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Sinners #1
There Are No Saints
I loathe Alastor Shaw.
The city of San Francisco thinks we’re rival artists.
In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground.
We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch.
Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game.
I’m fixated on her for a different reason…
She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted.
Only she can make me lose control.
I don’t know if I should protect her at all costs… or destroy her before she ruins me.
Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…
The Lark Notes:
I have always been fascinated by true crime, as well as by villains and anti-heroes. A serial killer is, of course, the ultimate anti-hero — the baddest of the bad boys. Redeeming a character who starts so evil was a challenge that inspired me to entirely new heights and entirely new depths. Come on this darkly sensual and utterly brain-bending ride with me! — Sophie
"There Are No Saints” is the first book in the Sinners Duet. Reader be warned: this is a dark and steamy serial killer romance that will take you on a journey through the twisted mind of an artist on the brink of madness.
The city of San Francisco thinks we’re rival artists.
In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground.
We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch.
Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game.
I’m fixated on her for a different reason…
She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted.
Only she can make me lose control.
I don’t know if I should protect her at all costs… or destroy her before she ruins me.
Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…
The Lark Notes:
I have always been fascinated by true crime, as well as by villains and anti-heroes. A serial killer is, of course, the ultimate anti-hero — the baddest of the bad boys. Redeeming a character who starts so evil was a challenge that inspired me to entirely new heights and entirely new depths. Come on this darkly sensual and utterly brain-bending ride with me! — Sophie
"There Are No Saints” is the first book in the Sinners Duet. Reader be warned: this is a dark and steamy serial killer romance that will take you on a journey through the twisted mind of an artist on the brink of madness.
258 pages, ebook
First published October 20, 2021
12326 people are currently reading
163470 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Lark
44 books23.5k followersPowerful Romance
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 12,527 reviews
October 29, 2022
imagine the show “YOU” but he falls in love and doesn’t kill the girl. he begins to “feel” emotions he’s never felt before. and she has him on an invisible fucking leash! that is this book and i ate it up like it was my last meal.
Mara is a broke and struggling artist who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and eventually finds herself in a studio/apartment thanks to Cole Blackwell. the psychopath that’s been stalking her and manipulating her every move.
Cole is a rich and respected artist too that takes Mara under his wing. he tells himself it’s to just fuel his curiosity but really he’s just finally experiencing real emotions and doesn’t know wtf to about them that doesn’t involve murder.
Mara and Cole’s chemistry is palpable from the first moment. Mara is so admirable, strong, and will put this psycho in his place when needed. she isn’t the “i can change him” type or the super submissive type that would make me say “stand up girl” cole does that all on his own. she literally makes him feel regret for the first time for some shit he pulled. and if there’s one thing i’m gonna eat up, is a woman bringing wreaking chaos on a very organized man UNAPOLOGETICALLY!!! the shear revenge she pulls…she’s the puppeteer and he’s the puppet!
and omfg it’s the way i was twirling my hair and kicking my feet in every fucking scene. idek who i’m attracted to more?! like if mara was mine, i’d cherish her at her feet 24/7 and if cole was mine, i wouldn’t even try to change him. i’d accept him with all his darkness 🤤🧎🏻♀️
the plot, the WRITING, the characters were everything but a miss! it was so refreshing and put me out of the biggest reading slump! i never thought i could become pregnant from a book yet here we are 🤰
Mara is a broke and struggling artist who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and eventually finds herself in a studio/apartment thanks to Cole Blackwell. the psychopath that’s been stalking her and manipulating her every move.
Cole is a rich and respected artist too that takes Mara under his wing. he tells himself it’s to just fuel his curiosity but really he’s just finally experiencing real emotions and doesn’t know wtf to about them that doesn’t involve murder.
Mara and Cole’s chemistry is palpable from the first moment. Mara is so admirable, strong, and will put this psycho in his place when needed. she isn’t the “i can change him” type or the super submissive type that would make me say “stand up girl” cole does that all on his own. she literally makes him feel regret for the first time for some shit he pulled. and if there’s one thing i’m gonna eat up, is a woman bringing wreaking chaos on a very organized man UNAPOLOGETICALLY!!! the shear revenge she pulls…she’s the puppeteer and he’s the puppet!
and omfg it’s the way i was twirling my hair and kicking my feet in every fucking scene. idek who i’m attracted to more?! like if mara was mine, i’d cherish her at her feet 24/7 and if cole was mine, i wouldn’t even try to change him. i’d accept him with all his darkness 🤤🧎🏻♀️
the plot, the WRITING, the characters were everything but a miss! it was so refreshing and put me out of the biggest reading slump! i never thought i could become pregnant from a book yet here we are 🤰
November 6, 2021
well. looks like i’m into serial killer romances now. so that’s brand new information. in my defense, sociopaths should not be this attractive.
Read
November 28, 2024Forever struggling when it comes to reviewing dark romances; the level of entertainment I derive from the genre never fully aligns with my critical thoughts of the novel. Usually, I’d slap a two star on it and make a quick joke about one of the outrageous scenes I just read (of which, naturally, there is no limit), but this time I feel the need to be a touch more diligent.
There Are No Saints follows two artists: Cole, a prolific serial killer, and Mara, his newest obsession. The spiral of lust and drama that ensues is typical, but exciting nonetheless. Also, there’s murder 😀
The main contributor to my rating is the book’s readability. I sped through and finished it in less than 48 hours. I intend to do the same with the sequel (which is STARING at me from across the room as we speak). I mean, shit! I’m sitting here, half-risen from my digital grave, typing out an explanation of my thoughts (or trying to anyway…reviewing books is *not* like riding a bike). When was the last time that happened?
Lark’s duology is most likely not going to be one that I’d recommend outright. The writing is simple, the characters shallow. There’s a prominent sex scene that treads steadfastly into the realm of non-con, which I am not personally a fan of and I know is tricky for plenty of others as well. That said, the plot was excessive enough to keep me turning pages and I’m all strapped in for wherever book two goes.
I really hope that this acts as a gateway to re-immerse myself in reading far more broadly again, but even if my motivation dies out, I FINISHED A BOOK! AND I HAD FUN! FINALLY! I’m LITERALLY about to scream it from the rooftops, but y’all were the first to know <3
There Are No Saints follows two artists: Cole, a prolific serial killer, and Mara, his newest obsession. The spiral of lust and drama that ensues is typical, but exciting nonetheless. Also, there’s murder 😀
The main contributor to my rating is the book’s readability. I sped through and finished it in less than 48 hours. I intend to do the same with the sequel (which is STARING at me from across the room as we speak). I mean, shit! I’m sitting here, half-risen from my digital grave, typing out an explanation of my thoughts (or trying to anyway…reviewing books is *not* like riding a bike). When was the last time that happened?
Lark’s duology is most likely not going to be one that I’d recommend outright. The writing is simple, the characters shallow. There’s a prominent sex scene that treads steadfastly into the realm of non-con, which I am not personally a fan of and I know is tricky for plenty of others as well. That said, the plot was excessive enough to keep me turning pages and I’m all strapped in for wherever book two goes.
I really hope that this acts as a gateway to re-immerse myself in reading far more broadly again, but even if my motivation dies out, I FINISHED A BOOK! AND I HAD FUN! FINALLY! I’m LITERALLY about to scream it from the rooftops, but y’all were the first to know <3
January 12, 2022
✨2 if you want to watch an egoMANIACal artist and his pierce-nippled (or is it nipple-pierced?) protégé scream at each other (insert slash) you in BLOCK CAPITALS, be Ms. Lark' guest stars. ✨ No judgment, I promise. 🙏🏻
The black sheep of the rat pack on the line. Hi, guys, no, I'm not schizophrenic, not yet (only on my merry way).
Lemme go google PTSD symptoms right now because where the absurd theatre of a plot failed to deliver the semi-mortal blow to my psyche, Miss Lark's writing style went there and said to the plot: HOLD MY FUCKING BEER, YOU SON OF A BITCH 🙌🏻
Otherwise, how would you explain the obsessed quality to the following two paragraphs I wrote? ⬇️ (If there are any psychologists or god forbid psychiatrists out there, 😓 who by some unlucky coincidence read the below written paragraphs, I have a message for them: stay away from the comment section!!! I need not be called out on things I'm willingly exposing rn, thanks in advance)
The only thing that I remotely understood and that made sense to me when it comes to this book: Ms. Lark and BLOCK CAPITALS HAVE DEVELOPED AN UNPRECEDENTED, UNEXPECTED, UNBEKNOWNST TO HUMANKIND FRIENDSHIP and this book is A LIVING AND BREATHING TESTAMENT to it. A LIVING AND BREATHING TESTAMENT. 🤡
Did I just MAKE a point?? Yes, yes, I THINK I did. I express my sincere gratitude to the author. RANDOMLY leaving the Caps Lock on while typing this book was TRULY the only thing that made sense to me. High literature calls for innovative, lazy writing techniques that we, basic GR bitches, (ME, to be more specific, but I'm trying to be as inclusive in this review as our progressive time warrants for??) so casually apply when typing our horse-shitty, UNPAID reviews.
I swear I should start capitalizing on my trashy, emoji-filled, block capital galore reviews. #stopbeingbrokebitch
So, this writing style (block capitals have eaten half of my brain cells, you see) was my perfect cue to leave the undoubtedly amazing story in the peace and quiet of its naked literary glory. In other circumstances, I would take any other author up on their generous offer to run away 🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♀️and even appreciate it. 😘 (Returning to large block capitals: when people scream at me, my first instinct is to run. Can you really blame me? It's just a coping mechanism of mine. When Mara and Cole thought or talked in Caps Lock, making me feel being screamed at, the wires in my brain ...). But I take my promises very SERIOUSLY, so if I PROMISE I'll buddy read this book with my CHERISHED rats, I'll stick to my pinky, even if it KILLS me to do so. (my parroting ms. Lark's writing style is so petty and childish, but believe me, I'll never hold a candle to the mastery. Thank god for small mercies). 🙏🏻🙌🏻
SPOILERS, KINDLY FUCK OFF IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY, LOVELIES ❤️❤️❤️
I have so many better things to do right now (going to sleep is priority number one) so I'll just leave a very brief outline of my brain activity while reading this piece of high literature. ❤️
But first, let me introduce the
PLAYERS
of
this
tragicomedy
COLE (H) — MY EGO IS SO FUCKING BIG. NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S ENORMOUS. I'm gonna slap your face with it because it's actually bigger than my dick. Take it or leave it, no dick slaps. Also, lemme tell you 1000 times how I'm better than Alastor because that's what an egomaniac would do. 💯 guarantee.
