"I'll worship you until you beg me to stop."
Okay, I'm paraphrasing because I was crying too hard to write down the exact timestamp, but somewhere around hour twelve, Miller Hart said something like that and I had to pause my work on a client's branding project because I literally could not see my screen through the tears. Frida looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Maybe I have.
Look, I came into this finale having already been emotionally wrecked by the first two books. Jodi Ellen Malpas does not play fair with my heart, and I knew that going in. But this book? This book felt like being held underwater and then finally, finally being allowed to breathe.
The Slow Burn That Set Me on Fire
Sixteen and a half hours is a commitment. I'm not gonna lie - there were moments in the middle where I thought, "Okay, we get it, Miller is intense and protective and Livy is struggling." The pacing does drag in spots. Some scenes felt like they could've been trimmed, and there's definitely repetition in how Miller and Livy circle around the same emotional beats. But here's the thing - I didn't actually mind? Because Malpas writes chemistry like she's channeling something supernatural. The tension between these two is so thick you could choke on it.
And when the family secrets start unraveling - when Livy's past starts mirroring the present in ways that made my stomach drop - that's when I understood why we needed all that buildup. The payoff is worth it. The gut-punch moments hit harder because you've been marinating in this world for so long.
Abuela would have loved this one. She lived for telenovela-level drama, for men who would burn down the world for the women they love. Miller Hart is absolutely that guy. Problematic? Sure. But in a romance novel? Chef's kiss.
Edita Brychta and That Voice
So here's where I have mixed feelings. Edita Brychta has this smooth, sultry quality to her narration that works beautifully for the intimate scenes. And there are a LOT of intimate scenes. She brings the heat, no question. When she's voicing Livy's vulnerability, the emotional rawness comes through.
But - and I say this with love - her accent threw me off a few times. It's subtle, but there were moments where I'd get pulled out of the story because a word landed differently than I expected. And some reviewers have mentioned she reads a bit fast, which I can see. I listen at 1.0x because I'm savoring, not speedrunning, and even then, some of the more intense scenes felt rushed.
Honestly though? She nails Miller. The way she delivers his lines - that controlled intensity, the barely-restrained passion - it works. I believed in him as this tortured, devoted man even when the dialogue got a little repetitive. That's skill.
When Your Heart Can't Take Anymore (But You Keep Listening)
I ugly-cried at least three times. Maybe four. (I lost count around the family revelation scene because I was also stress-eating chips and my spreadsheet got cheese dust on it. Don't judge me.)
This is a rainy Sunday book. Or a late-night-can't-sleep book. It's not something you throw on during a casual commute unless you're comfortable crying in public. The vibes are immaculate but heavy - dark romance with genuine emotional stakes, not just manufactured drama.
The thing Malpas does really well is making you feel the desperation. These characters are fighting for each other against genuinely terrible odds, and by the end, you're exhausted in the best way. Like you've been through something.
Who Should Listen (And Who Should Skip)
Skip this if you need a light, fluffy romance, if possessive heroes aren't your thing, or if you haven't read the first two books - seriously, don't start here, you'll be completely lost.
But if you love intense, angsty romance with high emotional stakes? If you're already invested in Livy and Miller? If you, like me, keep a spreadsheet of books that made you cry and want to add another entry? This is your book. Pride and Perdition earned its spot on that spreadsheet too, though for very different reasons.
My heart. MY HEART.
I finished this at 2 AM, staring at my ceiling, wondering why I do this to myself. And then I immediately started looking for Malpas's other series because apparently I'm a glutton for emotional punishment. Diego was asleep on my chest and I'm pretty sure he absorbed some of the feelings through osmosis. He's been extra cuddly since.
Worth sixteen hours of my life? Absolutely. Would I listen again? Maybe not immediately - I need to recover first. But this trilogy as a whole? It's going in my permanent collection.
