R. Scarlett

Everyone, and I mean every single person I am friends with who is a fan of indie authors and the romance genre, has suggested this novella to me. Even before it released they were fawning over Nathaniel Radcliffe and gushing about R. Scarlett's portrayal of a smart female heroine who gives in to desire and lust. I apparently can't help but give in to pressure, so I picked up Filthy Gods on release day and saved it for a quiet evening. Oh. My. Gosh. I get it, after reading it all in one show more sitting, I get it.

I would be better than him. I would be stronger than him.
But I felt naked, exposed to him.

R. Scarlett has given us Filthy Gods as a prequel, setting up the stage of what is sure to be a wild ride with the three American Gods. Set over the summer with main character Juliette narrating we learn about the three Gods from the sidelines, only seeing their interactions with Juliette and her love interest, Nathaniel, right hand man to the Gods and member of the elite secret society. They are nemesis' at Yale, their debates long remembered by fellow students and the reason for Juliette's well fed hatred. She wants to hold the power he has, to be better, but she shows her cards and Nathaniel does what he does best, takes control.

I was a mess—he was perfect. Like always.

I am not, at all, a novella or prequel fan usually. I don't like the stage to be set for me early, especially in so few words when I know a full length novel is coming, but R. Scarlett hooked me in. Filthy Gods is set in the same world, but the story clearly does not fit in to the three American Gods' stories that are to come. We are given glimpses of the men, we absolutely have already picked our favorite as a reader, but we are also given a complete, complex story that engages us and absolutely tempts us to read on in order to see more from these characters we have fallen for. Juliette and Nathaniel's story is off-campus, the Yale world still foreign to us and the true power of the men not yet revealed in complete detail. I loved the roles Juliette and Nathaniel had in this novel, the power-play between them was so excellent. I really like a feisty, female heroine who is considered lower in rank, but manages to hold her own among those who do lead. Nathaniel, on the other hand, is every bit of handsome and sexy as I like. He can dirty talk with the best, but he also shows a great deal of respect for others and I appreciated it that considering his role in the secret society.

There was something untouchable, something holy and unholy about the boys. Sacred and sinful all at once. Bastards of Grace. Fame, wealth and power poured out of them. They were the things of legends and myths.

Yes, the tropes in this novel have been done before and we will continue to see them in the future, but R. Scarlett gives us something fresh. The secret society and the men's maturity are vastly different from recent similar novels that I've read. Nathaniel is powerful, rich, and sexy, but he also is loyal, hard working, smart, and respectful. He's the entire package, the bad boy girls desire and the good one they stick with. Just the taste of him and the sneak peaks we saw about the individual Gods' stories was enough to suck me in. I can't wait to see how Gabe, James, and Arsen are similar and different. As for Juliette, she is excellent and this novella was the perfect length for both her downfall and her rise from the ashes, because boy did that girl end up with the true power. I highly suggest Filthy Gods and cannot wait for the remaining novels in the American Gods series to release. show less

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 STARS
ARC REVIEW BOOK
Release Date-8/3/18

So this is my first book by R. Scarlett and I'm definitely an instant fan, loved When Sinners Kneel like so much.
I will definitely be reading her other books.
So this is set in the Blackest Gold world and if you've read these books you'll understand, if not I will give you a little rundown into the scene here.
So Demons inhabit this world mixing amongst the Humans.
There are rules they have to live and abide by and there is also a show more hierarchy in place among them.
So "When Sinners Kneel," tells the story of Beau Knight, Incubus and the disgraced knight brother who has fallen far from grace and currently spends a great deal of his time at the pit, in the ring fighting.
And also Lex Harvey, Friend to Beau's brother and a Souleater demon, who ventures there to try and locate her missing friend last known whereabouts The Pitt.
So much to Beau's disgust, after he rescues Lex and returns her to his brother she then takes a job to investigate her friend's disappearance putting the two in close proximity to each other.
So as I said earlier I adored this and literally devoured every word.
This was so imaginative and the world so well thought out it didn't take me long to lose myself here.
Both main characters were fascinating and so very likeable just in different fashions.
Lex, I felt for her she may have been only eighteen in years but in life experience and wisdom she was aeons.
She'd had such a shitty break-in life and she was a bundle of contradictions able to take care of herself on the one hand but at the same time wanted someone to also take the time to care and not to leave her as had been happening all of her life.
Beau or Savage as he goes by at the Pitt.
Has been in a dark place for a while and with Lex's introduction into his space things start to seriously look up for him.
Though his soul is still damaged and dark from his past Lex seems to lighten things for him.
Two polar opposites on paper, who have much more in common than they thought.
So, There were some interesting secondary characters here, not many this was a bit light overall on them, but there were some to pep things up a bit.
This also wasn't that hot on the spice level, if I'm honest I would have liked a bit more in this department, just a tad, after all, Beau was an incubus so I would have liked him to deliver.
What else, Well this also wasn't major angsty, but there was still plenty of action and thrills to keep me captivated and invested as a reader.
So this actually would have been a full five stars for me my only small niggles were.

