“My darkness meets a darker soul.”
With this one line, Rina Kent invites readers into a volatile game of power, pain, and passion. Kiss the Villain, the first book in the Villain series, is not just a dark MM romance—it is a psychological battlefield. In a narrative soaked in control, dominance, and emotional dissection, Kent delivers a scalding story where two broken antiheroes find not redemption, but a mirror—sharpened and waiting to cut.
This review will delve deeply into the book’s structure, character development, themes, style, and its place in the ever-expanding world of dark romance, with special attention to Kent’s bold literary choices and what readers can expect moving into Book Two, Hunt the Villain.
A Twisted Dance of Fire and Ice: The Plot
At first glance, Kiss the Villain appears to be a standard enemies-to-lovers tale wrapped in an academic taboo. But beneath the familiar tropes lies a much more dangerous narrative.
Gareth Carson, the so-called “golden boy” of King’s U, is a meticulously controlled law student hiding chaos under polished perfection. His darkness is curated, his violence precise, and his dual life masked behind dimples and Dean’s List certificates. But a night of intended sabotage—an act of revenge on the rival gang, the Serpents—goes terribly wrong.
Enter Kayden Lockwood. A ghost from that night. A man who turns out to be Gareth’s new criminal law professor.
From there, the novel spirals into a series of psychological chess matches, sexual confrontations, and moral disintegration. Gareth wants revenge. Kayden wants… something else. They are both hunters, both hunted, circling each other with fangs bared.
The plot unravels in a nonlinear emotional trajectory—often intentionally disorienting. What begins as manipulation ends up being mutual obsession. The story questions not just the characters’ desires but the reader’s complicity in watching it unfold.
Highlights of the Plot:
Strong opening hook with visceral tension in the Serpents’ mansion
Relentless cat-and-mouse dynamic between Gareth and Kayden
Twists that blur the lines between villain and victim
Pacing that teeters between languid introspection and explosive tension
Gareth Carson: The Villain Who Believes He’s the Hero
What makes Gareth an unforgettable protagonist is his calculated duality. Rina Kent crafts him not just as an antihero, but as a performance artist of cruelty—wearing his “golden boy” mask like a second skin. He is a genius with a god complex, a sadist with a trauma-soaked past, and a young man still haunted by the label of being the “good one” in a family that fears his darker brother.
His internal monologues are razor-sharp—often disturbing, sometimes tender. His attraction to Kayden is not born of romance but recognition. He sees in Kayden the one person who isn’t fooled by his performance. And perhaps, for the first time, that terrifies him.
Kent doesn’t attempt to redeem Gareth. Instead, she reveals him in layers, daring the reader to empathize, recoil, and question.
Kayden Lockwood: The Predator in the Lecture Hall
Kayden is a walking paradox. He’s a criminal who teaches criminal law. A man with the soul of a void. His gaze—”gray, dead, hurricane-like”—is as much a weapon as the gun he wields in their first encounter.
Where Gareth is theatrical, Kayden is minimalistic. Cold, composed, and manipulative, his power lies in stillness. He is not a savior, but neither is he simply a sadist. There’s a compelling argument that Kayden, while abusive in many ways, functions as a reflection of Gareth’s unspoken desires and inner monsters.
Their dynamic is toxic by design—but Kent does not glamorize it. She makes it uncomfortable, morally ambiguous, and maddeningly intimate. The BDSM elements, the psychological dominance, and the blurred lines between consent and coercion are all part of what makes this a quintessentially dark romance.
Themes: Power, Masks, and the Perils of Obsession
Rina Kent leans heavily into thematic darkness—not just in plot, but in the philosophical undercurrents of the book:
The Duality of Identity
Both Gareth and Kayden live behind masks. Their public personas are as curated as their wardrobes. The novel explores how identity is performed, commodified, and weaponized.
Consent in the Gray Areas
The book is unflinching in its depiction of dub-con, and readers are urged to approach with caution. But it’s this discomfort that opens a broader conversation about power imbalance, intent, and retribution.
Obsession vs. Love
There is no traditional romance here. Instead, Kent examines what happens when two equally damaged individuals see their pain mirrored—and pursue it.
Legacy and Control
As part of the extended Legacy of Gods universe, family names (Carson, Lockwood, Bratva) loom large. The characters are as much a product of generational expectations as they are of personal trauma.
Writing Style: Sharp, Sinister, and Addictive
Kent’s prose in Kiss the Villain is designed to burn slowly and sting deeply. She uses:
First-person dual POVs, giving readers insight into both Gareth’s manic calculations and Kayden’s cold executions.
Sparse, surgical dialogue that underscores emotional detachment.
Recurring sensory motifs—blood, breath, bone, and bruises—to keep readers grounded in the physical intensity of every encounter.
The author’s writing is lyrical when needed and brutal when it must be. Unlike many dark romance novels that get lost in purple prose, Kent keeps the language efficient, often using Gareth’s academic voice to contrast with his deviant behavior.
Critique: Where the Darkness Overwhelms
While Kiss the Villain is brilliant in many ways, it’s not without flaws:
Repetitive inner monologues sometimes undercut the pacing, particularly in the second act.
The non-consensual elements may cross a line for many readers, even those familiar with dark romance. While it’s marketed with content warnings, the visceral nature of these scenes could be deeply unsettling.
Kayden’s backstory remains too vague—his motivations sometimes feel like shadows rather than substance.
At times, the novel sacrifices emotional vulnerability for the sake of edgy domination.
A few plot turns could also benefit from tighter execution. Particularly, the transition from Gareth’s pursuit of revenge to his spiraling submission feels rushed in parts, even though the psychological groundwork is laid early.
The World of Legacy: Intertextual Connections
Although Kiss the Villain works as a standalone, it is enriched by Kent’s larger Legacy of Gods universe. Appearances or mentions of side characters like Jeremy, Killian, and Nikolai provide a web of interconnected chaos—enhancing the story’s stakes.
Fans of Kent’s other series (Royal Elite, Legacy of Gods, Empire of Desire) will find familiar energy here, though Kiss the Villain is by far the boldest exploration of power play and LGBTQ themes she’s tackled.
What’s Next: Hunt the Villain
Book two, Hunt the Villain, promises to continue the warfare—but possibly with reversed roles. If Kiss the Villain was about Gareth losing control, Hunt the Villain seems poised to explore what he does once he reclaims it.
Will Kayden remain the one holding the leash, or will Gareth finally cut his own chains?
Either way, readers should prepare for escalation, not resolution.
Final Verdict: Villainous, Vicious, and Very Addictive
Kiss the Villain is not for everyone. It doesn’t want to be. It is a blood-and-bone, teeth-and-tongue, professor/student enemies-to-lovers tale that strips away the romantic gloss and replaces it with psychological warfare.
But for readers who crave:
morally gray characters,
taboo dynamics,
dark erotic tension,
and layered emotional cruelty,
this book is a near-masterpiece.
Rina Kent does not write for your comfort. She writes to unravel you.
The Good:
Bold characterizations of antiheroes
Excellent tension-building
Sensual writing style with psychological depth
Grounded in a larger, intriguing universe
The Not-so-Good:
Extreme triggers that may alienate some readers
Slight pacing issues in the middle
Some underdeveloped supporting characters
Similar Books You Might Enjoy:
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Dangerous Men series by J.A. Redmerski
The Sinner by Sierra Simone
Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas (for darker themes)
The Ritual by Shantel Tessier (college-based dark romance)