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A review by readwithmesashamarie
Madness by Shantel Tessier
5.0
Before we start this review I want to put in a few reminders. This is a dark romance. This review will be a little more unhinged than my usual content. This is a standalone novel set in a made-up world where the side characters, and their books’ plot lines, intersect in each standalone novel. While it is not required it would be extremely helpful to have read all the previous books in this series to have full context and understanding going into Madness.
Let’s talk about Haidyn. When we met him in the previous novel I honestly thought he was the craziest out of the three Spade brothers. And maybe he is. This fictional man scared me. But seeing Saint through Haidyn’s eyes this time around completely changed my opinion on who the scariest Spade brother might actually be. I’m holding out on making a final opinion until we get both Kash and Adam’s books, but so far Haidyn has taken the lead as my favorite.
Oddly enough there was something that felt toned down about this novel compared to the others. Or it could be that we’re six novels in and the shock of entering The Lords world has finally worn off. I think it could be a little bit of both, but I’m very thankful for the change in this reading experience. In the previous novels we more often than not saw on-the-page rape and torture of our main female characters. Those scenes were, needless to say, horrific to read, and it was a stark relief to not have to read about it with regards to our FMC this time around.
Though this book is still more dark and taboo than any typical romance so please don’t let my above statement fool you into a false sense of security. Haidyn and his girl do some messed up shit to survive, and just for fun in their free time. I think Haidyn is my kind of crazy because I didn’t even bat an eye at some of the stuff he had his girl doing. Minor spoiler ahead: one of my favorite scenes had to be him tying her up in his home gym. Hasn’t everyone fantasized about this at least once? No? Just me and Shantel Tessier? Cool, cool, cool.
The spice and the smut, as always with The Lords, was off the mother fucking charts, but I was equally invested in the plot. Tessier doesn’t just give us good smut. She makes us think in between those scenes to try and connect the dots before it’s all laid out for us at the end. It was not a shock to me when we discovered who the puppet master in this novel was after they were revealed, but there were a few other moments that took me by surprise. I’ve learned to never trust a death when it comes to these books, and so far I’ve been right every time. Does that mean I made it through this story without crying? Absolutely not.
I was so sold on Haidyn and his girl that there simply could be no other outcome. I loved that they matched each other's freak, and chose one another through it all. I sadly rented this book off kindle unlimited two days before my subscription expired, so I didn’t get a chance to soak this story in like I wanted to. I literally finished with seven minutes to go before it automatically returned, so I definitely will be partaking in a reread when I am able to get a physical copy. I cannot wait to build my LORDS collection and dive deeper into this world with every new book.
Let’s talk about Haidyn. When we met him in the previous novel I honestly thought he was the craziest out of the three Spade brothers. And maybe he is. This fictional man scared me. But seeing Saint through Haidyn’s eyes this time around completely changed my opinion on who the scariest Spade brother might actually be. I’m holding out on making a final opinion until we get both Kash and Adam’s books, but so far Haidyn has taken the lead as my favorite.
Oddly enough there was something that felt toned down about this novel compared to the others. Or it could be that we’re six novels in and the shock of entering The Lords world has finally worn off. I think it could be a little bit of both, but I’m very thankful for the change in this reading experience. In the previous novels we more often than not saw on-the-page rape and torture of our main female characters. Those scenes were, needless to say, horrific to read, and it was a stark relief to not have to read about it with regards to our FMC this time around.
Though this book is still more dark and taboo than any typical romance so please don’t let my above statement fool you into a false sense of security. Haidyn and his girl do some messed up shit to survive, and just for fun in their free time. I think Haidyn is my kind of crazy because I didn’t even bat an eye at some of the stuff he had his girl doing. Minor spoiler ahead: one of my favorite scenes had to be him tying her up in his home gym. Hasn’t everyone fantasized about this at least once? No? Just me and Shantel Tessier? Cool, cool, cool.
The spice and the smut, as always with The Lords, was off the mother fucking charts, but I was equally invested in the plot. Tessier doesn’t just give us good smut. She makes us think in between those scenes to try and connect the dots before it’s all laid out for us at the end. It was not a shock to me when we discovered who the puppet master in this novel was after they were revealed, but there were a few other moments that took me by surprise. I’ve learned to never trust a death when it comes to these books, and so far I’ve been right every time. Does that mean I made it through this story without crying? Absolutely not.
I was so sold on Haidyn and his girl that there simply could be no other outcome. I loved that they matched each other's freak, and chose one another through it all. I sadly rented this book off kindle unlimited two days before my subscription expired, so I didn’t get a chance to soak this story in like I wanted to. I literally finished with seven minutes to go before it automatically returned, so I definitely will be partaking in a reread when I am able to get a physical copy. I cannot wait to build my LORDS collection and dive deeper into this world with every new book.