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SERIES REVIEW: The Silencer & His Prince (Unexpectedly Twisted Books 1 & 2) by Cora Rose
Unexpectedly Twisted: The Silencer – Cora Rose
When a little harmless flirting at a biker bar suddenly takes a turn for the worse and I find myself at odds with the dangerous Fallen Aces gang, I call on the only man I know who can save me.
Anthony Costello may be a vicious mafia boss with a penchant for violence and torture, but he’s also my best friend’s father and the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. His buttoned-up demeanor and grumpy attitude only fuel my desire to take him apart. I live to push all his buttons. And though he says he’s straight, it seems Anthony may have a soft spot and possessive streak for this smart-mouthed twink. Because as war between rival gangs escalates, things between Anthony and I start to heat up. And I think I’d rather like to sit on the king’s lap to watch it all burn.
The Unexpectedly Twisted series is a rom-com mafia spin-off of the Unexpected series. It contains dark themes and triggers, please see content warnings at the beginning of each book.
Rating:
2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a likeSoundtrack: feelslikeimfallinginlove
Artist: Coldplay
Album: Moon Music
Unexpectedly Twisted: His Prince – Cora Rose
All my life I’ve waited for my fairytale romance. Sheltered by my protective father and confined by the dangers of his mafia legacy, I’ve saved myself—my heart and body—all these years for this very moment…
Deadly handsome and charming, Mikhail Ivanov, strikes a deal with my father for my hand in marriage, ensuring my safety and building an alliance. And I thank my lucky stars Mikhail is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, his sweet mouth whispering sins and promises—that I’m his little prince, his angel.
But when the wedding ends and I’m left with a barren wasteland of secrets, lies, and broken promises from the man I trusted, my dreams suddenly become a living nightmare I can’t escape.
I should have known all along that fairy tales aren’t real, just as my dear husband should have known that even angels will get their revenge.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked itSoundtrack: Virtue
Artist: Matt Wills
Album: Cigarettes & City Lights
After last week’s Mobsters + Billionaires, this week is mobsters and twinks in Cora Rose‘s mafia romance series, Unexpectedly Twisted.
Books 1 and 2, The Silencer and His Prince, paired middle-aged, widower mob bosses to twinks half their age. The stories are in dual 1st person POVs. They should be read in order.
The Silencer runs on the daddy/brat dynamics. Tatum, a 21-year-old college student, constantly pushed 40-something Anthony Costello’s buttons. Anthony is the father of Tatum’s best friend, Angel. The older man is known to be straight and mourning his beloved late wife, Laura.
Their marriage was happy, and they even accepted a third, Luca, Anthony’s right-hand man and star of Book 3. They have twin sons, Diablo, a troublemaker befitting his name and already married, and Angel, the sweet one and star of Book 2.
Fast forward to the present, Tatum, nearly beaten to death by homophobes, was rescued by Anthony and was convalescing in the mob boss’s home. The younger man was crushing hard on Anthony and, from the get-go, went about poking the bear in the hopes of getting a rise from the other man.
Unfortunately, Tatum lacked charm, was annoyingly childish, and had no useful skills apart from shamelessly flirting. Anthony was a cardboard alpha male and completely forgettable. Some of the scenes that threw them together for USTs were so ridiculously contrived, they were like the pretexts used in porn.
Their connection didn’t go beyond sex and I couldn’t even recall them having a meaningful conversation with other. Tatum had deeper connections his bodyguard, Teddy, TBH.
That’s all for Tatum and Anthony. I suspect this is a series that gets better with every new installment because Book 2 was an improvement.
His Prince is about the arranged marriage between 23-year-old Angelo Costello and 42-year-old Mikhail Ivanov, the Russian mob boss on the East Coast. Angel’s father worried about his safety, Angel being too soft and too sweet, and so secured him a husband who would be able to protect him. It didn’t hurt that the arrangement was also good for his business.
