Book Review: Vengeance by Isabella Starling

KA
Jul 14, 2017
3 min read

Title: Vengeance

Author: Isabella Starling

Genre: Dark Billionaire Romance

First came wrath,

Ruining everything in its path.

She lost it all and wound up alone,

And his life turned his heart into stone.

Daddy taught his girl so well,

And now she’ll have her very own cell.

Her new owner thinks he has a pretty pet,

But his little toy is the real threat.

She’ll make him fall in love so fast

He’ll reveal every detail about his sordid past.

She’ll use it all to make him bleed,

But can a girl like her really succeed?

Be careful when you play these games,

Babygirl, your life might just go up in flames…

Rating: 5 Stars

With a title like Vengeance, you know without reading the synopsis what the book is going to be about right? Or do you? This book was everything I thought it would be, and nothing like I thought too. Isabella Starling is the Queen of raw, gritty dark romance and I love her for it. She takes a simple idea and turns it into something so much bigger than the reader ever thought. I love how she keeps me on my toes as a reader, not knowing what is going to happen next.

For example, take the anti-hero, Carter, I loved that man! His introduction leaves a lot to be desired, you meet him and well, really, he’s not exactly showing his beautiful soul. I mean, come on, he is buying a person for crying out loud! BUT, as the story progresses I dare you not to fall for this man. He is charming and you can’t help but want to root for him.

Evangeline has it all planned, she wants revenge on the person she blames for her family crumbling apart, that person is Carter, she’ll happily be bought by him, the best way to bring something/ someone down is from the inside, right? What she didn’t expect was how she’d develop feelings for him. How could she? He’s a monster, isn’t he?

The relationship growth between Carter and Evangeline is sweet to watch unfold. Evangeline's struggle with her emotions; the constant fight she had between how she was feeling as opposed to how she felt she should feel, felt very raw and real. The emotion and storyline were really well done and the sex scenes are hot as…well, you know.

I’m usually pretty good at spotting twists and predicting what is going to happen, but I sat there at some points and just shuck my head at what was happening and how I didn’t see it coming. The supporting cast, as I like to call them, were a great group of characters and their stories really enhanced the book. I don’t want to say much more about them as it will dampen your enjoyment of the story.

*Warning: This is a dark romance, as such, it has some moments that some people may find difficult. If you have things that you know are triggers for you, and would like my opinion if the book contains those triggers, please feel free to reach out to me.

*This is the first book in the Empire Sins series but reads as a complete book. I cannot wait for Malice to hit my kindle.

Isabella Starling started out as a voracious reader of dark romance, and has since evolved her love of reading into writing dark, twisted romantic tales. When not spending time with her boyfriend, two cats & a Labrador pup, she's chatting away to author friends and plotting her next release.