Review: Kingdom of Villains by Ella Fields

KINGDOM OF VILLAINS
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Author: Ella Fields
Release Date:
June 29, 2022

USA Today bestselling author, Ella Fields, delivers a treacherously tender love story set in an all-new fantasy world.

I’d known exactly who he was—the Unseelie prince. But I hadn’t known just what he was.
I’d been fooled.

The creature I’d formed a tentative friendship with in my family’s dungeon was not the gentle, intriguing prince I’d thought him to be.
He was a monster. A bloodthirsty beast.

And I’d helped him escape my uncle’s clutches.

Such a betrayal called for severe consequences, and the price of releasing the biggest threat our kingdom had faced in hundreds of years was not one I would survive.

But upon discovering my uncle’s foiled plans for their prince, the Unseelie demanded vengeance, and an agreement was made.

My savior and my doom returned, and this time, he wasn’t leaving without me.

Regardless of how I loathed him, the deceitful and dangerous male was my last hope. Yet when he looked at me, touched me, dared to love me, the beliefs I’d worn as armor began to melt.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Though avoiding fate would prove impossible when the only way to save my life was to surrender it by marrying the monster who’d destroyed it.



This enemies to lovers romantasy contains mature content. It’s a complete standalone and not connected to any other Ella Fields novel.

AMAZON 

You’re far too sweet for a male who shifts into a dragon and fucks like a beast.”

The Savage and the Swan is easily my favorite book of Ella’s to date. And I’ve been practically salivating for another fantasy romance from the queen of angst. And what does she do? Give us a dragon shifter and his fae mate. GAH. I die.

Now if you’ve read any of Ella’s books before, you know the woman brings angst. And when I say angst, I mean ANGST. Like rip your hair out, rage at the ceiling, and throw your kindle out the window sort of angst. The delicious sort, basically. But I digress. What I was trying to say is this book is not like her usual. While there’s a gritty undertone to it, and it packs plenty of feels, it’s angst light.
Colvin is not Ella’s usual a-hole brand of heroes. This man may be a morally gray dragon shifter, but he has a heart of gold. I fell so hard and fast for him.

You need to stop this.” Leaning into him, I whispered, “Stop what?” “Ruining me from noticing anything in this world that isn’t you.”

When Fia the Fae Seelie princess discovers the Unseelie prince Colvin in her uncle’s dungeon, it doesn’t take long for the two to strike up an unlikely friendship. When Fia helps the prince escape, it costs her her already precarious position in her kingdom. So when the prince returns for her and she’s to wed him and unite the two kingdoms? Well, she’s not exactly feeling all that forced when it allows her to escape her uncles dungeon herself. Suffice it to say there’s no love lost between her and her family.

What begins is an achingly tender romance between two unlikely creatures. Colvin has spent the majority of his life looking for a cure to his ailment. And his new bride to be may be the answer he’s been searching for. It doesn’t take him long to fall for the feral princess. But as the layers begin to peel back, you soon realize that not quite everything is as it seems.

Now I’ll say this isn’t my usual flavor of romance I gravitate towards. I like the aholes and I live for the angst. But a girl needs a refreshing change of pace every now and then, and boy did this bring it. It was sweet, yes, but it certainly wasn’t tame. It had just enough grit to suck me in with plenty of feels to keep me glued to the pages. I love that it’s not your typical prince rescue the princess story. It’s so much more than that and Fia was such a fierce heroine that I couldn’t get enough of her.

Everything about this story from the stunning world building to the enrapturing secondary characters sucked me right in, and didn’t let me go until the end.

Review: The Grump Who Stole Summer by Ella Fields

THE GRUMP WHO STOLE SUMMER
Author: Ella Fields
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 7, 2022

USA Today bestselling author, Ella Fields, returns to contemporary romance with an all-new angsty enemies to lovers standalone.

I never meant to hurt her.
Okay, so that might be a lie. The truth is, I just… panicked.

My soul died when I was fourteen, and there was no reviving it. But when the one person who’d tried made headlines, got dumped by her Ivy League college, and was forced to work in my bookstore, I began to wonder if I needed it when my heart beat faster at just the sight of her.

