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Painted in Shadows: An Age Gap Hostage to Lovers Dark Fantasy Romance
"You have the kind of face that should come with a warning label." Too bad Olivia painted it for everyone to see.
She's an artist with too much curiosity and not enough self-preservation — the kind of woman who wanders into the darkest corners of Vespera because the light there is interesting. Putting the most dangerous man in the city on canvas was never the plan. She's never even seen his face. No one has.
Ruvan rules the underworld with shadows at his command. No one outside his circle has ever seen his face — until Olivia. One look at her painting and he knows two someone betrayed him, and killing her would be the safest option.
Instead, he keeps her close. Instead, she keeps talking. Instead, sparks ignite where there should only be fear.
But Olivia is hiding something — rare, unregistered magic that could unravel the system keeping people like her branded and controlled. And when light collides with shadow, their attraction might be the spark that burns the whole city down.
Perfect for fans of dark, slow-burn a grumpy crime lord, a reckless sunshine artist, and a city where love is as lethal as power.
She's an artist with too much curiosity and not enough self-preservation — the kind of woman who wanders into the darkest corners of Vespera because the light there is interesting. Putting the most dangerous man in the city on canvas was never the plan. She's never even seen his face. No one has.
Ruvan rules the underworld with shadows at his command. No one outside his circle has ever seen his face — until Olivia. One look at her painting and he knows two someone betrayed him, and killing her would be the safest option.
Instead, he keeps her close. Instead, she keeps talking. Instead, sparks ignite where there should only be fear.
But Olivia is hiding something — rare, unregistered magic that could unravel the system keeping people like her branded and controlled. And when light collides with shadow, their attraction might be the spark that burns the whole city down.
Perfect for fans of dark, slow-burn a grumpy crime lord, a reckless sunshine artist, and a city where love is as lethal as power.
436 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
February 1, 2026
strange
What a strange strange way of writing. This author is unique for sure. I felt like this entire book didn’t use a full sentence. Did I really just read an entire book about feeding villains vegetables? Every SINGLE page mentioned vegetables I swear ! I mean the wit kept me reading but the book definitely needs depth.
What a strange strange way of writing. This author is unique for sure. I felt like this entire book didn’t use a full sentence. Did I really just read an entire book about feeding villains vegetables? Every SINGLE page mentioned vegetables I swear ! I mean the wit kept me reading but the book definitely needs depth.
October 25, 2025
This book was such a delight. A lot of fun dialogue and the MFC is a riot. Loved it.
February 10, 2026
Similar energy to apprentice to the villain series! Very delightful !
January 12, 2026
Good characters&dialogue, bad plot/world building
I enjoyed the characters and dialogue, and the overall tone, but there was nowhere near enough world building or plot. Nothing made any sense, they’d talk about corsets and medieval things but then mention vitamin gummy bears. It was honestly too confusing to finish, and a lot of the plot made no sense. There was also some grammar/proofing errors. I think with some more revision and back to basics with the plot it could be a great book.
I enjoyed the characters and dialogue, and the overall tone, but there was nowhere near enough world building or plot. Nothing made any sense, they’d talk about corsets and medieval things but then mention vitamin gummy bears. It was honestly too confusing to finish, and a lot of the plot made no sense. There was also some grammar/proofing errors. I think with some more revision and back to basics with the plot it could be a great book.
Did Not Finish
April 1, 2026lowkey insufferable
February 20, 2026
Vegetable written almost every page
Cute story line executed so-so. Felt like everyone had the same voice, and I had to take breaks bc the protagonist while bubbly and cute was a bit overkill going from barely-able-to-feed-herself starving artist to feeding a whole lot of other people somehow before money was introduced for her to fund from plus using the word vegetable and being overly caregiving constantly.
Cute story line executed so-so. Felt like everyone had the same voice, and I had to take breaks bc the protagonist while bubbly and cute was a bit overkill going from barely-able-to-feed-herself starving artist to feeding a whole lot of other people somehow before money was introduced for her to fund from plus using the word vegetable and being overly caregiving constantly.
January 21, 2026
Virtual Voice Narration: 0/5 ⭐
I hadn't realized that it was Virtual Voice until after I started due to it showing up as already available via voice sync on my Kindle.
