I was a good girl once. But bad b*tches get shit done.

My list is finished. Every name has been crossed off. I should be sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere, breathing easy for the first time in years.

But I’m not.

Because that asshole Ivan St. James refused to stay at the bottom of the river where Knox put him.

Because someone dragged his body up from the depths and laid it out as a very public, very gruesome warning.

Because I swear it was Hannah’s eyes I saw behind that mask.

Nothing makes sense anymore, and if I thought I might find some peace in knowing that the men who hurt us are dead, I was wrong.

The game isn’t over yet. The original deal I struck with the Kings of Chaos is null and void, and despite my plan to walk away from them when this was all done, there’s no way I can do that now.

Our fates are entwined, at least until we sort out this mess.

Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about that. Because as much as I refuse to let my walls down for anyone, I’m starting to think these four brutal, dangerous men…

Might be the only ones I can trust.

After finishing the first book in this series, I promised myself I’d wait till a new day before starting the next. Bank Holiday Monday gave me the perfect excuse to read.

Just like the last took, I will state it here: this book has TWs. It is filled with sex and violence. There are some moments of compassion and vulnerability but these are broken characters who function in a combined setting of sex and violence intertwining.

The cliffhanger of the first book set the start of this on a heavy high. I was still thinking WTF several chapters in. So, River isn’t parted from the Kings of Chaos for long as it appears more things have gone on than the characters expected.

The first focus of the plot is working out what happens and who knows what. This baseline of plot is super addictive in its own right. There are plenty of twists and turns and more WTF moments. Who knew that merging the criminal underbelly with a mystery would be so rewarding.

Outside of that plot you have the secondary plot – if it could be called that! – between the 5 characters. In the first book all the sexual encounters were very much about need and base desires. Any sort of feelings were quickly shut down. This book changes the dynamic slightly. There’s no ‘hand holding while walking down a sandy beach’ stuff but there is more openness and vulnerability between the characters.

As well as seeing River explain her past in detail to the Kings, we see them sharing their stories with her. Nothing about the relationship shared between the 5 is normal but I wouldn’t expect it to be.

Their vulnerability humanises them a little and proves that there is a level of care between them but it also doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of their characters or make any apologies for it.

So, the cliffhanger from book 1 had left me on tender-hooks thinking of what this book had in store. OMG! I even had theories on what was going to happen but I was still surprised (& my theories were wrong!) There’s so much chaos in the ending of this book that I still feel a little dazed from it. Like I know I need a break to process it before I read the 3rd book.

I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book, the two plotlines blended cohesively and I’m please to fins a story that can incorporate good sex with a good plotline and not make it feel like one or the other.

I give this spicy book: ✨✨✨✨✨