Bittersweet Revenge by Riley Hart
Sins of the Father #1
Release: August 13, 2025
🔥Vengeance to Lovers
🔥Possessive MCs
🔥Obsessive MCs
🔥Secret Identity
🔥Morally Gray MCs
🔥Enemies to Lovers (though only one MC knows it)
🔥MM Romance
Dean
I’ve been stalking Tiernan O’Shea online for years.
After Sloan O’Shea killed my dad, my mom and I spent years in hiding, moving from state to state, changing our names, never drawing attention to ourselves, hoping to never be found.
I’ve fed off nothing but vengeance ever since.
Tiernan O’Shea is exactly like his father—arrogant, rich, ruthless.
The plan is simple: Get accepted to Ashford U. Get close to Tiernan. Get him to trust me. And then, when he brings me home to his father, I’ll take my revenge on Sloan O’Shea.
What I don’t expect is discovering the secret side of Tiernan, the parts he doesn’t show the rest of the world. He’s as beautiful as he is brutal—deadly, yes, but he’s also the kind of man who would do anything for those he loves. We’re alike in ways I never imagined. And when he touches me, kisses me…it makes me feel like I matter.
I’ve spent my whole life hoping to even the score, but now my revenge will be bittersweet because it’ll make me lose the only man I’ve ever loved.
Content Warning: Bittersweet Revenge contains violence, darker themes, and morally gray characters with no redemption arc. This is still a Riley Hart romance though, so you can expect a happily ever after for our guys. Please use the look inside feature for a more detailed content warning.
Start reading today: https://geni.us/BittersweetRevenge
EXCERPT
I have to keep reminding myself this is the fastest and maybe only way to get what I want.
The whole reason I’m in Ashford is because it’ll be easier to get in with Tiernan than his father. I want them both—hell, their entire family—to feel the sting of betrayal. Want to make them suffer the way they made our family suffer. Want to break them the way they broke my mom, and there’s nothing I won’t do to accomplish that.
It’s all I think about as I work my way through the living room of their ridiculously large house and toward Tiernan. He wants to fuck me, and if that’s something I have to do to accomplish my goals, so be it.
And maybe I can get Tiernan on his knees for me. How will he feel when he discovers he sucked the dick of his enemy? Of the man who kills his father?
Tiernan takes a drink from his red Solo cup, before his gaze finds mine over the brim.
I don’t stumble, don’t let my feet falter as I continue in his direction. He’s wearing another button-down shirt, this one short-sleeved. Does he ever wear a T-shirt, or are they not good enough for him?
“If it isn’t New Kid. I heard you’re awfully far from home. Are you lost?” he says with a lifetime of privilege in his arrogant tone.
“No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I see you’re still a dick.”
“I see you still like to play with fire. Be careful, or you’re going to get burned.”
“Maybe I like it.” I go to pluck his cup from his hand, but Tiernan pulls it back.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asks, voice harsh.
Fuck. I pushed too hard. The last thing I need is to have him question my motives. “Dean Smith. Someone looking for a good time, even if you are a dick, but if you’re not interested, I’ll find someone else.”
I turn to walk away, but Tiernan grabs my bicep. “You want me.”
“Assholes get my dick hard. What can I say?”
Bittersweet Revenge by Riley Hart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Riordan/Dean, vowing retribution on the O’Shea family for murdering his father, forcing his mother to hide him his whole life. He believes she died from a broken heart and that fuels his rage against the O’Shea’s even further. Tiernan, the heir apparent, is his way in to exact vengeance on the family that destroyed his.
The book seemed slow for most of it and I struggled to keep interest. Dean’s back and forth with wanting Tiernan and knowing what would happen if he could follow through and kill his father got tiresome. He would go along for a while then suddenly remember he set everything in motion to kill a man. The book wanted to be angsty but I just couldn’t feel it.
The best parts of the book were Tiernan’s sister, his friends, and Dean’s roommate.
This particular book just didn’t work for me. I’ve been a long time fan of this author and that won’t change.
Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
View all my reviews
Riley Hart’s love of all things romance shines brightly in everything she writes. Her primary focus is Male/Male romance but under various pen names, her prose has touched practically every part of the spectrum of love and relationships. The common theme that ties them all together is stories told from the heart.
A hopeless romantic herself, Riley is a lover of character-driven plots, many with flawed and relatable characters. She strives to create stories that readers can not only fall in love with, but also see themselves in. Real characters and real love blended together equal the ultimate Riley Hart experience.
When Riley isn’t creating her next story, you can find her reading, traveling, or dreaming about reading or traveling, and spending time with her two perfectly snarky kids, and one swoon-inducing husband.
Connect with Riley Hart: https://www.instagram.com/rileyhartwrites/
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