Tropes: enemies to lovers
Feels: 4/5
Steam*: 4/5
Kinks: bondage, mild bloodletting, sound play, drugging, noncon/dubcon
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content themes: noncon, dubcon, forced betrothal, mood disorder, sociopath, psychopath, violence, murder, abuse of power
4.5 stars for the story. But I am dinging it to 4 for the typos.
This is a paranormal romance in that it's set in another galaxy.
Rin has an identical twin who is a psychopath. Rin himself has a mood disorder where he feels too much, he feels too much and gets out of control of his emotions. Whereas his brother has no emotions. They are both trying to hide their true natures. They are very much an us/we, it's them against the world.
Kel is a sociopath. He is Imperial Prince, third in line for the throne. He has a lot of power and influence. Kel is a senior and Rin is a sophomore. They meet because Kel is assigned as one of the advisors to the younger students. Kel sees Rin and is fascinated by him, because he is deliberately trying to place worse in the competition, he's manipulating what place he comes in so that he doesn't draw attention. Kel manipulates things so that he is assigned to work with Rin. Then Kel drugs Rin with a sex drug and forces sex on him. Decides that Rin is HIS and forces more sex in dubcon situations and forces a betrothal on him. Rape is horrible and I hate to not call it what it is, so there is rape here. But I have to say, I had conflicted feelings and couldn't completely hate it, because Rin doesn't regret it at all, Rin's kink is giving up control, so he actually loves the sex. It's a weird dynamic. It makes sense given the crazy combination of circumstances that is their lives.
Kel was so committed to Rin from the very beginning. He is a sociopath but Rin is his obsession. He's very possessive and protective. He's supportive and proud of the strong, capable person Rin is. He is giving and loving in his way. Rin isn't afraid of Kel even though Kel is a killer and has the power to snuff him out.
There's twisty mysteries and intrigue. The banter and hostility between them is very entertaining. The smut is hot. The best thing though was Kel knowing Rin so well and loving him so hard when he cared for no one else. Rin was so special to him.
What I didn't like about this book... This book had tons of typos. What the heck happened in editing? It was distracting. Taught instead of taut. Manors instead of manners. Fact instead of fat. Burry instead of bury. Metaled instead of melted. Supper instead of super. Also, yeah, it was dark. Would have felt more comfortable if consent wasn't an issue.
Some notable moments:
"“Shut. The. Blinds,” he insisted, then he caught Kel’s gaze, the determination and promise there almost enough to knock the Imperial Prince off his feet a second time. “And then fix this by fucking me.” From zero to one hundred. Seemed like Kel wasn’t the only one who acted on instinct. “I knew you were going to be a good time.” He reached for the remote and hit the button that would instantly fling the blinds closed, then without giving Rin a chance to change his mind, he shoved him down onto the bed. Right where he wanted him."
"“Plus,” he added, “I have to check out the crime scenes for the case, which involves me walking. I can’t afford not to be able to move.” Kelevra’s gaze zoned in on him like a laser. “How many times do you think I’ll have to dick you down to cripple you with my cock?” Rin recognized that expression. His brother got it sometimes. “Hell no. We are not about to find out. Get those thoughts out of your pervy head.” “I wouldn’t break you permanently,” Kel mused, but Rin let out a sound of warning."
"Something inside of Kelevra’s chest cracked. He’d thought forcing his control over Rin in the bedroom had been the peak of pleasure, but he’d been wrong. It was this. It was being allowed to play with Rin’s hair and have him willingly lay in his lap. It was listening to his even breathing, and watching his full mouth curve upward at the ends ever so slightly, as though even Rin didn’t realize he was smiling."
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.