that and just being too pumped for Sam’s new release and I put too much expectations into this story that I let my own self down. In any event, this may work for other readers. I’m usually open minded with new author endeavors and endorsements, but this was a miss for me.

I’ve got a void in my chest because I love SM Heroes and heroines, and I’m hoping her next release is back to basics. The old saying fits here. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 🤷🏼‍♀️😭

[💜VGreedyReader🖤 · Rating 2 out of 5]

★2.5 failing stars ★

What a drag 😱 sorry my incipit wasn’t the best but I really had to get that off my chest… this story is just so flat. As a die hard fan of Sam Mariano I was expecting so much more! I mean this is the same author who gave us Carter and Dare who has suddenly become a goon with no personality whatsoever, also Silvan stop reporting things Dare never said, go back to the playground where you belong.

Silvan is dull, he’s not captivating at all, he felt like a Frankenstein, built incorporating minor traits from other characters but the end result isn’t convincing. Just like the doctor who abandoned his creation Sam fails to give TLC to her hero.

When it comes to Sam’s heroines we can’t expect an arbiter of strength… yet Sophie really takes the cake! Her naïvety is really too much, I kind of feel offended in name of the female population. Honestly this girl is all over the place, she couldn’t find a spine if it was hand delivered in a pretty bow with a giant label. To top an already failing character she goes on wanting Silvan’s father approval who is an abusive rapist prick.

Still pertaining to offensive female characters I refrain to take into consideration Melanie, Silvan’s mother, she’s honestly not worth the effort…

The story itself is also so painfully slow and devoid of any action or verve, the dialogues are flat, unoriginal and with very simple vocabulary, I know this is a romance but why would authors validate all the existing prejudices about this genre? Please, make an effort to give some substance and flesh on the bones. Besides all of the above, I had a general sense of deja vu that unpleasantly accompanied me throughout this whole painful journey. It’s like Sam took a page out of each book she wrote and jammed everything together then as if that wasn’t enough she embarked on this affair with another author. I don’t know if the influence derailed her talent but I hope there won’t be a repeat.

I want my Sam Mariano back, I want her wit, craziness her out of the box stories her unapologetic deranged heroes, her unassuming, innocent but still with a decorum of personality heroines.

As per usual with my review the above is my personal and underline personal! feel. Please, my fellow readers, don’t take my review as a persuasion not to read this story, you might enjoy and I don’t want you to miss out because I was whiney and demanding, also the Lilith in me got offended, but again, it’s all on me 🖤

[Clarice]

This is a Dnf for now. Why? I'm kind of hoping this undergoes a better editing process eventually. Sam mentions in a note, located at the beginning of the book, that this will come out again under a new name and as apart of her Costal Elite series later next year (2023). She also mentioned there will be some bonus content added to this book as well in the re-release. Some parts of this worked and some didn't (the parts that didn't were very cringe). If I had to rate this now I would say 2 stars for untapped potential.