Black Thorns (Thorns Duet, #2) (2024)

“I’m her monster and she’s my willing prey.”

He needs therapy and she needs a backbone.

why keep wasting my time? dnf.

sorry Natasha 🖤 but thanks x the spoilers lmao

🌼 - - - - - - 🌼 - - - - - - 🌼

time jump? time jump 😭👀

“The weak are meat, the strong eat!”

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💋💋💋💋💋
Heat/Steam: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 👨🏻👱🏻‍♀️🧔🏻👩🏻👱🏼‍♂️

The heroine:

The Hero(es):

The Story: Though Naomi’s mother is CEO of a fashion empire and couture house, Sebastian’s grandparents are so snooty and elitist that they refer to her as the daughter of a seamstress. So Sebastian has to keep away from Naomi in order to keep them away from her. However, when he can’t stay away any longer the unthinkable happens.

This book was quite a surprise in many different ways. First of all, the chemistry between Sebastian and Naomi was crazy explosive. Sebastian is dominant and hot as all get out and kinky to boot. I loved him! I usually hate books that all the sudden skip ahead years into the future, and that happened in this one. Though I kind of liked it. I liked that they grew up in the intervening years and were now fully formed adults with plenty of broken bits inside them from what had happened to them.

In the first book, Naomi had a pen pal, and I thought for sure I knew who it was, but how it played out had me thoroughly confused. In this book that Pen Pal got a bit crazy when Naomi didn’t write him back. I was completely surprised at when it was revealed. Especially after the letters got even crazier.

This book and series was one of the steamiest that Rina Kent has written and that is saying a lot. All her books are pretty dark and steamy but this was sizzling hot and very dark. I loved every minute. I had no problems with Naomi and Sebastian’s kinks, everything was consensual and they had a safe word so I say whatever floats your boat.

Blog|Goodreads|Facebook|Instagram|Twitter|BookBub

Me and Flor ❁ who can't wait to rant about this sh*t:

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶

First of all let me start this review by saying this is not a safe read.
There is cheating!!

Now let me back up a little. If i thought that the first book was bad, this is so much worse. If i thought that i didn't like Naomi, i freaking loathed her here.
I won't go into so much detail why i didn't like the first book only that it was 95% sex and smut and 5% character development. It seems like Rina focuses so much on things like how many times they can f*ck in a forest than actually developing her story and characters.

When i saw(Flor actually told me,thank you girl🥰) that there was a 7ys time jump i thought this is going to end up great or end up a total sh*tshow. And let me say it was totally the latter. If you think that is diferent than the first book, don't get your hopes up, Naomi and Sebastian may be older but they are just annoying and immature as they were. There are also like 5% character development, 55% smut and 40% drama.

After the time jump when Naomi showed up in Sebastian's life MARRIED they don't even have a normal conversation ,she won't tell him the reason why she left, he is angry and jealous with her bc she is married and wanna guess what happens next?
They f*ck obv.

"You’ll go back to your husband with my cum dried in your c*nt and between your legs so he knows you were f*cked like he’ll never be able to f*ck you.”

“f*ck. Look at how your wet c*nt is strangling my dick, you dirty little slu*t. Do you soak your husband’s dick, too? Does he f*ck you rough like you want or do you finger yourself afterward to get off?”
“Don’t…bring him up…”
“Why? Hit a nerve?”

Because it isn't enough that she cheated on her husband why don't you make him gay and make him cheat on her too? What an original idea. Cheating is cheating, and even tho she didn't have sex with her husband she still was married to him so i don't excuse this.

The last 10% was so rushed with pure drama and so unrealistic how Naomi outsmart all of them and saved Sebastian, like give me a break she doesn't have 3 braincells who are you trying to convince that she is that smart??

Glad this is over, sorry Flor ❁ for the spoilers girl i couldn't help myself i needed to rant!😭❤️

1.05!.

