The Land Where Sinners Atone : A Standalone Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (The Land Where Sinners... Book 1)

OMG I loved this book! This was like a spicy criminal minds episode and I loved every second of it!The mystery, the past, the present, and everything came together perfectly! Grief can turn you into a monster, but maybe we can still find the land where sinners atone.This would have been 5 stars for me if there was a little more groveling on the MMC’s part or if the FMC made him sweat it out a little longer!If you love Law and Order, Criminal Minds, or any of those crime shows with a super spicy romance this is the book for you!!

I was not sure about this book but it is really amazing. I loved Phoenix...she was so very strong. Zach he was harder for me to warm up to but in no time flat I was there. So many hurts, so many secrets, just messed up.If you want a good read please get this. It is well worth it because this book is awesome!!!!!

I was crying 10 pages in, gasping from all the plot twists 2 chapters in, and I could not put this book down until the end.Spice 7/10 (the spicy scenes are great, but they are not the main focus - amazing quality but don't expect too much quantity)Character development 9/10 (you really connect with the characters and their struggles)Suspense 10/10 (so many twist and turns, I honesty did not know who the serial killer was until the big reveal, and I was not sure if the main characters got a happily ever after or not until the very end)

I am so undecided as to how to rate this book. It started out as a solid 5+ star rating. It grips you from the very beginning because of the way it starts out. You feel the h's heartache and despair; her fear and hopelessness. And it maintains this intensity and edge through most of the story. The emotional turmoil these characters go through feels real and believable.There's a pattern in the story telling where certain events are not told in real-time...meaning the actual event is revealed in detail as someone's memory sometime after it actually occurred. In most cases, it played well into the storyline, heightening emotions, angst and keep you guessing or wondering. In others, I would have preferred to have the events revealed in real time, but only in one case did it ruin the intensity of emotions for me and that was at the very end.How so? Well, in the last chapter, when you get to the final showdown; the reveal of and confrontation with the serial killer, it ends in a sort of cliff hanger. The author intimates something has occured and you're thinking where the heck is my HEA? Only to get an epilogue that takes place 15 yrs later which drags out the intimation in the last chapter until almost the end then you just get one of those memories of what actually happened in a very brief fashion. As such you lose all the emotion of the story. I think I would have preferred to read it in real-time...it could have, and probably would have, had the same intensity of emotions that this book started out with....choked up with a baseball-sized lump in your throat and probably even tears! For this reason only I gave it 4 1/2 stars instead of 5.That being said, it really was a great story! It is an edge of your seat, constantly guessing (or trying to) thriller with really intense emotions.

Literally the best book ever! Omg, the heartbreak this book gave me 🥹😭 I have no words. This book is one of the best books I’ve read. I love how the story comes full circle ❤️ I didn’t want this book to end but that ending was so good! Can we get one for the kids 😩

I love when a book is recommended to me and blows my expectations out of the water! That was this book ten fold and all I could do was let it consume me!"I’m a survivor of many things, but even survivors know when to give up."Oh this book had me so intrigued.....from reading the blurb, to the gorgeous cover and then the incredible story that unfolded which left me stunned. Once I started reading this book I was captivated, I couldn't stop reading, I had read through the first few chapters and knew this book would be a top read, it was just that UNPUTDOWNABLE! This is definitely one that would stay with me and one that I highly recommend.“You’re a poison that’s slowly killing me from the inside out, a curse I don’t know how to break.”Phoenix Hale is a woman that goes through hell and back after a devastating event changes her life but rises stronger and ready to start living her life again. Zachary King is the one man you will hate more than anything in this story wondering how he can redeem himself, until you don't hate him, until you realize the relationship that forms between him and Phoenix is inevitable given their history. This book is an enemies to lovers, dark romance about forgiveness, finding love again and one that is an absolute MUST READ!'Love has the power to heal everything inside us, give new meaning to the world around us, while the person who understands you the most stays by your side."

4/5 ⭐️This book got me hooked, I could not put it down.It's a thriller/mistery mixed with (dark) romance (and lots of spicy scenes) and the writing was very good.However, there were so many twists that sometimes they seemed excessive and what the hero did to the heroine would be probably forgiven only in fiction. There are some tough scenes to read (be mindful of the TW) and the enemy to lovers trope is really believable, Zach really hated Phoenix but the progression to lovers happened a little bit too fast.V.F. Mason is a new author for me but I'll definitely read other books by her as I really enjoy her style.

The book is amazing, but definitely don’t skip the epilogue! 5 out of 5 for sure! There is always a thrill to look forward to and something everything! Keeps you hooked on every page!

