She's become my obsession. I hate her for it. I took her for another reason. But now? Now I don't think I'll let her go.
Cole
Jayden brought us home a pretty, murderous little plaything. I think I'm going to keep it.
Mary Jo
I'm kidnapped by two twisted, dangerous, and hungry men. I don't know any of the rules to this fucked up game I'm forced to play. Well, I know I'm not allowed to run. I've never been good at following rules. They play with my body and mind, forcing me to join in. Forcing me to like it. But things become increasingly dangerous when I find out the real reason they took me. And it becomes more and more apparent what I need to do to keep both my body and my heart safe...run.
Better Run is part of the Run and Hide Duet. It is a Stolkhome "romance." There is dark and disturbing content. Please check author's page for details. Content not suitable for those under 18.
This one is for the girls who said Haunting Adeline wasn’t dirty or dark enough. 🥲
If you like the following, this is for you (ya nasty):
🖤ѹ 🖤ٳܲ-Dz/䱷 🖤Rope play 🖤Knife play 🖤Morally BLACK men 🖤岵Բ 🖤ճ 🖤Revenge filled angsty plot 🖤Primal Play 🖤Psycho Stalker MMC’s (YES MORE THAN ONE) 🖤Touch her and you ☠️
Seriously questioning the ppl who gave this 5 stars. This is like if dark romance was written by a 15 yr old on wattpad who watched 365 days and thought she could be the next H.D Carlton. Don't even get me started on them fucking her with a god damn glass spice shaker full of onion powder 😃🧂
“I love it when you fight me, kitten. Your hatred gives me life."
4/5� 4/5🌶�
What a rollercoaster of a book.This was dark, twisted and very spicy. A kidnapper romance with unstoppable banter and clashes between the mmcs and the fmc. Or well� this isn't romance. At least not in the usual, convenient way. Perhaps it could be called a deranged shadow of a romance, with a fulfilled feeling of belonging and a pulling chemistry. But there’s nothing sweet about it, nor is it an ordinary HEA.
The characters were surely insane to their very core. Especially the mmcs, Jay and Cole. They were plainly depraved and completely unhinged. Broken moral compass, dripping with danger and darkness, they were an addictive dilemma that I wanted to consume. Even despite their depravity, there were soft edges and caresses that actually surprised me. It’s their twistness but also duality between an unforgiving darkness and a hidden agony, that made me love their povs the most.
Mary Jo was another mc with multiple angles. She was certainly naive, twisted in her own way and angry to the very core. I loved how she fought all the way to the very end, how she barely bowed and stood by her beliefs.
The pace was fast, the plot was interesting, with many questions hanging throughout the book. The ending felt a bit rushed for me and I hoped to know the characters' past a little more. The mmcs are morally black but there is an intention to make the readers sympathize with them� at least on a ceratin level. It could have worked better if there was more depth in their past.
For a debut novel, Alina did a great job with this wild story and even more wild characters.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free for an honest ARC review!
From the start of just chapter one I knew I was in for a tough read. I truly wanted to DNF after a couple of pages but I pushed through till 50% and seriously couldn’t continue� the story was underdeveloped, the kinks should have been researched more throughly they just felt more so googled instead of asking about the community, everything felt as a basic start of a story not a finished book. The smut part of the story was more so told instead of described, the characters I couldn’t connect with any of them, timeline was moving all over the place even though I think it was happening everyday or weekly� I’m not sure though nothing was clear on timeline.
I just couldn’t imagine what was happening, I couldn’t SEE the story. The lack of detail in the overall book needs to be reworked. Subpar smut, basic MC’s, and lack luster plot.
4.5 ⭐️ Dark and spicy with all the triggers. Jayden and Cole are morally black so if you like books with men who have redeemable qualities this may not be for you.
They are the perfect blend of unhinged psychos who take Mary and keep her at their cabin. Mary struggles with the idea that she is being held against her will but also wants to be there at the same time. We have some primal, some knife play, a few good girls sprinkled about and so much more! I think my only complaint is that I wish the book was longer! I didn’t want it to end!
It felt more like the start of a story and not a fully fleshed out book. It needed a deeper dive into the characters motivations and backgrounds. Ultimately, the FMC didn’t work for me. There wasn’t enough to buy into. The smut was mediocre. It needed more descriptive show and less tell.
It’s not terrible if you want a quick, dirty read. The potential is there it’s just a bit unmet.
