Twisted Heathens
A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (Blackwood Institute, Book 1)
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Twisted Heathens
Narrated by:
Bridget Bordeaux, Grant Armstrong
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Narrated by:
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Bridget Bordeaux
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Grant Armstrong
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By:
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J Rose
From the bestselling author of Sabre Security and Briar Valley comes a dark, found family why choose romance featuring a self-destructive heroine and the tortured men determined to save her from herself.
WELCOME TO BLACKWOOD INSTITUTE.
WHERE BAD GIRLS COME TO DIE.
Murderer. Unhinged. Remorseless. Insane.
I’ve been called it all while rotting away in a maximum security psych ward, imprisoned for my crimes. When I’m given a chance to escape this hell, it’s an offer I can’t refuse.
I’m transferred to Blackwood Institute, purgatory for the dangerous and disturbed. The deal is simple. Complete the three-year experimental program and you’re free to leave.
I have no such intentions. People like me; we’re born to die. There’s no life for me out there. I’ll do whatever it takes to end my pitiful existence.
This time, nobody can stop me. Not even the four fellow patients with dark secrets and damage that rivals my own.
A tight lipped cutter.
A manic nymphomaniac.
A possessive control freak.
A shadowy ghost from my past.
The clock is ticking. If I’m not careful, the demons that frequent these blood-stained halls will get to me before I can take my own life.
Game on.
Author's Note: Twisted Heathens is a dark, contemporary reverse harem romance set in an experimental mental health institution. This is book one in the trilogy and it does end on a cliffhanger. Set in the J Rose shared universe.
©2021 Wilted Rose Publishing Limited (P)2025 Wilted Rose Publishing LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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Listener received this title free
Male narrator was new to me, Bridget is not both did great as Brooklyn and the main male characters Elijah, Hudson. Kade and Phoenix. All the characters have their own vices and dark past. They all are dealing with something that makes lash out, withdraw and act irrational. Twisted is a good way to describe the things that go on in the Institute they are all in. And this is just the start.
Twisted and spicy
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Listener received this title free
Grant Armstrong and Bridget Bordeaux did a PHENOMENAL job narrating this audiobook! To maintain all those voices and personalities is tough. Absolutely loved it!!!
Amazing narration
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Listener received this title free
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
~Twisted Heathens~Blackwood Institute #1~J. Rose~
~Narration~Bridget Bordeaux & Grant Armstrong~
"We’re like two broken shards of glass, smashed and scattered beyond repair. As the pieces mingle together, you can’t tell which bit came from where. It doesn’t even matter anymore. You just have a worthless mess, but it’s still irreplaceable."
♡This was my first read by J.Rose & I can't wait to dive into the rest of this series! A dark RH set in a mental health facility what more could a dark romance lover want? Bridget did an amazing job bringing our independent, strong, & mouthy FMC Brooklyn to life! Grant was a perfect narrator fit for our 4 MMC (YES 4!!) & brought them all to life perfectly!
Phoenix, Hudson, Eli, & Kade were all very unique in their own way, with past trauma to haunt them & what is Brooklyn to do when they all want her?? Will Brooklyn let her demons win?
This story was a spicy, raw, twisty dark psychological rollercoaster that I didn't want to get off of! And that ending had me on the edge of my seat! I'm so excited to see what Book 2 has in store!♡
~As Always Happy Reading~
Twisted Heathens
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Listener received this title free
Each character was different in their own way. They were going through their own pain from tortured pasts and the way they dealt with it was a lot to take in.
My heart broke for these characters. The more you learn about their pasts, the more you understand why they react the way they do.
I’ll be honest, I enjoyed that ending to book 1. Good riddance in my opinion 😮💨
The narrators did a wonderful job of bringing this story to life. To give these characters a voice. I was so sucked in and felt like the audio really gave me a better understanding of the pain and suffering these characters went through every day, whether it be physical or mental.
What a ride 👀
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Listener received this title free
The story takes place in Blackwood Institute, an experimental mental health hospital. This is a RH and is in-depth and entrancing with complex characters. Eli, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Hudson, and Kade slowly get to know and rely on each other as the story progresses. Each character has their own issues and traumas that you learn about, little by little, as the story goes.on.
It does end in a cliffhanger and waiting on the next book to come to audio will be a hard wait.
