ŷ������

** spoiler alert ** I'm sure this will be great for someone else, it's just not my thing and that's totally fine.

It was a little chaotic and kind of all over the place. There are just so many people to keep track of, and honestly, it took me a bit to figure out who's who.

Then, a lot of the choices and actions by the characters (not just the MCs) were pretty frustrating and just didn't make sense to me.

Lastly, this is definitely not the dual virgin I had in mind. I was looking forward to reading this book, and given my familiarity with this author, I know she has dual V in her stories. But this was not it. 🙅‍♀��

Matteo (25) was supposed to be obsessed with Arianna (25) since they were eight. Yet, at the 41% mark he dropped this freaking line:

“I’ve f*cked zero women...I would never hurt you by lying to you. I’m not saying I’m a saint and never experimented, but I’m saying I saved myself for you.��

This experimenting wasn't clearly explained, and it really left a bad taste. What do you mean you experimented but saved yourself for her??? 🥴 Before that annoying line, I was genuinely swooning over his possessiveness with Ari. I mean, who wouldn't want a man who's been so in love with you since childhood? But after that remark, his possessiveness made me want to throw my Kindle against the nearest wall. 😤

His audacity and hypocrisy in getting territorial over Ari was so annoying it's not even funny. After all the years they've known each other, he made every possible threat to all the guys who showed interest in her, and yet apparently he still found time to "experiment." Like, make it make sense. 🤦‍♀️��

“Baby, I’ve been chasing away every male for almost two decades. Do you really think I’d let any woman touch me now that you’re mine?��

I really wish this was explained clearly because leaving it open to interpretation is not going to work for me. I tend to jump to the worst conclusions (probably a me issue), so in my mind, this suggests he likely engaged in other activities with other girls, except for the actual penetration, which seems to be the only thing he's reserving for her. 🤷‍♀��

But then he also said this:

“Yeah, but did you protect what’s mine? Did you refrain yourself from being with other women?�� He remained quiet, giving me my answer. “So typical of a man to be a hypocrite. How many women have you been with?�� He watched me with a burning gaze. “Zero.��

So, idk anymore. 🥴 It's possible he experimented on his own, but who really knows? I can't help but think his lines were contradictory, but maybe it's just me and my need for a straightforward explanation. Anyway, do what you what with that info.


Book info:
- College romance
- Childhood friends to lovers
- Sister's fiance
- Forced marriage
- Stalking
- Gun pointing
- Kidnapping (past and present)
- Organ trafficking
- Substance abuse
- Violence, gore, death
- Dual V (but he experimented with OW) 🤮😡
- No cheating, OM/OW
- With separation (weeks)
- HEA (18 mos later, married w/ newborn son)


Notes:
- OW. But not really. Ari's sister, Hannah, has always claimed she wanted to marry Matteo since they were kids, but he never really felt the same way about her and has always been more interested in Ari instead. When Matteo said he wanted to marry one of Nico's daughters, everyone just figured he meant Hannah. So, their parents set up the engagement announcement and decided to do it at a party. And he was totally taken aback when they announced the wrong twin but he vowed to make things right. Also, Hannah was interested in someone else and only using Matteo to make the guy jealous.
- When Matteo eventually caught up with Ari's whereabouts, he cornered her in her hotel room to knock some sense into her and get her to go with him. But when she didn't agree, he got pissed and pulled a gun on her. It was blank, but still. This might be triggering for some readers. When she still wouldn't budge, he injected her with a tranquilizer and then kidnapped her. 🫣