Tragic and Twisted fell in love…
Ave Satanas, something wicked this way comes.It’s time for the reckoning to begin.Enter the Devil’s Playground wary where you tread, for demons are lurking with trickery up their sleeves.Here good and bad cease to exist, and not all will make it to the end.The price of freedom will be revealed only after bloodshed and rapture. A claiming of one and purging of … rapture.
A claiming of one and purging of others.
That audio recording played exactly three minutes before the crash.
It was a riddle, a warning, and a promise. But they didn’t know that until it was too late.
Now stranded with two friends and a group of apprehensive strangers, Liliana Serpine must decide who and who not to trust as she navigates her way through Hell in the form of an opulent city.
There’s one person who stands out among the others.
He has a gorgeous face and a darkly enigmatic aura. Being drawn to him is inevitable, but staying by his side becomes a necessity for survival.
When secrets start being revealed in blood, everything changes. From dabbling in the taboo, being tempted by the forbidden, and falling in lust with the carnage.
For those that make it out of this alive, they’ll never be the same people they once were.
Warning
Devil’s Playground is a dark new adult (not high school) series. There are graphic situations and content some readers may find objective. If you need fluff and sweet romance, this is not the series for you. Periculum is a precursor for Maleficium and reveals the lead-up to the events in that book. The remaining books in the series are standalones.
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Oh. My. Goodness!! What the hell that’s why I don’t read to many books that are left on a cliffhanger. Because you get so excited to what will happen next, what will the characters relationship be like. And let me just say that Liliana and Ciaran story left me wanted the next one like right now. I hope we get them soon because I’m definitely want to know how this devil’s games will be played.
Oh my lord this is Natalie at her finest this book grabbed me from page 1 and had me turning pages just to see what happens next. This is dark and there are some grisly parts in it that the arthur does warn that if your looking for kittens and rainbows this book isn’t for you heed this warning, but if your into those malicious, dark reads you won’t want to miss this one.
Rating: – Green rating stars aren’t working on my iPad.
Wanna go for a wild ride on the dark side? If so, then this is definitely the book for you!
This was definitely one of the craziest books I ever read and I couldn’t turn away for a second. It was hard to categorize because it was a mix of so many genres. It can definitely fit in the following genres: horror, thriller, erotic romance, maybe a bit of bully romance thrown in, there is definitely suspense and mystery.
The two main characters are both a bit psychotic in their own ways but not nearly as psychotic as the people running the show. And by that, I mean the people who have them trapped in this crazy abandoned city in the middle of a Mexican forest off the beaten path when the shuttle bus to the airport gets misrouted due to a closed road.
Liliana or Lana as her friends call her was on a last vacation with her friends drowning their sorrows because after they go home they will have to start towing the line for their wealthy families and being the nice uptight daughters who are all about improving the family name and status. When they get on the bus they encounter four hot arrogant guys with tattoos, muscles and attitude to spare.
Once the bus crashes things go from bad to worse as they are directed through the gates of the city and into the Devils Playground and put through their paces by a motley crew of psychopaths bent on killing them off in the most inventive ways. They have to solve riddles, go through mazes and obstacle courses, figure out maps, and other things.
Meanwhile Liliana is being helped along by the leader of the hotties, named Ciaran who seems to know her but won’t tell her from where. His friends are helping her friends and she doesn’t know if she can trust him. Ciaran is definitely a bit crazy but then so is Lana. Neither of them are emotionally affected by the people dying around them. The romance between them is steamy and the action in this book is super crazy. The ending is unbelievable and I can’t wait to get my hands on more.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Step into the Devil’s Playground! Oh my hell!! This was slightly different from Natalie’s previous work. It was like stepping into a horror movie merged with a twisted version of Labyrinth and I am 1000% here for it!! Strangers stranded seemingly by coincidence, forced to move forward through hellacious scenarios and learning to leave behind humanity for the sake of survival. Riddles, danger, and death lurking around every corner of this clandestine city. Can anyone be trusted as they’re picked off? Will they make it out? If they do, who will be there at the end? The cliffhanger left me desperate for book 2, secrets uncovered that need answers!! I hold out hope some things were easter egss for other characters, this series has already wrapped itself around my heart!! Natalie Bennett has been an absolute favorite since I discovered her, this book and whatever follows is already a new favorite for me!!
