The Predator: A Dark Contemporary Mafia Romance (Dark Verse)

This first entry in RuNyx's Dark Verse series is solid, especially for a first release. It is a bit of a slow-burn, but the writing overall is good (although like with any first-time release by an indie author, this could have used an extra pair of eyes in the editing department to make things a bit tighter and cleaner. But the story itself is where it's at for me, so the small amount of errors isn't enough to dock this book a star). RuNyx really knows how to tell a story, and while her heroines and heroes may not be for everyone, she has a way of writing them in such a way that makes it near impossible for me not to connect with them on some level, and the characters in this story are no exception. Morana, Tristan, Dante, and Amara - I love, am fascinated by, and am emotionally invested in each one of them. In a world of crime and unabashed evil, these four - with their varying shades of gray - fascinated and effortlessly drew me in. Morana Vitalio is our heroine, and her feelings of loneliness and isolation in the face of growing up under a tyrannical and emotionally neglectful (and straight-up abusive) father was especially poignant. You'd think after all she's endured, she'd be subdued or a doormat, but no. This woman - even if she has a tendency to let her hot headedness get her into trouble - she's got a mettle to her that I can't help but admire. She's stubborn, she's got a temper, and the girl just burns hot. Tristan Caine, on the other hand, is the ice to her fire. He's our dangerous, brooding, intense hero/anti-hero, and as is typical for the dark mafia romance genre, he is dominant, stubborn, unrelenting, and intimidating. But underneath all of those layers of frosty anger and a capacity for great violence, we get a good look towards the end at his damaged center: that of a broken boy with a lifetime of trauma that has never had the chance to properly heal. The chemistry between these enemies-turned-lovers is gradual, but the attraction and interest is there from the start, even if it's unwanted by both parties for much of the book. The way these two try to keep an emotional distance between themselves, even when they start to explore their mutual attraction - the romantic in me found that so frustrating, but the enemies-to-lovers trash that I am loved the agonizing tension and yearning. RuNyx captures the explosive heat and passion of their encounters, but also follows it up with a believable lack of satiation that leaves all parties involved (us readers included) wholly unsatisfied and desperate for another go round. The revelation of Tristan and Morana's connection at the climax made so much sense, though, and considering the nuggets of foreshadowing we've been getting, I think I can guess what's to come in The Reaper, but we'll see if I've interpreted RuNyx's hints correctly. Overall, this was a solid story. Definitely more of a slow-burn than anything else - even with the action scenes, the pacing wasn't as fast as I would have expected. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to note. But I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the follow-up to see where all this leads.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. Morana Vitalio is such an amazing, sarcastic, strong and brave character. She takes no prisoners and things from anybody. Tristan Caine (The Predator) is this cold, dangerous, mysterious, dark and sexy man that you just want to unwrap (in all of the senses of the word). He is so mysterious that you don’t know what he’s going to be doing next, which builds up the suspense. These two have to work together (alongside Dante of course) in order to find the thing that was stolen from Morana. Even though their families are enemies, they come together because if in the wrong hands, both families will be harmed. In this suspensful and mysterious journey, the plot twist and thickens, new revelations surface, and you’ll be biting your nails and turning the pages. Trust me. I loved the head to head interactions between Morana and Tristan. Their chemistry was so intense you’ll be hot and bothered. RuNyx has written this book in such a way that you’ll feel everything the characters are feeling and it will consume you in the best possible way. If you haven’t read this book, I totally recommend for you to do so! ❤️

OMG! Loved it so much! loved the story action and twist and will just leave you empty afterwards

“One day. I', going to carve your heart out and keep it as a souvenir. I promise.” 🖤🖤🖤 Trope: dark romance, mafia Cliffhanger: Not for this couple, but overall story continues POV: third person 📖 Book Scores: Predator ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reaper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ____________________________ Review Tristian can just take my heart and run with it at this point. I can’t even begin to say how much I loved these books. I decided to review them together as I felt like Tristian and Morana’s story was just so unfinished in The Predator. I had a feeling that Runyx would not hold back in the next book...and she did not! The Predator spends a bit of more time setting up this new world in which Dark Verse series plays out. We learn about the characters and two mafia families. However, we still get some intense intimate moments, and suspense. In The Reaper we get more romance. Both books were action packed, with twists, mystery and delicious mafia men. I was entertained the entire time and really had no idea where the story was going until it all played out. Now onto the characters. The connection between Morana and Tristian was so believable, natural and intense. Tristian is everything you want from a broody, quiet, possessive alpha mafia man. He basically had to learn how to love and express it. And Morana- feisty, nerdy, loyal, so smart and just doesn’t take shit from anyone. I loved her strength and wit. They were just an absolute perfect match! I loved how intertwined their history is and how both of them for the first time really have someone on their side, ready to fight for them and kill for them if needed. We also get to meet Amara and Dante, who were great compliments to the story. Of course they get their own next book and I am dying to find out about their history. I feel like there is so much more to Dante than I expect. Now Runyx please tell me we get to see more of Tristian!?! Him as a dad?!? Swoon

