Demon's Heart (Lovers of the Damned Book 2) by Colette Rivera

Waiting more than a millennia for his fated mate, Dante is so happy to meet Ollie, and if Ollie only wants friendship they will be only the best of friends. But Ollie does want more, only he's afraid of relationships, and being forced to bond makes him even more leery even as his feelings for Dante grow beyond friendship.


From the blurb:

Fated to a broken heart.
Dante never gave up on finding his fated mate. For thousands of years, while the rest of the Fallen lost hope, he was the demon who believed he’d find his man.

And when Dante sees Ollie, he knows.

His mate. His human. His Ollie.

Ollie Hudson doesn’t do relationships. Not even the spark he feels for his roommate’s friend Dante can change his mind. History taught him not to trust anyone in love, even himself. But that doesn’t mean he and Dante can’t be friends.

And why can’t fated mates form a bond through friendship? Dante won’t push for something Ollie doesn’t desire. With Ollie unaware of magic, there’s no rush to explain the draw between them and no pressure to mate.

Until Lucifer returns and everything goes to Hell.

Dante is forced to cement the mating bond or lose Ollie forever, tying them together before they’re ready. Will Ollie ever accept what they have and choose Dante, or is Dante’s fate a mating bond forever marred by the pain under which it was formed and a mate who wants to undo it all?

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Demon’s Heart is book two in the Lovers of the Damned series. This MM paranormal romance ends in a HEA, and while the romance stands alone and each book in the series features a different couple, this series is best read in order due to an overarching plot. Content warnings can be found using the look inside feature and on the author’s website.


SNik's review:

Second in series (Lovers of the Damned), best if read in order. Paranormal. Fated mates. Found family. Slow burn. Dual POV. Heed content warnings. 

Dante has been waiting years for his fated mate, thousands of years, and once he meets Ollie he couldn’t be happier. But hairstylist Ollie doesn’t want a relationship with anyone, losing his independence is something he fears, and now he has a mate that he’s not sure he can ever let in fully. 

I really appreciated Ollie’s easy acceptance of the bond and Dante’s willingness to accept any type of relationship that Ollie was willing to be in, it felt like even though they were fated that they had to build something together first. Dante is definitely a cinnamon roll full of patience, kindness, and a fierce commitment to his mate, and Ollie really shows growth as he digs deep and tries to overcome his fears. The found family is strong and the overarching plot continues with some action and uncertainty, this was a good addition to the series.

Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:

"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗, 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗.
𝙰𝚝 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝."

Dante is a total sweetheart, and I was totally impressed with how he handled his mating with Ollie. He's been waiting thousands of years to find his mate and it couldn't have been easy on him when the man who he is supposed to love turns out to be 100% against relationships. Ollie's dating history has left him jaded as hell and in order to protect his heart he swore off dating. Instead of making a scene about it, Dante accepts Ollie's words and respects his wishes, building a friendship with his mate instead.

I didn't like Ollie at some points in this book. I understood he had been hurt bad in the past, but Dante was not those men and he continuously proved that to him. He never tried to make Ollie focus only on him. Never convinced him not to spend time with his friends. All he wanted was for Ollie to be happy and content, while it hurt Dante every time he had to walk away from him. It didn't seem fair and I think I held it against Ollie for not breaking down sooner than he did.

Plotwise Lucifer is still up to no good. We still don't know what his endgame is and after this book the demons are even more confused about what it could be. A major event happens in this book, so you definitely don't want to miss this story for the overarching plotline.

Demon's Heart is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription