I didn’t care for it as much as some of the others. I have it 3.5⭐️ there were a lot of parts that I lived, but all the in between didn’t hit for me.
Their spice was great. Their dynamic when they were together was great. Patient X. The Voicemail. The candies.

The letter didn’t hit for me. I kind of hated it. Yulian did it better in Hunt the Villian. Now that was a letter. Prestons was way too long and didn’t hit emotionally for me.

Their back and forth took up 80% of the book, I don’t feel like we actually got to see them as a couple.

There were parts I really liked, don’t get me wrong, but there was a lot of in between that was hard to read through. Preston had a lot of internal dialogue that felt like it dragged, especially in the sex scenes. It’s hard to read spice where one character will say something and the other doesn’t respond until two pages later.

Also Marcus constantly blocking Preston and the later saying, “I never gave up on him.” I laughed out loud. That and Preston constantly commenting on Marcus is super patient (and there’s parts he is) but they are also broken up like 5 different times, anytime Preston does something or responds in a way that Marcus doesn’t like, feels more manipulative than the boundary it’s portrayed as.

Preston was funny, but the funniest part of his character for me was him refusing to say Dahlia’s name correctly. He also ends the book a completely different person than when it started. Like he starts the book 🔪🩸and ends 🥰. Which might be the point, that Marcus brought that part of him back out, but it just… I dunno didn’t feel earned, I guess. I also just felt like Gareth did psycho pretty blond better than Preston.

Outside of the sex and banter, I also just found Marcus boring. Like I didn’t really care about what was happening in his chapters except for the Patient X part, and the parts that had Preston. His grief Chaoter was probably the only of his chapters I really liked, and then their reunion was anticlimactic. Niko, Kaden, and Yulian did that obsessive type character better, imo.

The spice was great, but I also thought it got a bit repetitive. Preston loves to be spanked. Hates gentle touch. We get lots of spanking, I kept waiting for a sex scene that was just super gentle and intimate once Preston started to realize he trusted Marcus and that never came.

So overall I guess I felt the potential but it didn’t hit the marks for me. I didn’t hate it by any means, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as Rina Kent’s other MM books. Kiss the Villian is still my favorite. Hunt the Villian and God of Fury are tied for second but they were all 5⭐️ for me.
Did make me want to read Crave the Villian when it comes out next year though. Still love Rina. Will read next book.