MARA (h) — Oh, bitches, I'm such a badass. I'm so fucked up. My dark side craves my possible under(dog) murder. I'm so very different from any other dark romance heroine you've read. I can even fuck my tattoo artist to get revenge on a guy I like. WANNA GET A GLIMPSE, babes? I'll show you a videotape regardless. I'm so defiant. I'm so bold. I'm so clever thinking with my clit. *wink-wink*
ALASTOR (?) - WHO AM I AND WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE? WHY DO I KILL ALL THESE WOMEN? WHAT'S THIS BOOK ABOUT? *panicked silent scream*
Wait... My psyche is a deep, dark, bottomless abyss... I mean.. ahem, well, never mind, I'm just so irrelevant to the plot it hurts. 🥺 I had to give Cole an excuse to look twice at this stupid Mara bitch, without me she would never, like she should be grateful I —
1
2
3
...
— Alastor who?
— boring, even Caps Lock doesn't help me get all the feels 👄
— why do those dialogues between murderous psychopaths belong in kindergarten?
— can I get some interaction between the main characters already?
— hmm, I'd do the same if I were a psychopath... treat her as if she were stubborn dirt stuck on the bottom of your polished leather shoes, Cole. Good boy 😇
— THAT CAPS LOCK IS RUINING MY MOOD, MS. LARK
— gross, Mara, don't let some random dude you don't even like call you his dirty little whore while he fingers your cunt in the public place. Did he even wash his hands? OMG.
DID YOU FORGET WHO IS YOUR TRUE HERO? Only Cole should exercise the exclusive rights over all the pretty endearments ❤️
— didn't know stalking could sound like a tedious task. I'm on the verge of tearing up from the sheer boredom of it
—Cole is very perceptive, not gonna lie. ❤️ YES, DISSECT MARA'S PERSONALITY, MY BOY, explain what's so special about her to me so I could understand it too 👀
—Do you happen to have a habit of telling the person who you suspect had almost slaughtered you like a stuffed, yummy rooster a few weeks ago or so your entire family history on a whim of the moment? No?? Just Mara? Okay, good ❤️
—FINE. You win. 😓 BRING IT ON, GIVE ME MARA'S REVENGE CHEATING scene. That one should make me feel something. Disgust, pride, incredulity... anything will do. Right? RIGHT??? My two brain cells are equipped to welcome the least romantic scene, in my humblest opinion (call me traditional and narrow-minded ❤️😘)
— okay... *pretends*:
1) to be shocked and in awe of Mara's bedroom and scheming skills (synonyms in the context of this story);
2) to be swooning over the badassery of the act;
3) to admire Cole's ability to use the videotape of some dude fucking the chick he likes as a porn video to jerk off to AND an online/offline study case to learn her sexual preferences.
Revenge delivered, Mara. 👍🏻 Cole wanted you to suck some other dude off just ONCE (nice and possessive guy, isn't he?) but you preferred to provide him with the video of the year "All Kama Sutra positions", starring you? So that he could rewatch it HUNDRED TIMES?? NICELY DONE, Mara.👏🏻 Revenge porn said hi:)
OKAY, NEXT
— Cole has his moments, but he's such a big pussy skskskskjhjhjjsj. I can see his pussy lips showing oops ()
— of course, use every clichéd, stalker slash psychopath trick in the book, Cole, why don't you, creativity is overrated, I —
— boring -
— don't talk to me about this mutual tattooing scene. Never mention it, never again, my suspension of disbelief almost crumpled...
—Alastor who again?
— weird sex scene, but I've read weirder. Nice try to shock me, cringey babes ❤️
— Alastor who? (Dementia, I didn't see you coming that early 😭)
— why does no one give a single flying fuck about artists who kill people left and right and don't even bother to hide the fact that hard ... like? Cops be smoking weed instead of listening to survivors of attacks. Anything to keep the plot flowing smoothly. 👍🏻
— Alastor who?
—THE END 🙏🏻 SEE YOU GUYS, Cole and Mara, how about ... never again? ❤️
I love how cyclical this live footage turned out. It ends and begins with Alastor who I couldn't give a single fuck about. ❤️ The blurb leads a separate life, AS IT SHOULD. Confuse my brain one more time.
Where is the promised romance, though?
Powerplay? If you call sucking some random dude's cock and then fucking him like a pro prostitute, but for free? Yes. At least she should have demanded a fee for Cole's video recording her since he used it later for learning purposes 😈
Obsession from madame Cole? - Yeah, cool... never mind, he's more of a pussy than Mara. Mara has a cock and Cole has a pussy, I vote for
the second book to become a transgender romance. ❤️🙏🏻 The audience will follow this author's work with a standing ovation!! ❤️
Romance? — No. I wasn't sold on it. He chose to jerk off to her fuck-fest(ish) encounter with an irrelevant dude because apparently claiming her worn-out pussy for himself was too much work. Why would he bother, though? As I've said, he's groomed and grown his own one. 😂🤡 (Jesus, I'm so terrible today, bye)
See y'all soon (unless you blocked and deleted my toxic ass from your friend list after this word vomit). ❤️❤️❤️
The black sheep of the rat pack on the line. Hi, guys, no, I'm not schizophrenic, not yet (only on my merry way).
Lemme go google PTSD symptoms right now because where the absurd theatre of a plot failed to deliver the semi-mortal blow to my psyche, Miss Lark's writing style went there and said to the plot: HOLD MY FUCKING BEER, YOU SON OF A BITCH 🙌🏻
Otherwise, how would you explain the obsessed quality to the following two paragraphs I wrote? ⬇️ (If there are any psychologists or god forbid psychiatrists out there, 😓 who by some unlucky coincidence read the below written paragraphs, I have a message for them: stay away from the comment section!!! I need not be called out on things I'm willingly exposing rn, thanks in advance)
The only thing that I remotely understood and that made sense to me when it comes to this book: Ms. Lark and BLOCK CAPITALS HAVE DEVELOPED AN UNPRECEDENTED, UNEXPECTED, UNBEKNOWNST TO HUMANKIND FRIENDSHIP and this book is A LIVING AND BREATHING TESTAMENT to it. A LIVING AND BREATHING TESTAMENT. 🤡
Did I just MAKE a point?? Yes, yes, I THINK I did. I express my sincere gratitude to the author. RANDOMLY leaving the Caps Lock on while typing this book was TRULY the only thing that made sense to me. High literature calls for innovative, lazy writing techniques that we, basic GR bitches, (ME, to be more specific, but I'm trying to be as inclusive in this review as our progressive time warrants for??) so casually apply when typing our horse-shitty, UNPAID reviews.
I swear I should start capitalizing on my trashy, emoji-filled, block capital galore reviews. #stopbeingbrokebitch
So, this writing style (block capitals have eaten half of my brain cells, you see) was my perfect cue to leave the undoubtedly amazing story in the peace and quiet of its naked literary glory. In other circumstances, I would take any other author up on their generous offer to run away 🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♀️and even appreciate it. 😘 (Returning to large block capitals: when people scream at me, my first instinct is to run. Can you really blame me? It's just a coping mechanism of mine. When Mara and Cole thought or talked in Caps Lock, making me feel being screamed at, the wires in my brain ...). But I take my promises very SERIOUSLY, so if I PROMISE I'll buddy read this book with my CHERISHED rats, I'll stick to my pinky, even if it KILLS me to do so. (my parroting ms. Lark's writing style is so petty and childish, but believe me, I'll never hold a candle to the mastery. Thank god for small mercies). 🙏🏻🙌🏻
SPOILERS, KINDLY FUCK OFF IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY, LOVELIES ❤️❤️❤️
I have so many better things to do right now (going to sleep is priority number one) so I'll just leave a very brief outline of my brain activity while reading this piece of high literature. ❤️
But first, let me introduce the
PLAYERS
of
this
tragicomedy
COLE (H) — MY EGO IS SO FUCKING BIG. NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S ENORMOUS. I'm gonna slap your face with it because it's actually bigger than my dick. Take it or leave it, no dick slaps. Also, lemme tell you 1000 times how I'm better than Alastor because that's what an egomaniac would do. 💯 guarantee.
MARA (h) — Oh, bitches, I'm such a badass. I'm so fucked up. My dark side craves my possible under(dog) murder. I'm so very different from any other dark romance heroine you've read. I can even fuck my tattoo artist to get revenge on a guy I like. WANNA GET A GLIMPSE, babes? I'll show you a videotape regardless. I'm so defiant. I'm so bold. I'm so clever thinking with my clit. *wink-wink*
ALASTOR (?) - WHO AM I AND WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE? WHY DO I KILL ALL THESE WOMEN? WHAT'S THIS BOOK ABOUT? *panicked silent scream*
Wait... My psyche is a deep, dark, bottomless abyss... I mean.. ahem, well, never mind, I'm just so irrelevant to the plot it hurts. 🥺 I had to give Cole an excuse to look twice at this stupid Mara bitch, without me she would never, like she should be grateful I —
1
2
3
...
— Alastor who?
— boring, even Caps Lock doesn't help me get all the feels 👄
— why do those dialogues between murderous psychopaths belong in kindergarten?
