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A review by cece_rants_raves_reviews
Truly by Carmel Rhodes
4.0
This is a romance. Only its the kind that features a dark, alpha, love-interest who pushes. breaks. and defiles her limits in such a ✨devious delicious way✨ that keeps you crawling back for more.
Meetour heroine. Noah's Little One: Truly featured on this *gorgeous* cover
Overall, I enjoyed Truly. At times her nativity made me cringe especially with setting of not even being in college *wait what* that made her seem even more immature
But its a coming of age road trip. So she recognizes that she has been kinda fake and innocent and works to embrace herself and her sassy nature
"I’d gone from the virginal princess, pretending to be a bad girl, to this… this person who takes pleasure in being used…being fucked hard and without mercy. This girl in the mirror with the emptiness between her legs and the war in her heart."
And then theres our bad boi, Noah.
As if being the brother of her ex wasn't taboo enough, he's has possessive psycho tendencies all centers around ruining Truly
And Holy FUCKING hellllll. I FELL FOR HIM SOOOO HARD. Usually it takes more of a build up but the moment Noah started giving orders I was
“I see you, Truly. If my brother was stupid enough to drop you, you better fucking believe I’m going to pick you up. I will own you, every inch that belonged to him will be mine.”
This being a bully love interest genre, it features some kinky rough sex with the dark romance element being pretty intense but kinda limited to just the beginning.
Totally respect people not enjoying DUB-CON and CON-CON especially with experiences of trauma and consent which is precisely why authors work to include trigger warnings and upfront genres, so be sure to check that shit out before reading.
Besides adoring Noah's dark prince personality ENTIRELY more than I should've, I was pleasantly surprised by the writing quality itself. It was extremely engaging that managed to bring fresh new elements to a *lets be honest here* often contrived roadtrip plot
“The summer after senior year is supposed to be the best summer of my life. It’s supposed to be full of adventure, and self-discovery, and making love under the stars. It’s supposed to be about losing myself and finding my way.
Only, it isn’t supposed to happen this way”
Though I must admit I was completely thrown for a loop, and frankly confused as fuck, when Chapter Two began with,
“The Bible talks a lot about faith.”
Honestly it just felt random and thrown in for the one chapter to note really make a reappearance. The unexpected religious element also worked against the dark romance vibes that were strived for, but did work to build Truly’s character and her past with her mother.
So I guess.. you do you, boo boo.
Overall. Well-fucking-done. I wanted a dark romance and while it wasn't *quite* not as dark as I might've wanted, Truly totally fit the bill. Hot, ridiculous, and pushes the limits, this will likely be a re-read of mine. I would've preferred to have the setting be for slightly older established college kids but thats just me so I just kept picturing them at that anyways so fuck it.
Definitely recommend checking out if this your kinda genre.
Completely side note but fuck Becca. She is honestly one of the worst friends. I understand her actions were the reason we even got the fun plot but objectively, it was a shitty friend move. just sayin'...
Meet
Overall, I enjoyed Truly. At times her nativity made me cringe especially with setting of not even being in college *wait what* that made her seem even more immature
But its a coming of age road trip. So she recognizes that she has been kinda fake and innocent and works to embrace herself and her sassy nature
"I’d gone from the virginal princess, pretending to be a bad girl, to this… this person who takes pleasure in being used…being fucked hard and without mercy. This girl in the mirror with the emptiness between her legs and the war in her heart."
And then theres our bad boi, Noah.
As if being the brother of her ex wasn't taboo enough, he's has possessive psycho tendencies all centers around ruining Truly
And Holy FUCKING hellllll. I FELL FOR HIM SOOOO HARD. Usually it takes more of a build up but the moment Noah started giving orders I was
“I see you, Truly. If my brother was stupid enough to drop you, you better fucking believe I’m going to pick you up. I will own you, every inch that belonged to him will be mine.”
This being a bully love interest genre, it features some kinky rough sex with the dark romance element being pretty intense but kinda limited to just the beginning.
Totally respect people not enjoying DUB-CON and CON-CON especially with experiences of trauma and consent which is precisely why authors work to include trigger warnings and upfront genres, so be sure to check that shit out before reading.
Besides adoring Noah's dark prince personality ENTIRELY more than I should've, I was pleasantly surprised by the writing quality itself. It was extremely engaging that managed to bring fresh new elements to a *lets be honest here* often contrived roadtrip plot
“The summer after senior year is supposed to be the best summer of my life. It’s supposed to be full of adventure, and self-discovery, and making love under the stars. It’s supposed to be about losing myself and finding my way.
Only, it isn’t supposed to happen this way”
Though I must admit I was completely thrown for a loop, and frankly confused as fuck, when Chapter Two began with,
“The Bible talks a lot about faith.”
Honestly it just felt random and thrown in for the one chapter to note really make a reappearance. The unexpected religious element also worked against the dark romance vibes that were strived for, but did work to build Truly’s character and her past with her mother.
So I guess.. you do you, boo boo.
Overall. Well-fucking-done. I wanted a dark romance and while it wasn't *quite* not as dark as I might've wanted, Truly totally fit the bill. Hot, ridiculous, and pushes the limits, this will likely be a re-read of mine. I would've preferred to have the setting be for slightly older established college kids but thats just me so I just kept picturing them at that anyways so fuck it.
Definitely recommend checking out if this your kinda genre.
Completely side note but fuck Becca. She is honestly one of the worst friends. I understand her actions were the reason we even got the fun plot but objectively, it was a shitty friend move. just sayin'...