Sweet Venom
A Dark College Hockey Romance (Vipers, Book 2)
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 Months Free
£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
Sweet Venom
Narrated by:
Teddy Hamilton, Mackenzie Cartwright
Buy Now for £15.32
-
Narrated by:
-
Teddy Hamilton
-
Mackenzie Cartwright
-
By:
-
Rina Kent
From the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a dangerously dark stalker hockey romance.
Can I outrun his merciless obsession?
I accidentally witnessed a brutal murder. I froze, pretended I saw nothing, hoping I could leave it behind. But my plan backfired, and my life spiraled downward. Now, I’m the target of cold-blooded revenge.
Jude Callahan isn’t just a hockey god—he’s a devil no one dares to cross. My existence disrupts his stardom, prestige, and possible serial killer career choice. And he’s set out to make me pay for that moment of silence.
No matter how much I run or hide, he finds me, watching from the shadows. Like a predator. I thought he’d stop at the stalking. Or even better, he’d kill me and finally end my misery. But Jude has other plans.
He says I can’t die. I have to pay for my sins. And just like that, he drags me into his depraved world, kicking and screaming.
This book is a dark romance. Please check the author's website for content warnings before listening.
This book can be listened to on its own, but for a better understanding of the world, it's recommended to listen to Beautiful Venom first.
©2025 Rina Kent (P)2025 Rina Kent
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Continue the series
First of all, Jude Callahan!!!! Jude has earned his spot in the Rina Kent men hall of fame for me! What a dream! He’s the broody, quiet, murderous type with past trauma, a need for revenge and Violet is the girl who derails his plans. I couldn’t get enough of them.
I loved Violet so much. A character with so many past demons but who kept her kindness and ability to care above all else
I wasn’t expecting the roller coaster of emotions I was gonna go through when I started the audiobook! The drama was top notch.
If you like your dark romance with big feelings, a very interesting plot, secrets and twists that really take you by surprise and a true love story between people with equal traumas who find each other, with all the emotions, the angst and the intimacy (physical and emotional), then this one is for you.
Teddy Hamilton and Mackenzie Cartwright, what a performance!!! It was truly incredible! This book is full of tension and the way they conveyed those feelings was outstanding! A match made in heaven! I will 100% be listening a second time.
Another Rina banger!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Sweet Venom really said, “What if we took the Rinaverse, turned the dial from ‘feral chaos gremlin energy’ down to ‘feral chaos gremlin on a light sedative,’ and just let everyone marinate in their trauma for a minute?” And honestly? I was into it. This book is definitely tamer than its older sister, but it still brings the morally-gray, possibly-should-be-arrested, absolutely-should-be-therapized hero we all crawled here for. But let’s be real: if you’re reading Rina Kent, you are not here for stable men with normal coping mechanisms. You’re here for dudes who would kill a man for looking at their girl one millisecond too long and then ask if she wants boba afterwards. Jude understood the assignment.
The beginning had a more measured rhythm, but not in a bad way—more like the story took a deep breath before grabbing you by the throat. And once Violet wakes up from that coma? BABE. That was the moment the book looked me dead in the eyes and whispered, “Oh you wanted PLOT plot? Here you go.” And suddenly my entire bloodstream was caffeine and chaos again.
Now—Violet. Oh, Violet. This poor girl was raised on a steady diet of gaslighting and self-blame so heavy it probably counts as a controlled substance. Watching her awkwardly, hesitantly, painfully learn to love herself was like watching a baby deer try to walk for the first time: wobbly, heart-wrenching, adorable, and you just want to wrap her in twelve blankets and feed her warm soup. Her entire arc of “Hey maybe everything bad that ever happened wasn’t actually my fault?” had me cheering in the background like I was watching a sports movie. But, and I say this with love, she did feel like she was missing just one extra sprinkle of personality seasoning. Not bland, but like… lightly salted. And that might just be because Dahlia was so chaotic, unhinged, feral, loud, terrifying, and charismatic that reading Violet next felt like going from a metal concert to a polite tea party.
Enter Jude, the human embodiment of “I love you so much I will burn down the world, but in a cute way.” I adore this man. I should not adore this man, but therapy is expensive and here we are. He truly has a heart of gold—but it’s wrapped in barbed wire and dipped in gasoline. This man is unhinged in the most romantic way possible. When he loves, he does it with the energy of a man who would throw his coat over a puddle and stab the puddle so it never disrespects you again. The rage? The obsession? The protectiveness? The absolute madness? Chef’s kiss. I was feral. He cares so deeply it’s almost alarming, but in the Rinaverse that just means he’s normal.
And can we TALK about how much he understood Violet? Like genuinely saw her? This man looked into her soul and was like, “Yes, I will be your emotional support demon.” The way their traumas mirrored each other—his need to care for someone because of the mess with his mother, her need to isolate herself because she thinks she ruins everyone she touches—it was messy, beautiful, therapist-approved synergy. I loved diving into their trauma stew and watching them untangle each other’s knots. I truly didn’t expect Jude of all people to bring the wholesome energy, but there he was, being all attuned and tender and OMG who is this man??
