King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3) (2024)

2/5

Me looking for the much needed groveling in this book

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

beacuse where? It’s unfortunate to say, but famous singer Alex Volvov deserves the title of groveling king, and I say that as someone who didn't particularly like his book.

As a 'marriage in crisis' books enthusiastic, I had to see if Ana could handle this trope. I tried to read the previous books, but the word 'CEO' was mentioned enough times to give me a headache so I gave up. At least now I know that I probably won't read the next books in this series — although we’ll see, because unfortunately I’m a sucker for billionaire romances, but if this book disappointed me, I'm already afraid of the next ones.

But let's get to the point of this review - why it was a disappointment for me. These are my thoughts, so please be aware that you may not agree with them. Spoilers also start here!

I will start with the most important point. This book wouldn't even be fifty pages long if the "conversation" in chapter thirty seven had taken place before their divorce. They could have easily talked about giving each other a second chance before Dom signed the papers. This is what mature and grown people would do before signing the divorce papers of a ten-year marriage. Not after.

The fact that he signed the divorced papers. I thought he would fight for Alessandra with tooth and nail, that he would literally beg on his knees and do everything to make their marriage work, not that he would agree to a divorce in a month or so. Look, I know she asked him for a divorce and said that if he loved her he would let her go, but he should not do it. It's a great trait for a man to do what his woman asks him to do, but this wasn't the best time to use it. The fact that he neglected his wife for three years and couldn't even fathom why she wanted a divorce was convincing enough to me that he had to find out the reason, and do everything in his power to get her back, not sign the divorce papers. I hated that he kept saying how much he loved her, his life made no sense without her, she was everything to him, but then he did this. The author made it seem like divorcing is so easy, he signed the papers and then boom they are not together. Dom was literally like "Yeah, we divorced, but it doesn’t change anything." Yeah, it does.

The groveling, or rather lack of it. Okay sorry, not lack of it, nonexistent part of it, because when?

“I’m past romantic, Alessandra. I’m desperate.”

Desperate? When? He send her flowers once, called every day, banged her in some dirty ass bar bathroom, and then agreed to finalize the divorce after about a month. His inner monologue and actions did not match.

"she was already moving on when I’d been slowly dying inside for the past six weeks, five days, and four hours."

"How had I ever willingly spent so many hours away from her when I would give up my f*cking kidney for a moment alone with her again?"

He definitely didn't act like he said here. All he did after the divorce to get her back was:

one He followed her to Brazil and left his job for a while ( oh wow finally, after years of not doing it )
two Help cleaning her store ( helping the love of his life cleaning? omg the bare minimum )
three He was jealous, but still let her date other men. ( Nice of him to let a single woman date, I still didn't like it though. I like my man a little bit more possessive and jealous. I blame booktok and dark romances for this. )
four He bought her a mug. ( There was some meaning behind it, but a mug? )
five He booked an entire museum for her for the night and instead of telling her how he felt and blah blah blah, he banged her there.

We love a good groveling. Look, I know there shouldn't be a comparison between Alex's groveling and Dom's groveling because they're two different situations, but Alex groveled for a year. No, 4-5 months like Dom, and Alex was only Ava's boyfriend, not her partner of eleven years like Dom.

I don’t even know what to say more about Dominic, because this man had no personality. Being rich and on top was the meaning of his life, if not his wife. Typical alpha male behavior. Typical Ana Huang man behavior, but this time the hero was blond. Josh might be the exception though.

The nickname 'amore' made me want to laugh. I picture him saying it with some weird American accent and I end up laughing. Like, you are not a Romeo, just call her sweetheart. I strongly believe that Ana typed "Portuguese nicknames" into Google search and that was the first thing that came up.

It's actually the first thing that comes up.

As for the Alessandra’s character, I don’t have much to say either. She was a rich wifey — I mean, good for her — she had a pressed flowers business and didn't even try to make her ex-husband work for it, because she ran to bang him every chance she got. She actually made the right decision by remarrying him because I don't think her "Etsy shop turned pressed flower boutique" business will keep her afloat for long.

I still rate it two stars, so it's not like I completely hated it. I really liked that they grew and became rich together. They went from bankrupt students to a couple of billionaires. At least Dominic did, because Alessandra's family wasn't broke. There were also some good quotes here. Honestly, I'd rather read a book about them being young and falling in love than about whatever happened here.

Sadly, a big disappointment. At least this book was short so I finished it quicker.

——————————

it did not happen (obviously)

that's how i see the guys trying to cheer up Dominic when he grovels

Kai: Never back down never what?
Dominic: Never give up ..
Dante: NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT?
Dominic: NEVER GIVE UP!

➸ 1.5 stars

“i broke her heart once, and i’d let her break my heart a thousand times in return if it meant that one day, she found her way back to me.”

why have all my most anticipated reads been total let downs.. maybe i’m the problem 😭

ana literally had the chance to write one of the best books and it went right over her head. she obviously didn't know where to go w this story bc honestly all it went was downhill. she has good ideas but her execution is always so terrible. like yes i will always eat her books up no matter how mediocre they are but i have limits and i’m rly starting to lose my patience now lmaoo. how can you write one of the most boring books in existence when the main trope is supposed to be “marriage in crisis.” someone needed to sit down w her and tell her the real definition of marriage in crisis bc this isn’t it. signing the divorce papers so easily after a month is not a crisis, just say it’s a second chance romance and go. what crisis are we talking about if they actually divorce lmao. the mmc didn’t even kno their marriage was in a crisis BYEEE. it’s the way she was promoting and hyping up this book and acting like it was the best thing ever written for me. i thought this story would’ve ripped my heart but it did the complete opposite, i died from boredom. isn't she supposed to be a "bestselling author" yet she cant write a decent book to save her life. i rly thought her writing would've improved by now. her main audience is obviously booktok and it just shows in her writing.