What could I possibly say?
What do you put in a review when a book is pure perfection?
I just can’t explain the heart palpitations I felt while reading this.
If you love mystery, suspense, scary ish, and steam….then read this!!!
***
Did a re-read and decided to give it a proper review.
Liliana, just chillen with her girls, decides to take a shortcut on a shuttle bus that turns out to be anything but. She runs into a couple of fine looking fellas and ends up in the craziest, most demented live or die maze of her life, literally.
Ciaran, he knows more than he is letting on. He’s got his own agenda. And he doesn’t want to give much of that or himself away.
This was the start of what I think will be a series that will blow our minds with each installment. If you like spooky, eerie tales…if you like mystery and suspense….if you like slow burn with lots of tension…then I highly recommend you start this series.
“He made being bad seem like such an easy thing to do. Beautiful and twisted to the core, he unapologetically owned who he was.”
…….
“We’re all full of hellish intent, demons wrapped in pretty packages. The more beautiful someone is, the more vicious those demons tend to be.”
…….
This is to be filed under “what in the utter *** did I get myself into” category…along with man I’m so freaking obessed with these characters! The feel of thks book is like the purge mixed with the cabin in the woods, throw in some spice and characters with darkness and depravity that calls to each other like nothing else and you’ve got my new obsession. I feel like this can be sorted into so many tropes I’m not even going to try to label it but will say this is one that I don’t regret reading and if you like the dark side of these books, definitely recommend this crazy world Natalie Bennett has created. Onto the next one now because I just can’t stop.
…….
“I wished for normal but craved the unstable, wanted the filthy and depraved. If he had it in him, I would find a way to tear it out and consume every morsel to sate my own carnal desires.”
…….
“A little fear would never satisfy me, puppet. I prefer copious amounts of terror.”
(^^^ Can’t wait to see where the next one goes with Ciaran’s pov thrown into the mix!)
Starting this book was super fun and immediately I was drawn in when there was talk about the families and obligations. Soon the action started happening and honestly I thought the whole thing was wild and unbelievable and I was pretty lost. I had no idea what would happen next. Who was behind this big twisted experience but I just knew it was going to be a good surprise. As time passed on I was way too eager and ready for this just ravel loose. The hot scene between Liliana and Ciaran was 1000% on point!!!! Well waited and satisfying! Lol His whole personality and his drive for her was so lovely and gosh doggit I was smacked in the face when it ended!!! Like noooo!! Lol that epilogue was everything and now I can’t stop thinking about Ciaran!!! (How do I pronounce that name!?!?!?) Lol. Im glad to apart of the upcoming release Maleficium and I’ll definitely be getting the 2nd book Asap!!! I want all the juicy deets!!!
+
I was actually anxious while reading this. Goosebumps covered my skin. Feeling like I was in the middle of a horror movie. I’m still shocked at how perfectly written this was.
This isn’t your ordinary romance, this is a mind fuck.
Lana, Mel and Grace were preparing to head home from a girls trip when things took a crazy turn. “Something wicked this way comes…” and something wicked did, alright.
My only regret is not reading Periculum sooner!
I was hooked from the first page. Natalie really knows how to pull her readers in. Sexy—delicious—scenes, scary masks, death…truly, what more could you ask for??
Well, besides an amazing plot and it’s got that, too!
•
“If you speak lies without conviction, puppet, how can you expect anyone to believe them?”
“He was dripping sin I wanted to drown in.”
Ahhhh!! I need answers. This book was so fast paced with so many twists and turns, blood and gore. All that we expect from a great Natalie Bennett book. I wish I knew more about the characters past but as I’ve learned all things will co e out eventually. I cannot wait for book 2 so I can hopefully (fingers crossed) get all of my answers to every question in my head. This book does leave off on a cliffhanger so beware.
***4,5 “Puppet!!!” stars***
…SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES…
This story was absolutely crazy and soooo fucked up. And i freakin’ loved it!!!
As all of Natalie Bennett’s book the storyline was crazy, fucked up and dark as hell, but as always, this combination was sooo addictive!!!
Darn!!!! What a crazy ride was that!!! And i can not wait for the next part!!!
“Have you ever felt like you’ve entered an alternate reality?”
