Twisted Love by Ana Huang

Narrated by Cindy Kay and Aiden Snow

Standalone First in a Series.

Twisted Love by Ana Huang is another one of the viral, hyped-up books I’ve read this year to see if it lived up to the buzz. About half of the books I’ve tried did, but Twisted Love fell into the other half for me. To be fair, I’m not the target market, being in my fifties, but there are plenty of new adult books I’ve loved over the years.

“It’s too late for me, Sunshine. I destroy everything beautiful that comes into my life.”

Does that line sound familiar? Twisted Love reminded me of all the books that came out right after Fifty Shades of Grey. Back in 2012, 2013, these books were all the rage, and now they’re back for a younger generation. You know the type—the older, experienced, completely messed-up guy filled with red flags, and the innocent, sweet sunshine girl.

To its credit, Twisted Love sucked me in at first, but it almost felt like two different books. The first half was lighter, more like a romcom, while the second half had me wishing Ava would run far, far away from Alex and never look back. I just didn’t root for the couple.

I still love an alphahole hero, but this guy was almost a caricature. Blessed with a crazy-high IQ and a photographic memory, Alex is cursed with reliving his parents and sister’s murder because his memories never fade. At 27, he’s built a billion-dollar empire purely for revenge. He’s cold, calculating, and controlled.

Ava Chen is sunshine and light despite her own traumatic past. Her friend group was probably my favorite part of the story, and I loved their game of trying to get reactions out of the stoic Alex, who also happens to be Ava’s brother’s best friend. Well, she sure got a reaction:

”…and your pussy is mine. Every inch of you belongs to me, and if you ever let another man touch you, he’ll end up in pieces, and you’ll end up tied to my bed and fucked in every hole until my name is the only one you remember. Do you understand?”

These two went from 0-100 in the blink of an eye, and then the author told us how their relationship progressed—but she didn’t show it on the page, so I just didn’t feel it.

“I wanted her, but it wasn’t a sweet, tender kind of want. It was a dirty, ugly want, tainted by the blood on my hands and a desire to drag her out of the sunshine and into my night.”

The author seemed to try too hard to include every popular trope, as if she had a checklist and was determined to tick every box. It’s a romcom, it’s dark, it’s grumpy/sunshine, it’s traumatic pasts, it’s brother’s best friend, they’re opposites, it’s interracial, he’s morally grey, they’re neighbors, it’s a billionaire romance, and of course, he’s ridiculously powerful at 27.

The sex was hot, dirty, a little kinky, and frequent, which is part of the book’s popularity, but I didn’t find it any hotter than all those post-Fifty Shades books from over a decade ago.

Likes:

Her friend group
Hot sex scenes
An easy, entertaining read
The twist
Some exciting suspense

Dislikes:

The author told a lot of the story instead of showing it
Too many tropes
The guy’s ridiculous amount of power and connections at 27
He was too toxic and she was too immature
So many cheesy alphahole lines

The Narration:

Cindy Kay and Aiden Snow did an excellent job bringing this story to life, and I’m glad I listened instead of reading.

The Down & Dirty:

Twisted Love was an entertaining read, definitely aimed at a younger reader. If you like possessive, rich alphaholes, a little intrigue, hot sex scenes, and toxic relationships, you might enjoy this book. For me, though, it felt like it could have been written 10 years ago alongside all those post-Fifty Shades of Grey books. There was nothing fresh and new about it, and after only a week I had a hard time remembering enough to review it. I love a bodyguard romance, which is the next book in the series, Twisted Games, but I think I’ll stop here.