maybe im a bit obsessed with landon but i was wrong i no longer think preston is landon coded its actually MARCUS he fits so well. both are ”outsiders” that enraged people completely, its a plot device where he’s seen as something who can’t be touched because he will just grin though the pain they’re always the one in control because they find your attempt at ”hurting them” entertaining… ugh i love them

soooo it’s pretty obvious rina likes a certain pattern in her books.
but what bugs me to death is the amount of anal play in her books 💀 (not considering the MM books)
like why is it that ALLLLLL male characters kinda manipulates the females into anal?
and why is it that ‘it hurts but i like it cuz i like the pain of it’?
i’ve been through a lot of her books since i started and the only female character who was different from the rest is Teal.
she specifically said a big no no to anal and Ronan respected that!
idk is it because the females think it’s a big step into trusting their partners?
or they really think pain is okay?
i’m genuinely curious and want to hear what your thoughts are!

(disclaimer: Royal Elite, LoG ((only God of Pain and God of Ruin is left, but i’m halfway through Pain)), Truths&Lies were read as well Kiss the Villain)

What I liked

Yulian : His character was fun to read. He was chaotic , messy and unhinged but the love he had for his mom , sister and Cyrus was really adorable. He was always ready to do anything and everything to protect them and go to any limits for them. Didn't hesitate to show how he felt. We love a man with emotions. Him naming his bike was both hilarious and cute. Though there were things that I disliked about him but overall he was entertaining.

Sasha and Kirill cameos:I loved Kirill and Sasha's all cameos and how supportive they were as parents. Also , them going with Vaughn to save Yulian was the most Kirill Sasha thing to do lol.

Heathens: I ATE whatever little crumbs I got about them. Also , the scene in epilogue where it's told that how all of them are now living with their partners was so emotional looking back from where they began in GOM. Them as a group and all their scenes were a highlight for me. Ignoring the audiobook voice of Killian where it sounded like Killian was some 80 year old dude who smokes 20 times a day.

Anton and Maksim cameos: It felt good to see AntonMaksim together and doing so well with eachother. The same for KarinaViktor these people deserved the happy ending they got.

What I did not liked:

Execution: Someone on Goodreads said that this book had good bones but bad execution and Rina has this recipe she follows with all of her books and sometimes it works, other times it just doesn't and it was spot on. Like here RK even had the chance to show a layered emotional buildup cause these guys knew eachother since they were teens but then ofc RK HAS to bring a girlfriend cause obviously that gf is going to be a cheater.

Vaughn: Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't like grumpy MMCs but Vaughn's character just felt bland and after a point his character got too repetitive. I don't even have much to say about him because I barely remember anything that he did in the book. He wasn't memorable to me. I didn't liked how he referred to heathens as his entourage. His attitude constantly seemed like 'Im better than everyone else' and I couldn't emotionally connect with his character.

Mafia Camp: Is it only me or does anyone else over here finds the concept of Mafia camps funny in HTV. Not that the club rivalry in LOG made much sense but I've heard of club rivalries among colleges before so it sounded somewhat realistic.

Also Serpents and heathens had a history together while Landon was the only one from elites who caused chaos for fun and games so it was a teeny tiny bit understandable but why would the NY bratva crew ever send their minor kids to a camp that too with the kids of rival Bratva group and why would the rival groups organise a camp among teenagers as an attempt of peace? Why did the parents even sent their kids? I get it that Yarslav (or whatever his name was) is a piece of shit so he wouldn't care that much but KirillSasha and KyleRai too? Yes the kids have security but even then both KirillSasha and KyleRai must've known that it is dangerous for their children. If Niko and Vaughn were atleast adults it would make some sense but they are both minors here and I might be nit picking but it seemed very out of character for the first gen crew.

The proposal: Yulian deserved a better proposal. And there wasn't really a need to show NikoBran wedding in epilogue. I love NikoBran but we already know the info about them getting married through GoWar. And Vaughn just thought that yk what all this decoration should be more useful and proposed Yulian. Yulian definitely deserved a better proposal than that.

Told but not shown: many sweet things that Vaughn and Yulian do for eachother are just told that yeah they did this for eachother but they aren't shown. Like Vaughn and Yulian being domestic? Not shown. Yulian and Vaughn cuddling? Not shown. Vaughn helping Yulian study? You guessed it right , not shown.

Vaughn flying EVERY WEEK to the island seemed too unrealistic even by the standards of fiction.

All of Yulian's stepbrothers suddenly becoming allies: they were all against eachother but suddenly Alina is like 'they just want a chance. They're not bad' and boom character development.

