I think this might be my favorite of this series. Twisted is NOT a retelling. It is a fractured fairy tale based on stories that we love. I really liked the threads of a story we all know well. I loved the conflict and the longing between Julian and Yamin. Both of their personal struggles and growth through the story paired with the slow burn of their romance is just so satisfying. I am super excited to see if there is more in this series.

Personally, I would recommend for fans of Katee Robert, for fans of dark villiany romances and for readers who love to hate their heroes.

Yasmin and Julian is the enemies to lovers that all fans of that trope will love. It has all of the elements of the best dark romances, the tension that some thrillers have, and the spice that all fans of Emily McIntire have come to love.

**thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the E-Arc

Holy Brat. ❤️ Julian is probably my favorite hero of Emily’s fairytale reimagining but make no mistake he’s an aphla-asshole. God I wanted to rip his hair out for a good part of the beginning of the book. Yasmin probably isn’t my favorite heroine in the series I kept wanting her to stand up for herself to anyone but Julian just once. That being said I love her loyalty to Julian.
Yasmin is dealing with the looming death of her father from terminal cancer. He desperately wants her to marry before he dies but he wants her to marry one the suitors that he approves of. Yasmin only wants her childhood lover.
Julian spent his whole adult building and climbing the ladder at Sultons. His anger over being left out of the will is murderous, and will stop at nothing to regain control over his company including stealing the hand of his mentors daughter.
I really love this book. I love this series I do wish the couple started being together a little sooner it was a little slow in the beginning and felt a little repetitive but I still loved it.

I was to preface this by saying I love Emily McIntire and I will continue to eat up this series.

This Aladdin-esque fractured tale features a host of popular romance tropes such as: marriage of convenience/forced marriage; enemies to lovers, age gap and "touch her and you'll die".

In my personal opinion, this book does not burn slowly at all. Since the book was in dual POV, the reader could see the inner monologue of both characters wants and desires extremely early on, which was rather disappointing considering the book is being marketed as a slow burn enemies to lovers. I would have LOVED to see more of the enemy buildup at the beginning.

I think using the cheating trope as a classifier makes more sense than love triangle to me. I was really not a fan of how she straight up abandoned her childhood love for someone she apparently "hates" after minimal interaction with Julian.

I felt as though in her other works (especially with Scarred) the main "bad guy" was ACTUALLY a villain who wanted to do villainous things. Julian was so gungho about getting the lamp and Sultans but then switches up randomly when he hops into bed with her? It read as very superficial. I would have loved to see him struggle with wanting riches vs love more.

As for their love itself, the pacing was off to me and once the "enemies" portion was done it felt very rushed and insta lovey; they didn't share many conversations but now they're suddenly in love?

Speaking of, the men he murdered for her were murdered in such a cartoonish way it was hard to take it seriously.

That being said, as per usual, the writing style was perfection, it was the pacing I had major issues with. I also really liked her relationship with Riya. I also found the relationship with Julian and his mom very interesting and I am glad he got closure with that storyline.

Another issue, without going into much detail, the twist at the end seemed unnecessary and used as a convenient way to write off a character.

I really think one had great potential, if the plot focused more on Julian's struggle for money and power vs his confusing feelongs, the search for the lamp and the Jeanine plotline I think it would have been much more interesting.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books and NetGalley for an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review ❤️

Oh. My. God. Just when I think I can’t possibly be more obsessed with a MMC than I am with James Barrie and Tristan Faasa…in walks JULIAN FARACI!!!! He’s the epitome of a broken man, parading around like the most confident guy in the world, when deep down he believes himself to be no one’s first choice. He concocts a brilliant plan to marry his boss’s daughter, so that when his boss dies, he can kill her & inherit the company. But his plan goes awfully awry when he falls in love with his wife. And let me tell you, NOBODY better be
1. talking about HIS WIFE,
2. disrespecting HIS WIFE, or
3. touching HIS WIFE, because he. will. m*rder. And it’s of the *Dexter* variety, so buckle up.

This is a sloooooow burn, with high tension & a ton of angst. The hatred between Yasmin & Julian is strong, and there were moments of doubt for me, thinking, how is Emily making these two fall in love?! She does it in spectacular fashion, trust. But for most of the story, they literally despise each other & for me, that’s the perfect enemies to lovers.

