Empire of Hate: A Second Chance Enemies to Lovers Romance

Rina Kent has once again proven why she's such a genius and talented author. I definitely have an unhealthy obsession with this story, because no matter how much I re-read the book, it always hit every single time. I can't even construct the perfect sentence to explain how much in love I am with Daniel and Nicole.

[𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭 & 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞]

We first got to meet Daniel and Nicole in Cruel King. In that story, we can see how much these two loathe each other and their sexual tensions were off the chart. There are so many things that were happening between them that were left unanswered. All the questions that were lingering inside my head were finally resolved in this book.

I was very amazed at Rina's ability in connecting the storyline between Cruel King and Empire of Hate. It was done perfectly where everything made sense. The development was top tier and the writing is just exquisite. It doesn't feel forced as if the story was planned last minute just to make the characters end up together. No, Rina has planned the whole story carefully with all the details that could change the reader's opinion from hating the character, into loving them.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬]

💜 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 💜

Daniel has always charmed me ever since Cruel King with his easygoing personality. In the Empire series, he was portrayed as the womanizer and couldn't stand any woman with blonde hair. It was hinted that he had been betrayed by a certain blonde that caused him to have PTSD. Therefore, I'm not surprised when he ended up being a major a$$hle to Nicole as an act of revenge. He became incredibly petty towards her just to make her quit her job as his assistant.

Despite the cruel treatment that he gave to Nicole, his feelings for her still remained strong even after all these years. Somewhere along his hatred for her, he still couldn't stop himself from being attracted to her. After knowing about the custody case, he took the matter into his hands to help her. Even after her ''betrayal'', he still cares for her in his own way. There are so many things that this man has done for Nicole just to protect her. That's one of the main reasons why I fell hard for Daniel.

𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 - 𝙣𝙤, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙. 𝘼𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙅𝙖𝙮𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝘼 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨.

💜 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐞 💜

It's really surprising how the most hated female character by Rina Kent ended up being the best female lead that she has ever created. In Cruel King, I was not really fond of Nicole because of how she treated Astrid, but I changed my mind right after reading this book. She's nothing but a misunderstood character who has been gaslighted by her mother throughout her whole life. All she has ever wanted was for Daniel to notice her and yet he never gave her the attention that she wanted.

''𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡. 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩, 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚''

I have never felt more connected with a character as much as I did with Nicole. Even though she was portrayed as the spoiled mean girl in Cruel King, she was still able to capture my interest. Getting to know the real her in Empire of Hate is one of the best things I have ever experienced. Who would have thought that a b**chy character would turn out to be such a sweet yet strong person who would do anything to protect her loved ones. She has all my respect, especially with all the sacrifices that she made throughout her entire life.

💜 𝐉𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 💜

Jayden is such a precious character that I adore so much! Despite his young age, he is smarter than most kids. I really liked how Jayden isn't afraid to speak out his mind especially when it comes to Nicole. He's really protective of her and would do anything to ensure her happiness. Also, the best part is that Jayden is the main reason that made this book so much entertaining. Without him, I'm pretty sure this book will be nothing but an emotional angst fest.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞]

The relationship between Daniel and Nicole runs deeper than I have expected. I never thought that their romance would be so raw and emotional. It's so obvious from the very beginning that these two are meant for each other. Their mutual attraction and obsession made the whole story so enjoyable and passionate at the same time. It's definitely a journey for me to experience their chemistry from childhood to adulthood. Several things happened that prevent them from being together, but in the end, they finally get the ending they deserve.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚, 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.”

[𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬]

Empire of Hate is hands down one of the best books by Rina Kent. It captivates me from the beginning that made me fall in love from the current chapter to the next until the very end. I didn't prepare myself for such excellency and I'm so glad that Rina gave these two the story they deserve. If you hate Nicole in Cruel King, then I highly recommend you to read this book because everything isn't what it seems. Trust me, it will help to change your mind when you finally get to read from her own side of the story.

Empire of Hate by Rina Kent
Stars 5/5
Steam 5/5
A second chance enemies do lovers story. Nicole ran away from home and 11 years later she starts a new job where her boss is the one that she ran away from. I will say I was really annoyed how both of them acted in the past, she went to some extremes and I didn’t get that he had anytime of feelings until later. But I did love how the story went when were older and glad there is a HEA.