the twisted series

I honestly didn't expect to become this invested in the Twisted series.

I started Twisted Love thinking I would read one fun romance and move on. Instead, I ended up reading all four books.

The Twisted series by Ana Huang follows four interconnected love stories. Each book focuses on a different couple, with its own romance trope, relationship dynamic, emotional struggles, and secrets. Although the stories can technically be read as standalones, reading them in order makes it more enjoyable because the characters and their friendships continue throughout the series.

The series combines romance, drama, emotional trauma, secrets, friendship, family issues, and plenty of spice. It is definitely not a sweet and innocent romance series, and some of the relationships and themes can get quite intense.

Here is what I thought about each book.

Twisted Love

Who doesn't love a good "touch her and I'll kill you" and "my brother's best friend" story?

Twisted Love follows Ava Chen, a warm and optimistic woman who has always tried to see the beauty in the world, and Alex Volkov, her brother's best friend and neighbor. Alex is cold, guarded, and seemingly incapable of letting anyone get close to him.

When Ava's brother leaves town, Alex agrees to look after her. What starts as a friendship slowly develops into something neither of them expected.

The book explores themes like childhood trauma, trust, friendship, healing, love, and learning to let someone into your life. Ava is dealing with pieces of her past that she doesn't fully understand, while Alex is carrying his own pain and secrets.

I could not put this book down.

I honestly didn't see the plot twists coming at all, and there were several moments where my jaw genuinely dropped. I loved that the story wasn't only about the romance. There was also a mystery surrounding the characters' pasts that kept me interested.

And let's talk about the cover.

It looks so innocent.

Trust me, the story is anything but.

It is steamy, intense, dramatic, and completely addictive.

I also have to admit that I might blame this book for my questionable taste in fictional men.

Some of my favorite lines were:

"Being upset was exhausting, and I had better things to do with my time."

"Most people thought the biggest sacrifice they could make was to die for something. They were wrong. The biggest sacrifice you could make was to live for something."

"Don't blame yourself for fucked-up things other people do."

"You are everything I didn't know I needed."

"You are the light to my dark. Without you, I'm lost."

"You showed me there is beauty in the world."

Twisted Games

I wasn't planning on reading another book from the series after finishing Twisted Love.

The blurb for Twisted Games didn't immediately convince me that it would be something I would enjoy.

Then I started reading it.

And I was hooked.

This book follows Princess Bridget von Ascheberg and Rhys Larsen, her elite bodyguard. Bridget is expected to follow the rules and fulfill her responsibilities as a future queen, while Rhys has one main job: protect her and never become emotionally involved with her.

Of course, that becomes a problem.

Their relationship is built around forbidden love, duty, power, royalty, and the conflict between what they want and what they are expected to do. Bridget is faced with responsibilities she never expected, while Rhys has to decide whether following his rules is more important than following his feelings.

I really enjoyed the royal setting in this one. It gave the romance a completely different feeling from Twisted Love, and the bodyguard dynamic created so much tension.

And let's just say it definitely brought some steam too.

The relationship between Bridget and Rhys was probably what surprised me most. I wasn't expecting to become so invested in their story, especially after initially thinking this wouldn't be my favorite.

After finishing this book, I officially changed my mind.

I was reading the whole series.

Some of my favorite lines were:

"Men. They always ruined it by opening their mouths."

"Being by her side without actually being with her would be a special form of torture, but it was better than not being near her at all."

"It was true what people said about not knowing what you had until it was gone."

"You're everywhere. In my head, in my lungs, in my fucking soul."

"I know seventy-nine ways to kill a man, and I can make seventy of them look like an accident."

"It feels like a dream sometimes, to meet someone who sees me for who I am, faults and all, and loved me regardless."

Twisted Hate

Enemies to lovers.

I already knew I was going to be entertained.

Twisted Hate follows Jules Ambrose and Josh Chen, two people who seem to have mastered the art of getting on each other's nerves.

Josh is a confident, successful doctor who has no problem getting attention from women. Jules is ambitious, independent, and focused on passing the bar exam. Unfortunately for both of them, they also happen to be each other's nemeses.

Things become even more complicated when they agree to an enemies-with-benefits arrangement with one very important rule: no falling in love.