What we had here???
We had three girls who were returning from vacations, four hot mysterious guys who definitely knew more than they were showing and a car crush who forced them to enter the Devil’s Playground!!!
A strange secluded town which had too many shits in store for them….
Who were behind all these ‘things’?
I still don’t know, but i can assure you that they weren’t in their right minds!!!
“This had to be how Alice felt before she descended into madness. Perhaps I’d surpassed that and gone straight to insanity.”
From the moment that our group entered the gates of Hell, there wasn’t coming back from there…
They had to follow the instructions and to be smart in order to survive…
Our heroine, Liliana was a crazy bitch and Ciaran was the perfect match for her since he was even crazier than her…
There were happening horrors in front of them, and they weren’t batting an eye on them!!! Wow!!!
But they had an insanely chemistry that was putting the air around them on fire…
“Like we’d been told, good and bad didn’t exist in whatever this city was. Letting my demons out to play wouldn’t see me locked away for the rest of my life.”
“Ciaran was depravity and darkness I could touch with my hands and taste on my tongue. He was dripping sin I wanted to drown in.”
The ending left me speechless, even though i had some ideas about what was happening, and i’m just craving more of this crazy shit…
I need fuckin’ answers cause the things are pretty shady and confusing!!!
Also, i need more of Ciaran cause i loved this crazy guy soooo much!!!
“How ironic was it that we’d been brought here by the devil himself?
This wasn’t the end of anything.
It was the very beginning.”
***An ARC was provided to me for the exchange of an honest review. Thank you!***
Wow! This one was so different from the books I’ve been reading lately and in a good way.
It was just so intriguing! I had no idea what was going to happen next and it messed with what little sanity I have left, lol.
Think – The Purge, meets Saw, meets, The Cube – movies. (yeah, I’m showing my age as none of these is made in the last decade, lol).
It was a little confusing and I got lost. A lot. But not in a bad way!
Seriously mysterious goings-on that keeps you on the edge of your seat and your eyes skittering around the room every few seconds to make sure you’re not being watched.
By a freaky wee clown.
With weapons.
LILIANA
This lass is recovering from a night of living it up with her girls on a wee getaway. She and her two besties are hopping aboard a tour bus to get to the airport and fly home. They all have a lot of pressure on them from their families and felt like they needed a last hoorah before life gets serious and heavy.
So they’re boarding the bus and Liliana spots a group of four very hot dudes around the same age sittin’ at the back.
One, in particular, is super noms and she’s immediately picturing him nakey. She’s drawn to him for some reason and becomes more interested when she realises something in his eyes.
Or, I should say something missing in his eyes.
Yup, this dude is trying to cover up his extremely cold and unfeeling self.
He’s missing something. That pesky empathy and compassion thingy, lol.
Anyway, When the bus is detoured and there’s an accident Liliana gets a bump to the head.
When she regains consciousness all Hell breaks loose and the story just gets odder and odder.
Again, in a great way.
CIARAN
This is one canny lad. All sharp angles and sex appeal, lol. Tattoos and a smirk you wanna slap off his face…and then lick better.
When shit gets fucked up and the group are dumped into what I can only describe as a scene from an even freakier Saw, he and his minions take charge and it rubs Liliana up the wrong way.
I mean, who does he think he is trying to tell her what do do?
Okay, he may have been correct but still…
There is something extremely hot going on with this dude and by the end of the book, I was kinda…panting. From exertion. And not due to jogging. More like one-handed reading sports…you feel me?
He’s alpha to the freakin’ core and not someone you wanna play games with.
He has secrets. And you just know they are gonny rip your heart and soul to pieces.
SEX SCENES
Nom, nom, nom, nom!