Everyone in Phoenix's life pre prison abandoned her or in Zacks case inflicted the most amount of pain 1 person can inflict on another.Sebastian falling in love with the nemesis sister and is about to marry her? What??? A woman who was apparantley obsessed with him a while before they got together...and did she havr a part to play in why Sebastian didnt read the mail Phoenix sent him about her pregnancy? Phoenix has been gone 4 years.. it surely didnt take the sister long to get her man and pin him down..even knowing her brother had a part to play in Phoenix's guilty verdict.Zack.. causing Phoenix to consistently be beaten in prison to the point she begins to miscarriage.. Then forcing doctors to tell her..her baby died.. while the truth is he took her and Sebs baby for his own..She has scars that mark her body.. she has many weaknesses she didnt have before.. she lost her career.. everything she loved..all because of Zack and the King family.Its wildly unrealistic to believe she could forgive any of them.. let alone love them or be friendly.She didnt get her revenge..her justice. They didnt even apologise beg or plead for her forgiveness.I was hoping for her to get some payback then maybe take her daughter and start over somewhere far from the bad memories and evil people.But nope. The author made her a doormat. Completley at the mercy of Zack.. disgusting if Im honest.

Honestly don’t bother…spoilers ahead.This book had so much potential, the storyline had a twist (actually spending time in prison for years) I haven’t come across much before. But unlike other V F Mason books, this one sucked.I lost interest when I realised Zach had no remorse for his actions when he saw her on the balcony nor when he went to her bar and still refused to apologise. I stopped reading when she was getting weak at the knees for a man she thinks is responsible for the death of her baby. Even if in some realm of this reality a woman can be romantically involved with such a man, to do so with 0 grovel, remorse, repentance nothing???? Are you smoking cat piss? I love love love a ruthless cold bastard of an alpha but if we’re reading romance (dark or otherwise) then there should be more. Phoenix is such a wallflower/pushover. She was more likeable in prison.Even though I stopped reading before 50% I skipped ahead to see if the unsub was who I thought it was, alas, it was. Sigh.

Framed for the crime she didn’t comit, Phoenix finds herself thrown behind bars, losing everything dear to her heart in the process - her husband and the love of her life, her carreer, and her freedom. One night entirely changes the course of her life. With no one in her corner, and a raging man hunting her for killing his wife, bringing her worst nightmares to life, she tries to survive in the world where everyone hates her. Four long years of torture, pain, and heartbreak leave a permanent mark on her soul, driving her to the point when she starts to believe she is guilty. But when new evidence come to the light, and Phoenix is cleared of the charges, the man who broke her completely is the only person she can trust. The question stands, who is the killer and how is it all connected? How thin is the line between love and hate? Is there a land where sinners atone and redemption is possible? Phoenix and Zachary have to find a way to solve the mystery, learing how to forgive and forget. Their story is full of pain, half-truths, and hatred. But fate has its ways, and when the truth surfaces, they’re bound to be together.This is the most suspensful romance book I’ve read so far. Full of mystery, emotional, raw read. A must read for every lover of romantic suspense.

Another excellent read from V.F. Mason. Zachary King is ruthless and not a good or a nice man, and in this tale of revenge he is nasty and cruel. Phoenix is an innocent bystander, who through no fault of her own gets caught up in his relentless hatred. This is such a good story, as are all of V.F. Masons books. And just the mention of Lachlan, Madman and Micaden from her Dark Protege series of books just makes me want to read them all again. Quite unputdownable.

I really liked this book.I tried to fall in love with Zachary, I truly did but personally I don’t think he really atoned for his sins. What he did was… I think one of the worst things I’ve seen a MMC do to the FMC and then try to get a happy ever after out of it. There was a lot of room for real grovelling which I feel as readers we were denied. The anguish and pain was exactly what I expected, what I came for but the grovelling was lacking. I could not love Zachary, the only decent thing he did (and the bar is very low here), is love Emmaline and not abuse her. I think Phoenix was strong and weak at the same time. I was with her right up until she discovered Zach’s last (and arguably biggest) secret. That point had a lot of potential to deliver a masterpiece, the pain, anguish and grovelling potential was wasted, I feel this is the comeback that could have made me love Zachary but instead it made me disappointed in Phoenix.After this point I barely read and just skimmed through to find out who the killer was.Although the crime and mystery aspect of the book was perfect. It was engaging, gripping, and the killer was not who I had pegged or called out but instead it was the third character I had suspicions about, someone who makes sense throughout the book but still delivers a shock and WHAT moment.Overall, although there were things that bothered me about the book, I still really liked it and would recommend if you want a book to make you feel something or a whole lot of things😉