The Dirty Bargain by Lylah James & Cora Reilly

*ARC received for an honest review *

I was really excited for this short story when Cora Reilly, one of my favourite author announced it in her Facebook group with Collaboration with Lylah James. I read it a year ago. It was my first work of Lylah I was introduced to n I was really intrigued by her writing & later after reading her other works made her one of the favourite author.

This book was really good. And the characters were interesting and had my attention since the prologue itself.

Talia was introduced in Bound by Vengeance, the 5th book of the Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles as Carla's younger sister & the cousin of Luca Vitiello, the Capo of the New York Famiglia.
She was really strong after everything she went through & was ready to go to any level to get revenge against someone that hurt her n her family. She goes into the enemy territory, the Bratvas in search of a hitman named Killer in order to get her revenge.

Killer was a ruthless Russian assassin with a dark past. He was cold & closed off towards everyone. But after he met Talia, he started opening up a bit n his softer side started coming into existence.

Talia n Killer were so cute n sweet. They had insane chemistry since their first encounter n before they even said one word to each other. Even though Killer is a dangerous man, he made sure Talia was comfortable & was protective of her.

I was happy that some of my favourite BIBMC characters made an appearance.

The only cons of this is that it was really short & the last chapters including the ending was rushed.

Otherwise it was an easy read. And the combination of this two writers was

Short dark romance stories and glimpses into upcoming stories co-written by some of the stars of the genre you say? All contained in one anthology you say? I say yes please and gimmie. This was an absolute dream to read. The stories in this anthology are so delicious and dark I want full length versions of all of them. But as with most things, I have my favourites. Of this collection it's Stalker, Collateral and Mr Foster, which if they was full length would be getting 6 stars each from me. There's not really a weak entry in this collections so snap it up while you can. I volunteered to read and review an early copy of this. All opinions are my own.

ARC provided for honest review.

The Dirty Bargain is dark and steamy novella by Lylah James and Cora Reilly. I knew Talia from Bound by Vengeance back then and I was excited to read her story! As the continuation from BBV, Talia wanted to take revenge on the bad guy who hurt her and she needed help in doing so. The only way is by asking for Killer. But she faced some struggles since she didn't have much money to pay him, thus, she paid him in another way.

From the first time that they met, they already had chemistry when their eyes met each other. I also love that Killer couldn't help but go soft on Talia. Also, the ending isn't what I expected honestly. All in all, this story is interesting and I enjoyed them.

Loved 99% of the stories. Would recommend.

quite the anthology to say the least

ARC provided for honest review.

The Dirty Bargain is dark and steamy novella by Lylah James and Cora Reilly. I knew Talia from Bound by Vengeance back then and I was excited to read her story! As the continuation from BBV, Talia wanted to take revenge on the bad guy who hurt her and she needed help in doing so. The only way is by asking for Killer. But she faced some struggles since she didn't have much money to pay him, thus, she paid him in another way.

From the first time that they met, they already had chemistry when their eyes met each other. I also love that Killer couldn't help but go soft on Talia. Also, the ending isn't what I expected honestly. All in all, this story is interesting and I enjoyed them.

The Dirty Bargain by Cora Reilly and Lylah James

ARC Review

I know a bit late to this and writing a review but it did take me a while to read all of the stories in it. There's a general rating that I've given it but in my review, I'll be reviewing and rating each story. Most of the stories in this anthology were really good which I'm not going to lie, kind of surprised me. I was a bit scared that this anthology wasn't going to be good or just meet half of my expectations but honestly I was completely wrong, everything was phenomenal. There are 16 authors and 10 books in this anthology but there are some that are a bit lengthy, some short, and others were just previews of books that will be coming out soon.

1. Sold to the Highest Bidder by Aleatha Romig & Skye Warren - ★★★★

This story was so freaking good but I hated how rushed it was at the end and the fact that they cut it off right when it was getting good. The build-up was really good but there weren’t any sex scenes just if anyone cared. This was a really interesting plot since it's about Curtis and Briana, a married couple going to a private island where rich people go in order to make more money. However, Curtis leaves out that Briana will have to auction herself up in order to make the money they need. In comes Cameron, Curtis' brother who's always had a crush on Briana, and bids on her.
There wasn't much after that and I really wish that there was more.

2. Stalker by A. Jade & A. Zavarelli - ★★★★

This story was quite good and really got me hooked from beginning to end. It was just an interesting connection that these two had and the ending was kind of funny since it’s quite unexpected.

Trigger Warning:
- stalking (not too extreme)
-recording without consent

3. Poisoned Heart by Parker S. Huntington & Giana Darling - ★★★★★

HOLY SHIT THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I absolutely loved this story. It made me feel anxious, excited, and nervous while reading it. It was a bit of suspense and honestly, I loved it from beginning to end. I wish we got to see more after they reunited but I loved the ending and think it was perfect for them. I feel like this was a bit of a Romeo and Juliet retelling because Frankie and Lily come from rival families but Frankie is ordered to ruin Lily. This story was just so good and you have to go read it!

4. The Dirty Bargain by Lylah James & Cora Reilly - ★★★★★

I’ve been wanting to read this story for so long and OMG it was so good, Lylah and Cora did such a good job with this. the ending really screams Lylah because only she would give me a mini heart attack when reading especially with that ending. This was honestly such a good story and I love this trope (have to kill her but I can’t). It was truly phenomenal.

5. Mr. Foster by K. Webster & Sam Mariano - ★★★★★

This was such a nice sexy read, and I absolutely loved the tropes. The tropes involved are office romance, age gap, and dad's best friend. It was a bit rushed at the end but it wasn’t too bad to wrap up the story. It was honestly such a good story especially if you want something quick and smutty. I don't think that the age gap was too big from what I remember.

