⚠ This review contains a minor teaser!
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• BLURB •
I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with my wife. That wasn’t part of the plan.
From the moment I first laid eyes on Madelena De Léon, I felt a primal urge to protect her. Keep her safe. Her father had failed her. I would not.
She is innocent, and I have no business taking her to my bed. But Madelena and I are bonded. Our destinies inexplicably linked. As is our survival.
My past is dark. I’ve made many enemies and betrayal runs rampant in my world. But sometimes those closest to you are the most dangerous of all.
If I was a better man, I would let her go. I know it’s the only way to keep her safe.
But any goodness I had in me vanished long ago. I am a man condemned. I want what I want.
And what I want is her.
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• MY REVIEW •
“You and I belong to each other now. For better or for worse. Until death do us part. And I mean every word of that.”
What a page-turning ending to The Augustine Brothers duet! With the cliffhanger Forgive Me My Sins concluded with, I couldn’t get to this second half of the duet fast enough. Santos and Madelena had pulled me into their twisted and deadly world and I was completely enveloped in their stormy relationship.
As I mentioned in my review for the first book, I had my inklings about the plot twists and certain characters’ motives, and this second half of the story revealed all the mysteries. Although I found most of it fairly predictable quite early on, I still enjoyed the overall reading experience. Knight’s writing is consistently effortless to follow, with vivid world-building, and characters full of personality and intrigue. Her books are dark romance comfort reads for me and this story is another addition to the collection.
Santos and Madelena’s relationship evolved from distrust and uncertainty to one of love and loyalty. Whilst their characters could’ve been a lot more fleshed out in my opinion, there was still plenty of growth by each of them that kept me invested in seeing their story through. The complexity surrounding these MCs certainly made things interesting— I loved the additional murder mystery/psychological thriller elements thrown into this dark romantic suspense. It has the familiarity of Knight’s usual dark mafia romances but with a little something different included that set it apart from the rest.
Santos is a unique MMC having a less stereotypical alpha persona than I’m used to seeing in Knight’s books, and is more a protective and caring, albeit morally grey hero throughout. He opens up about is brutal history but acknowledges his wrongdoings and regretful actions. What you see is what you get with him.
For the most part Madelena has a fragility to her but when push comes to shove, you see determination and a fight in her that gave her character some much needed backbone. They’re quite a dynamic pair with contrasting personalities that worked well together.
The secondary characters’ roles in this book had taken things up a notch. New developments popped up but I can’t say all had been worthwhile plotlines. There were a couple I would’ve loved to have seen play out in more detail, but there were others that had me questioning why they were even included in the first place as they had eventually fizzled out by the end with no real importance to the main storyline.
I’m one of those readers that always seem to fall in love with a character who ends up either not getting the heroine in the end or… they end up dead. There’s a character in this story that fits one of these two categories, and I was honestly bummed to see it. I’m secretly hoping Knight will spin it around and give this character some kind of reprise. One can dream. 🤞😅
The fast-pacing is consistent with the first book and is continually progressing. Although it’s a dark romantic story, the spice level is relatively mild in this book and more on the sweeter side.
Dysfunctional families and dynamics, twisted mindsets and secrecy, a diverse cast of characters, and two MCs who discovered a surprising bond between them. The Augustine Brothers duet was an amazing read to escape into. It had a variety of elements that created an overall gripping fictional world with certain scenes I’m still replaying in my mind.
They went through some gruesome and exhausting experiences, and dealt with some realistic toxic relationships that many may find relatable. It was bittersweet and certain conclusions were somewhat debatable, but all in all, I was still left in contentment seeing how Santos and Madelena’s journey wrapped-up.
I think fans of Knight’s work will enjoy this one. It’s a dark romance story that isn’t as gritty as others out there and would be a great story for readers still new to the romance sub-genre (as long as you have no issues with dark themes and certain triggering content such as strong violence, sexual assault, and death).
If you like dark romances with an enemies-to-lovers, arranged marriage trope within a mafia-themed high societal setting, I recommend adding this duet to your TBR.
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Natasha Knight and Valentine PR for the opportunity to read an advance copy! ❤
🔔 Interested in reading The Augustine Brothers Duet? Grab your copy here:
- Book One: Forgive Me My Sins: Universal Link
- Book Two: Deliver Me From Evil: Amazon US | Amazon INTL | Apple Books | Nook | Kobo | Google Play
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The Augustine Brothers Duet
Book One: Forgive Me My Sins by Natasha Knight
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More books by Natasha Knight
Dark Mafia Romance
Benedetti Brothers Series: Benedetti Brothers by Natasha Knight
Ties That Bind Duet (Book 1): Mine by Natasha Knight & A. Zavarelli
Unholy Union Duet (Book 1): Unholy Union by Natasha Knight
To Have And To Hold Duet (Book 1): With This Ring by Natasha Knight
Devil’s Pawn Duet (Book 1): Devil’s Pawn by Natasha Knight
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Happy reading, guys! Catch you in my next one! Xo
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