But Nicholas Woodsworth's real secret is much more dangerous than an alias. He's an undercover DEA agent, and he's hell-bent on destroying the drug trade that devastated his family. When he realizes the youngest daughter of the Westerly empire is the same woman he's been fantasizing about since that night at the club, attraction wars violently with disgust. Evelina embodies everything he's against, and he's been sent here to be her downfall. Yet the more they learn about the darkness in each other's hearts, the more alike they seem, and when hatred turns to something more, Nicholas will have to decide whether he can love a wretched woman, even if it means bringing both of their lives to ruin. From BookTok sensation Emily McIntire comes a dark and delicious fractured fairy tale reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. Big Brother Worship: Gender-inverted. Eveline has loved and idolized her late older sister, Nessa, even after her death. Wretched is dark contemporary romance novel written by Emily McIntire, published in 2022, based on L. Frank Baum's fairytale The Wizard of Oz. But if I’m her calm, then she is my chaos, and if I can’t live with her forever, then I don’t want to live at all. My Review First Impressions

Steamin’ up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes. You don’t have to trust me, Evelina. But words are your safe space, the same way that they’re mine.” My fingers thread through his hair. “Let me be your calm in the chaos, pretty girl.” Grief is a weird thing. It’s the only emotion in the world people claim to understand yet treat as an inconvenience. “Time heals all wounds, Evie.” Spare me. Time heals nothing. Just gives things more space to grow and fester and rot.” Though they can't stand one another, something keeps bringing them together. Both come into conflicts as ugly truths come to the surface and the pair come to discover more in common than they believed. The tension swirling around our bodies is overwhelming, and I don’t know what it is I’m feeling, only that nothing else has ever felt like it. Opening her eyes, she twists in my arms to look up at my face.”Notorious Parent: Farrell Westerly is the leader of the drug trade with a criminal rap sheet, and the father of Dorothy and Eveline.

Warm- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments. I’m curious to see what the next book in the series is going to be. I still think a Little Mermaid would be interesting, especially from a dark, fractured “re-telling” perspective. But that might be hard since I doubt there would be actual mermaids involved (these don’t involve magic or fantasy creatures, though that could always change), but it could be pirate-themed, which would be interesting. Have you read the Never After Series or any of these books? If so, what did you think? In Love with the Mark: Despite working against the Westerlys in secret, Nicholas inadvertently falls in love with Eveline (who is the supplier of the Flying Monkey), which she slowly reciprocates. Cody is also revealed to be an undercover agent sent to catch the supplier of the Flying Monkey drug. Cowardly Lion: Zeke, whose only reason for being involved in illegal activities was because of his late father's time as a criminal and with Eveline's father. However, when Eveline was in danger of being killed by her father, he takes action and shoots Farrell dead.I found Wretched to be a badass dark romance that will stretch the limits of your morality, open your eyes to hidden depths, and will fascinate you with the connections to the Wizard of Oz. It’s a magical dark edgy romance that will get your blood to pump and your heart to race and keep you enthralled from beginning to end.