The Sins of Silas by. Kylie Snow | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: Sins of Silas (The Otacian Chronicles, #2)

Author: Kylie Snow

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 784

Publication Date: 9/18/25

Categories: Romantasy, Dark Romance, Series, LGBT+

A SECRET MAGE. A VENEGEFUL PRINCE.
WILL FORBIDDEN LOVE UNITE THE REALM – OR BURN IT DOWN…
*please check trigger warnings before diving in

Five years ago, Silas La’Rune lost his mother, his home and his love, Lena Daelyra. Grief turned into rage, and rage to purpose. Now known as the Slayer of Witches, Silas wages a brutal campaign against Magekind. But during a raid on a Mage village, he finds Lena alive, hiding a secret darker than she is a Mage herself. Torn between fury and forbidden desire, Silas can’t help but show mercy when faced with the eyes of his lost love.

Amid a Kingdom on the brink of war, with no one else to turn to, the pair form a fragile alliance to to topple the tyrant King of Otacia – Silas’ own father, Ulric La-Rune. Yet another shadow looms, a rising necromancer is
beginning to terrorise the land they once called home.

Forced to hide their past, every stolen glance reignites a fire they cannot tame. As rebellion ignites and old loyalties fray, Silas can’t decide what will destroy him her lies or his sins…

Content Warning: death, violence, torture, rape, cheating

I really don’t like the original book covers for this series but so far the story is addicting. It’s filled with tropes and so many ridiculous situations happening all at once, it’s entertaining and comical at times, it’s hard to put down. It’s SO messy.

Silas and Lena are now teamed up as allies, trying to find more allies in neighboring kingdoms so that they can find this mysterious Necromancer and also put an end to the reign of Silas’ father who is an awful king. But in between all the searching for allies, and trying to figure out this mystery about the Gods and prophecies – there is SO much relationship drama.

I was like this most of the time. 🫢 Because I’d be reading something and then something crazy would happen or some random information would drop. I would even start laughing because of all the whiplash in this story! It’s one after the other and it’s entertaining as heck.

Silas and Lena are Soul-Ties (fated mates) and clearly are trying to stay away from another and be with other people but we know and almost every character in the book knows – they want one another. Silas is married so he’s trying to keep up a front and and then there is Lena who is itching to get with Roland, until Torrin comes along too and she wants him as well. This woman….wants them all! And the spice? It’s got all the smut for the smut lovers out there. Threesome anyone? Like love triangle what? Why stop at a triangle huh? 🤣. My eyes were like this 😳.

Honestly, I just wanted Silas and Lena to talk things out. And they eventually do and it’s a loaded talk, more trauma, more secrets we didn’t even know, torture that Silas endured. But why is there now more than one rape scene in this series? Is the darkness really necessary when we have enough relationship drama going on? It just seems so out of place in both books and just feels like it’s thrown in for shock value.

There are other relationships going on like with Merrick and his lady problems.

The one thing I do enjoy about this series is the found family. I love the side characters like Merrick, Torrin, Elowen, Viola, and Dani.

I also like how the world opened up and humans and mages meet the warlocks. But again the story takes on a wild turn near the end, like a cell phone shows up – so now there are going to be portals huh? I don’t know if I can take anymore of it but the ending was crazy and ends in a cliffhanger.

Final Thoughts:

The writing is not really for me but it’s easy to consume and the story is entertaining and messy. The world building is still not the best. Do I like Lena hooking up with everyone in front of Silas, nope because aren’t they Soul-Ties? Or are we going for Why Choose? Because that could work if Silas was down with it. 😅 I’m reading this series for the drama! It’s messy as hell and I need to see what happens in book three with Silas but I hope it ends at three books because I don’t think I can take anymore. 😆

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

The Lies of Lena by. Kylie Snow (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

My Blade, Your Back by. K.M. Moronova | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: My Blade, Your Back (Dark Forces, #2)

Author: K.M. Moronova

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 378

Publication Date: 12/9/25

Categories: Dark Romance, Series, Military Romance

Broken. Lost. Unforgiven.

One month after surviving the Under Trials, Emery Maves finds herself in a world she doesn’t recognize―with a man whose cold eyes are haunted by secrets she can’t remember. Stripped of her memories, Emery is tormented by dreams of danger, death, and deceit. The only constant is the lure of the experimental drug that shatters her mind but leaves her almost invincible―and the dangerous pull of the man called Mori.

Cameron Mortem is fighting a battle he thought he’d already lost. He knows letting Emery in could destroy them both, but her amnesia is a curse neither of them can outrun. Forced together on a high-stakes level black mission that goes disastrously wrong, they find themselves thrust deeply into the underworld of the black market with an unexpected foe.

But as old scars are torn open and hidden plots unravel, Emery discovers she’s more tangled in this world than she ever imagined. And Cameron will have to face the one person he fears most: himself.

Loyalties will be tested. Secrets will be weaponized. Their bond―once forged in blood―may be the only thing that can save them. If they don’t lose themselves first.

Content Warning: death, violence, torture, drug use, amnesia

This is book two in the Dark Forces duology and I just read book one Your Knife, My Heart, just a few weeks ago so it was nice that this one released right after.

