Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers
Series: The Web of Silence Duet #1
Publication date: October 29th, 2023
Pages: 267
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Synopsis:
OWNING HER IS ALL HE EVER WANTED
She betrayed him, and now he wants revenge against the foster sister who became his forbidden obsession the second he laid eyes on her. After she sends him to prison for years, he's free and ready to haunt her.
Everything about Olivia belongs to Malachi Vize.
Her mind
Her body
Her soul
Her fear
Her pain
On Halloween night, he can no longer lurk in the shadows.
All he has left to own is her heart, even if he needs to take it.
WITH BONUS CONTENT
This story comes with extremely triggering content. Please read the "Content Warning" page.



Available at:

Review:
I had heard about this book for a good long while but I put off reading it. The reason for that is that I was afraid I was going to like it so much that I would fall into a book hangover of epic proportions. I can safely say that didn't happen so putting off reading the book was a wasted effort. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the book. In fact, I really enjoyed it. The beginning of the book was filled with building taboo heat that made me wonder if I had the right book. I had heard the book was dark to the point of people finding it uncomfortable to read. The first part of the book made me severely confused until the midway mark where I finally had a "aaaand there it is" epiphany. It was certainly dark once it kicked off but not at all to the point of no return like some of the splatterpunk books I have read.
Getting into the characters, I was a little on the fence about Olivia. She seemed so incredibly fickle. She warred with her emotions and ended up stringing people along and playing with people's emotions because she couldn't decide what she wanted for herself. She had an odd infatuation with Malachi from the moment he joined their family and it only warped more and more as the years went by. Even though they were not biological siblings, she struggled with her attraction to her foster brother. I didn't really understand the war she waged against their connection and it got very annoying after a while. Malachi, however, is absolutely adorable at first. But if you piss the man off, watch out. But I'm into it. Protective psychopath? Sounds good to me. Maybe I've read too many dark romance books.
I have read a few other books by Leigh Rivers and they were equally as good. I like the way the author is not afraid to dance along the line of dark romance swaying back and forth like on a rope bridge. She is not afraid to get truly dark but doesn't go too far over it to the point where someone may actually need to set the book aside while reading it. At least not anyone with my experience with the extremes of the genre.
I think the book was tied up pretty nicely with a black bow but it seems there may be more to the story that I look forward to delving back into. If I had more of a connection with Olivia I would have given the book a five-star rating for sure.
I think the book was tied up pretty nicely with a black bow but it seems there may be more to the story that I look forward to delving back into. If I had more of a connection with Olivia I would have given the book a five-star rating for sure.
