A Vicious Proposal

The Fallen Kings of Eden

De: Kristy Marie

Narrado por: Heather Firth, Lee Samuels

I knew him only as Van Gogh.

A tortured artist who owned the night as he moved through the shadows, cloaked in hate and madness.

He was a vicious vigilante—a serial arsonist who thrived on the fear he triggered with a single match between his tattooed knuckles.

We were told to lock our doors and stay inside. I wanted to. I really did.

But then I saw his eyes, burning like embers as he watched me through the smoke. And like the flames at his feet, I delighted in his attention.

I became his muse. His passion. His obsession. His perfectly flawed flower.

But that was years ago. Before my seaside town became his canvas. Before the ashes of my enemies became his paint. Before he hated me… and made me his wife.

Bestselling author Kristy Marie brings you a brand new standalone with a morally gray hero who sentences his past love to six years of marriage to serve as punishment for her betrayal.

©2024 Kristy Marie (P)2024 Podium Audio

Great dramatic story

Truly enjoyed the dark romance. A Pyro and brothers also having unique names and talents. Hope there's a book coming for all the brothers and Reeses sisters story.

Book was really good! Wish there was a bit more character development and more context for the beginning of their relationship but still a good read!

Almost, almost… I wanted to love it but FMC drive me up the wall…

So, I finally finished the book… the main characters are the Reece and Vangough (Van)? (Allistair Kane government name).

I thought it was going to be this fun, slightly unhinged, banter-heavy romance, and in the beginning, the banter was cute. They meet when they’re teenagers (18/19), Van kind of stalks her in this obsessive “romantic” way (that’s only cute in books of course), and then she becomes aware? Of him almost a decade later. This whole time they think each had abandoned the other back then…So much potential, right?
But then it just… didn’t deliver.

The banter that started off flirty and fun turned into this really annoying back and forth where it felt like they were just trying to one-up each other endlessly. Reece, the heroine, is supposed to be quirky and carefree, but to me she just came off as someone who banks entirely on her looks and charm to get away with things. She had zero sense of danger or consequence, which would be fine if it weren’t paired with such a lack of depth.

And Van… where do I start? He was supposed to be this broody, mysterious guy with “alpha energy,” but it was all bark and no bite. He kept threatening her or acting all possessive but never followed through, and she knew it, so it killed any tension and the mood for me especially when she’d call his bluff… to one point he even knew he’s all bluff 😆😆😆 The number of times she was like “or what?” He almost always never did much... It just lost all edge.

Also, Reece had this classic trope energy that I despise of “tell me everything about your trauma but I’ll keep mine secret because mine is deeper” I rolled my eyes more than once. The guy literally thought she sent him to jail, and she just… didn’t bother to clear it up? Because he “deep down knew”? That made zero sense to me.

And don’t even get me started on how hopeless she was when Van had an allergy attack. She was so useless in that scene, I wanted to fling my device across the room. Like this is the guy you’ve been chasing emotionally, supposedly loooove and he’s literally on the floor, he could die and you can’t do a single helpful thing? Then right after, she bolts out of the house to go find some random closure moment that no one asked for? I can’t.

Van, of course, had the sad backstory, which was actually one of the few compelling parts. I wanted to know more about his mom and the reasons behind all that pain. That was one of the few threads that kept me going.

But Reece just made it hard to enjoy. She gave “main character because she’s pretty” energy, not “main character because she’s interesting.” She had a cat that she supposedly love but was there for like two seconds before Van basically took over caring for it… why write in a pet if you’re not even going to use it meaningfully? Irresponsible pet ownership just made me like her even less. Reece did not deserve Biscuit I hope Bach keeps her.

Also, the romance? It wasn’t giving. The spice didn’t even save it, which says a lot because usually that can carry a book with a weak plot, but here? Nope. Just not it.

So overall, would I recommend it? Maybe, if you don’t mind childish banter, an annoying heroine, and a story that feels more luck-based than character-driven. She was definitely more lucky as she went through life clueless thinking she was doing something…There were moments there, like the beginning and the end that had something sweet and a little hopeful. But in between? A lot of frustration.

3 stars from me mostly for the potential, the beginning, and the little emotional payoff at the end. But you’ve been warned 😂

Burning for Each Other ❤️🌻🔥💙

It takes a while to figure out all of the angles of this story, but hang in there, it gets good.

Van and Reese have a long, complicated relationship. Fire, both of them. There’s some anger and betrayal to overcome, but their cause is a good one and makes for a good story.

I’m sure the other brothers have very complicated, interesting stories themselves. Looking forward to them.

I like their nicknames and banter. She’s fierce, even when he’s being cruel. It has a cute ending with a gotcha.

I enjoyed the narrators. They did a nice job of keeping me engaged in the story.

wow

loved it, made me feel like myself and my husband the way we Snape at each other and play cant wait for another

Slow paced

Very very Slow paced book with only a few intimate scenes. Good story line behind it with a small twist at the end.