He grabbed my ass, keeping his eyes locked with mine as I sank myself down onto him. His dick was bigger than I’d just guessed, stretching me, creating a delicious burn as my body worked to accommodate his size. I sucked in a breath and moaned appreciatively, bringing my hands to his shoulders. “Don’t slow down now,” he taunted. “You wanted to fuck me, so fuck me. And make it good.” His words urged me onward. I rolled my hips, rocking against him. Once I found a tempo, I rode him hard, shamelessly taking him deeper inside me, clenching my walls around to make us both feel more. His hands kneaded my ass, slamming me down harder and harder until he was seizing back the control he’d given me. He grabbed a handful of my hair and wrenched my head back until tears formed in my eyes from the pain. His mouth closed around my left breast, and he bit down hard enough to break the skin. I cried out as I came—hard. I didn’t have a chance to gather my bearings. He stood up and placed me on my back, shoving my knees up until the muscles in my legs began to burn. “No one will ever get this part of you again,” he ground out, pushing his dick back inside me, setting a gruelling pace. He fucked me as if his main goal was to rip me in half. I’d never wanted to be broken as much as I did then. When he finally released my legs, it was to wrap both hands around my throat and fuck me with a renewed vigour as his grip grew increasingly tighter. He had the ability to snatch my life away if he wanted to—he was twisted enough to do it. The realization had another gush of arousal drenching his cock. I screamed for him, begged him not to stop. Our sweat-slickened bodies slid together. I dug my nails into the flesh of his muscled back, making sure I marked it. Coming with a dick inside me was so rare, I couldn’t keep up with the frequency with which he forced me to endure the pleasure he repeatedly gave. If this wasn’t his usual method of fucking then he was right: buried deep inside me, I already wanted more. My body shook and trembled, hellfire coursing through my veins. His grip grew painful, a low growl unfurling from his throat. My vision danced with dots as he cut off my airflow. When I thought I’d pass out, he withdrew completely and flipped me over onto my stomach, knotting a hand in my hair as he slammed back inside me and sunk his teeth into my shoulder.
FINAL THOUGHTS on PERICULUM by Natalie Bennet
EVERYONE is hiding something from me, and I need to know what it is, damn it! I love this book.
5 Stars.
I started this book at 10:30pm on a Monday. I finished it at 3am even though I had work at 8am. I could NOT put it down! This book was amazing! It was the perfect combination of suspense, mystery, twisted, dark, and sexy that I crave in a book. The devil’s playground was no joke and was exactly what you’d expect the devils playground to be. I loved Lana! She was a badass but not over the top she also still needed help and took it when needed. She was not one of those dumb FMC’s she was smart and very aware. I know I should have questioned Ciaran more and been like wtf but honestly I fell in love with him and if you read this you will too! Love this book and can NOT wait for the next. Now excuse me while I go read everything Natalie Bennett has ever written!!
Holy Hell!!! This book will take you on one suspense mystery with a twisted mix of every good horror movie kind of ride! You’ll be hooked in from the very first action packed chapter and won’t be able to stop.
Seriously though, the first chapter takes a turn and you wont know whats coming or why…in a Natalie dark and deadly kind of way! So you meet Liliana and throughout the book I just fell in love with her character. She’s daring, strong, bold and doesn’t seem to take orders willingly. Then there’s Ciaran the man of mystery with his bold demanding ways. He seems to be the calm to Liliana’s storm in this crazed deadly and full of riddles maze that everyone got stuck into.
Seriously, this is a must read!!! This is different from Natalie’s other books, but one thing remains the same…there are not rainbows and sparkly unicorns found in this book! Instead, its dark, bloody and deadly hiding in every dark corner, literally!!!
If you love debauchery at its finest, then you will love this book by Natalie Bennett. It’s a non high school new adult romance. It has a twisted, horrific, and bloody mystery. This suspenseful tale is about Lana and her two friends. They are trapped in hell with strangers and can’t trust anybody.
This is a little insight for Bennett’s upcoming book Malficium. The story is over two hundred pages of suspense, violence, blood, and a dark twisted love story. The characters are all a mystery from the start and they begin to develop throughout the plot. Giving you a bit of the puzzle piece to start putting the picture together. The devil’s playground that is shown here has everything horrible your mind can muster. It has you second guessing at every corner and just makes you crave more. If you’re looking for sweet romance where the hero comes rescuing everybody, instead of you trying to figure out if he is friend or foe this might not be for you. If you’re like me and love the dark stories that will have your mind reeling for days, this one just might be for you.
Mystery Mayhem Darkness
I freaking loved this book! Lana and her friends are forced to take part in game for their lives. This book was like a degenerate game of Clue. I enjoyed every minute and was on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering what would happen next. I’m so excited for the sequel!
