Published: April 15, 2021

Beena Khan, Kindle Edition

I received an advance review copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Beena Khan lives in New York City. She is 27 years old and currently holds a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology. She enjoys reading, writing, and netflixing. She published her debut novel at the age of 26. She writes edgy romance novels that give you a book hangover.

“Life was nothing like a fairytale.”

Dahlia is traumatized from the sting that landed Vlad in prison. She returns to work, and Miran can tell she isn’t okay. He doesn’t want to send her back out on another mission, but Dahlia says she is ready. So she sets out to take down Salvi. Little does Dahlia know, she and Salvi have more in common than initially thought. And more surprising, Salvi is a protector of epic proportions. Vlad is angry, he’s hurt, and he’s locked in a cell where he has nothing but time to plot and dream about his revenge. Until he sees Dahlia, about to be thrown to the mercy of prisoners, and he is filled with rage. Is revenge worth more than redemption?

We get to know Salvi a lot more in this book, and I have to say- he might not be a “good” guy, but I like him. His true colors show in this story, and I have to say, he is a true badass.

We get to see more into Dahlia and Miran’s past, which gives us more of who Dahlia is. Dahlia is so damaged, so traumatized, and we dive into that in this book. Dahlia’s backstory is so brutal, so tragic, and just sad.

Getting to know Dahlia, and see her being so vulnerable, is so different from the bold, strong character we met in the last book. There is such a raw vulnerability to this character, and we see the absolute human-ness to her in this book.

The way the characters embrace Dahlia’s things, the support and love she is shown are beautiful. Salvi is an improbable hero, but he proves himself a true friend.

Vlad is back and angrier than ever. He is processing what happened that night at the ball, the betrayal, and facing brutal conditions at improbable hands.

I loved the complexity and raw emotions in this novel. This book is much darker, much heavier, and packed with a lot more character development. Beena pulled out all the stops with bringing this story to life.

In proper Beena form, she brings real issues and shines a spotlight on fundamental issues. There are so much tragedy and trauma in this book, and the relationships are not the healthiest, but the balance found is a true passion.

I loved the development of Dahlia and Vlad in this novel. Getting to know more of them on a personal level was fantastic. There is such a human element in this novel, and the realistic representation is powerful.

Beena has such a talent for bringing tragic situations to light and working through the steps toward healing. There is so much redemption and growth throughout this novel. So many powerful moments, built from such fragile truth.

I’m so impressed with how Beena brought this story to life. Beena has grown so much from her first novel. And it’s so amazing to witness. I am so satisfied with the completion of this storyline. Beena brought Beauty and the Beast to life in a modern mafia-ridden world.

This story is dark, dangerous, sexy, and deadly.