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REVIEW: Devilish by Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine
Devilish – Ella Frank & Brooke Blaine
In a world where everything is within his grasp, love is the only thing that’s ever eluded him.
Lucien Vale is temptation incarnate. Devilishly charming, wickedly confident, and sinfully sexy, he rules Manhattan’s most elite clubs, indulging the city’s darkest desires with a knowing smirk and a whisper of seduction. He’s built an empire, played the game to perfection, and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty when it serves the greater good.
But love? That’s always been just out of reach.
Then he sees Kai Daniels—a man too raw, too vulnerable, and too damn captivating to ignore—being used by someone who doesn’t deserve him. And Lucien doesn’t hesitate. He steps in, knowing full well that some things aren’t meant to be owned.
But Kai’s past isn’t ready to let him go. His tormentor is powerful, relentless, and determined to make them both pay. As the stakes rise, Lucien is forced to become the man he’s kept buried—the one who doesn’t just play the game but makes sure his enemies never play again.
Now, with danger closing in and their connection burning hotter than ever, Lucien and Kai must decide if they’re willing to risk everything for a love that was never part of the plan.
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Devilish can be read as a standalone novel in the Park Avenue Kings world, but for maximum enjoyment, read after Savage.
Devilish is the second book of Park Avenue Kings, a billionaire secret society romance by bestselling author duo Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine.
Our King this week is Lucien Vale, owner of a multinational sex club empire and secretly longing for that perfect sub to complete his life. One night in his club, he spotted a young man, Kai, mishandled by a wannabe dom and swooped in to rescue him. Learning Kai had nowhere to go, he offered to let him stay in his penthouse, no strings attached.
I initially dismissed this book as a hurdle to overcome before Alesso and Father Vitale’s book. The way his character was presented in the first book, Savage, it would seem Lucien is an over-sexed lothario ready to debaucher any pretty young thing in his wake. It didn’t help that the authors dressed him in silk shirts with too many buttons open, which screams tacky and sleazy.
Boy, was I wrong!
Lucien turned out to be quite angelic. He likes taking care of people and is a natural provider. He instinctively knew how to put the skittish Kai at ease, catering to the younger man’s needs and protecting Kai, who’s a victim of human trafficking, from his abusive owner. And without asking for anything in return.
The first parts of the book were cute and fluffy. Lucien is surprisingly cultured and well-read, often regaling Kai with obscure trivia. His house rivals a museum crammed with precious art and artifacts. He whisked Kai to Monaco for protection and entertained him with stargazing. And you know what they say when a boy shows you the stars…
So yeah, Lucien won me over. Green flags all the way!
Kai is sweet and playful, with a submissive side that fulfills the dom in Lucien. Homeless at 15 and a survivor at 23, Kai still has an innocent air about him. I loved how he embraced learning everything he could about the wider world. It’s fun listening to him banter with Lucien. Our boy can sass with the best of them.
The romance is slow-burn and achingly tender. It was a beautiful meeting of souls where the dom with a heart of gold found his perfect sub who loved and trusted him completely.
BDSM isn’t my jam, so my asexual ass found the detailed account of their BDSM scenes tedious and boring. One thing is certain: Lucien always treats Kai like the treasure he is.
My complaint is that we need more scenes featuring the Kings because most of their appearances are too brief. We are teased with each King’s quirks but honestly I think their brotherhood would be more memorable and dynamic if it’s not treated as a mere device to group a bunch of attractive but deadly billionaires together.
The secret society part drew me the most and just like Savage, I wish the books were more mission-focused rather than romance-focused. Seriously, a missed opportunity especially when you have a powerful and highly-specialized group such as the Kings.
Overall, Devilish is a charming portrait of an ideal dom/sub relationship. Equal parts sweet and spicy, sometimes fierce, sometimes gentle, always wholehearted.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Constellations
Artist: Tokyo Shoegazer
Album: Moonworld PlaygroundP.S.
Park Avenue Kings books can be read as standalones but meeting each King is a pleasure.
Savage is about the Shadow King and his meet-mysterious with an intrepid journalist.
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REVIEW: Covenant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor
The Firm: Covenant – Cora Rose & Lark Taylor
The Firm can make any wish come true.
Money. A job promotion. Murder.
Whatever you desire can be yours—for a price.The Firm has ruled St. Dismas for generations. To most, they’re just a myth.
But in truth, they are the last resort of the desperate.I never understood why anyone would go to The Firm. There’s always a price to pay—a price you won’t discover until your request has been granted.
It was a path I swore I’d never walk.
Or so I thought.When my brother is gravely injured, everything changes.
I have no choice but to go to The Firm.
I don’t know what they’ll ask of me, but I’ll give anything to save Jackson.
He has his whole life ahead of him, and I’ll make sure he gets to live it.But when my price comes due, it’s nothing like I expected.
