Wrath of an Exile

An Enemies to Lovers Romance (The River Styx Heathens, Book 1)

De: Monty Jay

Narrado por: Michelle Sparks, Liam Dicosimo

In Ponderosa Springs, this version of Romeo and Juliet isn’t a tragedy. It’s war.

Jude Sinclair is West Trinity Falls’ favorite exiled loner.

Cocky. Insufferably hot. Family foe.

Raised across the tracks in a rival town, he reeks of trouble. Which is the one thing I’ve always had a problem avoiding and now that he’s just down the hall, it’s harder to resist the pull.

My father made one rule when Jude moved in, never trust a Sinclair.

The last thing I need is for my new foster brother to make me question my loyalty with his filthy smirks and poet tongue. But with every forbidden kiss and secret hookup, I quickly find myself faced with two options.

Betray my family? Or betray my heart?

©2024 Monty Jay (P)2025 Monty Jay

Absolutely yessss!

✨Jude & Seraphina✨
Absolutely loveddddd this one.
Jude didn’t need anyone, but he craved for someone to see him, love him and show him what a family truly was.

Phi might’ve had it all, but she found herself spiraling after events took place. Until the one person she was supposed to stay away from and hate forever ended up being the person that saw her for everything she was.

Together they created a universe they knew was safe, regardless of their last names.

I strongly suggest reading the Hallow Boys series before jumping into the River Styx Heathens series, as they follow into the same overall world.

The narrators, Liam Dicosimo and Michelle Saprks, did a great job bringing this amazing book to life. Getting to reread this book in audio form gave me alllll of the feels as if it was the first time again. I fell in love with Jude and Seraphina all over again! 🖤

Also, Chapter 24 & 25… yeah.. just thank me later 🙃

The Loner & The Geek 🖤

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲, 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐟k, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥.”

Thank you Monty Jay for bringing us back into the Hollow Boys universe. I loved the Romeo & Juliet Enemies to lovers vibes with Phi & Jude. I ate this up🤌🏼 Liam Dicosimo & Michelle Sparks did an amazing job bringing these characters to life 🖤

Unexpectedly, emotional, dark and raw

"...I think our love is like that. It's not poetic. It's cosmic. We are messy, raw like a collision that should've destroyed us both. But maybe that's the point? Maybe love isn't meant to be easy. Maybe it's meant to be this. Two people desperately trying to find each other across the chaos, across the darkness. Across everything that should've kept us apart."

Wow. Wow. Wow.

This book. Man... this book was so good. It's SO well written. I am truly speechless. I cried. Especially as an audiobook read, it just cracked my heart in pieces. Unexpectedly, emotional, dark and raw. This book was everything, and the narrators knocked it out of the park.

Phi and Jude are two broken people just trying to survive their own traumas when hey cross paths one dark night at the top of an old water tower, and suddenly, everything changes. They are electric and blazing from the second they cross each other's orbits that night, and nothing is ever the same. I love the chemistry between the two of them. The hatred. The attraction. The pain. It's stunningly beautiful writing.

I went into this book completely blind. I've heard a lot of buzz about it, but no specifics. I even purchased the SE from Twisted Fiction because I had a feeling that I would like it based on my mutuals who have read it and loved it, but man... I really had no idea. I absolutely LOVED this book. I'm definitely going back and reading the Hollow Boys now after this. I have no doubt that Monty Jay is going to be an auto-buy from me going forward, and I cannot WAIT for the next book.

The enemies to lovers story you’re going to want to hear

I feel like this was everything I could want from an enemies to lovers storyline! The tension, the banter, the angst, the steam… Phi and Jude gave it all to us. Seraphina has been through so much and it had let her down a really rocky road, pushing away her friends and family. I think Jude was exactly what she needed to get on track — someone to SEE her, her darkness and pain, and help relieve just a fraction of it with his presence. Jude himself has a had a huge chip on his shoulders with his family background, it was understandable that his anger and pain rufused to let him initially accept help from the people he thought destroyed his father’s life. His maturity and character development in the story was so admirable considering the obstacles he had to overcome. I absolutely adored these two together from their first scene, and don’t worry… you get plenty of spicy ones with them 😉😉 this review is specifically for the audiobook which was preformed by Michelle Sparks and Liam Dicosimo in duet narration — they did a phenomenal job bringing these characters to life!

