Twisted Love: Twisted, Book 1

Great Start to New Series
The Twisted series is well-loved and super-hyped. So when I originally started reading Twisted Love months ago, I was so disappointed in the beginning. The MMC had such a chip on his shoulder. I didn’t care for the FMC, and her “operation emotions” were childish. The story was boring, and I just wasn’t into it. I put it down and didn’t pick it back up.That is until some of my coworkers were raving about it, and I finally decided to give it another chance. I’m glad I did! Twisted Love turned out to be a super sexy, twisty love story. I had to eat my words. Once I started it (again) and got further in, I couldn’t put it down!I loved the chemistry Alex and Ava had once they got together. The way Alex could understand the struggles Ava was going through mentally and with her family. The way he cared about her, and only her… hot. I really liked Ana Huang’s writing style and the twists in the story. The spicy scenes were well-written, and I was engaged throughout the book.Now for the parts I didn’t care for. Coming in at Number 1 was the “grand gesture” at the end. It was SO cliche and so out of character for Alex. I saw it coming a mile away and was displeased while reading it. However, as most romance novels go, they are works of fiction, and you just need to roll with it. So roll on I did. The number 2 spot goes to how the end dragged on. There are two pretty big climaxes in this story, that I thought would be the end, but then I noticed I was about 60-70% in. While I’m glad Ava makes Alex work for it and doesn’t just run back into his arms, the story went on too long.Overall, I liked the writing style and the main storyline. The spicy scenes were spicy, which is what I was looking for ;). While there were some parts I didn’t care for in this book, I still want to read the rest of the series!

This man is the KING OF GROVELING
1st read: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars2nd read: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 starsAlex Volkov is an underrated twisted MMC, and no can change my mind. This man is the KING OF GROVELING. He bought her a new phone because she didn’t text him in a week 😭😭. He bought a $40,000 art piece so she’d get the commission. He helped her get over her fear of water. He gave her up willingly because we hadn’t feel worthy of her. He moved to another country without hesitation to be with Ava once he found out she was leaving. He resigned his CEO position to follow her to London, despite the fact he’s been working for that position his entire life. He groveled for AN ENTIRE YEAR. He bought her entire art collection. He sang for her even though he previously refused to sing because it made him too vulnerable to his emotions. Like come on. He’s AMAZING. He used to be as cold as ice, and only had his eyes set on revenge, until he met HER. She brought light into his life 😭😭. She helped him smile, laugh, make jokes, and helped with his insomnia. And then if you’ve read the next three books, you KNOW he gets better in each book even through the brief scenes we see of him and Ava.If I could change one thing, it would be more in depth scenes of their time together. I needed to their dates, the swimming lessons, etc rather than a brief description. Like the epilogue and bonus scene was PERFECT. We needed more of those kind of scenes.Favorite quotes/scenes:“Do you ever smile? It might help with your condition.”“What condition?”“Stickuptheassitis.”“No. The condition is chronic.”“Just take the damn cookies. You can eat them, throw them out, feed them to your pet snake Nagini, whatever.”“Did you just compare me to Voldemort?”“What? No!” Maybe.“Ooh, yes! Spnk me, master!”“I am not your master. Go away.”“She was mine. She just didn’t know it yet. I hadn’t known it myself until I saw her in Colton’s arms and every instinct raged at me to tear her away. To claim what belonged to me.”“Your current phone is clearly broken, since I haven’t received so much as a text from you in the past five days.”“Alex, the piece costs $ 40,000.”“Really? Sht.”“I’m sure we can—”“I thought it was expensive.”“I wanted every shadow of his soul and every piece of his beautiful, multilayered heart. I wanted to pour into him every drop of light I had to give until he consumed me whole. Until I was his and he was mine.”“What did I tell you? You’re mine, Sunshine. You’re never touching another man unless you want him six feet in the ground. So yes, we’re fing exclusive.”“You want to fk, we fk. You want to date, we date. You want to call me your boyfriend, I’ll call you my girlfriend.”“Tell me who or what I need to kll. What happened at your father’s house?”“I told you, nothing. It was just the lake. You can’t kll a lake.”“I’ll drain every fing lake and ocean in the world if I have to.”“I’m not an easy person to love.”“Good thing I never cared much about taking the easy road. You are cold and infuriating and, I admit, a little scary. But you are also patient and supportive and brilliant. You inspire me to chase my dreams and drive away my nightmares. You are everything I didn’t know I needed, and you make me feel safer than anyone else on the planet. What I’m trying to say—again—is, I love you, Alex Volkov. Every part of you, even the parts I want to slap.”“You are the light to my dark, Sunshine. Without you, I’m lost.”“I wanted to keep her here, safe and cherished, forever. Fk the rest of the world. It could burn for all I cared.”“That’s my girl. Hate me. Don’t cry over me. Never cry over me. I’m not worth it.” 😭😭“Because I love her! There, happy? I love her so much I would rather give her up than hurt her. But if you think I’m letting her go to another country alone, with no protection, you’ve got another think coming. Now give me her fing flight info.”“You told me once there was something beautiful waiting for me, something that would restore my faith in life. I’ve found it. It’s you.”“Leave me alone.”“I can’t do that, sweetheart. I’ll wait however long it takes, but I’ll never be okay with a world in which you’re alone.”“I never claimed to be Prince Charming, and my love isn’t a fairy-tale type of love. I’m a fed-up person with fed-up morals. I won’t write you poems or serenade you beneath the moonlight. But you are the only woman I have eyes for. Your enemies are my enemies, your friends are my friends, and if you wanted, I would burn down the world for you.”“I resigned as CEO, effective one month ago.”“What?”“I couldn’t stay on as CEO while spending all my time in London with you, so I resigned.”“You know there’s no getting rid of me now.”“That wouldn’t have happened anyway.”“Now you’re getting it.”“Alex?”“Yes, Sunshine?”“I love you.”“I love you too.”