— my main issue w this book is the communication. yup shocker, another miscommunication book smh. dom and ále’s problems could’ve easily been resolved if they just communicated. how tf were they married for 10 years without talking abt the roots of their problems. no wonder their marriage was a complete clusterf*ck. yall should've just went to marriage counseling and called it a day. like girl how are you gonna ask dom for a divorce without telling him what the actual problem was. i have never seen this level of dumbassary 🤡

— where is the angst ppl are mentioning?? like huh, i must be the only one who felt nothing bc this was no where near angsty. ppl were saying on the angst scale it’s an 8 out of 10 and that’s a complete over-exaggeration. where was the tension?? also, where tf was the grovelling i was promised?? i was waiting for that heart pounding, heart wrenching grovelling and it NEVER HAPPENED. taking a break from his job and following her to brazil, buying her flowers (he could barely give them to herself btw) and cleaning her store is not grovelling, it’s literally the bare minimum. i wanted him on his knees, hugging her waist, crying and begging her for forgiveness. and all i got was some loser following her around like a fkn dog. you’re calling that grovelling? anyways 😃 all dom done was constantly suffocate ále with his presence. she kept asking him to leave her alone and give her space and he would do the complete opposite. twisted love is the worst book to date yet alex still grovelled more than dom and that says a lot bc i still haven’t recovered from him fkn singing lmaoo. who would’ve thought, not me.

this book was so mid and a major let down tbh. something just felt missing. the start of the book was okay but it went downhill after that.. it was just so boring and bland and their characters annoyed me sm, they were both so undeveloped and they sucked. they both have little to no self respect for themselves whatsoever.

dom had a lil character development, this man had the personality of a stale piece of bread. to an extreme extent the only thing going on w his character was that he was so hungry for money and power to the fact he lost touch w reality. he got everything he ever wanted but then he ends up losing the most important person in his life. but his character was so utterly pathetic, why did he never push back, i didn’t expect him to be so unassertive.. i wanted him to pull an uno reverse card on her and start fake dating OW just like she was going on dates w OM. i hated the one-sided jealousy!!

ále on the other hand just pissed me off. she is quiet literally ana huang’s worst fmc lead — she was so fkn stupid. i actually HATED her for constantly holding the divorce over dom’s head. the way she wanted to expand her horizons, date new men but then when dom would do the bare minimum she would get all horny and have sex w him?? where is ur self worth?? where is ur backbone?? THIS GIRL HAD NO OUNCE OF SELF RESPECT. like girl wtf, ur husband is a loser who treated u like sh*t and neglected u for years.. YOU are the one who wanted that divorce, STAND UP. like how tf is that moving on when you are just going back to ur same old cycle. honestly all i can say abt her character is that she has the personality of a wet tissue and all girlie did was fkn cry. i did not care for these characters whatsoever, as i was approaching the end i was literally praying they wouldn’t end up back together.

* did anyone else spot the age mistake in this book.. she says she’s 31 and they have been married for 10 years but then she says she got married at 23?? girl what lmaoo it just proves how rushed this book was and there was a complete lack of care.. like girl where is ur editor they are supposed to be picking up on things like that.

— im throwing my 1 star at dom’s psycho brother roman.

any hope i’d had of him being an uncanny doppelgänger vanished when a mocking smile stretched across his face.
“hello, brother.”
- NAH BYEEE THIS WAS SO MF CORNY. YOU CANT OUTDO THE DOER.

NOW LIVE: https://geni.us/kingofgreed

KING OF GREED's exclusive editions have been revealed! Both come with a bonus letter from me, and the B&N has gold foiling as well.

Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition : tinyurl.com/kingofgreedBN
Indigo Exclusive Edition : tinyurl.com/kingofgreedIndigo

KING OF GREED COVER + BLURB REVEAL

IT’S HERE! I’ve been sitting on this cover for a while, and I’m so happy I can finally share it with the world.

This may be one of my favorite covers yet. I’m obsessed with the gold flower, which is perfect for Dominic & Alessandra 😍

P.S. Green lovers, don’t fear. There are more books in the series 😉

🌼 Worldwide book release: October 24
🌼 Worldwide audio release: November 15

If you’re a B&N shopper, you can get 25% of ALL my books that are up for preorder there using the code BLOOM25 (valid throughout the entire preorder period for the Pride exclusive, Greed exclusive & Greed standard cover).

*Note: the exclusives will not be reprinted. Once they sell out, they sell out.

If you’d like signed books, you can preorder the white editions of Pride and Greed from the Strand bookstore and automatically receive an autographed copy.

PREORDER AVAILABLE NOW

Amazon: https://geni.us/kingofgreed
Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition : tinyurl.com/kingofgreedBN
Indigo Exclusive Edition : tinyurl.com/kingofgreedIndigo

UK: https://www.waterstones.com/book/king...
Australia: https://www.hachette.com.au/ana-huang...
Worldwide: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

the author really said “lemme give you a desperate, miserable, and pathetic man in love” and that’s what this is😮‍💨

oh god where do i even start? why did this book actually make me emo? why wasn’t it 50 pages longer? why was i laughing at some serious scenes? let’s unpack…

dominic davenport…um hello? (with the intent of slow dancing in the kitchen with you) before y’all come at me with your pitchforks and knives i gotta say i love this man. he really said “no grave can hold my body down. i’ll crawl home to her” because this man would not leave alessandra alone after she slapped his face with the divorce papers!! she had him acting like a dog while she controlled the leash. he’s so miserably in love with her! from chasing her across the world, to scaring off all her “dates,” to beating tf outta anyone that disrespected her. he really said “you may not be my wife at the moment but you ain’t gonna forget the last 11 years that easy” i’ll what category is this man on amazon?!🤔

“she was the only person who’s ever truly mattered. even if she didn’t love me anymore, even if all my efforts to win her back failed, she would always be the sun anchoring my universe.” like please ultraviolence me man.🫣

alessandra ohh damn she doesn’t make it easy for him. she really said “i’m controlling the strings to his puppet.” had this man begging, pleading, crying, and screaming for another chance. sis walked him like a DAWG! her character growth and independence was admiring to read. she was in her reputation era while wearing a f*ck You dress. she was like “i’m gonna do whatever the hell i want. if he wants me back then he has to EARN IT!” women that humble their men 🔛🔝

aside from all the lovey dovey and heart wrenching moments the plot outside the romance that was happening in the background? yeah i could barely give a f*ck. not that it wasn’t interesting but i wasn’t invented like i wish i was. that roman guy? what was the point of him again? what was blud yapping about? i don’t even remember. 😶

anyway it was great to see other characters from the ana huang universe make cameos in this book. i find it funny that christian harper is mentioned/seen in every book. my husband has never looked better. I was gnawing at the bars of my enclosure *insert feral monkey sounds* 🙊

4.5 ⭐️

is the marriage in crisis in the room with us right now?

King of Greed? More like King of My Heart (Ana Huang's Version).

manifesting dominic and alessandra

another edit…: forgot to freak out here coz of finals… BUT MY GODDDDDDD I AM IN LOVE WITH THE COVER. NEED ALESSANDRA TO LEAVE HIS ASS IM BEING SO FR HE NEEDS TO WORK FOR IT.

edit: MANIFESTATION WORKED WE'RE GETTING DOM AND ALE ON OCTOBER 24TH AAHHHHH

the blurb at the end of king of pride!!!!!

