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Playing with Knives

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Playing with Knives

By: AJ Merlin
Narrated by: Leanne Woodward
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About this listen

Life is so hard when you want to live like a magpie, stealing anything shiny you find, but you live in a small town where everyone knows your face.

Nothing exciting ever happens here, unless you count us getting our very own movie-rental shop right next to the sheriff’s station.

Which, for the record, I don’t.

That is, nothing exciting happens until my roommate is murdered and her body washes up on the riverbank for the police to find.

Confused and angry, all I can really do is move on and let the police handle things...right?

Wrong. I can use the questionable life skills God saw fit to give me and be the best stalker—I mean, investigator—anyone has ever seen.

Until four sexy-as-sin strangers waltz into town like we’re some kind of fun tourist destination rather than the most boring place on earth.

Lysander, Azriel, Nykos, and Rhys don’t belong in this town. Something’s off with them. Something is wrong behind their shrewd gazes and swoon-worthy looks. More suspicious still, they show up right as my roommate was found, and the reasons they give for coming here are flimsy at best.

At worst? I’m starting to think they killed her or that they know who did.

Is it coincidence that they’re here just after the first murder in more than a decade occurs?

And even if I’m wrong, what happens if the dust settles and I can’t keep living the only life I know?

Well, let’s just hope my body doesn’t end up in the river too.

An 18+ dark reverse-harem romance. PWK contains graphic sex scenes and detailed violent acts that may be triggering for some listeners. There are also MM and MMFMM scenes and relationships.

©2021 AJ Merlin (P)2022 Pink Flamingo Productions
Multicultural Romance Romantic Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction Mystery Detective Suspense
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What listeners say about Playing with Knives

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Contemporary Dark Reverse Harem Romance

Playing With Knives by AJ Merlin is a contemporary dark reverse harem romance that I listened to on audio narrated by Leanne Woodward.

I loved that this book is not your typical dark romance, it kept me guessing on how the story would go. I really enjoyed the relationship that bloomed between Willow, Lysander, Azriel, Nykos, and Rhys.

I originally read the book when it was first released and was so excited when I seen it was coming to audio and I was not disappointed. Leanne did an amazing job on the narration. I look forward to listening to more of her work in the future.

I would recommend this book if you like dark romances, reverse harem romances, or romantic suspense.


The Flock Team
Audiobook Obsession Reviewer

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playing

Loved the narration of Leanne Woodward


A dark romance between an eccentric woman and a group of serial killers. I absolute loved this book and didn’t want it to end,
Brilliant characters living in a small town woman who is stuck in a rut. Until She meets four strangers in the local cafe.

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Enjoyable listen

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it and would listen / read more books by this author.

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Dark & gritty with a side of angst? Yes, please!

🎧 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🎧


I’m still fairly new to AJ Merlin’s books. I am so glad I took a chance on her, I am really enjoying her writing and her stories. I am a sucker for a good RH/why choose when written well and this was pure perfect… I was obsessed from the beginning til the very end of the book!


✨ 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀 ✨

🔪 Reverse Harem/Why Choose/Poly
🔪 Dark & Gritty
🔪 Dub-Con
🔪 Suspense
🔪 LGBTQ Rep
🔪 Angsty
🔪 Obsessive/Possessive MMC’s
🔪 Slow Burn
🔪 Serial Unalivers x 4
🔪 Revenge
🔪 Mafia


🎧 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Leanne Woodward

Going into this, I had the impression that it would be a little darker than it was. I mean the name of the book is “Playing With Knives”. However, it wasn’t your typical dark romance and I’m definitely not complaining. As much as I love hella dark romances, I also like the ones that tip-toe on the edge, those tend to keep you on the edge of your seat and second-guessing what’s going to happen and that’s exactly what this book did. The author threw so many twists and turns into this that my brain was on overdrive.

This book is about Willow and her boys Lysander, Azriel, Nykos and Rhys and their intense and unique love story.

Willow is a bit of a loner, quiet, somewhat shy and she loves animals. This crazy story all starts when her best friend/roommate is murdered and she wants answers so she decides to do her own investigating which leads her to four dark and mysterious strange men who are new to town and are in some kind of “pack” and she’s very much intrigued and she becomes quite obsessed and stalk-ish when it comes to these guys but for some reason somehow their crazy unhinged behaviour matched hers.

This was somewhat of a slow burn, nothing much happened until the halfway point.
I got to see Willow discovering more about herself and then once a little deeper into the book the storyline picks up and I start to see more of the antics and interactions Willow has with the guys.

The heat, intimacy and chemistry between the four become explosive and intense. The boys loved to play games with her and kept her on her toes. It made me laugh so much throughout the book!


I didn’t expect it to be as emotional as it was. It pulled on my heartstrings, captured my heart, made me laugh, swoon, gasp and even had me wanting to throw a punch at one stage….I was so invested.

The story enthralled and captivated me with all the crazy things Willow and the guys got themselves into. With all the twists and turns the author threw in there, I found it hard to predict what was going to happen next.

Packed with angst, suspense, danger, drama, passion, heat, top-tier banter, action and mystery, this book put me through the wringer and took me on a roller coaster of emotions and I didn’t want to get off!


This was beautifully narrated by Leanne Woodward. I have only listened to a couple of books that she’s narrated. She is amazing at what she does and she was brilliant with this book, she brought the story to life and played each individual character differently. I can’t wait to listen to more books she’s narrated!


4.5 STARS!

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4.5 amazing stars

I had no expectations going into this, and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement. I was hooked from the very first chapter, the mystery around this town and Willow (our fmc’s) friends death was intriguing. The love interests were always one step ahead of her, even if Williow was a thief and very good at it. I enjoyed the dynamic between them and how they decided to ‘keep’ her in the end. AJ Merlin you are incredibly talented. I salute you!

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Amazing

Absolutly loved it! Even if the dark them was light it. The story was rely god and made it imposeble to not finish the book in one day.

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Enjoyed it

Playing With Knives was an unusual Reverse harem tale and I will admit I had mixed feeling about it. I though the storyline was interesting as it was a bit different from my usual reads. There was mystery and suspense, hott steamy scenes, kidnapping and a cast of memorable characters.
I like each of the Male Characters. They were all psychopaths and each one brought something different to the story and they made me want to know more about them. However it was the Female Main character I had issues with. I thought she was childish and very immature and her long drawn out internal mind chatter was not to my liking. In spite of that this was an interesting tale and I would recommend it to lovers of dark RH romance. 
I listened to the audiobook version of this story which was narrated by Leanne Woodward who did a fantastic job with the characters. She gave them all their own voice and emotion and really brought the characters to life. It was a pleasure listening to her narrate this story. 
TheFlock AudiobookObsession

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So good

I read PWK as soon as it released and when I heard it was going to be on audio I was so excited. I missed Will , Lysander , Azrael , Nyko and Rhys so I bought the audiobook the minute it hit audible uk . The audiobook was everything I thought it would be and more and Leanne Woodward did such a good job narrating it.

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Playing with Knives

When I signed up for this book, I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting myself into.
It's a reverse harem/dark romance with a few twists you won't see coming.
I enjoyed the suspense and the story. There were a lot of instances that I did not see coming so that's always a plus. To be pleasantly surprised.
Overall an enjoyable listen.

#pinkflamingoreviewer

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So good

This book had me feeling so many things. Wow, the narrator did a great job and really gave life to the characters. Holy hotness…the story was darkly wonderful. I was enthralled until the very end. I loved it. Highly recommend. I will be looking for more from this author.

🦩🦩 Flock Review 🦩🦩

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