Parker S. HuntingtonReseñas

Man, I really flubbed the read order

This book was okay, I enjoyed reading it. However, these characters were not my favorite. I wanted Romeo to get his act together a lot faster and felt myself getting frustrated with their relationship. I tend to turn to these books as a “fun” read, and I wasn’t able to engross myself in the book like I normally would.

Just not good writing

Tbh I totally judged this book by its cover. It has kind of a cheesy title, the super overdone bad boy looking guy on the cover, but when I read it, it took my breath away. It’s a beautiful heartbreaking story. Very well written, one of my fav romances.

Just a warning (no spoilers don’t worry), about 20% into the book, I basically stopped and was unable to continue. I let the book sit for a few days before finally getting up the courage to read again. But I am so glad I persisted. Your heart will be broken over and over and over but it is so worth it. Please give this a read! I couldn’t recommend it enough!

Also another note: this book has sort of a similar feel to Ill Give You The Sun. Just a bit dirtier. Well written, poetic, and full of loss and heart break and romantic as well as non romantic relationships.

After being caught together at a party, Dallas's reputation is ruined, so she must marry Romeo, the man who ruined her. Dallas is only part of Romeo's plan to bring down a rival's family business as well as his own father's company, but she proves feisty and irresistible. While things in Romeo's past make it impossible for him to love Dallas, he does admire the way she fights him at every turn, but no matter what, he is never going to give into her desire to have a baby.

I have mixed feelings about My Dark Romeo. While the novel is extremely flawed, it somehow intrigued me enough to want to read it right to the very end. Almost all of the characters are unlikable, especially the protagonists, and many of their actions are wildly inappropriate, but there is a certain fascination with them that I can't ignore. In addition, the pacing of the story is off with much of Romeo's story delivered in a monologue near the end of the book, after which he is suddenly supposed to be likable. Also there are some consent issues in this book, that at times make the reading uncomfortable and a suspense plot that comes totally out of the blue near the end of the book. Overall, My Dark Romeo is a problematic romance that still manages to be fascinating.

"Our secrets are nothing but a string of memories we wish to forget."
I wasn't supposed to be on that roof on Valentine's Day. Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school's designated freak. We met on the verge of ending our lives. Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond. We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine's Day until school ended. Same time. One roof. Two restless souls. We kept our promise for three years. On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences. Just when I thought our story ended, another one began. They say all love stories look the same and taste different. Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars. My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom.
This book. It was a moving and tear inducing look at grief and trauma. At the ways that one act scars not only us, but those around us. How all our actions have an impact, even if we didn't intend that side effect. I honestly think I loved this the most about the book, like the romance was just second fiddle for me. It honestly didn't feel that much like a love story most of the time, but instead a group of individuals dealing with their individual and shared traumas in the only ways they knew how. Kellan was a character who, even though you knew the ending, broke your heart. I wish the book had given us more insight into his mind. He was a fantastically written character and probably my favorite of the cast of characters.
The book starts off with emotional damage and really just keeps adding to it. I have to admit that while I enjoyed the romance, well except for Chapter 34, it just felt very cliche and obvious. The characters and their actions were very predictable. Charlotte very much acts like a child still in many respects and Tate isn't really processing any emotions. I think the story is sweet and watching the two work through their trauma is good, but it just left me wanting something. I felt jaded by the epilogue and the route that took. It just didn't feel like it fit and was just another obvious trope wrapped into what could have been something more. Overall, though the book is beautifully written and gut-wrenching. I don't think I was prepared for the emotional damage my heart suffered.

I loved this book.

This sentence sums up my feelings about it pretty well. But here is the detailed version:

I have to start by saying this book is not your typical romance. To be fair, there were moments in it in which I doubt that the book should've been classified under this genre.

It's dark, but not MafiaBoss-who-NonCons-the-heroine-kind of the dark. It's dark in a grey way. The book contains heavy topics and I would strongly recommend reading the TW and CWs first. But the way the author wrote about them... Holly shit, I've never loved something so broken so much.

I loved Kel, and I bailed my eyes out when he did what he did

The plot is breathtaking, the story - heartbreaking, and the writing world-shaking.

The characters:

Charlie was a lovely one, smart and determined. Cute little angel, whose heart has been broken one too many times. I loved the way she acted, stood for herself, and protected her loved ones.

And Tate, well, Tate is an entirely different story. He is definitely fighting with Miles for the last place on the podium in my "Best Book Boyfriends" list. (The other two there are Aaron Warner and Damon Torrance, so I bet, you see the pattern). Tate was broken. Broken and alone, and in desperate need of love and support. He resembled a lost puppy. But, Jesus, was he hot!

The love was heartwarming, and the chemistry was over the roof.