I began to wonder if I’d been wrong to push her away three years ago, and if she was as I’d hoped and feared—different. If maybe, she could truly accept a guy like me.
All of me. Every vile, cruel, tattered piece.

First, I had to find out a few things.
Would she still smile and laugh when I said something acidic?
Would she still melt beneath the pads of my inexperienced fingers?
Did she still want me as much as I wanted her?
And finally, could she ever forgive an undeserving prick like me?
Something told me I’d regret not finding out.

Told in dual POV, The Grump Who Stole Summer is a full-length standalone, enemies to lovers second chance romance. It contains some sensitive subject matter.

AMAZON

Did I hurt you?”
“No, but you have ruined me.” He kissed under my jaw. “The score is finally even.”

When I think of angst, Ella Fields immediately comes to mind. The woman has ruined me when it comes to her particular brand of angst. And like the masochist that I am when it comes to her books, I eagerly scream “hurt me” every time she releases a book. I have no shame in my game. She writes an asshole like no other. *dreamy sigh*

Now this one was a bit different and not quite what I expected. It was an enemies to lovers with a twist, but not as rip your hair out angsty as Ella’s usual. The story itself took me a bit to get into. The characters, while unique, didn’t click with me right away. Though they certainly did grow on me.

Smith is a not just a grump, he’s a recluse. He hates everything and everyone, and barely manages to keep his book store afloat because he can’t be bothered to smile or be polite to a customer.

Alice is a bit of spoiled princess, though not all is at it seems with her. After going a bit too wild in college and getting caught with her boobs out on display in a paparazzi shot, well, suffice it to say her business mogul mother is non too pleased. Her punishment? A volunteering gig at a local book store. What Alice doesn’t realize until she gets there, is that the reclusive grumpy owner and her have a history, and it’s not the kind she wants to think about again. Once upon a time, he broke her heart.

These characters, though they come off a bit…strange at first, are incredibly multi layered. Not all is at it seems, and with each new chapter, I found myself growing deeper under their spell. Though the pacing of the book was a bit slower for me, I can’t complain too much, because the end more than made up for it. I loved the flashbacks of Smith and Alice interwoven into their present. Smith is still the broken, tortured, and grumpy asshole he was when Alice first met him. But still waters definitely run deep with this man, and when the truth finally gets revealed? DAMN.

I loved that Alice’s parents weren’t the stereotypical rich a-holes. They loved her and I loved seeing her mother’s conniving sweet side come out at the end. The twisty ending definitely made the book for me, though. Right out of a soap opera drama, but damn was it delicious.

#DGRFave & Review: The Savage And The Swan by Ella Fields

THE SAVAGE AND THE SWAN
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Author: Ella Fields
Release Date: July 14, 2021

The king of wolves was more beast than man, more tyrant than king, and so much more than he seemed.
Raised to avenge his murdered parents, he’d been trained and conditioned until nothing but violence and hatred lined the walls of his dead heart.

For nearly four years, I’d done all I could to help my kingdom as we faced the wolf king’s unconquerable evil—hardly anything at all.
As the only heir to the Gracewood line, I’d been relegated to menial tasks that would keep me and my secrets safe.

A chance to do more than fret behind our castle walls arrived when I breached them after overhearing my parents’ plans for my future. Fleeing, I unknowingly raced into a fate we’d all desperately hoped to avoid.

By the time I saw him coming, it was far too late. For my family. For my kingdom.
For my heart.
Before I could staunch the bleeding, the king had me under his giant paw, and one wrong move after another caused those razor-sharp claws to sink deeper and deeper beneath my bruised skin.

I might have been trapped, naïve, and furious, but I still had a kingdom to save—and a plan.
 Yet when we collided, the bloodshed, the fear, his atrocities… all of it dissolved like stardust upon the night sea.

The stars had mapped out our destiny, but it didn’t matter what they or my heart wanted.
 I refused to see the enigmatic male, the heartless lost boy with a soul beneath the flesh of a monster.
The savage king who’d destroyed everything I loved would fall—even if my heart fell with him.

