Review: Burn by Bex Dawn

Burn by Bex Dawn

Series: Los Diablos Syndicate #1

Publication date: April 22nd, 2022

Pages: 414

Spice: 🌶️

Synopsis:

Crash is the Prequel to Burn and must be read first!

Burn is the first full-length book of the 'Los Diablos Syndicate Series.'

This is a reverse harem, mafia/gang, mystery romance with plot twists/turns, steamy and smutty scenes, hot alpha-possessive-assholes, sweet love, and grungy content. Our FMC goes through it but she definitely has her come back. Her badassery comes through and she becomes a warrior with the support of her men behind her. This will be a four full-length book series with a Prequel Novella that starts the journey off!

This series is a continual series with cliffhangers at the end of each book. The series WILL NOT make sense if not read in order to completion. In the end, we will get a HEA!

Thank you & Enjoy! (Also, check TW's! You have been advised!)

Ella

Ever since that day on the bridge two years ago, I've done everything in my power to change my life for the better. I have fought tooth and nail to climb out of the dark hole of depression that I had been living in. Finally, I found myself in a good place, until one day, I made a mistake that had repercussions I never saw coming.

I said yes.

Now, I'm once again in a difficult situation that I don't know how to escape. I'm alone, scared, and broken. I'm doing everything I can to hold onto the good pieces of my life, small as they may be. But what am I supposed to do when no matter how hard I fight, outside forces keep knocking me back down? How much worse can things get? And how in the world will I save myself this time when it's not me I'm fighting against?
My ex is doing everything he can to destroy me and I have no idea how to escape the jerk. Until one day, I meet him, Gage Luna. He's gorgeous, powerful, domineering and he makes me feel things i've never felt before. He introduces me to a world I never knew existed. It's full of murder, mayhem, and his three hot as hell brothers.

Now torn between the demons of my past and the future that is begging for me to take it, I'm realizing there is no turning back from what's in front of me.

I want it, and I'm damn well going to take it.

Gage

She's unlike anyone I've ever met before. She's a stunning little hellion and she's got me in a chokehold.

From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she had the potential to bring me to my knees, and it seems my brother feels the same way.

We've allowed ourselves to get close to her and it's never something either of us thought we would do. We don't have relationships and women don't fit in with our insane lives. But I find that I'm drawn to her and no matter how much I tell myself that it's not a good idea, I can't seem to let her go. Neither can Maddox.

Ella has secrets and it's clear as day that she's fighting a downhill battle. She has demons in her life that she's doing her best to hide, but when they come out and seek to destroy her, she can't keep her secret any longer.

She thinks she's alone in all of this. She thinks there is no one more powerful than her enemies.

The problem is, she has no idea who I really am. Who we are.

Maddox, my brother, and our two best friends, Stone and Nyxon and myself, are the biggest monsters out there. And now that we've got Ella in our lives, no one will touch her but us.

We will burn the world for her.

This book has content unsuitable for those under 18 and has material that some readers may find uncomfortable.

Available at:

Review:

Ella's life has been anything but smooth sailing. She came from a broken foster home of abuse and entered into an abusive relationship with the governor's son. She is a walking victim and she is sick of it. It is time that Ella took back her life like she was always meant to. She decides to end things with her on again, off again boyfriend and start to heal. Along the way she runs into Gage Luna. A handsome, domineering adoptive grandson of one of her favorite patients at the hospital she volunteers at. Before she knows it she is fast friends with Gage and is fighting off the mounting attraction. But her ex will not be so easily discarded. He attacks Ella which she narrowly escapes. After that she is even more determined to be able to take care of herself. So she starts a self defense class at Gage's gym where she runs into his younger brother, Maddox. The sparks fly with Maddox as much as they did with Gage and it leaves Ella reeling. But when her ex pops up again, will Ella be able to make it out alive?

I do love that the Luna brothers are polar opposites. Gage is stoic and a growly primal dominant whereas Maddox is a carefree, easy-going type. They provide different types of support for the many situations that Ella finds herself in. I always have a soft spot for a quiet, broody dominant male though so Gage has my heart but Maddox is not sap either. He is lighthearted and keeps things from being too serious for Ella when she needs to just kinda decompress.

Some of the downfalls of the story and why I did feel like I slogged through it a bit was because the author went so heavy on the backstory for every single moment in time that it prolonged experiences. For instance, they were going for dinner at a taco truck and it took several pages of back story before they even reached their destination. It is just too much. Too much internal monologue, too much description of every single iota of background. It got tedious and it happened at least a dozen times throughout the book. Sometimes it would have been nice for there just be some conversation and not just a bunch of filler. 

However, the story does have a good foundation and it does make me wonder about some of the connections between Ella and the guys that have yet to be discovered as well as the reason for her abuse. It feels like we will be able to unlock some of Ella's memories and of the past she has blocked out over the course of the series and I, for one, can't wait to see what happens.