“He had her, he lost her… and he’ll do anything to win her back.”

i need their second chance romance now oh my god… wdym by he lost her 🧐🧐🧐 dominic fumbling alessandra… i NEED to see him grovelling and begging on his knees.

AND!!!! THEIR WEDDING PICTURE!!! “—yet I hardly recognized the people in the photo. In it, Alessandra’s face glowed with joy, and her new husband gazed down at her with obvious adoration. They looked young and happy and so incredibly in love.” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

i feel so sick i want their story so bad… ana huang will not disappoint.

★ 2 stars

one of my most anticipated reads of the year turned into one of my biggest disappointments of the year.

➛ this review contains SPOILERS. if you haven’t read the book yet, do not read any further. you’ve been warned.

this was my sign to stop having high expectations for this series. King of Wrath disappointed me, King of Pride disappointed me, so the fact that i was 100% sure i was going to love King of Greed is actually laughable. now that i’m thinking clearly, i don’t really understand why i was extremely excited to read this — probably because of the way this book was marketed: marriage in crisis with lots of angst and groveling. great idea, but with a bad execution. and it was a hot mess.

first, i have a few questions:

now about the characters... i honestly don’t have a lot to say about them. they are both so bland.

Alessandra sounded so interesting from her small appearances in the previous books, i thought i would absolutely love her and that she would became my favorite FMC of the series. but this book made me realize that she was better as a side character. apart from the fact that she is half-brazilian — and as a brazilian myself, i enjoyed that — there was nothing else about her that i found remarkable. i’m not saying that she’s a bad character; she’s not. she’s just not memorable. which is sad, because i was expecting much more from her.

Dominic is basically like every Ana Huang’s men, but with small differences. same character, different font. it’s getting old and repetitive. did he have a personality besides being rich and workaholic? i can’t recall. he’s also not bad, but not amazing either. i wasn’t really expecting much from him, so i can’t say i’m disappointed.

and i don’t get what the author was trying to do in the last few chapters with that bank plot and the conflict with Dominic’s brother that came out of nowhere, so unnecessary to the plot. also, i thought the ending would at least be better than the rest of the book, but it wasn’t. it was so abrupt and i didn’t like the time jumps.

overall, this isn’t a terrible book, i’m being honest here. i didn’t hate it. i enjoyed a few things — like for example the writing and the brazilian representation. however, if i had zero expectations for this, i think i would be able to enjoy it more. but since i had high expectations... it didn’t end well. there’s also the fact that i expected something very different (a lot of people did actually) so i guess it’s partially my fault. i’m happy for those who enjoyed it though, at least some people are satisfied.

i’ll probably give this series one more chance and read the next book, but i learned my lesson and i won’t have high expectations. if it’s better; good. if it disappoints me again; then it won’t be a surprise.

──── ⋆☆⋆ ────

my ranking of the Kings of Sin series:

1 •

───────────

pre-review:
it’s finally time to start one of my most anticipated reads of the year! please, PLEASE, don’t disappoint me 🙏🏻

3.5 stars

I want to cry because I had so many expectations from this book after their first scene in King of Wrath, but this disappointed me in the worst ways! My imaginary scenarios are much better than this book! 😭

• Spoilers (it kinda sucked but still).

❝I lost you once, and I never want to lose you again.❞

This book had groveling as a plot. It's not just a part at the end like Alex and Ava's story, but this whole book, from start to end, was about Dom groveling. There weren't grand gestures, but constant efforts to assure Àle that he'll always be there for her, forever.

╰┈➤ Alessandra & Dominic:

He was giving DORA THE f*ckING EXPLORER a run for her money because of how oblivious he was in the first chapters. And only realized his mistakes after a little pep talk by Dante and Kai.

❝Your face was ugly enough without adding the dark circles and scowl to the mix.❞ — #DanteStan

❝I don’t have the money to buy you all the flowers you deserve yet, so I made them instead.❞

His constant need for more and more was because of his past when he was poor and struggled so much to have everything in his life! Bullying, being an unwanted child, insecurities drove him to get greedy! (did I care? well nah)

Alessandra was also a little whiny because one moment she was asking for divorce and the next moment she was having sex! She was constantly having betraying body syndrome and it was just not OKAY! 😒 and SHE STAYED QUIET FOR 10 FREAKING YEARS LIKE WHERE'S COMMUNICATION GIRL? so Ana, you're telling us that they're married for 10 years and spent 3650 days without even discussing these issues?

Also, ❝Where is my wife?❞ dialogue was so freaking badly written! 💀 I thought it would be angsty, or Dominic would be saying this to Dante or Kai after Alessandra ran to Viv/Isa's house, just like Stella did in Twisted Lies. But he shouted this at his freaking HOUSEKEEPER! 🤡🤡 #JusticeForCamila

╰┈➤ Groveling:

❝Seeing Alessandra cry was the one thing that could bring me to my knees.❞

This was the thing we all readers actually waited for. Did he do better than Alex? I guess not, but there's a huge difference between their groveling, so it's safe not to compare.

Dominic's groveling started with:
• Begging her at first.
• Sabotaging her dates.
• Leaving his work for her (finally).
• Following her around in Brazil.
• Helping her clean up her shop.

THESE ALL ARE BARE MINIMUM ^ and even Ana knew that so she mentioned it in this book beforehand so we don't talk about it lol! Alessandra was like 'it's bare minimum but It's a lot for me' like yeaaaaa.... all this fight for what?

❝Things may have changed since we got married, but you and me? We were always meant for forever.❞

And some more begging her and doing anything she even said. He was constantly in shame, guilt, and regret, which made him stutter over his words or mostly stay quiet. He begged for every chance or anything she was willing to give, and that's what made up this entire book.

The snippets from the past were so good. The past scenes were truly nice, and what Dominic did in them was so thoughtful. It's no wonder why she would fall for him. but it was more TELL than SHOW.

• This book definitely had OM scenes a lot, no touching or anything, but Alessandra went on a date with 2 people and danced and laughed with someone in Brazil. It does have a few jealousy scenes, but mostly Dominic remained at the side to respect Àle's wishes.

╰┈➤ Spice:

This was amazing. 😭 This was seriously good. I mean, there are literally three graphic scenes, if I can recall, but damn, they were hot. 🥵 Dominic wasn't really big on dirty talking, but the smut was HAWWWTTT.