Inspired by Hades and Persephone, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Swan Princess, The Savage and the Swan is not connected to any other Ella Fields novel. It’s a full-length standalone romantic fantasy containing mature content.

AMAZON

I loathed her and all she stood for. I loathed her nearly as much as I wanted her. I’d been cursed. I was sure of it. The bird was both my remedy and my affliction.

*deep breaths*

Ok, ok, give me a second to gather my wits here.
*hyperventilates*

So I… no that’s not it.
This book was… no that’s not right.

*takes calming breath*

ILOVEDTHISFREAKINGBOOKSOMUCHICANTEVENDEALRIGHTNOW

Ah. I feel better now. So where were we?

It’s been a hot minute since I read a fantasy romance, and I’m not even sure why. I love PNR so of course I’d love fantasy, but I just haven’t come across anything that piqued my interest lately in the genre. Until I read the blurb for this book….

And then I may have begged, pleaded, and offered an ovary in exchange for an ARC. What? Don’t you judge me. Have you read that blurb? I mean C’MON!

Don’t you have innocent people to slaughter?” My cheeks burned, and I refused to meet his eyes, choosing instead to stare at his throat. The fine hairs that dusted it, crawling up and over that fiercely hewn chin.
“I’ve already crossed that off my to-do list,” he stated with such irritating indifference that I wished I had hit him with the poor books.

There is only one word to describe the experience that was this book. EPIC. The story developed behind my eyes like a movie reel and the majestic and rich world building sucked me right into an obsession.

The second I read that it was inspired by Hades and Persephone, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Swan Princess, I had to read it. Because I love all things Hades and Persephone, The Swan Princess is one of my favorite cartoons, and rumpelstistskin? Well I was simply rabid with curiosity on how that even fit in here.

Now imagine a world where two kingdoms are engaged in a bloody battle for years. A fae land where the beautiful princess has to marry a human prince in order to gain protection from the savage king of wolves, only to fall right into his clutches. Sound delicious? Well, that’s because it is.

If there’s one thing that I love, it’s a fierce heroine. And Opal? She was all of the things. She was fierce, brave, and one of my favorite heroines I’ve read in a while. And our wolfish king? OH MY OVARIES. The man was to die for. Pun intended. He’s a man who’s been honed into a finely tuned weapon for revenge. He’s vicious, cold hearted, and feared by all. The enemies to lovers vibe in this story was ON POINT. I couldn’t get enough of the tension between the two of them. And if there’s one thing that Ella does is deliver on that delicious angst with the feels thrown in and I was so here for it.

This is seriously going right up there in my top reads of 2021. I simply loved everything about this story. I devoured it. I was obsessed. I was riveted. Captivated. Hypnotized. I never wanted it to end. Ella seriously hit it right out of the ballpark with this book and I simply cannot recommend it enough. It was magical. It was deliciously, finger licking good. IT WAS EPIC.

Review & Excerpt: Kiss And Break Up by Ella Fields

KISS AND BREAK UP
Genre: New Adult Romance
Author: Ella Fields
Release Date: March 8, 2019

Dashiell Thane wasn’t a nice guy.

He was an abrasive, demanding, conniving, intolerable brat.

Yet somehow, we’d been best friends our whole lives.

Until our senior year when I finally decided to dip my toes into the dating pool.

 

All it took was one kiss for jealousy, lies, and betrayal to sweep in and propel us heart first into dizzying, hostile depths.

 

You’re not supposed to kiss your best friend.

You’re definitely not supposed to kiss your best friend while you’re dating someone else.

And the absolute worst thing you could do is fall for your best friend.

Unless, of course, you want to ruin everything.

FREE in KU

AMAZON KINDLE | AMAZON PAPERBACK 

I fell to the bed just as a thump hit the exterior of the house, and Dash launched himself through the window.“Can you ever land gracefully?” Or you know, use the front door. For as long as we’d lived here, he’d snuck in. At first, it was due to being unsure whether my mom would still want us hanging out, but it didn’t take her long to figure out what he was doing.

She didn’t care. When I’d shaken like a mouse cornered in a kitchen, she’d smiled and told me she’d never stop us from being friends. Yet the window always remained unlocked.

