Review: Pageant by Lilith Vincent

Pageant by Lilith Vincent

Series: Pageant #1

Publication date: May 11th, 2022

Pages: 311

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

One woman. Three mafia men. A twisted marriage game...

The dangerous life I escaped has seized hold of me again. Three men have snatched my freedom and they're playing a twisted game of power, hearts, and blood.

My captors glitter like diamonds in the dark, each one more handsome and ruthless than the last.

Konstantin, the scarred and heartless ringleader, and mastermind of my fate.

Elyah, the demon from my past who once craved me and now covets my demise.

Kirill, a bloodthirsty maniac with depraved needs who thrives on misery and mayhem.

Sixteen women are forced to compete in their twisted pageant, and one by one we're eliminated until there's only one jewel left.

My captors' desire burns as hard as their cruelty, but the true torment only begins when the pageant ends.

Author's note: Pageant (Pageant, 1) is the first book in a mafia romance duet and ends on a cliffhanger. The heroes only have hearts and eyes for the heroine, and she never has to choose. This book contains captive themes, violence, and ruthlessly possessive men. The story is dark and potentially triggering, so please read responsibly.

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Review:

Lilia thought that she finally was living her own life. She has escaped a loveless marriage and the mafia ties her father and recently passed husband shared. She was a model and exploring the world of independence for herself without a man dictating her obedience at every turn. But then she was captured by three dangerous men from the world she thought she had been free of. And they have a game they want to play. They have gathered sixteen women who will compete in various levels of the competition in the hopes of winning and gaining the hand in marriage of the men's leader, Konstantin. But Lilia knows this world too well and she knows obedience only gets you so far. She will position herself as the person to draw the heat away from the others since one of the men has already signed her death warrant. Lilia's man from the past will be the one to bring about her end but not before she is humiliated and destroyed. Somewhere along the way Lilia starts to feel a modicum of attraction for the men but is it enough to derail her plans to free herself and the women of the pageant? Or will the love that she thought she had once been so close to achieving be her downfall?

I loved the fire that Lilia had. Even when you thought she was falling into her feelings for the men she was calculated in the things she did. She never let her fear show and wasn't afraid to die if the cost of her death meant the other women survived. She had grown up around evil men so what were three more? She was by far one of my favorite baddie female characters. Even when she was letting herself lust after the men she never let her morals sway away from what was right and what was wrong.

Out of the men I don't know if I truly like any of them. I think Elyah is the gentlest even when he hated Lilia on sight. But Kirill never hid who he was or played mind games. He was unapologetically unhinged and you had to just accept it. At least there was no deception there like with the other two who were quick to play mind games. 

I feel the story was captivating and it had an interesting unique-ness to it. I hadn't read anything even remotely similar in all my time as a reader but I would have thought after kidnapping the women for the purpose of finding a bride that the trials they went through would have been a little more difficult. It did just feel like a very aggressive interview with a bunch of sobbing drama queens. But it helped the main character to stand out which was the main purpose. I enjoyed the read. It was something new which is always a plus.