Vile Boys

Knot Their Toy, Book 1

By: AJ Merlin

Narrated by: Allyson Voller

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Nothing says "welcome to your dream university" like dead bodies and a warning to stay in my lane.

It’s almost impossible to get into Winter Grove University, so when I’m accepted on scholarship, I know my life will change for the better. Or will it?

When an alpha starts harassing me to join his pack, I’m left with no choice but to tell him I belong to another. The thing is, I name-drop the richest, most notorious pack on campus.

Dorian, Foster, and August aren’t happy when they find out, and the tension between us grows. These vile boys know how to hold a grudge, but when I’m forced to spend time with them, I can’t stop the connection that’s growing between us.

With a killer closer than we thought, will I lose everything I’ve ever wanted, or will I become the omega I never thought I could be?

Vile Boys is the first book in the Knot Their Toy duet and includes omegaverse, M/M, poly, and bullying.

©2022 AJ Merlin (P)2023 Pink Flamingo Productions

Lived it

This is not my usual kind of read but I was intrigued and I have to say it did not disappoint! I loved it! Would definitely recommend this!

A Great Listen

Winter Grove University is the dram school for anyone who wants to get somewhere in life, no matter if you're an alpha, beta, or even an omega. It's almost impossible to get in. So when I beat the odds, I know it'll be life changing. I just don't expect death on campus during orientation, or a warning to stay in my lane if I want to get through the next four years successfully. Not that I'm worried or anything. This is until the three most influential boys of Winter Grove decide to dedicate the semester to making my life miserable for reasons that probably aren't my fault. Foster, Dorian and August know how to hold a grudge. And the're not willing to let me forget any slight I may have committed against them. Now, with three boys making my life miserable and bodies piling up around campus, I have to wonder if maybe I should stop worrying about my grades and instead focus on the two alphas and a beta who can't seems to leave me alone or the killer who might be closer than we thought.

This is the first book in the Knot their toy. It is a paranormal why choose romance. Foster, Dorian and August are three of three of the most influential boys on the campus that Mercy is starting this year. It is a school that is super prestigious and hard to get into and she can't really believe that she is there. But when she puts herself in the path of one of the guys she puts herself in to quiet the situation because they hold a grudge and are relentless about it. When she uses Dorian's name to a pushy alpha to back off she had not a clue that there would be consequences for doing that. I can't really tell you more about the book or I might give something away but it was a good read. I am not the biggest fan of paranormal romances because there really just not my thing but I did enjoy this one This was so much fun to listen to. You really don't want to miss it.

Definitely a niche reader work, but I'm in this group.

Definitely a niche reader work, but I'm in this group. A little thriller, a little mystery, spice, control, and humiliation. Fun stuff all around. 😉

Bully Omegaverse

4/5 ⭐
3/5 🌶️
4/5 🎧

I've never heard of a bully Omegaverse before and was curious how it would go since it seems so against how alphas normally treat their omegas... But AJ did such an incredible job and I loved it so much. It had all my favorite bully elements with some very unique "punishments" and I really loved the dynamics between Mercy and the pack, especially towards the end.

The plot was really interesting and before the big clue on whodunit, I was totally in the dark. When that was revealed I was blown away and not expecting it at all. It was kinda wrapped all up in this first story of the duet so I'm really interested in seeing where book two takes us.

I was able to listen to this one and really enjoyed Allyson Voller as Mercy and most of the guys. Occasionally they were a bit feminine, but overall it was a great listen and I'm so excited for book two to release on audio too.

I’m knot their toy

+ omegaverse
+ kink
+ dark romance
+ enemies to lovers
+ light bully
+ why choose
+ deaf fmc

🎧: 5/5
🌶️: 4/5
⭐️: 5/5

Vile Boys was my introduction to omegaverse, and even though I had to do some research, I thoroughly enjoyed this world. This was a quick and intriguing read. The FMC is Mercy and she is a deaf omega who gets into Winter Grove University, which is the most prestigious university to get into. If you have hopes of getting anywhere in their world, this is the school to get into. Little does she know that it’s quite easy to tell the rich kids from the scholarship kids, but it’s very quickly pointed out by Foster during freshman orientation. Foster is the beta of a pack who just so happen to rule the university, and Mercy’s roommate warns her to stay away from their pack and blend in because they can be rather vile and cruel to people who go against them. Unfortunately, Mercy is a feisty omega who doesn’t take well to being told what to do and every time Foster, Dorian, or August bait her she falls for it. It may also be the fact that their dynamic intrigues her like no other. Their scents entice her and have them drawing her in without trying to hard. At first, the boys don’t like her (or so she thinks) and she makes the mistake of using their name to protect herself, which makes Dorian, the alpha, fairly annoyed. Since she won’t beg for forgiveness, her and Dorian fall into a game where she loses and becomes “theirs” as a result for the rest of the semester.

The pack dynamic is the three guys. Dorian is the alpha who truly gives off alpha vibes and is rather protective of his small pack. August is also an alpha, but he has softer qualities and only uses his alpha power when necessary. And then there’s Foster, the beta of the pack, who can be very cruel and has a morally grey compass. Mercy completes their pack by being an omega, but do they fully complete the pack?

In the midst of all of this there are murders happening at Winter Grove and no one knows who the killer is. Dorian gets dragged into this and gets kidnapped and August and Mercy are on a mission to find him. Will they be able to get him back? And who is behind all the murders??

