Perfect Villain

A Dark Stalker Mafia Romance (The Dark Lies Duet, Book 1)

By: J. L. Beck, S. Rena

Narrated by: Anastasia Watley, Curt Bonnem

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The second our eyes connected, I felt the shift in the air. The crackle of fire igniting between us. He was dark, dangerous, and secretive. He came into my life like a storm, ripping apart everything I believed in, everything I thought I knew. With his mischievous smirk, stunning looks, and alluring behavior, I should’ve ran as far away from him as I could. But I was stupid. I trapped myself in his web. I thought I was safe with him. Safe in his arms, safe from a past that refused to let go. Turns out Christian Russo was the past I was running from, and my first mistake was ever thinking I could escape him.

This is a dark stalker-mafia romance. It contains adult themes, and material that might be triggering to some listeners.

©2022 J. L. Beck and S. Rena (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

The storyline was there.

The storyline and plot were definitely there. The execution wasn't the best. The heroine was extremely infuriating. It's just hard to believe how completely ignorant she was to the 573 red flags and coincidences, ESPECIALLY as someone who had been on the run for years.

The dialogue was really cringy at times. It reminded me a little bit of the line in "10 things I hate about you" where she goes "I want you, I need you, oh baby oh baby" 😂

Unfortunately, I don't think either batterie was right for the role. It felt slightly boring and monotonous. For a book that had a decent amount of suspense, the narration felt all too calm the entire time.

The female narrator didn't quite mail the male part. It was way too breathy and drawn out. Her voice sounds like she's trying hard to hold back laughter the entire time. Not to mention, she draws out the endings of her sentences like "I was waiting for the police to come-uh" and "do you know his last name-uh" it just made the book hard to get through.

Wicked Scary and Ever so STEAMY!

Not your normal steamy plot…this book is creepy as hell! I found myself trying to figure out a way to justify the sick behavior of the leading male character, because he was raised wrong & seems so lost…and he’s such a great & caring lover. But he is just too sick…

loved

I loved this book. It kept me fully invested the whole time. I couldn't put it down. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Crazy, but enthralling!

Ok, yes, the hero is more of an antihero (psycho) & the relationship is SUPER messed up, but it’s fiction, you can kind of see his side, it’s an engaging story & the sex is totally steamy. Even the THINKING about sex is steamy. Would I want to actually experience some of this? Nope. But reading about it was fun, even if I cringed at times. I think the authors handled the one (to me) cringe-worthy situation well and when this book came to an end I literally said, “WHAAT?!” and snatched up my phone to look for the sequel. Thank goodness the second book is also included with membership!

It’s ok.

I enjoyed the story enough to get through book one and will listen to book two. BUT I don’t care to much of the he said she said between each chapter. I prefer a more fluid dialogue throughout a storyline, but once I got used to it, I suppose it was fine. While I’m fine with the sex scenes, except for the rape scene, of course, my preference is for it to be more sensual to create a connection first before it gets all dirty. But to each his own I suppose.

Cliffhanger

I did not realize this was a cliffhanger really good story, but now I’m going to have to read more books.

I LOVED the book and the narrators!

It was definitely a pleasant surprise and I can't wait to listen to the second book Monster!

suspenseful

If I could reach through a book and slap a character, I would slap Sean. Though, Christian kind of makes a villian you love to hate...and hate to lust.

So good!!

I loved how well the book was written. It’s crazy how the narrator made us love Cristian but then remember he is an evil guy as well. A must read

the twist

I love the dark male perspective brings a refreshing twist on the typical dark romance novels