Dash kicked off his boots, and they hit the aging floor with two bangs. “I’m all man, baby. Not a fucking cat.”

Hearing him say that reminded me of why he was here. I sprang to my feet, hurtling out into the hall and into the bathroom.

“What are you doing?”

Too busy gargling mouthwash, I didn’t answer and spat it into the sink as he appeared in the weathered mirror behind me.

“Seriously?” he asked. “You burp in my face after eating garlic pizza, so this is just fucking dumb.”

“You burped in my face first.” I put the cap back on the bottle, not meeting his gaze. I couldn’t. I headed back inside the safety of my room.

But I had to wonder, as I heard Dash gargling mouthwash too, if it would be considered safe again after this. Would this ruin everything by making it awkward?

“Dash,” I said, wringing my hands as I paced the floor of my room. “We probably shouldn’t be doing this. What if––”

“What if it’s awesome and you fall madly in love with me? Well, we already know I don’t do commitment.”

A tiny laugh skittered out. “No, what if it gets awkward? I don’t want anything to change.”

He took me by the shoulders in the middle of my rainbow knitted rug and leveled me with his vibrant eyes. “We’ve done some pretty awkward shit, so what’s a little mouth to mouth going to change?”

I nodded, exhaling slowly, then I frowned. “Why are you doing this? I mean, I know why I want to, but you? What do you even get out of it?”

He grinned. “You might be my best friend, but I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to stick my tongue down your throat.” He tipped a muscled shoulder. “Let’s just say you’ll be killing that curiosity.”

“You’ve always wondered?”

“I’ve got eyes, Freckles. And I don’t need my glasses to appreciate the sight of something beautiful.”

I blinked. “Wow. That was actually really swe––”

“Shut your inexperienced mouth and kiss me.”

I was still laughing when he grabbed my face, and then I squeaked as the world changed color, and his lips lowered over mine.

My heart became a trumpet, blaring in my ears at the first touch of his lips.

I pulled away, startled and still laughing. “Oh, my God.”

Dash’s hands were warm on my face. “That good? They barely even touched.”

“No,” I choked out, pushing his hands away. “It’s just … a little weird.”

“Weird?” His brows scrunched. “We’ve barely even begun.”

I blew out a shaky breath, unable to look at him as my hands flapped at my sides. I stared at his white shirt, looking at where the cotton met his tanned skin. “I don’t know, Dash.”

“Wanna try again?”

I looked at him then, at the eager glint in his blue eyes. “It’s not weird for you?”

He chewed his bottom lip which was a little fatter than the top. And it’d just been touching mine. Oh, how crazy. “Maybe a smidgen. I can just picture Margot Robbie, and I’ll be good.”

I froze. “Margot Robbie?”

He gestured to my hair. “The blonde hair helps.”

“Jesus.” I swiped my hands down my face. “This is dumb. Let’s just forget it.”

He stood there a moment, glancing around my room. “Why don’t you imagine someone? That guy from the Thor movie. You like him.”

“Chris Hemsworth?”

“Yeah. Imagine him.” Then he grinned, waggling his brows. “Pucker up, baby.”

“You didn’t just say that.” I laughed, plopping down on the edge of my bed.

“Whatever. Are we trying again or what?”

The thought of Byron and that mischievous twinkle in his green eyes, the way he’d wasted no time moving in to kiss me … yeah. I needed to do this.

“Okay.” I shook out my hands, bouncing a little on the bed. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Dash’s lips thinned. “This isn’t a cross meet. We’re only swapping germs.”

“You just had to say that, didn’t you?” My pep had officially vanished.

Dash tugged me off the bed. “Close your eyes and relax.”

I tried, but I was as stiff as a board when his mouth met mine again. He tasted like spearmint and cigarettes, but his hands were gentle as one held my chin and the other glided through my hair to the back of my head. Slowly, with the soft press of his lips on mine and the gentle exploration of their shape, my limbs loosened.

“Open,” he whispered, his voice threaded, rougher.

I did, expecting the invasion of his tongue, but the velvet feel of it only traced the inner edges of my mouth.