Conflicted about the story, good narration!

This book was a tough one for me. Like I enjoyed Mercy most of the time and I hated the guys most of the time. I don’t think they are even close to redeeming themselves, they haven’t proven they are good people at all so this one was weird for me. I know it’s a duet but I feel like it will be hard for the author to make me like them after what they did in book 1. I have read/listened to a lot of bully and this to me was one of the worst because of how they treated her in line with her disability. Like taking her hearing aids and her medicine. Like a big nope from me.

I will say I liked the kink in this one (it’s personally not my kink and I couldn't never like what Mercy likes but I like how she was able to explore her kinks and figure things out with Dorian and his sidekicks. I love reading one of these kinks but with it solely being MM so a little different when its RH. This was a slowburn until it randomly ignited and was steam full ahead haha. I like the heated scene because again Dorian acted like a good Dom, stopped and made she she wasn’t doing things because she felt like she was being forced and asked her thoughts/checked in with her a lot to be sure. That I could appreciate at least.

I think for me this book needed more time to kinda develop the steam between them. There were a couple hints but like it felt almost like it came from left field. I was close to giving this a 3 star overall rating but because the narration was done well and how the author did the sexy BDSM scenes, I rounded it up to a 4. I really hope the guys redeem themselves with me and we get some of their backstory how they got to be this way so we can connect with them more. I also can’t wait for the ramifications of the ending with the twists. That also was odd to me, it felt rushed. Again I think this should have been a 3 book series so we didnt know who the baddie killing people was until after we got more hints/clues and the steam could have been developed with the group. Overall it had a lot of potential and I was shocked I liked 2 out of the 3 of them in the sexy scene/big climax/standoff. I still don’t like Foster and I don’t think that will change honestly. August and Dorian grew on me but I am still not sold hahaha.

Narration was done really well by the solo narrator. She does a good job with her voice to do the guys and make them sound sexy hahaha. Only a couple female narrators can do this for me and make me not miss out having a male narrator. The emotion I felt from her when Mercy was being humiliated and picked on, when her mom was being nasty and mean, when she was conflicted when she didn’t want things to stop and she didnt want to end the arrangement with them. It was done so well, I was sucked into this story. I don’t think I really liked her as the roommate, that felt a little off to me. Overall I would give the narration 4.5 stars and will definitely be listening to more of this narrator in the future ❤️

🎧 Audiobook Obsession Reviewer - Flock Team 🎧

Murder, spice and everything nice

I really fun edge of your toes RH bully listen. I’m truly not sure where it will go from here. The story feels very finished but I believe it is a duet.

I did learn I’m not into kitten play…

The narration is great!

#TheFlock

Close to a 5-star

One little lie is all it takes to turn Mercy's life upside down. All she wanted was to start her new life at Winter Grove University unnoticed. Instead, she's now under the control of the meanest, most notorious Pack on campus. She's their "Beck and Call" girl but it's not all bad. When they aren't making her life miserable, they are capable of giving extreme pleasure. And since there's a killer on campus and Mercy keeps stumbling over dead bodies, having a Pack nearby isn't such a bad thing. Still, Mercy has definite plans for her future and a Pack isn't a part of them right now. Something has to give.

This story could have easily been a 5-star with a few tweaks. I'm over bully romances but apparently, the author world doesn't agree since they keep cranking them out. This one had the bullying down, however, there was a twist. Mercy wasn't exactly the innocent most victims are. Sure it started with her little lie and the guys overreacted on a ridiculous level. Had it stopped there, they would have been the villains. Instead, Mercy's pride played a role in making everything so much worse. Had she humbled herself even once, her life would have been so much easier. So, it was hard to blame them for everything. This doesn't clear them of their bullying and they didn't pay the price. Hence, the missing star. Bully romances must have three features to be a success for me. There needs to be a reason for the bullying. It can not cross a line. And there must be a redemption arc full of groveling, gestures, gifts, and remorse. This book was shaky on one and two and failed on three. A chapter of redemption would have made all the difference. On the 'star' side, the characters are all very defined and slightly unhinged. Their behavior is unpredictable, yet unsurprising. The chemistry is stronger between the guys than between Mercy and the guys but grew throughout the book. And despite Mercy's pride, she was an interesting character. It's not often you run across a lead female with a disability and health issues, and her conditions made her unique.

Allyson Voller did a wonderful job with the narration. I prefer dual narrations. It adds more of a dynamic and having only one puts undue pressure on one person to narrate both male and female, but Allison did a solid job. She gave each character a clear, distinctive voice and managed the guys better than I could have imagined. Kudos.

#PinkFlamingoProductions
#TheFlock
#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

Great Bully Romance!

I enjoyed this series in its kindle format, but the audio version of this story adds an element to the story telling that made it feel like I was reading this for the first time again! The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the story to life! It was easy to step into the shoes of Mercy Noble, even during the times I did not want to! I can't count how many times I wanted to junk punch one of the boys! I would totally recommend this series to anyone who doesnt mind the bully troupe.

It Was Good But…

I’m not a huge fan of bully romances but I wanted to give this a try since it is an omegaverse. If you take out the OV stuff you have a good bully romance with a romantic suspense subplot. It seemed like the omegaverse world was kind of an after thought.

The narration was good though!