Synopsis:
Mercy no longer exists.
New Found Haven is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power.
Obedience is demanded.
Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, he’s the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, he’s entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when he’s forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the government’s brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride who is as lethal as she is unwilling.
Rebellion is crushed.
Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her bound to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt Heart, the centre of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested.
Nothing is what it seems.
Their union is no love story – It’s a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating one another or burning the city to the ground together.
The Heart consumes.
In a world where passion incites rebellion and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution because . . .
Love outside of your ring is a death sentence.
Review:
Is it possible to have a really good time reading something you disliked?
Shadera is an assassin sent to kill Grayson, the President’s son. Obviously that turns into a forced-marriage/marriage-of-convenience.
“You’re all riding the law like it’s a dick,” she said, perching on one of the kitchen island stools like she already ran the place. Another pull from the bottle. “Your own dick, I might add, since you made the law. How does it feel to get fucked by yourself?”
I flew through this. The writing is addictive and the book is filled with so many cliches that it feels like candy floss – light on the details, fluffed-up with angst, and rosy-coloured with all the torture and spicy scenes.
Yeah, I’ll work on my similes.
I liked the premise: masked elite, rings of hungry and desperate people, a patriarchy that is terrifying ruthless.
“Women are the backbone, the foundation, the immovable force that still does not falter when men stand on our spines to grab power.”
I appreciated the discussion around complicity, especially with Grayson being known as the Executioner. Should you destroy the system from the inside or tear it down from outside?
Now for the rant.
Did you used to read those angsty fanfictions (whump) where it’s basically character A being tortured or hurt and the character B screaming: ‘Hurt me instead’, ‘Don’t touch her’, etc? Well, expect that.
Also, Grayson and Shedera’s chemistry is basically will-they-f*ck-or-kill-each-other, but it’s actually both at once.
“If you shoot me,” he said, his voice dropping to a husky whisper, “it will only make me want to fuck you.”
Then, the unrealisticness.
These two get shot repeatedly, often by each other, yet manage to carry on as if nothing happened almost straight away? That goes for all of their injuries.
Finally, the plot twists which I’m not going to spoil. It wasn’t the reveals per se, but how they weren’t known beforehand. I guessed most early on, but these are characters who are supposed to know everything that happens.
After all that, yes, I will read on.
I liked the concept and the writing is propulsive. I need to know what happens.
Like I said, a mixed reading experience, but I don’t regret reading it in almost one-sitting.
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