DadReadsRomance

Welp, I have a new favorite Romance story of all time...and a series that falls somewhere in my top 10 of all genres.

I originally wrote this review in January prior to creating this blog.

Content Warnings for this Review

(Items with hidden text like this only appear in the spoilers sections.)

• References to Serial Killers
• References to Violence
• References to Sexually Explicit Material
• References to Rape
• References to Physical Abuse of Children
• References to Rape and Sexual Abuse of Children
• References to Domestic Abuse
• References to >!Violent Torture
• (Major Spoiler) References to Angry consensual sex with the intent of ending a relationship afterward
• (Content Warning for the Series is below the Spoiler Section).

Medium Used: eBook via Kindle for iPadOS

Ratings Out of 5

Overall Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜

Sweetness Level: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫

Steam Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🕯️

FMC Likability: 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

MMC Likability: 🛡️🛡️🛡️🛡️

Plot Engagement: 🔪🚔😟🔫💋

Spoiler Free Review

The Mindfck Series by S.T. Abby} is the a 5-part series of suspense/mystery romance books. The books are Novella in length, goodreads has the whole series listed at 638 pages. The plot moves fast, very fast. The books are also violent, very violent. The first half of the series spends more time on the start of the relationship between FMC and MMC. The back half of the series has a little more focus on the mystery, action, and suspense of the overarching plot as well as time spent on exploring FMC and MMC's relationships with the supporting characters but (Dark) Romance is certainly the primary genre of all 5 books. As I mentioned in my review of Book 1, I have not historically been drawn to Dark Romance preferring RomComs and Fantasy Romance. Mindfck is causing me to completely reevaluate my tastes across all of fiction.

Books 2-5 continue to progress the plot as described in my Book 1 review. As this is a spoiler free section I am just going to quote my Book 1 spoiler free plot summary.

The story is told from both the FMC's (Lana's) and MMC's (Logan's) perspectives. Lana's past is, more or less, the central mystery of book 1, and there are still unanswered questions to explore in book 2. Logan is a serial killer profiler for the FBI. Lana, on the other hand, is... well, a serial killer driven by revenge for something that wronged her in the past.

I could have gone for a slightly slower burn especially given that this series has more books to go I no longer agree with this parenthetical having read books 2-5 they hit so good based on the foundation / pace of the relationship in Book 1, but I thought the intimate scenes from both the MMC and FMC perspectives were well above average for what I typically read. What I wasn't expecting from such a violent book was how sweet and genuine the emotions and care between the characters would be.

What I liked about this series:

• I was so engaged reading these books that I had to force myself to go to bed every night this week because all I wanted to do was keep reading.
• Lana is, without a doubt, my favorite “dark” protagonist in all of fiction (across all media) that I have ever consumed.
• Each individual book felt like it had a satisfying arch on its own.
• The pace at which the mysteries unfold across these stories was perfect for my taste. I guessed some facts right early on, some facts wrong, and just the right number of twists left me shocked.
• There was supporting character interactions and development that actually mattered. One of my main complaints with most Romcoms I read is how the supporting cast is often 1-dimensional and overall irrelevant. I think the relationship between the MCs in romance can hit so much more when you also understand their relationships with those around them.

What I did not like about this series:

• The Graphic depictions of violent acts in this book are more detailed than I like, however; in aggregate I think they are used correctly and are necessary for the emotional impacts of the story as it plays out. I will have some disturbing things burned in my imagination forever now but it's a burden I am happy to carry for how great these books are.
• People in love lying to each other makes me sad. 😢

Review with Spoilers:

Click to review spoilers

I am not going to summarize the whole plot of the series (it's too good and I don't think I could do it justice). >!Books 2-5 continue to unravel the story of what exactly happened to Lana and her family in the town of Delaney Grove!<. >!The middle of the series (book 2 and 3 if I recall correctly) also deals heavily with a subplot surrounding a different serial killer who escapes being caught by Logan's FBI team and then starts to retaliate against them.

Since this is a blog about romance books I will talk a little bit about how the romantic conflict / relationship evolves in books 2-5. Much of the middle of the series Lana and Logan's relationship is primarily characterized through each one trying to protect the other. From Logan's perspective he is putting Lana in danger and feels immense guilt. From Lana's perspective Logan's job is dangerous and she is heavily trained and capable of protecting him but can only do so in secret. (This next part is going to be about the end of the story). In the end of the series both MCs begin to grapple with the conflict between the passion that drives their careers (or in Lana's case “career”?) and the person they love and view as perfect.

What I liked about this series spoilers:

Click to review spoilers

• Hadley is one of the main supporting characters and is a forensic scientist on Logan's team. She is the only one that gets a chapter from her perspective other than Logan and Lana. That chapter is one of the single greatest action fight scenes I have ever read. -Sticking with Hadley for a bit, I love the relationship arc between Hadley and Lana. I love the way it takes her a while after she knows to trust Lana fully.
• The internal conflict for Lana that she does not really need to finish her crusade for herself anymore and that finishing her crusade puts at risk her happiness with Logan but she loves her brother, dad, and best friend too much to give it up. I really felt for her.!< -Each time a mystery about Lana's past is “revealed” at least one more takes in place and it all just fits so perfectly together at the end. -Honestly just love seeing PoS oppressive thumbs who weaponize religion get what they have coming to them. -The honest and cynical depiction of bureaucracy, small town, and federal politics. Especially at the end. -Lana is just an absolute badass and Jake knows it in the scene where she suits up for the showdown and it is just🔥. -Depiction of platonic love between a non-related man who is sexually attracted to women and a woman who is sexually attracted to men.
• Major Spoiler Seriously I am not kidding the next bullet spoils basically the whole series.
• Major spoiler Dad got his HEA fix.

What I did not like about this series spoilers:

Click to review spoilers

• Major Spoiler There is a scene when Logan discovers that Lana is responsible for the murders she has committed but misreads a key aspect of the lies Lana has been telling him. He Angrily has sex with her before arresting her. It is consensual and Lana knows during the scene that he has figured it out during the sex. She even tells him she knows he knows during the sex. Honestly reflecting on it as a write this it does end up fitting the narrative and the final character arcs for Lana and Logan pretty well but it was so heartbreaking. Ugh
• Major Spoiler Seriously this is a /s response and a Major Major Spoiler. Only remove the spoiler text on the next bullet if you don't plan to read these books!
• Major Spoiler You really going to take me through 4/5 Romance Books and for once no evil dad for MMC and FMC then have the final twist be that?! Well played S.T. Abby 💯!

Content Warnings for the book series Mindf*ck by S.T. Abby

Click to review spoilers

– If a major spoiler is only in book 1 it is noted as so. Otherwise major spoilers appear in book 2-4. – Graphic Depictions of Violence – Graphic Depictions of Sex Acts – References to homophobic discrimination – (medium spoiler) Vivid memory descriptions of rape and torture – (minor spoiler) Description of a serial rapist, serial killers, and their crime scenes – (minor spoiler) Knife torture – (minor spoiler) FMC lying to MMC – (major spoiler book 1) Homophobic abuse / gay bashing – (minor spoiler)Corrupt small town police – (minor spoiler) References to oppressive rural small towns – (minor spoiler) Serial Killer Protagonist – (medium spoiler) Framing of innocent individuals – (major spoiler) biomedical torture – (medium spoiler) child sex trafficking – (medium spoiler) child sex abuse survival – (medium spoiler) graphic depiction of forced cannibalism – (medium spoiler) gun violence – (major spoiler) arson / dying in fire – (major spoiler) abusive characters with narcissism – (major spoiler) abusive sociopath characters with psychotic tendencies – (medium spoiler) domestic abuse of woman and children – I may have missed some specifics but you get the idea this book is not for the faint of heart.

I am sad to share for those that do not know S.T. Abby passed away in 2021. Wishing her a peaceful rest and thanking her for giving us this wonderful series in her life.

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This Review was originally published to goodreads (and briefly Reddit) in January 2025 before I started this blog.