— can I get some interaction between the main characters already?
— hmm, I'd do the same if I were a psychopath... treat her as if she were stubborn dirt stuck on the bottom of your polished leather shoes, Cole. Good boy 😇
— THAT CAPS LOCK IS RUINING MY MOOD, MS. LARK
— gross, Mara, don't let some random dude you don't even like call you his dirty little whore while he fingers your cunt in the public place. Did he even wash his hands? OMG.
DID YOU FORGET WHO IS YOUR TRUE HERO? Only Cole should exercise the exclusive rights over all the pretty endearments ❤️
— didn't know stalking could sound like a tedious task. I'm on the verge of tearing up from the sheer boredom of it
—Cole is very perceptive, not gonna lie. ❤️ YES, DISSECT MARA'S PERSONALITY, MY BOY, explain what's so special about her to me so I could understand it too 👀
—Do you happen to have a habit of telling the person who you suspect had almost slaughtered you like a stuffed, yummy rooster a few weeks ago or so your entire family history on a whim of the moment? No?? Just Mara? Okay, good ❤️
—FINE. You win. 😓 BRING IT ON, GIVE ME MARA'S REVENGE CHEATING scene. That one should make me feel something. Disgust, pride, incredulity... anything will do. Right? RIGHT??? My two brain cells are equipped to welcome the least romantic scene, in my humblest opinion (call me traditional and narrow-minded ❤️😘)
— okay... *pretends*:
1) to be shocked and in awe of Mara's bedroom and scheming skills (synonyms in the context of this story);
2) to be swooning over the badassery of the act;
3) to admire Cole's ability to use the videotape of some dude fucking the chick he likes as a porn video to jerk off to AND an online/offline study case to learn her sexual preferences.
Revenge delivered, Mara. 👍🏻 Cole wanted you to suck some other dude off just ONCE (nice and possessive guy, isn't he?) but you preferred to provide him with the video of the year "All Kama Sutra positions", starring you? So that he could rewatch it HUNDRED TIMES?? NICELY DONE, Mara.👏🏻 Revenge porn said hi:)
OKAY, NEXT
— Cole has his moments, but he's such a big pussy skskskskjhjhjjsj. I can see his pussy lips showing oops ()
— of course, use every clichéd, stalker slash psychopath trick in the book, Cole, why don't you, creativity is overrated, I —
— boring -
— don't talk to me about this mutual tattooing scene. Never mention it, never again, my suspension of disbelief almost crumpled...
—Alastor who again?
— weird sex scene, but I've read weirder. Nice try to shock me, cringey babes ❤️
— Alastor who? (Dementia, I didn't see you coming that early 😭)
— why does no one give a single flying fuck about artists who kill people left and right and don't even bother to hide the fact that hard ... like? Cops be smoking weed instead of listening to survivors of attacks. Anything to keep the plot flowing smoothly. 👍🏻
— Alastor who?
—THE END 🙏🏻 SEE YOU GUYS, Cole and Mara, how about ... never again? ❤️
I love how cyclical this live footage turned out. It ends and begins with Alastor who I couldn't give a single fuck about. ❤️ The blurb leads a separate life, AS IT SHOULD. Confuse my brain one more time.
Where is the promised romance, though?
Powerplay? If you call sucking some random dude's cock and then fucking him like a pro prostitute, but for free? Yes. At least she should have demanded a fee for Cole's video recording her since he used it later for learning purposes 😈
Obsession from madame Cole? - Yeah, cool... never mind, he's more of a pussy than Mara. Mara has a cock and Cole has a pussy, I vote for
the second book to become a transgender romance. ❤️🙏🏻 The audience will follow this author's work with a standing ovation!! ❤️
Romance? — No. I wasn't sold on it. He chose to jerk off to her fuck-fest(ish) encounter with an irrelevant dude because apparently claiming her worn-out pussy for himself was too much work. Why would he bother, though? As I've said, he's groomed and grown his own one. 😂🤡 (Jesus, I'm so terrible today, bye)
See y'all soon (unless you blocked and deleted my toxic ass from your friend list after this word vomit). ❤️❤️❤️
January 21, 2022
2 stars
if machine gun kelly and megan fox wrote a book about their relationship i imagine it would go something like this
if machine gun kelly and megan fox wrote a book about their relationship i imagine it would go something like this
October 18, 2022
– 3.5 stars
I don't know if this book meant to be hilarious or not, but it was cracking me up from the first chapter til the last 😂
The premise of this book was pretty ... unique? interesting? i don't know exactly what is was, cause the blurb was very confusing, but i was intrigued nonetheless. so here the main players:
– Mara Eldritch (h) – poor artist
– Cole Blackwell (H) – rich artist & serial killer
– Alastor Shaw (villain) – rich, but not as rich as Cole, rival artist & serial killer n°2, but more messy
The romance is solely between Mara & Cole no love triangle or anything, but Alastor does play a very big role in this book overall, mostly at the beginning and the end.
There Are No Saints was so so over the top, hilarious and weird. Sophie Lark really upped the weirdness and I was dying 😂
➡️ Cole's first impression of Mara when he sees her for the first time (Chapter 1)
➡️ Mara is getting kidnapped by Alastor and the kind of abuse she went through (Chapter 2)
➡️ Alastor also cut Mara's wrist and left her as a gift for Cole (Chapter 3)
DEAD. Not the S&M outfit while she's laying on the ground bleeding to death dkksdks 🤚
➡️ My man Cole's showstopping reaction when he sees his gift
Please bwahahaha that was so funny! Cole didn't give one single fuck that there was girl bleeding at his feet and he just stepped over her like some trash not worth picking up 🤣🤣🤣
➡️ Mara survived by sheer will and it's not that easy to kill this mf, but Cole doesn't know. Weeks go by and one day he sees her and Mara being alive surprises him and he becomes fullly obsessed with her and stalks her (Chapter 7)
Cole is a comedian!! He went from 0 to 100 so quickly that's not normal?! 💀 One day he is stepping over her half dead body like she's some cockroach you don't want to touch and the next day he's breaking in her apartment and licking her panties like that's his life purpose. SIR CALL 911 😂
➡️ Cole being Cole keeps stalking Mara from afar & making some great points about her life (Chapter 9)
Every thought out of this man's head is a hit. I was laying on the floor crying, cause did he lie? no only facts from Mister Blackwell's mouth. 💅
➡️ The middle part of this book is for the most part pretty unspectacular. Cole inserts himself in Mara's life by giving her a studio and money. He is her mentor and she is his protégé bla bla bla .
NOW COMES THE DRAMA PART
➡️ After a successful night of Mara displaying her art, she wants to give Cole a blowjob. She's already on her knees and ready to worhsip him, when they get cockblocked by this random guy. Unfortunately, Cole had to open his mouth and horseshit came out (Chapter 18)
Crickets...
all the points Cole got from the previous chapters flew out of the window
➡️ THE REVENGE IS THE BEST PART: Mara said fuck it and takes this Logan guy back to her studio and they fuck while Cole is watching them through the camera and raging internally 🥰 (Chapter 19)
Mara QUEEEEENNN you just dropped your crown.. let me pick it up for you 👸💅 that was so satisfying to see. That scene lowkey reminded me of Angry God when Lenora did something similar to Vaughn. 😌
➡️ Mara and Cole continue their toxic dance around each other. Now Cole is getting back at her when he cuffs her and tattoos something of him on her body (Chapter 22)
Don't we love a jealous possessive man 🛐
➡️ Their sex scene is so fucking weird sdksk Cole intended to kill Mara, because he sees her as a liability, but instead they start a fuckfest where he straps her to a table (Chapter 30)
Yes, find yourself someone who making you your own vibrator ✨ designed to your specifications ✨ that was only the start, it's only gets weirder as the chapter continues, you need to read it for yourself to understand 🥴
While I'm typing this, I realized that I actually wrote a whole ass summary of this book when I only wanted to highlight the most hilarious scenes lmao well... 😂
❌ WHY I CAN'T GIVE THERE ARE NO SAINTS A HIGHER RATING ❌
⤷ this book was entertaining af no question, but the romance itself didn't really deliver. Mara and Cole didn't really interact until 30% of the book, before that it was all about Cole and Alastor's rivalry and Mara's kidnapping (that iconic scene where he steps over her doesn't count). So I wasn't really invested in them as a couple. I love Cole and Mara's revenge on Cole was another iconic moment of this book, but it didn't really sell me on Mara and Cole as a couple.
⤷ also the writing is not the best... it's very wooden and choppy and I needed some time to get used to it.
Conclusion
There Are No Saints is entertaining enough for a one time read with a unique premise. The romance was meh, but I'm still looking forward to the second book in Mara and Cole's duet and what other crazy shit they will be up to 👀
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
Sinner's Duet
#1 There Are No Saints – 3.5 stars
#2 There Is No Devil – tbr
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
I don't know if this book meant to be hilarious or not, but it was cracking me up from the first chapter til the last 😂
The premise of this book was pretty ... unique? interesting? i don't know exactly what is was, cause the blurb was very confusing, but i was intrigued nonetheless. so here the main players:
– Mara Eldritch (h) – poor artist
– Cole Blackwell (H) – rich artist & serial killer
– Alastor Shaw (villain) – rich, but not as rich as Cole, rival artist & serial killer n°2, but more messy
The romance is solely between Mara & Cole no love triangle or anything, but Alastor does play a very big role in this book overall, mostly at the beginning and the end.
There Are No Saints was so so over the top, hilarious and weird. Sophie Lark really upped the weirdness and I was dying 😂
➡️ Cole's first impression of Mara when he sees her for the first time (Chapter 1)
"You think I'd be attracted to some filthy little scrabbler with bitten fingernails and raggedy shoelaces?" I sneer.
➡️ Mara is getting kidnapped by Alastor and the kind of abuse she went through (Chapter 2)
Before I can draw breath, he roughly seizes my left breast. The same pain stabs though it, and this time I understand that I'm being pierced not severed. This motherfucker put rings through my nipples.