As much as Alessandra wanted to stay away from him, she had sex with him two times before the divorce and then left him after that because the moment was over, leaving Dominic to cry. 💀

╰┈➤ Other Things:

The length of this book is seriously perfect. It didn't drag on too much, so I'm glad.

❝Hello, brother.❞ – What in the Damon Salvatore...???

Dom's mercenary brother Roman had more hold on this book than him. I mean, he left me so intrigued. I shouldn't place my expectations now, but I wonder if he's going to have his own book, as Ana said she's not going to write a mafia/assassin type of book.

Josh and Jules had two freaking cameos, and I'm crying right now because damn, I love them so much, and they both are still enjoying their lives years after by traveling through the world. I missed their little bickering! 😭 Cuties. 💕

Dante and Vivian are still going to remain my favorite couple in this series. I thought it would change, but I'm depressed right now. So, Dante and Vivian had a daughter. 😭😭😭💓💓💓💓, and Alessandra is pregnant too, so ayayayayay!!!!

#21 out of a thousand. — The golden flower on the cover had a nice meaning. Hehehe!

Sloane and Xavier are going to have the next book. 😭 Damn, he was seen with a brunette here while ogling Sloane. Now, let me make theories again on who's going to have their book.

Three people are going to have their book after Sloane and Xavier, so:

* Ayana (model) mentioned literally so many times in both KOP and this book!
* Cole Pearson (divorce lawyer)
* Vuk Markovic (I'll kill for his book, thank you)
* Roman (Give us his book, Ana)
* Sebastian Laurent!
* And I don't give a crap about the Darlingtons, so I don't care!
* There's Rohan Mishra too.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

╰┈➤ From King Of Pride:

Alessandra kept checking and pocketing her phone. It was probably Dominic calling-and getting ignored for the hundredth time. Good. The man deserved to suffer a little.

╰┈➤ From King Of Wrath:

We exited the bathroom, but she stopped at the entrance to the ballroom. “I’m sorry, I’ve come down with a terrible headache. Can you please tell Dominic I’ve gone home?”
Alessandra said to tell you she has a headache and had to go home,” I explained.
Unidentifiable emotion flashed through his eyes before it vanished beneath pools of inscrutable blue. “Thank you for letting me know.”

Reviews & Ratings:

• King Of Wrath - 5 stars
• King Of Pride - 3 stars
• King Of Greed - 3.5 stars
• King Of Sloth - TBR
• King Of Envy - TBR
• King Of Gluttony - TBR
• King Of Lust - TBR

— 3.5 stars ★

“I want my greed to be for your love, your laughter, and our life together. I can’t bear to be parted from you.”

I expected so much from this book but sadly this book did not deliver the angsty marriage of convenience trope. This was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and it's not a bad book because there were many things that I did liked and enjoyed but mostly I was in it for the much needed grovelling and the angsty moments.

This is my least favourite book by Ana Huang and I have never rated her books less that 4 stars ever because her books are always a source of entertainment for me. I enjoyed reading her books even though it's the same recycled tropes and personalities but as long as she keeps me entertain I am up for it.

“You know I would choose you.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “Because you haven’t chosen me. Not in a very, very long time.”

This book had so much potential but the execution of the plot was bad and it just left me underwhelming in the end. The starting was really good and I liked the first 30% of the book but then things went downhill when Dominic followed Alexandra to her vacation. The grovelling was not grovelling. I was ready to give the title of king of grovelling to Dominic but sadly he does not even come close to Alex Volkov.

➸ Alessandra Davenport

Dedicated, kind and thoughtful, Alessandra was always just a wife of Dominic for over a decade. I liked her and she deserved better than what she got from Dominic and their marriage for the last few years. This woman left everything to be with the man she loved, who had nothing at that point of their lives and she stood by his side for years, supporting him, loving him, caring for him. She lost her dreams, and herself by being there for the man she loved. I liked that Ana also focused on her self-discovery and her dreams after she got out of her marriage and how she started her small etsy pressed flower shop because she needed something that was her own. But I still felt like she could've stood up for herself earlier because she knew and the signs were always there but she waited the very last moment to leave him.

“You broke my heart, and you weren’t even there to witness it.”

➸ Dominic Davenport

Ambitious, ruthless and self-made billionaire who forgot his ten year anniversary because he was busy making money. Dominic was fine and maybe my least favourite man written by Ana Huang. So he ignored her, then followed her like a desperate, miserable and pathetic man to her vacation for a week and she forgave him after that? Ana did you forgot the meaning of grovelling? He ignored his wife for months and we get it because man and their dreams and money you know?! But Alessandra is the girl who was with him in his worst times and she never stopped believing in his potential because she knew he is THE ONE for her and he still ignored her. Atleast, there was no cheating misscommunication trope involved. His character development was good though and I liked how earned her trust again.

“I’d been lying in bed one lazy Saturday morning, watching Alessandra yawn and snuggle into my chest, when I finally put a name on the feeling. Contentment.”

╰┈➤ Alessandra and Dominic

The romance was charming at times but overall it was just fine. You won't believe me but I was much more interested in how their love story started when they met in college and were young in love with all these big dreams and how Dominic became the billionaire from a poor normal man. Their were a few glimpses of their past and how they met in their college and how Alessandra was always so supportive of his dreams and left her privileged life for him and his dreams.

“I don’t have the money to buy you all the flowers you deserve yet,” he said, sounding so solemn and formal I couldn’t help but smile at the contrast between his tone and the jar of colorful paper flowers in his hands. “So I made them instead.”
My breath caught in my throat. “Dom…” There must’ve been hundreds of flowers in there. I didn’t want to think about how long it took him to make them.
“Happy birthday, amor.” His mouth lingered on mine in a long, sweet kiss. “One day, I’ll buy you a thousand real roses. I promise.”

Alessandra and Dominic are a great couple and their chemistry is really good—both in present and past but I just needed more. Maybe more pining? More of Alessandra making Dominic hurt for what he did to her and how he ignored her for years?

“You matter,” I said. “Always.” She was the only person who’d ever truly mattered. Even if she didn’t love me anymore, even if all my efforts to win her back failed, she would always be the sun anchoring my universe.

