Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - My Dark Romeo

My Dark Romeo is the first standalone in the Dark Prince Road series. Romeo Costa attends a party in Chapel Falls, Georgia to find a wife. He’s set his sights on Dallas Townsend, the fiancée of his industry rival Madison Licht. He then proceeds to be caught with Dallas in a compromising position, and insists she break her engagement to Madison and marry him instead. Her father reluctantly agrees. Dallas Townsend and her friends and sister are attending this debutante ball because it’s a tradition in Chapel Falls. She’s more interested in the food however. When she learns there’s British shortbread at a particular table she goes over to it where she ends up meeting Romeo and his two friends, Zach & Oliver. She’s less than pleased that Romeo insists on them getting married, but doesn’t have much choice after her father agrees. Romeo takes her home to get her things and then to Potomac where he lives. They eventually get married. He has another reason to marry Dallas than just hitting back at his industry rival, his father, Romeo Costa Sr., has made a condition of him being named CEO that he get married. Romeo has plans beyond that for Costa Industries, that we slowly learn about. On Dallas’s part her biggest want in life is to be a mother, but Romeo has no intention of giving in to her on that score.

This is one of my least liked billonaire romances that I’ve read. I found the characters to actually be TOO aggressively mean to each other for a longer period than I liked. Romeo is the typical cold calculating male protagonist, and Dallas tries to give as good as she gets, which makes her a eye rolling inducing character for me. Her single-mindedness about getting pregnant took the fun, sexiness and romance out of the story. She was using Romeo as a sperm bank, not a potential life partner, for much of the book. Romeo was also too aloof, for too long in the novel. They didn’t spend nearly enough time with each other. It’s really not until after the 60% mark you get glimpses of a potential romance, and after the 80% mark that they start opening up to each other.

Once they start opening up to each other you learn about each other’s traumas, which were both pretty horrific. They suddenly realize they love each other after some things happen with the secondary plot, however it’s hard to believe. It’s hard to believe in their love, because in my opinion it happens way too late in the story.

The biggest thing I liked in this book was all the food mentions and ironically Romeo’s friendship with Zach and Oliver.

I usually love enemies to lovers romances & billonaire romances but this was unfortunately a big fail for me. I have a book from Parker on my TBR that I’m excited to get to, but I won’t be continuing the Dark Prince Road series.

*I might also be someone who prefers fantasy ‘Beauty and the Beast’ retellings than contemporary ones because ‘Stolen Heir’ a book in the Brutal Birthright series by Sophie Lark is my least liked book in that series.*

Content Warnings

More...