Despite the absolute disappointment that the Audiobook was, the book itself was hilarious. I genuinely loved Olivia from beginning to end. She is a the type of ball of sunshine that I adore.
I do wish we saw more of 'The Shadow King' and her relationship growing, because it kinda felt like we missed out on it. Because the focus feels more on Olivia and the Shadow Guild.
I hadn't realized that it was Virtual Voice until after I started due to it showing up as already available via voice sync on my Kindle.
Despite the absolute disappointment that the Audiobook was, the book itself was hilarious. I genuinely loved Olivia from beginning to end. She is a the type of ball of sunshine that I adore.
I do wish we saw more of 'The Shadow King' and her relationship growing, because it kinda felt like we missed out on it. Because the focus feels more on Olivia and the Shadow Guild.
March 2, 2026
The author has potential. However, the writing was bad. It was repetitive. There were full paragraphs that repeated. There were moments that were copy and pasted in different spots. The only redeeming thing about this book was the wit. There was no world building or actual missions. Just a weird girl in a house with cool magic who likes to paint and cut veggies.
The couple has no chemistry either. Don’t waste your time.
The couple has no chemistry either. Don’t waste your time.
Read
March 1, 2026frustrating to read
I had to stop reading because the continuity issues and horrible edits made it too frustrating and confusing to continue reading. So many details jumbled up, full paragraphs repeated, same item given to multiple people. The story felt weak and unsupported but this made it impossible to even get halfway. This is after the note about recent updates being made to address continuity.
I had to stop reading because the continuity issues and horrible edits made it too frustrating and confusing to continue reading. So many details jumbled up, full paragraphs repeated, same item given to multiple people. The story felt weak and unsupported but this made it impossible to even get halfway. This is after the note about recent updates being made to address continuity.
February 24, 2026
cute n entertaining but not GREAT
March 22, 2026
I honestly have no idea how this has such a high rating. I Don't DNF books. this one I did. the writing contradicts itself and is so repetitive. if you like reading about soup over and over again and just bad plot this one's for you I guess . I made it to 57% and had to stop
August 13, 2025
Decent
Some very funny dialogue in this book. Simple to follow story with a kooky, nutty FMC & pure grump shadow guy.
Book has no spice (my only complaint).
Some very funny dialogue in this book. Simple to follow story with a kooky, nutty FMC & pure grump shadow guy.
Book has no spice (my only complaint).
January 26, 2026
bizarrely intriguing
I’m not sure that I can tell you what the book is about, but I couldn’t stop reading.
I absolutely recommend it.
I’m not sure that I can tell you what the book is about, but I couldn’t stop reading.
I absolutely recommend it.
April 14, 2026
This book could be developed absolutely into a 4 to 5 star read if it wasn’t jacked up. It has huge and I mean huge potential of the basic plot, basic world, and the eccentric, interesting characters and the occasional brilliant banter and thoughts.
It gets a 1 to 2 star for the absolute frustration that one develops quite quickly because of all of the hot mess. It starts off so strong, engaging, whimsical, and you just know you’re about to settle in for a delightful read. No, it becomes a huge mass of frustration. I never got to the rage reading threshold, but I was pretty close.
Averaging it out at a two star rating because I don’t even know what to do with this.
It is a truly hot mess of repeated dialogue, cut and paste of some passages, repetition of dialogue and events, huge giant, annoying continuity issues, and sloppy errors and storytelling. Sometimes the logic is out the window. How can you be a fairly well off mafia king basically, and live without basic amenities. I can’t even imagine how bad these people smell, why are they starving? Do not even get me started on how she was going from a starving artist to having the funding and the food in the house for feeding her mafia stalkers. There is a lack of cohesiveness and all kinds of development, pacing, and logic issues in the world building.
This book needs massive, massive, massive cleanup, like multiple editors working on it to fix all of the issues. And I’m not talking about grammar, spelling, I’m talking about everything in the paragraph above where it’s an awful jacked up mess. Hire me, I’m not an editor, I could still fix this book because it could be brilliant and I would love to see it succeed.
