Rating: 5
Steam: 4
PoV: dual, 1st person
Series: The Firm #1
Genre: contemporary romance, MM
Tropes / tags: fake marriage, forced proximity, hate to love
Bracing my hand on his shoulder, I bring my mouth close to his ear. “Oh, I’ll sleep with you, Matthias. But that’s all that’s going to be happening—sleeping. You can close your eyes every night, knowing that I’m beside you. Knowing that it’s as close as you’ll ever be to me, that you can be as hard as you like, but you won’t get any relief. Not from me.”
I completely devoured this one – it was an amazing co-write with lots of history and delicious tension between the characters!
I always love a good arranged / faked marriage, especially if there are some shared pasts or animosity between the characters, and this story had all of it. The tension between Matthias and Wyatt was definitely turned to high, and I loved how petty Wyatt was initially, trying his best to get under Matthias skin. It was fun to see the push and pull between them, and the hints about their history together made things even more intriguing.
It was heavy on the emotions, and I loved the eerie feeling that I got from the secret society parts. Wyatt’s desperation and feeling of hopelessness also hit hard, he was trying very hard to care for his brother and himself while being so close to hitting rock bottom. I liked the reluctant hurt / comfort; Wyatt certainly didn’t make it easy for Matthias to care for him at first. Their relationship development was messy, entertaining and hot, and some of Matthias’ secrets made it even sweeter to see them ending up together.
These two weren’t the best at communicating, and while it was frustrating at times, the miscommunication and secrets helped to keep things interesting. There were several reveals along the way, and it took quite a while before the truth about what happened when they were younger was uncovered. The stakes ended up being much higher than I thought they’d be, and I really liked the way it all came together at the end.
Covenant was an intriguing and entertaining read, and I loved the concept of The Firm and all the mystique and eeriness surrounding it. The setting and plot had more grit to it than I expected, but it worked very well here and I liked how raw and real it felt. A very strong start to a new series, and I’m very excited to see what’s coming next!
I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel oddly protective of him. These past few weeks have taken me right back to our childhood, to a time when Matthias was mine to care for, to look after.
And I was his.
Book links:
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