➡️ Alastor also cut Mara's wrist and left her as a gift for Cole (Chapter 3)
She’s not wearing a dress now. Alastor has her wrapped up in some ludicrous S&M outfit, all leather straps and steel grommets.
DEAD. Not the S&M outfit while she's laying on the ground bleeding to death dkksdks 🤚
➡️ My man Cole's showstopping reaction when he sees his gift
So I take one last glance at the girl's beautifully tortured body. Then I step over her and carry on my way.
Please bwahahaha that was so funny! Cole didn't give one single fuck that there was girl bleeding at his feet and he just stepped over her like some trash not worth picking up 🤣🤣🤣
➡️ Mara survived by sheer will and it's not that easy to kill this mf, but Cole doesn't know. Weeks go by and one day he sees her and Mara being alive surprises him and he becomes fullly obsessed with her and stalks her (Chapter 7)
I lay down in her bed, my head on her pillow. I turn my face so my nose is pressed against her crumpled sheets and I inhale.
A single pair of black briefs lies abondoned next to the bed. I assume this is the underwear she shucked off this morning. Lifting it to my face, I inhale the scent of her warm morning pussy.
My cock is raging now. I unzip my pants, allowing it to spring free. I stroke it gently while I breathe in the scent of Mara's cunt. I even put out my tongue and taste the cotton strip that nestled between her pussy lips.
Cole is a comedian!! He went from 0 to 100 so quickly that's not normal?! 💀 One day he is stepping over her half dead body like she's some cockroach you don't want to touch and the next day he's breaking in her apartment and licking her panties like that's his life purpose. SIR CALL 911 😂
➡️ Cole being Cole keeps stalking Mara from afar & making some great points about her life (Chapter 9)
She rushes everywhere she goes, running from job to job, always late.
I respect the hustle, but her existence is tawdry and depressing. The thought of waiting tables, taking people's orders, and serving their food is offensive to me. Picking up dog shit in the park for mutts you don't even own is worse. I'm surprised she wanted to save herself the night Shaw took her, if this is all she had to come home to.
Every thought out of this man's head is a hit. I was laying on the floor crying, cause did he lie? no only facts from Mister Blackwell's mouth. 💅
➡️ The middle part of this book is for the most part pretty unspectacular. Cole inserts himself in Mara's life by giving her a studio and money. He is her mentor and she is his protégé bla bla bla .
NOW COMES THE DRAMA PART
➡️ After a successful night of Mara displaying her art, she wants to give Cole a blowjob. She's already on her knees and ready to worhsip him, when they get cockblocked by this random guy. Unfortunately, Cole had to open his mouth and horseshit came out (Chapter 18)
"Mara was just about to express her thanks for everything I've done for her. And since she's so extremly ... grateful ... I'm sure she'd be happy to include you."
(...)
"Here she is, already on her knees," Cole says in that low, silky voice of his. "I'm sure she'd be happy to suck your cock as an appetizer to mine. She's already proven herself an extremely capable student..."
Crickets...
all the points Cole got from the previous chapters flew out of the window
➡️ THE REVENGE IS THE BEST PART: Mara said fuck it and takes this Logan guy back to her studio and they fuck while Cole is watching them through the camera and raging internally 🥰 (Chapter 19)
They're rolling around in the paint until they hardly have an inch of bare skin left. They roll over the canvas, they fuck on top of it. He spoons her on it, fucking her from behind.
She fucked on that painting, and then she hung it on my wall. I'm struck anew by the absolute insanity of this girl. I admire her audacity. While planning how I'll punish her for it.
(...)
She signed the painting in sharpie and titled it: The Best Night of My Life
Mara QUEEEEENNN you just dropped your crown.. let me pick it up for you 👸💅 that was so satisfying to see. That scene lowkey reminded me of Angry God when Lenora did something similar to Vaughn. 😌
➡️ Mara and Cole continue their toxic dance around each other. Now Cole is getting back at her when he cuffs her and tattoos something of him on her body (Chapter 22)
"I can't have another man's mark on you."
"I designed that tattoo," I hiss.
"I designed a better one." He reaches inside the doctor's bag. Pulling out a tattoo gun.
"Are you insane?" I shriek. "Don't worry," he says. "I've been practicing the last few hours."
"On who?!"
He just smiles
Don't we love a jealous possessive man 🛐
➡️ Their sex scene is so fucking weird sdksk Cole intended to kill Mara, because he sees her as a liability, but instead they start a fuckfest where he straps her to a table (Chapter 30)
Craning my neck, I seethat he's holding some kind of devide, shaped like an oversized microphone. The head looks soft and bulbous. "It's like the dryer," he says, his lips curving up. "Only much, much better..." He presses his tool between my legs, right against my pussy.
Yes, find yourself someone who making you your own vibrator ✨ designed to your specifications ✨ that was only the start, it's only gets weirder as the chapter continues, you need to read it for yourself to understand 🥴
While I'm typing this, I realized that I actually wrote a whole ass summary of this book when I only wanted to highlight the most hilarious scenes lmao well... 😂
❌ WHY I CAN'T GIVE THERE ARE NO SAINTS A HIGHER RATING ❌
⤷ this book was entertaining af no question, but the romance itself didn't really deliver. Mara and Cole didn't really interact until 30% of the book, before that it was all about Cole and Alastor's rivalry and Mara's kidnapping (that iconic scene where he steps over her doesn't count). So I wasn't really invested in them as a couple. I love Cole and Mara's revenge on Cole was another iconic moment of this book, but it didn't really sell me on Mara and Cole as a couple.
⤷ also the writing is not the best... it's very wooden and choppy and I needed some time to get used to it.
Conclusion
There Are No Saints is entertaining enough for a one time read with a unique premise. The romance was meh, but I'm still looking forward to the second book in Mara and Cole's duet and what other crazy shit they will be up to 👀
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
Sinner's Duet
#1 There Are No Saints – 3.5 stars
#2 There Is No Devil – tbr
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
Read
February 12, 2023In the end, the thing that bothered me the most in all of this was the heroine not doing her laundry and wearing dirty underwear... shut up and go wash your clothes girl.
September 5, 2022
Why the smelling of the underwear
August 27, 2024
what kind of terrible unhinged madness did i just read and why do i want more of it?
🫣
this is one of the books i’d never call good but it was beyond entertaining + addicting. does that make sense???
side note: the playlist was immaculate
🫣
this is one of the books i’d never call good but it was beyond entertaining + addicting. does that make sense???
side note: the playlist was immaculate
October 13, 2024
DNF AT PAGE 104/25%
He walked over her beat up form in the middle of the woods at night, just to snuff her underwear a month later when he saw she was still alive and well. No thanks, pass🚩
He walked over her beat up form in the middle of the woods at night, just to snuff her underwear a month later when he saw she was still alive and well. No thanks, pass🚩
November 9, 2021
why did i read this i hate tiktok
October 26, 2021
-4.5 stars-
October 27, 2021
Buddy read with TJ and Irunía. Only my two fav people ever.
3.5 stars
Probably doesn't deserve such a high rating but giving all this beautiful idiocy any less would be a crime.
We have one artist butchering women like the whimpering pussy that he is.
And another using the bones of his victims to make sculptures.
Now guess which one of these two is the hero and which one was mentioned in the synopsis for no reason whatsoever except to confuse us all.
Woman killer - Shaw
Poetic killer - Cole (H)
The synopsis had me thinking that Shaw was a love interest or that this was some sort of menage a trois situation. None of that happens. The only thing binding those two is a deep rivalry....and of course the heroine.
Poor Mara who found herself half murdered by Shaw then stalked by Cole....and if you think it's because of how special and beautiful she is, think again💀
Don't worry, Cole did some growing after that.
COLE
🛐 Ego the size of texas
🛐 No really, the man's god complex is unparalleled
🛐 Artiste and a serial killer (you'd never believe how well that goes together)
🛐 Doesn't give a fuck about anything
🛐 Except himself. Obviously.
🛐 A sociopath?
Mara
🐍 Another artist but a 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓰𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷𝓮
🐍 You can really tell by how dirty she was all the time
🐍 Mental shields of steel because no trauma touches that girl
🐍 Used to self harm
🐍 Jumpy and over sensitive
🐍 Vindictive ass bitch
🐍 Serial Killers turn her on (one in particular)
WHAT THIS BOOK CONSISTS OF IN A NUTSHELL:
🛑SPOILERS🛑
🎨 Cole yammering about everyone's stupidity and his superiority.
It was very endearing I will admit. Hilarious even. But his monologues on being so much better than Shaw had me going a lil
You sure that you're sure?
You're both deranged serial killers, get in line😂. Just because you don't kill women doesn't make you better.
As just characters though? Shaw can step out if he can fit through the door.
🎨 Mara being completely okay with everything that comes at her.....like you know......
- being almost murdered
- stalked by the man WHO SHE SUSPECTS almost murdered her
- branded permanently like cattle
In fact, while she was tied up like a rotisserie chicken with her wrists slashed......her thought process was this:
YOU ARE BEING MURDERED
Normally I'd have a bigger problem with that, but this book already defies all my primary, humanly instincts so FUCK IT. I'd simp too.
🎨 Cole being disgusted yet totally obsessed with Mara.
He goes from describing how filthy the heroine is, to him stalking her every move and then back to pointing out how disgusting she is.
🎨 Dramatics all around.
Everyone knows you won't kill her you big drama queen.
Although as much as I loved Mara, I was highkey hoping Cole would murder her.
Get this: He suffocates in insanity and despair after killing his "one true love", meanwhile she secretly survives and prepares for revenge😈. Don't tell me that plot isn't elite. Miss Sophie hit me up, I will give this book my all.
🎨 The amount of pettiness these characters exerted deserves the highest rating possible.