The worst RK duet to date. |SO DISAPPOINTED|

We find ourself right where the author left us off in Red Thorns

Things happen where Naomi & Sebastian go their separate ways for long period of time … years later they seem to find their way back to each

Naomi is back. And she is still the same explosive woman we loved so much in the first book. Her life takes an unexpected turn and she is forced to make a decision that is absolutely heartbreaking. I loved how the author made Naomi own up to her ‘kink’ instead of being ashamed of it. I loved Naomi’s courage, and Naomi’s strength and of course her perseverance. I just love how the author’s heroines are always a breath of fresh air with absolutely no ‘doormat’ tendencies

Sebastian, had got tired of pretending and stopped putting on a façade unless it’s absolutely necessary
Sebastian now works for his uncle (Nathaniel.) in his law firm and face to face with Naomi’s new family

Akira Mori is known to deal with criminal organizations. He has no morals when it comes to business
Naomi seems to be stuck in some type of twisted situation with her father

As for the backstory of all that has gone on since Naomi had left … that aspect of the book was Phenomenal…. I just love how the author was able to give us few unexpected twists and turns

But than there were the ones that you could see from a mile away coming… that was somewhat disappointing! Not to mention how the author somewhat burn out the whole chasing Naomi in the forest part… that part got a bit stale for me

As for Naomi solving both their problems was such a badass move and it summed up her character perfectly, I'm glad her and Sebastian got their happy ending!
K let’s talk about for hot second before I forget, what’s up with the cover picture .. book 1 cover oh yeah 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Book 2 cover ☹☹

I honestly didn’t realize that Reina and Asher had their own book … I’ll might check that out much later … I need bit of separation for while from these characters… but I might read in the somewhat immediate future Nathaniel’s book

💖 Hope you enjoy this read 💖

⬇Always remember⬇
📚 Always keep in mind this is just my opinion+ Also I wouldn’t never discourage anyone from reading this book.

2.5 stars.

Definitely not my favorite duet by this author. Not worth the read in my opinion.

RTC
I'm not in the mood to write a review for this now and I don't know what rating to give it yet. Was it a bit of a trainwreck? Yes. But some moments were better than the book before.
For anyone interested in safety, they were both celibate during the seven years they were apart. AND after it was revealed that Sebastian was Akira I got the impression he was celibate since seeing her for the first time. So the duet should be safe for most safety squad people.

➸ 1.5 ★

He call himself a beast and I lost it, Nao & seb were horrible.
But aww Mio + ooooh Damien. 🤭👀
hate everything else.

this one was a sh*tshow.rtc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

''My heartbreakingly beautiful monster''

Safety warnings:
- Cheating* (explained in the review)
- No OW/OM drama
- CNC
- Trauma
- Violence/kidnapping
- HEA

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

*Naomi is forced to marry someone she and they never have any type of relationship. They do not love each other, and their entire marriage is facade since her father wants to keep his business relationship intact with her ''husband''.
Naomi starts an affair with Sebastian, but we find out that her husband is also seeking someone else sexually.

We get to jump right after the ending in the last book. Things are not what they seem and it's just an epic mess for Sebastian and Naomi. Her father is just an evil man who will anything to get his daughter to play the role he has set up for her.

After the events in the cell, they are separated for 7 years after Naomi basically sacrifices her freedom to get Sebastian medical help and make sure he survives. She agrees to quickly marry Akira who claims to be the pen pal she has been sending letters to for years and because of that she felt like he wouldn't be such a bad match. I once AGAIN will say that they do not have a conventional marriage, they never shared any intimacy or feelings. He seemed to be asexual until she catches him with one of her father's men.

Sebastian breaks off from his grandparents and follows his uncles’ footsteps and becomes a lawyer during those 7 years and Naomi lives in Japan and has taken over her mother’s company since her death.

I swear I thought I knew what angst was until these two meets again and he sees her in the arms of another man. He was angry for how she left him, he was hollow and cold for so long because of the events that occurred between them. He has no idea of her reasons and once we find out about them too, you cannot blame her for it. Her father is the head of the Yakuza, he threatened to take her away from her dying mother, sell off his daughter (Naomi's half-sister) and basically kill Sebastian. All these reasons were why she left and once Sebastian finds out, he cannot truly blame her either.