I do wish we got more alone moments once they got comfortable with each other, because those scenes were some of the absolute best, but what we got? Divine. I ate it with no crumbs left. Also: I cannot believe I am saying this in a Rina Kent review but this book? Not that spicy. Like she said, “Let’s give them emotional intimacy instead and make them cry.” And it WORKED. The spice it did have was great, but this book honestly didn’t need more because the emotional tension was already seasoning my bloodstream.
BUT LISTEN. The CONSENT SCENE. I almost ascended to heaven. I’m used to Rinaverse men being like “Boundaries? Never heard of her,” and then Jude popped up like, “Actually I explicitly need consent before we do this.” I had to sit down. I had to clutch my imaginary pearls. I literally whispered “Oh?!? Okay KING???” at my Kindle. It felt so wildly unlike every other guy in this universe that I had to check the cover again. And the whole safe word being Blue? AND THEN LEARNING WHY??? Rina really said “Here, cry about it.”
And don’t get me STARTED on that climax. I genuinely thought my brain short-circuited. I had to pinch myself because I thought I hallucinated the whole thing. I was like, “Is this actually happening? Am I dreaming? Am I the problem??” The delulu-solulu-trululu pipeline was PIPELINING.
And then there’s PRESTON. Oh my GOD, Preston. Rina fed us like we were starving. Every scene between him and Jude was pure serotonin sprinkled with deranged pixie dust. Their dynamic had me scream-laughing. And Preston with Violet? Wholesome, chaotic, gentle big-brother energy. I adore that man. I am absolutely frothing at the mouth for his book. And those last 100 pages?? My HEART. I saw Marcus show up and immediately knew I was not emotionally prepared for whatever unholy, exquisite, soul-destroying romance these two are going to have. I will not survive Marcus + Preston. I am pre-writing my obituary.
I’m telling you right now: Preston + Marcus is going to be Rina’s BEST work. I am calling it, manifesting it, proclaiming it with my whole chest like a prophet in the desert. You cannot convince me otherwise. The chemistry? Off the charts. The tension? Already sizzling. The backstory potential? Cinematic. The trauma? Oh baby, they’re going to trauma-bond so hard I’m going to need electrolytes just to read it. The way Preston acts around Marcus is already giving “I hate you but also why do I think about you at night” while Marcus is giving “I could ruin your life but also I’d kill anyone who tries to hurt you (and he has!!!).” It’s the kind of dynamic that births legendary romances.
And the LAST 100 PAGES of Sweet Venom? That was Rina walking up to us with a silver platter and serving emotional devastation with a side of foreshadowing so rich it tasted expensive. That little glimpse of Marcus and Preston interacting was so charged, so heavy with chaos and longing and undiagnosed issues, that I actually had to pause, stare at my wall, and question my life choices.
When their book drops? I will not be okay. NONE of us will be okay. I’m preparing my will. I’m prepping emotional life support. I’m clearing my schedule. I may have to take a personal day from humanity.
Because Rina knows EXACTLY what she’s doing with those two. And she’s evil for making us wait, but the kind of evil I respect.
This isn't just going to be a book. This is going to be an event. A cultural reset. A historic moment in unhinged romance literature. Rina is about to end lives with that one—and I will THANK HER.
And lastly, THE AUDIOBOOK. Teddy? Phenomenal. I would listen to him narrate an IRS manual. Did he sound a little older than early twenties? Yes. Did I care? Not really, it’s Teddy. And when he switched into Preston’s voice? That slightly unhinged energy? CHEF’S. KISS. Mackenzie Cartwright was an amazing Violet—she captured Violet’s softness, kindness, and quiet turmoil so well. And duet narration? Superior. Elite. No crumbs left.
Sweet Venom was softer, sweeter, slightly slower by Rina standards, full of healing, trauma, devotion, and deliciously obsessive love. I devoured it, loved it, shrieked at it, and am now pacing in circles waiting for Preston’s book like a Victorian child waiting for father to return from war.
If this is where the series is going, I fear for my mental stability—in the best possible way.
Rina Did It Again (Preston Stole My Soul).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The web thickens
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
And Rina Kent once again proved why she’s so incredible: she has this unique talent of making you fall in love with a story from the very first chapter. That’s exactly what happened here — and I absolutely love when a book grabs me like that right from the beginning.
After witnessing a brutal murder, her entire life begins to quietly fall apart — and everything she tried to forget comes back to demand its price. Suddenly, she becomes the target of a dangerous game where desire, revenge, and dark secrets twist together.
That’s when Jude Callahan enters her life — the hockey star with a shadowed edge, the forbidden temptation she should stay away from… but simply can’t. Between fear and attraction, they cross a line of no return, where love can save them… or destroy them completely.
🎧 And the audiobook? Absolutely incredible.
Teddy Hamilton’s voice fits the intensity of the story perfectly, making every scene feel even deeper and more emotional. I’m genuinely obsessed with Rina’s audiobooks — receiving this one made me so happy.
If you love dark romance, tension, and a story that grabs you from the very first chapter, Sweet Venom is a must-listen.
#SweetVenom #ReleaseDay #RinaKent #AudiobookReview #DarkRomance #TiviTalk #AudiobookLover #BookTok #HockeyRomance #RomanticSuspense #TeddyHamilton #VipersSeries
Sweet venom 💜 Violet and Jude
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.