ARC Review: Falling For The Villain. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Falling for the Villain by M. Robinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From Wall Street Journal & USA Bestselling Author M. Robinson & #1 NYT Bestselling Author Rachel Van Dyken comes a full length, standalone dark romance novel.
“Play for me, Juliet…”
Those four words whispered in my ear again and again until I craved what I used to fear. Such a simple demand from my captor—the man who stole me and refused to tell me why he wouldn’t let me go.
I was his.
He made me need him, just as much as he needed me. I broke all the rules of the golden prison he put me in.
During the day he ruled his dark, seedy world. His subjects and me.
During the night—he bowed before my feet.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the villains in all the fairy tales you read?
You’ll soon find out.
It all started when he kidnapped me and made me his pet.
And it all ended with me…
Calling him master.
*This story is not for the faint of heart and may be uncomfortable for some readers. But, then again, stepping outside of your comfort zone may be exactly the thing you need… Care to play with us, readers?
Falling for the Villain

His captive pet!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💋💋💋
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗📙
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎
Character development: 👨🏻👱🏻‍♀️🧔🏻👱🏼‍♂️

The heroine: Juliet – a concert pianist and daughter of a mob boss. She grew up around tough mafia men but she herself was kept in a gilded cage.

The Hero(es): Donovan – he trained women to be pets for other men. He is dominant, sadistic and cruel.

The Story: Donovan first saw Juliet at a piano concert and from that time he wanted her for himself.

This is a captive romance where the alpha male is a sadist. Donovan wants Juliet and likes to punish her for every disobedience, from the very beginning he whips her until she bleeds for a minor infraction. I hate these types of books when I am reading them. Because the main male character seems basically beyond redemption. I guess I hate that they treat the female character like she is less than them. Like because he was able to kidnap her she doesn’t deserve to be treated like a human.

I like BDSM, and even captive romance, but when the man is trying to bend the woman to his will, forcing her to submit and punishing her for infractions (not in in the fun sexy way), I just end up really wanting the woman to thwart him in some way, either by not giving him what he wants (even if that means being beaten) or by finding a way to run or turn the tables, and when that doesn’t happen, or doesn’t happen until late in the book, I get totally frustrated.

This story was even more disturbing when we find out about Donovan’s past. Though Donovan does begin redeeming himself midway through the book, by that time Juliet has a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome. Juliet’s brother Romeo (from the book “Mafia Casanova”) has also been looking everywhere for his Kidnapped sister.

I think the thing I hate the most about these types of books is that when the man is so dominant and sadistic that he treats the woman like a pet and doesn’t even let her speak without permission, it is hard to see how he could fall for her. I mean any guy that doesn’t care to even talk with his woman isn’t a hero (or even anti-hero) in my book and isn’t anyone I would want to know.

However, Donovan did initially become obsessed with Juliet when she played the piano, so at least that helps to see that it wasn’t only having her a slave that attracted him. Though even later in the book I still had some issues with the way he treated her, even though she liked it. I guess I just can’t understand the mindset.

Overall though, if you set aside the slave/pet aspect, the main storyline of the book was a good one. I liked that there was a villain and especially liked that this was a stand-alone. Though I must say, the cover, though appropriate is butt ugly for a romance novel.

“What better way to show your devotion than on your knees? What better way for me to show my adoration than bringing you to them?”

I found myself smiling. “Somehow that was the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”