The narrators, Bridget Bordeaux and Grant Armstrong, did an amazing job on this book and all the different voices.
Blackwood Institute, Book 1
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Listener received this title free
🖤 Psychiatric institute
🤍 Why choose/RH
🖤 MFM/MM
🤍 Bl00d/breath play
🖤 Pierced 👅
🤍 Tortured MCs
🖤 Found family
🤍 Twists and turns
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💀Full of triggers that include but aren’t limited to: self harm, substance ab^se, svicide, psychosis, and more. Please proceed with your mental health in mind. 💀
I’ve read J.Rose before, but I’ve never read anything quite like Twisted Heathens. Not only is the subject matter dark, but each and every soul in this story is riddled with pain. Their lives haven’t been easy, whether at their own hands or the hands of others. They’ve all come together at the Blackwood Institute, given an opportunity for reform, but at what cost? Not everything is as it seems. This story leaves you with more questions than answers, so prepare for that cliffy if you don’t directly dive into the next book! This audiobook gave me not one, but two new-to-me narrators, and I was ENTHRALLED by them Bridget Bordeaux and Grant Armstrong had me in as much of a chokehold as the story itself.
Brooklyn is a monster, so the voices tell her. She has done and experienced unspeakable things. From one psychiatric institution to the next, she is a danger to herself, and others…if they mess with her plans. She has one last goal in mind, so getting attached to anyone is not in her future. Kade, Phoenix, and Eli however, have much more to say on that, but it’s Hudson who is the wildcard. Somehow these ‘misfits’ have come together to create a small family in the midst of unknown forces in this institute, and they have their sights set on Brooklyn. The past comes back to haunt these tortured souls more than ever before, now it’s a matter of who will survive it.
Each of these characters pulled at my damn heartstrings. I absolutely need to know what happens. Brooklyn is desperate to forget the past. She’s been wronged in so many ways that she does whatever she can, by any means necessary, to follow through with her plan. I really like each character: Kade’s motherly personality, Eli’s gentle yet tortured self, Phoenix’s outgoing and confident self, and Hudson’s dominance. It seems they all bring something to the group that the others need. And with the strange things going on at Blackwood, they’re going to need one another to make it through.
Bridget Bordeaux and Grant Armstrong were PHENOMENAL in their performances. From the first few lines of the audiobook I was hooked. Because this is such an emotionally intense story, the narration had to reflect that, and my gosh did it! Bordeaux brought every thought and feeling that Brooklyn felt, the anger, the despair, the voices, EVERYTHING to perfection. Her voice and skill is beyond intriguing. And then there is Armstrong, who had to perform four different main male characters, each with their own personalities and toxicity. My gosh, he did an exceptional job! Even though at times the differences were subtle, you KNEW who was who, and to me that is a mark of an incredible narrator. Bordeaux and Armstrong had me devouring this audiobook in two days!
A massive thank you to J.Rose and ValentinePR for letting me listen and review this title. It is dark and left me wanting so. much. more. I have to find out what happens next!
💊“A little geeky for my tastes, but there’s something attractive about someone defending you, even when you don’t need the help.”
💊“I’m the f***ing monster in this story.”
💊“Godf***ingdammit, he’s cute in a misunderstood, emo sort of way that makes my thighs clench.”
💊“Nobody is all good, Brooke. We’re all somewhere on the spectrum of morality, dabbling in shades of grey. There’s no such thing as good and bad. Not really.”
💊“Everything about this is wrong. Unhealthy. Toxic. Messed up. But at the same time, oh so right.”
💊“Not a word. Be a good girl and we’ll let you c**e.”
💊“If you want this, then you’re going to put your drama with him aside. Quit ghosting us, and I’ll hurt you, firecracker. I’ll f*** you up as much as you want.”
💊“We’re like two broken shards of glass, smashed and scattered beyond repair. As the pieces mingle together, you can’t tell which bit came from where. It doesn’t even matter anymore. You just have a worthless mess, but it’s still irreplaceable.”
💊“You’re all f***ing ours, Brooke.”
Dark and Intriguing
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Listener received this title free
loved this so much
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Twisted Heathens is the first book in the Blackwood Institute series and it is the second series I'm diving into from J. Rose. She has a whole dang universe dedicated to mental institutions and the darkness included within those walls. Easter eggs galore. You can read them in any order, but the Blackwood Institute trilogy is where it all starts.
