Review: ‘Unhinged’ by Onley James
Unhinged
by Onley JamesSeries: Necessary Evils #1
Published by Self-Published on November 25, 2021
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance, LGBT Romance, MM Romance
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
Source: Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
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Adam Mulvaney lives a double life. By day, he’s the spoiled youngest son of an eccentric billionaire. By night, he’s an unrepentant killer, one of seven psychopaths raised to right the wrongs of a justice system that keeps failing.
Noah Holt has spent years dreaming of vengeance for the death of his father, but when faced with his killer, he learns a daunting truth he can’t escape. His father was a monster.
Unable to ignore his own surfacing memories, Noah embarks on a quest to find the truth about his childhood with the help of an unlikely ally: the very person who murdered his father. Since their confrontation, Adam is obsessed with Noah, and he wants to help him uncover the answers he seeks, however dark they may be.
The two share a mutual attraction, but deep down, Noah knows Adam’s not like other boys. Adam can’t love. He wasn’t born that way. But he refuses to let Noah go, and Noah’s not sure he wants him to.
Can Adam prove to Noah that passion, power, and protection are just as good as love?
Unhinged is an MM Contemporary Romance that reminded me of the show Dexter while I was reading it. It was a fast-paced, intense story that definitely had me hooked from the beginning. I enjoyed the storyline of this book, where an eccentric billionaire has raised his family at night to take care of the horrible people who have gotten away or are missed by the justice system.
Adam Mulvaney is one of the sons of the billionaire who unalives people for a living, and he doesn’t feel bad about it, especially when one of those he unalives ends up hurting kids. Noah Holt has wanted to confront his father’s unaliver for a while, and when he does, he finds out the truth about his father.
I’ve never read a book like this one, so it was different and exciting. As I stated, it had me hooked due to the story alone. I liked the characters Adam and Noah and how they were complete opposites of one another. Adam is a serial unaliver (psychopath) with the capability of not really loving anyone, except he can’t seem to stay away from Noah, even if his family tells him that Noah could be setting him up. Noah is the sweet cinnamon roll who I felt for immediately, especially with what was revealed that happened to him. He ends up wanting to take down the rest of the people that his father worked with, and Adam ends up helping him.
I loved learning about the other Mulvaney family members and how each one plays a role in a family of serial unalivers. I definitely want to continue the series to find out how each of them gets their HEA.
The issue I had, and it’s just a preference, is that Noah and Adam’s relationship was too instant lust/love. I didn’t feel they had a connection to one another. Noah, who thought their relationship was moving too fast, was a little hesitant about being with Adam because Adam was not able to love. Adam did warn Noah, though ahead of time. I will say this: Adam wasn’t willing to give up on Noah, and he even told his family he wouldn’t.
Another thing that bothered me was that the ending felt rushed. I wanted the antagonists to suffer some more, especially the one who deserved it the most. I’m happy, though, that Noah found his HEA with Adam and found a family with the Mulvaneys.
I give this book 3.5 stars and look forward to reading the rest of the series. If you enjoy MM Romance, which reminds you of the show Dexter, then this book/series should be added to your TBR.
Trope(s)/Element(s):
✔️Serial Killer Romance
✔️Instant Love/Attraction
✔️Opposite’s Attract
✔️Hurt/Comfort
✔️Found Family
✔️Dirty Talker Psychopath MMC
✔️Sweet Cinnamon Roll MMC
✔️Steamy
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About Onley James
Onley James lives in North Carolina with her daughter, her daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and a menagerie of animals, both good and evil. James splits her time between writing m/m romance and mainlining dangerous levels of caffeine and attempting to maintain her ever-slipping sanity.
When not at her desk you can find her whining about how much writing she has to do while avoiding said writing by binge-watching unhealthy amounts of television and doom scrolling on social media. She loves true crime documentaries, anti-heroes, and writing kinky, snarky books about morally gray men who fall in love with other men.
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