~ Shai by H.L. Night ~

 

Author: H.L. Night (H.L. Day)

Title: Shai

Series: Malicious Gods: Egypt 2 (standalone)

Pages: 300

Release date: 2021 June 18

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Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb:

How do you play a game when there aren’t any rules?

Petty crook and drug dealer Elijah Page’s plan was simple. Stay off the feuding crime-lords’ radar for long enough to make a quick buck in the city, and then get out. He couldn’t have been more naïve. Captured and beaten by McIntyre, he escapes death, only to find himself in the hands of McIntyre’s opponent. Shai is an enigma, a man as charming as he is twisted. And he’s set his sights on possessing Elijah—body and soul.

Shai will stop at nothing until he’s ousted McIntyre. In the meantime, fate has provided him with an interesting distraction in the shape of the stubborn and rebellious Elijah. Elijah’s lips may say one thing, but his body says something else entirely. Elijah might think he has what it takes to go up against a man like Shai, but he’s wrong. He’s nothing but a fly in Shai’s web, and Shai will always be two steps ahead.

A game ensues. One that Elijah may not even realize he’s playing, or just how big a pawn he is. Everything is at stake. Possibly even his heart and mind. By the time Shai has finished with him, there might not be anything left of the man he used to be.

Let the games begin.

A dark mm romantic suspense featuring snakes as a weapon, a manipulative main character, and a few twists and turns along the way.

Welcome to the dark world of Malicious Gods: Egypt. A collection of standalone modern tales, both magical and non-magical, featuring deities from Ancient Egypt. You’ll find reincarnated Gods, assassins, gangs, madness, and different realities. Expect high heat and morally ambiguous themes. Seductive and often twisted, they are not for the fainthearted.

My review:

Oh my god! What did I just read. Loved every page of it. Dark and twisted, just two of my favorites. Phew!

Shai is the second book in the Malicious Gods: Egypt series, and I plan to read all the books, althouth all of them are standalones, so if you're looking for some dark read, go for it ;) 

I enjoyed the hell out of this book, my only problem with it was that I couldn't imagine Shai as a God or in this case, a reincarnation. Shai was just a mob boss with a delusional mother. But anyway, it was so enjoyable and hot and dark and oh god, just perfect. 

Loved the twisted story, the storytelling was amazing and I could imagine everything that happened on the pages. I was there with them and felt everything they felt. I was scared to death, I was afraid, I was excited and hot as hell. 

It has many dark scenes, forced drug addiction, Stockholm Syndrome, snakes and poisons, guns, noncon... sounds yummy, yes? ;) 

I was afraid of those dark scenes, because it sounds good and I love reading them, but the author is new to me and didn't know what to expect. Only mentions of those scenes? Fading in the darkness and leave to the readers imagination?! But noooo! It was well detailed and so well written. LOVED IT. 

And the ending, ahh. It's still a romance. A dark one, but still romantic. 

Highly recommend.