Every little [Aladdin] detail in this book is so perfect, I can’t even. I want to mention all of them & none of them because I don’t want to ruin them for anyone. They’re just so much fun. If you’ve read & enjoyed any of the previous Never After books, you’ll love this one. If not, they’re all standalones, & you should 110% pick this one up.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

She's his diamond in the rough. He's her worst nightmare. Yasmin Karam, daughter to one of the richest men in the world, has never known strife. So, when her beloved father falls ill, she's determined to make his final days his happiest. His last wish? To see her married to a man of his choosing. Except Yasmin's heart already belongs to someone else. A servant. A street rat. A man her father would never consider worthy. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Yasmin strikes a desperate deal with her father's right-hand man, Julian, not realizing he has his own twisted agenda.

Julian Faraci has one goal: become the most powerful man in the world. He's built a future from broken bones and faded bruises, never caring who he hurt along the way. But when his mentor falls ill, he finds himself on the verge of losing everything, and he'll stop at nothing to inherit what is rightfully his. Even if it means forcing a woman he can't stand into marriage.

Yasmin is a brat who speaks out of turn, and he's the villain of her story. But he decides she'll be his—no matter what it takes to convince her.

Overall this was a fun ride. It's the most recent book in Ms. McIntire's fractured fairy tale reimagining series focusing on Aladdin. I was eager to get into this book after having just finished Scarred. I like what the author did with the well known characters and there was a lot of great tongue in cheek references from the well known film. There are some dark themes and some potential triggers, but overall a well thought out story and some great spice!

This was the spin on Aladdin I didn't know I needed. This book has several of my favorite tropes. Enemies to lovers...check. Forced marriage...check. Age gap...check. I love how the author included some of the original details from the Aladdin we know and love and placed them in this steamy read with a morally grey male main character. I loved getting to know Julian and his back story. His story is heartbreaking and it makes you feel for him. A surprising character I loved was the snake. It was an unexpected piece to the story that just works. This is another beautiful and spicy read from Emily McIntire. I can't wait to see what story Emily twists next!

Oh. My. God.
Will Emily McIntire ever fail to KNOCK me out of my CHAIR? I hope she never does.
After her twist on Peter Pan, The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz, she is SERVING us with her twist on Aladdin: Twisted! (see what i did there?)

I’ve always had such a pleasure reading the Arranged Marriage and Forced Proximity tropes, but i’ve never read a book with an age-gap between the two love interests (i’ll have another serving, please🙃). We also love a morally grey (more like BLACK black) love interest😇

Honestly, this one is definitely my favorite of this series so far, and i’m so excited for the other ones set to come!

Live, Laugh, Love Emily McIntire🤍💎

I’m gonna be honest, the beginning of the book made me a little nervous and I thought I was gonna hate this but wow was I so wrong.
Forced/arranged marriage is one of my all time favourite tropes and Emily outdid herself with this book!
I am honestly speechless this was outstanding!!
The characters, suspense, character growth and romance was everything I wanted and more.
Please check trigger warnings before reading some scenes are quite graphic and may not be for everyone!
Also, thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Emily absolutely killed it again! Twisted is the next book in the Never After series and by far it my absolutely favorite. This book had all the yummy tropes I eat up:
Forced marriage ✅
Age Gap ✅
Enemies to Lovers ✅
Morally Grey Men ✅
Slow Burn ✅

If you love all these things than I’m begging you to pick up this book! Julian and Yasmin absolutely have my heart and I can’t say enough how much I adore this book.

Literally enjoyed every part of this book from beginning to end. Despite being a retelling with a twist this book has gripped my interest so much. I loved how Yasmin didn't back down from Julian. Their constant bickering is something I enjoyed so much. They're some moments where I had tears like the bond between riya and yasmin.

Julian ?! He is so hot with that arrogance and the face he protects yasmin *swoon* My heart hurts for baby julian and what he went through his childhood because of his mother.

I needed more of JulianYasmin and I hope we get some novel on all the couples at one point.

This one is spicy AF. Not sure about library purchase, but this is definitely a book for me to purchase for my personal library if you know what I mean

“Are you mine?” *screams internally*

This book, y’all… so good! This one ties with my current favorite in the series. I’m not even a huge Aladdin fan, so I went in with no serious expectations. It has all the good stuff: age gap, enemies to lovers, “touch her and you die”, fake engagement/marriage, hidden treasure and it’s spicy. I can’t even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this story, if you haven’t read this series DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and start. If you have, what are you waiting for?? Go read this one.

I have read all of Emily McIntire's Never After Series. I have loved all three of those books. I was so excited to get this one and dive in.