Obviously, things don't exactly go according to plan.

The book explores themes like trust, forgiveness, emotional wounds, family problems, vulnerability, and learning to see someone for who they really are instead of who you think they are.

This book was such an easy and addictive read.

The first few chapters didn't completely blow me away, but once the story picked up, I was hooked.

Their first date?

Total butterflies.

And when Jules finally opened up about some of the things she had been dealing with, I genuinely felt for her. It added another side to her character and made me understand her a lot more.

Josh was definitely a jerk in some moments.

Like, seriously.

But somehow I still loved the book.

And I definitely wasn't expecting it to be as spicy as it was.

This one brought the heat.

Some favorite lines:

"There was a certain liberation in not giving a shit about what other people thought."

"Forget diamonds; denial was a girl's best friend."

"At some point, we had to let go of who a person used to be or who they could be and see them for who they really were."

"Even though pain hurt like a motherfucker, it proved you were still alive, and it was only after it faded that you could finally heal."

"How could you build a relationship on a foundation of lies? The answer: you couldn't."

"Hell with you sounds like heaven to me."

Twisted Lies

And finally, Twisted Lies.

Fake dating.

Secrets.

A dangerous man who is definitely not as innocent as he looks.

I'm listening.

Twisted Lies follows Stella Alonso, a shy and introverted woman who has built a successful career as a social media influencer, and Christian Harper, her mysterious and extremely powerful neighbor.

Christian is charming, intelligent, and seemingly perfect, but there is a much darker side to him. Stella is dealing with problems from her past, and when she finds herself in a difficult situation, Christian becomes much more involved in her life than either of them expected.

Their relationship begins with a fake dating arrangement, but as they spend more time together, the line between pretending and actually falling in love becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.

The story explores themes like trust, trauma, friendship, loneliness, emotional vulnerability, and learning that the people who are supposed to love you aren't always the people who treat you the best.

I had such a fun time reading this one.

The chemistry, the tension, the secrets, and the twists kept me interested throughout the story.

I also really liked the friendship aspect of the series, and I think that's one of the reasons the four books work so well together. You don't just get four separate romances. You get to watch the friendships between the characters continue and develop throughout the series.

By the end, I was honestly a little sad that the series was over.

Some of my favorite lines were:

"A near stranger who treated me better than those who were supposed to love me unconditionally."

"Adult friendships took work and conscious effort to maintain, but the ones that stayed were the ones that mattered most."

"The day people stopped thinking they could change someone who didn't want to be changed was the day fewer hearts got broken."

"There would always be people who were better and worse off than us. That didn't make our feelings any less valid."

"Nothing could change the past, and people had to deal with their trauma in their own time."

"Because the time they spend together was worth the heartbreak."

"One letter for every day we'd been apart."

My Overall Opinion

Looking back at all four books, I can honestly say that I understand why this series has such a huge following.

It isn't perfect.

There were definitely moments where certain characters frustrated me, some storylines felt a little dramatic, and not every book worked equally well for me.

But I had fun reading them.

And sometimes that's exactly what I want from a romance series.

I loved that every book had a different relationship dynamic. Twisted Love gave me the brother's best friend and grumpy sunshine trope. Twisted Games gave me forbidden romance and the bodyguard dynamic. Twisted Hate gave me enemies to lovers, while Twisted Lies brought fake dating and a much darker love interest.

Each couple also had their own emotional baggage, which gave the romances more depth than just attraction and spice.

If I had to choose a favorite, Twisted Games surprised me the most because I went into it with the lowest expectations and ended up becoming completely invested in Bridget and Rhys.

But honestly, the biggest reason I enjoyed the series was the reading experience.

These books are easy to get into, fast paced, dramatic, emotional, spicy, and incredibly addictive. They are the kind of books where you tell yourself you're going to read one more chapter and suddenly it's three in the morning.

Would I recommend the series?

Absolutely.

Especially if you enjoy romance with a lot of drama, strong chemistry, possessive fictional men, emotional backstories, secrets, friendship, and plenty of spice.

Just don't expect the men in these books to give you realistic standards for relationships.

Because after four books, I can safely say Ana Huang has completely ruined my expectations for fictional men.