“She’d been raised around sharks. And she’d learned not to bleed.” Where do I even begin with this book? RunyX hasn’t made a big splash with her first book. She’s made a tsunami. Her writing is fast paced, action packed, and lust filled. She is on my list of fave new to me authors, and I cannot wait to read more from her. “Don’t you know not to run away from predators, sweetheart? We like the hunt.” Morana is a tech geek, and she’s the daughter of the head of the Vitalio family. Morana is one of my favorite heroines of all time. She’s freaking bad a** and smart as a whip! I have a huge girl crush on her. And then we have Tristan “The Predator” who is a part of the Tenebrae Outfit family. Tristan is one heck of a brooding, sex on a stick trained killer. The two have to work together to solve the huge problem of some missing codes that the brilliant Morana has created. Every time I think of hate to love I’m immediately going to think of these two. Good Lord! The chemistry and tension between Morana and Tristan is so thick and palpable. I soaked in every stare down and dirty word. It was *chef’s kiss* perfection. I am impatiently waiting on book two, The Reaper, because that ending had me craving more. Overall rating 5 stars Steaminess 4 stars

Idk how many times I have said this but I will say it many times more, RuNyx is 100% a storyteller!! and that is exactly what she does for The Predator. She takes on a whole different spin on the mafia trope we all know and love. Now I haven’t read that many mafia books (so take that and do what you will with it) but I have never read a mafia book like this one here. She gives us that strong, smart and badass heroine, Morana Vitalio (and that name, like damn, I love her name almost as much as I love her character). Then she gives us Tristan “the predator” Caine who is that silent but simmering alpha male that you just can’t help but fall for. I love RuNyx’s writing style, which of course is in 3rd person. Now most of the books I read are from 1st person and I have noticed that when I switch to 3rd, it takes a second. But as soon as I get into it — I AM GOOD TO GO!! And personally, when reading one of RuNyx’s books, i think i need to read more books in 3rd person.

As you may recall, I recently finished Gothikana by Runyx and couldn’t put it down. When I find an author whose work I love, I need to read every book they’ve ever written. Naturally, I immediately pressed “play” on the first book in Runyx’s Dark Verse series, The Predator. Wow, guys, just WOW! Going from a dark gothic psychological/paranormal thriller to a contemporary mafia romance is admittedly a bit of a leap, so I set my expectations accordingly. Well, I didn’t need to because The Predator became my whole personality for about a week. 🤣 Seriously, I listened to this book every chance I could. Driving in the car ✔️, working out ✔️, cleaning ✔️, ignoring all my adult responsibilities because I became obsessed with Tristan Caine and Morana Vitalio, also ✔️. My to do list is a million miles long, but i unapologetically have no regrets. 💅 If you need me, I can’t come to the phone because I’ve immediately jumped into book 2, The Reaper. #sorrynotsorry In the pages, you will find: 🔥 Hot/unyielding MMC 🧠 Genius FMC 🔪Violence 🥊 Hurt her and I’ll break your face 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Super complicated family dynamics 🏍️ Daring escapes 🫥 Unsolved disappearances 🌶️ Spice 🧗‍♂️ Ends on a cliffhanger. Don’t worry, book 2 is waiting for you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 * This book does have scenes that people may find triggering. Please head over to Runyx’s website to check out the full list of warnings.