However, there were a few aspects that I quite didn't like, and ruined the end of the book for me.
The first one is the rushed sex scenes. I don't mind if they are short or fast-paced, but in this book, with all this chemistry between the characters, the bang was pretty quiet. I expected something more.

To be fair, the only spicy scene I enjoyed was the one in his office, when he made her come with his fingers.

The other thing that I had a problem with was the plot twist or the part in which the hero and the heroine broke up. I was disappointed, mainly because the reason was just dumb and meaningless. We have Charlie, who swore to protect Tate from himself, being mad at him for not asking her on a date or going out with her. Throughout the whole book, I thought it would be another reason for the splitting, but something so small and irrelevant, in a way, just ruined the mood. And I feel she overreacted.

And then we have the one thing mentioned through the whole book - the age gap of 12 years, which was never really addressed That would've been a better reason for a split up.

In the end, I recommend this book with my whole heart, because it opens the eyes and tells a good and a sad story.

This is the second book I read from Parker S. Huntington, and for the second time, I'm left stunned, breathless, speechless. This is a literate masterpiece.

"Devious lies" is a story about fate, and betrayal, lies and loyalty, love and hate. Each page is a new emotion, each chapter is a new adventure. It's an age-gap romance between Emery (the rich princess) and Nash (the black sheep). And even if I try to summarize it, it will be a failure to reproduce how amazing this book is.

I know a lot of people hate on the romance genre - they find it too shallow, too empty. They think romance, love is something that is unreachable, and these people are fools. This book is a masterpiece in every literary sense. The writing is phenomenal; the story is complex, and the character are absolutely wonderful.

I have no words.

I don't want to spoil too much with descriptions and blurs, but I want you to know that this book is worth it, and so much more. And if you know what's best, you need to go and read it. Now!

Amaaaazzzzzinggggg!!!!!!!!! If I could, I would've given it more than the 5 stars that I did. If you are thinking of skipping this book seeing the length, please don't, it's so worth it and I promise you that at the end of the day you'll be glad for its length.
In the beginning, I thought of dnf-ing it because it felt really slow. But I continued because somehow I got the feel that the build was necessary. And boy, was it. This book has everything that a reader could want for. Amazing vocabulary that knew just how to convey the emotions in words, amazing plot with completely unexpected twists, the absolute right feels, a strong-willed h that doesn't once break (even though she had mighty reason to, in my opinion), a sexy hero who'll make you hate him something fierce in the beginning -but once the misunderstandings start clearing up, you'll end up loving him. It's not often that I come across an author who can make me FEEL the torment of the characters so entirely. I laughed often and hard, I cried something fierce, felt the conflict, the desperation, the will. The author not once fell into the frustrating trap of "telling and not showing", in fact, this book was all showing. This book is one of my absolute favorites.
P.S. this book is astoundingly true to its title-you actually feel the devious lies and their far-reaching consequences, and you really really hate the misunderstandings, the miscommunications.

4.5 stars

This book gave the answers I was needing from The first story. Parts of the first story were included in this book in order to have the fluidity need to make sense

There was a continual connection that no matter the obstacles that Ren and Dam had to overcome. It was not only hot but intense. There were so many fires burning. The chess game at the was epic.

I loved this series and highly recommend it to be read in order.

This book was almost sheer perfection.

I live for reading. All books are magic, some more magical than others, but this book? Yeah, this book, is one of those special books that is what draws me to the wonderment of living in a fictional world. I have loved everything that this author has written. In fact, Devious Lies is one of my all-time favorite books of the thousands of books that I have read. Yet, this book? this book ranked even higher.

I thought I had a good idea of what this book was going to be about just based on the blurb. In a way, the blurb was spot on. However, it doesn't even begin to cover what this book was about. I won't lie, I hurt reading about the connection that Kellan and Charlotte had, moreover, the reasons why they had it. It is not something that is easily comprehended. more often than naught, I struggle with it in fiction because it is deeply personal to me. Trying to navigate it into something that needs to be talked about without making it shameful is hard. Nor, should it ever be glorified or romanticized. And somehow, the author was able to depict that in this book. Like it or not, it is a part of our society, whether we agree with it or not. The fact that this author was able to humanize this in a way that I felt in a plethora of ways says something. I felt the emotions. I came to understand what was going on in their minds. When Charlie and Tate started talking about Kellan, my heart hurt all over again. At times, I was almost crippled with a deep pain in my chest at watching these two characters navigate so many emotions. At one time or another, I watched the anger, the betrayal, the sadness, the agonizing grief, the acceptance, and even the happiness or acceptance of something that was out of their control. I am not going to lie, I felt those same emotions at Kellan and he was fictional.