Out of all the things I’d expected to feel when he’d suggested this crazy idea, it wasn’t relaxed, and it certainly wasn’t the buzzing sensation currently warming my insides.

“This isn’t so bad,” I said when he pulled back, my voice a low exhalation.

“Good. Now repeat the same to me.” My eyes were about to spring open, but he growled. “Keep them closed. Don’t think, just do and feel.”

Drawing in a quick breath through my nose, I found his stubble-coated cheeks with my hands and lifted myself on my toes. I tried to do the same thing he did to me, but my tongue plunged deeper, meeting the warm softness of his. I licked it, stroking cautiously until I heard him hum, the sound vibrating up his throat and causing our lips to mash together.

His hands became firmer around my head, his tongue greedier, sweeping inside my mouth before my teeth found purchase on his plump bottom lip, and pulled.

He groaned, and it had me staggering back, my heart racing and my breath an unsteady, embarrassing sound.

Dash swallowed, then cleared his throat as he shifted on his feet. His eyes met mine, and I looked away, down to where my mint green toes were curling over the abrasive fabric of my rug.

Awkward. This was so awkward, and I prayed we hadn’t just made a huge mistake.

“So that’s how it’s done.” He grabbed the TV remote and plopped onto my bed. “Got any popcorn?”

I shook my head. “Wait, that’s um, it?”

He started flicking through Netflix. “Well, yeah. Not much else to it. We can practice again before your date if you want, but I’m fucking starving, and we need to re-watch the last season of GoT before the new one is out.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering I’d promised him that weeks ago. Hungry myself, I stepped outside, then scowled at him from the doorway. “Don’t put your socks near my pillow.”

He grumbled but shifted and moved over to the other side of the bed.

Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Yours, but apparently, it’s taking some time for you to get the memo.”

If you follow my reviews, then it’s no secret that I’m a sucker for angst. So then it really should be no surprise that I am obsessed with all things Ella Fields. The woman can write angst like no one’s business, and she’s not afraid to go there. She’s not afraid to write raw, unapologetically real, and truly broken characters and make her readers fall head over heels in love with them each and every time!

So when I saw she’s coming out with a brand new NA romance, I jumped on it like a sugar addict at a cake factory. Yes I know that’s not a phrase, but just go with me here.

The queen of angst strikes again with Kiss and Break Up and she knocked it straight out of the park! She hit the home run of angst! I’m talking teenage angst overload here, people!!! And. It. Was. Delicious.

Dash and Peggy have known each other since they were in diapers. And they’ve been best friends since Dash essentially decided it so and practically bullied Peggy into it. She’s never had a choice in the matter, but it’s not like she minds. The guy may be rude, crude, and completely tone deaf when it comes to proprietary, but he’s her best friend. Through thick and thin. And their senior year of high school definitely brings a change in their comfortable dynamic.

Peggy is a bit of a late bloomer. But with her braces off and a new haircut, suddenly she begins to see her own appeal. And with that appeal, she wants to experience dating like all girls her age have already done. But when a cute boy asks her out, she realizes that her inexperience is a crutch that she needs to get rid off. And in comes her knight in tarnished armor, Dash, with an offer she can’t refuse; practice with him.

Now, suddenly, the lines get blurred. Years of friendship begin to get lost behind repressed feelings, unexpected connections, and a bit of unrequited love. In a word? ANGST!!! All of the sweet, delicious angst.

Dash is a character that you will love to hate and hate to love. He’s far from perfect and he makes plenty of mistakes. As hard as you want to hate him for the decisions he makes sometimes, you also can’t help but fall for him anyway. Peggy was the perfect balance for him. She accepts him in all his imperfect glory, but she also doesn’t take any of his shit. I loved the dynamic of the guy pining after the girl who takes a while to truly understand her feelings for him. It’s a refreshing change of pace.

There’s several secondary characters that are introduced, that I’m practically salivating for a book for. The set up for their books is utterly delicious. I have zero chill with getting my grubby little hands on their stories.