Not drug smuggling or murder. Not the darkness I braced myself for.
No, this is worse.My price is to fulfill someone else’s request.
To give them what they asked for.A marriage.
For anyone else, it may seem simple. But not for me.
Because the man I must marry is my worst enemy.
My rival.
The man I once trusted above all others—until he shattered that trust and threw it back in my face.The idea of pretending to be Matthias’s doting husband for a year is my worst nightmare.
But I won’t do it for me.
I’ll do it for Jackson.
For my brother, I’ll pay the price.Even if it means condemning myself.
The Firm is a very, very promising new series by authors Cora Rose and Lark Taylor, giving us another lovable band of brothers. The Buckingham brothers are billionaires, gorgeous, memorable, and neck-deep in secrets and danger. Insta-faves!
Covenant opens the series with a second chance, arranged marriage romance between childhood friends-turned-enemies-to-lovers.
Wyatt Malone came from the trailer park and managed to build himself up as a top lawyer at a prestigious firm, only for everything to come crashing down when his brother, Jackson, was in a near-fatal accident. Barely affording food, much less physical therapy for Jackson, who lost a leg, he was forced to go to The Firm in a desperate bid to provide for his brother.
The Firm, the secret society ruling St. Dismas, grants requests for a price. They are more urban legend than reality for Wyatt, until that fateful day he made a request and they accepted it in exchange for marrying Matthias Buckingham who needs a husband to claim his inheritance.
Wyatt and Matthias were childhood friends looking forward to spending college together when a betrayal almost cost Wyatt his dream of becoming a lawyer. He never forgave Matt and never saw him again until 10 years later, when Matthias brought the firm Wyatt was working for.
The story is in Wyatt’s POV, with a few chapters in Matthias’s. I don’t encounter many stories where the POV is from the person experiencing bisexual awakening and is the top, so it’s a treat to read Wyatt’s thoughts. His internal dialogues were repetitive at some points, but the writing kept me hooked from start to finish.
As much as I enjoyed the story, I have to admit but as it progressed, we see Wyatt being spectacularly naive and whiney and Matthias’s remarkable selflessness. I low-key thought Wyatt doesn’t deserve Matthias.
The miscommunication trope was somewhat annoying as Matthias clearly wanted to explain his side of the story several times but Wyatt wasn’t ready to listen. I get he hates Matthias for what he thought his childhood friend had done, and being forced to be his husband is a punishment. But is it really?
Meanwhile, our boy Matthias is feeding the underfed Wyatt the most delicious food his chef concocts, housing him in the most sumptuous room, whisking him to a tropical island paradise, a.k.a. spoiling the heck out of the bratty Wyatt, and didn’t even require him to consummate the marriage. Just pretend to be a doting husband for a year.
My low-key thoughts became high-key annoyance at Wyatt when I learned that’s not all Matt was doing for him. Since the beginning, Matt was deeply in love with the oblivious Wyatt and had quietly taken care of him, even sacrificing his soul to the devil, a.k.a. his evil dad, to save his friend, who again had no clue. So I was incredibly pissed at the third arc break-up scene where Wyatt demanded Matt fight harder for them.
The way Matthias’s POV comes in flashbacks makes his connection to Wyatt even more compelling and heightens the mysterious way they fell apart and Matt’s return to Wyatt’s life. Matt’s perspective is angsty and heartbreaking, his loyalty to Wyatt unbreakable, and it made me root so hard for him!
Matt gave Wyatt everything he could, but I think it’s Matt who deserved the world.
Meh at Wyatt aside, his chemistry with Matt is undeniable. From the beginning, their interactions were positively electric, and watching them fall in love was a joy. It even made me forget there was a shoe waiting to drop. When it did, it exploded like a bomb!
The last chapters whiplashed from one shocking reveal after another. Keeping details to a minimum because finding out is the most fun part. That and the tear-jerking groveling from Wyatt tied everything into one hell of an emotional rollercoaster conclusion and the hard-earned happy ending the boys deserve.
Overall, Covenant is a poignant story of friendship, sacrifice, second chances, and awakening, beautifully weaving beloved tropes into a moving narrative, that even with a flawed MC, it’s worth the price!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Dare
Artist: The Mary Onettes
Album: IslandsP.S.
Oooh, the Buckinghams! These boys made my day!
Wylder – the eldest and so very serious. He talked the least and intrigued me the most
Cade – the psychopath. His book is next and the epilogue in Covenant teases us with his pretty twink love interest.
Samson -the grump so I’d love to see him get soft for a sunshiney love interest
Matthias – arrogant, also serious, but really a self-sacrificing cinnamon roll
Dalton – klepto and pervy. He’s a fun character who loves pushing Matty’s buttons
Harley – the spoiled and coddled youngest who’s thirsting after Matty’s chef
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RELEASE BLITZ: Covenant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor
