A modern Hades and Persephone retelling … My name is Sebastian Lindstrom, and I’m the villain of this story.Camille was a damsel, one who already had her white knight. She was caught in a world of lies that glittered like truth, secrets painted to seem harmless. I could’ve left her there. I didn’t. I never abandon the things I want, never lose sight of their shine, and Camille outshined all … shine, and Camille outshined all others. She was my breath of spring, an apple ripe for poisoning.
After all, every fairy tale has a villain, someone waiting in the wings to rip it all down. A scoundrel who will set the world on fire if that means he gets what he wants. That’s me.
I’m the bad guy.
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Finished reading it in two days . For the first time I Loved the villain …
I’m going to contradict myself a bit with this review. If you read my other reviews, you know that I don’t tolerate heroines who accept abuse, in any form, from the so-called hero. I don’t believe that Stockholm Syndrome is the same as love. I want women who are kidnapped to get the drop on their kidnappers and kick the shit out of them. The end. Unless, I guess, the hero is Sebastian Lindstrom. Then…I dunno. Being kidnapped by Sebastian might not be so bad. There, are you happy, Celia Aaron? You made me turn my back on all my feminist beliefs.
Now, that is not to say that I condone men who chloroform and kidnap women, then hold them prisoner. Men, if you’re reading this, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. It will not end well for you.
But I will point out to any of you who are concerned (and in my own defense, I guess), Sebastian doesn’t hurt Camille in any way while he’s holding her prisoner. (There’s a little sexual coercion, not any rape—but if that kind of thing bothers you as a reader, you’ll want to skip this one.)
But anyhoo, about Sebastian…sigh. I might find him more intriguing than other readers because I was a psych major in college. Various mental issues fascinate me. I probably would’ve loved this book even if Camille hadn’t existed. Just reading about how his father taught him to “pass for human” and how he struggled with empathy would’ve kept me thoroughly entertained all on its own. The whole thing had a very Dexter feel to it. (And I loved me some Dexter, folks. If you didn’t watch it, stop reading this review and start binge watching that show. It was all kinds of awesome. Until the last episode. That one sucked. But I digress…)
The fact of the matter is that Sebastian is a psychopath. A high-functioning, extremely intelligent, ridiculously sexy, dirty talking psychopath. And after about 20% of the book, I completely stopped being horrified by what he was doing and started rooting for him. I wanted him to win. I wanted him to get his girl. I kind of wanted Camille to let him kill Link. I’m not sure what that says about me as a reader, but I loved Sebastian. I make no apologies.
(And off topic: I offer mad props to the cover model who is working it. Nicely done, sir. Nicely done.)
Long-story-short, if you’re a fan slightly unhinged, dark, obsessive, possessive heroes who would burn the world down for those they love, this book is your catnip. One-click the hell out of it. For those of you looking for a story in which the heroine rides off into the sunset with a tame, vanilla, Prince Charming type? Well, y’all will need to look elsewhere.
This book. WOW. I found myself messaging reader friends in the middle of the night about this character. Amazingly well-researched and written.
I just love a good psycho . The Bad Guy definitely checked all my boxes: stalker, super jealous/possessive, and completely obsessed. Awesome, fantastical storyline. Great heroine and awesome, if not ethically cringy hero. Will definitely be checking out more Celia Aaron!
Trope: Stakes/kidnapper
Story: /5
Angst:/5
Smexy: /5
Triggers: dubcon and attempted sexual assault
I’m The Bad Guy, Duh!
*self-purchased on Amazon. No need of sugar daddies called promo teams*
What’s this book about? (I’m trying to give as little spoilers as possible)
This is a standalone novel with dark themes. Sebastian Lindstrom is the bad guy, and he’s set his mind on one girl. She has it all, but he’s about to take it away. And then, he’ll lose her.
This is my first Celia Aaron full length novel. Previously, I read her mesmerizing story in Dark Fairy Tales. I had high expectations LOL. This was a solid story, and it was entertaining AF! Sebastian was an interesting BAD GUY. The leading lady did what she had to do. She wasn’t a doormat, and she fought hard to keep her self-respect. Their banter was amusing, and their chemistry stole the show. It took me some time to truly get into the story, but after that, I was fully invested. I recommend this to all the lovers of dark romance and tortured alpha heroes.
“You had a white knight, but you were waiting for your monster. Here I am…”
You put a psychopath and a sweet teacher with dark desires and some age gap, and I’m all yours; Celia Aaron has claimed me as one of her top readers with this book, I do agree with some reviews, this book could’ve been longer; but don’t be afraid, this book is intoxicating and stalkerish in every single and amazing way.
Camille, at twenty-four she loves being a teacher, there’s something missing in her life; her current white knight is everything a girl should want…but he’s not what she really desires.
Sebastian Lindstrom is the stalker you wish to kidnap you; fully diagnosed as a psychopath, Sebastian has found the only woman who has ever managed to unlock something he can’t quite put a name on, but the only thing he is sure of is that Camille is his, his to take and his to keep.
This is not as dark as you would expect it to be, and it totally gave me the vibe of The Beauty and the Beast, and I’m a sucker for those kinds of stories. And so, it is only logical that Sebastian Lindstrom is easily one of my favorites heroes since he checks all my boxes, dark, stalker, possessive and well a hot psycho…
Goodreads Rating: 4.5 stars
I LOVED THIS! Im so mad I waited so long to read it. Sebastian is everything jealous and possessive! My new anti-hero! I love all the heroine Camilla stood for. Her live of teaching and plants really came through. Veronica was amazing! I loved her so much. I wonder if this has another book in it. I should have known this author would kill it. This was so hot!!! Steamy, steamy!!! I enjoyed it so much and highly recommend. The only thing I didn’t like was the tarnishing of the white knight. It was too easy to make him flawed. What would happen if he was not tarnished? I know! Im just saying.
Review about the italian edition of the bad guy
3.75
“Every bad guy is the hero of his own tale” *** Sebastian Lindstrom is a psychopath, absolutely incapable of feeling emotions or understanding those of others; exercising control in business is all he cares about, at least until he knows Camille. Beautiful, intelligent, passionate, she attracts him from the first moment; she becomes his obsession. He doesn’t care that she has an apparently perfect boyfriend, he knows with absolute certainty that Camille is made for him. He can really “see” her, and is determined to make her embrace that darkness that she craves and fears in the same way.
The bad guy is a story that captures you from the beginning and makes you understand that appearances are deceiving.
The more you go on in the story the more difficult it becomes not to love Sebastian: basically he is a puppy in need of love.
I expected the dark aspect to be more dominant (the title and the plot misled me) but the story is beautiful anyway.
I find, however, that Gray Eagles should pay more attention to translation, because some words were out of tune to the point of being unpleasant.
Love to read Celia Aaron’s books when I’m in the mood for a darker tale.
4.5 psycho stars!!
This book was different then what I expected. It was hotter then I expected. I really enjoyed this book.
So let me just say that Sebastian is super hot and just yummy. I want a Sebastian. Psycho and all. Sebastian and Camille sexy as sin!!
I will say the middle of the book lost me for a second but it picks back up. Sebastian becomes so much more. And Link he becomes something different as well.
I have read books similar to this but they never end up doing what Sebastian did and yet I always yearn for it. It was a perfectly dark love story. The author also kills it with the words she wrote. Editing is perfect.
If you want witty, dark, sexy, and so much more this is the book for you.
Wow!! What a great dark twisted read, you can’t help fall for Sebastian.
Can you say Stockholm Syndrome?
Yes, this had so many things wrong with it, but it worked. I was completely involved with the characters, and the whole situation even though I knew how it would end.
Sebastian is the bad guy we hate to love, like Loki or Jamie Dornan’s character in “The Fall,” both of whom Celia Aaron mentions in the story.
Sebastian loves his childhood cat. That hooked me right in (obsessive cat lover right here). When the cat dies, his dad questions him about it, afraid to find out whether or not he was responsible for its death. Of course he wasn’t. He loved the little bundle of fur.
But…”Once Dad was out of sight, I flopped back on my bed and counted my blessings that he hadn’t asked me about Colonel RedSpur, the neighbor’s “missing” pet rooster.” I laughed out loud! If you’ve ever been woken by a neighbor’s pet rooster (I have), you know you’ve wanted to do it. Sebastian just goes ahead and does the things we all secretly want to do sometimes. And yes, because he has a chiseled six-pack and millions of dollars, he gets away with it.
Obviously, the story is make-believe–a fantasy. But we ladies work hard. When we get home after a long day, finish making dinner, and put the kiddos to bed, we want to curl up with the book boyfriend who anticipates our every need, both in the closet, where he’s lined up all our expensive shoes, and in the bedroom. And if he’s a little too intense, a little too dark–sometimes it’s a nice contrast to the love of your life who is currently drinking beer and watching football on the couch.
Loved this book so much! Celia Aaron is now in the top five of my favorite authors.
This wasn’t your “typical” love story. Sebastian was a newbie to “feelings” and I REALLY enjoyed experiencing his character become aware. He was SO afraid of letting her go . . . and then, he did. It was a “moment” and I do recommend this book!
This book is truly a great book. I couldn’t put it down. I would love to be loved the way the male lead loved the female lead.
This book is clearly a 5 stars review. It’s every dark twisted fantasy in one book. The handsome bad guy, the white knight and the girl they fight over. But it’s like it’s of steroids. I love Sebastian, I was rooting for him all the way through, but I love a bad guy with no qualms for doing wait he feels to be the right course, Damn anything for one that gets in his way. It’s a must read for the dark romance lover, keeps you on you toes, with insights to the thoughts of other characters as this story plays out. I loved the bonus chapter too which you can download at the end of the book.
Give me the anti-hero or really the villain in this story anytime especially if he is a Celia Aaron anti-hero. She has a way to write darkness that becomes acceptable after a while. Loved this story!
Wow, I have to say Celia has upped her writing skills with more books she writes. I really enjoyed this one even though it creeps me out! Narrators were perfect!
This was soo good! I enjoy a dark read at times and this one was just what I needed, when I needed it. I absolutely loved Sebastian, despite him being psychotic. And I especially loved his dad for his understanding ways and the fact that he put everything he had into helping him learn how to appear to be “normal”. Because of his dad, Sebastian was able to eventually recognize what he needed to do about Camille.
A hero that will do anything to have and keep his woman is going to steal my heart and Sebastian was that hero. There were so many times I was swept into his darkness and never knew how far he was going to take it but he always pulled me through those times with his determination to win Camille over. Camille wasn’t a doormat either. She stood up to him even when she was the most afraid of him and learned how to control some of his more psychotic moments. I actually loved those times the most. With each of their “deals” I just knew it was going to mean trouble…in the most delicious ways even if Sebastian’s inability to feel emotions could bring about a darker outcome.
While a lot of dark reads can cross over lines, this one never did. That actually made this for a more pleasant read. That relationship Sebastian had with his dad? I wanted them to mean something and the fact that those lines were never crossed proved that despite his sociopathic diagnosis, at the very heart of him he wasn’t completely lost to the darkness.
This is a lengthier book but had a great pace to it. It never bogged down, one my biggest pet peeves, and it flowed smoothly from one moment to the next. I couldn’t read it fast enough. When I reached the end I wanted so much more and was thrilled that the author offered a bonus chapter. And in that chapter…we realize that while Camille may have tamed a part of Sebastian, he is still very much a sociopath. Swoon!
P.S. Lots of jealous possessive moments here!
Read via Kindly Unlimited
Dual POV