Peak moment of this book was Mara taking revenge by fucking some random guy on a painting and hanging it in Cole's office.
THE AUDACITY and many would say hypocricy of this girl👀
🎨 A great playlist.
The songs the author assigns for certain scenes set such a vibe. I was loving the atmosphere. I highly recommend playing all of them while reading.
SHIT THAT MADE ZERO SENSE BECAUSE WHY WOULD IT?
🎨 The cop didn't believe she was kidnapped and was convinced the whole scenario was a suicide attempt.......
Don't they check medical records? She had clear injuries that would prove she was knocked unconscious, like the bump on her head.
🎨 Mara's roommate talking about hooking up after hearing the story of her attempted murder🤠
🎨 The way these two psychos learned to operate a tattoo gun instantly......and make actually stunning tattoos on the first try. Pleeeease, my tattoo artist would set this book on fire if he read that.
🎨 Cole, this famous ass painter who always attracts attention everywhere he goes, assaults a man in public but was never questioned by a single person🙄
Well that is all I have to say. No idea how to end this review so goodbye🤡
EDIT: It's been a couple of days since I finished this and it randomly hit me just now.....
this book is so fucking stupid fr🤣🤣🤣. Like they are both so dumb and immature, half the shit they did made no sense and has no valid explanation.
Still liked it though.
*insert another clown emoji*
3.5 stars
Probably doesn't deserve such a high rating but giving all this beautiful idiocy any less would be a crime.
We have one artist butchering women like the whimpering pussy that he is.
And another using the bones of his victims to make sculptures.
Now guess which one of these two is the hero and which one was mentioned in the synopsis for no reason whatsoever except to confuse us all.
Woman killer - Shaw
Poetic killer - Cole (H)
The synopsis had me thinking that Shaw was a love interest or that this was some sort of menage a trois situation. None of that happens. The only thing binding those two is a deep rivalry....and of course the heroine.
Poor Mara who found herself half murdered by Shaw then stalked by Cole....and if you think it's because of how special and beautiful she is, think again💀
“Her?” he says softly. “You surprise me, Cole. I’ve never seen you take a stroll in the gutter before.”
I turn away from the girl, irritation swelling inside of me.
“You think I’d be attracted to some filthy little scrabbler with bitten fingernails and raggedy shoelaces?” I sneer.
Don't worry, Cole did some growing after that.
COLE
🛐 Ego the size of texas
🛐 No really, the man's god complex is unparalleled
🛐 Artiste and a serial killer (you'd never believe how well that goes together)
🛐 Doesn't give a fuck about anything
🛐 Except himself. Obviously.
🛐 A sociopath?
Mara
🐍 Another artist but a 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓰𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷𝓮
🐍 You can really tell by how dirty she was all the time
🐍 Mental shields of steel because no trauma touches that girl
🐍 Used to self harm
🐍 Jumpy and over sensitive
🐍 Vindictive ass bitch
🐍 Serial Killers turn her on (one in particular)
WHAT THIS BOOK CONSISTS OF IN A NUTSHELL:
🛑SPOILERS🛑
🎨 Cole yammering about everyone's stupidity and his superiority.
“You’re no different than me,” he hisses. “You’re no better.”
“I am better,” I say. “Because whatever I do, I’m always in control.”
I walk away from him then, so those words can echo and echo in the emptiness of his head.
It was very endearing I will admit. Hilarious even. But his monologues on being so much better than Shaw had me going a lil
You sure that you're sure?
You're both deranged serial killers, get in line😂. Just because you don't kill women doesn't make you better.
As just characters though? Shaw can step out if he can fit through the door.
🎨 Mara being completely okay with everything that comes at her.....like you know......
- being almost murdered
- stalked by the man WHO SHE SUSPECTS almost murdered her
- branded permanently like cattle
In fact, while she was tied up like a rotisserie chicken with her wrists slashed......her thought process was this:
An artist is always looking at ratios and proportions.
His dark, almond-shaped eyes, the straight slashes of his brows, the line of his nose, the high cheekbones and razor-fine jaw, all relieved by the flawless curve of his lips—I’ve never seen such perfect balance.
It’s so surreal, I think I must be hallucinating.
YOU ARE BEING MURDERED
Normally I'd have a bigger problem with that, but this book already defies all my primary, humanly instincts so FUCK IT. I'd simp too.
🎨 Cole being disgusted yet totally obsessed with Mara.
He goes from describing how filthy the heroine is, to him stalking her every move and then back to pointing out how disgusting she is.
A single pair of black briefs lies abandoned next to the bed. I assume this is the underwear she shucked off this morning.
Lifting it to my face, I inhale the scent of her warm morning pussy.
It’s similar to the smell of her sheets, but musky.
My cock is raging now. I unzip my pants, allowing it to spring free. I stroke it gently while I breathe in the scent of Mara’s cunt. I even put out my tongue and taste the cotton strip that nestled between her pussy lips.
🎨 Dramatics all around.
I can’t protect her. Her death is inevitable.
But I��ll be damned if Shaw is the one to do it.
Mara belongs to me.
I’m the only one who gets to kill her.
Everyone knows you won't kill her you big drama queen.
Although as much as I loved Mara, I was highkey hoping Cole would murder her.
Get this: He suffocates in insanity and despair after killing his "one true love", meanwhile she secretly survives and prepares for revenge😈. Don't tell me that plot isn't elite. Miss Sophie hit me up, I will give this book my all.
🎨 The amount of pettiness these characters exerted deserves the highest rating possible.
Peak moment of this book was Mara taking revenge by fucking some random guy on a painting and hanging it in Cole's office.
THE AUDACITY and many would say hypocricy of this girl👀
🎨 A great playlist.
The songs the author assigns for certain scenes set such a vibe. I was loving the atmosphere. I highly recommend playing all of them while reading.
SHIT THAT MADE ZERO SENSE BECAUSE WHY WOULD IT?
🎨 The cop didn't believe she was kidnapped and was convinced the whole scenario was a suicide attempt.......
Don't they check medical records? She had clear injuries that would prove she was knocked unconscious, like the bump on her head.
🎨 Mara's roommate talking about hooking up after hearing the story of her attempted murder🤠
🎨 The way these two psychos learned to operate a tattoo gun instantly......and make actually stunning tattoos on the first try. Pleeeease, my tattoo artist would set this book on fire if he read that.
🎨 Cole, this famous ass painter who always attracts attention everywhere he goes, assaults a man in public but was never questioned by a single person🙄
Well that is all I have to say. No idea how to end this review so goodbye🤡
EDIT: It's been a couple of days since I finished this and it randomly hit me just now.....
this book is so fucking stupid fr🤣🤣🤣. Like they are both so dumb and immature, half the shit they did made no sense and has no valid explanation.
Still liked it though.
*insert another clown emoji*
![Profile Image for Lori [semi-hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1652024485i%2F125758944._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 22, 2021
if the roles had been reversed and the hero was the one having sex with ow for the heroine to watch to get back at her everyone would be angry 🤷♀️
A sexually aggressive heroine does not a strong heroine make.
A sexually aggressive heroine does not a strong heroine make.
April 2, 2024
I found myself another new author, I didn't know what to expect from this book
There’s a serial killer loose in San Francisco, and the press calls him the Beast of the Bay for good reason …And somehow Mara finds herself in his crosshairs………
Mara Eldritch has grown up hard, with an alcoholic mother, and a sick and cruel stepfather….. When she turned eighteen, she got as far away from her family as possible
Sometimes I wonder how Mara keeps herself upright, she is a 27-year-old Starving artist who lives in San Francisco working three jobs and is unable to pay her portion of the rent half the time even though she has eight roommates
Cole Blackwell Is a made man. He owns plenty of properties and he’s already established artist in the community
“This obsession with Mara consumes me. It’s all I think about. It directs every action I take. I’ve never felt so out of control—which upsets me”
Alastor Shaw Has a unique way of expressing his self through his art…….. And the man has a serious complex ……. And he has serious animosity towards Cole….. The rivalry between the two of them is staggering
They both are predators battling for hunting ground
December 11, 2021
this book is You if Joe Goldberg was rich and his “love” interests had inappropriate fear responses
more thoughts here: https://youtu.be/3hwdrN2dfIg
more thoughts here: https://youtu.be/3hwdrN2dfIg
November 12, 2021
I've only been reading Sophie Lark since earlier this year, and she's already become one of my favorite authors. There hasn't been a book of hers I haven't enjoyed, and this time was no different. I loved everything about this story! From the serial killer rivalry to the romance, There Are No Saints is everything I hoped it would be.
Cole, the serial killer half of the couple, and Mara are both artists, and I'm an absolute fucking sucker for stories involving that particular profession. There is just something incredibly creative and beautiful about them. The characters are always passionate about their art and the objects of their affection, and that enthusiasm, beauty, and creativity tend to make hot af sex scenes! In this book, it had the added bonus of making the murder more interesting too, but I won't spoil that for you by giving details.
Once again, there were links to songs included throughout the story, and like always, it gave the scenes they are featured in a more cinematic quality. There is one part in particular in this book that I will never forget as long as I live. I was losing my mind reading it! Perfect music selection for the perfect revenge.
Darkness, intense chemistry, suspense, obesession, gore, and steam all come together to form one hell of a story! The second book, There is No Devil comes out December 1st. I can't wait to see what Sophie has in store for Mara and Cole next!
If you're like me and the words "serial killer romance" automatically intrigue you, one-click this one now! This story is perfection for people like us. I promise you won't be disappointed!
Cole, the serial killer half of the couple, and Mara are both artists, and I'm an absolute fucking sucker for stories involving that particular profession. There is just something incredibly creative and beautiful about them. The characters are always passionate about their art and the objects of their affection, and that enthusiasm, beauty, and creativity tend to make hot af sex scenes! In this book, it had the added bonus of making the murder more interesting too, but I won't spoil that for you by giving details.
