Hate Me: A Dark Crime Syndicate Romance (The Fox Family Crime Syndicate) Paperback – February 23, 2023

I read book 1 , loved it …..but this one, book 2, well it was great. Superb , heartfelt characters and story. Already ordered book 3 !A must read! 🌶️❤️🥵💔🌶️

3.5⭐️I enjoyed Effie and Finn - their history made for an interesting dynamic. I did feel like the betrayals just kept coming lol like every other chapter it was like oomph they're fighting again. it felt a little repetitive, but I still enjoyed this overall!

Wow, they are so twisted and so sweet. Lol. I love the way these Fox men love 😍. I love they the novels are as dark as they are light. Finn and Effie are definitely the light! Onto Roan!

This book was short and sweet. A little redundant in some places but still a good story. Not as good as book one , but solid story.

"Finneas Fox is not a good man, but he is my man." Effie, I may fight you for him.Hate Me is the second installment of the Fox Family Crime Syndicate, and can be read as a standalone. If you want a little more background on the Fox family, start with Make Me. This is a dark mafia romance; tropes include:*Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers*Arranged marriage*Marriage of convenience*Mafia romance*"My wife"Where to begin? Let's start with my girl, Effie...I loved her character development in this book. She starts off as a dutiful mafia princess, feeling undervalued because she is a daughter and will be married off to whoever her father wants. She is abused by her parents emotionally and physically, and resigns herself to thinking this is the way of the world she grew up in. But at the end of this book she turns into a stronger woman and leans into the power she had under the surface all along, with the support she gets from Finn. Summer O'Toole does a good job of letting us know that Effie had the power and strength within her, she just needed the confidence to bring it out and Finn was the one to provide her with that confidence.Oh, and let's not gloss over Finneas Fox...my latest book boyfriend. Sorry Cash Fox, but Finn has surpassed you on the book boyfriend scale by miles. Where Cash was psychotic and unhinged, Finneas is calculating, depraved, but a gooey cinnamon roll on the inside. And when it comes to Effie, readers really get to see his deepest desires come to the surface. I love a redemption arc, and Finn's attempts to get back in Effie's good graces after the shit he pulled, chef's kiss. I think one of my biggest pet peeves with the redemption arc is when a character doesn't seem to work for it, when they keep repeating old behaviors and the author allows them to still be "redeemed." Not the case here! The kind gestures, words, devotion that Finn shows Effie feel real, so in my mind, he's the ultimate catch.4/5 stars and the only reason I'm knocking one off is that the plot was a little too predictable for my taste, but personal preference is that I love a good twist.Cannot wait to read all about Roan in Keep Me!

If you love mafia romances, this is the series for you. I binged read/listened to all these consecutively. Wonderful narrators and great writing. These brothers are the book boyfriends we all want.

"Marriage for love is for princesses in the fairytales, not princesses in the Mafia"This book destroyed me and put me back together again. This wasn't even a rollercoaster of emotions, it was a whole theme park of them. You could really feel both the love and the hatred that Effie and Finn share."I've made a lot of mistakes, but loving you was never one of them."This book starts with Finn and Effie being childhood friends both falling for each other, before their families end up on opposite sides of a war. I wish we had gotten a little more backstory on their relationship and more cutesy scenes from before, but even what we got was enough to see the love they had.This book had it all, from the angry, passionate, hate fueled arguments, to the really sweet, tender moments. Not to mention the primal scenes, and all the "my wife" moments at the end. 🥵🥵*fanning myself*I thought Cash Fox was firmly entrenched in the top book boyfriend spot race, but Finn blew him out of the water.I think the thing that tops it off for me, is how Finn helps Effie come into her own, to undo all the damage her father/family gave her. He helps her see her worth, and builds her confidence up. It's amazing to see how even with his domineering personality, he helps her shine brighter and take back control.10/5 Stars⭐️ - Highly recommendNote: This book is a dark mafia romance, so there are a lot of triggers. Please read the content warnings before diving in to figure out if this book is for you.