She’s a drill, sergeant, mother, and I didn’t love that completely even though I loved the whole whimsical attitude with the spine of steel. It gets old with all the know at all attitude and mothering. The obsessive type of militant mothering that kind of made me want to run screaming from the room if I was there. It sometimes felt like it was a reworked Peter Pan story – feels like if this was an adult Wendy Darling bossing around the lost boys (and girls) who were shadow daddies in Victorian England?
The MMC is just flabbergasted by her Moxie and it’s quite understandable😂
The world building needs work explaining the world and how it operates. Because it doesn’t, really at all. I appreciate getting thrown into the action, I love that, but we also need a little bit of exposition to understand what we’re working with here. It’s obviously a fantasy world because it’s a blend of periods and technology. I’m OK with that. Just tell us where we are, what fantasy world, or are we in a speculative fiction alternate universe. I’m not even sure if we got the name of the city.
I also don’t love the 14 year age gap. She’s 27. He’s 41. I was reading the book the entire time thinking she was an older character, possibly in her 40s, but at least in her late 30s. Then she drops she’s 27 and I’m like how did that happen?
It gets a 1 to 2 star for the absolute frustration that one develops quite quickly because of all of the hot mess. It starts off so strong, engaging, whimsical, and you just know you’re about to settle in for a delightful read. No, it becomes a huge mass of frustration. I never got to the rage reading threshold, but I was pretty close.
Averaging it out at a two star rating because I don’t even know what to do with this.
It is a truly hot mess of repeated dialogue, cut and paste of some passages, repetition of dialogue and events, huge giant, annoying continuity issues, and sloppy errors and storytelling. Sometimes the logic is out the window. How can you be a fairly well off mafia king basically, and live without basic amenities. I can’t even imagine how bad these people smell, why are they starving? Do not even get me started on how she was going from a starving artist to having the funding and the food in the house for feeding her mafia stalkers. There is a lack of cohesiveness and all kinds of development, pacing, and logic issues in the world building.
This book needs massive, massive, massive cleanup, like multiple editors working on it to fix all of the issues. And I’m not talking about grammar, spelling, I’m talking about everything in the paragraph above where it’s an awful jacked up mess. Hire me, I’m not an editor, I could still fix this book because it could be brilliant and I would love to see it succeed.
She’s a drill, sergeant, mother, and I didn’t love that completely even though I loved the whole whimsical attitude with the spine of steel. It gets old with all the know at all attitude and mothering. The obsessive type of militant mothering that kind of made me want to run screaming from the room if I was there. It sometimes felt like it was a reworked Peter Pan story – feels like if this was an adult Wendy Darling bossing around the lost boys (and girls) who were shadow daddies in Victorian England?
The MMC is just flabbergasted by her Moxie and it’s quite understandable😂
The world building needs work explaining the world and how it operates. Because it doesn’t, really at all. I appreciate getting thrown into the action, I love that, but we also need a little bit of exposition to understand what we’re working with here. It’s obviously a fantasy world because it’s a blend of periods and technology. I’m OK with that. Just tell us where we are, what fantasy world, or are we in a speculative fiction alternate universe. I’m not even sure if we got the name of the city.
I also don’t love the 14 year age gap. She’s 27. He’s 41. I was reading the book the entire time thinking she was an older character, possibly in her 40s, but at least in her late 30s. Then she drops she’s 27 and I’m like how did that happen?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2026
Great start led into pure AGGRAVATION!
This story had such a great start! What a giant tease. I was captivated right up until the FMC’s ridiculous level of altruism took over the entire story. I kept hanging in there despite wanting to throw my kindle against the wall.
There were pages and pages on baking bread and making stew and overseeing a bunch of assassins - murderers with hearts of gold (of course) - learn how to cook and clean! I finally started skipping over these pages.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t skip over the FMC needing to feed and heal villains in the story that had just killed a bunch of her new friends. In addition, they took in their enemies, and of course, fed them, healed them and taught them to cook! The MMC - the shadow daddy head of the guild - seemed to have no qualms over the FMC’s insistence of this. He pretty much let her take over his whole organization. So unrealistic and made him appear just as ridiculous!
Her endless commentary on how people should care for themselves made the FMC come off as ridiculous. If I had to hear one more time the FMC saying, “somebody has to do it” in relation to her do-good actions, I was going to scream!
