Quote: I could save him, but he will ruin me.📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: This is book one of four in a series📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Fantasy with single POV📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Forced quest, reluctant hero, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fated mates, beauty and the beast retelling🌶S𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3/5 The “feels”: 3/5My overall rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Why? Great pacing and tension throughout the book, funny dialogue, a sassy female character, and a broody cinnamon roll. We know there’s a villain, but his lack of presence makes it difficult to fear the stakes. Most of the tension is connected to escaping the monsters in the woods, avoiding the sex demons, or riding Finley’s and Nyfain’s hyper-sexual tension (which starts right away).Pet peeves: Too much swearing and raunchy language; not sure if this was regular, urban, or dystopian fantasy, but certainly risqué romantasy.Review: I enjoyed K.E. Breene’s Sin and Chocolate series so I gave this one a whirl. “A Ruin of Roses” introduces us to our FMC, Finley, who’s brave, funny as hell, sassy, and stubborn. She goes into the forbidden woods to get a healing herb despite the fact that if you go in, monsters will kill you, and if they don’t, the dragon prince will. Nyfain is our broody, tormented, powerful dragon prince. Arrogant and aloof until he runs into Finley stealing from his garden one night. In this first book, there’s some lack of clarity on plot development and world-building. We enter what appears to me as a medieval-like world, only to encounter ripped jeans and T-shirts. Then it hints at potential urban, then dystopian fantasy. In short, a few anachronistic stumbles along the way. Finley’s stream of consciousness (as annoying as it was because sometimes she makes it sound like she’s talking to a TV audience) is funny. Nyfain’s “touch her, and you die” is sweet, but his “I hate you-I adore you” mixed signals felt contrived at times. However, despite the issues mentioned, the book was fun to read. It's action-packed with monster fights and narrow escapes from said monsters. You will find yourself yelling at Finley, "Don't go there, you idiot!" If you love risqué, this is the book for you. If you aren’t familiar with Breene’s work, start with the “Gods of San Francisco” series. You won't be disappointed.📘 Will I continue with this series? I’m not entirely sure at this point. It was a fun story, but I couldn’t emotionally connect with the characters enough to see how their story ends.