Mia
Cara.
I died a thousand times just there. Ana is very good with nicknames and this
one may have just taken off at number 1.
In
honor of my most anticipated read of 2025 – King of Envy – I thought I
was finally ready to talk about Dante Russo because, Lord knows, I need to take
a few deep breaths and recover from a mental breakdown to do so.
The Twisted series was just Ana Huang getting us ready for The King
of Sins series because, Miss, what is this? What have you laced this series
with? It has put me into not-having-a-morally-grey-boyfriend/husband depression
mode. Let’s dive into the world of billionaires in New York with the
forced/arranged marriage trope starring none other than a rich, handsome, big
Italian, Dante Russo, and the ever so pleasing, elegant, beautiful Vivian Lau.
Only after reading this series did, I know that The Twisted
series existed. The playlist for this book really had me at the core, and King
of Envy is giving Mr. Harper vibes. Have you seen the last song? It
is going to be vibing.
Set in New York, Dante Russo is known as a ruthless billionaire of the Russo
empire, ready to do whatever it takes to stay at the top. He’s handsome,
influential, and Italian. As a member of the Valhalla club, no one can match
the wrath of that man – not even Satan himself. Dante Russo is known for his
merciless ways of dealing with enemies, so Vivian’s father, Francis, is no
less. After Dante’s younger reckless brother, Luca, finds him spending a night
with a protected mafia princess, Francis has some incriminating information
that could very well get him killed. Coming from old money himself, Francis
finds the only way to rise in the ranks as new money would be to strike a deal
with the devil. And so, the story of a forced marriage, starting with
blackmail, begins.
Vivian Lau is a business owner herself with a successful event planning
organization. So much so that she had the opportunity to host this year's fall
gala, and that in itself is a big deal, but we’ll get to that later because
holy hell – this was written to perfection. Ana’s writing flows. She can say a
lot in just 10 words or less. Ana’s books are never too long or too short – she
encapsulates everything perfectly, always giving the desired full effect.
The initial meeting between both Mr. Russo and the future Mrs. Russo had to be
right, or else the whole story would have started off on the wrong foot. I
loved the way Vivian had a bite to her, and she wasn’t afraid to put Dante in
his place. Despite her not supporting her father’s business ways, she was
always supporting him no matter what. Did I mention she didn’t know about the
blackmail? Huh. Not sure if I did…
We slowly see a semblance of settling between the pair, from how she crashes
Dante’s art exhibition party to the day she demands to be moved in. I also was
drawn in to the way Dante just wanted to muddy her waters in their initial
meeting, during the altercation at her dad’s office. Their trip to Bali to meet
Dante’s parents had to be both the pivotal moment in their relationship and the
most destructive to. The same could be said for the armed robbery that Vivian got
caught up in.
If I could pick the moments I still think about to this day, it would have to
be their engagement photoshoot, the limo scene, of course, and the flight to Eldora
when Vivian decided to finally stand up to her father with Dante by her side,
of course. A bonus scene that never leaves my mind isn’t the when it all came
crashing down, or their Valhalla library smooch, but it’s actually when Vivian
was patching Dante up from his boxing match with sophisticated Kai. It was the
power shift between them both.
When
that tensions finally cracked? I didn’t know where to look. “You. Are. My.
Wife.” Ahhhh. I was blushing sooo hard.
The sibling dynamic was refreshing to see, and it wasn’t aimless. Luca, who is
always portrayed as the spare heir, clearly knew a thing or two about
relationships. Same with Agatha and Vivian. I die of reconciliation after
breakups, so the coffee shop scene had me crying, as did the scene when they
both argued after having dinner with Vivian’s parents. It was the first time
Vivian had someone stand up for her despite the status quo for her culturally.
Of course, Mr. Harper was there. There is an unwritten rule that he has to make
at least one appearance in each book. Twice if you want it to be 5 stars. King
of Wrath holds a special place in my heart and life. Have you read the
dedication? That alone deserves 5 stars.
As an editor, there was nothing you could fault in this book. Whether it was
the writing, character build-up, plot, or literature, everything was there to a
T. Other than the obvious success of the book due to the above, the reason this
read was the read for me was because I felt like Vivian Lau a bit, in the sense
that no matter what I do, it’s never good enough. So for all his faults, Dante
always told Vivian she was enough for anyone and everyone.
5/5 on
every level no contemplation needed.
A great start to the series and a great introduction to Kai Young and Isabella
Valencia. You are so not ready for that story. There is no reason for this very
late review other than the fact that when I love something, I don’t want to
share it. Ever. This is where my obsession with the Italian started, but I’m
slowly getting into the Russians now. However, times like this, I’m unsure, so
right now we are settling for a half Italian and half Russian man.
With
2024 coming to an end, re-reading this has been the best part of it. Paper
pages that are worth it.
Mwah.
Vivian.
Don’t forget to
keep reading, because as long as you do, it’s making a struggling authors day
that much better. Reach for the starts of success.
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