The author broke this book up into stages. I needed those stages as a way to get my emotions sorted out. Not only, in regards to the main story and connection between Tate and Charlie, but also to make sense of Kellan, Terry (Kellan and Tate's father), and also Charlie's relationship with her sister. This is a big book. According to Goodreads, this book says it is only 470 pages but Amazon says it is over 700 pages. I am going with Amazon on this one because there was A LOT of story to unpack here and it needed all of those pages. Even being long, the book never felt like it was dragging on in. In fact, it could have gone on for more, and I would have been happy. I liked what was discovered at the end of the book (it sure made me question if it wasn't a significant factor in what impacted Kellan) but I do wish that it had given more insight into what the fallout of that particular bombshell had after it came out. Yet, even with wondering the impact, I still have to say that watching Tate and Charlie navigate this maelstrom was beautiful.

I loved how the author incorporated Darling Venom into this love story and the significance of the title as a book but also in regards to the characters themselves. I loved reading the snippets of the story as it unveiled insight into all the characters. It made it more personable for me. This book is one of the best of 2021. I needed a reminder that beauty comes from ugliness. I think we all do.

couldn't finish

Nice love story

3.5 stars. The main characters were likeable. At nearly 700 pages, it is on the long side. In spite of this, I never considered abandoning it. There was also something that kept the story moving.

I LOVED the numerous references to obscure words! Most of the words are defined within the story.

I read this on Kindle for iPad. This made it super easy to Google for more info on certain words. If you are reading a physical book, it might be handy to have an unabridged dictionary handy.

Cons:

No glossary. A glossary would have been a huge bonus especially for people not reading the ebook version.

It didn’t make me cry or set me on fire.

Amaaaazzzzzinggggg!!!!!!!!! If I could, I would've given it more than the 5 stars that I did. If you are thinking of skipping this book seeing the length, please don't, it's so worth it and I promise you that at the end of the day you'll be glad for its length.
In the beginning, I thought of dnf-ing it because it felt really slow. But I continued because somehow I got the feel that the build was necessary. And boy, was it. This book has everything that a reader could want for. Amazing vocabulary that knew just how to convey the emotions in words, amazing plot with completely unexpected twists, the absolute right feels, a strong-willed h that doesn't once break (even though she had mighty reason to, in my opinion), a sexy hero who'll make you hate him something fierce in the beginning -but once the misunderstandings start clearing up, you'll end up loving him. It's not often that I come across an author who can make me FEEL the torment of the characters so entirely. I laughed often and hard, I cried something fierce, felt the conflict, the desperation, the will. The author not once fell into the frustrating trap of "telling and not showing", in fact, this book was all showing. This book is one of my absolute favorites.
P.S. this book is astoundingly true to its title-you actually feel the devious lies and their far-reaching consequences, and you really really hate the misunderstandings, the miscommunications.

1.5 stars. This book could’ve been cut in half. So many unnecessary scenes that had no relevance to the story line but I did enjoy the enemy to lovers trope.

honestly we love a mafioso turned hermit who lives in a beautiful brownstone

Ranieri Andretti by Parker S. Huntington
Book starts out with other listings of the authors works. Authors note and foreword.
Store starts out with Carina and in high school and she has a best friend, til she doesn't any longer because of something that happens at her father's store.
Ranieri has always been there for her until his brother does something that ends it for him and Carina. It's a family feud where he can't tell her why they had to split up til much later in the book.
I don't like that the book goes to the present, then back 20 years then to the present then back 10 years. Wish I had read it in the order it happened.
Liked the twists and turns and thought they'd be more mafia things occurring.

4.4 stars

Let me preface this review with the fact that this might be the prettiest formatting that I have ever seen done in a book. The designs and quotes as well as colors before each chapter was stunning. It made me even more vested in the story.

I enjoyed this prequel until I didn't. It was great for the first 75%and then it felt rushed and the actions of the characters didn't make sense. How did D and Ren go from just a connection in the library to jumping straight to having sex? How did D finally get to taking over as the main man and conquering his father? So many questions. I'm hoping for the answers in D's book but I'm worried since it was said that it is a standalone and this one wasn't necessarily needed to be read first.

Still I recommend this author and this entire series.

4.5 stars

This book gave the answers I was needing from The first story. Parts of the first story were included in this book in order to have the fluidity need to make sense

There was a continual connection that no matter the obstacles that Ren and Dam had to overcome. It was not only hot but intense. There were so many fires burning. The chess game at the was epic.

I loved this series and highly recommend it to be read in order.

Sweet Holy Titfire.

Just take my money. If I could give this more than five stars I would. I love this author. Truly one of the best when it comes to Mafia books and in fact has one of my all-time favorite Book Boyfriends (Bastian) so when I heard she was creating a book that wasn't Mafia, I will admit, I was a little sad. Well, let me just say that I was wrong. Utterly and unequivocally wrong because this book just landed itself as one of the best books that I have read this year.

