Author: Quirah Casey
Series: Brutal Winter #1
Publication: April 20, 2021
Genre: Dark Romance
Find it on: Amazon
Rating: 5/5★
I’ve always hated winter. This year when it comes, I’ll belong to them.
When you sign your soul over to the devil, there are no take backs.
I knew the terms of the contract when I signed it.
For one year, my life isn’t mine.
For one year I am to obey, to be seen not heard.
For one year I’m theirs, mind, body, and soul.
The bodyguard. The fixer. The maniac. The boss.
Four men on a path to ruin me.I may be theirs for a year, but the damage they plan on doing to me will last a lifetime. That’s if I even survive, because between the family and their enemies, the odds of me even making it past the end of winter are low.
This is the first book in a dark reverse harem contemporary romance series that will contain explicit language and graphic scenes. This series will contain triggering material such as dub con and non con. It is not for the faint of heart.
Over the last few years I’ve read my fair share of dark romance books so it’s not often that I can say that I found a new favorite in the genre but now I finally can. Brutal Winter by Quirah Casey was OUTSTANDING!
The story starts with Winter signing herself body and soul over for a whole year to Giovanni Costa, who’s part of the Italian mafia, to get her brother out of a huge debt. Aside from Giovanni she also has to deal with his brother Maximo who’s pretty much a psycho, the bodyguard Enzo who always does the Costas’ bidding and Giovanni’s best friend Vito.
Winter was one amazing character to read about. I loved her SO much! Her tenacity was really admirable but she could also be very vulnerable, which I thought was nice too because that made her even more real. She went through some really bad shit in this book so I definitely marveled at her inner strenght and perseverance. She was also very spunky which landed her in trouble more than once.
As for the four men, I couldn’t help but love them also. Yes, they weren’t good guys and did a lot of fucked up things. They’re mobsters after all. But I just couldn’t help but enjoy reading about them and the interactions Winter had with each one. I feel like a lot of readers will have their favorites but I couldn’t choose. Not yet at least. Giovanni, Maximo, Enzo and Vito all brought different things to the table and I just delighted in that.
What probably surprised me the most about this book was how much of a slow burn it was. And oh do I love a slow burn! There were very steamy scenes of course but they didn’t happen on every other page which I thought was a nice change of pace. I’m sure much more sexiness is coming in the next books. And I can’t wait!
About the author:
Quirah is still a new author, but not new to writing. She has been writing since the first grade, and has been winning awards since kindergarten, when she told her teacher about her trip to Chicago. Her teacher wrote down the story for her and she won the young authors contest at 5 years old! Quirah plans on working hard in the next couple of years to publish as many books as possible from her chöąts world.
Whew!! You do surprise me with your reviews – in the best way!
How so, if I may ask? 😀
Definitely an interesting premise! Glad you enjoyed this one so much!
I’m glad I enjoyed it too ?
I love a good slow burn too, and wow this sounds like fun! I’m definitely keeping it in mind for a time when I need some good entertainment ?
I’m already stoked for the next book!
Italian Mafia!! I am always intrigued by these plot lines. So glad that you found a new series to enjoy, Stephanie! 🙂
Wow, a super high rating! I remember you spotlighting this one some time back. Glad it turned out so well. RH is a unique concept, and to think I only discovered it recently!
Oh, a dark romance, reverse harem with a slow burn? Sounds like this might be a good start for me to get into dark romance 🙂
Sounds good