Book Reviews/ September 2, 2023September 24, 2023

In The Grey by BB Reid Book Review

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Blurb

In the Gray is an all-new wickedly sexy and boundary-pushing standalone from bestselling author B.B. Reid.

ATLAS

I know what they say. Grief makes you do things.
After the year I’ve had, I’m bathing in it.
Dad’s dead.
Mom is…mom.
My boyfriend and best friend are too busy screwing to comfort me.
When a letter arrives with no return address telling me where to go for a new start, I don’t hesitate.
I pack some clothes and what’s left of my life and run.
But I didn’t expect the fire waiting for me when I arrived. I didn’t count on the burn.
Rowdy Wray.
They call him the lion of Idlewild.
Me…I call him boss.
He’s the key to my past and the path to my future.
What happens next is our twisted secret.

ROWDY

Who is this girl?
Atlas Beck.
This damaged young thing shows up at my place of business and tells me she’s my new receptionist.
I should have fired her.
I would have fired her if she hadn’t begged so beautifully.
Atlas told me not to let her go, but she didn’t know what she was asking. And now?
It’s too late to put the crazy back in the cage.

Sensitive Content

Here is the potentially sensitive content that I observed while reading:

Abandonment
Alcohol
Blood
Bullying
Car Accident
Cheating
Chronic Illness
Death of a parent
Domestic Abuse
Drug use
Emotional Abuse
Grief
Gun Violence
Misogyny
Murder
Pregnancy
Profanity
Sexual Assault
Sexually Explicit Scenes
Stalking
Toxic Relationships
Violence

Ratings

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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!

Overall Rating

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In The Grey broke my brain multiple times! Is it the kinkiest? Darkest? Most taboo? No. But I questioned my morals a few times. Luckily, I don’t have many of those left lol this book is for dark romance readers only. If you don’t enjoy dark romance, don’t even look at this book, seriously!

Rowdy and Atlas are toxic and WILD but I loved it! I love brat x brat tamer relationships and that is one hundred percent what the dynamic between these two characters is! They need each other in a way that is intense from the very first interaction. I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to see how they would top their previous disagreement and I was never disappointed!

This book is so spicy! The amount of sexual content doesn’t outweigh the intense plot but it is copious! I’m not complaining!

Rowdy Wray is something else. He is possessive and gives no fucks about respecting anyone but himself until he falls for Atlas! All bets are off once he accepts his feelings for her. If I’m honest this man is unhinged and actually a danger to most around him. I loved it lol A walking red flag but also a sexy green eyed monster who will pull his gun out in you in a heartbeat! His growth in this book was incredible!

Atlas Beck gave me anxiety like no other! I loved her fire and how she never backed down from a challenge, even if that challenge was Rowdy. She’s strong willed but broken and in need of real love in her life. I loved her poking at Rowdy and how fearless she was doing whatever it was to make him mad lol

The plot twist in this book made me very uneasy because it was getting into territory I don’t enjoy at but thankful I saw this book through to the end because I was pretty happy with the HEA!

I’ll definitely be reading more from this author in the future! The writing was amazing and I loved how I never knew what would happen next! Highly recommend it to my taboo and dark romance readers!

Spice Rating

5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

This book has lots of sexual content from the beginning and multiple explicit scenes throughout. Taboo and kinky content plus a three person scene that… phew!

Genre & Tropes

Genre

Dark Romance

Tropes

He falls first
Dads best friend
Boss x employee
Emotional scars

Favorite Quotes

“I still wanted to fucking kiss her. It was a first for me, to say the least. And disturbing as fuck if she’d been telling the truth about her age.”

“That’s my baby”

“Rowdy’s was brute force, Roc’s was duplicity, and Golden’s was silence. Seduction was Joren’s.”

“I don’t know if I made this clear, but I want you, and I’m not a patient man. I’ll give you a few more days to reconcile with the fact that we’re fucking. Tell yourself whatever you like. Lie that I really want more and just don’t know it yet if you have to. But when that day comes…This pussy will only weep for me.”

“She didn’t stop until she tasted blood, and it was the moment I knew her wide-eyed innocence was a ruse and that this young doe could handle a beast like me.”

“If hell somehow freezes over and I let you fuck me, I promise not to get my feelings involved. I know I’m much younger than you’re used to, but I don’t just fall for any man who shows me a little bit of attention. You don’t really seem worth the effort of falling in love.”

“I’m thinking that you’re crazy, and I want nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, I’m mental, baby, and rule number one is never give us crazy ones any pussy.”

“I hate that pussy too!” I yelled back with a smile. “That’s why I’m going to beat it up.”

“Rowdy was never going to let me go. And I didn’t want him to.”

“If you don’t want me to follow you into fire, then don’t run into fire.”

“This girl had me in a chokehold and the longer I went without air, the less I needed it. I only wanted to be near her, whatever it cost me.”

“Let that guilt go, baby. Whatever wrong you think you committed, leave it in the past. It doesn’t belong here. I won’t let it take any time away from us.”

“I’m dating your pussy, Atlas. I’m not dating you.”

“I’d miss you,” he told me. “And if you left, I’d follow you. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than on your bumper, Dream.”

“I didn’t just wait my entire life for you, Atlas. I saved all my kisses and compliments. I swallowed every promise. I guarded my loyalty…for you. I kept my heart hard as stone so that when the day came I found the woman I couldn’t hold any of that back for, I’d know without a doubt that I’d found the one.”