To hide with the enemy of your enemy…
Synopsis
A Dark Reverse Harem Romance
She broke into the wrong house.
Now, three brutal men will make her pay—with her body, her secrets, and her soul.
When runaway heiress Marigold Calder crashes into the forbidden Isles of Kassel during a blizzard, she’s desperate for shelter. The isolated mountain lodge seems like salvation, until she realizes it belongs to The Bears, three massive Russian brothers who own the most exclusive—and dangerous—private men’s club in Kassel.
HUNTER – The violent one who takes what he wants🔥
STONE – The cold mastermind who’ll break her with a single look🔥
ASH – The deceptively gentle one who’s anything but safe🔥
In Kassel, trespassing has a price. And once they catch her sleeping in their bed, eating their food, and wearing their clothes, these territorial predators decide she’s theirs.
Trapped by the storm and their obsession, Marigold discovers a dark connection between their families that turns their hospitality into a hunt for revenge. Now, they won’t just keep her, they’ll ruin her.
A scorching hot, morally grey, billionaire reverse harem featuring possessive anti-heroes, forced proximity, primal dominance, explosive chemistry, and a heroine who refuses to break. This standalone dark romance contains mature themes and explicit scenes that will leave you breathless.
Step into their den… if you dare.TROPES: Reverse Harem/Why Choose • Dark Romance • Forced Proximity • Snowbound • Captive Romance • Morally Grey Heroes • Touch Her and Die • Possessive/Obsessive • Enemies to Lovers • Found Family • Russian Heroes • Private Club • Billionaire Romance • Secret Identity • Revenge Plot • High Heat 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
My review
When Marigold Calder escaped, she never expected that she would be literally crashing and would have to fight for her life. So when she finds an isolated mountain lodge on the forbidden and very private Isles of Kassel, she believes that she is safe. But what she doesn’t know, but will realize soon, is that the owners of the lodge, the Bears, three Russian brothers, don’t allow anyone in. And whoever dares to trespass, has to pay a price. And all three brothers, Hunter, Stone and Ash, have decided that this trespasser with golden hair, is now theirs, to do as they please. As a storm rages on, Marigold has no other choice to submit to the three brothers, with their own different character but all also having a pull that Marigold finds strangely to ignore. And then Marigold discovers that the Bear Brothers are seeking out for revenge as someone of Marigold’s family hurt the one person the brothers love the most. Turning Marigold into a pawn in a very dangerous game…
Having read the first book of the series The VIllians of Kassel, I knew that not only it would be a complete retelling, with many liberties of the author. Lydia Michaels may use famous tales as inspiration, yet she changes so much in her own story, that while there still are a few similarities, a lot is, well, just not. And I also knew that there would be a lot of explicit scenes, and even moments where the female main character would be acting against her own will. But there are several of warnings at the start of the book, so I as warned well beforehand.
At the start of the book, it is obvious that Marigold is literally running away from something and someone (or rather, several people). But the exact who, why, when, etc. is not made obvious further along in the book. But her desperation is obvious from those first few pages. And reading what she had to endure, at the hand of the people that perhaps should protect, cherish and love her the most, isn’t that the worst possible betrayal?
I could understand that her need to survive was bigger that questioning whose house she would be trespassing. And I could also understand the reason that she lies when the three brothers find her. Again, that need to survive at any cost…
If she would have literally crashed anywhere else but this lodge, perhaps she would have met someone who would show her kindness and help her out. Unfortunately, she crashed the lodge of the most fearful, savage, revengeful brothers of the whole continent.
There are so many signs that the three brothers are not to mess with, they have laws of their own, no law stopping from what they want to do.
Hunter, Stone and Ash are the closest as siblings could ever be, and I am close to my brother, but not to their extension! They have been through a lot, together, but there is nothing that would tear them apart. On the contrary, their family bond is just unbreakable.
And when there is a threat, in any form or shape, they are united to protect what is theirs and what they love.
So when they find Marigold in their home, they won’t just let her walk away. Because nobody comes to their home and just walks away… And they also now that Marigold isn’t telling the truth, and one way or another they will get it out of her…
I cannot say that the brothers sparked something inside of me from the start. They are controlling, intimidating and also scary… Yet even if they are brothers and have a lot of similarities, they are all different characters. Where Ash shows a gentle side (but don’t get fooled by it), Stone is a cold mastermind and Hunter seems to be the most violent and vengeful one.
United they are a force to be reckoned with, but somehow, Marigold is their weak spot…
Of course I knew they wanted to use Marigold for their own benefit and pleasure. And I knew that Marigold would have no other option than complying, as these men saved her but also as she has no other place to run.
And yet, there is something about these brothers, and it isn’t just their power that emanates from the pages… We see this when they let Marigold know why they are seeking revenge, as they want to protect and avenge the person they love the most.
We also see how Marigold starts to see behind this strong façade all the brothers have. I am not saying they are suddenly saints, because they are not. But there is just something about those three Bears, a hidden vulnerability in a way, that made me understand the attraction…
Talking about attraction… or rather, I need to talk about the spicy and all the action that is taking place. First of all, while initially Marigold does not have a choice and has some with all the brothers, I could see how it would be an impossible choice to just pick one. Not my cup of tea, a reversed harem, but I am not judging someone else’s choices, if it makes them happy and they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.
Secondly, pfew, there is A LOT of action taking place! And even if there was a moment I was wondering about the logistics about a certain scene, I perhaps needed to take a break myself, as sometimes it got a bit too hot! 😊
Of course it is a spicy story, that perhaps is not for everyone, but I also saw something else in this book. I saw how a hurt, broken woman may have found herself in the lion’s den. But the lions, or rather Bears, that she encounters, make her understand that she is not completely broken, that she in fact is a strong fighter. And those three strong brothers, they realize that no matter how much they protect what is theirs, no matter how closed up they are, there may be one woman with golden hair that is able to open their hearts in a way they never expected.
Lydia Michaels also with this story turned a well – known tale into something completely different. But different isn’t a bad thing. Different is just another way of looking at life, different is just understanding that there are more ways to see things. And that one evening where you need to survive, can open a gate (or a door) to a whole different life that may fit you better than you may ever believe…