This story and this world will not be for everyone. You will encounter characters that have dark pasts that have brought them to the institutions, but is there something else at play?
Brooklyn finds herself at Blackwood where unconventional therapy is supposed to lead the members of the institute into a sort of rehabilitation for re-entry into society. There, she encounters 4 men that soon play a huge role in her new life within the institution. She longs to end her life with her dark past and voices in her head, but will Kade, Hudson, Eli and Phoenix change her mind with their newfound relationships?
I wasn't sure what to expect from this first book in the Blackwood Institute besides the Why Choose factor. But after reading the Harrowdean Manor, I knew there was going to be so much more than a physical relationship with the group of characters. The story is slow to build and we get a lot of history to what brought the characters to the institute and the darkness they carry within themselves. Their traumatic pasts could be triggering for many, but had me filled with anger and sorrow.
Twisted Heathens leads us into a world that is gritty, dark and filled with pasts that would break the weak. But even though Brooklyn, Kade, Hudson, Eli and Phoenix may be broken, they find strength in each other and their pain. I found the different personalities all worked to build separate relationships and soon, in essence, a "found family" aspect that turned into so much more. They are complex characters dealing with not only their traumatic pasts, but now something a bit sinister in the mystery surrounding the institution that we only have scraped the surface of.
The story may have lulled in some parts, but with the phenomenal narration from Bridget Bordeaux and Grant Armstrong, I was always fully pulled into the story. The different accents and the pain they brought to their characters made me feel even more invested in the journey of the 5 main characters. Because when they all finally come together as one, it was at the perfect time to get that rush.
I definitely had favorites (my poor Eli) and not so favorites (darn Hudson) that changed over time when they allowed themselves to open up and be vulnerable, but that ending? Holy crap! That ripped my soul out and now has me waiting for the next book.
If you are an audiobook listener that loves a great performance with a story that includes dark and dysfunctional characters with traumatic pasts, then I would definitely say to check this book and this universe out. J. Rose goes THERE with a rawness that is tangible and connections that are vulnerable, yet steamy and messed up in a way that you can't look away from. Just take heed of all the trigger warnings. And I dare you not to be utterly devastated, yet hopeful by the ending and needing the next book like yesterday.
Traumatic Pasts and excellent narration
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Listener received this title free
i think i have been irrevocably changed by this book. it was so hauntingly dark and broken, yet i continue screaming for them all to push through to the pinpricks of light. this story is not for the faint of heart, but it is one i recommend everyone should experience. the mystery behind this institution is addictive, and the storyline being told through the eyes of unreliable narrators/povs- its so unique and ive never experienced anything quite like it. the mental illness representation is gut wrenching, and and heartbreaking. the deep rooted trauma that these characters have experienced and endured hurts to even imagine- yet all their jagged and broken pieces are starting to fit each other through. the bonds of this found family absolutely wrecked me, but their toxically healing love was truly addictive.
bridgete bordeaux and grant armstrong put their everything into this narration. it was truly and unequivocally a masterpiece. i both equally want to dive into the next book with my eyeballs, yet the narration was so gobsmackingly amazing that i equal parts will be waiting until the audio releases for it.
huge thank you to valentine pr and j rose for allowing the opportunity to receive an ALC of twisted heathens!
tropes: dark romance, reverse harem, why choose, mm in the harem, experimental psych ward, mental health rep, forced proximity, they fall first
vibes: dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings*
the trigger warnings list for this book is long and explicit. a full and complete list is available on the authors website- be sure to review them prior to reading!
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment
hauntingly dark and beautifully broken masterpiece
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Listener received this title free
The narrators Bridget Bordeaux and Grant Armstrong did an amazing job telling this story. Their voices kept me entertained and held my attention through the entire audiobook.
Each character in this book are so different and make it so easy for you to care about each one of them. They all have so much trauma and have a lot of healing to do. Brooklyn is a give no F's kind of character that has been through a lot. She has a softer side she keeps hidden but shows to some when needed.
I loved the back stories we get and the mystery around the institute. This book will keep you wanting more and wanting to help all these characters. One of the characters I just wanted to give him tons of hugs and give him a little more attention then the others. This is a must read series and I can't wait to continue and see what's gonna happen next. I highly recommend this book.
Emotional and HOLY CLIFFHANGER!!
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