The lack of explanation over if Beau had O/W when they were apart after all he was a sex demon and also the break, I wasn't a huge fan of this either

Only small niggles and this probably wouldn't be an issue for most, I still found this to be a fantastic read that I can't recommend enough.
I was provided with an ARC of "When Sinners Kneel (Blackest Gold World #1)" By the author of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 STARS
ARC REVIEW BOOK
Release Date-8/3/18

So this is my first book by R. Scarlett and I'm definitely an instant fan, loved When Sinners Kneel like so much.
I will definitely be reading her other books.
So this is set in the Blackest Gold world and if you've read these books you'll understand, if not I will give you a little rundown into the scene here.
So Demons inhabit this world mixing amongst the Humans.
There are rules they have to live and abide by and there is also a show more hierarchy in place among them.
So "When Sinners Kneel," tells the story of Beau Knight, Incubus and the disgraced knight brother who has fallen far from grace and currently spends a great deal of his time at the pit, in the ring fighting.
And also Lex Harvey, Friend to Beau's brother and a Souleater demon, who ventures there to try and locate her missing friend last known whereabouts The Pitt.
So much to Beau's disgust, after he rescues Lex and returns her to his brother she then takes a job to investigate her friend's disappearance putting the two in close proximity to each other.
So as I said earlier I adored this and literally devoured every word.
This was so imaginative and the world so well thought out it didn't take me long to lose myself here.
Both main characters were fascinating and so very likeable just in different fashions.
Lex, I felt for her she may have been only eighteen in years but in life experience and wisdom she was aeons.
She'd had such a shitty break-in life and she was a bundle of contradictions able to take care of herself on the one hand but at the same time wanted someone to also take the time to care and not to leave her as had been happening all of her life.
Beau or Savage as he goes by at the Pitt.
Has been in a dark place for a while and with Lex's introduction into his space things start to seriously look up for him.
Though his soul is still damaged and dark from his past Lex seems to lighten things for him.
Two polar opposites on paper, who have much more in common than they thought.
So, There were some interesting secondary characters here, not many this was a bit light overall on them, but there were some to pep things up a bit.
This also wasn't that hot on the spice level, if I'm honest I would have liked a bit more in this department, just a tad, after all, Beau was an incubus so I would have liked him to deliver.
What else, Well this also wasn't major angsty, but there was still plenty of action and thrills to keep me captivated and invested as a reader.
So this actually would have been a full five stars for me my only small niggles were.

The lack of explanation over if Beau had O/W when they were apart after all he was a sex demon and also the break, I wasn't a huge fan of this either

Only small niggles and this probably wouldn't be an issue for most, I still found this to be a fantastic read that I can't recommend enough.
I was provided with an ARC of "When Sinners Kneel (Blackest Gold World #1)" By the author of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm.
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️STARS.
ARC BOOK REVIEW
Release Date-6/5/18

"Filthy Gods" By R Scarlett was a very enjoyable New-Adult romance that ticked all my boxes.
It was an easy read told from Juliette's POV and tell the story of Nathaniel and Juliette when they happen to collide one summer when on break from Yale where they both attend school.
So, Juliette takes a job as a maid at a prestigious old school country club for the summer.
unbeknown to herself Nathaniel's Mother is her new boss and after show more discovering Juliette working at his family's business Nathaniel offers Juliette an arrangement; he will keep her financial situation a secret but in return, he wants them both to explore the attraction further that currently sizzles between them both.
Setting in motion a summer of sneaking around and discovery between our two young lovers from opposite backgrounds.
So despite the blurb here I found this one to be quite low angst; this seemed to have more of a rom-com vibe to it than the blurb here actually suggests.
The enemy feeling here is very shortlived; especially as I get the impression it was more one-sided.
"Filthy Gods" gave the overall effect that it was Juliette with the main beef and Nathaniel was frankly a tad oblivious in my opinion to the whole thing.
He actually saw Juliette as a fantastic debate opponent and liked the fire she directed his way.
There was no animosity from his direction at all.
And that heat is not just kept to the classroom as both Juliette and Nathaniel proceed all summer to dial up the heat here by a few hundred notches.
This has very few secondary characters; mainly just relying on our main duo to hook and keep its reader.
And they do manage to do a fantastic job of that all by themselves; no aide needed here.
Despite being somewhat predictable in places I still found "Filthy Gods" to be such a positive reading experience.
I consumed this in one sitting and am happy to recommend this fun sexy story to my fellow romance readers.
Thank You to the Author for providing me with an ARC of "Filthy Gods (American Gods 0.5)" of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com show less