Review: Brother of Sin (The Blackwood Brotherhood #1) by Wendy Vella

    

Print Length: 284 pages

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing (July 18, 2025)

From Goodreads.com: Feared throughout Society, Lord Anthony Hamilton built his reputation on cold detachment and ruthless control, because after a brutal childhood, emotions are a luxury he can no longer afford.

Evangeline Spencer has no patience for his arrogance or the dark rumors that follow him. She challenges his every word, refusing to be intimidated. But when Anthony uncovers the secret she’s hidden to protect her family, he offers his help, at a cost.

With everything Evie has worked for threatened by a powerful enemy, she has no choice but to accept. She’ll strike a deal with the devil himself if it means saving those she loves… even if that devil wears a noble title and a hardened heart.

As danger draws closer and their fragile alliance deepens, Anthony and Evie must confront the ghosts of their pasts. Can they overcome what broke them, and risk everything for a love they never believed possible?

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

I feel like I already know that I'm going to be in the minority here, but I feel like this book just has too much drama happening along with villains who are just so over the top that instead of coming across as menacing, they are just annoying.  

Let's start with the characters. I for one really enjoyed Evie and Anthony together. I loved the way they were constantly butting heads and sniping at one another because it showed that she was not going to be cowed by Anthony or his reputation the same way it seemed most everyone else was. It was fun watching them have to try and set aside their differences in order to convince the rest of society that their engagement was real. I also enjoyed his three aunts, two best friends and even Evie's sister Prudence. I feel like they all stood out in their own ways and helped to push the story along when needed. I also enjoyed the way the aunts and friends showed that Anthony was not the cold, indifferent man that he showed the rest of the world. I feel like that helped shape him so that he could eventually have the hope of redemption and his happily ever after. 

Now on the flip side of that, you have the main villain of the story Cavendish. We are told that there is a history of bad blood between him and Anthony dating back to some pretty severe bullying that happened while they were in school (with Cavendish being the bully). After seeing her a few times, he decides that Evie is the only woman he will accept as his wife and the mother of his children. After he "breaks her spirit" of course. See the problem here is that he doesn't try to win her over, he doesn't even try to make her like him. Instead he starts making demands of her, forcing her to dance with him when she doesn't want to, telling her that she will be his wife and ignoring her when she tells him no. And when he sees her and Anthony together the first time, he demands that she get away from him. It was so over the top that it was comical. When he realizes that he's not going to get his way, he attempts another over the top misguided stunt during a ball, which also backfires on him. At this point I was just altogether done with him. 

Moving on to the story, as I said about there was just too much drama for my tastes. The aforementioned stunt that took place during the ball notwithstanding, there were many other instances where I just thought to myself 'enough already'. Then just when I thought things were starting to wind down, there is the scene in the conservatory where Anthony pushes her away despite knowing at this point that he is in love with her and wants their engagement to be real. Instead, he says some pretty cruel things to her, and she to him before she storms out. Only for more ill to befall her immediately after. 

 There were also a few things mentioned that I wish had been explored more starting with Blackwood Hall and what happened there, more over why was it allowed to happen? It is said that the Headmaster allowed it which I found to be odd considering these were all the sons of peers. I also wanted to know more about the bullying so that maybe I could better understand Anthony and the nightmares he apparently suffered (another odd plot point considering he only had one the entire story and it was very conveniently timed). And then there was a side plot involving missing women from a local village, and I'm still not entirely sure what that is about. Sure, we hear about a room that looks like a sacrifice might happen in, but that doesn't really make sense as there was nothing leading up to a secret society who dabbled in that sort of thing. It's a huge leap to go from bullying to human sacrifice. 

Despite these issues, I still enjoyed this novel and am curious as to the next one as there is definitely a history between who I assume will be the next characters on the path to their happily-ever-after.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.