I had a few expectations from this book. I wanted to know more about Emery’s life before the military, and we do get that in this sequel, but I feel like we don’t get it until almost halfway into the book. Emery has amnesia, which isn’t my favorite trope, but I really wanted to see her and her family to come in contact earlier in the book. The first half of this book is Emery not remembering Cameron, and integrating herself into the Dark Forces. It was nice to meet the squad though. But I was losing interest in Emery and Cameron’s story.

Things do pick up once Reed comes into the picture and we get a taste of how ruthless Emery’s dad is, giving us a glimpse into how her life before Dark Forces. Reed was an interesting character and there is a twist in the story.

As for the romance, it’s filled with angst because Cameron has self-loathing for what happened at the end of book one. I didn’t love that both of them were taking the experimental drugs, making them both crazy. 😅🤦🏻‍♀️. I didn’t care anymore like I did in book one, which is strange because I just read book one. So I don’t know what changed, but I wasn’t feeling it.

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did book one. I think the first half is slow and amnesia isn’t my favorite trope, so that didn’t help. Eventually we get to meet Reed and learn more about Emery’s past life, but I think it happens too late in the story, and I stopped caring. Overall, this was an okay sequel for me.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Your Knife, My Heart by. K.M. Moronova | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Your Knife, My Heart by. K.M. Moronova | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: Your Knife, My Heart (Dark Forces, #1)

Author: K.M. Moronova

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 11/11/25

Categories: Dark Romance

Dark. Deadly. Irresistible.

Cameron Mortem has a problem―he can’t stop killing his partners. Officially labeled clinically insane, he’s also one of the most lethal assets in the Dark Forces, a brutal underground military operation built on obedience, survival, and silence. But an experimental drug has fractured his control, making him a liability whenever someone else is on the field. As punishment, he’s thrown back into the Under Trials―a merciless boot camp designed to break the weak and sharpen the ruthless.

His one directive? Don’t kill the new girl.

Emery Maves narrowly escapes a death sentence after her own brutal crimes, only to find herself forced into the same violent world. Assigned to Cameron, she’s expected to survive the Trials and her partner’s unstable nature. But Emery quickly realizes there’s more to Cameron than bloodlust and body counts. Beneath the madness lies a terrifying allure―and a strange, dangerous tenderness.

As the Trials push them to their limits, Emery must navigate the brutal demands of the Dark Forces while resisting the pull of a man who could just as easily kill her as protect her. And Cameron must fight the one urge he’s never been able to overcome.

Their bond is intoxicating, chaotic, and born of violence. And if it doesn’t destroy them both, it might just save them.

Content Warning: violence, gore, bullying

+ Two things come to mind when I think about this book: violence and sex. Cameron “Mori”, is a part of the military special forces or dark forces as they call it – dark? Because they are ruthless killers, especially Mori. His problem? He can’t stop killing his partners. He is also the military’s test subject on all kinds of drugs. The one he is addicted to prevents him from feeling pain, but they have taken the drugs to the next level and now Cameron is wondering if the addiction to them will kill him. But he’s been given another chance, they paired him up with Emery and his objective? Not to kill her. Cameron is a walking red flag, with a British accent and, he’s hot.

+ Emery has a past of her own. Daughter of a powerful, wealthy man, she grew up being his trained assassin until she got caught and was supposed to go to jail. But she gets a second chance too – pass the deadly trials the dark forces have set up for recruits, not die at Cameron’s hands, and she will be part of his unit, Fury. I found Emery very interesting – she’s a reluctant killer, but when she did kill for her father she positioned the bodies in artistic ways in protest to her father. So, does she like killing? No. But she does it well, and she does it to survive.

+ The romance is insta-lust, due to the forced proximity put upon them. It’s very physical, definitely a release from the high stress they are all under in that facility, sometimes it was even happening after some violent scene. It’s very spicy. And basically Cameron is the red flag that Emery wants to help change. Her humanity, and caring for others (even though it’s a kill or be killed kind of environment), really opens Cameron’s eyes to the possibility that maybe someone could really care for him. It’s a lot of pushing and pulling on his part though, so it was normal that she get frustrated with that.

+ Most of the story is about training, Cameron and his downward spiral, and then the deadly trials. I think with how it ended, we’ll be getting to know more about Emery’s past in book two since now the two sides will intertwine.

~ Although I loved the chaos, and mayhem of Cameron and Emery’s relationship. I wanted a little more than the spice and more of an emotional connection but it was almost impossible since Cameron has a lot of attachment issues. I’m hoping this guy breaks open in book two, just to win Emery over.

~ Emery has a reputation but I thought it was interesting that in this group of killers she is one of the weakest of them all. She has a specialty for guns, but we don’t even get to see her using it. I guess it was for the purpose of her learning and growing, but I wanted her to at least shine using her strength. She kicked some ass, but Cameron was basically her shield most of the time.

Final Thoughts:

This was a quick, binge-able read and I was highly entertained with Cameron’s crazy. I will definitely be reading book two after how things ended, I need to see what happens with Emery and how her past and family comes up to catch up with her!