A review by p0laris
Blood of the Saints by Denver Rose

1.0

Nahhhh this book was not what it was trying to be. I really wanted a good corrupting the FMC storyline but this was just sad.

First of all, this girl had been trained to go undercover but is not smooth at all. She was clocked as an agent the first time she stepped foot into their club, and those watching her knew her target immediately. And speaking of that--how is it that we're expected to believe the FBI can't accurately fake the fake IDs they give their undercover operatives? That was the entire basis for them looking further into this woman and it was contrived.

Also why do they care about this random woman? Sure they're infatuated with her looks, but they're also hellbent on catching the guy who just landed in their laps for a years-long revenge plan, but supposedly they put that on pause to look into and later kidnap a random woman because her ID is fake. They have no idea what she wants except that she's interested in their target (something they interfered with and they've been pursuing her since, not the other way around), and instead of observing her for more information they decide to kidnap a federal agent to torture her because she might be onto them??? When did she give any indication she was after them? They weren't even on her radar until they kept putting themselves in front of her.

 Ok and our introduction to these guys was their torture and killing of a guy because he was a rapist, and we also find out that they're doing all of their killing because they're on a warpath to find the man to beat and raped and then murdered the sister of one of the MMCs.

And that same brother of the murdered girl, after kidnapping the FMC, but before he even knows that she's turned on by the torture, thinks to himself,

"It might be nice to fuck her right before we kill her, though. I could come deep inside her sweet pussy as I slit her throat."

...he then continues to toe this line between wanting to fck her and then kill her (which is rape btw) or just torture her, including repeating this sentiment a few times. He's also the MMC responsible for the dub-con warning because while the reader sees that the FMC is actually into it when he forces himself on her, HE doesn't know that, and he ends it with, “Good girl. Don’t ever tell me no again.”

I'm not opposed to finding dub-con in a book, and that isn't my issue. My issue is that I get that these guys are supposed to be morally grey characters, but you cannot have them out here ending lives for actions they themselves consider performing and still expect me to fall for the character eventually.

“We are not like them. They hurt and kill innocent people with no repercussions. We may get away with our crimes, but they aren’t even close to being innocent, they’re the scum of the earth. They deserve what we do to them.”

Allllll of this when they spent the majority of the book brutalizing, nearly drowning, shooting, and utterly destroying an innocent woman who gave them no indication she was after them, instead of focusing on their real target who was RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM, because for some reason they were infatuated with her.

And after they've falling in love with her instantly (literally at first sight for one of the MMCs), she's immediately forgiving all of the ways they tortured her and tried to kill her because they've unlocked her inner bad girl or something. Please. There wasn't near enough character development for everything this book tried to be.