Playing with Knives

By: AJ Merlin

Narrated by: Leanne Woodward

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Life is so hard when you want to live like a magpie, stealing anything shiny you find, but you live in a small town where everyone knows your face.

Nothing exciting ever happens here, unless you count us getting our very own movie-rental shop right next to the sheriff’s station.

Which, for the record, I don’t.

That is, nothing exciting happens until my roommate is murdered and her body washes up on the riverbank for the police to find.

Confused and angry, all I can really do is move on and let the police handle things...right?

Wrong. I can use the questionable life skills God saw fit to give me and be the best stalker—I mean, investigator—anyone has ever seen.

Until four sexy-as-sin strangers waltz into town like we’re some kind of fun tourist destination rather than the most boring place on earth.

Lysander, Azriel, Nykos, and Rhys don’t belong in this town. Something’s off with them. Something is wrong behind their shrewd gazes and swoon-worthy looks. More suspicious still, they show up right as my roommate was found, and the reasons they give for coming here are flimsy at best.

At worst? I’m starting to think they killed her or that they know who did.

Is it coincidence that they’re here just after the first murder in more than a decade occurs?

And even if I’m wrong, what happens if the dust settles and I can’t keep living the only life I know?

Well, let’s just hope my body doesn’t end up in the river too.

An 18+ dark reverse-harem romance. PWK contains graphic sex scenes and detailed violent acts that may be triggering for some listeners. There are also MM and MMFMM scenes and relationships.

©2021 AJ Merlin (P)2022 Pink Flamingo Productions

A must story!!

"This is a must story!!! Willow and her men are a force to reckoned, trust me!!! Everything about this story was pure fascination. RH? Of course! Standalone? Oh, yeah! Steamy? All the spice!!! Alongside with an intriguing plot and amazing characters. I wouldn't consider this story as a long one but also not short considering the 14 hours long lol. Kind of complicated to explain. Point is that at first the story was very slowly. As an insta-love short stories lover the slow build is well good for the romance but not so good for my angst lol. But after that first slow beginning things soon heat up and... ALL. THE. SPICE. The guys are all psycho and weird... well perfect! A huge shout to Leanne for the amazing job bringing this story to life!"

Playing with Knives

Enjoyable read! Good narration! Lots of bloody violence and yummy steamy stuff Pretty much all you need to know, right?!? LOL seriously though, I enjoyed this stand alone story and will definitely be looking for more from this author! worth every minute of your time!

Reverse Harem

This is a reverse harem, paranormal romance, and romantic mystery. It contains explicit sexual content both MFMM and MM. Will meets some mysterious strangers when her roomate is murdered. Will finds out they are a pack: Lysander, Az , Nyko and Rhys. The novel does start out slow until they all end up in Chicago, then the pace speeds up more. Stick with it. Will really doesn't belong anywhere, and fights significantly with her mother, until she finds a home with the pack. Even though the pack may be murderous psychos. There are some very 🔥 times hat by Will and the men! I liked all the animals they save and adopt along the way. I also like the accents for the men in the audiobook version.

I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left this review.

so loved this book

The narrated did such a outstanding job telling this story,making you feel like you where apart of the story and wanting to make me not stop listening to this audiobook. she did an amazing job bringing the characters to life and making you wonder more about them. i highly reccomend giving this a listen to

For me, Merlin is one of those authors that I consistently enjoy. I really like her Summoner series, definitely dug into the first book in her omegaverse series, and while this one was a much different flavor than those stories, I'm glad I had a chance to read it.

Will is a fun character. She's got some of the components of Merlin's other leading ladies in the sense that she's a bit awkward, maybe not the most socially adept or generally social person, and she's got a little bit of baggage. But none of that holds her back. She's really on the start of a journey because the mysterious men who roll into town-Lysander, Nykos, Azriel, and Rhys-are a catalyst for her entire view of herself basically going up in flames.

The men are going to be a good hook for many, I think. We have a bit of variety, and even though there are some of the familiar roles-the smooth talker, the nice guy, the grump, the bossy one-the "pack" share a common bond: they're not afraid to get a little bloody. Given the right circumstances, or most circumstances honestly, they enjoy it. So, if you're looking for some men who likes knives, the color red, and are especially fond of making a mess, they are going to appeal to you. Even though we don't get a super detailed view of who they each are, Merlin does a nice job of giving us what we need in order to have each man be easy to categorize and separate out in your mind. You won't be getting confused about who is who, and while you may wind up sharing my overall view of the story, you'll enjoy the ride while you're on it.

wow

I enjoyed this book it was a little slow at first then it got pretty crazy it was a good interesting story, kept you listening once you start you need to keep going because you know what's going on I liked the characters, the narrators did a great job. I will definitely listen to more books by this author

Love the story!

Absolutely love the plot in this one! My only complaint is that the narrator uses a weird accent for all the men, and they are sort of similar, so it’s a bit hard to tell them apart.

Omg.. someone save me

By chapter 16 I was bored and ready to call it quits but decided to give it a chance hoping once the spice kicked in it would get better. I was wrong. Maybe it’s because I listened to the audio, idk. Definitely not my favorite.

A Sinfully Dark RH soaked in Decadent Violence

This story was so good! It was so much more than what I'm used to when it comes to reverse harems. This is a tale of suspense, murder, mystery, self-discovery, loyalty, with Game-of-Thrones-level killing, and deliciously hot smut. First we have Will, a secret klepto, dog-walking, anti-people millenial stuck under the thumb of her mother's constant ridicule. If judgement, disapproval and disappointment were embodied into a single person, then Will's domineering matriarch reigns supreme.

When four strangers roll into her sleepy, uneventful town right after the discovery of her roommate's murder, Will's life gets flipped on its side. There are several turning points in the story and let's just say Chapters 24 and 25 were the highlights of my listening experience. Just a fair warning, there are no heroes or heroines here: just the Pack who controls the darker side of Chicago. They are ruthless when it comes to their jobs. They don't just kill for the fun of it, rather out of necessity. No, the fun starts off in the bedroom.

AJ Merlin gave each of Will's men such distinct personalities: you've got the knife-wielding Nykos and his dom of a lover Rhys, the wild card Lys and the lighter of the bunch Az who has an affinity for public activities. Each one would do anything for their Pack and they just so happen to want to bring Will into the fold after she keeps running into trouble like a lost puppy. If you aren't comfortable with dub-con, handcuffs, spanking, then you won't have a good time with this one. As for myself, I loved every bloody minute of it! Oh to surrender one's control and feel helpless at the mercy of four sexy AF men...

#FreeAudiobookCodesBETA

Fantastic Read

This reverse harem really was awesome, it was even better than I expected. The author did an amazing job!

I received a free copy of the story and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Contemporary Dark Reverse Harem Romance

Playing With Knives by AJ Merlin is a contemporary dark reverse harem romance that I listened to on audio narrated by Leanne Woodward.

I loved that this book is not your typical dark romance, it kept me guessing on how the story would go. I really enjoyed the relationship that bloomed between Willow, Lysander, Azriel, Nykos, and Rhys.

I originally read the book when it was first released and was so excited when I seen it was coming to audio and I was not disappointed. Leanne did an amazing job on the narration. I look forward to listening to more of her work in the future.

I would recommend this book if you like dark romances, reverse harem romances, or romantic suspense.


The Flock Team
Audiobook Obsession Reviewer