While I love the premise of the book, the blurb is misleading. While we get to essentially meet Dex there is very little to him in this book. I understand setting up the plot to lead into the next book but the plot takes forever to get wheres its going. While I understand where the author was trying to go there was so, so, so many unnecessary chapters that I honestly skimmed through. I would have LOVED of we actually got to where Dex swooped in to help Margaux at some point in the first book. We literally get to the end and whilenit is a cliffhanger, it is just lacking up until that point for building any kind of tension between Dex and Margaux. There was barely any information pm Dex throughout the book except that he is protective of her and why. All that being said, I will try to read the next book but I'm very skeptical.

Oh boy lets chat….
I would like to thank the Author Heidi Stark for letting me review the ARC for this book.
Thank you for the long list of trigger warnings at the start of this book. I will not list them all but we have Domestic Abuse, Rape, Assault, Attempted Murder, Drugs and Alcohol just to name a few.
I also want to say thank you for starting this book with “Stop asking “Why didn’t you just leave.” I have been there and thankfully I did leave right away.
Now the book. I can not tell you how many times I almost DNF’d this book and I don’t do that. This book was not labeled right on the sight I received the ARC from. If I would have known that this was what it was about I most likely would not have read it.
OMG this book could have and should have been so much shorter. There were so many things in the book that really didn’t belong. Like all the phone calls to her friends that lasted only 1 page. I get what she was trying to do with those stating that she had friends and then they all started to shut her out. But still.
There was way to much of the back and forth. I felt like I was reading the same lines over and over just written in different ways.
There were also random people who came up in the book that really didn’t need to be there. Just a random person that had no context to story line at all.
Knowing that there is a 2nd book coming has not changed my mind on Dex. His whole build up to the story just to be dropped at the end of the book with nothing really got under my skin. His small part in the book bugged me. I know that he is the one that is going to save her in the long run but his “Hey how are you?” Texts drove me nuts. You know whats going on. Hop your ass on the plane and be the friend that you claim to be. Just the way he was written screams he is just as bad. Sitting back and watching everything unfold.
Marg's part in the book drove me nuts. “Oh I am so scared”, “Oh but I love him so much” “My apartment scares me so bad now that I piss my pants” but I need to run home to my abuser that caused that problem. I know that he is going to kill me but maybe I can fix him. (Note I do get what she was playing here but to do it for 600 pages was to much.)
Anyway, I will not be reading the rest of these books.

I ultimately had to DNF this book at 20%. I am a regular dark romance reader, and this was not giving romance vibes at all. Timmy (who is not the MMC) was giving major creepy, red flag, vibes and the FMC was ignoring absolutely everything. Meanwhile, the actual MMC was watching everything unfold and doing nothing to protective someone he felt possessive over. The storytelling was disjointed and confusingly jumping all around an unclear timeline.

This book could have easily been 300 pages less. There was so much filler I found myself skimming a lot. I was really hoping for more from Dex so it was a bit of a let down when he didn’t actually do anything. Felt like him being added into the book was pretty pointless.

I will say it was kinda nice to see the way that people in abusive situations reason their way out of everything. As someone who went through abuse you really do talk yourself out of it all.

I have a tendency to skip over the trigger warnings and information at the beginning, definitely read that before you read the book. I was simultaneously screaming at the book and understanding why. It’s definitely a darker read and took me a little bit longer to get through it.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Yes, I know this book is part of a duet. Again, yes, I AM impatiently waiting for the second book to come out so I can find out what happens.

I do see the struggle Margaux has with Timmy. Their timeline is so short. She became so attached to him in such a short amount of time. It was slightly infuriating. I am not saying I don't understand because if anyone knows about following emotions its me. Her attachment and fierce loyalty to him annoyed the fuck outta me. That was the point wasn't it though. I read along with how she diminished herself from who she was and what she loved to make herself fit Timmy. The parts when Timmy threw her words around and made her feel in the wrong hurt because I know that pain. Sometimes thinking you're wrong and you started this unnecessarily can hurt the worst. But if I could go into a book, Timmy and like 90% of his friends would get a fucking punch to the throat.

Timmy's friends, with like the exception of 2 are all so toxic too. But, what aggravated me the most was Dex. He feels so useless to the story. I know his time will come in book 2 but for book 1 I couldn't. He was a bystander constantly repeating "I need to protect Margaux", "I have a fierce need to protect Margaux", etc. All the while she's getting abused every which way by Timmy. Not just that, she's been abused in the past before Timmy. Really, what is Dex's purpose? He barely even talks to his best friend anymore because that guy is a dick so what is holding him back?

The one constant I had with Margaux while reading this was the constant anxiety. My chest was tight the whole time reading this. Waiting for her to leave him, waiting for Dex to intervene, hoping Timmy doesn't kill her. My anxiety is hiking just thinking about it and that ending.