They start their ''affair'' and things just fall back into place for them like no time has passed. We find out she has not been with anyone since him and then find out HE HAS NOT BEEN WITH ANYONE EITHER.

You could tell who Akira was during the book, but the reveal was great. Sebastian was Akira the entire time, Akira (Naomi’s husband) found the letters in the PO box of one of the buildings he owns and used it to gain knowledge from them and used it against Naomi. How Sebastian is Akira? Well, he was born in Japan and spent 6 years there and his middle name is Akira. He wanted to get close to Naomi and did something out of the ordinary and sent her that letter. Why was he so mean to her in some of them? To throw her off and because he hated how easily she spoke to her pen pal. Basically, he was jealous lol

Naomi successfully finds a way out of her marriage without destroying any lives and finally is set free.

This book was such a roller coaster. Wondering how it would all play out without getting bloody again.

1.5/5

Well, this duet is not certainly for me.

★★★𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤★★★
(𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.)
𝑅𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐺:⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a roller-coaster this book was!!!
I might not have liked the first book that much, but this one was way better.

Naomi is back again in Sebastian's life, but she is not the same nor is he. He hates her for leaving him and disappearing for 7 years, and she can't tell him why to protect him. There was soooo much going on in this book, i literally had whiplashes the whole time. I love how Rina links all her characters together, it's absolutely amazing how she does that.

Every book Rina writes is literally a masterpiece. But i must admit my best part about this book was Akira and Ren, i absolutely can't wait to read their book.

"Do you want to make it better?"
"Of course."
"Then stop crying, baby. That hurts more than the wound itself."

this book was a complete rollercoaster of emotions and NOT in a good way. like it was a serious and complete clusterf*ck of all different kinds of rage and i didn't know if i should hate it. anyway, here's me rambling about it.

THE GOOD

SEBASTIAN WEAVER???

don't get me wrong, sebastian DID get on my nerves way too often for my liking throughout this book but it seemed like he had a complete character change? although he was doing something VERY wrong with not caring about the fact that naomi had a ... husband, he seemed a LOT better than naomi in this book.

ugh the things he said to her. please. i'm so in love with this man. like he's genuinely ADORABLE and a lovesick puppy for naomi. but i'm still very f*cking confused about how we went from the sebastian we saw in the first book to this sebastian?? not that i'm complaining or anything. since the first chapter, since sebastian first spoke in this book, i was like huh??? is this u baby??? cos it doesn't sound like it. i might not remember his character well from the time i read yellow thorns but i sure as hell know that sebastian never acted the way he did when he was with naomi in black throns than he did in red thorns. idk. it might just be me?? or it might be the fact that he was almost dying but i'm willing to overlook that part.

kai

i didn't enjoy the entire inclusion of the mafia but went along with it because kai, naomi's father's second hand, was a whole ass treat to read about. as much as naomi infuriated me, kai was her guardian angel 🥺🥺 he said so herself. and ugh I'll never get over the ways kent takes us back to small pieces of information she dropped earlier on and connecting them with something and making them a huge f*cking deal it's magical.

knox, daniel, and nate

ARGHHH IMAGINE MY SURPRISE SEEING OUR BABY KNOX MAKING A CAMEO IN THIS AS SEBASTIAN'S BEST FRIEND$%#@ i was so excited to see him again because damn did i miss that boy. and sebastian's friendship with knox and daniel was so fun to read about and i wish we could've seen more of them together. and nate was STILL the angel from the first book, protecting sebastian and being the best uncle ever.

