Loving me is a one-way road, sweetheart. You can never go back. You can never fall out of love or any of that shit. It’s permanent and it’s for life.”
Where do I even start with this book? Hello, friends! Welcome to another review post. It’s great to have you here. I’m back with the second book of the Royal Elite series, my recent favourite genre of dark romance books. I’ve mentioned several times before, especially while reviewing Rina Kent’s books, that this author truly understands how the minds of dark romance readers work. I would say that this book was definitely better than the first one, which is why I ended up giving it four stars. While I don’t consider it the best book I’ve read from Rina, I do think it was a good dark romance read overall and very cohesive with the overall plot.
The book picks up right where the first one left off. Elsa is now aware of what Aiden has been thinking about her and the reason he’s been so interested in her since they first met. I always knew Aiden had some ulterior motive to get closer to Elsa, but the plot turned out to be deeper than I initially thought. There are many revelations throughout the book, and their past haunts them as they navigate through their harsh lives. I’ve often found Kent’s female characters to be a bit airheaded, and after the first book, I hoped Elsa would be different. However, I found myself irritated while reading because she often acted foolishly.
Certainly, one might expect foolish behaviour from a teenager with a heart condition, living life without knowledge of her past and haunted by nightmares. However, death doesn’t justify the reactions you have towards others or how desperate you are to uncover the truth. I’m not justifying Aiden’s actions either, but I believe he understands Elsa better than she does herself. Elsa’s inability to trust anyone is understandable, and throughout the book, it’s clear that Aiden is aware of this fact.
Aiden is aware of who Elsa is, what happened in their past, his own plans, and Elsa’s current feelings. The book strikes a great balance between being a steamy, dark romance and having a solid plot that extends beyond the two main characters. I enjoyed seeing Elsa’s growing determination to understand herself, and the plot twist at the end, while not entirely surprising, showcased Rina’s skilful writing in maintaining complexity. Although I anticipated some reappearance from Elsa’s past, its timing felt oddly surprising to me.
Yes, Elsa annoyed me quite a bit, but the character I truly enjoyed reading about in this book was Aiden. He’s a complex character—intensely possessive with what I might even describe as psychopathic tendencies, though I’m no psychologist and cannot confirm the exact nature of these issues. If someone like him approached me in real life, I’d be calling the police. Yet, here I am, drawn into these peculiar books because of their chemistry—it was undeniable. The side characters felt a little more superficial than in the first book; I felt like they weren’t as effective in the plot as they should have been, moreover, I know that each of these characters has their own books/series in the RinaVerse, so I do believe that if we have seen them in a way that showed their characters more, it would be a lot better for the future of these characters. They felt like a plant in the book this time though.
Despite their efforts to distance themselves from each other (and both characters indeed try), it becomes clear that unravelling the past is inevitable. They are bound and only the last book will provide us what will happen to them because god knows I have a weak heart for both of them right now.
Overall, this was a very good new adult dark romance book. I honestly can’t wait to see what the final book in the series brings. As I mentioned in my previous review of the series, I’ll be reading Kent’s books in the official order listed on her website. I plan to continue reading her books until there are none left. Until my next blog post, take care! 🫂
Luster of Books 