Name: The Initiation
ISBN: 9781949409031

Nikki Sloane

No one knows how new members are selected to the board of Hale Banking and Holding. But there are rumors of a sordid rite of initiation. Whispers how one woman and nine men disappear into a boardroom. This time, that woman will be me. The Hale family owns everything--the eighth largest bank in the world, everyone in our town, even the mortgage on my parents' mansion. And now Royce Hale wants to own me. He is charming. Seductive. Ruthless. But above all, he's the prince of lies. My body may tighten with white-hot desire under his penetrating gaze, but I refuse to enjoy it. I'll make a deal with the devil to save my family and sell myself to the Hales. But Royce will never own my heart.

The Initiation

Lover of Romance 

I read this WHOLE series in like two days and what a ride it was. I was nervous about reading though in some ways because I had heard that this series wasn’t for everyone and had some darker elements and as this is Nikki Sloane you just know she will take you on a wild and incredible journey and I had a blast to be honest. I was quite addicted to these books. So get ready for all my reviews and thoughts on this series.

So The Initiation is a book that starts off our main couple: Royce and Maris. Royce is the older son of the Hale family, and is tough as nails and has to be with the type of father he has been raised by. He is gearing his way towards taking the reins of the company and will do anything for that to happen. Then we have our heroine, Maris, who has grown up privileged but has been treated poorly by her peers. She has always considered herself the weird undesirable one of the social elites that her family is connected to and a bit of a ugly duckling. And it isn’t until her family is in dire straights, that she takes control and decides to jump into a life she has no comprehension of. Maris is a strong heroine but she definitely has her share of vulnerabilities. I enjoyed seeing all the challenges that she is faced with and the intense chemistry that builds between Royce and Maris. Its that intensity that really draws you in and the writing (as per Nikki Sloane’s style) is utterly addicting. There is a scene here that will NOT be for everyone, and I admired the way that Maris just forges ahead with it despite it being bonkers.

Overall I found this first book to be a wild page turner that held my attention and by the end had me thirsting for more.

Sven Test

Not putting a rating for now. My thoughts are jumbled up.

Magda Silva

2 star just cause I liked the main girl and kinda the guy

Pauline J

OOOOFFFFF, I really liked this.

The twists and wildness of this book left me feeling wide-eyed, jaw-slackened BETRAYED. What a fuckin ride.

The spice here I’d categorize about a 2.5 to 3🌶 (so obviously 18+) DESPITE the very CRAZY scene in the dining room, but I guess I’m giving my spice rating based on the writing. The actual ACTS themselves would probably warrant a 5 if it was more detailed. But I don’t think the overall spicy scenes of the entire book screams a 5 out 5 🌶.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Couldn’t put the book down. Started this on the plane on my way home from vacation so yknow, just casually reading about the sexual tension between Marist and Royce IN PUBLIC.

Don’t start this until you’ve got the second book in hand because that LAST CHAPTER?! Jfc. Jaw. To. The. FLOOR.

It was just a really fun read for me. I didn’t expect much out of it, so I didn’t go into it thinking it was going to be something it wasn’t. I got what I wanted from it, so I’m willing to overlook some of the parts I didn’t like about the book (kind of… average? writing but it was overall fine enough to keep going)

This is a completely different genre and story line, but if you’ve ever read Red Queen and felt betrayed after that first book… I feel like you’ll feel similarly about this 😂 good luck besties

Tanya 

Going into this I thought I knew exactly what I could expect from this book but boy was I fucking wrong. Marist is the girl everyone underestimates at every turn and she continues to prove everyone wrong. Her family situation is fucked up which is what lead her right into the Hale house and that when shit hits the fan. Royce is every woman wet dream and for some reason he only wants Marist but he’s been playing the winning game for a long time is hard for Marist to fully trust him or anyone in the Hale household ESPECIALLY his father Macalister who has plans of his own for Marist.

Aime Barcenas 

** spoiler alert **
           I have so many thoughts about this book, so it took me a minute to really process through them. 

Things other people might like:
- it's definitely got the whole enemies to lovers thing
- it has a scene with multiple partners if you're into that sort of thing

Lets talk about the problems:
- I really hate how he broke her hymen in that one scene and was just like "oops sorry not sorry" and she was just like "omygosh he's so considerate"
- his dad, enough said
- he literally sold her out
- I also hate how he just allowed a whole group of guys to fondle his girlfriend while he and his dad watched.

Tatiana

PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFOREHAND!!

I wish I had. Here is a list I found: 

Dubious consent, Nonconsent, taboo, bullying, cult, cheating, toxic relationship, misogyny, sexual assault.

I don’t think this is enough to give you an idea so let me tell you about my experience reading this book: it made me feel physically ill. I had to stop reading a few times because I felt like I was going to throw up. This is supposed to be a contemporary romance, and yet I didn’t feel anything remotely similar to what I usually experience reading the genre.

I kept hoping the story would go in some kind of redeeming direction. But not only was this not what happened, but this book is actually part of a trilogy. The story is messed up from beginning to cliffhanger—which by the way was completely unnecessary.

Maybe this book is fine to some people. I see a lot of people have enjoyed it. Good for them, I guess. But I also wonder if they’re okay. Safe to say, this was not for me. I will not be reading the rest of the series because, truthfully, I want most of the characters to unalive.

I don’t even know the actual rating I would give this book, because I didn’t DNF it and Nikki Sloane’s writing (the form, not the content) is fine. So I guess props to her on that front.

Monet

Sophie Elaina 

celeste

that last chapter got me weak 💀 i swear if she doesn't screw everyone over and end up as CEO by the end of the series i don't want it

Maya

I only finished this book because I am currently too tired to read anything that requires more than one braincell... 
Anyways if you don´t mind overused tropes and annoying side characers this book does have some pretty sexy scenes.

Maybe I am just not cut out for dark romance but..


*Spoilers ahead*
having the "selling the girl" trope twice in one book sems a bit much. Plus spending half of the book trying to convince us the main loove interest is not that bad only to have him betray the main chracter and sell her to his borderline abusive father seems... redundant? 
Also normally I like paralles/retellings of greek mythology but here it was brought up a little too often. But i will say I have also obessed over a nickname/comparison so maybe the MC was just exited about that? 

I am not sure I will read the next books in the series.

Lacey

Is new adult erotic romance a thing? Because it definitely should be! Or I just need to find more of it. This was great, but it’s not a dark romance like I’ve seen some reviews say it is. I loved the marriage of convenience setup and I’m SO intrigued by Macalister (even though I do like Royce...) and I can’t wait to get to his book!