Honestly, I would’ve gave this book 4 stars had Ana not pulled her typical and useless third-act breakup card in the ending. It's getting tiring with each book and she really needs to stop it before I stop reading her books. I really loved the ending and the epilogues though! They were the cutest. Also, seeing Devoted Daddy Dante was one of my favourite highlights of this book 🥺

I am not really expecting much from Sloane and Xavier's book but hope Ana won't destroy the iconic Ice Queen x Bad Boy trope. And I also need Dominic's psycho brother Roman's book. He only made a few appearances but I wanna know everything about him!

i deeply respect Ana Huang's commitment to never serve

”you broke my heart, and you weren’t even there to witness it.”

although the book wasn't bad, I don't think it was good either. my expectations were pretty high for this one and I suppose I was anticipating more than what the narrative depicted? more groveling, more angst, more resentment, more melodramatic scenes, more grand gestures. the plot was was enticing enough to finish the book but the orchestration of events and the execution were a bit off.

~•~
it’s time and im so excited!!!!
~•~
OMMMG why didn’t i know that this is about Dominic and Alessandra, until now???? gimme all the marriage in crisis, im gonna eat it up.

2 stars 💸

this was probably one of the worst representations of ‘marriage in crisis’ i’ve ever read. how much of a crisis could there possibly be if dom already fingers alessandra at 20% 👁️👄👁️

this book was a constant repeat of 3 things:

also wouldn’t they have to remain married for there to be a crisis 😵‍💫

there was a point when this book was just giving the absolute bare minimum and it was kinda brutal towards the end.

sometimes i felt like i was reading the beta copy of this book because there’s no way this barely put together novel is the complete, published version

spoilers below

page count
firstly, this book should have been 50 to 100 pages longer than it was. while i do find it more difficult to read long contemporary romances, this is one of those cases where we needed more than we got. i think this book could have been better with a couple more flashback scenes (longer ones at that, not just a random memory that dom or alessandra brought up in the present day).

unlike most romances i read, the MCs already loved each other…but just because THEY loved each other, doesn’t mean i love them. their early relationship ended up being more “telling” rather than showing…i wanted to experience those cute moments between alessandra and dom, not read them like they were an after thought

the groveling was nowhere to be found
secondly, i needed more angst, more groveling and more jealousy. while one-sided jealousy sounded good on paper, it isn’t the reality. do i believe dom deserved to suffer for neglecting alessandra for years? absolutely. did i enjoy watching him get mildly jealous as she “moved on”? without a doubt.

“You can go on as many dates as you want, amor,” Dominic said softly. “But no one will love you like I do. Você e eu. Não tem comparação.”
(you and me. there’s no comparison.)

BUT i still wanted her to be jealous of dominic at least a little. why didn’t dom bring a fake date to a charity event after alessandra rejected him for the 2757289 time??? or even better, pulled a bruce wayne from the dark knight rises where he interrupts her date with his own and makes it a double date 🤌🏻

the angst consisted of dominic showing alessandra the tiniest bit of interest and alessandra letting him f*ck her, just for her to regret it right after and go on a date with another man. like what 😭

it was also the way alessandra held the divorce over his head???

“I would destroy the world if it would please you. I would ruin every man who thought he could have you.”
“f*ck me like you mean that, Dom.”
“What makes you think I don’t?” Fire and fury ignited his eyes.
“Our divorce papers.”

um actually 🤓☝🏻 it was YOU who filed for divorce and made him sign them after you had sex with him. so why exactly are you mad at him??? FOR DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ASKED???? it’s almost like the goal was to make alessandra as hypocritical as possible

alessandra & dom sharing 2 braincells
this brings me to the next issue…alessandra. boy oh BOYYYY WAS SHE DUMB. i’m convinced alessandra’s ulterior motive was to divorce dominic just to show him what he was missing, knowing all to well she was gonna go back to him anyway. because there’s no way in HELL her half assed separation from him would have worked in the first place.

she put about 1% effort into moving on. maybe if she put a little more she wouldn’t have f*cked dom every 70 pages 💀

in all honestly, i expected dom to be very cold and un-in touch with his emotions but he ended up just being a golden retriever hero? he was all “please forgive me alessandra 🥺😢☹️” instead of “you better take me back or i’ll kidnap you”.

for example, after they had sex, dominic invited her to stay so they could have a movie night

“I can’t.” She jerked her gaze away from our engagement photo and finished zipping up her dress. “I have…I have a date later.”
[…]
“Oh.” I forced a smile past the crushed husk of hope. “Next time then.”

next time then…NEXT TIME THEN

SIR PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ANGST FOR GODS SAKE OHMYGOD I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE 😟 AM I SUPPOSED TO BE ATTRACTED TO A HERO SO UNASSERTIVE??

domwastoomuchofafeminist

tension where
i’m sick a tired of reading reviews where they’re saying the tension and smut was good. IN WHAT UNIVERSE WAS ANY OF IT EVEN HALFWAY DECENT 😐

ana huang’s idea of creating sexual tension was throwing together some mid sex scenes, expecting me to be foaming at the mouth for the reunitement when they made zero progress as a couple

it was the way alessandra broke up with dom because he worked too much so he just...stopped doing that. LIKE?? he didn’t even struggle to stop working a little bit???

it was the way everything was caused by miscommunication. how are you going to be married for 10 years and not realize that your husband is scared to stop working cause he doesn’t want to be broke, like he used to be or realize that IT’S PROBABLY NOT OKAY TO MISS BIG EVENTS WITH YOUR WIFE JUST BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T GET MAD AT YOU. IT LITERALLY DOESN’T TAKE ROCKET SCIENCE TO KNOW YOUR WIFE WOULDN’T WANT YOU TO MISS YOUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

as lara gloriously brought up, ana huang hasn’t written good tension since the “i lied” scene in twisted hate, probably because booktok’s brain exploded over it. FREE ANA HUANG FROM THE DIRTY CLUTCHES OF BOOKTOK PLEASE 🙏🏻 LET HER WRITE SOME ANGSTY SMUT

plot was somehow worse than alex volkov’s singing
because of course it wouldn’t be ana huang without a plotline that adds nothing except pages to the page count 🤩. i still don’t know what the plot was. the whole fight scene between dom and roman had me cackling. because OF COURSE IT WOULD HAPPEN ON A VERY IMPORTANT DAY LIKE ALESSANDRA’S GRAND OPENING

where’s the originality

i honestly think roman could be a very interesting character but knowing her, his book will be average so it’s not worth getting excited over

even after this, i still can’t rate this book lower than 2 stars because it was a light, easy read (for the most part), plus it’s the first book in months i’ve read in a single day. the book itself didn’t drag at all, i did have trouble putting it down because i needed to know how dom and ale’s story ended after an entire year of anticipation 🧍🏻‍♀️

so don’t let the 2 stars i gave it tell you i somewhat enjoyed this. i gave it that many out of pity for myself

honorable mentions (or possibly the only good stuff worth mentioning
➟ dom carrying ale’s wedding ring in his pocket for months and never taking his off, even after they divorced
➟ “amor” as a pet name
➟ dom getting himself invited to dinner at ale’s brother’s house after the divorce by asking to borrow some sugar
➟ dom hoping ale’s diving instructor was eaten by sharks
➟ dom vandalizing aiden’s property to get him away from ale

if roman isn’t ‘king of envy’ im suing ana huang for further emotional damage (who wants to join my lawsuit for this book). he’s giving hitman and im here for it. also ☝🏻 you don’t waste a name as hot as ‘roman’ on a side character

kings of sin
↠ #1 king of wrath — 1.75 stars
↠ #2 king of pride — 3.75 stars
↠ #3 king of greed — 2 stars
↠ #4 king of sloth — tbr