Firstly I wanna say this book really could have worked. There was loads of potential. But for me there were 2 main things that just really didn’t work and thus the book just wasnt as good as it could have been.
My first issue is I couldn’t STAND the FMC! She didn’t use an ounce of logic, she irritated in almost every scene. I think the only thing I liked about her was that she managed to make basic ramen fancy. That’s it!
Then the other big issue is that for how much happened and the pacing of it, the book was too short. By the time it was about 85% through it felt like that should have only been the 50% mark. Things needed to have happened quicker or the book would need to be longer. But how it was, it just didn’t make sense. Due to that it also felt like there were several plot points and events that either needed to be taken out or actually explained.
I also felt like the reason why he picked her wasn’t strong enough either. It would have made more sense if he’d say know her as a child - was the only light in his dark world but then he got taken away. And that Sage knew this and used her for that purpose. THAT would have made more sense to me.
It’s just a shame as there really would have been potential with this, but it just sadly didn’t quite do it for me.
This book was a disaster. If I was capable of DNFing I would have. I had to see how the author ended it, and it was a waste of time. Reading this book actually put me in a bad mood.
This book was just DELICIOUS!!! we have Mary Jo, who's kinda a YouTube star who films her cooking videos and lives with her boyfriend she has an okay life boring but okay. Little did she know she's being watched by someone and when she went to bed boom! She's kidnapped and taken to a cabin in the woods. She's confused about what is happening. This guy is mysterious, and he wants to hurt her ;) her filthy fantasies are coming to life, but she tries to hide it. She tries to escape many times, and she's punished. Enter another man, Cole, who she thinks would save her, but doesn't he's part of the plan. Being used and fucked so well she's having problems. And she still doesn't know why she's taken.
Until it slowly comes to light when they kidnap another person a woman. And when Jo finally gets answers everything clicks into place why she was taken. She fights with the guys and tries to get them to go easy on the other prisoner.
But these guys show no mercy to anyone well maybe just her. We do get a HFN I wish we got a Epilogue 😫😫😫
Low angst, Tiny om/ow drama, drama, sexy times, no virgins
Recommend-maybe DZ-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heat level-🌶🌶🌶.5
Slowburn 29h/30sH MFM MF Impact play Push away from h Choking Knife play Blood play Somnophilia Bondage Non-consent Object play CNC Masturbation Primal play Scarification Mask play Orgasm denial Exhibitionism Voyeurism Spitting Degradation Praise Anal Breeding Miscarriage Other Woman Drama Sexual assault involving juveniles (mentioned, not explicit) Murder Violence Drug use Mention of defiling a corpse HFN
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Deliciously non-con with lots of primal play. Definitely check the TW on this one 😈 I am obsessed with Cole and his playfulness, he was a nice contrast to the brooding Jayce� or should I say “Master� and “Sir�? 🧎🏻♀️I definitely feel like Jo has Stockholm Syndrome, cause same. I would have been killed cause I was too willing 🤣😮� I like my books dark and twisty and this was blissfully perfect! So glad to get the chance to read this ARC before it’s release, I cannot wait to read more from Alina May 😍
literally the fastest book we’ve ever read for classic clit book club and like a train wreck it was horrible but you just couldn’t look away???? Def spicy but wtf was that
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free directly from the author, and am voluntarily leaving my honest thoughts. Many thanks for the opportunity!
This is definitely a pretty solid debut from Alina, and the strongest parts of Better Run was obviously and absolutely the stalker and pitch black dark romance aspects of this. The spice, kinks present, non-con and dirty talk was overall well-executed. The thing that was missing for me was the buildup of the heart of it all. I love the obsession, possession, and literally no holds barred when it came to the lengths to which guys wanted to use and keep her, but it would've been nice to get some more depth and buildup to their relationship overall, and more into all of their backgrounds. We get some details, but not enough for me to feel more invested (nor to really buy into Mary Jo's investment either).
But all that said, I couldn't put it down and I read it one sitting. I'll definitely try out Alina's next title as well and hope it's just as dark!
The trigger warnings for this one.. holy crap! Did they scare me away? Not in the slightest! This was definitely a dark book, not so much romance, but dark spice indeed. The back story behind it was excellent and really well written. I loved all of characters and how it switched between each ones POV. It really held my interest throughout! Definitely a quick and easy read, but please check your trigger warnings before reading!
If you are thinking about reading something like this, definitely check your trigger warnings because this was a lot! The story is there, but the execution of it did need some work. I think some more background might have helped this along as well. However, for what it is, it is sufficient as!
