I LOVE DANTE UGH ( )

It was an enjoyable read. ( )

Pretty good read. I enjoyed Dante and Vivian's romance. The book is long. ( )

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
King of Wrath is the first book in the "Kings of Sin" series and this is the authors' most current series that she is working on. Ever since I heard about what this series was about, I wanted to read this book. And once I was through her Twisted series, I knew that I was ready for King of Wrath and this book completely blew me away. I can't believe how wonderful this book was, this is honestly the best book that this author has written that I have read so far. There was something with so much more dimension in this story than I have seen from the author. And she writes the very BEST enemies to lovers. I know that trope may either encourage or discourage readers, but I am telling you, this author knows how to write the best angst filled relationships. And it delivers in all of the feels and heart and I was cheering this couple on all the way.

First Line
I can't believe he's here. He never comes to these things unless it's hosted by a friend..."

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Dante Russo
Ruthless, a Billionaire and CEO of the company he inherited from his grandfather. He is never a man to cross but he is protective of his family. He knows who he is, and will fight for his version of justice. He has Italian and Spanish ancestry.

The Heroine: Vivian Lau
Jewel Heiress, duty bound to her family and their intentions for her. She is of Asian descent, and her family became self made in their wealth. She works as a event planner for the upper elite families.

Summary
Vivian has always been about duty and obligation when it comes to her family. Even though she was allowed to go to college and is working on her own career as an event planner for the upper class families, she will always devote herself to her family even though she wants to seperate herself from them. She has never been able to embrace love in the way that she wanted. When her father forces an arranged marriage, she knows that she has little choice nor does she truly understand why her fiancee doesn't like her. Dante Russo is a man of power and prestige and no one crosses him. But when his brother is caught in a compromising position with a family member of the mafia, he is blackmailed into marrying Lau's daughter. And plans on playing the field with Vivian until he can get justice for the blackmail, but what Dante never plans on is falling in love, and when the truth comes out, will their love last through the war between the man Vivian loves and the man that raised her...

What I Loved
There was so much to love about this book and I couldn't get enough of Dante and Vivian being together. They are such a powerhouse of a couple and I was instantly drawn into their battle of wills. If you can trust anything, its that Ana Huang knows how to write a delectable, perfectly portrayed enemies to lovers romance. The way that we see Vivian and Dante in the beginning of the relationship so antagonistic with each other but slowly build a bond that goes deeper and it builds into a relationship of working with the hand they have been dealt and learning each other both in and out of the bedroom. Dante knows that their relationship is not for the long term, he has a plan to get out of this marriage agreement, but Vivian has no clue what is happening between her father and her fiancee. You see her wear her heart on her sleeve for Dante, she goes all in with the relationship with Dante, placing all of her cards on the table. But in the end she ends up betrayed and it delivers so much heartache and hurt. You know its going to happen. But you wonder how the hero will redeem himself? Or how Vivian will react to it all?

Well Ana Huang really delivered a punch with this story. The first thing that drew me into the story was the dialogue play between Dante and Vivian. They truly play with each other at times and its a delight to see. They have some powerful chemistry of course, and Dante is so possessive of Vivian. I wasn't sure what I thought about the relationship that Vivian has with her ex and what Dante does to him because I think he was a man of just bad timing and others manipulating him. But it actually added some tension that brings out honesty of emotion that is being built with Dante. It forces Dante to be honest at least in how he feels about Vivian and the connection that is building between them. So I can definitely see why the author implemented this aspect in the story and it ended up working for me in the end.

The humor and bantering between Dante and Vivian was so engaging and fun to read and I was laughing all over the place in this one. I am not sure if it was the talent of the narrators or the story itself, but I had a blast with how these two engage with each other. We also have some other aspects to the story that brought some great balance to the story with wit. The first is Kai, man I love this man to pieces and I can't wait for his book and I am thrilled he is next and his book is ready to be read. But also Dante's parents, they are something else that is for sure. They are NOT what you expect going into this one, but they add something unique to the story. You definitely don't choose the parents you are born to and poor Dante having to grow up so fast and being the adult in the family of misfits haha No wonder he is such a alpha male.

Now lets talk about the third act. (Spoilers AHEAD)
[ This is where Vivian learns the truth about Dante. This was such a heartbreaking scene. Because she learns just about everything in a five minute conversation and it breaks her heart. Not only about the secrets that Dante has kept, but also how her father blackmailed Dante and is horrified that the man that raised her could do something so evil to manipulate himself into such high connections. I really enjoyed how Vivian stands on her own either both with Dante and her father and starts standing up for herself especially with her family. They tend to use her, and loved seeing her backbone. Than we have the tension that is between Dante and Vivian. I felt like this was handled so beautifully. We really see how deep Dante is in with Vivian and the work he goes to to court the woman he loves and prove to her how genuine he is about them being together. Its not too long or too short, it honestly felt just right in the timing of it all. And that ending in his proposal was beautiful and melted my heart (hide spoiler)]

What I Struggled With
There was only one plot hole that I discovered that wasn't tackled, so even though this is a favorite read, I wonder if Vivian ever finds out what happens to her ex. Dante destroys his company he has built or he threatened to so we never find out what happens with him. Its possible I missed it but I am not sure how as it was a audiobook.

Narration
The narration on this is a duet. Which means it's a single narration with the dialogue of it being done by two narrators and I loved these two together. And quite frankly loved how Dante's accent especially was done in this one. It had such a perfect mix of his heritage and especially his endearment of "Cara Mia" (panty melting) and the way that the narration was done, kept me wanting to listen to this one all day till I was finished with it. I didn't want to let go of this story and kept me hooked all the way through. Definitely worth paying a full audible credit for.

Overall View
King of Wrath is a story that is curl your toes, melt your panties hot, stir deep emotions and deliver zesty humor and thrills of angst, sensuality and epic moments of a love worth fighting for!

Favorite Quote(s)
You can't see the stars in New York," Dante Said "So I brought the stars to you."

Somehow, somewhere along the way, I’d fallen in love …
Not like or lust. Love, in all its terrifying, unpredictable, unwanted glory.

Love wasn’t always about the big moments. More often, it was tucked in the small moments connecting the major ones.

A part of me would always find my way to her. She was my North Star, the brightest jewel in my sky.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Billionaire, Alpha Male, Socialite
Themes: Groveling Hero, Secrets, Lots of Laughs, Interracial Romance
Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers

Book Perspective
Duet

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Love of My Life by Harry Styles
Die For You by The Weekend
Stay by Rhianna, Mikky Ekko

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes read in order

Steam/Spice Explanations

Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Narrators:
Jacob Morgan
Emily Woo Zeller ( )

I read king of pride and I kind of liked it, but this one?

They have to be married for business/blackmail reasons and they don’t get along, yet they keep talking about how attracted they are to each other.
That’s it. They are physically into each other.
They get to know each other eventually, but it felt like the bare minimum to me. Dante is still a jealous asshole with violence issues. Vivian is somehow not seeing this as a massive red flag.

1.5 stars because I did like the few insights into how money and ambition ruined both families. Both Dante and Vivian are the people they are because their grandparents/parents chose wealth over a healthy family life. ( )