➳ 𝟏/𝟓 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨

❞𝙏𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚❞

idk how my most anticipated book of this year turned out to be the book that disappointed me the most this year. istg ana can't write to save her life, there was absolutely nothing worth the wait. The writing was mediocre, the plot was nonexistent, the smut was bland and grovelling where tf was the promised grovelling!?!!

Soo this book is about marriage in crisis and i literally have no idea how it turned into friends with benefits istg all they did was bang each other every time they got the opportunity. Rather than dealing with issues like a mature adults they thought f*cking was a better option. Fr they've been married for ten years and couldn't communicate to save their marriage smh!!🤦🏻‍♀️

➸ 𝘿𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩

This disappointment of man got emotional maturity of a five year old idk how did u not know that your wife was being distant, like the only thing you did after coming back home was to give her a forehead kiss!!!! like tell me how can u not realise that your wife haven't had a real conversation with u since ages omggg!?!!? What was even wrong with this man, i def expected something more bc this man was simply portrayed as a grumpy alpha CEO yeah ik ik typical ana huang man who are only soft for their girls WOW SO ROMANTIC!! honestly atp we need something different; every man she writes is same. 🤦🏻‍♀️

i expected some grovelling but all he did was to follow her like a puppy that too after they got divorced this man didn't even made an effort up until their divorce. Like sir what are u even waiting for but during his monologue he kept saying again and again "im soo afraid of loosing her" absolute bullsh*t. He helped her clean her store omggg that's 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙢. You helping your wife of ten years is something we should consider grovelling. Ngl but Alex Beiber grovelled much better than this creature at least he sang for her and she wasn't even his wife at that time 😭✋🏻

❞𝘽𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮.𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙖𝙨𝙠. 𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙧𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ��𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩. 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝙄𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚.𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧.❞

See now that wasn't hard was it??? Their was no communication whatsoever all he did was beg her and then f*ck her ; the smut was soo bland that i had to skim through pages. Only if they communicated like adults their would've been little less drama and they legit did that after six months of divorce frr you could've done it alot sooner. And even after all of this the cherry of the top was him yelling at his housekeeper like sir you're the one who's irresponsible and then u have the audacity to insult the housekeeper smh!!!! 🤦🏻‍♀️

➸ 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙖 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩

I absolutely loved her when she was a side character but she couldn't serve as a main character and to say i was disappointed would be an understatement. She had no dignity and no backbone whatsoever she kept running back to him and banged him every chance she got. Even when they were going through divorce they were busy banging each other.

Half of the problems they had as their so called "MARRIAGE ISSUES" wouldn't even exist if she just opened up her mouth and told him. The issues weren't even issues to me i just felt if ale ever took a little stand for her maybe dom would've understood but all she did was to stay quiet thinking he might read her mind and save their relationship 🤦🏻‍♀️✋🏻

And what worsens the situation is that after divorce she kept jumping from one man to another in order to stay in the dating scene even though she knew that the only man she STILL loved is her ex-husband, she still kept going on dates after dates just to make him jealous. And then ran back to him to y̶e̶s̶ u̶ g̶u̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ i̶t̶ r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ t̶o̶ bang 🤌🏻😭

❞𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢❞

Who's finding this romantic no please tell me who thinks this is romantic??! Sounds like utter stupidity to me 😭🤌🏻

➸ 𝘿𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙚

Honestly they were so much better as side characters bc at least it gave us something good to imagine. Them as main characters wasn't worth the hype it got istg i found roman much more interesting and he only had few scenes, absolutely nothing about them made me excited. Their chemistry was plainly bland and boring tbh i could watch an ant climb the wall and it still would be more interesting than this book. At this point i feel ana should take a little break from writing.

➸ Overall i don't advice anyone to go through this atrocity and still if you want read this book, read it if you're a fan of mind-numbing experiences and have a desire to explore the depths of disappointment. It's truly a work of unparalleled mediocrity that you won't want to miss, or maybe you will! 🫶🏻

➸ 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨 :-

➳ ❞𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙛 𝙬𝙚
𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚??𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?? 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙨.❞ ❞𝙑𝙤𝙘𝙚̂ 𝙚 𝙚𝙪. 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚.❞ ❞𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚. 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧.❞

➳ ❞𝘼𝙨𝙠 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧
𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.❞
❞𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘.❞
❞𝙄’𝙢 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘, 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙖. 𝙄’𝙢 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚.❞

➳ ❞𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙, 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝❞

➳ ❞𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙤 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙧, 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙙𝙤❞

➳ ❞𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩.❞

THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANTED AND EVEN MORE.

I was so hyped for a marriage in trouble romance from Ana. And when this book started? IT STARTED. We jump right into the trouble between Dom and Alessandra and their emotional turmoil from the start. As Alessandra finally tells Dom how she's feeling, we start to see some flashbacks sprinkled in, which I loved. Dom's realization that he could lose everything WAS EVERYTHING and Alessandra for sure makes him work for it. I loooooved his groveling and how desperate he was to win Alessandra back. I flew through this book and felt every emotion with the characters.

I was obsessed with this book so much and you need to read it when it releases!!!

"I'll ask one more time, where is my wife?"

JHGFTYGUIJKJHGFRTY&UIOKJHGFRT^Y&U*IHGFTR IM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH I NEED THIS NOW
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its a MARRIAGE IN CRISIS, YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS??!!!

GROVELLING AND LONGING AND ANGSTTT

I NEED THIS LIKE YESTERDAY

You cannot convince me that this book was not written by chatgpt.

