Queen of Diamonds

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I LOVE this author. I pretty much say that every time I have the pleasure of reviewing one of her books. Nobody does dark and twisted better than Natalie Bennett. So it will come as no surprise that I completely loved this one as well. That said, this was probably the tamest book I have read by her to date. I'm guessing things will kick up a notch in the twisted department over the course of the last two books. So deets...the writing (as always) was excellent. It is a fairly short book that took me less than two hours to read so the pace was quite quick. The plot was super engaging and was a great setup for the next two books. It was told in dual POVs. It was semi-dark. There was torture and graphic violence. Last, it ends on a cliffhanger that left me dying to get my hands on book two.


~HERO~
MATEO...Mateo has me ALL kinds of intrigued. We really just scratch the surface of his character in this book so I don't have a lot to say about him. I loved the tidbits the author dolled out to us so far. He was sexy. He was alpha. He was cruel. He was bada$$. 


~HEROINE~
ELENA...Elena was equally intriguing to me. Again, as with Mateo's character, we are just starting to see what makes her tick. There are a lot of secrets yet to be revealed and I have a feeling we are going to see a stronger more f-cked up Elena in the upcoming books. The glimpses we got of her so far I loved.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There were quite a few secondary characters mentioned in this one, but not many of them get a lot of page space. I am dying to read more about Mateo's brothers, as well as Elena's friends and family. 


~HEAT LEVEL~
LOW. There are a few moderately hot sex scenes in this one, but I would say it was a little on the tamer side then what I am used to from this author. I am sure things will get spicier over the course of the rest of the series.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
High. There are a lot of secrets and lies taking place on both sides. I am not sure what game Mateo is playing or to what end. I am not sure what Elena is hiding. My stomach is in knots over Elena's growing feelings and what Mateo has up his sleeve. Ugh...I need book two now (lol). Neither were virgins and there was no OW or OM drama.


~IN THE END~
I loved it. It was a solid start to what (I believe) is going to be an excellent series. The writing was great. The plot was deliciously intriguing. It was (semi) dark and twisted. The characters were very intriguing. All I can say is; “Bring on book two!” Therefore yours truly is going to give this one two solid thumbs up.