HAYES and Lilith are both seeking vengeance from the Retribution Kings. For the first half of the book be are kept in the dark about their reasons making it hard to see who can be trusted
The twists in this one due to Hayes’ role in the Retribution Kings is unique and intriguing. It really leaves us eager for Lilith’s story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The ending of book 1, Lennox, took the relationship between RIALTA and Lennox down a dark, at times convoluted, twisting path. This is a complex story, so I read Lennox again before reading this book.
If I had one criticism to make of this book, it is that you almost have to read them one right after the other because there are no references to prior significant plot driving events. The end of book 2 leaves us with a “happy for now”, but teases a significant advance in the overarching plot. Will it be easy to pick up book 3 and know everything that is going on in this complex story?
In any event, RIALTA is quite the creative journey. There are some very dark moments that may be triggering for some. Be prepared for steam, danger, death, and subterfuge.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I did not see that coming. LENNOX is hot, infuriating, and full of action and suspense. Rialta is a pistol and Lennox is a caveman locked up in a vault that only Rialta seems to have the key to.
The arranged marriage trope is not at all new, but Ella Miles plays with our emotions in new and interesting ways. While Rialta is a bit of a standard sassy mafia tough girl, it is Lennox that does what we least expect him to do. They are fighting their feelings for each other and have explosive chemistry at the same time.
The only time my interest wavered was in the beginning of the story. The task of explaining the connections between these characters from different books was challenging one, and I can forgive that it was a touch tedious when I was present with such a compelling story afterwards.
Cliffhanger…bam!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The action intensified in book 3. I like the story but there is so much repetition while the characters are talking to themselves or each other. The lies/secrets are important, but they are brought up over and over without any resolution.
I didn’t like Rialta until this book. She’s much easier to root for when her mind is on something other than canoodling. Yes, I said canoodling.
The cliffhanger on this book is very worthy of the name and is dragging me into the fourth and final book.
This story just isn’t gripping me like I thought it would. One reason is that I don’t like Rialta. Another is that the first game and the initiation were unimaginative. The “banter” from Rialta - both internal and external is annoying to me. I wasn’t even stoked by the cliffhanger.
On the other hand, I like Beckett and just about everything he does and his thought process while doing it. I feel like he is the only redeemable person in the story.
I have a lot of faith in Ella Miles’ books and although I found this book to be rather tedious, I know it is necessary to set up the rest of the story of the actual Retribution Games.
Characters from the Truth and Lies series are working on the fringe for/with Beckett. All readers not familiar with them - Siren, Langston, Liesel, etc. need to know is they are tight knit skilled underground type group.
All I know for sure is nothing will turn out to be as it seems as the rest of the story unfolds.
Every time I picked up one of the books from this series, I would get so immersed in the suspense, decadence and really incredible directions the story took. This was just a fantastic series. It was so over the top in ways that just made the desperation seem more desperate and the pain seem more painful.
What was also great about this story was how many times you thought one person was an enemy, they turned out to be an ally, then an enemy again. The only thing for certain is no one could be trusted. I didn’t even trust myself when I finished reading the books.
So final conclusion: great series, read it and be prepared to be consumed by it while doing so.
Just when I think Liesel and Langston have been through the worst, I’m proven wrong. They are tested in the most twisted ways to find the children taken at the end of book 4.
I not only had to stay up reading this book from cover to cover, I first had to read the last 25% of book 4 to get back into the dark and desperate mood created by Ella Miles in this series.
If you haven’t read the first 4 books, you have to read them before this one and they are well worth the time.
I don’t know if I will survive until book 6. CRUEL LIES is book 4 of the series and the tension, danger, darkness, and betrayal never lets up.
I put off reading this until the last possible moment because I know how every book in this series has stirred up actual physical feelings associated with the fear, conflict and longing between Langston and Liesel and the other characters. We spend a lot of time wondering why these two don’t trust one another when there is clearly something much bigger than either of them at work. I think that is the only thing I can say for sure after reading four books - that we haven’t begun to uncover the full scope of what is at work here. What I keep going back to is why Liesel’s father spent most of her and Langston’s childhood teaching them escape tactics and other areas of subterfuge because it is clear they had a need for it several times already.
I thought the end of book 3 was shocking, but the end of book 4 is something I never would have contemplated. All that remains is for us to wait to be run through the ringer of books 5 and 6. I’m impatient!
I’m irrevocably hooked on this story. I am as frustrated about not knowing the secrets as Langston and Leisel are. I am intrigued by the map and by all the new secrets that get revealed little by little. The more that gets revealed, the more questions arise.
I’m beyond aggravated at Langston and Leisel lying to each other about so many things (because that gives me wrong information, too) and feelings, especially the feelings. There have been so many false starts and contradictions that even I can’t trust them.
In other words, I can’t wait for the next book to come out!
Ella Miles has once again chosen a heck of a place to end book 3. Arrgghh!
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The suspense in this story is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I was totally immersed in it and then suddenly I was at the end and I was like, “ What?...No, don’t leave me hanging here, Ella”.
But Ella did leave us hanging, my friends. And she picked the perfect moment to do so from the story standpoint. Langston and Liesel are impossible to figure out. They lie to each other effortlessly. Their history goes back to childhood. The way that history is revealed in the book is original and I much preferred it to toggling between past and present.
So far the story is passionate, steamy, has jealousy, suspense, people are killed and other crimes are committed. In other words: five stars!
If you like stories about broken people that struggled from difficult pasts, you will like FINDING PERFECT. Both Ella and Knight are tough around the edges because of their pasts. What you will find as the story progresses is how well Ella Miles weaves the events of the past and reveals them bit by bit.
This story had a different feel to it. It was steamy. There was drama. I think what kept coming to mind was this notion that there were secrets that involved unfinished business.
I loved the plot twist and thought it was very clever. It certainly contributed to the drama.
SAVAGE LOVE has it all: enemies to lovers, second chance at love, and best friend’s little sister. Carter and Victoria both had a rough upbringing although Carter’s was much worse. He spent a lot of time with Victoria and her brother, Trent, and teasing the little sister grew into some cruel things Carter did to Victoria.
Ten years later, Victoria is supporting herself, her sister and her niece and encounters Carter as they both vie for the same job. To say these two don’t get along is an understatement. They are attracted to each other, but then hate each other especially when forced to work together with the same client.
Victoria is feisty and strong, good at her job, and saddled by a strong sense of responsibility. Carter is ruthless, he finds a woman when he needs one, and looks out for number one. You’ll enjoy watching them clash right up until the very end in a story that has some really great plot twists.
