Hearts of Darkness (The Santiago Trilogy, #1)

by Catherine Wiltcher

[Eve1972]

 

~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
This book is pretty much the perfect example on why I LOVE to give new authors a chance. I've never read anything by this author before, in fact, I hadn't even heard of her before, but oh man was this book fan-f-cking-tastic. I am not even exaggerating. Every single minute of this book was pure perfection. The writing was excellent. The pace moved along at a good clip. Especially considering that this book was on the longer side. It was told in a dual POV. The plot was intricate and engaging. Last, it was all wrapped up in a cliffhanger which took me a bit by surprise because I thought this was a standalone. *shrug* My only TINY issue (and it really was a small niggle), was I got a little annoyed at how many times Dante would call Eve by her complete name (Eve Miller).


~HERO~
DANTE...I adored Dante. He was alpha. He was possessive. He was sexy as sin. He was complicated. He was all about Eve from the minute he saw her. He wasn't going to win any personality awards, but Eve softened his edges (just a bit). He was pretty much the perfect anti-hero you just can't help but fall for.


~HEROINE~
EVE...First of all, what a fantastic name. More heroines should be called Eve in my opinion (lol). Anyway, I loved Eve just as much as I loved Dante. Ya, she probably caved into his advances a little too quickly considering the circumstance, but she wasn't a weak heroine at all. She gave as good as she got. She was sweet. She was feisty. She was a great heroine.




~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
They were a good cast of secondary characters in this one. Some I hope we will be seeing more of. Perhaps in their own books? Some I loved. Some I hated. One I cried over. All of them added fantastic extra layers to the story.


~HEAT LEVEL~
High. There were a lot of smokin' hot sex scenes in this one. Rough sex. Maybe some borderline dub consent? Spanking. Nothing too over the top or kinky.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
Lowish...I didn't find this one particularly angsty. This couple has quite a few acrimonious exchanges due to circumstances and who they are, but the relationship was quite insta and pretty solid from the start. Then, of course, there is some angst caused by the overlying plot involving the drug cartels etc. Eve wasn't a virgin. Dante was most likely a manwhore, but there are only a few mentions here and there about his prior sex life. There wasn't any OW drama or OM drama either.


~IN THE END~
Did I enjoy it? HELL YES!
Would I recommend it! Again...HELL YES!
Would I read more from this author? Affirmative!
What type of reader would this appeal to? I think this would appeal to all types of readers, safe or otherwise. Especially those who love a jealous and possessive anti-hero.
Bring on book two please!