What a
way to end the book year because I fell in love with Rai Sokolov and Kyle
Hunter. I don’t know why I took so long to read their duet. It’s one of those
reads that I want to experience for the first time again.
I’m
confused. I had a thing for the Italian. Okay, maybe “had” is a bad word
because I’m sure I’m still very much infatuated with the Italian. But after
reading Rina Kent, I may have become a little too infatuated with the Russian.
Maybe even more than Kirill. Oh, I don’t know. I love them all, but let’s talk
about the stars of the show: Rayenka and Kyle.
After
reading The Deception Trilogy and The Monster Trilogy, I was very
much interested in Kyle Hunter – because he was a sniper – and of Rai because
she had a twin sister she was hiding, and due to the fact that she was a badass
in the world of the Bratva, who are sexist towards women.
So if you are familiar with the world of the Bratva written by Rina, then you know that Rai is the grandniece of Sergei. She managed V Corp funds and goes head to head with the lions in her way: Igor, Vladimir, Kirill, Damien, Adrian, and Mikhail. Anastasia is someone that Rai is so protective of, so when we find that she is set to get married off, Rai offers instead of her place.
Rai
doesn’t know one thing, though. Igor has an illegitimate son who Rai agrees to
marry, but as soon as he enters the building, it becomes apparent that this is
the same Kyle who broke Rai’s heart seven years ago. And now they’re in an
arranged marriage.
Wow.
Just wow. The duet was roughly around 270 pages each, and I just wish they were
longer. Kyle comes to take revenge for his mother’s death. He’s part Irish and
is out for revenge after the death of his mother. Little does he know that
Niall isn’t his real father and that Rolan – the man he’s out to kill – was the
mastermind behind it all.
Some
characters were very important. Sergie. He had cancer but still did everything
for Rai. Dedushka. I’m dead. Ghost, aka Julian, aka Kyle’s godfather whom he
hadn’t seen in years after he did something that made them lose said contact.
When they met again, it was like cocoa on a cold winter evening. The meeting
was so out of the ordinary for Kyle, and I melted over that side of him. For a
moment there, I thought Flame was against him. I’m glad the niggling part of my
gut was wrong. We always love to be wrong, ha ha, not really. I knew that
good-for-nothing Peter was up to some crap, and I also had a strong feeling
either him or Igor pushed Rai down the stairs, which brings me to my next
point. I so knew Rai was feigning the memory loss. Rai Sokolov doesn’t get
memory loss. The relationship between her and Vlad was heart-warming. I won’t
lie, I thought Julian may have been Kyle’s real father, but not Mikhail. Never Mikhail. What in the plot twist was that? Also, Rina Kent really loves playing
the memory loss card. Like more than Eli King.
Ana
Huang, move to the side, did Asher mention both Aiden King and Cole Nash
because hello memories. I love me some King and Nash.
Something
I appreciated more than Rina Kent herself was that killing Rolan didn’t take 10
years, and it wasn’t long-winded or necessary. Same with finding out Mikhali
was his father – no need for a whole new book on it. He accepted Kyle
Fitzpatrick – not Hunter – as his heir, his half-siblings as siblings, and Kyle
accepted Mikhali as something. Not his father but not-not his father.
It was
great seeing the kidnapping – well, not the kidnapping itself – but from a
different perspective. Kirill. You fox. Well played.
Loved
the relationship she had with her twin (the real Rai) and with Sasha. Also died
over the bit when she helped Lia get to a safehouse. I wish I’d read it in
order; why do I always do stuff backward?
I will
never understand Russian nicknames. Please explain how Aleksandra is both Sasha
and Sashenka?
Side
notes – I saw more of Lia than I feel like I did in their trilogy. It makes me
want to read it again, and after having such a bad experience – did you read
the review? – I thought I never would revisit them again. Somehow it ended up
on my lap again, so here I am reading about Winter, who is actually Lia but
thinks she’s Winter, while the actual Winter is in a not-so-real coma. Of
course, I have to end 2024 as messy as it started.
Here’s
the thing about Rina Kent: she has both the ability to stretch something to the
level of boredom and to shorten something to the level of triviality. However,
there have been a number of books, duets, and trilogies that just astonish me.
Like I previously mentioned, each book in the duet is only around 270 pages,
give or take. From an editor's point of view, the amount of content that takes
place is written concisely yet in-depth at the same time, which really makes me
think, wow, this is a damn good writer. You don’t need something to be longer
than absolutely necessary, and with this duet, I ached for it to be longer. I
had the same thoughts with the Monster Trilogy. In contrast, God of War
was a perfect interconnected series standalone, which is saying something since
I’m having a really hard time getting through the ones prior.
There
was no downside to this book, but if I had to nit-pick, I would say that
sometimes the amount of spice felt like filler for the story, perhaps because
there was confusion about where to take the plot. However, it doesn’t take away
from the rating because 1. Who doesn’t love spice with Kyle Hunter in it? And
2. It was spice that was monumental to the storyline. It wasn’t just aimless
like the one I’m currently reading. The Wrong Pucking Number is
something, but not the good kind. Kyle and Rai, both took me out of a reading
slump and put me into one. That’s the thing about reading – you can literally
never win.
5 stars.
Rina Kent ate.
In
other news, I got noticed and reposted by one of my most loved indie authors,
Somme Sketcher. It was a milestone for me, with less than 100 followers on my
Instagram page. It seems that my followers loved Twisted Pride by Cora
Reilly just as much as I did, because that’s my most liked post on my page and
it was reposted on the author’s representative page. Small wins, but the best
wins of 2025.
Is it the last post of 2024? Definitely not. It was, however, the most
unpredictable one. Here I thought I was all Rina Kent-ed out. Definitely will
be re-reading.
Changes:
Go get
some paper pages because I assure you, you will come across a gem for sure.
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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