I was a good girl once. But now they’ve unleashed the devil in me.

My sister is gone. I held her in my arms while she took her last breath, and now I don’t feel like I can breathe.

Once, I had a list with six names on it.

Now there’s only one name that whispers through my mind like a siren call to my demons.

Julian f*cking Maduro.

He took her from me. So I’m going to take everything from him. With the Kings of Chaos by my side, I’m going to dismantle his life piece by piece.

He’s powerful, but we’ll be stronger.

He’s vicious, but we’ll be more cruel.

He’s cunning, but we’ll be more devious.

And when all of this is over…

He’ll be dead, and we’ll be dancing on his ashes.

Literally every book in this series has upped the ante when it comes to a final cliffhanger. I don’t even know what to do with myself at this point. As usual this book has a TW and there is lots of sex and violence – sometimes at the same time. This is a Dark Reverse Harem so if you are offended by that, please bypass this review.

So, I waited a day from finishing book 2 before I started on reading book 3 (this book). But it was killer to wait a day even though I knew I needed a break before continuing with the series.

At the beginning of this book River is unlike the character I have come to know. Wracked by guilt and despair, she truly is a different person. I like that we got to see her suffer in a different way and that the author didn’t speed through that passage of time with a turn of the page.

River’s suffering is something that the King’s cannot stand to see but they help her through her ordeal and rather than the author focusing on something else of filling up the pages with endless sex, we are allowed to view the group as they work through this development and that was really wonderful to read.

There are new stakes in this book, a new mission for River to focus on. The dynamics have changed again but that is because the characters have allowed themselves to be more open and recognise what is blossoming between them. There has been no declaration of love, but I don’t think that is necessarily needed with these characters. Most of their affection is done through touch and more than one-character finds expressing feelings through words a difficult thing to do. While their relationship may only work in the pages of a book, everything they do is carefully drawn alongside the individuals that they are.

There is a deeper element of understanding between the five. I think the King’s get a darker look into how far River is willing to take things and I think they realise that nothing they do could make River part from their side. It’s a deeply passionate relationship they share which almost seems magical.

There’s a really great moment where River references the title of Book 2 as what she sees herself as in the moment.

When I was reading this, I thought I was coming to the climax of the book only to realise I was only at 77% on my Kindle. I really should have paid more attention to that because if I had, I might have been less unaware of what was coming.

Not that I would have a clue at what awaited me at the end of this book. I’ve said it before how this series has twists and turns and how the mystery, the ‘mission’ side of the plot has as much importance as the relationship and sex side. This was artful writing because I didn’t see it coming. It wasn’t even a thought that had entered my head and as it was revealed I was kicking myself for not seeing it as a possibility.

I read the end of this book on my lunchbreak which honestly wasn’t the brightest thing to do because I’m completely up in the air over it and gasping to get into reading the final book before I combust over the cliffhanger in this book!!

The sex side of the plot was intense in this book. There is more interaction with all five of them together rather than River and one individual. It was needed, I think, to cement the relationship. It is hot and heavy though, so perhaps not a book to read in public! Even though there was still quite a lot of sex, I felt that it came secondary to the other side of the plot, or perhaps it felt less important against the backdrop of the new mission and the exploration of feelings between the five.

Both sides of the plot complemented each other beautifully. They managed to co-exist together and neither part outshone the other.

With one book left in the series, I am wondering which way the plot will go and whether the final ending will be a cliffhanger or a HEA.

I give this smoking book: ✨✨✨✨✨