Once again, there were links to songs included throughout the story, and like always, it gave the scenes they are featured in a more cinematic quality. There is one part in particular in this book that I will never forget as long as I live. I was losing my mind reading it! Perfect music selection for the perfect revenge.
Darkness, intense chemistry, suspense, obesession, gore, and steam all come together to form one hell of a story! The second book, There is No Devil comes out December 1st. I can't wait to see what Sophie has in store for Mara and Cole next!
If you're like me and the words "serial killer romance" automatically intrigue you, one-click this one now! This story is perfection for people like us. I promise you won't be disappointed!
January 1, 2024
One of the worst reading experiences I’ve ever had.
I had every issue under the sun with this book. I documented them all in a dedicated video because I wanted to be clear about what I had problems with. I know it’s dark romance. Those tropes didn’t mess with me. I’ll give one example to help you understand my distaste. The main female character is a waitress and the main guy character says that’s pathetic and why would she even want to live if that’s what she’s choosing to do with her life? Like…that’s not dark romance. That’s just narrow minded, rude, overtly discriminatory toward the occupation of a lot of the people reading the book. Myself included.
I love the cover and I’m so sad that I hated it but…it is what it is.
Reading vlog: https://youtu.be/Eri8UUT4Dsc
I had every issue under the sun with this book. I documented them all in a dedicated video because I wanted to be clear about what I had problems with. I know it’s dark romance. Those tropes didn’t mess with me. I’ll give one example to help you understand my distaste. The main female character is a waitress and the main guy character says that’s pathetic and why would she even want to live if that’s what she’s choosing to do with her life? Like…that’s not dark romance. That’s just narrow minded, rude, overtly discriminatory toward the occupation of a lot of the people reading the book. Myself included.
I love the cover and I’m so sad that I hated it but…it is what it is.
Reading vlog: https://youtu.be/Eri8UUT4Dsc
August 2, 2024
first time reading serial killer mmc, can't wait to read the second one!!
May 16, 2024
"𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕..."
"𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆"
I loved this book! Cole and Mara are it! This gives me YOU and Dexter vibes, and I'm here for it.
If you're looking for or interested in a serial killer/slow burn romance- one click this!
I'll come back later to edit this review but I do have a ton of highlights that spoke to me which I'll drop here now...
𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓮 ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-
❝ 𝙱𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂.
𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍:
𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓯 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓶𝓮𝓭, 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓻𝓼; 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓾𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻-𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓲𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓮𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹, 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼..
𝙸 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙿𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜.
𝙸 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒖𝒔 𝑰𝒍𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚐-𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎.
𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍:
𝓘 𝓭𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓷: 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶.
𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. ❞
❝ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 ❞
"𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌. 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗, 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕. "
𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓪 ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-
❝ 𝐼'𝓂 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒟𝓇𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎: 𝓅𝒽𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎. ❞
❝ 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒟𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒. 𝒜 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉.. 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁𝓈 𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓈𝓁𝒶𝓎𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑜𝓃... ❞
❝ 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭𝓼... 𝓪 𝓽𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼... 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓸. 𝓝𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮... ❞
"𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆"
I loved this book! Cole and Mara are it! This gives me YOU and Dexter vibes, and I'm here for it.
If you're looking for or interested in a serial killer/slow burn romance- one click this!
I'll come back later to edit this review but I do have a ton of highlights that spoke to me which I'll drop here now...
𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓮 ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-
❝ 𝙱𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂.
𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍:
𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓯 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓶𝓮𝓭, 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓻𝓼; 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓾𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻-𝓫𝓸𝓽𝓱 𝓲𝓷 𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓮𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹, 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼..
𝙸 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙿𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜.
𝙸 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒖𝒔 𝑰𝒍𝒍𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚐-𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚐𝚎.
𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍:
𝓘 𝓭𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓷: 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶.
𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. ❞
❝ 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 ❞
"𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌. 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗, 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕. "
𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓪 ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ-
❝ 𝐼'𝓂 𝒻𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒟𝓇𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎: 𝓅𝒽𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎. ❞
❝ 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒟𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒. 𝒜 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉.. 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁𝓈 𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓈𝓁𝒶𝓎𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑜𝓃... ❞
❝ 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭𝓼... 𝓪 𝓽𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼... 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓸. 𝓝𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮... ❞
October 20, 2021
This is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible books I've ever read. Equal parts romance, suspense, and thriller, this has every single thing I want in a book I read.
There Are No Saints is the story of two powerful men, both acclaimed artists, psychopaths, serial killers, and rivals, who become obsessed with one girl.
It's VERY smart, with clever and daring characters. Characters that think ahead and react on the spot with intelligence, who plot their next move with cunning, and question the motives of their brain and heart.
This book raises a TON of questions about morality, what is right and wrong and why is it so? And it does it without ever feeling didactic or unnecessarily violent.
Every single scene in this book progresses the story forward and reveals more about who these characters are, why they behave the way they do, and it does one of my favorite things ever in what is possibly the BEST example of how it's done: it creates a truly villainous hero and slowly, soooo tortuously and seductively slowly, gets you on his side.
Sophie Lark has done the impossible in a very realistic and satisfying way: she created the ultimate psychopath villain and she shows him falling into obsession and eventually caring for the girl.
There Are No Saints is one of the most engrossing and satisfying reading experiences I have ever had and I can not wait for the next one.
*thank you to the author for the ARC I was provided in exchange for my honest review*
TW: murder, parental abuse, death of a loved one
There Are No Saints is the story of two powerful men, both acclaimed artists, psychopaths, serial killers, and rivals, who become obsessed with one girl.
It's VERY smart, with clever and daring characters. Characters that think ahead and react on the spot with intelligence, who plot their next move with cunning, and question the motives of their brain and heart.
This book raises a TON of questions about morality, what is right and wrong and why is it so? And it does it without ever feeling didactic or unnecessarily violent.
Every single scene in this book progresses the story forward and reveals more about who these characters are, why they behave the way they do, and it does one of my favorite things ever in what is possibly the BEST example of how it's done: it creates a truly villainous hero and slowly, soooo tortuously and seductively slowly, gets you on his side.
Sophie Lark has done the impossible in a very realistic and satisfying way: she created the ultimate psychopath villain and she shows him falling into obsession and eventually caring for the girl.
There Are No Saints is one of the most engrossing and satisfying reading experiences I have ever had and I can not wait for the next one.
*thank you to the author for the ARC I was provided in exchange for my honest review*
TW: murder, parental abuse, death of a loved one
October 13, 2024
I was in the mood to question my morals and giggle and kick my feet while reading about a morally black obsessed MMC and this ABSOLUTELY DELIVERED! I gobbled this hook ip in less than 24 hours and immediately jumped into book two because I was incapable of putting this down. Not sure what that says about me…. Maybe I’m as sick and twisted as this book but that’s a problem for my therapist to unpack.
When a dark romance has an MMC who’s:
✔️A stalker
✔️A serial killer
✔️A psychopath
✔️Absolutely obsessed with her in every way shape and form
✔️gets confused when she makes him FEEL things and literally thinks the world is ending because he’s experiencing butterflies for the first time….
Yeah consider me fucking sat.
This was so much fun I am in fact in love with a Cole… so what if he unalives people sometimes… he’s literally listened to all her favorite songs repeatedly so he can make her a customized playlist with music she’ll love and watches all her favorite movies and memorizes her favorite foods and BOOKS?!! The murdering on occasion can slide.
It definitely could have used a little more plot but at the end of the day it was a silly fun time and I loved it regardless!
When a dark romance has an MMC who’s:
✔️A stalker
✔️A serial killer
✔️A psychopath
✔️Absolutely obsessed with her in every way shape and form
✔️gets confused when she makes him FEEL things and literally thinks the world is ending because he’s experiencing butterflies for the first time….
Yeah consider me fucking sat.
This was so much fun I am in fact in love with a Cole… so what if he unalives people sometimes… he’s literally listened to all her favorite songs repeatedly so he can make her a customized playlist with music she’ll love and watches all her favorite movies and memorizes her favorite foods and BOOKS?!! The murdering on occasion can slide.
It definitely could have used a little more plot but at the end of the day it was a silly fun time and I loved it regardless!
May 8, 2023
this was atrocious in every sense of the word
May 25, 2024
literally so absurd but wildly entertaining
February 16, 2023
a fucking snoozefest but I appreciate the creativity for all the different ways people were murdered 😍
better luck next time sophie xoxo
better luck next time sophie xoxo
Mara belongs to me.aw 😍
I’m the only one who gets to kill her.
October 21, 2021
SUCH AN AMAZING ROMANCE! This is a dark romance and follows a serial killer and the woman he's obsessed with. I loved how much Mara grew throughout this book and couldn't understand why she was so in love with a literal serial killer. Cole can't understand why he can't just kill Mara and get her out of the way. Instead, he finds himself following her and wanting to kill literally anyone who touches her. The way they play with one another was perfection and I loved the dark nature of this book. I am dying to figure out what's going to happen next in the second book of the duet! I also loved how both Cole and Mara are artists and how their own art and the art world intertwined with their romance. If you're a fan of dark romance, you have to pick this one up!
Read
October 10, 2021I have always been fascinated by true crime, as well as by villains and anti-heroes. A serial killer is, of course, the ultimate anti-hero — the baddest of the bad boys. Redeeming a character who starts so evil was a challenge that inspired me to entirely new heights and entirely new depths. Come on this darkly sensual and utterly brain-bending ride with me!
Join the Love Lark Letter:
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Brutal Birthright Series
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Kingmakers Series:
geni.us/kingmakers
Join the Love Lark Letter:
https://sophielark.com/signup/
Brutal Birthright Series
geni.us/brutalbirthright
Kingmakers Series:
geni.us/kingmakers
February 17, 2024
Maybe consent is the friends we made along the way...
This review is long overdue so here we go!