After a whirlwind courtship, Angel is surprised that the marriage had soured right from the wedding night. Mikhail doesn’t want anything to do with him. Our boy wasn’t the softy everyone thought him to be. Instead, he won over all of Mikhail’s bodyguards and transformed the mob boss’s lifeless house into a colorful, vibrant home smelling of good food and flowers.
The plot is the opposite of Book 1 and tackles the themes of betrayal and trust. Mikhail had a complicated relationship with his wife, which ended tragically. He swore he could still feel her haunting him. Later, things come full circle, and he would face his ghosts.
Mikhail was borderline cardboard. The man had trust issues due to past betrayals, making it difficult to accept his new husband. It took him a while, but he did pull his head out of his ass and realized how awesome Angel is.
I liked Angel. He’s one of the reasons why the story was enjoyable. He was a compelling mix of sweet, sass, and steel. I loved the way he won over the Russians. Unlike his best friend, Angel can cook and bake and has one hell of a green thumb. He fearlessly faced down crazed mobsters to rescue his husband.
While our MCs are meh, the secondary characters were a riot! They’re really who I want to read about because I just KNOW their books would be delicious!
There’s happy, messy, lovable resident interrogator Bane, who gifts his favorite people with jewelry made of body parts as a sign of affection. He’s paired with the aloof and perfectly put-together Georgiy, the Russian mob’s doctor and interrogator. The scenes they had together are already fire!
Luca is a laid-back, flirty, cool-as-a-cucumber mobster who loves to provoke the easily flustered Victor, one of the trusted bodyguards. It seems Victor is indebted to Luca, which grates on the bodyguard’s nerves. The casual mentions of their antagonistic dynamics thrilled me!
Heck, even the rare teasers of Ivan, Mikhail’s brother, and Casey, Angel’s bodyguard really piqued my interest. Jake, the hearing-impaired gardener, and Teddy, Tatum’s unspeaking bodyguard, were a pleasantly unexpected combination when Teddy started talking to him in ASL. I hope they get their own book.
So far, Unexpectedly Twisted hasn’t offered anything truly unexpected or twisted. The Silencer and His Prince felt more like the slog before getting to the fun parts. I am seriously excited about the future books. Give me all the twists and turns!
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UNEXPECTEDLY TWISTED: Kindle | Audiobook
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PROMO BLITZ: Moody’s Grumpy Holiday by Lane Hayes
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COVER REVEAL: Accidentally Joining His Cult by Lexi Amber
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COVER REVEAL: Pumped by Linden Bell
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REVIEW: Bump in the Night by Nikole Knight & Lily Mayne
Black Oasis: Bump in the Night – Nikole Knight & Lily Mayne
You never know what’s hiding in your closet…At twenty-six, Ivy has their life figured out. They have a decent paying job at the London office of Somnus Entertainment–the gaming company behind the wildly popular game Black Oasis–a draughty flat they inherited from their wild great aunt, and a few select friends to pass the time. They’re a responsible adult, thank you very much, and while they might get lonely at times, they know better than to put too much stock into that fanciful notion known as love.
But when a skeevy encounter during a fun night at the pub devolves into a violent hate crime, their life changes forever.
Waking up in a demon dimension, beaten within an inch of their life, is bad enough. But add a snarky, haughty healer with the universe’s worst bedside manner, and Ivy knows they’re in for a long, excruciating recovery. Lau the Dreamwraith is prickly, arrogant, and entirely infuriating, but for some strange reason, he seems hellbent on nursing Ivy back to health. Despite Lau’s whinging over their “inferior human qualities,” there is a heat building between them that neither are able to fight. Like a match meeting kerosine, their chemistry ignites, but Ivy’s stay in the demon world is temporary and fire always burns out eventually.
Love is a dream, after all; it has no business in nightmares. Right?
Join Ivy and Lau as they nurture the sparks between them until they explode into an unexpected passion that crosses dimensions in Bump in the Night, the second book in Knight and Mayne’s co-authored queer, monster romance series, Black Oasis.