As for this one? I DEVOURED it. I’m talking binge read, people! Binge. Read. I loved every maddening, frustrating, and emotional page of it. I couldn’t set it down for even a second. It was infuriating and completely unputdownable. It was everything I’ve come to expect from the immensely talented Emma Fields, and so much more! A huge rec for all my fellow angst lovers! My one quibble was I wished for a little more development and character fleshing out. I didn’t have an issue connecting with either Dash or Peggy, but I did feel like I was getting to know them on more of a surface level rather than a true deep dive.

 

Ella Fields is a mother and wife who lives in the land Down Under. While her kids are in school, you might find her talking about her characters and books to her two cats. She’s a notorious chocolate and notebook hoarder who enjoys creating hard-won happily ever afters.

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Review: Bloodstained Beauty by Ella Fields

BLOODSTAINED BEAUTY
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Ella Fields
Release Date: November 6, 2018

Fresh out of college and headed straight for my dream job, I didn’t think things could get any better.
Then I met my dream man.

In an instant, my happy ever after had begun.
The life I’d stumbled into was beautiful, and the man I loved was perfect.
But perfection comes at a cost, and I’d slumbered through all the alarms.

Then I met my nightmare.
The man whose bright eyes held untamed darkness.
The man who disarmed me with his peculiar behavior.
The man whose cold, merciless hands shook me awake.
In an instant, questions started to dismantle my happy ever after.

But whoever said the truth would set you free was wrong.
It wasn’t going to repair the cracks in my naive heart.
It wasn’t going to caress my face with comforting hands and reassure me it was all just a dream.
No, the truth shoved me down a rabbit hole, and I landed in the lair of a real-life monster.

AMAZON

Fairy tales, those perfect happy endings, were indeed for suckers. Suckers who could very well wind up dead.

I’m going to keep it real with you all here and admit that I didn’t even bother to read the blurb before adding this book for two very simple reasons:
1. It’s Ella Fields. She writes it, I read it.
2. That cover. Don’t you judge me either! Tell me you didn’t want to lick it when you saw it. TELL ME!

But I digress as usual.

This book? Nothing like what I expected. It was like a dark and gritty take on Beauty and The Beast. It sucked me in with the prologue and kept me riveted to the pages until the end. I was on the edge of my seat with every twist and turn. You only thing you know what’s happening when the author takes a sudden u-turn and everything you thought you knew is left in ashes.

Benevolent tenderness oozed from his heart even as blood and violence tainted his soul.

This story truly breaks the mold to the typical romance formula. It’s nothing like I expected and it owned me from beginning to finish. I’m used to the fact that Ella Fields will always bring me out of my comfort zone as a reader, and she definitely didn’t disappoint here.

While I’d love to tell you exactly what this book is about, I’d be doing you a disservice. You need to experience this story blind. And that’s exactly what you’ll do; you’ll experience it. That blurb is vague and for good reason. That’s precisely how my review will be, too.

Jemima is a heroine that’s unique in her own right. She’s a little naive and a tender heart. She hasn’t really experienced heartbreak, deceit, or betrayal in her young age. But then a chance encounter tilts her entire world on it’s axis. You know the pivotal moment that comes with her choices, because you experience it with the prologue. But instead of putting you at ease because you know what’s coming, it does the exact opposite. The story lulls you into a false sense of security, as you wait for that other shoe to drop. You think you know how and when it happens, but you really don’t.

As for the other main character, or the anti-hero really? I’m not going to tell you much. But what I will say is that he’s one of the most magnetic and intense characters and you know next to nothing about him for the majority of the story. I was salivating for just the tiniest hint into the back void that is him. And this man is dark. There’s not much gray there, trust me.

Bloodstained Beauty was one deliciously gritty read. If you’re looking for a read that’s as unique as it is riveting, this is a must read!

#DGRFave & Review: Pretty Venom by Ella Fields

PRETTY VENOM
Series: Gray Springs University #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Ella Fields
Release Date: August 3rd, 2018

Callum Welsh perfected the art of hating me when we were two kids who believed we’d be forced into marriage.

He thought I wanted it, but my only wish had been for him to leave me alone.

Then one afternoon, he stole my first kiss.

Despite all he’d done, everything changed after that.

As the years passed, our hearts thawed, and he no longer hated me.

In fact, he loved me enough to make me his wife.