Let me preface this by saying that I've wanted to read a book written by Sophie Lark for the longest time. I have a whole collection of her books on my Kindle and am genuinely interested in most of them (based on the descriptions or reviews I've seen from other romance readers). I've also seen some content from the author (TikToks, Instagram posts) and she is such a sweet person, I love her energy. So, this review has nothing to do with the author or me choosing to be a hater, THIS BOOK SIMPLY DIDN'T WORK FOR ME AND I'LL do my best to list my reasons. If you've read more Sophie Lark than me (this book was my first dive in her work), let me know if there's another book of hers I should try out.
Immediately upon starting the book I noticed the main issue I was going to have with it. It was very very poorly written. I'm talking 3rd grade wiriting. Descriptions of characters were poorly written, conversations were poorly written, everything needed serious editing, or, dare I say, rewriting. BEFORE you attack me, I know that I was reading a dark romance and there was no need for Shakespeare, but hey, I've seen better books on Wattpad and we all know Wattpad authors were broke students, not published writers.
Plot was the main reason why I didn't give this 1 star. It was somewhat decent, I must admit that and, like I said, with some serious editing or rewriting, it could've delivered an okay book.
Characters were equally terrible, I despise the whole cast. And don't think it's because of their actions, I've had my fair share of dark romance and therefore have seen worse, and also, I can handle morally grey characters. These were just bad, without the morally part. Very poorly constructed and developed, one-dimensional, I'm genuinely wondering if this author ever met a real person. Everything they said or did was backed up by a line or two about "they were lions in the jungle", "their soul was dark", "he would sacrifice the world for her". Sir, you make sculptures and kill people for fun. I'M GENUINELY worried if these are the "men written by women" some of y'all can't shut up about. I would take a Haruki Murakami woman over this anytime!
I've seen that it's a popular discourse on Twitter, so here's my take: I DON'T MIND PLAYLISTS IN BOOKS. It's totally okay for an author to put some songs they connect to the characters and you can just skip that page if you don't want to listen to the same 10 songs that always be putting on those lists (like I do). However, if I'm reading a book and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE, I SEE A SPOTIFY LINK...... when I catch you Sophie Lark. A character from this book stops doing youknowwhat to CHANGE THE DAMN SONG and we're provided a link (do I need to say that it's always somehow Control by Halsey)... I'm tired.
This book contains blatant rape, violence of all kind, shaming of all population groups (mostly poor people or people the MMC considers poor- he's rich and bored)... and no, not any of that has any sort of artistic value. Yes, if it were well-written, I would excuse everything because that's what I do.
I'm not sure if I'll ever read anything else by this author (I'm that disappointed) BUT I might finish this duology because I never learn. Of couse, I'm not expecting it to be any better and I don't think it CAN be any better if these are the foundations it was built on. HOWEVER, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me in the comment section and recommend some other book by this author. I would love to see your opinions!
This review is long overdue so here we go!
Let me preface this by saying that I've wanted to read a book written by Sophie Lark for the longest time. I have a whole collection of her books on my Kindle and am genuinely interested in most of them (based on the descriptions or reviews I've seen from other romance readers). I've also seen some content from the author (TikToks, Instagram posts) and she is such a sweet person, I love her energy. So, this review has nothing to do with the author or me choosing to be a hater, THIS BOOK SIMPLY DIDN'T WORK FOR ME AND I'LL do my best to list my reasons. If you've read more Sophie Lark than me (this book was my first dive in her work), let me know if there's another book of hers I should try out.
Immediately upon starting the book I noticed the main issue I was going to have with it. It was very very poorly written. I'm talking 3rd grade wiriting. Descriptions of characters were poorly written, conversations were poorly written, everything needed serious editing, or, dare I say, rewriting. BEFORE you attack me, I know that I was reading a dark romance and there was no need for Shakespeare, but hey, I've seen better books on Wattpad and we all know Wattpad authors were broke students, not published writers.
Plot was the main reason why I didn't give this 1 star. It was somewhat decent, I must admit that and, like I said, with some serious editing or rewriting, it could've delivered an okay book.
Characters were equally terrible, I despise the whole cast. And don't think it's because of their actions, I've had my fair share of dark romance and therefore have seen worse, and also, I can handle morally grey characters. These were just bad, without the morally part. Very poorly constructed and developed, one-dimensional, I'm genuinely wondering if this author ever met a real person. Everything they said or did was backed up by a line or two about "they were lions in the jungle", "their soul was dark", "he would sacrifice the world for her". Sir, you make sculptures and kill people for fun. I'M GENUINELY worried if these are the "men written by women" some of y'all can't shut up about. I would take a Haruki Murakami woman over this anytime!
I've seen that it's a popular discourse on Twitter, so here's my take: I DON'T MIND PLAYLISTS IN BOOKS. It's totally okay for an author to put some songs they connect to the characters and you can just skip that page if you don't want to listen to the same 10 songs that always be putting on those lists (like I do). However, if I'm reading a book and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE, I SEE A SPOTIFY LINK...... when I catch you Sophie Lark. A character from this book stops doing youknowwhat to CHANGE THE DAMN SONG and we're provided a link (do I need to say that it's always somehow Control by Halsey)... I'm tired.
This book contains blatant rape, violence of all kind, shaming of all population groups (mostly poor people or people the MMC considers poor- he's rich and bored)... and no, not any of that has any sort of artistic value. Yes, if it were well-written, I would excuse everything because that's what I do.
I'm not sure if I'll ever read anything else by this author (I'm that disappointed) BUT I might finish this duology because I never learn. Of couse, I'm not expecting it to be any better and I don't think it CAN be any better if these are the foundations it was built on. HOWEVER, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me in the comment section and recommend some other book by this author. I would love to see your opinions!
May 30, 2023
➥ 1 Star *:･ﾟ✧
I really wanted to love this book, I wanted to love Sophie Lark as an author, because she's a gem of a person, but this was a fat disappointment.
The actual premise sounded really promising, I was ready for this to be a really interesting dark romance, but all I got was bland (sparing) smut, bland characters and bland dialogue.
In dark romance, the love interest, in this case Cole, tends to be a pretty shitty man who just happens to fuck good. But does he even? I understand that "alpha males" are some people's type, but I need to be able to take them fucking seriously. The quote I featured is ridiculous, he's trying so hard, what the fuck does he even mean. With masculine/dominant men, I've found that "less is more" becomes strongly applicable. This man is always spewing some cringey, dramatic shit, and I think he'd be better off shutting up, being mysterious and letting his dick do the talking at this point.
Because he literally brings nothing else to the table 😭 (Except a tattoo gun I guess??). Although dark romance obviously tends to put a twist on your typical romance novel, I still want to feel like the characters are in love. Here, there's nothing romantic said, no moments where they actually grow together.
I'm okay with this type of description in fantasy books, but he's literally just a regular degular man who maybe killed some ego. At this point, his ego is bigger than his dick and Shaw's combined because they're just drunk on their own arrogance. And it's not attractive, I can't take them seriously at all.
I can appreciate Lark's creativity with the sex scenes, because let's be honest, that's what many readers are looking for in dark romances like these, but I still feel as though they were badly executed. There's the washing machine, that contraption and whatever but these sex scenes were pretty bland? The dialogue was not hot and there was a surprising lack of detail? I mean this girl came quick, just saying. If you're going to write a sex scene that's kinda funky, you at least need to find a way to make it appealing.
Why are you ingesting paint? That is not cute, sorry. Cole has no appeal. Speaking of the characters, Lark mentions that she prizes "intelligent women" or just strong women in general, but our fmc Mara (h) is just so *scans brain for synonym of bland*. She doesn't really have much agency, she doesn't really participate much in the dialogue, and she's just overall uninterest and insignificant to me. Sophie Lark, ily but you need to write a woman with a little more balls and a lot more logic 😭. I guess one could argue that Lark makes an attempt:
But gosh, she's just insufferably cringey (not more than Cole though tbf. I think).
Like okay? You're kinda weird, babe. I see how Lark is trying to add a bit of agency and grit to her character, but it's just sloppy. She mentioned that it was an interesting challenge for her to redeem Cole's character but...there was no redemption? 😭
The writing was also...um. Not great. I have heard that people felt Lark's more recent Anastasia was way too drawn out. In conclusion, I genuinely hope she gets access to an editor because I think her ideas are there and I'd be happy to give her work another shot in the future!
"She thinks she isn’t scared of monsters? I’ll show her a fucking demon out
of hell."
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
I really wanted to love this book, I wanted to love Sophie Lark as an author, because she's a gem of a person, but this was a fat disappointment.
The actual premise sounded really promising, I was ready for this to be a really interesting dark romance, but all I got was bland (sparing) smut, bland characters and bland dialogue.
In dark romance, the love interest, in this case Cole, tends to be a pretty shitty man who just happens to fuck good. But does he even? I understand that "alpha males" are some people's type, but I need to be able to take them fucking seriously. The quote I featured is ridiculous, he's trying so hard, what the fuck does he even mean. With masculine/dominant men, I've found that "less is more" becomes strongly applicable. This man is always spewing some cringey, dramatic shit, and I think he'd be better off shutting up, being mysterious and letting his dick do the talking at this point.
Because he literally brings nothing else to the table 😭 (Except a tattoo gun I guess??). Although dark romance obviously tends to put a twist on your typical romance novel, I still want to feel like the characters are in love. Here, there's nothing romantic said, no moments where they actually grow together.
"I’m something else entirely: a dark figure that repels even a curious glance. Gliding along like death, like famine, like a plague in their midst.
I'm okay with this type of description in fantasy books, but he's literally just a regular degular man who maybe killed some ego. At this point, his ego is bigger than his dick and Shaw's combined because they're just drunk on their own arrogance. And it's not attractive, I can't take them seriously at all.
I can appreciate Lark's creativity with the sex scenes, because let's be honest, that's what many readers are looking for in dark romances like these, but I still feel as though they were badly executed. There's the washing machine, that contraption and whatever but these sex scenes were pretty bland? The dialogue was not hot and there was a surprising lack of detail? I mean this girl came quick, just saying. If you're going to write a sex scene that's kinda funky, you at least need to find a way to make it appealing.