By the way, why on earth was this large group of big bad shadow assassins, along with their powerful shadow king, ALL starving, sleep deprived, sickly and living in squalor?? It makes no sense.
Also, why develop a character in the beginning as a fatherly figure who helped keep her fed with a roof over her head and when she ends up having to move in with the assassins, she never looks back! No word is given to him to explain her disappearance or to let him know if she’s even alive! Nope, instead her goals were to feed, heal and give endless advice to thugs who wanted to kill her.
With all this, the romance was driven to the background. I should have known the spice level would be low when the MMC was only titillated by her “hip”. WTH?! Several comments about his attention being specifically on that body part.
Regarding spice, though it was a well written scene, it was in the last 75% of the book and was only ONE scene. If only more time had been spent on spice and less on cooking, cleaning and endless chatter!
I’m sorry, but what could have been a really great story quickly slid into aggravation, and I cannot recommend this experience to anyone else.
This story had such a great start! What a giant tease. I was captivated right up until the FMC’s ridiculous level of altruism took over the entire story. I kept hanging in there despite wanting to throw my kindle against the wall.
There were pages and pages on baking bread and making stew and overseeing a bunch of assassins - murderers with hearts of gold (of course) - learn how to cook and clean! I finally started skipping over these pages.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t skip over the FMC needing to feed and heal villains in the story that had just killed a bunch of her new friends. In addition, they took in their enemies, and of course, fed them, healed them and taught them to cook! The MMC - the shadow daddy head of the guild - seemed to have no qualms over the FMC’s insistence of this. He pretty much let her take over his whole organization. So unrealistic and made him appear just as ridiculous!
Her endless commentary on how people should care for themselves made the FMC come off as ridiculous. If I had to hear one more time the FMC saying, “somebody has to do it” in relation to her do-good actions, I was going to scream!
By the way, why on earth was this large group of big bad shadow assassins, along with their powerful shadow king, ALL starving, sleep deprived, sickly and living in squalor?? It makes no sense.
Also, why develop a character in the beginning as a fatherly figure who helped keep her fed with a roof over her head and when she ends up having to move in with the assassins, she never looks back! No word is given to him to explain her disappearance or to let him know if she’s even alive! Nope, instead her goals were to feed, heal and give endless advice to thugs who wanted to kill her.
With all this, the romance was driven to the background. I should have known the spice level would be low when the MMC was only titillated by her “hip”. WTH?! Several comments about his attention being specifically on that body part.
Regarding spice, though it was a well written scene, it was in the last 75% of the book and was only ONE scene. If only more time had been spent on spice and less on cooking, cleaning and endless chatter!
I’m sorry, but what could have been a really great story quickly slid into aggravation, and I cannot recommend this experience to anyone else.
March 29, 2026
4,75 ✨
This was one of the most unique books I’ve read in a while with one of the most unique heroines I’ve EVER read.
Olivia was simply amazing and the way she rose to the position of top dog in the shadow guild by being an insanely kindhearted, hardworking and compassionate bulldozer with a spine of steel was absolutely incredible to read.
She was truly something special.
Some people might find this book really boring since not much happens in it other than Olivia domesticating a guild of assassins but I LOVED it.
This book is also just such a treat for character driven readers like me and every single character in it has found a place in my heart.
The found family was so lovely.
Olivia basically met a bunch of killers and decided to adopt them all.
The bond she created with each and every one of them was genuinely so beautiful.
And the romance!?
The understanding, support and quiet tenderness between Olivia and Ruvan was just everything.
I’m literally obsessed with the way they loved each other. Especially Ruvan. Olivia owned that man’s whole heart and soul.
She breathed new life into him and his guild, gave him something to live for and both literally and figuratively became the light of his life.
But Olivia also just made life better for EVERY person she came into contact with.
She was truly a well of love and managed to spread that love between both allies and enemies in a way that somehow didn’t make her seem naive.
She has definitely made the list of my all time favorite heroines and so many other heroines are gonna fall short for me purely because I’m gonna be comparing them to her.
This was one of the most unique books I’ve read in a while with one of the most unique heroines I’ve EVER read.
