Review: Make Me Wild by C.R. Jane & May Dawson

Make Me Wild by C.R. Jane & May Dawson

Series: Rich Demons of Darkwood #3

Publication date: May 27th, 2022

Pages: 299

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

Stellan's always been a pretty horrible ex-boyfriend, but he takes it to a new level when he kidnaps me.

I wake up in a trunk, determined to make him pay.

But Stellan needs answers about his sister's disappearance.

And I need them too.

So even if he does deserve to die for what he's done to me, we form a tentative alliance.

We go back to where it all began, Stellan's childhood home. The Demon's house, next door, watches over our search.

It's not only the house that seems to loom over us.

Ghosts from my past know everything that happened to Sophia...

And they want to see me embrace my father's legacy. Or die. They aren't too picky.

My other assholes aren't too happy with Stellan's disappearing act, but they'll go along with helping... for now.

Can Stellan and I find what happened to Sophia, despite the hate and lust that pulses between us?

Or will my father's old friends leave us buried alongside Sophia?

Book 3 of the Rich Demons of Darkwood series

*Recommended 18+ due to mature language, adult situations, triggers, and sensitive content.

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Review:

Aurora is going to kill Stellan. Not only did he inject her with a sedative but he tossed her in the trunk of his car and headed for their hometown. Stellan wants answers to what happened to his sister and he knows Aurora is the only one who can help him find them. But is he taking her there because he thinks she's involved or because he thinks she will have some insight into who he truly thinks killed his baby sister: the Demon himself? Aurora wants to find out what happened to Sophia also but will digging into her past and looking for answers actually solve her friend's disappearance or is it just picking at festering wounds that never got a chance to heal properly? Add in a healthy dose of crazy from her father's fan club determined to push Aurora into following in her father's footsteps or killing her in the process, and Aurora has her work cut out for her. 

I like this book best in the series. It had one singular issue that they strove towards which made the story a lot more palatable to read. It was also a good dip into Aurora's past and what made her click. It cemented her relationship with Stellan and humanized Aurora a bit more than she already was presenting in previous books. I felt a connection with her unlike the rest of the series and found her to be a delightful character. Stellan, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. He was so one-track minded that he treated Aurora abysmally. He tried to make up for it after the fact but you could feel the animosity from him even when they were supposed to be on good terms. He never fully believed that she wasn't involved in his sister's disappearance and I feel that Aurora should have made him suffer a lot more for not believing her when she told him the truth.

Paxton came alive in this book for me. Most of the time Paxton seemed cold and detached. Even when he was supposed to be infatuated with Aurora he never seemed to want to put his full heart into it. Paxton is such an amazing character in the way he protects every single one of the characters in his own way. There was one scene where Stellan was angry at himself and his circumstances so much that he could barely function. Paxton antagonized him and bullied him with all the self-deprivating thoughts Stellan was already aiming his way in hopes of Stellan fighting him on it so he realizes his thoughts are untrue. He was willing to take a beating to save his friend from internalizing his rage. 

I felt the authors really captured each of the characters in a new light and the grammar/sentence structure of the overall book was much better. I felt this was a solid read and the only reason it wasn't a 5-star read is because those are few and far between for me.