ROGUE

Shiloh was fine. He kept repeating that over and over again. Shiloh was fine. Shiloh was fine. Shiloh was fine, and Levi was going to find him and bring him to stay with him. He was going to help him.

After Arsen’s story, today we’re here with Levi’s love story. One night while Levi is working, a boy he has never seen before walks in with a gun, saying he’s been forced to kill Levi to send a message to Jericho. Levi handles the situation calmly, but he can’t get the boy out of his head 😏😏 The boy, Shiloh, clearly needs help, and Levi is more than eager to give it. The rest goes pretty much how things usually go in Onley James’s books. If you’ve read at least two or three of them, you probably know what I mean.

Considering this is the tenth book I’ve read by Onley James, I think I can safely say her books feel like a gamble to me. Sometimes they’re hits, and sometimes they’re misses. Unfortunately, Rogue was a miss miss too. I almost always get some level of enjoyment from her books, but the degree definitely changes from book to book 🤔🤔

Levi Akira is one of Jericho’s boys. He isn’t bad as a character, but he didn’t leave much of an impression on me either 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ What I mean is that he feels very similar to the rest of the characters: a killer with trauma, possessive, protective, and emotionally intense. These are the fundamental traits of all of Jericho’s boys—and honestly, even the Mulvaneys were like that. The difference is that when we first read about these traits in the Mulvaney books, they still felt fresh. But this is now my tenth book with the same formula, so it has significantly lost its appeal for me 😑😑

That said, Levi was still a decent lead 👍👍 He was willing to help Shiloh even though they first met while Shiloh was trying to kill him. He understood that Shiloh’s life had been a nightmare and gave him the space to express himself. What Levi went through with his mother was also very sad, and I’m glad Jericho took him under his wing. Speaking of Jericho, I love how he acts as a father figure for all of these boys. Their bond is very precious to me 🥰🥰

Levi didn’t believe him. Of course, he didn’t. Why should he? They were strangers. Beyond strangers. They knew nothing about each other. All Levi knew was that Shiloh was a criminal and a liar and a spy. But why did it have to hurt so badly? Still, Shiloh clung to the fact that Levi hadn’t shoved him away. That had to mean something, right? He wanted to rewind time and start over again. He wanted to go back to yesterday in Levi’s bed when he looked down at him like he was something special and worthy. He wanted his hands on him, his lips, wanted to feel him press him into the mattress once more.

Shiloh is the youngest of three brothers, and both of his siblings are much stronger and more dominant personalities. His oldest brother, Mica, is a manipulative psychopath who has been tormenting Shiloh both mentally and physically since childhood. The middle brother, Malachi, is the odd and neurodivergent one who acts as Shiloh’s only protector against Mica. Unlike Shiloh, Malachi isn’t afraid of Mica and would kill him without hesitation. Because of that, Mica frames Malachi for a crime he didn’t commit and sends him to prison. He then uses Malachi’s freedom to control Shiloh and force him to do his dirty work. Mica’s desire to eliminate Jericho and become the sole power figure in their area is what leads to Shiloh and Levi meeting in the first place.

The problem is that Shiloh is completely overshadowed by his brothers—both in the story and in terms of captivating the readers’ interest 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely hated Mica. He was an A-grade asshole who absolutely deserved the ending he got 😠😠 I was furious about the way he treated Shiloh. That boy didn’t deserve any of that. But that’s exactly the issue: Mica and Malachi were far more interesting characters than Shiloh, who is supposed to be one of the main characters of the book.

There was even a scene hinting that Nico and Malachi might become a couple in a future book, and honestly that one scene was funnier and more interesting than the entire relationship between Levi and Shiloh. The rest of Jericho’s boys teasing Levi was funny, though. I always enjoy seeing them bicker with each other 😂😂 The cameos were fine as well. But when the main characters feel boring, the story itself becomes boring too. I just wasn’t invested in the main couple or their relationship. At this point, I’m honestly more interested in Mal and Nico’s story. Hopefully I’ll enjoy that one more. See you in the next book 👋👋