Buried Within by Rosie Alice is an updated, rewritten version of The Hallows Boys and The Hallows Queen, a dark why choose romance duet originally published in 2022.
This new version, consolidated into one book, is just as kinky and twisty as the original duet, but reimagines the characters as older college students with some minor plot changes that make the story clearer and more streamlined.
After Sage Lindman’s parents die in a car accident, she’s forced to transfer from UCLA to Blackmore University in Georgia, thanks to the unexpected terms of her parents’ will.
Sage is the new girl on campus, and all eyes are on her, including those of the Hallows Boys, the three intimidating bad boys who seem to rule the school.
The Hallows Boys — Kaiden, Vincent, and Beckham — need a Hallows Girl, someone to participate in the Hallows Games, a yearly ritual played out every Halloween in the cemetery. As soon as they lay eyes on Sage, they know she’s the one.
The Hallows Games unlock a whole new side of Sage, and bring to light long-buried secrets. Sage will stop at nothing to find out who she really is, through every betrayal, no matter the danger.
These men are trouble, all bad boy confidence and arrogance. The three love interests fit into very classic why choose character profiles, and it works for them.
They make me feel worshiped and wanted, rejected and hated, hopeless and hopeful. They make my head pound, my heart ache, my mind melt. They ruin me and fix me.
Sage and her guys have the kind of character depth that comes from traumatic experiences, and they are definitely morally grey, tipping into morally reprehensible in moments.
The romance in this book is kinky and dark, and while there is a whole intricate plot in Buried Within, the sex is an equally essential piece of this story. I was pleased to find that the most memorable spice scenes were left the way they were in the original duet, still all twisted and tortured and hot.
This story is dark and steeped in drama. Blackmore, Georgia, is an incredibly strange place, with something ominous under the surface. This book feels like a CW drama meets a horror movie with a lot of kink folded in, and it’s glorious.
While lots stayed the same, the writing improved. The flow is better, and it’s more descriptive and more detailed. It’s a lengthy book, but it doesn’t feel that way, with a pace that keeps pages flipping.
As much as I loved the first duet, Buried Within is a definite improvement. It dials up the emotional intensity and the raw passion, while leaving all the phenomenal spice and mysterious plot points intact.
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