Book Info
Purgatory by K. L. Taylor-LaneSeries: Swallows and Psychos #1
Rating: Book ratings explained
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance
Pages: 347
ASIN: B09G5T2Z2G
Published: 15/12/2021
Available on
Purchase at: Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU
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Some say I'm a psychopath, others say sociopath.
Deranged, demonic, unhinged.
And I am, unashamedly, all of those things and so, so many more.
I'm the lone daughter of The Swallow Family crime syndicate.
A bloodied, violent queen reigning from a throne of bone and ash, hands and soul bathed in crimson.
The one thing I'm not, though?
Crazy.
Or so I thought...
But when I start receiving threats, start 'seeing' people that only I see and get forced to take time out, I start to wonder if they might be right about me after all.
Just a crazy girl made up of twisted, shattered pieces, a half dead organ decaying inside her wounded chest and a tendency for violence.
Iβm Kyla-Rose Swallow and this is the beginning of my downfall.
So, welcome to Southbrook, the city where Swallows rule and psychos raise hell.
This is a dark, contemporary reverse harem romance, meaning the female main character will have three or more love interests and will not have to choose. The harem grows throughout the series, meaning there is not an established harem in book 1. It is a medium/fast burn romance.
This is a VERY dark book, it contains heavy violence/torture scenes.
If you are even a mildly sensitive reader this is probably not the book for you.
The characters in this series all deal with trauma and problems differently, the resolutions and methods they use are not always traditional and therefore may not be for everyone.
This is book 1 of a planned trilogy and DOES end on a cliffhanger.
The series will end with a HEA.
I’ve always got a soft spot for books set in the UK, especially when they’re written by British English speakers or people who’ve lived here for years. There’s just something about the perfect flow of dialect and realising subtle differences in culture. K L Taylor-Lane may have set Purgatory in the fictional region of Southbrook, but the British in the book really shines through and gives it a little edge that your average organised crime book doesn’t always have.
Kyla-Rose is our protagonist and the narrator for much of the story. When I hear the way she and others describe herself, I immediate see Taylor-Lane’s avatar in my head. I’d love to delve deep into how she created the character. Kyla-Rose has a chaotic mind. She frequently goes off on tangents before returning to her original point. This feels quite natural, much like the way my friends and I chat with each other, rather than the focused and more formal presentation of many heroines.
Honestly, you threaten to shoot a guy one time and look what happens when you don’t follow through!
I loved the fact that Kyla-Rose is an incredibly human character. She may be “running part of the biggest crime syndicate that England’s ever seen,” but she still worries about her date with Kacey, what he will think of her, and what will happen when he finds out who she actually is. She has that crazy urge to get her beauty needs attended to and get out of her apartment after being cooped up on bed rest for weeks. Kyla-Rose’s thoughts (and sometimes her spoken words) are a brand of witty sarcasm that even the best of us wish we could pull off.
I woke up like a pissed off, angry squirrel who’s missing tufts of fur and just found out his nut stash has been discovered by another irritable rodent-type creature. Oh and is also in desperate fucking need of a trip to the salon.
She’s living with the consequences of a broken childhood and PTSD following her time in juvie, making her one of the most vulnerable mafia queens I’ve ever read. I really connected with her need to appear strong and never let her emotions show, even while she’s breaking inside.
Taylor-Lane writes Kyla-Rose’s pain well, from her anguish as she breaks after seeing “Him” to how quickly her youthful love for Maddox twists into rage. It comes across best in her explosions when things become too much for her and the panic that fills her mind.
He tastes like dark corners in haunted houses and nightmares, ice cream on a hot summers day and love, so much fucking love that it physically hurts.
On the other hand, Kyla-Rose is definitely into her reverse harem novels. What normal person hooks up with one guy, falls for his best mate as well, thinks “hey! They can share,” barely questioning how the dynamic between the three will work? Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me, but as she’s a fictional character and the guys told her once or twice not to overthink it, I’ll let her get away with it. She’s got more than enough on her plate without worrying about how to juggle two guys.
The blurb claims this book is very dark but I’m not sure I’d agree. It does have dark elements to it but I wouldn’t consider the scenes to be heavy. There is craziness, psychopaths and internal demons and it is worth reading the trigger warnings but I’d call it a light charcoal on the darkness scale.
I’m never letting them go. Even if I have to kill them and stuff the and drag their lifeless, beautiful corpses around on wooden wheels for the rest of my life then I will.
My only real criticism of Purgatory comes from the storyline, and that not a lot happens in it. In some respects, I think this feeling is driven by reading a lot of books that drive punch after punch until you’re left reeling by the inevitable cliffhanger. Purgatory is not like that. It starts in the calm and lets the lovers meet without the pressure of facing difficulty or drama. While Kyla-Rose has a breakdown, we don’t see a huge deal more than the catalyst and instead, the book focuses on her recovery. It won’t have you gripping the edge of your seat but it is a book that draws you in and keeps you wanting more before blasting you with a shock in the last paragraph.
I know I’m looking forward to the next book in the series – I think it’s one of those that’s only going to get better and better.
Why you should read Purgatory
- Kyla-Rose’s humanity and vulnerability is refreshing
- There is so much room for character growth and opportunity to extend past Kyla-Rose’s story
- The steam levels are off the charts – the book is one big ball of sexual need