Surviving Zaine by Mae K. Knight Review
Library of Angels Rating: 5 stars
On Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Publication Date: May 25th, 2024
HEA: Yes
Version: E-Book and Physical
“When I first saw you, I knew I had to have you, no matter the cost. You’re mine pet. Accept it. Your only escape is death.” - Zaine
This novella was so good and truly one of the best ones that I’ve read this year. It was dark, grimly humorous, and wickedly sinful!
If you go into this book expecting a full-fleshed story with loads of plot and lots of detail, then you may want to put this down. As a novella, this absolutely serves its purpose as it is quick and filled with tons of smut.
I read some of this book while sitting outside to get some fresh air and there was something so fun about that. Reading a dark romance with an inconspicuous cover out in the open probably made this story that much more enjoyable considering every other page felt like it was filled with very devious actions.
My Overall Rating - 5 Stars
My definition of a 5 star read:
10/10 read. Spice hit on all levels. Plot had me absolutely hooked. Happy to add this to my end of year ‘5 star’ list. Very likely a book that I would recommend frequently if asked about the category that it falls under.
“You were a beautiful wallflower, waiting to be discovered and plucked. I saw you. I plucked you.” - Zaine
This book starts off super dark and dare I say questionable. Questionable, as in definitely read your trigger warnings! They are certainly there for a reason. While it starts off absolutely bonkers , it ends on such a warm and loving note. With the way that the story unfolds, you don’t feel any whiplash with how it progresses which is a testament to the author’s writing style!
I am a big fan of Zaine in the second half of the book. In the first half…I really wanted to tousle with him. Mae knew what she was doing when she wrote this story! She had me in all the feels imaginable.
My Spice Rating - 5 Stars
My definition of 5 chili pepper spice rating:
SMUT, SMUT, SMUT! I would give a book a 5 star spice rating if majority (75%) of the book contains sexually explicit content.
While this book was super spicy, I really didn’t feel that it overdid the spice! Everything felt very well placed and flowed perfectly.
Zaine clearly has a breeding-kink and is almost obsessed with the idea of getting Zoe pregnant and I loved every second of it.
This novella does end on the pregnancy trope note in the Epilogue. As someone who typically is not a fan of the pregnancy trope, I can appreciate that it was in the Epilogue and overall how well it was placed into the story. It truly doesn’t become the focus or overtake the general overarching plot of the captor/captive plot line.
ALSO, the stamina on this man is insane. The amount of times they went at it in just one day is absolutely ASTOUNDING. After realizing just how short of a time she was truly with him for majority of this story, I was shook. I would’ve thought it was at least a week. I just know Zoe’s punani was RAW!
Tropes:
Kidnapping
Captive/Captor
Stalking
Breeding Kink
Somnophilia
Pregnancy (in the epilogue)
This book was an absolute blast and the snippet you get at the very end about Zaine’s brother - Xavier will definitely have your attention! Escaping Xavier is already out and a Library of Angels review will go live shortly so stay tuned!