Wrath of an Exile by Monty Jay is live!

This is the first book in the River Styx Heathens series, a second-gen The Hollow Boys spin-off. 

This book grabbed hold of me and did not let me go! A dark NA romance with tortured characters, drama and epic emotion, this is a fantastic read, and I loved it!

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Blurb

In Ponderosa Springs, this version of Romeo and Juliet isn’t a tragedy. It’s war.

Jude Sinclair is West Trinity Falls’ favorite exiled loner.

Cocky. Insufferably hot. Family foe.

Raised across the tracks in a rival town, he reeks of trouble. Which is the one thing I’ve always had a problem avoiding and now that he’s just down the hall, it’s harder to resist the pull.

My father made one rule when Jude moved in, never trust a Sinclair.

The last thing I need is for my new foster brother to make me question my loyalty with his filthy smirks and poet tongue. But with every forbidden kiss and secret hookup, I quickly find myself faced with two options.

Betray my family? Or betray my heart?

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Review

This book grabbed hold of me and did not let me go – 5 huge stars!

This is the first book in the River Styx Heathens series, a second-gen spin-off from The Hollow Boys (though it can stand alone). It’s a dark NA enemies-to-lovers romance with tortured characters, drama, epic emotion, and a fantastically forbidden Romeo and Juliette vibe. It’s a fantastic read, beautifully written, and days after finishing it, and I’m still thinking about these characters and their incredible story. I loved this book so much!

Seraphina Van Doren is the daughter of Rook and Sage (from The Truths We Burn. She is 18 years old and a self-declared science geek, however four years ago she was the victim of a devastating assault, which has left her changed. She has kept the incident a secret from her family and friends, not wanting them to feel guilt or take vengeance on her behalf, instead she has locked it away and become somebody she barely recognises – an attention-seeking party girl who lets nobody in, who keeps herself separate from her family and the people that love her the most. It’s a heartbreaking life she’s living, but she doesn’t know any other way, and oh, I hurt for her.

The pain of silence will forever be worth it because it keeps her safe. It keeps them all happy, unburdened. I’ll go to the grave with this hurt because they are worth it. They are worth everything.

Jude Sinclair is the son of Easton, Hollow Boys series bad guy. Also 18, he grew up with his abusive father and has never known love or family, and he’s full of anger. He has been unfairly branded with his father’s crimes and is an outcast who is looked down upon by the entire town and he’s desperate to get out and start a new life where nobody knows him. But in order to get the future he craves, he is forced to stay in town, and in a delicious twist, he is taken in by the very people his father hated the most – the Van Doren family – living in the room right next door to his arch enemy, Seraphina.

Phi and Jude share a palpable hatred. She believes he was involved in the attack on her, when in reality he actually had no idea. Her search for vengeance changed his life and they have hated each other ever since. Their aggressive dynamic leads to a hate-filled steamy encounter that left them both stunned at their chemistry, yet their animosity continued. But with them sharing the same roof, their forced proximity allows them to truly see each other, and their twisted past brings so much emotion as things start to change.

Seraphina Van Doren has spent years mastering the art of hiding in plain sight— locking herself in her own personal hell, building walls too thick for anyone to climb.
And to her credit, no one has noticed.
But that’s because no one has ever really looked.

When he looked at me, really looked at me, it was like he saw everything. Every crack and splinter in my facade, every jagged piece of me that’s come undone, every sharp shard no one else would dare to touch. He saw it all and didn’t run. Didn’t look at me differently.
He stayed.
And for a split second, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I wasn’t alone, drowning in my pain.
Someone had started treading water with me.

Though Phi has a loving family and close friends who want to support her, Jude is there for her in a way that nobody else is. He truly sees her, he understands her pain, and he patiently and determinedly breaks down her walls, giving her the freedom to be her true self, and I loved watching them open up to each other.

“You can hate that it’s me all you want, but that vicious fucking heart of yours? It’s aching to be soft.” Jude pauses, his thumb tracing a slow, deliberate line along my jaw, and I feel my pulse quicken. “Let it, Phi. Let it be gentle, just this once. You deserve that. Worry about it being me later.”

Their dynamic is so well written. From hate to wild passion to sort-of-friends and then so much more, I felt every shift in their dynamic, and was right there with them, feeling it all, as they fall hard for each other and create their own little world where they can just be.

The guy I swore to hate forever is the only one who’s seen every broken, ugly piece of me.

“Right here, right now, we’re no one. There’s no history. No last names. You’re just Jude. I’m just Phi. We can create something that’s ours.”

It’s sexy and wild, dramatic, heartfelt, sweet and playful, and I felt everything as they open up and be vulnerable with each other, leaning on and supporting each other, and finding something so special together, and it’s so, so beautiful.

Hating him used to be my armor. As long as I could despise Jude, I could surrender my body without handing over the rest of me. It kept me safe, locked behind walls he couldn’t climb. But that shield? It’s cracked, the pieces slipping through my fingers like sand.
And Jude’s hands are right there, catching the fragments before they fall away completely.

The rest of the Hollow Boys family are a big part of the story, and I LOVED seeing the troubled Hollow Boys all grown up and uber protective fathers and ‘uncles’. Phi’s parents, their friends and children have become a huge found family; the parents are best friends with special uncle/aunty relationships with each other’s kids, and the kids themselves are super-close, each other’s ‘people’, and I loved seeing all of the different relationships in the group. Of course, they’ve all noticed the change in Phi, and they’ve all been there for her, but it’s the relationship with her father and mother that really bought the emotion for me as they are patiently there for their girl in the only way she will let them.

“I know we’ve been out of sync for a while,” he says quietly, his tone steady yet laced with pain. “I don’t know what I did… or what changed. But no matter how far you think you’ve wandered, no matter how lost you feel, I’ve always got you. You’re never too far gone. Home’s always right here.”

“I know that weight on your shoulders is heavy. I can see it. When you’re ready, I’m right here, baby. I’m strong enough to help you carry it, always.”

There’s so much emotion in this story, and I felt so much while reading. I was so drawn to both Phi and Jude – to their individual stories, their strength and their pain, and I love them as a couple, fighting for and supporting each other through so much. But the Van Dorens and the SInclairs are enemies from way back, and just because Rook and Sage brought Jude into their home doesn’t mean they will be happy to see him with their little girl. So, we get this sensational forbidden romance aspect which just makes the love story more exciting, and the resolution to the story is intense and beautifully written, with Jude and Phi’s love for each other shining through every moment.

Maybe love isn’t meant to be easy. Maybe it’s meant to be this— two people desperately trying to find each other across the chaos, across the darkness, across everything that should’ve kept us apart.

I love this book so much. It made my heart pound as I raged, cried, cheered, smiled and fell in love with these two characters and their beautiful story.

Jude Sinclair did not fix me … But Jude is the person who makes it feel lighter. Who helps me carry it, who walks beside me as I navigate healing.

While there are some dark themes, it’s not as violent or shocking as The Hollow Boys, which I appreciated. Those books pushed the boundaries a bit for me, but this one was right on target balancing dark romance with beautiful emotion and well-deserved redemption for both of these amazing characters.

I loved being back in this world, and cannot wait to continue on with the series.

A huge 5 stars and a fave for 2024.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.

River Styx Heathens

Meet the Author

Monty Jay likes to describe herself as a punk rock kid, with the soul of a gypsy who has a Red Bull addiction. She writes romance novels about insane artists, feisty females, hockey players, and many more.

When she isn’t writing she can be found reading anything Stephen King, getting a tattoo, or eating cold pizza.

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