Olivia was simply amazing and the way she rose to the position of top dog in the shadow guild by being an insanely kindhearted, hardworking and compassionate bulldozer with a spine of steel was absolutely incredible to read.
She was truly something special.
Some people might find this book really boring since not much happens in it other than Olivia domesticating a guild of assassins but I LOVED it.
This book is also just such a treat for character driven readers like me and every single character in it has found a place in my heart.
The found family was so lovely.
Olivia basically met a bunch of killers and decided to adopt them all.
The bond she created with each and every one of them was genuinely so beautiful.
And the romance!?
The understanding, support and quiet tenderness between Olivia and Ruvan was just everything.
I’m literally obsessed with the way they loved each other. Especially Ruvan. Olivia owned that man’s whole heart and soul.
She breathed new life into him and his guild, gave him something to live for and both literally and figuratively became the light of his life.
But Olivia also just made life better for EVERY person she came into contact with.
She was truly a well of love and managed to spread that love between both allies and enemies in a way that somehow didn’t make her seem naive.
She has definitely made the list of my all time favorite heroines and so many other heroines are gonna fall short for me purely because I’m gonna be comparing them to her.
January 21, 2026
Beautifully written & lovely character duality ✨️
Love love love this! I'm a fan of a morally grey with a touch of "only soft for her" MMC + sunshine FMC with subtle (massive) strengths.
The character (primarily Olivia) idiosyncrasies were such a breath of fresh air - adding an almost rhythmic/symmetrical feel to the writing and structure of each chapter. Plus, there was a nice light arc of character growth, and a steady poetry in embracing imperfections.
Overall, a great duality between Ruvan & Oliva: shadow/light, darkness/color, criminal lord/endlessly determined caretaker...
The perfect amount of worldbuilding for the length, so I always felt engaged and not bogged down. I definitely would love to explore more in this world! Maybe Arthur or Joss? Or maybe someone completely new.
Will definitely be re-reading, and I have a feeling it'll be dreamy the second time around!
Love love love this! I'm a fan of a morally grey with a touch of "only soft for her" MMC + sunshine FMC with subtle (massive) strengths.
The character (primarily Olivia) idiosyncrasies were such a breath of fresh air - adding an almost rhythmic/symmetrical feel to the writing and structure of each chapter. Plus, there was a nice light arc of character growth, and a steady poetry in embracing imperfections.
Overall, a great duality between Ruvan & Oliva: shadow/light, darkness/color, criminal lord/endlessly determined caretaker...
The perfect amount of worldbuilding for the length, so I always felt engaged and not bogged down. I definitely would love to explore more in this world! Maybe Arthur or Joss? Or maybe someone completely new.
Will definitely be re-reading, and I have a feeling it'll be dreamy the second time around!
February 26, 2026
Don’t know how to feel about this one. Definitely not Dark Fantasy. More light cozy romantasy, but was it modern times or medieval? So mixed up. Assassins and shadows do not make dark fantasy. Timeline was all over the place. Short sentences, so jerky. Used for a certain character? Sure. A whole book? Made it hard to read and connect. Very close to DNF.
Main character was boring and so repetitive. The book was mostly about badly described food and feeding people and being unable to stop talking about food. We learnt about a blue thread about a million times.
I don’t like to drop stars because the genre wasn’t quite what I expected but this was just ok ish no matter the genre. Needs a really, really good edit or 10. I wanted to like it, it started well, great idea but it just fell flat.
Looking at her author profile, 10 books published in 2025? Screaming AI. Really disappointed if it is.
Main character was boring and so repetitive. The book was mostly about badly described food and feeding people and being unable to stop talking about food. We learnt about a blue thread about a million times.
I don’t like to drop stars because the genre wasn’t quite what I expected but this was just ok ish no matter the genre. Needs a really, really good edit or 10. I wanted to like it, it started well, great idea but it just fell flat.
Looking at her author profile, 10 books published in 2025? Screaming AI. Really disappointed if it is.