THE BAD

the ... cheating

do i even need to say more? seven years later and naomi is married. cheating is genuinely f*cking unacceptable i don't care if it's an arranged marriage or if ur husband is gay. naomi was barely even regretful after doing it and why?? as much as i loathed the turn of events, i just wish she wouldn't have been so goddamn hateable in this entire book. BOTH naomi and sebastian were disgusting for this, i don't care about the circ*mstances. this was mainly the reason why i didn't rate this book higher because i didn't enjoy reading about an affair. this book started out so so strong and i was rooting for them but both of them turned out to be complete assholes, naomi more than sebastian don't come at me for saying this.

naomi's secrets

yeah i understand that she couldn't have just dropped ALL the bombs on sebastian early on in the book but continuing to keep something from him which she KNEW was hurting him was top notch assholery from her. i don't understand her reasons for keeping the reason why she left sebastian for so long because that wasn't her. it honestly just seemed as a way to lengthen the book and i hated it.

minimum relationship development

ALL THEY DID WAS f*ck.

i think i said this in my review for the first book but i truly, truly wished we could've had more scenes of them just ... talking. we never got to see them get to know each other properly in the first book and we never got to see them talk properly once they'd gotten back together. it was frustrating as f*ck because it's hard to connect with their relationship when all we see is smut.

edit: 18 hours after finishing this book and i'm already missing sebastian

What an epic conclusion for Sebastian and Nao-this was nothing like what I was expecting, but spectacular in every way. The twists, the illicit steamy times, the emotional intensity, and so many secrets. But at the center, the magic of a depraved but restorative emotional connection still shines strong.

After book 1, I was madly in love with Nao and proclaimed her as my favorite Rina Kent heroine to date, and she does not disappoint in book 2. It’s hard to speak about just why without spoiling the dynamics of this story, but I loved her character evolution throughout this duet. She’s such a unique and interesting heroine already, but Rina allows her to really grow and evolve in this second half-- she doesn't LOSE herself, she just finds a way to more strongly and confidently exist as herself. IN book 1 we saw her grappling with her identity- her background, her family, her urges, leaning in to her needs- and that drew her to Sebastian, understanding HIS proclivities helped her understand her own. But Nao shows up in a big way in this duet- she’s the true hero of this story, and watching her emerge as a fully self-assured, fully realized version of herself is such a powerful arc. She makes hard decisions and deep sacrifices to find her way, but she also learns just who she is and what she wants, and I adore her.

Every Rina book is a wild ride- but the twists and turns in this one are next level. I can’t say much without running all the fun- but be ready for answers to questions you didn’t even realize you asked, as well as the shocking and jaw dropping revelations you never imagined. There is just so much complexity and richness to the plot- and each piece was meticulously planned- yet nothing felt predictable. And eagle eyed Rina fans will also salivate over all the yummy little easter eggs that kept popping up in this story- and so much potential for future stories, too. Rina also brings so much parallelism and contrasts to the first story- beautifully juxtaposing elements of this book to the first in ways that heighten emotion and highlight how our characters are changing, how what is happening to them and around them impacts their souls.

What I loved most about this duet, though, is the emotional chemistry. It’s unusual, complicated, taboo- and so engrossing. Book one capitalizes son all the things that made it amazing and enriches it- more tension, more nuance, more longing and pain and baggage- which makes it even more dynamic and addictive. Rina leans even deeper into the titillating dynamics - we have two characters who have a toxic component to their relationship, something “wrong”- and they lean into it, embrace it. Even more so, they find safety and security, they find stability in what others would say is bad and destructive. They find comfort in the uncomfortable. And now they have to figure out how to take something destructive and make it indestructible- how to find light in their own depravity. The dynamics are heady and unsettling, and so very delicious.

I am obsessed with this duet- and I’m thirsty for more from some of the other characters who have a very big presence in Nao and Sebastian’s journey. Rina continues to embrace the dark and toxic in all of us- and harnesses in a way that makes it beautiful and profound. Nao and Sebatian are her greatest trump yet. Their finale is NOTHING like what you are anticipating- so hang on tight for the epic conclusion to Nao and Sebastian's complicated story.

i love them so much please im so sad it’s over

Baia baia…

Muy buen cierre, me gustó mucho.