Prior to The Predator, I can honestly say I had no interest in any kind of ‘mafia’ book. Just the thought didn’t sound interesting nor did any sort of synopsis ever appeal to me. But after reading Gothikana, and loving RuNyx’s writing, I decided to give it a chance. Holy hell people.. what have I been missing out on?! I absolutely devoured this book — I absolutely hate the word/phrase, but it’s true. (I also ordered the next two books about halfway through so they’d be here when I finished.) This was a book that a friend and I buddy read together and we zoomed it. We normally set our chapter reads to 5 a day; we finished this in a day and a half — and I consider myself a slow reader! While the story is slow building (this is book one of five, after all), the plot is well established by the end and there’s a lot going on inbetween for you to get wrapped up in it. I loved that there was so many other added factors to this and not just one focal point. This book is so good! And it hits all points for me, but here's a couple off the top of my head: a strong female MC, the brooding male MC that is the literal strong and silent type, mystery, stabbing action, quick witted banter, and some spice sprinkled in. My only annoyance? The amount of times ‘whiskey and sin’ was mentioned. What I absolutely loved? The moment when Tristan and Morana sat side by side looking out the window as it poured down rain. I like to think this was a defining moment between the two.

"𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒓. 𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆." "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒕." I was trying to write review for The Predator for days. But there are no words to describe how much I loved this book. So here are my messy thoughts 😅 It's raw, wild and simply perfect. Tristan and Morana have special place in my heart 🤍 All Runyx's couples are becoming my ALL TIME favourite to be honest. There is just something in her writing that makes me feel everything... And in 3rd pov which I used to hate 😅 If that doesn't tell you how amazing her writing is I don't what. Even though you hate 3rd pov (many people do) give this series a chance. Runyx's writing has a power to grab you right from the beginning and won't let you go until the end. And there are so much feelings in it. The Predator is first book in years that made me cried so hard. Because I connected to Tristan and Morana and they feel like my family. I must say few words/phrases were repetitive but I didn't mind it very much. It was still absolutely consuming 😭🖤 And it was only in 1st book, which is a debut novel I believe. It was overall amazing read. I've got addicted on Dark Verse world almost immediately and can't wait to see where it will go! "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒇*****𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕." 𝑯𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍. 𝑯𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕.

النسخة ليست أصلية ، لا أنصح بشرائها.

This book is one of my favorites. I love Tristan and Morana and their story. If you love a good old enemy to lovers full of feelings, a good plot, an amazing Mc and the cutest nerd ever, this book is for you!

First I wanna say that the book came with dirty marks on the inside. The marks was not just on one page but on pages through out the whole book. It also came without plastic cover so there's no way this was completely new, even tho I brought it as new with Prime. Anyway to my thoughts about the book. Okey, let me just say I don't get the hype and the 5 star reviews so many has giving this book. I don't understand how so many read this and said her writing was beautiful... I'm so, so sorry to burst everyone's bubble but this was not beautifully written. I can find other books that are more beautifully written, compared to this. I did find some parts was nicely written and I did enjoy the whole maffia story and the twist at the end but that was kind of it. I really tried to enjoy it as everyone else in the reviews did but as a whole there was just a bit too much I didn't like about it. The frist and main thing I didn't like and also the most annoying one about this book was the constent repeating of words and sentences. It made me so irritated to the point were I almost give up and wanted throw the book way. There are other ways to describe a situation without having to use the word "moment", contently on every single page. I wish I had counted how many times she used that word. At one point that word was on a page repeated 4 times and then again on the next and then before that page, like 3 times. That ruined the whole reading experience for me. I can't stand it when a author have no other words to use in their vocabulary and keep repeating themselves. It was not just that word but also sentences and descriptions being used over and over again, sometimes just in different ways. For an example everytime when Morana looked at or locked eye with Tristan, she never stopped pointing out his magnificent blue eyes or his hard muscles, which was all the time 🙄 Stop repeating yourself! It was extremely annoying to me to read this constant repeating. It's insane to me how this was published like this, and how the editing was this bad it seemed like none was done at all. I did however, like I said enjoy the story, it was interesting and she did make me wanna continue reading, despite her lack of trying to use other words then "moment". And I do wanna know what's gonna happen next but at the same time I don't wanna spent money on the rest of the book series. I don't wanna own that many books if I ain't gonna read them again, which I don't think I will. How she even manage to get that many books published is beyond me. I guess people haven't read really freaking good books if this was a 5 star.

I really enjoyed The Predator! The storyline felt original and incredibly captivating. I especially loved the last part of the book, everything started falling into place, and the ending was so intense. I already ordered the next one can’t wait to dive in!