Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Sweet Vengeance
SERIES: Sins of the Father
AUTHOR: Riley Hart
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 340 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 8, 2025
BLURB:
Cillian
I can’t figure out why I’m so intrigued by Ollie Gibson.
He’s nothing like me—soft where my world is hard, sweet and kind while I’ve grown up around violence.
But there’s a fire to him that sparks the one inside me, loyalty that calls to me, and bravery I respect even if it gets him in trouble.
When Ollie’s hurt and we don’t know if the men who attacked him will come back for more, I can’t stop myself from claiming him. There’s nothing I won’t do to protect him, even go behind his back for vengeance.
I crave him—both the sweetness and the fire, the innocence and the dirty boy he turns into under my touch.
I’ll kill for him, turn my world upside down for him, share my pain and secrets with him. Ollie helps me deal with it all—even the drama with my father.
It’s supposed to be temporary. I’m not supposed to want more, but I’m determined to keep him, and for a reason I can’t understand, Ollie wants me too.
The future lawyer and the criminal. The Good Samaritan and the killer. We’re living between two worlds, this place where vengeance can be sweet and our differences don’t matter. But we both know it can’t go on like this forever. If the violence of my world doesn’t tear us apart, one day Ollie will walk away…and I don’t know how to let myself lose him.
Content Warning: Sweet Vengeance contains discussion and grief over the loss of a parent, violence, darker themes, drug use, 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.
REVIEW:
I am really loving this series. Dark Riley Hart is so delicious. This is a continuation of the first book which you really must read to understand the dynamics of the “mini mob” and how they ended up where they are now. In this installment, Cillian, Tiernan’s cousin and right-hand man, is somewhat surprised by his need to take care of Ollie, Dean’s ex-dorm-mate, after he is attacked. Cillian and Rory have always sort of felt as though Ollie was their little pet and enjoyed teasing him every chance they got.
Cillian and Rory are BFFs. Closer than brothers, but not more than that, although they do like to share sexual partners, or more specifically, have the occasional threesome where they both share someone. Up until this point, it has always been a female. Once Cillian takes a bigger role in Ollie’s life, that begins to change and Cillian realizes he is attracted to Ollie and wants to have sex with him. It is easy to see how important Cillian and Rory are to each other and how clear they each are on their relationship.
Cillian has some pretty deep issues that seem to stem out from daddy issues to commitment and relationship issues. In his life, he sees no room for anything beyond sex. There is also the issue of who and what he is, which is just about the complete opposite of Ollie, and their two worlds really shouldn’t converge.
As with the previous book, I really enjoyed the dialog and just how everything was laid out. Just when I expected things to get cheesy or hokey, the dialog came through and I found myself smiling. These guys are what they are, as Cillian would say, but they have standards and a line they won’t cross, even if that line is different than other peoples’.
This story focused more on Cillian and Ollie, as opposed to the family stuff as a whole, but it fits nicely in the grand scheme of things. I am really looking forward to seeing how things play out for Rory and will be happy to see the rest of the guys again as well. Another banger by Ms. Hart.
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