Después del final de impacto, necesitaba saber que pasaba y comienza exactamente donde quedó y el inicio es muy bueno con mucho angst.

Después ya no es tan arrollador, las cosas cambian, sufrí por Sebastian, odié un poquito a Naomi, pero yo no podía parar de leer porque yo necesitaba que éstos tuvieran su HEA.

Había muchos obstáculos, dudas que resolver, por ejemplo, quien es Akira, ésta vez mi instinto no me falló.

Ahora si sabemos quién es el papá de Naomi, pequeño spoiler, si ya leyeron los libros de Rai o Adrian probablemente ya sepan.

Me gustó mucho que este libro fuera más romántico y que tuviéramos mucho angst y obviamente el final estuvo muy bueno.

Pd. Si no supiera de la existencia del libro de Nate ya lo estuviera pidiendo a gritos porque es un personaje interesante, peeeeero no lo pienso leer porque no me gustó con quien lo emparejaron.

5 Amazing stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Perfection. This book is nothing but a total perfection for me.

I have no words to describe how perfect this book truly is. I was not ready. It really took me off guard. Like OMG?! Black Thorns is absolutely amazing that I even need time to calm myself before writing this review. If I have to be honest, I think this is probably the best book that I have ever read by Rina Kent. It was 100% a masterpiece and I ended up having a breakdown over them every single hour right after I've finished it. Like seriously, my heart can't contain the amount of love that I have for Sebastian and Naomi because this couple has completely stolen my heart and soul.

Now, when we're talking about this book, I have to say that it was pretty intense. The entire journey to finish this book was like riding an emotional roller coaster ride. I can't even count the amount of times that I have to stop myself before continuing the next chapter since it was nerve-wracking. I thought Rina couldn't mess with my head anymore, but I was proven wrong. You can't imagine how nervous I was while reading this book. I couldn't even breathe properly and my heart wouldn't stop pounding. Believe me, Rina wasn't kidding when she said that this book is the angstiest book that she has ever written. As an angst lover myself, it was a total win for me. Every single emotion that was carried throughout the entire book was a *chef kiss*.

Next, the characters. Let me start by saying that I'm the biggest whor* for Sebastian Weaver. He's literally one of the best male leads that I have ever known. In this book, he is everything that I never knew I needed. Gosh, he's so sexy and the type of alpha that women wouldn't stop swooning over. Whereas for Naomi, my princess, she's my favourite. I loved how strong and selfless she really is. All the things that she would be doing in this book will make you appreciate her character even more. Not only that, even the relationship between Sebastian and Naomi in Black Thorns will make you believe in soulmatism. The unconditional love that they have for one another was captivating despite the circ*mstances that they have to endure. Moreover, even the chemistry and connection that these two shared were indescribable.

Overall, this book is the most enjoyable read for this year. It was twisted, emotional, angsty, steamy, dramatic, captivating, breathtaking and so much more. The fact that this book delivers all my top tier favourite tropes made it so much better. I couldn't ask for a better conclusion for Sebastian and Naomi. Therefore, I highly recommend for everyone to try out this book because it's absolutely worth it. Trust me, you don't want to miss this book at all.

~ ARC received in exchange for honest review ~

1.5⭐️

“We come from the same darkness that no one else in the world belongs to.”

this is an angry rant and if you get offended pls idc; also when i calm down i probably will change me rating but idk for now it stays

I thought I was gonna love this because I gave the first book 4 stars, little did I f*cking know. I loved most of rina kent’s books but this was painful. Even though I love seb with all my heart, I couldn’t stand anyone else (except for kai and all the previous characters from her other books). I give 5 stars for seb I cant stop loving him and him being in pain for 7 years f*cking hurt my soul.