I am not even sure where to start with this review because it had everything that I could have wanted in a book and then some. The tension and lies were insane. The inner monologues or commentary that the characters had with themselves or where they "filtered" their thoughts to what someone was saying was a highlight of the book. I laughed out loud several times. The vocabulary took me back to college days when the thesaurus was my best friend while doing a literary analysis. I am truly gobsmacked at how effortlessly the author used these words and wove them into not only the story but also into such a major facet of the characters themselves. Even though this story is based upon lies it is so much more than that. I loved that the author showed that lies were wrong but also left it open-ended because what if without those lies the very things that someone knows or how they have lived their life changed? Is it fate? Is it destiny?

The characters were complex and dynamic. Both Nash and Emery had so many dimensions to them. From outward appearances, they both seemed unflappable. Yet, they both were carrying some serious guilt and baggage. I loved both of these characters something fierce. I loved Emery for her resilience and gypsy soul. She was not meant to be tamed. She was meant to be relished and admired. Her feistiness and ability to give everything; whether it was love, sarcasm, and the love of words and meanings because of the connection made my soul cry out with joy. After reading this book, I need to change her to my spirit animal because she is everything. Nash, sweet holy Joseph, Mary, Gabriel, and Baby Jesus. This man could make an atheist into a believer. He was ruthless and yet he wasn't. He is the whole package, dominant juxtaposed with soft, calculating, and also introspective. He is the ultimate contradiction.

Add these two together and it was everything. There was a push and pull between the characters that created this magic in every interaction. It built the anticipation not only by their bantering but in all the ways that bound them together. It was as if there were invisible cords tying them together. The universe was definitely pulling these strings because if ever there was a couple that spelled out dual-flame or kismet then it most assuredly was these two. This wasn't even as much about the steam, this was about THEM. The build-up to them being together was everything.

This depth in this story, and the way that the author managed to make me ponder so many of the messages in the book were truly sublime. She made me posit not only words but also my stance on Sisyphus (my former Philosophy professor would be so happy now) which considering I have a degree in both that says something but I digress. The bottom line, I am rambling like a shiny squirrel because this book is truly mellifluous. The author reminded me why I love reading. She created a book with a storyline filled with characters that felt real and let me live in my imagination where real-life ceased to exist and at the end left me feeling both happy to have known them but also bereft because they had to come to an end. That my friends, is pure magic and why books are powerful. One of the best of 2019 and one of the best ever.

After reading the reviews who suggested that I read this book before I read Damian De Luca I made the mistake of taking that suggestion and reading it, and was bored which surprised me because I love Mafia romance books but yeah this book did not live up to its hype and then I made the mistake of actually reading Damiano De Luca and was utterly confused on why it had gotten so many good reviews.

I was totally bummed after I read this, I know that I am so in the minority but I am ok with that. So I first read the prequel Renata so that I knew what to expect and I wasn't excited about that I was bored to be completely honest and I do try to be in my reviews, and I dislike giving bad reviews but it is what it is. Anyhoo so I read the prequel which after reading the reviews many said I should to familiarize myself with but then as I was reading this book the flashbacks were unnecessary if reading it. And they drove me up the wall, plus I am sorry but I found this book boring and I tried to get into but I did read it til the end and this well the prequel was the first I have read from this author and I do not forsee me reading another of her books..If you really want some good mafia books then read Cora Reilly's she is my all time favorite with mafia books.. I was so disappointed after reading so many good reviews and so excited and longing to read it..huh I want my time back I have so many others I could have and should have read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Why had I never heard of this series before?!?

To say that I liked this story would be a lie. No, I didn't like it. I loved it. From the first chapter I was hooked. The author has an amazing writing style. Her characters, settings, storyline, dialogue, and chemistry were on point. I found myself smiling at times while being empathetic to them at the same time. There is mystery, and suspense but also a foundation being established that left me invested in knowing more.

I'm on to read the next in this series and if it is as good as this one then I have a new author to follow. I'm still gobsmacked that this was a debut book according to her forward.

4.4 stars

This book was really good just not as good as the first book. I would still highly recommend it because the characters were still fantastic as was the storyline. It was just missing something that the first one had. I did enjoy the similarities in Nic and Minka. It's important to not judge a book by its cover especially in regards to these main characters.

4 stars

This book was good. I generally struggled with so many going back in time moments but they were needed in this story. I do wish this wasn't a novella because there were so many areas this could have been expanded on. It a!so would have allowed me to get more invested in the story.

That being said, I still liked it, just not as much as the previous books.