Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Burned Dreams

Tropes: bodyguard, enemies to lovers, who did this to you
FMC: Ravenna - mafia wife, married off to cover a debt, family first
MMC: Alessandro (Az) - arsonist, used to work with Sergei, looking for revenge
Intimacy: On page; hand necklace; vaguely hate sex

Summary
Alessandro has one goal in life: avenge the death of his wife but making her killer face the same pain. After years of searching for answers, Alessandro has finally tracked down the man responsible for the hit and run that killed his young wife. The best part? He doesn't even know who Alessandro is, so he assigns him to be his wife's personal bodyguard. Alessandro couldn't be happier, he's so close to justice, a wife for a wife. Except Ravenna isn't at all who he expected. There doesn't seem to be a deep sense of love between the couple, her strict schedule and rules from her husband border on abusive, and while she spends most of her time at the spa or shopping, something seems off about those outings. Can Alessandro move passed his desire for revenge?

Thoughts
Ravenna and Alessandro are an interesting pair. When they meet, their initial assumptions about each other immediately frame them as adversaries. Ravenna is a spoiled wife to a Don and Alessandro is an emotionless bodyguard who seems to hate the very ground she stands on. Watching as Az starts unveiling the complex mystery that is Ravenna and the circumstances that led to her marriage is very satisfying to watch. There's a larger sense of justice there for any woman who has ever been overlooked because of their supposedly superficial hobbies and interests. Their romance isn't one that set my hear aflutter with swoony declarations, but the grittiness of their love makes it all seem more grounded and real. If you liked the relationship between Antony and Kate in the second season of Bridgerton, you will like this couple.

A few of my favorite quotes

There are beautiful women. And then . . . there’s her.
Earlier tonight, when I watched Ravenna walk next to her husband, his arm around her waist, I nearly exploded in anger. The urge to remove the motherfucker’s hand off her was barely containable. I wanted to grab her and shout, “She’s mine!” for everyone to hear.
I shiver at the timbre of his voice. “I was wondering if it would feel like in my dream?” “What?” “You,” I whisper.
“If your husband still has his hand when he comes home,” he says in a deep, controlled voice, and a shudder ripples down my spine, “I’ll correct it immediately.”
“I dream about you even when I’m awake, Ravi.”
I would go with him to the ends of the earth.

Content Warnings

smithrachaelynn's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

What I liked:

Ravenna’s character was so fascinating and I really fell in love with her story.
Alessandro’s protectiveness of her, like taking things off of her plate and off of her mind. Protecting her by thinking of things before they even came up.
Kai’s story, this was soooo intriguing to me. I really got attached to him as a character and by the time the epilogue came around, I was desperate for his book.

What I didn’t like:

Alessandro’s deep denial of his feelings, I could understand with the revenge and his plans that he would resist falling for her. But pulling away and being cruel after awhile felt extremely silly. I expected some push and pull but it really got old.
No one thinking to question Ravenna’s situation. This fact is pretty central to the story so it came up a lot so it started to bother me. Her brother and others close to the situation not knowing anything was wrong at all was seemed so insane to me after a while. Because her husband didn’t even seem well liked so why was everyone giving him the benefit of the doubt, let alone that he was enamored with his wife?

Content Warnings

hellxriver's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I was very hyped for this book but I missed something from this. I'm not even sure what. He also seems to still be in love with his dead wife and that really isn't something I like to read about.

Content Warnings

andeng's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

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