I didn't think this one was done as well as the other three before. There were a lot of phrases that the author used repetitively throughout the book and once I noticed them it was very annoying. I didn't feel like the description of Julian was done as well as say, James or Tristan in her other books. I wasn't attached to either of the main characters.

I did enjoy the book as I was reading it but I didn't love it. Emily McIntire is an amazing author and I will definitely continue reading her works but I think she struck out with this one.

Love love loves this dark retelling of a classic story !!! From this first chapter you are 100% hooked on seeing how far this dark romance will go!!! And the answer is, ALL THE WAY! Can’t wait to read more from Emily McIntire, she never fails to get the readers excited!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, Emily McIntire, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4⭐️
🌶🌶.5

I have been counting down the days for this release, so when I got approved for an ARC I literally screamed. I have loved every book in the Never After series so far (with Scarred being my absolute favorite because no man does it like Tristan Faasa) and Emily McIntire just has a knack for creating morally grey characters that draw me in from the first page. Twisted was no exception! Although the beginning was a bit slower than I was used to, I appreciate the change up from some of her other stories. In fact, I feel like (compared to the other stories) this book was ALMOST a slow-burn, because Julian and Yasmin really didn’t actually come together until around the 60-70% mark. However, the build up and the tension between the characters was unmatched. At first, Yasmin really got on my nerves, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like her as a character. Yet, as the chapters went on and we got to five more into her mind/emotions, I appreciated her for who she was, and also for who she was allowed to become when she was with Julian. Julian may be taking my second favorite Emily McIntire man place (sorry not sorry, no one will ever tip Tristan Faasa🙈), because that man is straight 🔥🔥🔥. His emotions, his passion, his crimes, his possessiveness, his GROWTH, literally everything about him made me fall more and more for him. The final showdown was absolutely top tier. Emily McIntire could write fractured fairytales for the rest of her life and I would eat them up like crack. SO SO GOOD.

Emily just keeps killing this series!!
When I first realised this was as Jafar/Jasmine retelling I was pretty hesitant. I’ve read a few in the past and really didn’t like the dynamic they created with these characters.
I should have trusted in this series though, because Emily truely smashed it outta the park.
Love love love their relationship and the trust they build together
👏👏👏

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review)

Morally grey man
Villain gets the girl
Forced proximity
Age gap
Marriage of convenience
Love triangle
Enemies to lovers
Dual pov
Slow burn romance

Wow! I went into this book unsure what I what to think. It was done very well. Fairytale fractures or retellings can be so hit or miss, I tend to stay skeptical. The author did a great job humanizing this objectively evil man. The dual pov never misses, and I'm so glad we got to see this wild relationship through both the main character's eyes.

The first part of the book dragged along, providing backstory and build-up. The angst build-up was wonderful, but I feel the backstory could've been left out. There are many side characters and names to keep straight, making the first half of the book harder to go along with.

Thank you, NetGalley, Emily, and Bloom Books for the eARC copy of Twisted.

"Sometimes the greatest love, comes from the most unlikely places."

Emily, emily... you've done it again.

McIntire writes some of my favorite books based off fairy tales (they aren't literal retellings) and gives the villian their shot.

I. am. here. for. it!

Twisted tells the loosely based story of Aladdin.

Are you mine?

Julian (roughly based around the villian we all know as Jafar) and Yasmin (pretty simple to guess who she's based off of) both want was best for Ali... or Baba (Ali Baba) as Yas refers to her father. Julian is rough around the edges, still true to his character base. While Yas is very stubborn headed and princess like, true to her character base. Additionally, with characters like Riya (Raja), Yas's best friend, and Isabella (Julian's 23 foot python), it's hard to do wrong with this book.

There are so many nudges to the original story, but this book is all it's own telling. Age gaps, mafia, murder, spice, it's just all jam packed in to a neatly wrapped present that is this story.

"I would kill anyone who looked at you. Anyone who dared to even breathe too close."

If I could give this ten stars I would. I think this is my top book out of this series, Never After, tied with Hooked. Well done, Emily.

Thank you to the Publisher, Emily, and NetGalley for providing me this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily can do NO WRONG…. I am convinced. This series has quickly become one of my most anticipated when a new one is announced, and I SCREAMED when I saw I got this ARC. I love the little bits and pieces of the original story intertwined within each individual book, and how it is done in such a fun and flawless way. And let me say, Emily knows how to do Morally Grey men, because there hasn’t been one guy in this series that isn’t extremely hot. I really hope there are more books in this series in the future, because I am not ready for it to be over yet!