I AM HERE for Alex Volkov any day of the year!Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Characters: ✨✨✨✨⚡️Spice :🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶Plot: Predictable but with a twist ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I was expecting light romance with a little bit of dirty talk but I what I got is so much greater.Ana built up these characters and their personal stories in a genuine and realistic manner.She didn’t waste time on describing the drapes of every room that the characters had se**gs in, instead, she put that towards looks exchanged, feelings held, secrets whispered and love made.Our MCs Ava Chen and Alex Volkov are two very different people . Yin and Yang ☯️ Light and Dark Sun and Moon and they just FIT!!It didn’t happen overnight. They didn’t see each other and fall madly in love. She was too full of light and it just blinded Alex.He stayed away because he just could not be around that much fluff and not be bored to death.That is until Josh, Ava’s brother and Alex’s best friend, asked Alex to watch over Ava.Alex was not pleased but he took advantage of the situation to further his other agendas.Alex wanted a woman that would pleasure and bend to his will and he just NEVER expected sunny Ava to be the vixen he had always dreamed of.Falling for Ava, putting her in danger and losing her was heartbreaking for me.Seeing Ava put Alex in the dog house was ABSOLUTELY necessary.I couldn’t put this book down. I wanted Alex to suffer but his suffering destroyed my heart. Ava decided she didn’t want to be pitied, she pulled up her big girl undies and went about her life. No man, not even Alex Volkov could destroy her. Many have tried but Ava Chen is not here for that nonsense anymore.I cried and I laughed but most of all I fell in love with this authors writing.I’m telling you, read this book ! If you like Colleen Hoover, Jill Shalvis, Rachel Gibson, you will love this.The secondary characters, who will have their own books, were also really strong and outgoing.I just can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“You don’t have to work overtime to get people to love you, Ava. Love isn’t earned, it’s given.”Twisted Love is a high-stakes, emotionally charged romance that brings together the best of the grumpy/sunshine and brother’s best friend tropes.It follows Ava Chen, a photography-loving free spirit with a traumatic past she cannot fully remember, and Alex Volkov, a cold, ambitious tech entrepreneur with a heart encased in ice.When Ava’s brother, Josh, temporarily leaves the country for work, he asks his best friend Alex to look out for her. What starts as reluctant proximity soon turns into something much more intense.Alex, determined never to let anyone get close, finds himself slowly unravelled by Ava’s kindness and warmth. Ava, meanwhile, is drawn to the dark mystery behind Alex’s cool exterior.As their emotional walls begin to crumble, their slow-burn chemistry builds into a passionate and all-consuming relationship. But secrets from both of their pasts begin to surface.Ava’s childhood trauma is more sinister than she ever realised, while Alex’s motivations are tangled in revenge against the people who ruined his family.The story takes a darker turn when Ava becomes the target of a stalker and is later kidnapped. The tension escalates as Alex is forced to confront the line between love and obsession, and Ava must choose whether to trust the man who both saved and deceived her.This story has so much to offer:✨ Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic✨ Slow burn tension✨ Brother’s best friend trope✨ Possessive, protective male lead✨ A strong but vulnerable heroine✨ High-stakes drama with a twist of danger✨ And yes, plenty of spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️I was gripped from the start and flew through the pages, even though I did guess one of the twists early on.Some of the dramatic turns were a bit over the top, and the ending wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste, but I still really enjoyed the journey.A solid start to the Twisted series, and I’ll definitely be picking up book two!Read more at The Secret Book Review.