"Cole rubs his thumb across my cheekbone, over my lips. Then he licks the paint off my mouth. I kiss him back, the earthy paint coating my tongue."
Why are you ingesting paint? That is not cute, sorry. Cole has no appeal. Speaking of the characters, Lark mentions that she prizes "intelligent women" or just strong women in general, but our fmc Mara (h) is just so *scans brain for synonym of bland*. She doesn't really have much agency, she doesn't really participate much in the dialogue, and she's just overall uninterest and insignificant to me. Sophie Lark, ily but you need to write a woman with a little more balls and a lot more logic 😭. I guess one could argue that Lark makes an attempt:
“Bad girl . . .” he growls in my ear. “You can’t keep your hands off what you want...”
“Why should I?” I whisper back, squeezing his cock hard. “You’re the one who says whatever I want must be good...”
But gosh, she's just insufferably cringey (not more than Cole though tbf. I think).
“I don’t care if you’re good for me,” I say. I kiss him deep and hard. I kiss him like he kissed me at the art show—like I’ll eat him alive. I fuck his mouth with my tongue like I wish he’d fuck me with cock: deep, filling his mouth all the way up.
Like okay? You're kinda weird, babe. I see how Lark is trying to add a bit of agency and grit to her character, but it's just sloppy. She mentioned that it was an interesting challenge for her to redeem Cole's character but...there was no redemption? 😭
The writing was also...um. Not great. I have heard that people felt Lark's more recent Anastasia was way too drawn out. In conclusion, I genuinely hope she gets access to an editor because I think her ideas are there and I'd be happy to give her work another shot in the future!
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November 6, 2024
Cole loathes Alastor Shaw. The city of San Francisco thinks they're both rival artists yet in truth they're predators battling for hunting grounds. They never chase the same prey. Until the night they both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch. In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground. We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch. Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game, and Cole is fixated on her for a different reason. She makes him feel things he's never before, want things he's never wanted. Only Mara can make Cole lose control. Should he protect her at all costs? Should he destroy her before she ruins him? Mara knows Cole is no saint, but does she have any idea she's dancing with the devil?
All my reviews have the possibility of spoilers, be warned!
Sophie deserved a round of applause for this book. The plotline is gripping and entertaining with the perfect mix of drama, angst, and romance. The illustrations are amazing I'm living for it! This is definitely an author I will be reading more of.
Cole's character is so interesting. From the beginning, he has used gripped into this story. He's completely unhinged and doesn't care or need to explain any of his actions.
That sense of rightness settles over me the one and only time I feel a connection to anything like fate or destiny. The moment when everything aligns in favour of the kill.
I loved Mara she was the complete opposite of Cole on paper. Even though they share the same passion for art Cole has had better life experiences with it. It's the rich versus the poor, the famous versus the inexperienced. Yet, Mara and Cole's personalities definitely match they're both unhinged and bold. They really had great chemistry together. The romance is romancing.
Mara was so relatable at times I instantly connected to her. The banter she has with the way she acts to Cole is so funny.
"Evil men always want to justify what they do," she says. "And it's not by telling you all their reasons. No, they want to push you, bend you, and break you until you snap. Until you do something you thought you'd never do. Until you can't even recognise yourself. Until you're just as bad as they are. That's how they justify themselves by trying to make you the same as them."
I whirl around, expecting to see her sitting at my desk. Instead, a freshly hung painting awaits my view. She fucked on that painting, and she hung it on my wall. She's signed the painting in Sharpie and titled it: The Best Night of My Life.
My favourite Cole scene had to be when he practised tattoos on Logan before he did it on Mara. I was laughing so hard throughout that scene. It just really shows he has no remorse and does what he wants when he wants. I loved it.
"I can't have another man's mark on you."
"I designed that tattoo," I hiss.
"I designed a better one." He reaches inside the doctor's bag, pulling out a tattoo gun.
"Are you insane?" I shriek.
"Don't worry," he says, "I've been practising the last few hours."
"On who?"
He just smiles.
It was so wholesome when both Mara and Cole would brand each other with their own art as tattoos. Oh, I loved their chemistry you can just tell they are the type of couple to not break up. Unless it ends in death...
Two shakes: one white, one black. Twisted and entwined with one another their alternating coils tightly wrapped, but their mouths open to show their snarling fangs. I branded him just as he did to me.
I just love it when Cole is unhinged. I cannot wait to see it develop in the second book. I want to see what the worst thing he can do is.
"What were you thinking?" I cry when I finally catch my breath. "You could have killed that guy!"
"I hope I did," Cole says. I turn to stare at him, gasping in the thin, damp air.
"You can't mean that."
"Absolutely I do. He disrespected you. Put his hands on you. I'd kill him for much less."
I can't protect her. Her death is inevitable.
But I'll be damned if Shaw is the one to do it.
Mara belongs to me. I'm the only one who gets to kill her.
"It's time for you to stop hiding," he whispers against my throat. "It's time for you to come home."
When Cole admits to watching the videos of her sleeping with someone over a hundred times well I was very colour-blind. What's red? What's green? Those flags look the same to me.
"It was to learn," Cole says, letting his fingers trail down the side of my face. "I watched it over and over to see what you like, Mara. To learn your preferences. This body of yours is so responsive."
I knew Cole deep down wanted to protect Mara. He would kill for her or even kill her for her own protection as his twisted mind thinks. And when she was at the station he kicked off to get her home and it was just so adorable.
"You were at your boyfriend's house?" Hawks says.
"That's right."
"He's outside right now, raising a ruckus," Hawks says, watching my face to see my reaction. Unfortunately for me, I have a shit poker face. I'm sure Hawks can tell exactly how much that surprises and pleases me. "He is?"
"He's threatening to call a whole team of lawyers if I don't let you out."
I cannot wait for their last book, I am way too invested in this duology. My expectations are so high and I hope the next book is as consistently good as this one.
Check out the rest of the reviews for this duology!
There Is No Devil
All my reviews have the possibility of spoilers, be warned!
Sophie deserved a round of applause for this book. The plotline is gripping and entertaining with the perfect mix of drama, angst, and romance. The illustrations are amazing I'm living for it! This is definitely an author I will be reading more of.
Cole's character is so interesting. From the beginning, he has used gripped into this story. He's completely unhinged and doesn't care or need to explain any of his actions.
That sense of rightness settles over me the one and only time I feel a connection to anything like fate or destiny. The moment when everything aligns in favour of the kill.
I loved Mara she was the complete opposite of Cole on paper. Even though they share the same passion for art Cole has had better life experiences with it. It's the rich versus the poor, the famous versus the inexperienced. Yet, Mara and Cole's personalities definitely match they're both unhinged and bold. They really had great chemistry together. The romance is romancing.
Mara was so relatable at times I instantly connected to her. The banter she has with the way she acts to Cole is so funny.
"Evil men always want to justify what they do," she says. "And it's not by telling you all their reasons. No, they want to push you, bend you, and break you until you snap. Until you do something you thought you'd never do. Until you can't even recognise yourself. Until you're just as bad as they are. That's how they justify themselves by trying to make you the same as them."
I whirl around, expecting to see her sitting at my desk. Instead, a freshly hung painting awaits my view. She fucked on that painting, and she hung it on my wall. She's signed the painting in Sharpie and titled it: The Best Night of My Life.
My favourite Cole scene had to be when he practised tattoos on Logan before he did it on Mara. I was laughing so hard throughout that scene. It just really shows he has no remorse and does what he wants when he wants. I loved it.
"I can't have another man's mark on you."
"I designed that tattoo," I hiss.
"I designed a better one." He reaches inside the doctor's bag, pulling out a tattoo gun.
"Are you insane?" I shriek.
"Don't worry," he says, "I've been practising the last few hours."
"On who?"
He just smiles.
It was so wholesome when both Mara and Cole would brand each other with their own art as tattoos. Oh, I loved their chemistry you can just tell they are the type of couple to not break up. Unless it ends in death...
Two shakes: one white, one black. Twisted and entwined with one another their alternating coils tightly wrapped, but their mouths open to show their snarling fangs. I branded him just as he did to me.
I just love it when Cole is unhinged. I cannot wait to see it develop in the second book. I want to see what the worst thing he can do is.
"What were you thinking?" I cry when I finally catch my breath. "You could have killed that guy!"
"I hope I did," Cole says. I turn to stare at him, gasping in the thin, damp air.
"You can't mean that."
"Absolutely I do. He disrespected you. Put his hands on you. I'd kill him for much less."
I can't protect her. Her death is inevitable.
But I'll be damned if Shaw is the one to do it.
Mara belongs to me. I'm the only one who gets to kill her.
"It's time for you to stop hiding," he whispers against my throat. "It's time for you to come home."
When Cole admits to watching the videos of her sleeping with someone over a hundred times well I was very colour-blind. What's red? What's green? Those flags look the same to me.
"It was to learn," Cole says, letting his fingers trail down the side of my face. "I watched it over and over to see what you like, Mara. To learn your preferences. This body of yours is so responsive."
I knew Cole deep down wanted to protect Mara. He would kill for her or even kill her for her own protection as his twisted mind thinks. And when she was at the station he kicked off to get her home and it was just so adorable.
"You were at your boyfriend's house?" Hawks says.
"That's right."
"He's outside right now, raising a ruckus," Hawks says, watching my face to see my reaction. Unfortunately for me, I have a shit poker face. I'm sure Hawks can tell exactly how much that surprises and pleases me. "He is?"
"He's threatening to call a whole team of lawyers if I don't let you out."
I cannot wait for their last book, I am way too invested in this duology. My expectations are so high and I hope the next book is as consistently good as this one.
Check out the rest of the reviews for this duology!
There Is No Devil
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