I made a whole ass f*cking list of everything I hated so here it f*cking goes:
1.The timeline: 7 years pass and I have zero f*cking clue as to what is happening. Do I have to f*cking guess? I get it that we should be sitting at the edge of our seats and see through the suspense but all these new f*cking characters and relationships jump in with all that MAFIA knowledge?? I was so f*cking confused and all this literally took away from the relationship development that should have happened. I mean really the whole thing was explained at the 80% mark. Im sorry but I was dying of confusion before I finally understood something.
2.The plot change: im sorry but how tf did that change? It went from a twisted college romance to this mafia(???) sh*t that was happening in the background. Im sorry wtf?
3.Akira: creeped me tf out honestly even though that sh*t is explained at the end (I didn’t find cute it was f*cking creepy) im sorry but I was so f*cking concerned for her bc this pen-pal sh*t scares me, this bitch knows her address and half the things he said I was pissing my pants.
4.Naomi: she did all this for what? No seriously she made this whole mess and she had the AUDACITY to get pissed and defensive. I didn’t care much for her in this book honestly her character change was the worst I’ve ever read in a while. Example:

“But I never thought we’d pick up right where we left off as if nothing had happened. yes you did, you big fat liar I never thought the mere touch of his skin on mine would set my world ablaze. LMAO how f*cking naïve are you??? Of course, you knew It’s even more intense than when we were college kids.” ya and whose fault is that???? Bitch skipped out for 7 years and never explained anything

“She didn’t want me because of what I am.She wanted me because of who I am. The imperfect , flawed monster.”

This story literally broke me. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.

Naomi and Sebastian taught me so much. They are too much too handle.

So unique, so taboo and so much more.

” My beast has made me feel wanted . Important. Alive.”

I was on the edge the entire time, I couldn’t put it down . Each chapter was a new bomb I wasn’t ready for.

All the questions are finally answered and yes Rina once again played us all ! I didn’t expected all those plot twists .

But also get ready, because the names that are dropped in this book will SHOCK YOU in the best way!

“I never stopped to consider that my own Achilles heel would enable me to touch heaven even while living through hell”

This is one of the best mafia romance I’ve ever read . It has it all : the passion , the angst , the blood and the chase ( so much chasing 😏)

I won’t spoiler anything but you should definitely buckle up, because this is gonna be a crazy ride, and no one is prepared for what’s coming.

I gave this book 5 stars
my Blog

I hope you’ll enjoy it like I did!

*ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW *

Ця книга - неймовірна🖤
Від неї було неможливо відірватися. Всі сюжетні повороти мене шокували, особливо розкриття особистості таємного друга по листуванню.
Історія Себастьяна і Наомі - тепер одна з улюблених, і я обов‘язково її перечитаю🙌🏻🔥

В цій книзі більш детально розповіли і розкрили дитинство Себастьяна. І я більше зрозуміла його вчинки з минулої книги.

Загалом ця книга дуже емоційна і в ній багато подій, сюжетних поворотів - це однозначно 5/5🖤🔥
Тут присутня японська мафія, а саме «Якудза». Хто читав від Ріни Кент «Трилогію монстра», знає трішки про цей клан. І я дуже хочу книгу про Міо та Даміена🥹🖤

Primero que nada hace tiempo que no leía algo donde la protagonista me desesperara tanto, si estoy de acuerdo en lo que hizo para salvar a Sebastián pero de verdad era necesario todas las mentiras que le dijo y reveló todo hasta el final, no neta no pero bueno se queda en 4 estrellas por que aparte de ser un libro de Rina (que neta siempre me deja enganchaba con cada uno de sus libros 🤩) sus plow twist que maneja la autora y todo me fascinan que la verdad no puedo decir que no me gustó solo por ese detalle pequeñito con Naomi xd.