I NEED to know what happens next. Please finish book 2 soon!

For those who aren't used to toxicity or abuse in their life this might not be the book for you because you won't understand Margaux. For those that are, check the trigger warnings. It is a good book. Dex's passive nature is the reason its only good and not great but I have a feeling shit is going to happen in book 2 and I can't wait.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This was so perfect for a dark romance, just like I love them.

It got me from the start and also was very sad that it finished on a cliffhangers.

I need the second book as soon as possible.

Part One of a Duet – Ending with a Cliff-hanger

Spice: 🌶🌶

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Darkness Level: 🩸🩸🩸🩸
Tropes: Insta-love, Domestic-abuse, Mental-health

Format: Arc E-book – 611 Pages

Explaining a relationship with a narcissistic person is complicated, if not impossible. But that is exactly what Heidi Stark managed to do in this book. And she did it without rush, without judgement, and more importantly without filters.

Margaux is a normal average girl. She could be anybody. You, me, the neighbour. And she falls head over heels for Timmy, who at first glance is everything she thought she was missing or didn’t know she needed in her life.

But what starts as a new adventure, slowly morphs into cycles of love-bombing, micro-aggressions, gas-lighting, malice and sometimes even pure cruelty. The time-line of the book is short. Everything happens within a few months. But the author takes her time to slowly dissect the sweet gestures, the attention to details, the manipulations, the isolation, the self-doubts, the justifications, and the surrenders.

As an outsider, you see the red flags like neon signs, but what’s interesting is that so does Margaux. But as only those of us who have been in her shoes can attest to, it’s so easy to slide them under the rug and focus on the good times. Because the good times are soooo good. The sex is incredible. The gestures are personal and romantic. The apologies are sincere.

The book also does an incredible job of showing how someone who has already been in a physically abusive relationship before, can still fall for a mentally abusive relationship. How it is still possible to say, it’s not the same. He hasn’t really “hurt” me. It’s just a phase. It’ll get better. I HAVE TO BETTER.

I won’t go into Timmy’s personality or actions, as I feel like that might give too many spoilers. But I will say kudos to Heidi for her insight into someone with mental health disorders and how difficult it is to navigate and differentiate between the reality of what is manipulation and what is a result of said illness/s.

If you decide to read this book, don’t forget the book ends in a brutal cliff-hanger and the second part is not yet released.
PLEASE go in without judgement, and remember that no amount of amazing literature is worth YOUR mental health. Take care of yourself.

Extra trope/content info:
- Travelling
- Beautiful destination
- Praise

**Trigger Warnings**

>>>The full list of TWs are at the beginning of the book but here are some of the essentials:

Mention of SA and rape (off page – not by Mmc)

Child abuse (off page – not by Mmc)

Emotional, Financial and Physical abuse

Dub-con

Non-con

Somnophilia

Alcohol, Drugs

Mild stalking

Cheating (implied but not confirmed)

Sexism, misogyny, racism

Slut shaming

Mental health – PTSD, Schizophrenia, Paranoia

Attempted murder


Thank you, Heidi Stark, and NetGalley, for providing me with the arc in exchange for an honest review.




--Pre-Read Review:
This is the first arc I have ever received. So, needless to say, I am excited🤩!
I downloaded the e-book and opened it and read the “Dedication”:

"To the survivors. The people who have escaped.
The people who are still going through it.
The people who are not quite ready to get out yet.
And for those who never made it out alive.
For those who never go through it, and to the people who say ‘why didn’t you just leave?’, you are lucky as fuck.
(And please stop saying ‘why didn’t you just leave’.)"

67 words in and my heart is racing…
I can already feel the pain I am about to cause myself. Specially knowing it ends in a cliff-hanger. I think I didn’t realize it was duet when I requested the Arc. I usually NEVER read books that are not completed. But I feel like I owe it to the author who accepted my request for the arc to do so.

So… with that being said, here we go…

Review goes live January 13
DNF @ 62%
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I love the exploration of how somebody falls in love with an abusive partner. Seeing how the relationship starts and how the red flags begin to appear but are easily swept under the rug until the pivotal moment violence erupts. However, I got really confused on the timeline and what was happening when. I also felt like the book was dragged out for too long. We also didn't get much of Margaux's past, and in fact learn that she's been married three times and has been sexually assaulted in the past in the MMC's POV (if we can even consider him the MMC since he only has a couple of interactions with Margaux in the book and a handful of POV chapters).

I do think some people will like this book, but like I said, it felt too drawn out for me.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Lots of dark drama in this book. I was here for all of it! Steak’s writing moved the action along at a great pace. I was intrigued and interested the whole story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.