ARC Review: Pride by Eva Charles

In our world the price of betrayal is death.
Rafael Huntsman, crown prince of a sinful empire.
Possessive.
Dangerous.
Achingly beautiful.
And consumed by a chilling past.

When I was nineteen he laid eyes on me, like it was the very first time.
From that moment, I was his.
Although it was much later, under a moonlit sky in a vineyard awash with fairy lights, that I surrendered–and he disappeared.
Until fate intervened.

Now we’re forced together in a treacherous criminal world.
He’s still dangerously seductive, but I’m not an innocent girl anymore.
I have a secret that puts us both in peril–and there’s no going back.

Forbidden fruit has never been sweeter…

Pride is the first book in a friends to enemies to lovers heart-stopping journey that ends with Wrath. It is set in the Huntsman world, and while it is not necessary to have read A Sinful Empire Trilogy before reading Pride, it contains spoilers.

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I was hooked from the first page. I’ve wanted to know Rafael’s story for a long time, and it was so worth the wait. He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders in so many ways: with his family, the business, continuing his mother’s vigilante work. Rafa and his team are working to stop traffickers who have been abducting women from European cities for two years and they’re never been closer. But just when he finally has two major players exactly where he wants them, he sees her.

Lexie should be off-limits since their families were so intertwined. It almost feels like they’re related, although they’re not. Maybe it’s the age gap, since she’s almost eight years younger than Rafa. Maybe it’s because she’s Valentina’s best friend and they’re like sisters. He’s got a lot of reasons to forget about Lexie and focus on anyone or anything else, but he can’t do that.

He’s wanted her for a long time and after Valentina’s wedding, he gave in to a moment of weakness and finally got to put his hands on her. But they were interrupted and he knows it was for the best. Probably. Lexie disagrees. She’s wanted Rafael Huntsman for as long as she can remember. She’ll make her best friend understand because she knows they belong together. But he’s a powerful man who’s used to being in charge and nobody is going to tell Lexie what to do.

She’s also working to stop the traffickers but she doesn’t tell Rafa her truth because she knows he’d explode. It’s too dangerous, he’d insist and soon she’d be at his mercy, the same way she was with her father. Well, no thank you. That’s precisely why she left London and she won’t let herself be put in that position again. The pull between them is too strong to resist but with so many secrets, they find themselves at odds eventually. This book ends on an intense cliffhanger so the wait for the conclusion is going to be tough, but if it’s half as good as this book, it’s worth every minute of the wait. I couldn’t put this book down and read it in a single day, it’s just that good. I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.