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

Audiobook and Book Review

❤️ Enemies to lovers
🩶 Forced proximity
🖤 Family rivals
❤️ Hate to love
🩶 Touch her and ☠️
🖤 Found family

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wrath of an Exile is such a heartbreakingly beautiful story filled with pain, tragedy, and trauma. A story that highlights one character as a next generation troublemaker, not worthy of anyone or anything. Another character who is defined by the persona they show everyone to mask the deep pain and realness of who they are on the inside. Someone simply sparing their family from the pain they live with everyday. But it is this pain that brings the Troublemaker and the Mask together. They hate each other, but that hate grows into something neither of them deemed themselves worthy of. Their story is beautifully narrated by the incomparable Michelle Sparks and Liam Dicosimo.

Seraphina, Phi, used to be the ‘good girl,’ the nerd, daddy’s girl, until she experienced a trauma that no one should ever have to. The weight of that loomed over her, on her shoulders, her soul, for the last four years. And the person who knew about it will now be living in her home. There is no way the Loner is going to make her relive her worst nightmare just by being close. Jude doesn’t want a ‘family’ he wants out. He wants the money he is owed, but of course his shitbag of a dad had other plans. Now he has to be near the one person he wants, who he shouldn’t, and can’t have. They’re rivals after all. Phi and Jude hate each other, and yet, they’re the only ones that truly see the other. That can’t lead to anything good. Can it?

Without spoiling things, I love the arc of these characters. It’s a tough read in that they have gone through so much. But in what feels like a slow burn, they become something more than enemies. It is tough at times, and others it’s actually a bit comical…pranks can be endearing, right? The biggest wow factor for me was Phi. She did it herself. Jude may have given her the metaphorical tools, but it was Phi who used her strength. And that was incredible; not something we see as much as we should in dark romance novels (in my opinion!).

This is my first time listening to Liam Dicosimo, and let me tell you, I was enthralled by his entire performance.He was incredible as the loner, hated by everyone because of his last name. Dicosimo flawlessly exuded this character’s every feeling, as well as the dirty mouth Jude has. I’ve listened to Michelle Sparks many times, and every time is better than the last! She is so mother bleepin’ talented! I FELT every single emotion that Phi did, and at times was close to tears. That is pure skill on Sparks’ part to bring us to a deeper level of feeling just with her voice. Dicosimo and Sparks were phenomenal in their performances. What a fantastic listen!

I want to thank Monty Jay and ValentinePR for letting me listen and review this title. It was my first foray into Monty’s world, even though I own the entire Hollow Boys Series 😅 This story sucked me in and I look forward to what this next gen series will bring!

🪐“You see, I’ve got this thing. This appetite for boys’ hearts. It’s impossible to survive my brand of chaos. I like bad decisions. Fast cars. And s*x. Anything that makes me numb.”
✍🏼“I pour my wrath down her throat in tidal waves when our mouths meet again. I can taste how horrible this idea is the moment her tongue swipes against mine. Blood and contempt mingle together. But I can’t bring myself to care ’cause it tastes like payback.”
🏍️“S*x with Seraphina Van Doren is a f***ing death wish.”
🚬“Love is the only drug I’ve ever wanted in my bloodstream. Craved and crippled my heart for it. It’s the core of human existence. Forever wanting what we will never have.”
📖“She’s chaos and ruin, broken glass turned into art.”
☠️“We’re not made for soft endings. We’re made for catastrophe, for the kind of connection that leaves scars, the kind that haunts you long after the final page is turned.”
🌌“Be a good girl, Phi. Show me how much you f***ing hate wanting me.”

Modern day Romeo but better!

This is such a good read. It’s a modern Romeo and Juliet. Only difference is, he gets the girl and they don’t have to hide it or die for it in the end. Yes they hid it at first, but when he has to find her and go to her dad for help, he knows at that moment that he’s ok to love her! And man does she have walls up so high, but for good reason!