March 9, 2026
loved the premise, the characters, the story, and the pacing was okay, but the continuity errors were horrible. at one point, I was doing math to ensure I wasn't going crazy. if they weren't thrown in my face as often as they were I may have been able to accept them but the certainty within in which they were written pushed me to acknowledge the numbers and inevitably do the math.
for example, I'm still wondering how there were enough bedrooms and why she made chicken soup three different ways but always ended up with the same result or how she had money for soup and ingredients but still ate someone else's leftovers (I know he was being nice but still.) she went from barely being able to afford carrots to feeding like 6 people with nothing happening to make that shift believable.
with some editing, this is easily a 4 star read, but the fact I broke out a calculator and actually did math for this took me so far out of the story.
for example, I'm still wondering how there were enough bedrooms and why she made chicken soup three different ways but always ended up with the same result or how she had money for soup and ingredients but still ate someone else's leftovers (I know he was being nice but still.) she went from barely being able to afford carrots to feeding like 6 people with nothing happening to make that shift believable.
with some editing, this is easily a 4 star read, but the fact I broke out a calculator and actually did math for this took me so far out of the story.
February 28, 2026
Surprising delightful!
I don't normally leave reviews, but I really liked this book. After losing interest half way through several books lately it was great to find one that held my interest. No immature or stupid heroine. No over the top drama or stupid plotline that made me want to throw my kindle. Writers more and more seem to cram that stuff in even if doesn't further the plot or help character development. This is as far as I can tell a standalone and it was great to get a whole story in one book. I love series but sometimes it's really nice to get to the end faster. I enjoyed the writing and am going to look at other books by this author. That's not very common for me anymore.
I don't normally leave reviews, but I really liked this book. After losing interest half way through several books lately it was great to find one that held my interest. No immature or stupid heroine. No over the top drama or stupid plotline that made me want to throw my kindle. Writers more and more seem to cram that stuff in even if doesn't further the plot or help character development. This is as far as I can tell a standalone and it was great to get a whole story in one book. I love series but sometimes it's really nice to get to the end faster. I enjoyed the writing and am going to look at other books by this author. That's not very common for me anymore.
January 7, 2026
So charming and cute
How is a book about a clumsy artist seeking shelter with the notorious king of shadows so darn charming. It was a little redundant at some parts but that is exactly how a mom or grandma in my household would treat people. The humor was throughout and I finished this in 2.5 hours. It was a really good stand alone FM rom com with some darker aspects that compared healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms. There were many parts that reminded me of Olaf from frozen 2 with the kids of Arondale and teaching them how to cope with rough situations. It was a good read
How is a book about a clumsy artist seeking shelter with the notorious king of shadows so darn charming. It was a little redundant at some parts but that is exactly how a mom or grandma in my household would treat people. The humor was throughout and I finished this in 2.5 hours. It was a really good stand alone FM rom com with some darker aspects that compared healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms. There were many parts that reminded me of Olaf from frozen 2 with the kids of Arondale and teaching them how to cope with rough situations. It was a good read
January 22, 2026
This was a cute story with a massive found family trope at the center. There was a bit of romance, grumpy/sunshine and a bit of spice. But most of the story was focused on a magical painter adopting and domesticating a guild of shadow assassins, to the point of absurdity sometimes. I suspended my disbelief, and it helped me enjoy the story. I liked the characters as well. There was action and mild amount of tension. That said, there was no world building. I didn't know when, how, where or what in regards to the world. That part was so lacking. It would have been a much better read, if the author gave this matter its due.
December 26, 2025
You just have to read.
So I'm on facebook. Mindlessly scrolling for something to do. I get my books this way. When I see it. This book. About helping his killers eat vegetables. So I try and get it, but my account isn't set up. Bummer So I try and go back to the site, and it's gone. I go dang it. I just knew it was gonna be great. So I scroll some more and bam it's there. I sit down and finish this book in one setting. It's funny and wholesome while being a murderer lol. Definitely needs a book about the surprise at the end.
So I'm on facebook. Mindlessly scrolling for something to do. I get my books this way. When I see it. This book. About helping his killers eat vegetables. So I try and get it, but my account isn't set up. Bummer So I try and go back to the site, and it's gone. I go dang it. I just knew it was gonna be great. So I scroll some more and bam it's there. I sit down and finish this book in one setting. It's funny and wholesome while being a murderer lol. Definitely needs a book about the surprise at the end.