The NY Bratva storyline: I'm probably gonna get downvotes for this but I have to say that the Bratva suddenly being non-homophobic made no sense. The misogyny and homophobia was highlighted in all the Bratva books of first gen.

And if you keep first gen aside in second gen too Nikolai says that he won't take his boyfriend to meet his uncles because they have the same homophobic mindset. In KTV and the beginning of HTV Vaughn himself mentions that Bratva is still homophobic.

Yes , the old people will die eventually but I don't see why their heirs would not take advantage of the homophobia that's been there in Bratva for decades. Adrian , Kirill , Rai , Kyle Jeremy and Nikolai would not mind it but they aren't the only members. The Bratva is obviously far bigger than that. Not to forget that Rai couldn't get the Pakhan position because of her gender.

Yes , she didn't compete for it but let's be real if Rai was a man she would've totally gotten the position. It also shows a pattern in RK's books where she makes FMCs quit their career(Example- Silver. Who goes from wanting to be a PM to suddenly becoming a society lady) or put them in an inferior position than men (Example- Rai) but when it comes to her MMCs she gives them all the power. It shows a pattern about how much RK is biased towards her MMCs.

The whole conflict getting solved in a single chapter: Yulian's dad was painted as this big bad guy throughout the story and for that much of a buildup he surely fell flat.

Well , that was my review and belive it or not I didn't mean to hate on this book but I think that as a reader if I'm spending my time and money over something I have the right to praise or criticize the work. We can agree to disagree :) Peace ✌️ 🕊️

Well hello . So I’ve just read Tempting Venom’s tropes and I see there’s a power dynamic . Rina mentioned on her insta post that it’s about one physical one emotional . So we all assume that Preston is emotional dominant and yes I agree . Someone even said that the power dynamic would be like Niko and Brand and tbh I am kinda scared of that . I loved HTV and their dynamic . I loved GoF and KTV . Every couple was different but I have a feeling that TV would be like Marcus chasing Preston, Preston rejecting him and whatever , just like GoF and I’m not really into this . Is anyone else sick of one obsessed one emotionally unavailable? I mean get that Preston had a rough past (haven’t read the others book I will after this one will be released to understand everything ) but the dynamic is overused in too many books and I’m kinda disappointed as I’ve been waiting for this book for such a long time . What are your thoughts ?

I read that live twice to make me believe that it was actually written. It could have been worded better like something along the lines that she already feels attached to the unborn child or now that she knows, she wants to be a mother. ANYTHING could have been better to abortion = killing

​

Which is the best book from Royal Elite series according to the following criteria

1. Best/Worst plot

2. Best/Worst Characters Development (both Male and Female)

3. Best/Worst Couple relationship development

4. Best/Worst endgames (they absolutely/not deserve each other)

With REASONS! REASONS! REASONS!

1. She is close with Landon- They are both considered psychotic by their friends so I headcanon that it made them close, especially when Landon calls Ari a witch, which makes me think he respects her a little inside compared to the other more docile women

2. She likes to visit graveyards and creepy places to do research in horror books she wants to write.

3. She attempted to do seance and other rituals to summon her serial killer grandmama in an empty building and that led to a series of creepy events

4. She realises that nobody likes having her around in Ava's friend group and barely has any friends.

5. Remi romantically liked Cecy once and told the same to Ariella and that became a point of conflict for them

6. Ronan doesn't like Ariella and made her life hell for the initial years by constantly comparing her to Cecy.

She basically acts as the guiding light in every other book. She gets more preference than Ariella when it comes to Ava and it was straight up cold when Ava said she shares much more with Cecy than Ari. She gets to be Annika's guiding light as well in her book and the only friend who reached out to her. Lan also uses her to make Mia jealous. She is also Bran's friend as well and gets her mentions in GoF.

I've always seen discussions about how fathers in law don't like their sons-in-law, so I would like a discussion at the opposite pole. So in the whole Rinaverse, who do you think is the most adored son-in-law by his parents in law?

Personally I would say Bran, I mean he's definitely the only man who didn't have any tense or skeptical moments (even if we weren't shown that moment) when he met Kyle and Rai and he's easy to like

I would say that right after that, in second place would be Yulian, Sasha liked him since the day she met him, and Vaughn said that Kirill is warming up to him

And Niko because we know that Astrid liked him from day one, and Levi started to like him over time quite a lot

What do you think? Is there anyone else I can't remember or who is even more loved by his parents in law?

if rina kent was smart lidya morozov would be in a wlw relationship… perhaps simone? i have no idea but im craving a wlw mafia leader x bodyguard 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️