Loved the story, did not like the audio book.

There’s dual narration, which is nice, except for the fact that they imitate each other’s voices sometimes which I don’t like at all. I get that it can be hard to do the narration, but I was immediately taken aback to hear the female narrator doing a male voice for the male main character.

That being said, I loved this book. It’s dark, romantic, slightly unhinged, and very fun.

Thank you to RBMedia for an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

i didn’t realize this was technically the second in a series, and while a lot of these romance series are enjoyable as standalones, there were some aspects to the worldbuilding introduced in book one that i wish were reintroduced/explained in book two.

one dark kiss was hot but so very very toxic… and very unrealistic but that’s dark romance for you!

as for the audio, there was dual narration! although i hated the mmc’s russian accent lol

One Dark Kiss promised a modern Snow White retelling, and while it certainly delivered on the spicy front, I found the fairytale connection pretty loose/nonexistent. Alexei, our leading man, is freshly out of prison after seven years, his conviction overturned thanks to a corrupt judge. He's on a mission to avenge himself and find out who framed him. Enter Rosalie, an attorney who is hoping to help with this case and get a promotion., The attraction and banter? Literally instant, like page one!

Alexei is ruthless in his mob ties and general demeanor, but has a surprisingly sweet side when it comes to Rosalie. She, typically a control freak, finds herself completely losing all professionalism and the order that defined her life as Alexei's seduction and charm take over. This was definitely an instalove, vibes-read for me. There are strong elements of mystery and thriller woven throughout, dealing with mob ties and vicious characters. It actually reminded me a bit of the Never After series, though I felt One Dark Kiss was less connected to its claimed fairytale inspiration.

I have to admit, it wasn't until after I finished reading that I realized this was actually Book 2 in a series! That explained some of my confusion around the "gems and crystals" and the "social media dystopian feel" that popped up—the world-building elements just weren't clear without the background. I definitely think I might have enjoyed this more with that prior context. Overall, it was an okay read for me. Narrators were great!


Thanks to NetGalley and RBMedia for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 6/24.

I really wanted to love this book as the description of the book was interesting and I thought that would be something different than what it is. I felt like the reason why I did not like the book was because the plot was all over the place and the way it started I felt like I was confused half of the book and some of the topics didn’t make any sense like they own social media websites that has ran by crystals a little confused about that this was a mafia type romance, and it definitely showed that and I loved that part of it. How controlling he was but overall I gave it a 2.5 star.
I was not able to finish this book. I was sent to about half of it and just couldn’t go on.

I really loved the first book—it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and it totally pulled me in. I was hoping we would see more of those characters this time around.

I’m not usually into mafia romances, but I appreciated the little nods to Snow White throughout.

The chemistry between the main characters felt a bit rushed for me, but they had some fun banter that kept it interesting. And yeah… the spice was definitely spicing. The middle part dragged a bit, but once it picked up, I was hooked until the end.

Overall, I’m really enjoying these fairytale retellings and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

3.75 stars 🌟

Loved the first book but this one fell flat for me. The characters didn’t make me believe what they were doing. It felt fake. I didn’t really start to enjoy it until the last 1/3 of the book, but that part was really good.
The spice was great.
Enjoyed the ending.

The narration was good.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook copy. Let me start by saying I love dual narration and these narrators knocked it out of the park, and did an absolutely amazing job.
A dark mafia romance with a morally grey mmc, say less, this book follows Rosalee as she breaks her client out of prison after he was falsely imprison for a murder he didn’t commit. Instant attraction and spicy read as they try to clear his name while trying to find the real murderer. I love this series and highly recommend. This book also follows different character than book one but highly recommend reading One Cursed Rose first.


🔹dark mafia romance
🔹spicy
🔹he falls first