BABYYYYY THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE??!! WHEW.
I had no choice but to slap it with ALL 4.5 stars. I’m talkin’ 4.5 big, shiny, can’t-deny-it stars. The way it ATE??
Listen—any complaints I got are background noise, because this story ran laps around my expectations.

Pacing? Smooth like butter, but with a kick.
The tension? Slow-build pressure cooker that hit JUST RIGHT.
And that cliffhanger?? EVIL. I mean true villain era—and I was HERE for it.

Now let’s talk about Dom, because SIR… WHAT?!
You in love with your wife, you feelin’ her deep in your soul… but you won’t SAY IT?
Because you “can’t be out here caught up like that”? BOY SHUT UP.
I was side-eyeing my phone like—am I reading this right?
Like… what’s the reason? What’s the trauma? Gimme SOMETHING. ‘Cause right now, he’s just givin’:
“I overthink every damn thing—except my side chick.”

You emotionally unavailable but out here dippin’ in temptation like it’s a buffet??
Chile. The nerve. The gall. The disrespect.

BUT—let me be clear.
If Dom’s the one who snatched up Carmen, cologne hittin’, voice low, talkin’ reckless?
I’m tuned in. I ain’t missin’ a beat.

Now onto Victoria… Girl. I wanted to root for her, I really did.
But she was floatin’ through this book like she was in a daze.
Your pops gets taken out on cartel turf, your mama gone under mysterious circumstances, and YOU just barely make it out alive… and you not even slightly curious?!
Not a side-eye? Not one late-night Google search??
And her uncle? Talkin’ all cryptic, not spinnin’ the block, not even fake-mad?
He’s givin’: “You an orphan ‘cause I said so.”
And she’s givin’: “Okay, Uncle Daddy!”
Girl WHAT?! Open your eyes!!

As for her and Dom? That chemistry was DOA.
He was emotionally stiff, and she was out here damn near panting behind him.
It wasn’t tension—it was awkward.
And Dom? Sir, you got all this discipline, all this strategy, all these rules for everybody ELSE—but you can’t hold yourself to the same standard?
Oh, you want your wife to stay loyal while you do what you want??
Boy be fr.

It’s not even about the cheating no more—it’s the audacity for me.
You want respect but you out here clownin’?
If karma would’ve slid through and handed him a bullet to the shoulder, I would’ve said “Amen.”

Because one thing about it?
You gon’ LEARN today.