Pasando a Sebastián Dios Sebastián que personaje que cosas de verdad por que eso es todo lo que diré y que estoy segura que me entenderán o quedarán igual que yo.🤭🥺
Con respecto a lo de Akira ya me medio imaginaba la verdad sobre las cartas y quien era en realidad en el primer libro pero siendo sincera en este segunda parte me hizo dudar por todo lo relacionado con el otro pero al final todo tuvo sentido con él.
Esos epílogos ni se digan AMEEEEEE Rina nunca decepciona por nada del mundo con sus epílogos 😍✨.
Con respecto a Daniel y Knox no puedo esperar para leer sus historias y saber más o menos quienes y como serán sus parejas en sus libros así que haya vamos noviembre llega yaaaaa 🌟

DNF @ 50%. I just can’t. I love Rina Kent and have read almost all of her books, but this was awful. The plot is ridiculous and despite a 7 year time jump these two are still the most immature goobers and incapable of having an actual conversation.

2.5 stars

A special nuance of history and power exchange with the author's trademark mystery and anti-hero goodness, in the conclusion of Naomi and Sebastian's story, events occurred in their adult life after several years apart, so the beauty of this storyline was a bit of new adult / high school enemies to lovers and adult romantic fiction. Angst while at the same time, I didn’t care for the long separation. Not a fan of this trope, particularly for the reason it occurred in the this duet. I also wasn’t a fan of Naomi.

Sebastian continued to be a favorite character; I loved his emotional evolution, his choices, his alpha. There were welcomed appearances of characters from other stories, including Ashe and Knox. Naomi's strength of character was admirable even if I would have wanted more open communication from her. Keeping secrets or silent is a technique that while angst-inducing, I'm not fond of. Medium burn intended to immerse the reader in the events, I was more happy to read the diversity in backgrounds, Japanese cultural references, and their representation in society.

Overall, unwarrantedly slow as to lose my interest before the halfway point, manufactured conflict. The heroine’s character didn’t help. Huge kudos for embracing a non-traditional culture into this romance though. I would welcome more such creativity and diversity (ethnicity) in future works.

Review to come ♥️

This book....THIS DUET! It goes without saying, this duet was my absolute all time favorite by Rina Kent. If you thought there were twists and turns in book 1, then you really have seen NOTHING yet. The angst was turned up a notch and the steam was turned up a FEW notches.
You are going to meet some characters you hate and you are even going to meet a few new characters you will fall in LOVE with.
I loved Sebastian and Nao in Red Thorns. But in Black Thorns, it was just like a whole new type of love. I was racing towards that finish line, trying to see what would happen throughout the entire book. My heart was beating so fast, I was worried, scared, TERRIFIED if I am being honest. Rina Kent has this expert way of writing a dark romance. She just sucks you right in and the next thing you know, you have left your husband, took all of his money and are suddenly looking on the web for a man named Sebastian Weaver to spend the rest of your days with.

Black Thorns is the continuation of Sebastian and Naomi's beautiful love story. In book one it ends with a cliffhanger, and this book continues pretty quickly from where Red Thorn leaves off, and we see what happens and then we see the consequences that Naomi's choice between the conflict of her family and Sebastian and she has to make a difficult choice and then we skip ahead seven years into the future. Naomi is presently married, and Sebestian is settled into his career as a prominent lawyer and is estranged from his grandparents. He has never forgotten Naomi until she returns into his life and thus the games between them begin again. But now Sebastian is bitter because of his belief that Naomi betrayed and broke his heart when he offered her everything. But there are still secrets to be revealed and until the truth comes out into the open, there will be bitterness between them.

I know that this book especially had many mixed reviews so I wasn't sure how I would feel about it. Now there are elements of cheating here, but its much more complex of an issue than that. So once you see what Naomi's marriage is like with her husband, than you come to realize the actuality of it and its much more understanding the element of the cheating aspect and its not so black and white. But I definitely was nervous for a minute there until I knew of her marriage reality. I just wanted these two to find their HEA after all the pain and drama and difficult mountains they would have to climb.

I am definitely eager to try this much more and see what other stories she has crafted, because this one was quite unique.

Rina nunca decepciona.
Sebastian 😍

4.5 ⭐️

I don't care about what you say but I Liked the thrill and tension between them so much.

And I want Kai to have his own book I Liked his vibes.