Until I ruined everything with one stupid mistake.

That hatred returned in the form of cruel words and even crueler deeds.

But we weren’t kids anymore.

I could handle his brand of venom.

He would be mine again, even if it cost me the remains of my heart.

Warning: contains cheating and an anti-hero who might make you throw your kindle.

FREE in Kindle Unlimited
AMAZON

If someone has control over your heart, the worst thing you could do was make an enemy out of them. And like a fool, I had.

OH MY GOD! THIS BOOK.
I.
Can’t.
DEAL.

First of all, that warning is no joke. I wanted to cry, yell, rip my hair out, and throw my kindle at the wall. This book wrung every emotion out of me, most of all all consuming rage. So much rage. Like ALL OF THE RAGE. But it was also all consuming. This book took over my entire existence for the hours that it took me to devour it, completely unable to put it down for even a second. I’m a sucker for some devastating angst, and if the blurb didn’t lure me into reading my first Ella Fields book, that warning ultimately did the job.

His brand of assholery had a ricochet effect. Affecting other things in my life, piece by little piece.

The story takes a delicious turn from enemies to lovers and back again in this ulcer inducing romance, and this reader couldn’t get enough of it. Heartburn and bald spots and all.

You smell like peaches.” “And you smell like an asshole.

Renee and Callum have history going back to their early teens. They first meet when they’re in high school and their back and forth antagonism starts. Callum resents the fact that their parents are essentially planning their marriage already. And he takes special exception to Renee, by serving her to a daily dose of his special brand of douchebaggery. Renee is no wallflower, and she’s not shy about giving as hard as she gets. Their connection is tumultuous and antagonistic, with a heavy undecurrent of chemistry that they’re both too young to fully grasp and understand when they first meet. But then as the years pass, and their push and pull continues, it eventually begins to morph into something else. When Callum stops hiding how he truly feels behind cruel words and deeds, he goes after Renee with a completely different motivation, and a relationship blooms.

Being kids when they first get together, life doesn’t really prepare them for the obstacles they’ll face when they go off to college together. Then one mistake driven by hurt and anger changes everything.


I couldn’t do this, yet, at the same time, I couldn’t see a way out of this. Falling in love changed you bit by bit in a way you didn’t realize until that love had left you suffocating in the remaining pieces of who you once were. If this was what I had to live with, what I had to endure … I was afraid it’d kill me slowly. 

And this is where the angst really starts. Callum’s brand of punishment and cruelty truly takes a turn from painful to downright eviscerating. The man puts Renee through hell. Every move, word, and look is calculated for maximum pain. That warning is no lie, because the things he does makes you want to peel your skin off and throw it at him. But at the same time, knowing what he’s going through in his head, you get where the anger is coming from. You hate him for what he does, but you understand why he’s doing it. It’s a special sort of hell, because as much as it hurts, it’s also absolutely riveting.

If you make someone your world, do not complain when the ground crumbles beneath your feet.

Pretty Venom was an all consuming sort of story. It’s the sort of book that takes over your entire world when you read it. It’s gut wrenching, emotionally annihilating, and rip your hair out sort of angsty. Ella Fields is clearly a master of her craft, because she delivers two characters that are far from perfect, yet somehow relatable. They both make mistakes, and as much as you want to judge them for it, you simply can’t. You’re much too wrapped up in their pain to do anything else. It’s no lie that there’s a thin love between love and hate, and this book takes you through both extremes and then back again.

My enemy, my ally, my best friend. She was love in its rawest form. Everything I needed wrapped in one multilayered bow. One that I refused to let unravel ever again.

It was utterly delicious and I binged on it like the angst addict that I am. Ella Fields just went straight to my auto-buy list, no blurb required. This is an author that’s not afraid to write about the ugly side of human emotion, and Pretty Venom was certainly that. This book owned me and I’m seriously kicking myself for only reading this author now. I plan on rectifying my mistake immediately by reading the rest of the series.

Ella Fields is a mother and wife who lives in the land Down Under. While her kids are in school, you might find her talking about her characters and books to her two cats. She’s a notorious chocolate and notebook hoarder who enjoys creating hard-won happily ever afters.

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