This book was a hot mess. From the weird ass plot points that ana was pulling out of her ass to the sh*t that did not make f*cking sense. Where is the groveling? The angst? The tension? The pining? why is your main character f*cking her husband 2 days after serving him divorce papers? do you hate women? why is the main love interest yelling WHERE IS MY WIFE at the f*cking housekeeper? do you know how terrible you have to be at writing romance books to f*ck up a MARRIAGE in CRISIS trope???? THE FORMULA IS THERE husband f*cks up wife gets fed up leaves husband gets on his f*cking knees and begs for forgiveness to win her back THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO! I've had my share of disappointments in this department but they still were better than whatever this was.

I need to romance authors to understand that making your love interest realize his mistakes and say "oh i hate myself" is not revolutionary and is not groveling if it's only done in his monologue.

But still it's definitely on me for expecting *something* from ana huang. I will not set myself up for disappointment anymore. Go girl give us nothing!

is the angst and groveling in the room with us right now?

sooooooooooo boring. she’s weird and annoying and he’s a loser. no chemistry at all. also the “hello, brother.” line was so fkn corny i can’t breathe. u grown asf to be referencing damon salvatore in 2023.

3.50!

This one was honestly a let down! It had so much potential and the trope in this one 'marriage of convenience' is one of my favourites but it just didn't deliver.

I'm gonna keep it short by saying Dominic needed to grovel more and Alessandra needed to grow a backbone and act less like a doormat because filed for divorce and f*cked him twice nights later?? I just didn't understand.

Despite all that I would be lying If I said I didn't enjoy it because unlike king of pride and more like the twisted series and king of wrath it had an easy going writing style which was very easy to adapt to and enjoy.

Also the spice was 🔥🔥🔥

4.5 ⭐️ My favorite Ana Huang story to date!

"Let me go."
"I wish I could."

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ New York City setting
✨ second chance romance
✨ he's a workaholic billionaire CEO
✨ she's his lonely wife who wants a divorce
✨ flashbacks from when they met in college 10 years ago and fell in love
✨ rags to riches
✨ opposites attract
✨ broken promises
✨ angst / hurt
✨ GROVELING 👏
✨ stalking (but it's sweet)
✨ slight OM drama but no cheating
✨ jealousy
✨ he never stops calling her 'amor'
✨ real life soulmates
✨ 2/5 spice
✨ HEA
✨ dual POV
✨ dyslexia rep
✨ Brazilian FMC
✨ Twisted series cameos
✨ tw: divorce, child abandonment, foster care neglect and abuse

My Thoughts:

I listened to the audiobook and absolutely LOVED this story. The narrators were fantastic and did an incredible job bringing this angsty, second-chance romance to life.

King of Greed is about two people who love each other dearly but lost themselves and each other along the way. Since this book is about a marriage in crisis, it may not be for everyone. However, it was (surprisingly) for me. While Ale and Dom's relationship is over-dramatized for the sake of a good story, there are a lot of aspects about their relationship that I think many people in long term relationships will relate to. While reading, you'll feel a lot of angst and frustration but also the immense love between these two soulmates. This story gripped my soul and hasn't let go.

What I love:

Dominic and Alessandra. Ana Huang did a great job giving us two well-rounded MCs. Everything about them from their backgrounds to their beautiful romance to their marriage struggles was so compelling. I admired Dom's and his drive for success and Ale's loyalty and kindness. But it's interesting that it was those things that led to the end of their marriage. While those qualities are all great, if they are not directed in a healthy manner, it can be detrimental. So I thought it was interesting to watch Dom learn to change his priorities and redefine what 'success' meant, while Ale rediscovered who she was by learning to be loyal and kind to herself first.

The second chance romance. Relationships are messy. And I think that Dom and Ale's relationship is a very honest and realistic example of how even two people who are meant for each other can still drift apart. Watching their marriage implode hurt my heart, but their journey to find their way back to each other was beautiful and definitely worth all the angst and pain. This story is an emotional roller-coaster that does a wonderful job capturing the struggles of a marriage in crisis. I teared up many times and full on cried near the end (happy tears, don't worry).

The Flashbacks. While this is a second chance romance, we also see through flashbacks how they first met and fell in love, which was so adorable! Dom and Ale met in college - she was his English tutor - and while they're both so different, they fall hard and fast. Their pure love and belief in each other was so wholesome. 🫶 There's no doubt in my mind they are soulmates.

What I didn't love:

The fact Alessandra didn't have an honest conversation with Dom about how unhappy she was in the marriage. I mean, if she did, this book wouldn't have existed, so I get why this isn't how the story played out. But instead of acting like a mature adult and talking with her husband of 10 years who is supposed to be the love of her life, Alessandra leaves her ring, walks out, and gets a divorce lawyer. I understand she was DONE coming second to Dom's business, but she never really fought for them, and that's what bothered me the most. HOWEVER, after reading her inner dialogue, I do understand why this was her course of action, even if I don't agree with it and think it was a childish thing to do.

But overall, I thought this was a great story and definitely one I plan on re-reading or listening to.

Side Note: I was really confused why this book got a few lower ratings, so I read a couple of those reviews and noticed they didn't think Dom did enough to prove himself and they had issues with the fact they were still participating in sexual activities together while separated. And while I totally can see their POV, I think relationships are complicated. There are a lot of different ways people can react to a situation. And with everything we knew from Dom's past and what his goals were, they weren't aligned with Alessandra's. So it took her leaving for him to realize his priorities. But habits are hard to break, which is why it takes him nearly the entire book to really understand why she left and how he needs to act moving forward in order to get her back. And just because they were separated, doesn't mean they loved each other less or aren't attracted to each other. They were married for 10 years, so their first instinct is to seek each other out and to be with the other. They both wanted to make it work but didn't know how. So this book is all about them navigating a path forward that makes both of them happy.

Favorite Quotes:

"You honestly think we'll be happier if we divorce? That I'll be happier without you? This is us. Voce e eu. Para sempre." You and me. Forever.
_______

The thought of living without her was incomprehensible, like asking a heart to stop beating or the stars to give up the night.
_______

"I would stalk you if it meant you'd talk to me again."
"How romantic."
"I'm past romantic, Alessandra. I'm desperate."
_______

I hated the effect he had on me. I hated how my eyes always went to him in a room full of people and how I couldn't stop thinking about him no matter how hard I tried. Most of all, I hated how I couldn't hate him, not even a little bit. No matter how many times he broke my heart, there would always be a piece that belonged to him.

