In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom.

Beautiful Venom ♥ Rina Kent ♥ Vipers #1

Published May 2025 ♥ Published by Bloom Books

❥ Trigger Warnings : consensual non-con, dub-con, and primal play. It also includes on-page depictions of road accident-related trauma and violence.

❥ Dark Hockey Romance

❥ Revenge

❥ Knife Play

❥ Touch Her & Die

❥ Secret Society

Now, I have nothing to lose. And if I must use my life to avenge my sister, so be it.

“I’m your winter, Dahlia. No flower can survive winter. Not even wildflowers.”

Wildflower

This is the story about how I ended up reading my first Dark Hockey Romance. Did I read the synopsis? I mean maybe at some point when it was released. And if I did, I likely was like eh, not for me. Because, yanno, hockey. But I read a lot of synopsis. I also do not read a lot of synopsis. 

All I saw was a jaw dropping title. I mean, Beautiful Venom, come on. A gorgeous color scheme-I will forever be a red and black girlie, & that glorious looking snake? Pft. No brainer, she had to be mine.

Then my eyes settled on Rina Kent. Let’s talk about that for a minute. I listened to God of Malice a few months ago. I did not like it. Don’t ask why, I don’t remember. It was just not the Dark College Romance for me, and I decided not to move forward with her Legacy of Gods series and tried LORDS by Shantel Tessier instead. 

And now here I am, reading a Dark Hockey Romance. Here’s the thing, I like hockey well enough. I’m Canadian, I’m pretty sure its essence is in our bones. Along with maple syrup and poutine. I’ve known plenty of players throughout my life. I mean, I’ve even slept with one.. or two. Okay, okay. Three. But to read a Hockey Romance? This better be darker than the pits of hell. 

Jump Down to my Final Thoughts to avoid spoilers.

1. Well shit. He knows who she is. 
2. He is good. Or you suck at being a stalker. 
3. A random scholarship. Sure. 
4. I wonder if we get pov’s from all three of these Vipers. *Just Kane. 
5. Is this a reverse harem? *It’s not. 
6. We are being loosey goosey with the dub con. 
7. I mean, it could be a satanic ritual. But I’m not sure it’s that type of book. 
8. Fishy charity but okay. 
9. It is giving desperate. 
10. Part of me feels there’s some repeating of details going on here. 
11. I’m not sure you’re good at revenge. 
12. Oh shit blondie. 
13. Definitely not good at stalking and snooping around. 
14. Mother of the year over here. 
15. Yanno, I love a good floppy book. And this is a good floppy book. 
16. I like this more than God of Malice. 
17. Kane’s got it bad. 
18. Not a thing. My thing. 
19. Bit excessive for losing a hockey game but daddy is a dick. So yanno. 
20. Oh my god, not left on read. 
21. I love that Daliah is inconspicuously collecting fucking dna. 
22. The hate between these two. Get over yourselves. 
23. Somehow I don’t think going to tea with Kane’s fucking estranged mother is the right idea. 
24. I mean, not all mothers are created equal there Daliah. 
25. What motherfuckers Kane?!
26. I’m wondering about this thing between Marcus & Preston. 
27. Break up. Take a road trip. Same thing really. 
28. Maybe Kane will kill him. 
29. Good. Now let’s get to the bottom of this Violet business. 
30. I’m sitting. This better be good. 
31. I knew that charity was fishy af. 
32. Flashback. 
33. There’s definitely something more to this Violet/Jude thing. 
34. There it is. 

Beautiful Venom Review

Minor Spoilers

Beautiful Venom is the first book in Vipers, a new series brought to you by Rina Kent. First and foremost, I one hundred percent liked Beautiful Venom more than God of Malice. That being said, I consumed both books in different formats. I listened to God of Malice and the audio was great. I don’t really remember much of the plot but the whole book had just been meh for me.

I read Beautiful Venom and it gave me a better sense of Kent’s writing style. I didn’t not like it but it wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring either. Beautiful Venom focuses on Dahlia Thorne as she attempts to unravel the mystery behind her sister Violet’s coma. During her investigation she uncovers a secret society and goes to great lengths to infiltrate it. I think I just really wanted to know what happened to Violet.

Someone in Vencor was behind my sister’s attack and subsequent coma. I lost my only family because of them; and I won’t rest until they’re six feet under. Hopefully after they suffer.

To infiltrate the society, Dahlia goes after members on the local University Hockey Team. Weaselling her way into their lives and capturing the interest of team captain Kane Davenport. I liked both Kane and Dahlia, but neither of them were overly interesting. While Kane goes through some character growth, there doesn’t seem to be much substance to either character. They both hate each other and at some points it was just annoying.

I don’t do fixations or attachments. Obsessions or addictions. Until Dahlia fucking Thorne. She’s the addiction I can’t shake off.

There will be at least three books in the Vipers series. The second instalment, Sweet Venom will be released in December 2025. It will focus on Violet and Kane’s friend, teammate and society member, Jude. I am interested in reading Sweet Venom, purely because of Violet. The third book, Tempting Venom I will likely not read. Tempting Venom will follow Preston, the third member in Kane’s trio, and Marcus, a rival hockey player.

I didn’t particularly like Jude, or Preston. In fact, Preston was my least favorite character. The two characters blended together into one person frequently and I had a difficult time differentiating between the two. When the trio were together, I found the dialogue to be muddled and I had to read it twice to know who was talking when.

The overall plot of Beautiful Venom was good, but none of it was particularly great. It was all very run-of-the-mill. As far as reading any of Kent’s books in the future, beyond Sweet Venom I am doubtful I will be reading anything else. And honestly, if I never get to Sweet Venom I wont be heartbroken over it.

Beautiful Venom Spicy Chapters

6, 11, 15, 18, 21, 26, & 33

The glacial pale color of his eyes is similar to sinking into the Arctic Ocean as layers of ice form on the surface at an alarming speed.

The mask makes him look like a demon in the night. A madman set on destruction.

He might be dry humping me, but his icy eyes…those are fucking my soul.

“Don’t cry. It makes me hard.”

He smiles like a predator who’s locked in on his prey.

The feel of his skin on mine is electrifying and my body pulses to life, wanting more.

I want to break her, see beneath her skin and find out what makes her tick.

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❥ Purchase : Amazon ♥ Chapters/Indigo ♥ Barnes&Noble ♥ Kobo ♥ IndieBound