Book Review: Heartless Beloved By Lola King
Heartless Beloved By Lola King
Heartless Beloved by Lola King - Book 2 in the North Shore Series
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Grumpy X Sunshine, Dark Romance, Good Girl X Bad Boy, Opposites Attract, Morally Grey, Found Family, Forced Proximity, Redemption Arc, Mafia/Gang War
Summary:
Lola King delivers a gritty, addictive enemies-to-lovers romance where love and obsession blur beyond recognition. Set in a town torn apart by gang wars, this story follows Xi, a ruthless soldier of the North Shore Crew, and Alexandra Delacroix, a senator’s daughter from the enemy territory of Stoneview.
Xi’s mission is simple: seduce Alexandra, uncover her father’s secrets, and turn the tides of power in his crew’s favor. But what starts as a job spirals into something uncontrollable when Alexandra proves to be more than just another pawn. She’s kind, soft, everything he despises—and everything he can’t stay away from.
With brutal stakes, twisted chemistry, and impossible choices, Heartless Beloved is a raw, emotional ride through obsession, loyalty, and love in the most dangerous places.
💚 LD
I was not prepared for how emotionally attached I’d become to Xi and Alexandra. From the very first chapter, Heartless Beloved pulls you into a dark, brutal world where survival depends on who you trust and who you betray. Xi starts out as the kind of man you love to hate: cold, detached, and completely in control. But once Alexandra enters the picture, all that composure slowly unravels.
There’s something deeply satisfying about watching an antihero completely lose his mind over a girl he swore he would use. And Xi? He doesn’t just fall, he crashes. His obsessive behaviour, his protectiveness, the way he softens only for her, it was magnetic.
Alex was such a standout heroine. At first, she’s scared and unsure, but as the story goes on, she finds this strength that totally caught me off guard. The way she challenges Xi, calls him out, and holds her ground despite everything? It made me root for her so hard.
Their connection is messy, chaotic, and painfully beautiful. I couldn’t stop reading. This book wrecked me and I loved every minute of it.
“If he weren’t the epitome of immorality, he would have been my savior. I could have loved a broken hero, but I can’t love a willful villain.”
🤍 AD -
I didn’t expect to love Xi the way I did, especially after his role in Beautiful Fiend, but wow, he completely stole the show. He’s the most dangerous type of book boyfriend: the one who’s convinced he’s heartless until he meets the girl who changes everything.
Alexandra is like sunshine dipped in glitter, and the fact that Xi is so drawn to that softness despite hating it? Chef’s kiss. Their opposites-attract dynamic is perfection. He spirals over the tiniest things—her smile, her pain, her presence. The pink lighter scene? Iconic. The way he becomes obsessed with everything about her, from Taylor Swift to arcade prizes, was surprisingly endearing for someone so ruthless.
But beyond the obsession, their bond grows in a way that feels earned. Alex's character development is incredible. She starts out so unsure of herself, but by the end, she’s making bold moves and standing up to people who once terrified her, including Xi.
This book has everything I crave in dark romance, psychological tension, emotional payoff, and characters who bring out each other’s demons and desires. I was hooked.
“The crazy kind. The toxic kind that poisons your veins and makes you feel like your thoughts don’t belong to you anymore. The love that drives you insane in the most satisfying way possible.”
💙 AG -
This book grabbed me from page one and refused to let go. Heartless Beloved is the kind of romance that hits you in the chest with knives.
Xi is unhinged in all the right ways. He’s brutal, calculating, and doesn’t even try to pretend he has morals. But there’s something about Alexandra’s softness that absolutely undoes him and watching that unravel was so satisfying. He doesn’t know how to love gently, but you feel his devotion on every page.
What really made this book special was how it balanced the darkness with genuinely emotional moments. Alexandra grows into herself and finds power in vulnerability. And the way Xi adores her? It’s messy, twisted, and completely addicting.
This series just keeps getting better, and I’m already dying for the next installment. If you love morally grey men who will burn the world for their girl, this book is for you.
“My boyfriend is what I’ve come to accept and call a sweet psycho. The discreet kind who moves in silence and who treats me like a queen. Sweet to the woman he wants to possess, deadly to anyone who gets in his way. I want to taste Xi’s danger. I want to feel it on my skin. For it to lick me with burning flames. I want Xi to feed my lust as hard as he obliterated my sanity.”
