Thank you to Eve Dangerfield and the team at Dangerous Press for the advance reader copy of Velvet Cruelty
Dangerous Press has had its share of fairy tale retellings and now they are tackling snow white with a why choose romance!
I am a Dangerous Press review team member, but I remain honest and genuine in my reviews.
Once upon a time I was promised to a powerful man. I’m Harlow Constantine, and I know my duty. But on my wedding day, I’m stolen by four men. Men who loathe my fiancé. They’re going to use me to fulfill their vendetta.
One of them only wants my body.
One of them wants me as his wife.
Another one offers freedom… at a price.
And the last wants me dead.
I was raised to be a good society wife. Now I’m facing a battle of wits and breathless desire. My only hope is to set aside my innocence. Or learn to use it as a weapon.
Author’s Note: VELVET CRUELTY is a scorching romance between a woman and four beautifully dangerous men in which she never has to choose. Read at your own discretion.
Welcome to the Midnight Dynasty… The warring Morelli and Constantine families have enough bad blood to fill an ocean, and their brand new stories will be told by your favorite dangerous romance authors.
WARNING: This book is intended for readers eighteen years old and over. It contains material that some readers could find disturbing. Enter at your own risk…
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: The heroine at the center of all of this is January Whitehall, a just turned 18, a beauty who is set to be married off. Much of her backstory mimics that of a Snow White-like character. What I liked about Eve’s take is as helpless as January seemed at the beginning, this story has put January on this journey of discovering her own agency. For the first time in her life she is the freest she has ever been, and the juxtaposition of that the price of this freedom is actually captivity. Now for a quick rundown of all the men surrounding January. Adriano Rossi wants to kill her, Domenico “Doc” Valente wants to sleep with her, Robert “Bobby” Bassilotta wants to marry her, and Elliot Velluto Morelli wants to keep her as a mistress. I thought all the male characters felt different, not just by their motivations but by how they interacted with January. It was super effective that Eve built in these backstories where the guys inserted themselves into January’s life so once they kidnapped her, she had a shared past with each of them.
- Setting: The story is set primarily at the Velvet House. It is the home of Elliott Morelli, the son of the third son of the Morelli family. He is not going to inherit the Morelli wealth or business like Lucian or Leo. The Velvet House is January’s prison but for the men, it’s a home. It was interesting to see January forge a space within Velvet House.
- Pacing: Much of this story was laying the groundwork. We know this is going to be a trilogy, and so much of that knowledge dominates the story. The story is set up but it feels like the payoff is coming much later. I fully did not get why each guy has beef with January’s finance Parker. I understand he is a bad man, with a shady business but there is definitely more to the story and I wanted more revealed earlier.
- Romance: I did enjoy how different each relationship felt. The romance between January and all the men are at a variety of different stages. Each of them has a unique sexual tension with her, Bobby is more romantic, while Adriano is scary. Be fair warned this story will not be for everyone, I imagine once you have taken in the synopsis you should know that. If you want to read a book that pushes the boundaries of what romance and relationships can be, this will be a series for you. I loved how January had agency in a story where kidnapped is a trope. Her choices drive the course of the story and it is those choices that have kicked off both the relationships and plot points that will drive the next two instalments.
Velvet Cruelty receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
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Thank you again to Eve and the Dangerous Press team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