Bump in the Night is an M/X monster romance full of hurt/comfort, angst, humor, and a sweet, spicy love between a fiery Brit and their arrogant sleep demon. This love story contains explicit content and is not suitable for young readers. Be sure to check the Trigger Warnings at the beginning of the book for more details
Black Oasis, the dark and humorous monster romance series by Nikole Knight and Lily Mayne, is also the name of the MMORPG game about monsters. The first book, Whispers In The Dark, gave us the cinnamon roll Texan gamer, Cody, and his adoring monster boyfriend, Nor.
I recalled the hilarious scene in Whispers In The Dark when Nor’s best friend, the then shit-faced Lau, made cryptic complaints about humans. I was thrilled to find out why in this sequel!
Bump in the Night stars computer programmer Ivy, who works for Somnus Entertainment, the developer of Black Oasis. Ivy is non-binary and wears either pants or a dress. One night, on their way home from a club, they were targeted by haters and left for dead in an alley.
Then they woke up to find themselves in another dimension with a broken leg and more, under the care of an arrogant lilac-skinned sleep demon, Lau. The demon, who’s also the town healer, complains about how inferior humans are while tenderly nursing Ivy’s injuries, even gently shampooing their hair while they bathe.
I lived for the scenes where Lau would fuss and get all annoyed because Ivy was around. The next day, Ivy would find Lau had made him some crutches or retrieved a book from the human world because of a casual comment Ivy had made. The demon is always so careful about Ivy’s broken leg, even during passionate moments.
There was also the scene that tickled me pink, where Ivy found Lau sneaking back to bed and being super cagey. By morning, they discovered Lau secretly changed the tea can labels from demon language to English because he learned Ivy was trying to make tea the day before but didn’t know which can was which.
Also, secretly repairing Ivy’s torn dress that they wore during that fateful night.
And true to his tsundere form, our dorky Lau had apparently been stalking Ivy for months before their attack, then became skittish as a cat when Ivy turned around and returned his very loud unsaid feelings.
So far, the first two books have not delved deeply into the world-building. However, the first book had a darker, angstier tone while the second had a lighter, cozier vibe.
The opening and later chapters focus on Ivy’s mundane life in London. The story employs the forced proximity trope, with most scenes taking place inside Lau’s house as Ivy recuperates. This setting felt somewhat claustrophobic, as I wished to explore more of Lau’s world.
The plot is mostly domesticity, comfort, and healing, with the authors weaving their monster romance magic in the amusing and squee-tastic antagonistic dynamics between the clearly besotted demon and the quickly-falling-for-that-demon human.
The banter was made me chuckle and Lau’s bold declarations of his superiority as a demon were hilarious. My heart, along with Ivy’s, melted at the easy way he accepted Ivy’s non-binary identity, which of course, came with him declaring he is a he as in “He is Lau, the fearsome sleep demon!”
And this is why Ivy and Lau gave Cody and Nor a serious run for their money! If you ask me which couple is my favorite, I loved them both so much!
Lau, our favorite tsundere demon, is a grumpy grump who grumbles, but inside, his heart is as mushy as our sweet sleep demon Nor! I highly recommend audiobooking this because Michael Ferraiuolo’s performance of Lau was spot-on, capturing the bravado and vulnerability so convincingly!
Another favorite part is Vary, Lau’s himbo brother, who frequently crosses over to the human world. Why? It’s a happy surprise! I hope Vary’s book is next.
Bump in the Night is a story where a whole lot of grumpiness delivered the tenderest care. Funny and heartwarming, the deep connection and the poignant moments between two delightful characters is a reminder that even in the dark, there’s always room for love, sass, and a cup of tea.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Bump In The Night
Artist: Skittish
Album: The Perfect Shade of Green IIP.S.
Black Oasis should be read in order. Befriend that lonely monster under the bed in Whispers In The Dark.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Bump In The Night. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
BUMP IN THE NIGHT: Kindle | Audiobook
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