
Author: Quirah Casey
Series: Brutal Winter #2
Publication: February 26, 2022
Genre: Dark Romance
Find it on: Amazon
Rating: 5/5★
I once thought Spring was beautiful, until they bathed me in it’s ugliness.
Three months have already changed my life, the next nine just may destroy me.
Flowers are supposed to bloom in the spring, but this flower is dying.
This girl is withering as the Costa Family pluck my petals, covering them in blood, regret, and malice.
What becomes of a flower once all of its petals are gone?
***
This is book two in the “Brutal Winter” series. “Brutal Winter” must be read before “Ruthless Spring” . This is a dark reverse harem romance.
Ruthless Spring is the second book in the Brutal Winter series and I’m super glad to say that book number two was even better than the first one. I don’t say this lightly because Brutal Winter was one of my favorite books last year but the author managed to top it. The book actually blew my away with it’s darkness and twists. I loved it so so so much!
At the start of the book Winter still has nine months left of being Giovanni Costa’s possession. She knows he has big plans for her but she still doesn’t know what those entail and on top of that there’s a hit out for her. Meanwhile Giovanni’s brother Maximo is still lurking around her, wanting to absolutely destroy her. Bodyguard Enzo won’t stop him because he’s as much as Maximo’s plaything as Winter is. And Vito? He definitely has feeling for Winter but that doesn’t mean is isn’t a monster as well.
I loved this book in terms of character developement. The scared little mouse is disappearing and slowly she is growing into someone who’s learning to bite back when bitten. And oh boy does she get bitten a lot! I really like that it was Lucia (Giovanni and Maximo’s cousin) that initially told Winter that she needs to toughen up or die, and she certainly took that advice heartily. I called book one a slow burn but with this sequel I can’t say that anymore. The darkness and sex scenes were twice as much, if not even more. And I loved it all! I especially loved that Winter decided to just go with the flow as they say. She knew she couldn’t change her situation so she might as well enjoy it a little bit.
I still can’t decide which of the guys I like more. I think I may have a soft spot for our psycho Maximo because he went through such bad things with his father. But in the end I really like all the men even though they’re twisty as fuck and monsters each and every one. The sex scenes, though, we’re all so very hot, like 10/10 on the spicy chart. WHEW!
Also a shout out to Amarie, my favorite secondary character (along with Lucia) who’s as enigmatic as she was in book one but there have been some hints that made me think. I think we’re gonna get some answers in book three not only about her but also about Winter. I cannot wait!
Ruthless Spring by Quirah Casey is dark romance at its darkest and at its best. It’s one of those books that completely consumes you and doesn’t let go until the very last word. I’m utterly obsessed!
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.
Wow, awesome review! This sounds super dark but also delectable 😁 Thanks for sharing, Stephanie😁
Definitely one of the most dark I’ve read (and that’s saying something 😂) but oh so good!
Wow, I’m so glad you enjoyed this even more than the first book in the series! Great review.
It’s always great when you enjoy a second book more than the first. It doesn’t always happen 😛
This sounds a LITTLE too dark for me… I don’t know why! I have such a difficult time with them! I’m going to branch out eventually! 😉 Great review, though! I’m so glad you loved it!
Maybe start with some gray books and slowly make your way down to the dark ones 😛
I’m very intrigued by this series every time I see it, but as a dark romance newbie I think I may need to work my way up to this one first 🙂
A dark romance pro should only read this 😅
I love a good dark read and it’s always nice when the second book is even better than a first!
Agreed! 😀
It’s not often that the second book is better than the first! I’m not sure if it’s one for me, but it sounds like it is a great choice for fans of the genre.