I don’t even know what to say except I loved this book. It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down.
Lana and her friends are returning home from a girls trip when suddenly they get taken on a sinister detour. There are secrets to be revealed and they must do what they can to survive, with a little help from the mysterious bad boys they’ve met along the way, who seem to know more than they let on.
This story has everything you expect from a Natalie Bennett book, twists, turns, secrets, and hot alpha bad boys.
Wow this book was awesome. The riddles, the suspense, twist and turns it also had some dark humor. I couldn’t stop reading, This is by far one of my favorite’s to date, and I love all her books.
Liliana and Ciaran are one hot couple, the sex scenes were smokin hot. Loved this book, it is a must read!! ~Kim L -Wonderful World of Books
Periculum (Devil’s Playground #1) by Natalie Bennett is one wild story. Liliana aka Lana and her girlfriends are coming back from vacation when the shuttle to the airport takes a wrong turn. Now her and her friends along with the other members on the shuttle find themselves cut off from everyone. The town is nice but deadly. The shuttle members must make it through the town but getting out alive is a tricky task. On the shuttle the girls met Ciaran and his boys. Together Lana, Ciaran and the gang have to fight use their wits to stay alive. As with most of this author’s books I have to question my sanity. This story was darker, sicker and more twisted and I loved it. The ending of this story blew my mind and my mouth was left open. What The Hell Just Happened! Wow! Really! Oh My! I cant wait to see what the next book brings. I need to know! 5 outrageous stars for me.
This book had me on the edge of my seat. I could picture this as a thriller movie. With how Natalie Bennett wrong about all the twist and turns and the world building. I love every heroine Natalie writes because they dont need to be saved i cant wait for the rest of the series. This read way to fast.
QUOTE: Ciaran was depravity and darkness I could touch with my hands and taste on my tongue.
W.O.W!!! What did I just read!?!? Jesus Christ, Natalie Bennett completely blew me away with the epically dark and twisted Periculum. From the ominous storyline—you can literally feel tension soaring from one page to the next—to the characters, who were more villain than ‘hero/antihero,’ Periculum sent my mind into a tailspin. Reading for the next several days was a challenge, to say the least. I’m fascinated with Lilliana and Ciaran, with the desire to turn their characters inside out and to understand all the little clues woven into the story. However, I’m going to refrain from discussing the characters in depth in this review as I’m concerned about spoilers, so read on without fear!
I didn’t trust anything or anyone around me… Especially the ocean eyed mystery with the darkened aura that was slowly sucking me in.
Periculum is the first book in her new series, the Devil’s Playground. The story is gritty, heart-poundingly intense, and absolutely superb… and this storyline!!!! Holy Shit, this storyline had me in knots the entire time I read. I literally caught myself holding my breath as I read—not to mention completely astonished with each dramatic twist and turn the plot took. Talk about unpredictable! I am more upside-down right now than Alice was when she tumbled down the rabbit hole. Now as I’m waiting for the second book to release, I’m quite sure that I am going to be forcefully reminding myself to breathe because Bennett left readers with an absolutely shocking cliffhanger.
QUOTE: “I’m going to fuck you like the whore you so desperately want to be fucked like and set a precedent no other man will ever be able match.”
Natalie’s writing has long been something I loved, but as dark as some of her previous books have been, I’ve never felt like I was reading a script straight out Hollywood. Yet, Periculum is dark and twisted plot gave off just such a vibe—and to be clear, I literally could not get enough! As a longtime fan of horror classics and new franchises like the Saw or Purge movies, I rarely read an author that has captured my attention in quite the same manner. Natalie Bennett is actually one of the few who authors I’ve found who writes what I’d truly call dark, DARK romance that holds me captive without veering away from romance altogether. I’m dying to do a binge-read of everything on my kindle by Natalie Bennett while I wait for the next book in the Devil’s Playground series! I guarantee if you’re a fan of dark and unconventional romance, you absolutely will not go wrong picking up anything but Natalie Bennett. But next to her The Badlands series, this has cemented her as exceptional in my book and an absolute 5-Star read!!!!!
Quotes:
He fucked me as if his main goal was to rip me in half. I’d never wanted to be broken as much as I did then.
He was a little too twisted. I was well beyond tragic. Sooner or later one of us would poison the other.