Bad Saint book review | 2.5 star read

Bad Saint by Monica James
Goodreads

I was kidnapped on my honeymoon by three masked men. Blindfolded. Bound. Destination unknown.
I was told to stay silent and abide by their rules. But they didn’t realize I wasn’t a victim…not anymore.
The open sea was my backdrop for nine torturous days. During that time, glimmers of my fate were revealed by a man with the mysterious chartreuse-colored eyes. He should have scared me, but he didn’t.
He intrigued me. And I intrigued him.
He punished me when I didn’t listen, which was every single day. But beneath his cruelty, I sensed he was guarding a grave secret.
I was sold. And in a game of poker, no less.
My buyer? A Russian mobster who likes to collect pretty things. Now that I know the truth, I only have one choice.
Sink or swim.
And when one fateful night presents me the opportunity, I take it. I just never anticipated my actions would leave me shipwrecked with my kidnapper.
He needs me alive. I want him dead.
But as days turn into weeks, one thing becomes clear—I should hate him…but I don’t.
My name is Willow. His name is Saint.
Ironic, isn’t it? He bears a name that denotes nothing but holiness yet delivers nothing but hell. However, if this is hell on earth…God, save my soul.
**BAD SAINT is a DARK ROMANCE. It contains mature themes that might make some readers uncomfortable. It features: kidnapping, captivity, strong violence, mild language, and some dark and disturbing scenes. This twisted tale is not intended for the fainthearted. So, if you’re game…welcome to the madness.

So I have continued my romance journey. After seeing Bad Saint recommended by quite a few people, I picked it up. This book underwhelmed me, and I think I should have trusted my instincts when I first started reading. There was something about the writing style that just didn’t work for me but I pushed on hoping for something to bring it back from the brink. Unfortunately, that just didn’t happen. This book became SO unrealistic to the point where I couldn’t ignore it. The story lost me, I know romance books do err on the side of fantasy. Like nothing else could have happened to these characters because they hit every box.

Characters in Bad Saint

Bad Saint, tells the story of a young bride who is kidnapped on her honeymoon by a group of Russian men. They basically go on a journey and she sees something in one of the men that makes her trust him. My biggest issue with Bad Saint was the chemistry between the two characters. It just wasn’t developed enough to be believable, especially given the fact he was her captor. I would have loved this book more if I wasn’t constantly having to fight to find it believable. There was also nothing that was particularly interesting about either of them which was a little frustrating. Especially as we’re stuck with their POV all the way through, which does nothing for my enjoyment.

Talking about the ‘hero’, Saint. I must say that this is a dark romance and therefore Saint isn’t the hero our heroine needs. However Bad Saint was missing the redeemable factors I usually look for. Saint has nothing that drew me to him as a person. It almost felt as though it was a romance of convenience rather than having anything in common. I would have loved a little more development between the two and focus on them getting to know each other. Too much angst instead.

Good and bad bits

The good bits of Bad Saint were the setup, I actually really enjoyed the concept. I was expecting great things from the premise and I would definitely try another book like this one. One thing I did really like was Willow’s resilience all the way through the story. There was definitely no bending to the attraction straight away and there was more of a build up which was interesting.

I will say there were more bad bits than good unfortunately. I mentioned that there were moments that felt so unrealistic, and I stand by that. The parts of the story that stand out to be are the bits where I kind of scoffed at what was going on and disconnected. The complete lack of chemistry was frustrating and made worse by the lack of believability. Also there wasn’t an awful lot of smut in this one and I was so underwhelmed because there was so much buildup and no payoff.

Recommendation

I don’t think I would recommend Bad Saint unfortunately. It wasn’t what I was looking for and I don’t think it was constructed in the best way. I am still looking out for other romance books that I should try so if you have any you think I should check out then leave them below!

Have you read Bad Saint? What did you think? Do you have any favourites that are similar? Let me know!