⭐️One star for the story and characters, plus an extra one for the spice.⭐️

If you enjoy dark books centered on trauma, love triangles (which have never been my thing), and plenty of spice-but don't mind a chaotic storyline— this might be for you. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

Right from the start, I struggled to connect with the story. It begins so abruptly that I felt like I had missed an entire book before this one. Within the first few paragraphs, there was an overwhelming amount of information thrown at me, making it hard to settle into the story. The pacing was another big issue. Some sections dragged on for too long.

The writing itself felt unpolished, with noticeable grammatical errors and long unending paragraphs that took me out of the story. It's the kind of book that could have benefited from another round of editing and proofreading-both to clean up the technical aspects and tighten the plot better. There were too many overly complicated elements that didn't quite fit together, making the story feel disjointed rather than immersive.

There are a lot of characters and often I lost track of who is who since sometimes they use nicknames and sometimes not. Regarding the FMC and MMCs, they felt a little forced for me-often childish and taking the worst decisions most of the times. Overall no natural feel to them.

That being said, I can see how this book might appeal to certain readers. If you love dark, messy romances filled with angst and heavy themes, and you’re not too concerned with a perfectly structured plot, you might enjoy it more than I did. But for me, it just didn’t come together in a satisfying way.

Thank you NetGalley and DiMi Ink for this ARC❤️

This is my first book by Bella Faust, and it won’t be my last! *Tempting Fate* is the best psychological thriller I’ve ever read. From the moment I started, I couldn’t put it down. The complex backstories of Lily, Venom, and Alex, along with the shocking twists, had me hooked. The characters feel real—like a tight-knit group of bikers with their own code.

But fair warning, this book isn’t for the faint of heart. It deals with heavy themes like assault, and the author gives a clear trigger warning. The story is intense with gang wars, betrayal, and a love triangle, and Lily’s past mistakes may cost her everything. The unpredictable twists will keep you on edge, and you won’t be able to stop once you start.

The cliffhanger at the end left me shocked and eager for more. This series is dark, gripping, and full of twists you won’t see coming. If you can handle the triggers, this is a must-read.

I have mixed feelings aboutit . On one hand, it’s a dark, intense story with plenty of spice that will definitely appeal to fans of edgy romance and suspense. On the other hand, it didn’t fully click for me. The plot has its gripping moments, but it’s also really convoluted. There were parts where I was hooked and others where I felt totally lost. Honestly, it could’ve been shorter, I felt like some sections just dragged on longer than they needed to. Then there are the characters. They’re well-written and definitely flawed, but I couldn’t connect with any of them. More often than not, I found their decisions annoying, which made it hard to root for them. That might work for some readers, but it left me feeling a little detached. That said, if you’re into dark romances with heavy themes and don’t mind a bit of chaos in the storytelling, it’s still worth a read. It’s the kind of book people will either love or struggle with, unfortunately, I fell into the second group but I enjoyed it (to a point)

That was a hell of a spicy book,

The story was amazing, the spice and plot PERFECTION..

Will definitely read the others in the series.

Tempting Fate by Bella Faust is a thrilling start to the Duplicity Trilogy. Packed with twists, sizzling chemistry, and a dash of danger, it keeps you hooked from the first page. While some moments feel a bit predictable, the gripping plot and well-drawn characters make it a must-read for romance and suspense fans.

BELLA FAUST MIGHT JUST BE MY NEW FAVOURITE!!

Gahh— where to start!!

So, before going into this one, I did read Craving Control, which was practically one PITCH BLACK shovel to the face with how hard it hit me— it was like nothing I’ve read before, and though it was a moral train wreck, it was different, gritty, confrontational and the writing freaking consumed me.

Anyway, I digress—
This book is ALOT less dark, though don’t be a silly goose and think you’re a Teflon coated hero and nothing sticks… READ the trigger warnings, this author isn’t sprinkling sugar on sh*t, so read the warnings and then strap yourself in for a crazy, dark and psychological ride.

I love Bella’s writing. She gets right into the nitty gritty and doesn’t hold back. And let’s face it so many of us are snatching up these ‘riskier dark’ reads these days wanting the WOW factor— something different to anything else we’ve read.

Bella does this for me.
Though fiction, she reels me in with her confrontational and uncomfortable scenarios, making me wonder if I need to see a priest or something to fix whatever is broken in me to read about some of the horrors, but the story weaved sucks me right in and the grit is so worth the story!

After the last book, seeing Anna rise up like a freaking phoenix, getting on with her life— Sh*t Yeah!
The chemistry between Venom and Anna, and Anna and Slash is enough to melt a polar ice cap!

There’s alot packed into these pages, but the journey is worth it.

FIVE “Maybe I need an exorcism… and a priest” ⭐️’s

2.50 ⭐️ rounded up. Was this the most well written book, not necessarily. Did I eat that $h!t up, absolutely. This is an extremely convoluted tale that at times I was lost in, and other times I was just lost. It was definitely longer than necessary to adequately tell the story. (Side note: I know the author warned about the use of slang, but the Australian words and phrases didn’t bother me). Be prepared for a ton of far fetched plot lines which may or may not converge.

The way the author began the book was a bit abrupt. It felt like a huge info dump, or like I perhaps missed a previous book. I actually went back to make sure the cover of this said “Book One”, and that I hadn’t accidentally requested a sequel to something. I can perhaps understand the thought behind it, but the style didn’t immediately hook me. There were also times when things that happened in the past were alluded to but never fully explained.

I was confused sometimes regarding aspects of the motorcycle club (MC). It was difficult to keep all of the characters (sooo many characters) in the MC aligned, especially since some people went by a given name and a nickname. By extension, keeping the relationships of characters to each other straight, familial or otherwise, was a challenge.

My feelings on the FMC are mixed. She’s a two dimensional character in a complex story. The PTSD symptoms with regard to her SA seem right on. However, she becomes so immature at times when she doesn’t stand up for herself. I found myself continually disgusted by her choices. If that was the author’s intent then they did a good job there.

The other characters, again there were a lot of them, felt different than the FMC. Putting them into categories of well-rounded versus surface-only would be difficult. The author had good instincts with some, but others just fell flat.

It was an interesting plot at its basic core, but ultimately it had too many complicated components that didn’t neatly fit together.

Personally, I didn’t love this story. I didn’t really gel with any of the characters and I found them quite annoying most of the time. I found the plot to be okay, it’s dark with some heavy spice.
There are also grammatical errors throughout the book, including spacing issues and some odd wording throughout. By the third ‘needa’ I was getting quite annoyed by it! E.g. ‘you don’t needa be here,’ and ‘Needa get Lily from work’. This happens 43 times! I googled if this is typical in Australia slang but nothing comes up. Unfortunately not one for me but I can see how some readers would enjoy.

This title includes several dark romance book tropes. I loved reading it! I'm happy to learn it is part of a series, so there will be more coming. Faust is a great writer and crafted an emotional tale. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.