�2.5/5! I really wanted a dark dark romance and someone recommended this� I didn’t think it was dark just that the two MMC needed to be in prison ASAP! It was definitely something tho
I think I finally found my niche in the dark romance world. But first a few words on the book in general:
99% of dark romance books have NO plot whatsoever other than 200 different ways to have sex. Seriously, they excel in creativity on that matter but do not try to compare them to serious novels. Dark romance will lose. If you consider that and don‘t expect to be reading a real, well-written, intellectually challenging or enhancing book, this is a read-in-one-sitting.
PLOT As I said, no plot here. Just smut. There‘s even a few hints at tragic backgrounds that never get clarified. What happened to Jayden and Cole? There would’ve bern potential for police threatening to find Mary Jo, an inner turmoil in her whether to stay with the boys or make a run for it. But of course, dark romance authors usually don‘t have the literary skills to think that advanced. Except H.D. Carlton but she‘s also the unmatched Stephen King of dark romance authors. Apart from that - the smut is so good! It‘s the essence of acting like you don’t like it even though you do and I love it. If I had to fetish tag it I‘d probably go with prey/predator and dom/brat.
JAYDEN AND COLE They were dreamy. Those two surely aren’t Prince Charming but oh boy, did they know how to handle Mary Jo. They go well together, too, Jayden being the brooding dark guy and Cold the more cheerful one that‘s also funnily enough the one to be more into knife play. Whereas Jayden is the accomplished brat tamer, a dom in all the right ways.
MARY JO I‘ll call her Mary Jo because even though she wants to go as Jo, Jayden calls her Mary. I liked the fight in her. Thinking of running every minute and using every opportunity to. At the same time she grows used to the boys but here‘s the problem: her character development is either not mentioned at all or happens in one snap. You don‘t see her slowly starting to like the boys, no, all of a sudden she just � does. Also with her putting of sooo much of a fight she‘s really quick to open her mouth when ordered.
The plot was shit. There’s not much else to say on that matter. But who can be surprised when almost all dark romance „authors� fail to think beyond dicking time? They really just want to write out their own fantasies and put a bit of „plot� around it like sprinkles or a ribbon so it looks better.
But if you keep that in mind and you read the book with that in mind - holly moly. Thank you, I want more subgenres like that.
The plot needs some more depth to it, still so many questions about the men’s past, we were only given tidbits and no details at all really, but otherwise I truly enjoyed it.
I cannot believe that ending, I knew it was bound to happen but I’m still shocked!
Overall this book kept you on the edge of your seat, so many twists and turns that kept you wanting to read more. I loved how the characters had distinct personalities and traits.
Silently obsessed with cole 🤫
Congrats Alina! Thanks for allowing me to enjoy this ARC🖤
Well dang. This little dark romance thriller packs a punch. And the illustrations in the book are amazing.
The plot doesn’t get lost in the spice. And the spice is right up there for the dark stuff i live for. The plot is very right there. You meet Jo and you can already tell this girl, well she might be complacent right now but she got a head on her shoulders. When you meet J and C � well the whole world goes a little wonky but in the best way.
Gives all the stalker, primal, dark, obsessive vibes and more. I won’t ruin an ounce of it but can easily say it has cemented a spot on my trophy shelf and will be a recommendation to anyone who will listen.
ARC REVIEW This was an awesome read. The plot has lots of twists and turns. It’s dark and interesting. It’s hot if you’re into all the trigger warnings like me. Make sure you check them so you don’t complain about them later. It’s a DARK kidnapping romance. There’s a ton of smut. Which is never a bad thing. I love the journey the fmc goes on mentally with accepting herself but still never giving up her fire. The mmcs are hot. Possessive. Protective and of course, morally grey. Which all of us dark romance girlies love.
Other than the sex scenes, this book is nothing but glorification of abuse. The fmc thinks with her cunt and the mcs are irredeemable. Both better run and better hide have only the hot as fuck sex scenes that make it a bit better than garbage, but glorification of abuse and excusing abuse and force because of past traumas and leaky cunt is just pathetic work.
I was so excited for this but it fell short in nearly every way for me. I got to 60% and skimmed the rest because it got so repetitive. I thought there would be some character development but they were all bland and irritating.
I am not going to lie. This is not for the faint hearted at all. It’s brutal and is leaving me questioning my sanity. But I really did enjoy this book. I want more inside of Jay and Cole’s mind