*Reminded me of that poem from '10 Things I Hate About You'
_______

If I did die, I would do so happily because I was exactly where I belonged: with her.
_______

"What happened last night - "
"Was a mistake."
"It didn't sound like a mistake when you were screaming my name and begging me to let you come."
_______

"I'm not your wife anymore."
"No. But you're still my love. That hasn't changed."
_______

"I didn't appreciate you when I had you, and that's my cross to bear. But you'll always be the love of my life and I'll always be here, whether it's a month, a year, or a lifetime from now."
_______

Our hearts had scars that would never go away, but they also glowed and grew with every new day that came to us.
_______

– 3.5 stars

King of Greed was both a disappointment and better than expected at the same time 🌚my first mistake was to be excited about an ANA HUANG book of all books. It’s not like she has ever wowed me with her last 6 releases, so the clownery is totally on me. That’s what I get for thinking that Ana Huang could pull a good marriage-in-crisis book. 🤡

But then after seeing all the latest reviews come in and they were all negative, I really thought I would end up hating this book and I didn’t??? Was is good? Hell no. Was it entertaining enough that I read it one sitting? Yes it was.

Dominic wasn’t the boy who gave himself a hundred paper cuts making origami versions of my favorite flowers for my birthday, and I wasn’t the girl who floated through life with stars and dreams in her eyes.

– Review might contain spoilers –

My biggest problem with King of Greed a.k.a pretty much all of AH’s books is that it’s always tell >> show when it should be the other way round. We get all of these teases of Alessandra (h) and Dominic’s (H) past when he was giving her origami flowers or learning portuguese for her when he it’s hard for him, but it’s like mentioned in a sentence and we never get a scene long enough that shows how more dedicated Dominic was as a boyfriend/husband in the past compared to now. It’s a pity cuz the potential was right there??? If only AH would have put in more effort into writing good flashback scenes that would make me feel something. I really loved the flashback chapter when Dominic and Alessandra met for the first. I didn’t expect them to have a student/tutor relationship was it was so cute to see how reluctant Dom was and how Ale showed up at his work place late at night to prove him wrong. Why couldn’t we have more scenes like that? 😭

”You’re the only person I’ve ever loved.” I didn’t recognize my voice. It was too raw, too laced with emotions I’d sworn I would never feel. “Even if I didn’t show it. It’s always been you.”

I actually liked when Dominic was vulnerable and showed his emotions. Those scenes made my heart twitch a little. I thought I would go into this book hating Dominic for neglecting Ale and that he deserves the pain of getting the divorce paper served and he does, but I also felt really bad for him???!?! 🙃that man was just blind and didn’t even know he f*cked up 😭I really think if Alessandra had stood up for herself earlier, it would have opened his eyes sooner .. not to blame the women here cause Ale wasn’t at fault, but it’s just another communication thing. 🥴

“If you need time, take it. If you want to date other people, do it. I won’t interfere. I didn’t appreciate you when I had you, and that’s my cross to bear. But you’ll always be the love of my life, and I’ll always be here, whether it’s a month, a year, or a lifetime from now.”

🥺🥺🥺Dominic knows what to say to get to me. BUT AGAIN actions over words in this case and the ‘grovel’ in this book was so unsatisfying. Dom should have fought more for Ale and tried to win her back, but most of the book he was pretty passive and it was by sheer luck that they had their run ins. I expected Dom to be another co*cky arrogant hero who just doesn’t give a f*ck and would bulldoze his way back into her heart no matter what, but instead Dom was such a respectful king and left Alessandra in peace just because she said so like sir ??? EXCUSE ME DON’T LET HER GO ON DATES WITH OTHER MEN?! I wanted my respectful king to be a bit less respectful of her choices 😔👉👈

Last but not least, what did AH try to do with the plot twist towards the end dskafkksdf???? She tried to chanel Miss Rina Kent with the suspense and dumb plot twist, but it lacks the drama and flair that Rina Kent incorporates into her books. All the “action” scenes, if I dare call them that, were so anticlimactic. Even the drama at the end of the book between Dom and Ale was solved so quickly. I blinked and it was over .. AH couldn’t make her characters feel a bit more pain or anguish couldn’t she? 🥴

Anyway, insanity is doing the same thingover and over again and expecting a different result, because ROMAN’s book WHEN? 🤡🙏

P.S. somebody take Vampire Diaries away from AH, cause that “hello brother” reference in King of Greed was so 😭😭😭😭she thought she ate with that line, but she needs help 🥴

I CANNOT wait for y’all to read this🥺❤️

spoiler in this mini-review!

i feel like she wrote this 2 days before the deadline was due cuz what in the seven universe was this?
I didn't, dnf it because i want to read the next books in the series!

Alessandra had zero dignity whatsoever, from the first pages she says she needs a divorce, then she proceeds to sleep with him every encounter they have. Not shaming her, she was the one leaving the house and everything and asking for the divorce, and yet let him in after all that?! Doesn't make sense.

For someone who was done with the 10-year marriage to the point that she left everything behind, she certainly didn't act like one! She was either looking for him or was with him wherever he was, or they were doing the deed, or she was on a date with someone else and taking the date where he possibly could be!

She even traveled to another country where Dominic went after her, EVEN THEN she was everything but mad and acted like her beloved husband came to visit her for the weekend !!girl wtfffff you just divorced him, she was just slightly surprised istg!

he asked her on a date there, and she said YES OMFG how is that even possible, I don't know, because even her friends thought she was out of her mind for going on a date with him then who am I to judge, she was making questionable decisions throughout the book in full speed that I couldn't keep track of!!

--------------------
We have Teddy Hamilton as narrator here! And it's a duet

this was my favorite second chance EVER. 😭❤️‍🔥 dom & alessandra are everything.

could've been 10 pages long if he showed up at the marriage counseling session in the first place.

-=- DNF: 35% -=-

I'm sorry but what about this was a marriage in crisis 💀

Alessandra: Sign the divorce papers.
Dom: No 🥺
*cue the smut*

I knew this book was going to be unserious when the first smut scene was 20% in, leading to them having full-on sex 32% in 🤩. Loved all the angst and tension!!! That mixed in with the fact that I could SMELL the unnecessary goofy conflict coming (why was this a murder mystery)- I just did not have it in me lmaoo 😭.

I'm acc cackling this was so unserious BYE 💀-

When Dominic's brother who had three scenes total was more interesting than the actual main characters😭😭

Let’s be honest, Ana Huang can’t write for sh*t. But this book was the biggest clown out of all

i can't believe that poor kid would have to grow up with an absent father, least of all dominic "coward" davenport.