Dante by Sadie Kincaid: A Full Review
This one has spoilers, so beware!
An obsessed mob boss and a kidnapped bride? Sign me up.
My expectations going into Dante by Sadie Kincaid were admittedly high. I had just finished another book by this author that I really loved (check out The Perfect Fit- a poly MMMF billionaire romance), and was eager to pick up another to fall equally in love with. Unfortunately… that was not the case.
Let me tell you why.
The Pros
Lots of hot smut right from the beginning. You and me are here for two things…
Smut and Tension.
And Dante gave me both in buckets.
The unreliable narration of Kat was executed really well, and I truly didn’t see the plot twist/secrets unraveling until the very end.
The Cons
I was really into this book in the beginning; however, by the third act the plot and the romance was falling a little short for me.
The Dreaded “P.F.P.”
Everyone has that one trope that they can’t stand. You know what I mean— the one that makes you question if you can even stomach one more page. It can turn an amazing book into a DNF faster than a you can say “not this again.”
Maybe its enemies to lovers. Maybe its forced proximity or fake dating. Dante had my least favorite trope…
Pregnancy for Plot (AKA P.F.P.).
The pregnancy in this book turned INTO the plot. It became the driving forced of their relationship, their conversations, their (lack of) growth or demise. It became everything in this book, leaving nothing but diapers and baby burps to rest the plot on.
Dante the Dick
I’m not going to sugar coat it… I despised Dante. He was walking on thin ice before our FMC got pregnant, but then he locks her in a room without social interaction or access to anything, KNOWING she is pregnant, until she gets so sick she has to be taken to the HOSPITAL?! Then he does absolutely nothing to make up for it- no groveling or redeeming himself. Especially not enough for our FMCs unyielding love and devotion.
Scaredy Kat
It felt like our FMC, Kat, had accepted that she was nothing but a hookup and an inconvenience to our MMC, and kind of just... went with it? Kat felt very weak, even during times she was supposed to be showing strength. Her backbone was nonexistent, and it was very frustrating to see how often she was okay with being forgotten.
The "trauma healing" sex would have been better executed if there was any modicum of trust between these two characters (there wasn't). Without it, it just made the attempt at reliving a previous SA feel clumsy and uncomfortable.
Missed me with this one, Sadie, I’m so sorry. If our MMC is going to be this much of an ass, I better see some serious groveling. Instead, we’re treated with another 100 pages of Dante the Dick, demeaning and undervaluing our FMC.
Final Rating
2.5 stars. This one was difficult for me to finish. The frustrating MCs, the ‘romance’ between the love interests, and the lack of engaging plot left me wanting a lot more from this story.
I love Sadie and her past work, but this one wasn’t doing it for me at all. Super bummed I couldn’t get into this one.
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