6. Not a Dirty Little Secret by Giana Darling & Sierra Simone - ★★★★★

I DIDNT KNOW THERE WAS AN MM STORY IN HERE!! This story was so good and the ending was so cute. This book hit a bit close to home because I don’t see a lot of pansexual representation when it comes to books and although it was in a different gender, it was still there. I loved Tobias and James' story, it was beautiful from beginning to end. Also, just the whole aspect of this story was perfect and I really think you should all read it. If this was a novel, it would definitely be my favorite read of all time.

7. Her Christmas Present by Jade West & Lucia Franco - ★★★★★

This story might not be for everyone because it’s a student-teacher and it pushes on taboo. The heroine is 18 which I really enjoyed because I really hate when they’re minors and the hero wasn’t some weird perv. Anyway, this story was really interesting and I loved how smutty it was.

8. Forbidden Flaws by Pepper Winters - ★★★

It was hard to get into this one especially with the beginning but once I got to the third chapter I started getting into it. The pace is kind of slow but I did enjoy it. I feel like this was more of a mystery because I honestly didn’t understand the ending but the fact that she left. I just wish we learned more about them both.

9. With This Ring by Natasha Knight - ★★★★★

This was just a preview of the book that's from a duology and both books have already come out. I’ll definitely be checking it out after and I really like where the story is getting at. I really like how just the beginning chapters got me easily hooked. This is about Cristiano who's getting revenge on Scarlett and her family because they killed his family but it seems that he can't kill her. It ended right when it was getting good and I'm so excited to continue with this book.


10. Tyrant Stalker by Isabella Starling - ★

I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy an Isabella Starling book, this preview just wasn’t for me and I’m not really surprised. I don’t like stories when the “Hero” physical hurts the heroine whether that’s in the past or present. I wasn’t captivated from the beginning so I’m sure I won’t be picking this up. If you do pick up this book please look at the trigger warnings beforehand. There are some that I picked up while reading it.

Trigger Warnings:
-Stalking
-Eating disorder

my god this book felt like it had no end, i have no idea how I managed to keep reading it until I finished.

maybe it's bc there are many stories so, that gave me little bit of hope that if I didn't like this one, the next could be better

still idk why but I struggled to read most of the stories, and that's kind of.. weird? bc I have read things like this before so it's not like I didn't saw it coming.
some of them were okay, and the other were just–plain no.

i was going to rate this 1 star but some of the stores weren't that bad so yeah

Tales of Darkness and Sin is a collection of quick reads guaranteed to have the reader hooked. There is a nice variety in this one, ensuring there is something for everyone. I’ll be honest and say some of the stories weren’t quite for me, but it was certainly an addictive collection.

Sold to the Highest Bidder by Aleatha Roming and Skye Warren was a one-star read. I’ll be honest and say I’m not the biggest fan of either of these authors, as I find their writing styles are not for me. It is no surprise I was not crazy about this one. Although there were some interesting moments, it ended to abruptly for me to give it the two-star rating some of the moments deserved. Added with the fact the perspectives were written in different tenses, and this was a jarring read.

Stalker by A. Jade and A. Zwarelli was a three-star read. This was such a fun quick read, one that hooked me right away and ensured I could not put it down. There were some four-star moments with this one, but I felt the end was a little bit too easy for me to round it up. It certainly had me hooked, though.

Poisoned Hearts by Parker S. Huntington and Giana Darling was a four-star read. This was an incredibly addictive read, one I could not get enough of. There was more packed into it than expected, and I adored the way things developed. Each new detail packed a harder punch than the last, and I could not put myself away from the story.

Collateral Hearts by S.M. Sotto and K. Webster was a four-star read. This was another addictive read that I could not pull myself away from. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t as in love with the ending as I had hoped to be, as it felt a little bit on the rushed side, but it did not take away from how gripping the tale was.

Dirty Bargain by Lylah James and Cora Reilly was a three-star read. This was one that had me conflicted. There were some four-star moments, but I never quite felt the connection between the characters that I had hoped for. Their story was interesting, but without the intense connection I couldn’t quite bring myself to round my rating up. It was, however, another gripping tale.

Mr. Foster by K. Webster and Sam Mariano was a four-star read. This was a lighter tale than the prior ones, but it was just as addictive. I fell for the characters with ease and could not get enough of the way things developed. The side elements of the story were resolved a little too easily, but it did not take away from the romance of the story.

Not a Dirty Little Secret by Giana Darling and Sierra Simone was a four-star rating. This was such an addictive read, one that I could not get enough of. I adored the characters and their story, loved the way things were handled throughout, and adored that there was quite a bit of sweetness mixed in with the steam. It’s easily one of my favourites in the collection.

Her Christmas Present by Jade West and Lucia Franco was a three-star rating. This one had me conflicted. There were some four-star moments in this one, but I always feel a bit iffy when reading student-teacher stories when the student is still at school. At university level, it’s different. School, for me, is iffy. Although it had me hooked, I couldn’t quite get over that fact. I’m sure it’ll work for many, but it wasn’t quite to my taste.

Forbidden Flaws by Pepper Winters was a three-star rating. This was another that had me conflicted. In truth, this was a three-point-five-star read. There were some four-star moments, but things were left too open for me. If there is a continuation of the story, I’ll certainly be reading it. As a standalone story, I would have liked things to have been less open in the end.

All in all, these stories were addictive and offered a bit of everything. I had clear favourites, but I can certain see how each story appeals.