April 7, 2026
This is tricky. On the one hand, i tore thru this book with great, lovable characters, witty banter, and a fun (tho not too complex) plot. On the other hand, the book really needs an editor!! Repeated paragraphs, characters coming and going, phrases that stop being witty the 3rd time around. Not too distracting in the 1st 1/2 of the book, but increasingly jarring (pulling me out of the story) in the 2nd 1/2. I really liked it!! I was frustrated by the lack of editing! ... i think in the end i still recommend - it was a great story 😊
April 11, 2026
Ridiculous
At first, it was charming how unseriously this book takes itself with Olivia's ridiculous need to care for the Shadow Guild. But by the end of the book, it's gone so far beyond them that she's literally adopted all their enemies and insists on feeding everyone immediately. It's just too much. And it really wasn't necessary to mention cold water for removing blood from clothing like 20 times. We're smart enough to understand her compulsion after a handful of times; we don't need everything repeated ad nauseum.
At first, it was charming how unseriously this book takes itself with Olivia's ridiculous need to care for the Shadow Guild. But by the end of the book, it's gone so far beyond them that she's literally adopted all their enemies and insists on feeding everyone immediately. It's just too much. And it really wasn't necessary to mention cold water for removing blood from clothing like 20 times. We're smart enough to understand her compulsion after a handful of times; we don't need everything repeated ad nauseum.
April 12, 2026
not the best
I really struggled with this book. The writing felt disjointed — at times it didn’t even seem like full sentences were being used.
There’s no clear plot, the timeline is all over the place, and I was still confused by the end. I also couldn’t tell if it was meant to be medieval or modern — it felt like the book couldn’t decide.
The main characters had zero chemistry, and the development was shallow with no real arcs. It also badly needed proper editing and proofreading.
Overall, messy and hard to connect with.
I really struggled with this book. The writing felt disjointed — at times it didn’t even seem like full sentences were being used.
There’s no clear plot, the timeline is all over the place, and I was still confused by the end. I also couldn’t tell if it was meant to be medieval or modern — it felt like the book couldn’t decide.
The main characters had zero chemistry, and the development was shallow with no real arcs. It also badly needed proper editing and proofreading.
Overall, messy and hard to connect with.
September 25, 2025
What a clever little gem. I love how the MFC is unaffected by all the brutality and violence. If “It is what it is..so what’s next”, is a person it would be her. I appreciate the gentle delivery of big events throughout the storyline. It’s definitely an easy read when you feel like a romance with a bit of an off color sense of humor. Definitely 5 stars for the entire package from the world building, to the character development, down to the storyline. Cheers !!
November 13, 2025
Interesting and different..
This was a different take on gang life with paranormal, humor, sweetness, chemistry, and age gap romance. The h could have been younger maybe but still an alpha hotness though. I was laughing while reading this and the storyline was realistic. The heroine was not boring and not weak. Enjoyable read with emotional showing. Would have been nice if the epilogue included a baby scene. Still good ending though..definitely recommend.
This was a different take on gang life with paranormal, humor, sweetness, chemistry, and age gap romance. The h could have been younger maybe but still an alpha hotness though. I was laughing while reading this and the storyline was realistic. The heroine was not boring and not weak. Enjoyable read with emotional showing. Would have been nice if the epilogue included a baby scene. Still good ending though..definitely recommend.
February 12, 2026
Feels like AI wrote it
The idea of the plot was interesting but I couldn’t finish it. It reads like someone threw a prompt into a AI tool like ChatGBT and put their own name on writing it. I never felt like the characters were fleshed out beyond grumpy sunshine and there was a lack of world building. The plot idea itself was interesting and of less AI had been used it would be better.
The idea of the plot was interesting but I couldn’t finish it. It reads like someone threw a prompt into a AI tool like ChatGBT and put their own name on writing it. I never felt like the characters were fleshed out beyond grumpy sunshine and there was a lack of world building. The plot idea itself was interesting and of less AI had been used it would be better.
December 16, 2025
This was a fun one. The FMC was insane but in the best way. It was comedic and just an easy read. Very predictable but very enjoyable. It’s 4 stars instead of 5 because the big “fight”/climax of the story was only like a chapter. I wish it was longer, more of a fight, more of FMC’s chaos beyond enemy lines. But otherwise, loved it!
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