I couldn't get enough of this world Shantel Tessier built, her writing is so descriptive and she makes you feel what she is describing or saying. I loved the story of Sin & Elli. This story is full of action, suspense, blo0d, heartbreak, obsession, love, and so much spice! Elli goes through so much that it’s hard not feel for her and want to hunt everyone down that hurts her or that causes her any pain but that is what Sin is for, to protect his little dem0n. Sin has always planned to make Elli his and will make that happened at any cost no matter what anyone says because she’s always been his and will make anyone pay for hurting her. I love how they protect one another! Couldn’t get enough of this world! Please check your triggers because this is a dark romance with descriptive content!

This is Sin & Elli's story. I love that this series can be standalone or read in order. Sin and Elli go through some ish. This book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions. One minute you will be wondering why the hell you are reading such smut, then the next one you're almost in tears and rushing to read to find out what is happening next. It's a must read. Just keep going too. Read them all.

Before you read this book, you NEED to CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS! This book is not for the weak or that can trigger easily, especially with sexual assault. I can read pretty dark stuff and there are parts that I had trouble reading. Beyond that, it was a good book. I enjoyed the story of Sin and Elli getting together. Elli has a dark past that she's trying to deal with, while also depending on a masked stranger to be her hero. She does drugs to deal with her past and to feel free, but when Sin starts coming around more, he wants her fully there so she knows she belongs to him. Will she finally let him in and learn to love and trust him?

Oh boy! Spoilers? Maybe? Angry rant? Yup! Like everyone else who preordered this book I’ve been waiting forever for another go around in the Barrington universe. And Shantel Tessier did not disappoint on bringing me down to the depths of hell and despair. I really love how even though she gives you fair warning about all the possible triggers and a very tantalizing blurb I still had zero clues as to what was waiting for me. All I can say is that this book isn’t for everyone, even if you claim to be a ride or die fan of the author. I usually devour her books in one day not caring if I’m a zombie for the rest of the day. I am on a full on binge. But with The Sinner I was taking my time. Not to savor, but to slowly digest it. It’s rough man. Her warning that this is her darkest book yet is 100% accurate. I called my own bluff thinking I only had one real trigger (cheating fyi) but nope. I hate stories that use grooming and SA to add more to the mix. So that’s on me. But that’s not my reason for rating this story less than four stars. The real reason? I hated pretty much everyone in this story. I hated how almost every single “authority figure” were completely selfish, vile POSs. I hated that our h, Elli (aka little demon) was TSTL. I was so torn by my reaction to her being so dumb. I was “be easy on her. She’s just trying to cope with her pain. She’s stronger than she looks, but yeah she’s not in a good place.” But throughout the entire story she’s crying, licking her lips (lol it’s so often), and her diet basically consists of pills washed down by any type of booze on hand. When she comes to and goes ugh, what happened or where am I? I wanted to chuck my phone at the wall. Like duh girl. You are blacked out 85% of this book! I honestly didn’t care for her. Shantel made her so weak. There was one scene closer to the 70% mark where she actually made me laugh out loud and think ok she does have a spark, but it’s just a flicker. It’s when one of the many vile of POSs tells her how he’s going to torture her and she’s responds “sounds fun”. I actually cackled because she was finally done with it all. I was like finally!!!! I also didn’t like our H, Sin (aka the devil). I had like no reaction to him whatsoever. I remember being completely gone for Ryat in The Ritual. Still am if I’m being honest. He was cold and calculating and did a better job of making sure Blakey knew what side he was on-hers, at all times. Sin kept Elli on a need to know basis. And that drove me insane!! Also for some reason this story was waaaaay more campy than The Ritual. Sin was indeed OTT possessive of Elli. But he was also OTT drama queen. Like boy tone it down a notch please. And to my complete and utter surprise (because I read these stories for the twisty plots and copious amounts of smut) I was skimming through the s e x scenes because they were so frequent and kinda all the same. I was like hmmm when do we get to the story? I wanted more story. This felt like a sequel to Sabotage and a segue into Tyson’s story and even The Spade brothers upcoming book. Also why are there like zero bad@$$ women here?! Blakeley had the makings to be. Her bio mom was definitely a bad@$$ Queen (I still think Blakeley’s parents need their own novella), but that’s it. I’m truly hoping this new generation will produce more kick@$$ women. The second epilogue seems to be hinting at that so I’m hopeful. Also no more back from the dead characters popping back up. I was rolling my eyes so hard. I swear that if Tyson’s OG chosen comes back “to life” in his story I’m out! I’m so excited for his story and also for Carnage to come out too tho!!!! What did I like about this book you ask? I really enjoyed that we got to see more of the other Lords in this story. We met Ryan’s friends from book one obviously but never really saw them much. Also there’s Sin’s besties too. In The Sinner we get to see them talk about their chosens. How they feel about them. It was interesting to get more info. Also this story just confirms that Tyson deserves his own story. He’s the one!!!! Anyway read this!!! Shantel Tessier is hands down one of the best authors out there doing her thing and she’s killing it. I just truly want stronger heroines. Sorry for this long@$$ rant.

Reviewing after multiple rereads/relistens, and this one is forever my favorite story! Sin & Ellie are SO DARK, but I love it! This audio is duet narration, hallelujah! Laurie West and Peter Alden are soooo good as Ellie and Sin! They are great with bringing this super emotional & roller coaster of a book to life! This one is DARK DARK, darker than The Ritual, so please if you have triggers, heed them! I will FOREVER be a Sin girly! This man is unhinged and morally BLACK, but the love he has for Ellie is unmatched! He has loved her for far longer than anyone knows, and he would burn the world for her, and go to great lengths to protect her. He has some messed up actions, but he ALWAYS has Ellie's best interest in mind. Ellie is a favorite FMC of mine, she is so tortured and traumatized, & literally almost no one in her life gave a **** what happened to her, except for Sin. She was taken advantage of & groomed & she is heartbreaking, but I love her so much! She & Sin together will forever be a favorite pairing of mine. As dark as this is, it will forever be a favorite book of mine!

I'm not usually into thriller/suspense, but this story kept me on my toes. A lot of the TW heavy parts were kinda fade-to-black, which helps get through them, but I knocked a star off for the unbelievability of certain scenes. I like the smutty scenes, but some of them just felt out of place. Overall, a good read.

My other review wasn’t posted because of profanity so I’ll just repost with the profanity. I loved this so much! I finished The Ritual yesterday and started this immediately. I was up until 5 AM trying to finish it before I fell asleep. I love that the stories are interconnected, like Ryat, Blakely, Sarah, Gunnar, Prickett, and Matt(the smallest man who ever lived), are all mentioned in The Sinner because the events are unfolding at the same time. Really well done and I’ll be starting The Sacrifice ASAP, excited to finally learn about Tyson’s story.